Posted on by Peter Woods

Radical Christ 17 – Compassion Takes Guts

Ram Dass spoke eloquently of developing a spiritual practice that enables you to keep your heart open in hell. Mahayana Buddhists have the notion of Bodhisattvas, enlightened being who after countless rebirths are ready to enter into the bliss of Nirvana, but who vow not to cross over until they have assisted all sentient beings, to cross over before them.

Once in conversation with a Zen monk, and referencing the Boddhisattva concept, the monk smiled at me and replied, “Yes, but Jesus also was a great Boddhisattva.” In that moment my entire life changed as I realised we are all just ‘walking each other home’, another Ram Dass saying.

Compassion lies at the heart of all spiritual practice, in fact is the absolute validation of our journey. If my journey, religion and practice does not increase my compassion, what’s the point. If my religion makes me cruel, fearful and judgemental what’s the point?

This episode explores the way Jesus experienced compassion and unpacks some of his crazy wisdom that enabled his to say to marginalised and dispossessed people that they were “Blessed”.

This isn’t what you may think.

Karl Marx misread this ascpect and called releigion “an opiate”. He was wrong, It isn’t opium, correctly understood this crazy wisdom is dynamite!

Links:

Bodhisattva Vows

Ram Dass – Keeping your Heart open in Hell

Posted on by Peter Woods

Radical Christ – Integration Practice 2 – Using the Cross for personal understanding of our psyche

YouTube Video
Podcast – Audio only

From the times of Emperor Constantine and the Battle of the Milvian bridge 27 October 312 CE, the cross has come to be associated with expansionism, triumphalistic Crusades, patriarchy, and at some level this cross denotes everything that is wrong with the world right now.

It would be sad if we missed the fact that the cross is more than a religious image. It is a deepy archetypal symbol embedded in the human unconscious, and can be wisely used as a symbol of intersection and integration.
This video looks at the human cruciform expansion of the healthy ego in the first half of life as we move from the Alpha point of concetion and birth.

In the second half of life, the cross invited the ego to slowly merge with the higher IAM of the true self which is the essence of LIFE that awaits us at the omega point of our dying.

I hope you find the Integration Practice useful as you become the cross you are called to carry

Links:
Vision of Constantine
Useful list of Jungian Quotes on the Christian Archetype

Posted on by Peter Woods

Radical Christ 15 – Follow me – with YOUR Cross

The Cross as a symbol has become unanimous with the Christian Church.

In this video Peter explores the cross not as a Christian Brand mark or even as a Colonial Crusading Emblem, but rather as a integrative symbol of psychological healing.

The cross is not intended to be expanded as a symbol of global dominance, rather is it intended as a symbol of contraction and convergence to the centre point where the four axes converge.

It is the centre of the cross that is most redemptive. It is also clear that we cannot take up the Cross of Jesus in this process. We are told explicitly by Jesus to take up our OWN cross.(Mt 16)

Posted on by Peter Woods

Radical Christ – 14 INTEGRATION Practice – “Self-enquiry”

Accompanying the Radical Christ Journey – Peter offers a series of Integration Practices to help move Information, through integration, to personal transformation.
In the first practice we travel to India and the little town of Tiruvanamallai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiruvannamalai
the home of Ramana Maharshi who taught the Advaita method of “Self Enquiry”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-enquiry_(Ramana_Maharshi)

Simply investigating “Who am I?” can bring us to a transforming encounter with the Divine Witness that is in us and IS us. The name of God is I AM is it not?

Happy exploring…