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Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Light, Science and Moving Beyond Dualism 02/06/2023 |
We have been celebrating non-dualism and “oneing” and love as the mystics and activists define it and live
it. Today’s science is an ally in moving beyond dualism. |
Our universe is flooded with light, and light is far more prevalent in the universe than is matter. Astrophysicist Arne Wyller, citing Nobel Prize–winner Ilya Prigogine, puts it this way: A flood of light dominates our Universe today and…matter is numerically insignificant among the stuff of the universe. For every particle of matter there are 1 billion particles of light. | |
Matter is just a minor pollutant in a universe made of light. Perhaps there is more to the phenomenon of light than meets the eye of the physicist. At the moment of almost ultimate compression, the light of the whole Universe was able to fit into a volume much smaller than the point of a needle. Light is not just up in the sky. It is on our kitchen table. Thanks to photosynthesis, it seems that the very food we eat is light. Farmer and poet Wendel Berry says that eating is more than a merely sensory or appetitive stimulation, but the last act of an agricultural drama. |
| It is more than that. It is a last act in a cosmological drama to which humans are very late on the
scene. It seems that “this is my body, this is my blood,” are words baked into the history of the universe. At least that is how poet William Carlos Williams sees it: There is nothing to eat, seek it where you will, But the body of the Lord. The blessed plants and the sea, yield it to the imagination intact. |
The poet Rilke concurs: All this universe, to the furthest stars And beyond them, is our flesh, your fruit. What more is today’s science teaching us about light in our lives and light in our food and stomachs? That light and matter are the same entities. Light and matter are ultimately interchangeable. |
“There is no ultimate physical substance to matter.” “Matter is frozen light.” (David Bohm) “Matter is nothing but gravitationally trapped light.” | "I am Light" by Singer-Songwriter, India Arie. Originally posted to YouTube by India Arie. |
If matter and light are “interchangeable,” then dualism understood as spirit vs. matter is dead. For light is the
most common synonym for Divinity found around the world.
To be continued. |
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Adapted from Matthew Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh Transforming Evil in Soul and Society, pp. 77f, 80, 50. And Fox, “Light,” in One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths, pp. 50-79. Banner Image: The interplay of light and dark; exquisite mutuality found in the midst of what is and what is unfolding. Photo by Manouchehr Hejazi on Unsplash. |
Queries for Contemplation What does it mean to you to hear that matter and spirit are not antagonistic but both are light? |
Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, please click HERE
to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. |
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and
Society Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and
all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum
Theology: Spiritual Implications of the new Physics | |
One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from
Global Faiths
Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers but a new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.
“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for this magnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality." --Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | |
See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox and special guest Caroline Myss for a 6-part course, “The Fire Inside: How John of the Cross’s Creation Spirituality and Mystical Activism Inspires Our Own”
hosted by the Caroline Myss Educational Institute. Tuesdays & Thursdays, February 7-23, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT. Register HERE. Please join Matthew Fox, Tom Stang, and the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur for a Commemoration and Rededication to the Legacy of Sister Dorothy Stang, in person or livestreamed
from the SNDdeN Cunningham Chapel, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont CA. Saturday, February 11 2:00-4:00 pm PT. For More Information & Livestream Link, email: Bvaughn@ndnu.edu Creation Spirituality Conversations |
Matthew Fox at the Center for Contemporary Mysticism discusses “Birthing a New World: Can Creation-Centered Spirituality Help Reclaim the Sacredness of the Earth?" | |
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