ego Archives - Page 6 of 9

Patience (Part III): Patience as a Characteristic of Prayerful Living

08/25/2017

Patience Is Practical Patience is practical in that it is necessary, within chronological time, to overcome obstacles to seeking God and barriers which prevent openness to God’s grace. It is a factor that contributes to transformation. Patience is also a manifestation of an open and God-filled life. It is a characteristic of a manner of life which embodies God’s presence. Patience was seen as an alternative to the mind’s and the ego’s need for “immediate

Patience (Part II): The Biblical Roots of Patience in Desert Asceticism

07/18/2017

The sources of desert wisdom are the sayings of the abbas and ammas and written accounts of incidents from their lives. The wisdom embodied in their actions and teaching was formed through years of meditation and teaching about the Bible and the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The Greek words used for patience in these sources can help us understand the role of patience in the lives of the desert monks. The Greek verb “hypomeno”

Watching the River

07/17/2017

To live in the present moment requires a change in our inner posture. Instead of expanding or shoring up our fortress of “I”–the ego–which culture and often therapy try to help us do, contemplation waits to discover what this “I” consists of. What is this “I” that I take so seriously? To discover the answer, we have to calmly observe our own stream of consciousness and see its compulsive patterns. That’s what happens in the

Face to Face—Beholding God

07/14/2017

My mind wandered back to these thoughts as I pondered the growing phenomenon of “selfies.” Of course, the “selfie” is the passion-driven distortion of the theology of the face – existence as ego. For the mystery of the face is not to look at myself, but to look at the other. You are God’s “selfie.” Ponder it. Nothing about the human body is as intimate as the face. We generally think of other aspects of

Alternative Consciousness

07/10/2017

I often use this line, a paraphrase of Albert Einstein: “No problem can be solved by the same consciousness that caused it.” Unfortunately, we have been trying to solve almost all our problems with the very same mind that caused them, which is the calculating or dualistic mind. This egocentric mind usually reads everything in terms of short-term effect, in terms of what’s in it for me and how I can look good. As long

The Cell, Meeting God and Ourselves (Part IX). The Cell and Love of Neighbor

06/28/2017

The Cell and Love of Neighbor The external environment of a society, family or religious community reflects the internal environment of the human beings who form it. Jesus said, “By their fruit you shall know them” (Matt 7:16, NRSV). In the cell the monk’s interior life is formed in such a way that he or she becomes what the cell makes possible. The physical enclosure of the cell houses the activities of God’s transforming Spirit.

VERY LOVING LIGHT

06/27/2017

Consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, because you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure. -James 1:2-3 Ego is often maligned as some sort of table-pounding ogre, or a spoiled brat who throws all the toys out of the pram when things don’t go its way. While ego certainly has its bad days, it is also quite happy to charm

Self-Emptying. The Body of Christ.

06/19/2017

Make my joy complete by being of a single mind, one in love, one in heart and one in mind. Nothing is to be done out of jealousy or vanity; instead, out of humility of mind everyone should give preference to others, everyone pursuing not selfish interests but those of others. Make your own the mind of Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be

Wednesday of Meat-Fare. And When You Fast

02/15/2017

Jesus said, “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew

The Cell, Meeting God and Ourselves (Part VI)

11/10/2016

The cell is an environment for salvation because in that specific place the monk turns to God as the source of his or her true self. Salvation is the restoration of the soul to its true content rather than a purification of “the pollution of the body [29] This desert understanding of salvation is in contrast to both the contemporary Greek Gnostic thought of that period which valued the spirit over the body and to

Tags

Patience (Part III): Patience as a Characteristic of Prayerful Living

Patience (Part II): The Biblical Roots of Patience in Desert Asceticism

Watching the River

Face to Face—Beholding God

Alternative Consciousness

The Cell, Meeting God and Ourselves (Part IX). The Cell and Love of Neighbor

VERY LOVING LIGHT

Self-Emptying. The Body of Christ.

Wednesday of Meat-Fare. And When You Fast

The Cell, Meeting God and Ourselves (Part VI)

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