Author Archives: faypau28
Paul – Saturday
Paul – Friday
The Formula
The mystic was back from the desert. “Tell us,” they said, “what God is like.”
But how could he ever tell them what he had experienced in his heart? Can God be put into words?
He finally gave them a formula—so inaccurate, so inadeguate—in the hope that some of them might be tempted to experience it for themselves.
They seized upon the formula. They made it a sacred tert. They imposed it on others as a holy belie They went to great pains to spread it in foreign lands. Some even gave their lives for it.
The mystic was sad. It might have been better if he had said nothing.
Imagine the Mind
It is said that the Camino is split into three sections. The first is honing in on your body, introducing soarness and pain, getting you ready for the 500 miles you are walking. The second, my present section confronts your mind. Spending the first few days of this section hiding from my mind in audiobooks, I was hoping I could pass by it easily. Today, however, I took a page from Amber’s book and put on music, tentatively so I could think and confront my mind, but be less alone with my thoughts. When I was younger I loved escaping to my imagination, but as I grew up feeling my imagination drained I’ve been constantly in fear of my own thoughts. I can feel my imagination missing, but am scared to check and see how much has left. So as I walked l opened up to myself recessing back into my mind. I was in instant tears, coming from a guy who usually laughs when he gets hurt and failed to cry when his grandfather died even though I wanted to and felt depressed. Unsure why I was crying, I felt joy, sadness, and relief wash over me. Confronting inner demons I had repressed for years I could finally understand that my imagination hadn’t left me. As children we are dumb; not knowing math, science, or grammar, we have less limitations on what could be possible. Once we learn more we start to understand why one can’t teleport or shoot fire out of the palm of our hands. Although my child-like mind is gone, replaced with a more educated adult brain I still am able to daydream about fantasy lands. I value my advanced math and science knowledge just as much; I wish I had advanced grammar skills as well but they’re just as bad as when I was a child. Thanks to the Camino’s mind section and the ability to walk alone with my thoughts I was able to find better ways to confront myself and was able to rediscover my mind. I look forward to walking more in silence and pondering every aspect of myself I can before I confront my spirituality, the third section.
Paul – Thursday
Label Maker
Life is like heady wine Everyone reads the label on the bottle. Hardly anyone tastes the wine.
Buddha once held up a flower to his disciples and asked each of them to say something about it.
One pronounced a lecture. Another a poem. Yet another a parable. Each trying to outdo the other in depth and erudition.
Label makers!
Mahakashyap smiled and said nothing. Only he had seen the flower.
If I could only taste a bird, a flower, a tree, a human face!
But, alas, I have no time! My energy is spent deciphering the label.
(The Song of the Bird by Anthony de Mello)
Paul – Wednesday
FIFTY FOUR AND A HALF K TODAY!! With Amber, Aaron, and Evan. Sahagún to Leon!
The Question
Said the monk, “All these mountains and rivers and the earth and stars—where do they come from?”
Said the master, “Where does your question come from?”
Search within!
(The Song of the Bird by Anthony de Mello)
Paul – Tuesday
Searching In The Wrong Place
A neighbor found Nasruddin on hands and knees.
“What are you searching for, Mullah?”
“My key.”
Both men got on their knees to search. After a while the neighbor said, “Where did you lose it?”
“At home.”
“Good Lord! Then why are you searching here?”
“Because it’s brighter here.”
Search for God where you lost him
(The Song of the Bird by Anthony de Mello)
Paul – Monday
The Man Idol
An ancient Hindu story:
A shipwrecked merchant drifted to the shore of Ceylon, where Vibhishana was the King of the Monsters. At the sight of him Vibhishana became ecstatic with joy and said, “Ah! He looks just like my Rama. The same human form!” He then had rich clothes and jewels put on the merchant and worshiped him.
The Hindu mystic Ramakrishna says, “When I first heard this story I felt an indescribable delight. If God can be worshiped in images of clay, should he not be worshiped in people?”
(The Song of the Bird by Anthony de Mello)
Paul – Sunday
THE WORD MADE FLESH
In the Gospel of Saint John we read:
The Word became fesh; he came to dwell among us… through him all things came to be; no single thing was created without him. All that came to be was alive with his life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never quenched it.
Look steadily at the darkness. It won’t be long before you see the light. Gaze at things. It won’t be long before you see the Word.
The Word became flesh; he came to dwell among us…
And stop those frantic efforts to change flesh back into words. Words, words, words!
(The Song Of The Bird by Anthony de Mello)
Paul – Saturday
THE TEMPLE BELLS
The temple was built on an island and it held a thousand bells. Bells big and small, fashioned by the finest men in the world. When the wind blew or a storm raged, all the bells would peal out in a symphony that would send the heart of the hearer into raphures.
But over the centuries the island sank into the sea and, with it, the temple bells. An ancient legend said that the bells continued to peal out, ceaselessly, and could be heard by anyone who would listen. Inspired by this legend, a young man traveled thousands of miles, determined to hear those bells. He sat for days on the shore, facing the vanished island, and listened with all his might. But all he could hear was the sound of the sea. He made every efort to block it out. But to no avail; the sound of the sea seemed to flood the world.
He kept at his lask for weeks. Each time he got disheartened he would listen to the village pundits, who spoke with unction of the mysterious legend. Then his heart would be aflame… only to become discouraged again when weeks of further effort yielded no results.
Finally he decided to give up the attempt. Perhaps he was not to hear the bells. Perhaps the legend was not true. It was his final day, and he went to the shore to say goodbye to the sea and the sky and the wind and the coconut trees. He lay on the sand, and for the first time, listened to the sound of the sea. Soon he was so lost in the sound that he was barely conscious of himself, so deep was the silence that the sound produced.
In the depth of that silence, he heard it! The tinkle of a tiny bell followed by another, and another and another… and soon every one of the thousand temple bells was pealing out in harmony, and his heart was rapt in joyous ecstasy.
Do you wish to hear the temple bells? Listen to the sound of the sea.
Do you wish to catch a glimpse of God? Look intently at creation.