Shadow and Light

A past experience- thought stuck in old beliefs
Unspoken words, situations unresolved
It's age independent

The Universe wants to express
To expand and create more
Since It lives only as now it can hold no grudge

Any thing stuck
Anything appearing as shadow
Emerges differently when the light shines

Dark and unknown has a new appearance
New insights, new angles are revealed
A new way of seeing things

Living fully illuminated
Living free
Today I shine the light

Name That Author

I'm reading a 1970 biography of Ernest Holmes, written by his brother Fenwicke. In it I found this quote:
"There is no life, truth, intelligence, nor substance in matter. All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all. Spirit is immortal Truth; matter is mortal error. Spirit is the real and eternal; matter is the unreal and temporal. Spirit is God, and man is His image and likeness. Therefore man is not material; he is spiritual."
I was surprised when I learned who wrote it.
Stumped? Look here.

How Big Is Infinite?

Ok, if you believe that there is a creative idea, a force, and it can be represented as human but is also more than human, i.e. a non-personalized spiritual form then let's call that form Universe. As a name 'Universe' fits well because it represents the vastness we can not see and do not fully understand, yet we know it is there. It provides great mysteries for thought as we think about its bigness, its size and our relation to it.

Well represented graphically, this 2:34 video begins to describe our size on Earth compared to other planetary and galaxy objects...the infinite nature of the Universe.

Mathematics and Physics

Study a language or study a culture and you find there are many ways that humans describe their experience, ways they describe the infinite. Today in the NY Times, I read that Bill Gates has purchased the video rights for Richard Feynman's 1964 Series of Cornell Physics Lectures. It's called Project Tuva and is online now.

I started watching the 55 minute segment titled The Relationship between Mathematics and Physics. In it Feynman says, (12 :20) and (14:05)
"It is impossible to answer really, honestly in the way a person can feel, to explain the beauties of the laws of nature without having a deep understanding of mathematics."

"Mathematics is not just a language. Mathematics is a language plus reasoning. Mathematics is a tool for reasoning. It is in fact a big collection of the results of some persons careful thought and reasoning. By mathematics it is possible to connect one statement with another."

Knowing that the Universe operates with specific and repeating laws, mathematics is a way to describe that operation, to understand the laws of nature. And the linking of that reasoning helps us predict with greater understanding how things work. It is a way to describe the the unknown, the infinite. When I was a student, we were proud that our discipline was one of the few that had theoretical footing for that predicted how things worked and at the same time, included teams of experiments designed to check the theory. Each aspect pushing the other to greater understanding.

Feynman is eloquent and animated in his explanations. Gates explained that if he had seen these lectures as a college student he might have been a physicist rather then leaving Harvard and becoming a software entrepreneur. And best of all you don't need a science background or PhD to appreciate Feynman's arguments describing nature.

'Men Descend to Meet'

Ralph Waldo Emerson is greatly quoted. There are many great one liners which for years I have appreciated but could never find at my finger tips. I'd see a quote and wonder if it included the complete context of what Emerson meant. After teaching a course on his Essays for the second time I feel like I get it. The great thing about teaching a course is that you get to experience the work twice- first in preparing and then in presenting and discussing with the adult learners interested in understanding Emerson's writings as they pertain to spiritual life.

The essay Oversoul is about the great idea, the Divine and how we are part of the Divine. It is considered to be his most mystical essay. Filled with metaphorical descriptions in this essay RWE says, "From within or from behind, a light shines through us upon things, and makes us aware that we are nothing, but the light is all'. The light is the Over-Soul.

For the past week I have been walking with the idea found about midway through Over-Soul. 'Men descend to meet'. Let me explain why it's been enlightening to me. I see it as there is a Divine idea, the Universe, that wants to articulate, to create, to show up in form here on Earth. We are a form of this creative energy. And so in my daily walk, daily life this passage reflects what I am here to do. The idea of me, the idea of you; both having descended into human form to meet. We are not identical but we are unique forms of the same Universe. How simple, how clear, how elegant, how purposeful.