Human Living the Adventure Being of Life and And Love Becoming

1. Embrace the Adventure of Human Being and Becoming

The journey of becoming whole and fully human has been my constant quest for sixty years, and mapping the territories of spirit and soul that are traveled on that journey has been central to my calling for the last forty of those.

Life's grand quest. Life is an incredible adventure, not a "crapshoot, a battle, or a prison sentence." Many feel a "disquiet of ferment and the all-embracing ache of longing," a call to explore larger possibilities and become more than they are. This isn't about escaping humanity but actualizing it, participating consciously in our personal and communal unfolding.

Dynamic interplay. Being human involves a continuous process of becoming. This dynamic character implies a tendency for everything to transcend itself, expressing in new, complex forms. Our existence is a dance between being (our current state), becoming (our potential for growth), and doing (our actions that manifest our hidden depths).

Beyond mere survival. While some are preoccupied with survival, many are drawn by an "evolutionary flow" towards greater consciousness and deeper humanity. This journey is not automatic; it requires openness, attentiveness, responsiveness, and trust to move beyond the "safe position on the shore of the river" and embrace its flow.

2. Our Deepest Nature is Goodness, Oneness, and Truth

If you were connected inherently with the nature of Being, you would always be united and uniting, you would always do the inherently true thing, and you would always do the morally good thing. This is your deepest nature.

Perennial wisdom. The "perennial wisdom tradition" identifies three "transcendentals" as properties of everything that exists: oneness, truth, and goodness. Everything is singular, interconnected, and inherently good. This challenges the notion of original sin, aligning instead with the Genesis creation story where God declares creation "very good."

Integral wholeness. Where truth exists, so do oneness and goodness, and vice-versa. This integral harmony results in beauty. Indigenous cultures, like the Amerindian people of the Amazon, deeply understand this interconnectedness, recognizing that "everything is interconnected" and that this truth guides wise living.

Beyond sinfulness. Many traditions, including secular humanism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Celtic Christianity, embrace the essential goodness of human nature. Mistrusting our bodies, emotions, or intuitions due to a belief in inherent sinfulness cuts us off from our deepest selves and misaligns us with life's flow.

3. Seek Wholeness, Not Perfection, by Integrating All Parts of Self

Perfection is not the elimination of imperfection but the ability to recognize, forgive, and include it.

Illusions of perfection. Humans often pursue unattainable ideals of perfection—the perfect body, image, or family—which are ultimately illusions. This pursuit is "deeply soul-damaging" and leads to idealization of others, distorting reality and compromising our ability to engage life vitally.

Beauty in flaws. True beauty and richness lie in our imperfections. As Leonard Cohen sang, "There’s a crack, a crack, in everything / That’s how the light gets in." Navajo rugs intentionally include a flaw, the "locus of the invisible spirit." Wholeness comes from embracing our wounds, brokenness, and inconsistencies, not eliminating them.

Acceptance liberates. The most deeply human individuals courageously accept their imperfections, freeing them to become more and to accept others as they are. This "whole self" is paradoxically the most perfect, allowing light to flow through our cracks and enabling us to mediate healing, much like Henri Nouwen's "wounded healer."

4. Recognize Cosmic Interconnectedness: We Are All Part of a Larger Whole

Nothing in the world is ultimately intelligible apart from its relationship to the larger wholes in which it exists, and humans are very much included within this pattern.

No man is an island. We are all part of a vast, intricate web of interconnections, from our families and cultures to the entire cosmos. This "Great Nest of Being" describes existence as "nesting Russian dolls" across five levels: matter, life, mind, soul, and spirit. Each higher level emerges from, integrates, and transcends the lower ones.

Evolutionary whole-making. Modern science confirms this fundamental insight: everything exists as "little wholes within larger wholes," interrelated in a "choreographed dance." Evolution is a persistent pull towards increasing wholeness, complexity, and consciousness, driven by an "attractional force" that Teilhard de Chardin called love or God-Omega.

The illusion of separation. Our "optical illusion of the separate self" is a product of the mind's binary operating system, which divides and classifies. Mystics, however, report a pervasive sense of oneness, knowing that the self exists within a "thick web of interconnectedness." This knowing, not just believing, makes "all the difference in the world."

5. Create Meaning by Consenting to Life's Flow, Especially Through Suffering

Paradoxically, the only way in which we can discover the gifts that suffering brings to us is to open ourselves to it.

Meaning-seeking nature. Humans are inherently meaning-seeking, especially when faced with unwelcome events. Meaning is not inherited but "created" as a personal response to life, constantly evolving. It must be robust enough to make suffering sufferable, helping us live life "as it actually is, not as we wish it might be."

Gifts in adversity. Suffering, though not good in itself, offers potential gifts when we resist the urge to eliminate it and instead "open ourselves to it." Rumi's "Guest House" poem illustrates this: welcome all experiences, even "a crowd of sorrows," as they are "guides from beyond." This hospitality allows us to discover deeper meaning.

Consent to life. A meaningful life emerges from a "full-hearted 'yes' of consent to life," accepting it as it comes, rather than trying to force it into a pleasing shape. This shift from willfulness to willingness aligns us with life's dynamic flow, preparing us to navigate its currents rather than swimming against them.

6. Navigate Personhood's Paradoxes: Conscious, Unconscious, Freedom, and Bondage

To be human is to live with the tension of the paradoxes that we are.

Mysteries of being. Humans are a profound mystery, full of "shocking irrationalities and surprising contradictions." We are a synthesis of "dust and breath, matter and spirit, finite and infinite." These paradoxes—like conscious and unconscious, thought and emotion, freedom and bondage, good and evil—cannot be reconciled but must be embraced to grasp larger truths.

The whole mind. The human mind is an integral whole, encompassing both conscious and unconscious dimensions. Dreams, for instance, are a "remarkable cooperation" between them, bringing vital information for wholeness. Emotions, far from being irrational, are "vital to higher cognitive functioning and essential to good judgment," complementing reason.

Freedom and responsibility. Our choices, though influenced by past actions, continuously increase or decrease our future freedom. Addictions, for example, are strategies to avoid vulnerability, but even in deep bondage, the choice to seek help remains. True freedom comes from "deep and meaningful embeddedness within larger wholes and bigger causes," often requiring community support.

7. Move Beyond the Egoic Mind to a Heart-Centered Way of Being

The longest and hardest journey humans will ever take is the short distance from the head to the heart.

Ego's limitations. The ego, while indispensable for organizing reality, simplifies it through a "binary brain" operating system. This leads to dualistic consciousness, emphasizing difference over sameness, and fostering self-preoccupation, comparison, complaint, resentment, and envy. It keeps us "isolated individuality—a fragment of a branch broken from the tree."

Cosmic consciousness. Human consciousness is a participation in a larger "cosmic sea of consciousness." While ego restricts this flow, experiences like Maslow's "peak experiences" offer glimpses of this expansive, interconnected state. The goal of human unfolding is to "inhabit this ultimate whole in which we already exist."

Heart as wisdom's core. The heart, recognized in wisdom traditions and increasingly by science, is our "spiritual center," the "fullness of the mind." It perceives wholeness, alignment, and harmony, drawing data from all levels of reality. Aligning the mind with the heart is the core of transformation, moving us beyond ego's "petty games" to a deeper, truer self.

8. Love is the Universal Force Driving All Being and Becoming

Love is the deeply personal presence of the passionate force at the heart of the Big Bang universe, and it is the same passionate force at the heart of its continuing evolution.

Cosmic glue. Teilhard de Chardin posited that love, or "God-Omega," is the fundamental "attractional force" that holds the universe together, driving "whole-making" and evolution. From the Big Bang's cooling particles forming atoms to planets in orbit, love is the "fire that breathes life into matter," unifying and differentiating.

Eros and longing. This primal love-energy, or eros, is intrinsically relational, propelling everything towards union and wholeness. Our longing for completeness is tied to our sexuality, which, in its broader sense, is the "love-energy that propels us toward intimacy, personalization, and wholeness," seeking connections beyond mere genital expression.

Relational reality. "Being is being in relationship." Everything, from humans to the natural world, is constituted by its relationships. Nurturing these connections—with our bodies, minds, souls, environment, and others—is crucial for our becoming. Love offers the "intimacy and deep belonging for which our souls ache," vitalizing the human spirit.

9. Live Inclusively: Break Down Boundaries and Embrace All Humanity

The alternative is to live with ever-expanding boundaries of inclusiveness, which involves moving from loving myself as myself to loving us as myself and finally to loving all of us as myself.

Avoid false paths. Individualism, tribalism, and perfectionism are "well-traveled roads" that promise wholeness but deliver only "egocentric self-encapsulation" and fragmentation. Tribalism, for instance, defines identity by exclusion, fueled by mistrust and latent hostility, often manifesting as racism or religious exclusivism.

Empathy and "thou". The path to wholeness involves "ever-expanding boundaries of inclusiveness." This means encountering everyone as a "thou" rather than an "it," as Martin Buber suggested. Treating others as less than human degrades both their humanity and our own. Inclusiveness starts with those who bother us most.

Communal journey. Wholeness is not an individual project but has a communal expression. It involves learning, growing, and serving together within diverse communities, which challenge our comfort zones and foster growth. This commitment helps us transcend individualism and tribalism, recognizing our shared humanity and belonging to a larger "human family."

10. Cultivate Heartfulness Through Meditation and Intentional Practice

Ultimately, what we need is purity of heart. Purity of heart is singleness of heart—to will one thing above all else.

Heart-shaped becoming. Becoming fully human involves a realization of our potentialities, moving from growth to transformation. The heart plays a crucial role in this journey, offering an alternative to the egoic operating system. It's about trusting our hearts and living "heart-centered lives."

Meditation's transformative power. Meditation, or contemplation, is the "access key" to this heart-shaped self. It sidelines the egoic mind's constant activity, detaching us from thoughts and attachments. This practice of "gentle release" unblocks the "clogged arteries of the spiritual heart," allowing life and love to flow freely.

Beyond mindfulness. "Heartfulness" complements mindfulness, leading to "purity of heart"—a singleness of purpose and love. It's not about being compassionate but allowing compassion to flow through us. This opens us to the heart's wisdom, intelligence, and compassion, enabling us to see reality through "oneness" and find our place in larger wholes.

11. The Spirit-Centered Life: Our Destiny of Union with the Divine

Our return to our origins in spirit (or, in more traditional Christian language, in God) never leaves soul, mind, life, or matter behind.

Integration, not abandonment. The journey of becoming culminates in a spirit-centered life, where all levels of existence—matter, life, mind, soul—are woven together, with spirit as the dynamic center. This return to our divine source is not an abandonment of lower levels but their integration and transcendence, a process Christians call "salvation" or "redemption."

Panentheistic reality. This union with the spirit of God also involves a union with everything, as "everything that exists is held in the unity that is Christ." This is panentheism—God interpenetrates and transcends the natural world. Mystics across traditions testify to this "oneness," where human and divine being become "mysteriously interwoven."

Love's ultimate expression. The spirit-centered life is "love-inebriated," a passionate affair with the Divine. Through love, we overcome the illusion of separateness, dethrone the ego, and participate in the wholeness that is God. Seeing others through "eyes of love" reveals our fundamental sameness and shared journey as "children of God."

12. Trust Your Longings, Not Your Fears, to Guide Your Journey

Don’t be distracted by your fears. Listen only to your longings. They come from your heart.

Barriers of fear. The primary obstacle to this love-saturated becoming is fear: fear of losing control, the unknown, judgment, or a "free fall" from our current platform. This fear, rooted in the ego, prevents the "trusting consent to the flow of the stream that surges through life" necessary for genuine transformation.

Longings as compass. Our deepest longings, originating from the heart, are trustworthy guides. They pull us towards "deeper and fuller becoming," urging us to find our true home in relationship to the self-transcendent. This path requires faith and courage to step into the unknown, knowing that the flow of life leads back to our divine source.

Journey with others. This transformative journey is not meant to be walked alone. Connecting with others who are also on this path provides support and a "great introduction to the larger whole within which you belong." By trusting our heart's longings and embracing community, we can overcome fear and fully participate in the "most important and most awesome journey any of us can ever make!"