Br. Adam’s Introduction: Jesus accepts all. In that acceptance, past and future yield to now. Hither and thither yield to here. Vice and virtue yield to action. Denying themselves, good and evil men and women become simply “people.” Whether awake or asleep, they live together with him. In accepting all, is Jesus insane? In accepting all, you will know how the old hermit goes this way and that. [bxA]
Main Subject: A novice approached Fr. Mark in the woods. “How much does the Shekinah weigh?Fr. Mark said “Like God’s yoke, the Logos is easy. Remember Rabbouni, to whom the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. He knelt and wrote in the dust.” Fr. Mark bent down, but in his case, he picked up a rock. “Remember his words, ‘let him who is without sin cast the first stone.’” He tossed the stone playfully in the air, and caught it again.
“I’m confused,” said the novice.
Fr. Mark held the rock in front of the novice, and dropped it.
“I’m confused,” said the novice.
Fr. Mark held the rock in front of the novice, and dropped it.
Br. Adam’s Verse:
If we are dust, and returning to dust
where is all that’s written in the dust
when the spirit blows where it wills?
If judgments are rocks,
If we are dust, and returning to dust
where is all that’s written in the dust
when the spirit blows where it wills?
If judgments are rocks,
throwing them at others
or gashing ourselves with them,
we exhaust ourselves.
or gashing ourselves with them,
we exhaust ourselves.
Case 40: Fr. Mark’s “What were your hearts doing now?”
Br. Adam’s introduction: When the mind hears the words “be still” you will know who God is: just say the words “Not two.” When thoughts about God’s attributes multiply in the mind, just say the words “Not one.” If you fail to say “not two,” what is written will be true of you. “For this people’s heart has grown dull,and their ears are hard of hearing,and they have shut their eyes” If you fail to say “not one” what is written will be true of you as well “So that they might not…turn, and I would heal them.”
Main Subject: One rainy day in September, Fr. Mark was with his novices, landscaping the grounds out by the date palm trees. Though it was late in the season, the trees still bore late-ripening date palms. He saw his novices picking up date palms and eating them. He said “In dualistic systems, God is not the source of the problem, selves are. And again, ears and eyes are not the problem, selves are.”
By the time work ended, since it was raining, his novices were soaked and sweating. One broke the silence to say to another “I hope brother Edward makes mashed potatoes for dinner.” Fr. Mark said “ Be watchful, now…Eyes, ears and heart provide a nourishment in this moment that deprives suffering of its power.”
“What,” they asked “is that, Father?”
Fr. Mark said “Remember the date palms: what were your eyes doing that made you pick them up? What were your hearts doing now that made you think about eating Edward’s mashed potatoes later?”
But the novices did not understand.
Br. Adam’s Verse:
Seeing, hearing, and understanding:
These are all the activities of a person.
Seeing, hearing, and understanding:
These are all the activities of a person.
They are man, fully alive.
Not so, the activities of selves, not so.
They are like trees planted beside a cesspool.
They are rooted in pollution, and are full of disease.
Rooted in Egoism, we must beware the disease.
A tree is not self-conscious, taking root
To the rain and soil it says ‘not two”
It grows without wanting the sun.
Not so, the activities of selves, not so.
They are like trees planted beside a cesspool.
They are rooted in pollution, and are full of disease.
Rooted in Egoism, we must beware the disease.
A tree is not self-conscious, taking root
To the rain and soil it says ‘not two”
It grows without wanting the sun.
