On Real Faith

Inbetween blind belief and realization is contemplative faith.

Blind belief is taking someone else’s word for experiential knowledge.

Contemplative faith is contemplating someone else’s words and

proving or disproving them with one’s own experiential knowledge.

Belief is like blindly following a road map and driving into the lake of samsara.

Belief is not faith. Faith is trusting oneself. And the contemplation is knowing oneself better.

a. Fly Maya

Science says my dining room table is more than 99% space but I still put things on it.

It's not because I distrust the material sciences but I know what Maya is.

Maya gets you there despite the logic of Zeno's Paradox.

b. Meet the Existents

The necessary existent is unborn and immutable. The contingent existent is born, changes, and dies.

The necessary existent is Brahman. The contingent existent is Maya.

There is nothing but Brahman. Maya appears in Brahman like a dream appears in the mind, like a snake appears in a rope.

c. Love in Samsara

The I is silent in Parabrahman.

The I is pronounced Me in Samsara.

In Samsara, Me knows lots of things.

Me loves some of them to be existent.

Me loves some of them to be nonexistent.

d. Get Back, Jojo

In the primordial duality of Maya

before the ignorance of individual consciousness has descended to cloud the universe in the darkness of Samsara—

the I in subtle reflection says I am, I know, I love.

e. Three Real Encores

We are seeing Van Morrison singing Moondance as a full moon rises behind the band beneath this lovely Tanglewood summer night in 1972 and we kiss.

We see Van Morrison and Bob Dylan Knockin' at Heaven's Door in the old Fleet Center on a January night in Boston. Good seats, stage left. You can see through the black holes in their eyes.

We see Great Big Sea singing Great Big Sea while leaning on the stage at a city summer festival in Somerville 1999. We are my daughter and I. She really likes them. That's way cool.

f. An Overture to Contemplative Faith

Faith is trusting oneself and contemplation is knowing oneself better.

Maya gets you there despite the logic of Zeno’s Paradox.

The necessary existent is unborn and immutable; the contingent existent is born, changes, and dies.

In Samsara, Me knows lots of things. Me loves some of them to be existent, Me loves some of them to be nonexistent.

The I in subtle reflection says I am, I know, I love.

We see Great Big Sea singing Great Big Sea while leaning on the stage at a city summer festival in Somerville 1999.

g. Keeping the Fourth

You are entering that place between the three states of consciousness and the Fourth. Welcome to the twilight zone.

Between realization and belief is faith, contemplative faith. Bond, James Bond. Turiya.

Faith is to being as belief is to being the Fourth one night a year.