Month: January 2015

22.1.15
– Some people are very affectionate, but what they demand in return is pure control of the other, mostly through subtle manipulation (emotional blackmail)!

23.1.15
– Mange

24.1.15
– Junta
– Ritual unites,
Ritual consolidates.

27.1.15
– Movies:
“Monuments Men”
What could be more valuable than individual human lives?
A sense of personal mortality is the key to having one’s values properly ordered!
Compare this with the ethic of the Lannister family (from “Game of Thrones”)
To die for a worthy cause is good, even if one is not remembered for it!
– The question/problem/issue of consciousness
– Ignorance ~ abetment ~ complicity!
– Trying to understand anti-semitism…

28.1.15
– “Shahrazad”
– Out of the many, one.
And out of that one, still many more!  ☺
A pregnant, not sterile, unity…

29.1.15
– Why is religious experience so rare (even for those who seek it)?? What does that say about GOD (or about me & my age)?
– Stillness ~ nakedness ~ poverty
– Spiritual reading, the news & everyday living.
Caught, stuck, torn……
– I know I need to make a radical change, but I just don’t know what it is! 😦
– Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Is this life just “much ado about nothing”?
“Told by an idiot, full of sound & fury,
Signifying nothing.”
– Ecclesiastes & ecology
– Why should I care so much about leaving the world a better place than when I found it?
– Does nihilism always lead to hedonism?
And what does hedonism lead to?
If physical death is our final destiny, then what’s the big deal about risking spiritual death while one is still alive?
– Necessary > important
Or
Important > necessary?
– Faith is closer to imagination, than any other (spiritual) human faculty!
– Who am I? > what I am
What I am ➡ who am I?

30.1.15
– Hierarchy – personal inwardness ➡ social roles ➡ cosmic goals
– The body politic & spiritual theology
– Asceticism & community
Mysticism & ecology
Contemplation & action
– “If you want to know God, sharpen your sense of the human.”—Abraham Joshua Heschel
“I don’t think any of us can begin to discover again what religion might mean unless we are prepared to expose ourselves to new ways of being (in our) bodies.”
– What does religion have to do with politics?
What does spirituality have to do with sexuality?
What does prayer have to do with justice?
– It is good that you reflect seriously about Philosophy & Theology, but see to it that it helps you live better, and does not make you irrelevant or inefficient…
– Breathe strong!
– Education as formation!
Religion as spiritual education
– So what are your plans, Joe?? Do you intend to live like this forever?!
No ‘plans’ for now. Hmmm…… No, only until I die!
– The Spirit guides me through the Word, just like a master/teacher guides the student through this complex, resourceful world.
– Now I know how I must study!
Create a folder with only the stuff that are important /necessary to my learning & training, selected carefully out of all the resources that I have already accumulated.
Eclectic, overview & interdisciplinary
Spirituality + Theology + Religion + Philosophy + Education
– Spiritual Theology
Personal Theology
Practical Theology
– Permaculture – an agricultural system or method that seeks to integrate human activity with natural surroundings so as to create highly efficient self-sustaining ecosystems
– Eco-villages
Oases of natural living in an artificial world!
Repenting of false sophistication
Sofia
Vs.
Sophism
– Kabbalah
Zohar
– Watch more Indian (esp. Tamil) movies

27.1.15

I must become more focused on certain preset values & priorities, & therefore be willing to offend those around me (if necessary), in order to be true to myself, & love them better!

GOD/spirit – the whole is greater than the sum of the parts (all the elements of life – & death – put together)!

Tetchy

Doppelgänger

Organization + interconnection = integration

30.1.15

Moral grandeur and spiritual audacity

Blessed Charles de Foucauld’s Prayer of Abandonment to God:
Father, I abandon myself into Your hands; do with me what You will. Whatever You do I thank You. I am ready for all, I accept all. Let only Your will be done in me, as in all Your creatures, I ask no more than this, my Lord. Into Your hands I commend my soul; I offer it to You, O Lord, with all the love of my heart, for I love You, my God, and so need to give myself – to surrender myself into Your hands, without reserve and with total confidence, for You are my Father.

In spirituality, only the exemplar can be a teacher!

15.1.15
– Equality doesn’t mean that all are level. It only means that those who are above should also respect those who are below them, just as those who are below are expected to honour those who are above them. Inequality is a fact of life, but hierarchy must be avoided.
– The street dog that we used to feed has been hit by a car & has a broken leg. Should I take it to the veterinary hospital?
– J.I.J – spirituality >> theology >> ministry
– If you’re gonna play with points, then you must have clear lines. Otherwise, just play for fun!
The world today is like a football game with more than 2 teams, no umpire and no fixed goal posts! And all the founders are dead too……
– Do a course in hermeneutics (philosophy)
– When I sleep, I (who I am) exist, but not my ego (what I feel, think & do – the conscious self or my personality). The superego (what I believe) & the id (what I want) are just the 2 polarities of my unconscious self. The ego is an outgrowth/product of the creative tension between these 2 poles.
– Instead of living slow, why don’t you just live fast, with adequate periods of stillness in between?
– Life – dance (yield – carried along by the music) > play (relate to & compete with another) > fight (kill to survive)

16.1.15
– Thought policing
Moral policing
– Hot-button issues
– Bigotry & hypocrisy
– Illegal policing
– Self-proclaimed defenders of the people
– The freedom of expression & the freedom to be offended & to dissent
– Freedom within constitutional boundaries
– Arbitrary criminalization
– An artist cannot take middle ground!
– Creative, constructive criticism
– Pushing the boundaries
– The complicit state
– Intimidation as pacification
– Contemplation is the opposite of complacency!
– Moving from caste to class
– The abettors
– Responsible expression
– Literary suicide
– The power of story-telling
– Coalition of interest parties
– Retrospective proscription
– The self-respect movement has utterly failed to uproot caste from our society!
– Progressives association
– Prophetesses
– Breach of peace
– Demonstration of solidarity
– No sustainable development without good governance – food & security for all
– Integrity, efficiency & transparency
– Self-interest & social welfare
– Doing the right things
&
Doing things right
– Centre for Good Governance
– Politicians are in the business of selling better governance
– Anti-incumbency factor
– Response to corruption more important than just prevalence of corruption
– Thirst for strong leadership in uncertain times
– Felt needs of the public – important & powerful
– Necessity of constant remedial measures
– Humble, critical & candid
– Representative government
Vs.
Efficient service-delivery by institutions
– Ceding space through inaction
– Systems & processes
– Politicians
&
Bureaucrats
– Relative judgments with limited options

17.1.15
– Say NO to uncritical creativity & uncreative criticism.
– It is time for a festival of (Christian) theology/spirituality in India/Chennai.
Global, yet Indian!
– Attending these cultural festivals is more about just immersing yourself in, & assimilating, the spirit of the event (personalities/works), rather than in what you learn/understand from specific sessions…
– Art – can the popular & the serious go together?
– There are far more (number of) great works than just the classics!

18.1.15
– A secular reading of the religious
&
A religious reading of the secular
– Edification – enlightenment, conviction & inspiration (with entertainment, of course!)
– Order these according to their priority/influence in your life:
1. Individual identity
2. Interpersonal relationships
3. Social justice
– Resource person – character Integrity, passionate for a cause and skilled in a craft

19.1.15
– Movies:
“Dead Calm”
I don’t want to kill you, & I don’t wanna die either. But I wanna live/enjoy by controlling & using you! And I’m not gonna stop at anything until I get (& keep) what I want.
“Whiplash”
You become a legend, not by seeking personal greatness, but by completely losing yourself in the Art! Ugly ego-clashes is a necessary evil that lies along this path…

20.1.15
– A team must have very few (1 or 2) leaders, mostly specialists & few all-rounders.
Can an all-rounder also be a leader?

21.1.15
– Cursed – full of leaves, but no fruit!
– Political, religious & business powers go hand-in-hand, in plundering & oppressing!
– Reconciliation – confession + repentance + forgiveness + restitution
– “By what right do you do these things? Who do you think you are?!”
– The liberal leaders (elite)
Vs.
The conservative masses (proletariat)
– “They feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.”
– Democracy – the awesome & fickle power of the crowd!
– “Don’t you care that we are not convinced about you? Don’t you want to prove yourself to us?”
– Jn. 2:22 – “After he…… then they……”
– The greatest miracles are visible only to those who have faith!
– The biggest problems of this world will not (or cannot) be solved by dramatic demonstrations of Power, but by the slow & efficacious working of the Spirit……
– Either/or >> Both/and >> Neither/nor!
– Learn & growing must go hand-in-hand with breaking & mending!
– What does fasting have to do with flatulence??
– What do you believe about who I am?
What do you think about what I say?
And how are you going to respond to what I have done?
– Jesus bears witness for John!
– Mat. 21:28-32 – Liberals & Evangelicals?
Sexual morality & political correctness
Vs.
Spiritual responsiveness & character integrity
V. 32b: The politics of spirituality – but even if it’s true, how can we also walk in the same way with these dirty & stupid people?!
– Sexy photographers
&
Beautiful artists
– Subconscious experience
Unconscious knowledge
– Not all physically attractive people are intelligent, & not all intelligent people are virtuous.
– What happens when light & darkness come in contact with each other?
– Mat. 21:37 – What a foolish owner!

15.1.15

Natural affection
Vs.
Spiritual devotion

Charismatic/liturgical
Mystical/contemplative
Prophetic/activistic
Critical/theological
– arrange these dimensions of Christian spirituality according to their respective places (degree of importance) in your faith-life. Mix & match allowed!

“According to GOD……”

Faith-love
Reason-conscience
Emotion-body
– arrange these psychological elements according to their respective places (degree of influence) in your personal life.

The saintly
&
The morbid
The mystic
&
The lunatic
The great
&
The inhuman
The genius
&
The eccentric

Salvation/eternity/divinity is the meeting of the opposites!
Contemplation – sleep & alertness merged into one – a super-trance/conscious-dream!
What is the meeting of life & death?
What is the meeting of light & darkness?
What is the meeting of truth & falsehood?

Righteous ~ self-controlled
Brave ~ magnanimous

What is it like to have holy parents?

If you cannot empathize with the other’s suffering, at least be careful so that you don’t do anything to worsen their pain.

One cannot be both a faithful family-man and the savior of the world!

Nation/law/religion
Vs.
Family/emotion/body

There are 2 kinds of victory – one is a narrow escape from the jaws of defeat, the other is a complete & confident triumph.
There are 2 kinds of defeat – one is a perfect thrashing without stiff competition, & the other is to put up a tough fight until being overwhelmed.

How come love (not peace) & war (not hate) are so similar??

Death for the sake of religion => rebirth unto immortality!

How different is the conversion of people through threat of physical violence, from the conversion done through the fear of an eternal Hell?

4Mac. 16:18-25 – the theological rationale that provides the spiritual morale (for martyrdom)!
Hagiography => martyrology
What does GOD have to say about what is being said about him?! Will he not defend himself from his own devout followers??

Religious law ~ ancestral tradition ~ national culture ~ GOD’S honor

20.1.15

What does the Christian “victory over death” mean for us today?
Moving from physical resurrection to the confronting, resisting and overcoming of death-dealing structures!