Manifest Revolution Live Truth.

For any lasting transformation to take place, we must first admit into the mind the possibility of change.

Simple as that seems, it is the first place we get hung up. Whether we are looking at our spiritual depths or trying to improve some exterior aspect of ourselves, we are unable to move if we cannot imagine the possibility of movement. It is even an understatement to say this applies only to transformation; we cannot do anything unless we can find mental congruence in the possibility of doing it. If I cannot entertain the vision of washing the dishes, I guarantee I will not wash the dishes.

There's an almost overwhelming amount of attention in postmodern spiritual movements given to the "higher self." Each brand has it's own name, but the concept is the same: it's the highest good in each of us. Unfortunately, postmodern spiritual movements are inextricably wedded to the postmodern worldview at the center of which lies: the self. The old notion of the universe revolving around earth has become very personal: the universe revolves around me. For a society as highly individualized as we are, to reinforce the individual as central to spirituality is misguided at best.

We like lists. From the Eight Pillars to the Ten Commandments to the Bill of Rights to Getting Things Done, it seems the human race can't find a list it doesn't like. There's even a list of Seven Deadly Vices! As if we need to count!

But that's the way the mind works best, by consolidating and enumerating things outside of ourselves. And of course, that's all we can consolidate and enumerate -- things outside ourselves -- everything interior is one "I." Which is probably why we have tended to define god as "One," because we experience god within where it cannot be counted.

But that paints a very one-dimensional picture of god. No matter how much we want to believe that we know just who, how and what god is, that's coming at best from a glimpse remembered and interpreted by a mind entangled with ego and material identification.

Messy.

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name

I think it can be fairly argued that the last great evolutionary shift in collective development began with the European Renaissance and continued through the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century (give or take a century). This is certainly not the only meaningful shift that can be identified, but it is unique for having not just advanced certain lines of inquiry, but for having redefined the human approach to inquiry across numerous lines in such a way as to fundamentally alter human perspectives, values and social structures almost across the board.

There is a Zen saying that teaches that teachings are like a finger pointing at the moon; the finger is not the moon, and unless the student looks beyond the finger towards what is being pointed at, nothing is gained. It’s a pretty common postmodern-pluralistic assertion that Religion, Philosophy, Spiritual Practice and New Age Metaphysics all point to the same thing. Some will even say that modern science -- cosmology, quantum physics and evolutionary biology -- point there as well. But usually that is a way of saying that all these things point to the thing I believe in. But all of these fields of thought and practice are analogous to each other -- they all address the same fundamental questions at the same level; only the perspective differs. If it’s attached to a hand then it’s a finger, not a moon.