The Harried Mystic

Aurora taking leave of her lover Tithos. Having asked Zeus to make him immortal, she failed to also ask that he not age.

In all things, nature seeks a steady state. Young lovers, like the mythic Aurora depicted in the public domain image above, leaving her now aged and enfeebled Tithos, last only for a season. Thereafter, love must take on new and changing features.

The neurotic pursuit of eternal youth fails to appreciate the natural order of change and re-balancing. There is nothing so pitiful as an older man lusting after a girl who could be his daughter, or an older woman pursuing a much younger man. These couplings are contra-natura and, as such, cannot long prevail.

Mind-body-spirit are continuously being recalibrated to new realities, and finding the “sweet spot” at each station on life’s path is our spiritual task. Neurosis simply reflects our failure to find it. Homeostasis is the capacity of animals to regulate physiological limits to secure a balanced system. Whether we speak about the endothermic animals who have inherent self-regulation of such parameters as temperature or exothermic, who carry out control by behavioral adaptations, the aim is the same: support an equilibrium around a mean value developed in evolutionary time. Such regulatory mechanisms include insulin production, kidney regulation of water and ions, conformance to circadian rhythm, and the sleep cycle to name but a  few.

As in matter so too in spirit, we see homeostatic feedback loops at work as we thread the needle of insight. Carl G. Jung spoke often of the need for complementarity and balance of feminine and masculine,  Shadow and self. The human ecology shows the same socio-spiritual dynamic. As a long-time facilitator of team meetings (large and small), I can anecdotally attest (as so many of my colleagues will as well), that a meeting of all men is a very different meeting than one with mixed gender representation.

The discussions tend  to have more sharp edges with an economy of time invested in discovery and willingness to live in the question. On receiving a facilitation assignment, the first thing I look over is the roster to see just how gender diverse it is. In any event, in such gatherings, mixed representation ensures a better return from extremes to balanced views as issues clarify and strategies are developed.

In the politico-spiritual arena, we can see the same system of feedback loops over time as the collective national system strives for homeostasis.

• The election of President Barack Obama in the United States, a man of great eloquence and nuanced thinking, with a thirst for diverse viewpoints and dialogue,  followed the era of the self-named “Vulcans” of the G.W. Bush administration: a white House known for black and white, two-dimensional thinking, machismo, bravado, preemptive martial attitudes, and belief in American exceptionalism.
• The almost successful campaign of Hillary Clinton as a woman of intellect, maturity and advocacy for women in high office juxtaposed against Sarah Palin who epitomizes the allure of the “rogue” feminine: less intellect, more ideology,  almost stereotypic feminine coquettishness, and willful appeal to emotion.
• One year after the U.S. election, an initially very popular Barack Obama is now low in the polls as the politico-spiritual system once again seeks a re-balancing with many now wanting, especially those on the Left,  more aggressive pursuit of Presidential goals and less of the collaborative and dialogic style he campaigned on and promised.
• Pope John Paul II followed by Benedict XVI. Once again, we contrast John-Paul’s more archetypally feminine engagement with people at a deeply personal level with Benedict’s more intellectual, academic, definitive and judgmental disposition.

A Zen Buddhist monk I know carries a stick with feathers on one end. Life demands both the firm stick of masculine engagement with its attendant forcefulness, directness, expedient attitude and focus, and the “feather-end” of grace, charm, cordiality, collegiality and listening. In thinking on the matter of psycho-spiritual homeostasis, I consider my need for balance in aspects of my work, and the dynamic movement between the poles of the archetypal masculine and feminine. I see the same movement in my writing and in my meditations and, most certainly, in the stuff of my dreams.

These thoughts emerge in the context of the Gospel reading from today’s Lectionary from Luke:

Luke 2: 32-40

There was a prophetess, Anna,
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.
She was advanced in years,
having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.
She never left the temple,
but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.
And coming forward at that very time,
she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child
to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

It is notable that the reading places the spotlight on the role of the prophetess Anna and her retelling the story of the Christ Child. The Church, especially Rome and Orthodoxy, have become overly dominated by the masculine. Absent a true feminine presence in Church practice and polity,  one sees instead a compensatory hyper-sentimentality toward the Virgin.

We need to listen to both our prophets and our prophetesses. Indeed, we need to get back in touch with the prophetic gifts altogether as they have been largely eclipsed in this utilitarian and masculine age of sensate-focused technophilia.

As we approach the New Year, I am reviewing my rule of reading, writing, meditation, prayer and engagement in search  of re-balancing. With deliberateness, I look ahead with intent to:

1. Follow the reading of a work of fiction written by  a man with one written by a woman.
2. Alternate between contemplative prayer and discursive practice.
3. Open my aperture as regards the further cultivation of intuition and powers of seeing beyond the customary three dimensions, and listen for the “angels” and their messages.

Balance and the “Middle Way” are the two surest goals on our paths to seeing more clearly and understanding more authentically and deeply.

© Brother Anton and The Harried Mystic, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.