The Creation
Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox |
Loneliness: Bede
Griffiths on Meditation, Ground, Cosmic Solidarity By Matthew Fox 12/23/2025 |
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In yesterday’s DM, both the essay and the video, we addressed some of the ways that spirituality heals loneliness. Among them are the art of friendship, connecting to the greater-than-human world, and ritual, which, when authentic, always connects psyche to cosmos. |
We underscored how meditation teaches us the difference between aloneness/solitude and loneliness. Father Bede Griffith, an authentic mystic and monk of our time, wrote powerfully about meditation. I reproduce here some of his teachings from my book, Christian Mystics, and offer a modest commentary along the way. |
Bede Griffiths speaking during a retreat in Denmark circa June 1984. Photo by Dialog Center Images on Flickr. |
How can I get to know myself? Not by thinking, for thinking only reflects my conscious being, but by meditating. Meditation goes beyond the conscious mind into the unconscious. In meditation, I can become aware of the ground of my being in matter, in life, in human consciousness.* The word “ground” is such a rich one for it invites us down, out of our heads and into our lower chakras and to the depths and soil and darkness and unconscious as Bede tells us. So much is going on in our depths, darkness, silence and ground–but in a mysterious and unknown way. |
Continuing creation: “Mystic Mountain” in the Carina Nebula, with a three-light-year-tall pillar of gas and dust being pushed apart from without by light and winds from nearby stars and from within by jets of gas from infant stars. Photo by NASA, ESA, and M. Livio and the Hubble 20th Anniversary Team (STScI) | I can experience my solidarity with the universe, with the remotest star in outer space, and with the minutest particle in the atom. How wonderful that for Father Bede, a contemplative and activist monk,
we share a “solidarity with the universe” and a connection to the “remotest star” and the smallest part of an atom. They help lift us beyond self-occupation to make “solidarity” with the whole, |
with creation itself, with the milieu of existence that makes our life possible and has done so for 13.8 billion years. The “We” is so much bigger than the “I” we are usually self-occupied with, and the “self” is invited to become a “Self” that connects to the whole. When physicist David Bohm says, “I am a post-modern physicist who begins with the whole,” he is inviting all of us in these post-modern times to begin with the whole. Another word for “whole” is “creation,” all that is, what Eckhart calls “isness” and calls “God.” Today’s science and new creation story of cosmogenesis and daily news of the cosmos from the Webb Telescope, etc. renders it
easier for us to begin with the whole. |
Maybe this is why so many today are saying, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” Because spirituality is a far bigger word than religion, spirituality invites all to connect to the ALL and to the ground and depth, including the unknown, apophatic, divinity–to what is unseen as well as what is seen. Spirituality talks of the “Godhead” and not just “God.” Sadly, the latter is so readily coopted by power trips of persons and empires eager to employ it to their own selfish interests. |
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I can experience my solidarity with every living thing, with the earth, with these flowers and coconut trees, with the birds and squirrels, with every human being. Again, “solidarity.”
An important aspect that denotes strength derived from community and allies, friends, and others with whom we share our common journey
and adventure. Group courage is involved in the term “solidarity.” Courage in the face of evil and powerful forces seeking to render us alone, lonely, and vulnerable. I can get beyond all these outer forms of things in time and space and discover the Ground from which they all spring. I can know the Father, the Origin, the Source, beyond being and non-being, the One ‘without a second.’ Clearly, meditation enriches our sense of belonging in many ways. To be continued. |
Queries for Contemplation Do you find that Bede Griffiths’ teachings on meditation stretch your sense of
belonging and pierce your sense of loneliness? Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialogue, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments
field. |
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| Counterpoint: A Response to Peter Thiel’s Antichrist An Important Conversation with Matthew Fox and Gil Duran Did you miss this two-session series with its powerful counter-narrative rooted in wisdom, justice, and |
authentic spirituality? This is your
chance to add it to your library of classics to be watched, re-watched, and contemplated. Fox explores the archetype of Christ and Antichrist as it plays out in our world today but also in artists of old. He draws from the teachings of Jesus and Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Carl Jung, and other mystics and visionaries, illuminating the stark contrast between life-giving and life-destroying spiritual energies. Purchase HERE. |
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Join Matthew Fox in a free 4-session Online Lecture/Discussion/Q&A event, “Creation Spirituality and the Celebrating & Healing of Mother Earth & Ourselves,” co-presented by the Episcopal Diocese of Wisconsin and Matthew Fox Legacy Project. Wednesdays, January 14, 21,28, February 4, 2026, 4:00pm-5:30pm
PT January 14 - Creation as an Original Blessing and the Springboard of Awe and Wonder January 21 - Sacred Mother Earth: The Holiness of Creation and Recovering the Cosmic Christ January 28 - The Cosmic Mass, and the Stations of the Cosmic Christ: Reinvigorating Liturgy and Rituals February 4 - Jesus as a Teacher of Democracy and the Renewal of Education and Values through the “10 Cs” Register HERE |
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