axioms

Lane concludes proposes four axioms of sacred space. They are listed below:

• Sacred place is not chosen, it chooses.
• Sacred place is ordinary place, ritually made extraordinary
• Sacred space can be tread upon without being entered
• The impulse of sacred space is both centripetal and centrifugal, local and universal

The first axiom means that sacred space can never be constructed; it already exists and can only be discovered. The second axiom means that the common is made grand through ritual action. The third axiom speaks to the nature of a sacred space and the link between a sacred space and story; one can share geographical space with a sacred space, but the space remains normal without proper understanding of the associated stories. The last axiom is the most complex. Here Lane argues that we are simultaneously drawn to, and away from, sacred sites. Human beings are constantly moving between sacred spaces as their lives dictate. As such, the sacred cannot be confined to specific spaces. Lane also says "a sacred place is a stories place". Therefore, the axioms are the chapters of the story that fate has decided is our life because life is essentially everyone's ultimate sacred journey. 

Outside reading

Journeys such as the one in The Chronicles of Narnia often have underlying meanings. In Landscapes of the Sacred, Belden C. Lane states that "The sacred place becomes the point at which the wondrous power of the divine could be seen breaking into the world's alleged ordinariness. As a result, that fixed point becomes the center of that world, the navel of the earth or axis mundi by which passage can be obtained to the cosmic region beyond, from where all meaning derives. Here the real could unveil itself in space." (20) This quote describes Narnia in that it is where the power of the divine, being Aslan, helps the children continue their sacred journey. The center of the children's world for the time being is now Narnia. Aslan, the wholly divine, breaks the ordinariness of the children's lives by appointing them the new leaders of Narnia. The axis mundi or connection between heaven and earth is Aslan himself because he is portrayed as Christ, the Almighty.

First Axiom of Sacred Places

In the chapter of Landscapes of the Sacred called “The Mountain That Was God”, the author talks about how mountains connect with humans. This concept is part of the four axioms of sacred places. The first axiom says that a sacred place is not chosen, it chooses you. Different people experience different things at each sacred place and just because you do not feel anything does not mean that it is not sacred. The author has found places that connect with him such as the Tahoma or the Mount Rainier. Even though the author is the same person, he did not get the same experience at both places. The Tahoma was a more “rich experience” for him. He experienced a “layering experience” that he only understood, after he left, everything that happened for him. Even though his experience was wonderful at the Tahoma, Mount Rainier was completely different. He did not feel an overwhelming feeling throughout. He did not feel his whole life. He felt nothing, but yet he knew that this place was the place for him. Sacred Places are not uniform. They speak to different people at different times. Each sacred experience that a person has, is not going to be the same because if it were then why would they keep going out looking for the same experience that they already had? They are going out to find the experience that is going to change them even in the slightest bit so they can become a better person.

Myths

In the reading The Mountain That Was God, the author talks about how humans have a need to see the mountains in order to have a sacred journey. He also says “there are tails of mythical mountains assuming far more grandeur than any found on map or chart.” This connects the chapter to the discussions in class about myths. A myth is a story that gives us what is ultimately real. This myth about mountains, that are far better than other mountains, came from a myth showing that myths really do have a truth about them. If they did not, have this truth, then people would not want to find these mountains. There must be some truth about it since people have found something very similar to these mountains because if they did not then they would not know what they were looking for. This concept of putting a truth to the myth is called mythic power. We, as humans, have the power to make any myth true by making it true. The humans, who are looking for the mountain that is far better, can find that mountain because of the mythic power.

what is with the letters benson?

Now, we all can pretty much define the difference between God and god. The capital G signifies a more individual presence or figure that is much more important and higher essence of being. Similarly as we spoke about in class the other day, the difference between being and Being. Well, in the Phenomenology of Prayer by Benson and Wirzba, they capitalize words like Impossible, God, Living, and I assume many more to come. This slightly confuses me, for example, on page nineteen "Relative to that possibility, what I may encounter is rather the Impossible." I am not sure of what significance this could mean. A specific impossibility? Something too superior to imagine? The blatant references to the Bible in this book relay the obvious definition they choose of the word God. However, Impossible? There are words following on page twenty, that are traditionally capitalizes in most Biblical situations such as, "Scriptures," "the Word," and "Trinity." These are in relation to specific pieces/beings that in certain beliefs are real and "truth." However, if someone could just aid me with any assistance on the other possible ways to understand a difference between these capitals, I would appreciate it!

"I expect too much of the place"

"Yet it is at this precise moment, where I give up looking for the burning bush, that my retreat usually begins"(Lane 16).

From a very young age, I felt the insignificance of my existence in comparison to the force with which our world was created. The mind of a child is permeable to the unseen influences similar to the receptiveness of animals to spirits. Imaginations run free, though it does not run for long without friction. As we age, we collect experiences, likes and dislikes, and we build walls around ourselves as we observe the negativity of our world. Once these walls are built high and we can no longer see success within ourselves, we attempt to look beyond the wall. To no avail, the walls are too high, the imagination shackled. The shadows with which we experience life finally become too dull and we seek the source of light beyond. In attempt to break down my own walls, I have traveled to places both mentally and physically. In pursuit of phenomenological training, I voyaged to Maui, Hawaii. A landscape such as that of the mystical Maui, I remained in disbelief, not trusting my own eyes while gazing at the immaculate beauty of the island. I began to expect conditions of spiritual enlightenment from this land. Couldn't the wind tell me a secret or the volcano grumble a life purpose? I heard nothing, saw nothing, but the moment I took my ego out of the equation and released my will to the flow of prayers and chants was when I felt a rush or rather a download of serenity, a sense of beauty. Beauty, as most people find, holds great wisdom, but beauty is just as much of a construct as happiness, it does not require a definitive description to experience its power. In the beauty of letting go, I reflected on a parallel of my childhood, a redefining moment of intentional insignificance. I saw the burning bush through which God appeared to Moses, metaphorically of course. The burning bush was not consumed by the flames which endangered it. The landscape of Maui appeared too beautiful for its own good. A symbol for many religions, the burning bush represents a sacred light, one of God’s divine energy and a communication line between the sinful human and the Almighty. The expectations or rather fear before the divine presence blocked my receptiveness to such. At the moment of my serenity download, I felt the presence of a higher energy, one which solidified itself in physical miracles that appeared before my own eyes; there was no disbelieving in miracles after this point. The allusiveness towards my experience with the divine is portrayed in such a way because sacred experiences are made only by those partaking and even then, participants may just be observers rather than believers.

Quit expecting and start experiencing.

Sutherlan Spruck 

A perfect stroke to touch the divine

"It's a great art, is rowing. It's the finest art there is. It's a symphony of motion and when you're rowing well, why it' nearing perfection. You're touching the divine. It touches the you of yous, which is your soul." -George Pocock

I never thought myself an artist until I happened upon this quote. Nor did I recognize myself as a musician contributing to the "symphony of motion". A trained ear can detect the slightest aberration in performance and cringe at sour notes while the average ear would not arouse. Similarly, a rower feels the discomfort of an offset boat by the dip in their oar, back splash of a rush, and the eagerness for realignment. Pocock makes an understatement when he says, "when you're rowing well why it's nearing perfection," because the consistency in skill to row "well" is beyond the definition of such adjective. A perfect stroke may not result in the perfect motion if the other oarsmen do not participate in the intentional synchronization. When sweeps are off time or balance, the divine feeling of floating or flying across the water is lost. But the accordant effort collectively makes one perfect stroke feel like the imbalances were all worth it. And maybe the rowers complete two or more synchronized strokes; it is the initial pull that strikes the rower's souls through the oar cutting out of the rushing water to "[touch] the divine". The boat feels as though it is floating in weightless effort to maintain in such a tingling presence. Tingles, a deep gasp in this divine moment preserves the memory of what it feels like to operate harmoniously with everything within oneself and the surroundings, so much so that a longing for another touch at the divine never ceases. The peering into the divine essence of perfection is a look at one's own soul. Beauty and perfection take root as one continues the effort towards self-awakening moments such as that of a perfect stroke.

Sutherlan Spruck

Finding Oneself Through Spiritual Rambling

“When in flow, we are without the expectation of some future benefit but act simply because the doing itself is the reward. . . Spiritual rambling is not a means to some mundane end; the ramble as ritual practice is itself an end.”

This quote was taken from Dr. Redick’s Spiritual Rambling article proposal. To me, this quote seems to be stating that when engaged in a spiritual sojourn – when in “flow” – the journey that one goes through is the anticipated benefit or reward. While some people immerse themselves in a task simply to reach a long-awaited end product, others partake in an endeavor to enjoy the enlightening adventure that is in store for them. In the Spiritual Rambling article, Csikszentmihalyi labels these two distinct descriptions as autotelic: having an end or purpose in itself, and exotelic: doing something to get at a later goal. He concludes that most things in people’s lives are exotelic, that they are incapable of relishing in the greatness of a journey, and they just focus on getting through it. This statement leaves me to ponder, more deeply, just what Csikszentmihalyi was getting at. A majority of the population in our world live their lives by means of just going through the motions. A lot of us don’t take the time to stop and think about what we are actually engaging in. Many of us forget to enjoy the little things in life, and focus entirely on the larger picture, or, the “end product.” In our society, there are endless amounts of pressure on the finality of all our efforts. In other words, there is exhausting tension built on the notion of reaching that goal we have set for ourselves. May it be acquiring that seemingly impossible dream job, or simply reaching the finish line of that half-marathon one had been training for. Many of the individuals that set their goals fixate merely on the arrival itself, not the course they travel along to get there. And, often times, the journey itself is more rewarding than the destination one had been so concentrated on.

Conclusively, spiritual rambling is a method of finding oneself during a ritual practice. As stated in the article, it is not a means to a conventional end, but more so an enriching journey that cleanses the mind and soul of the every-day marketplace. Living in such a hectic environment (and seldom leaving) for extended periods of time can often cause one to lose sight of certain interpersonal connections that are reestablished when one returns to said spiritual atmosphere. Finding oneself during a spiritual rambling expedition is the reward all in itself, and can turn out to be much more beneficial than striving for a destination at the end of it all.

My Small Journey

September 21, 2015

My Small Journey

As I was writing my paper on sacred place and researching the importance of certain rituals and beliefs that go along with the place or journey I had a sort of realization for a more common and small scale journey.  After I wrote my paper and read Dr. Redick’s paper about his journey through the Appalachian Mountains I realized that I myself partake in a sort of detachment from the everyday world.  Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning I go for a three mile run outside of campus with just myself and my music.  I find though, as I am running, that more often then not I am not listening to the music, but instead I am thinking about specific things in my life.  My subconscious sort of takes over and I am not focusing on running, but rather on what I am thinking.  During this time there is no one else with me, no other voices to listen to or to intrude but my own.  This allotted amount of time is my own device for becoming detached from the busy world and spend just a little bit of time contemplating about specific things in my life.  Unconsciously I have created my own ritual and unconsciously I have entered a state of mind of reflection and self thought.  I have now become somewhat dependent upon this part of my daily routine and seem to be a bit more at ease when I have completed it each morning.