THE NEW MUTATING LIFE 1 Dealing with the Projecting Mind

The search to know is a challenge for the human. Arising out of this innate search from the earliest years of an individual’s life, the natural propensity to project much experience onto an external entity is a common trait. Panikkar speaks of the

396 _ibid. 397 _{ibid., 304.} 398 _{ibid., 268.}

157 inclination to project all unsolved problems of a personal as well as an intellectual nature onto a Supreme Being. While it is possible to see traces of the Divine in all things, projection seems to have been both an age-old human necessity and a

universal phenomenon. Overcoming the need for an anthropomorphic God is no easy spiritual discipline. To project onto a Supreme Being our most treasured dreams, aspirations, fears, love and ignorance is one of the most natural instincts.399

Projection of such human needs is visible already in the child’s instinctive efforts to reach out toward the mother as it is for the most desperately dying or grieving adult to reach for a Supreme Being.400 On the other hand, the opposite attitude can be seen in the adolescent who seeks to push all away, most notably parental influence. The ego grows by both embracing and separating. The to-ing and fro-ing of such a

dynamic is a process of maturation, and while observed in daily living it is essentially replicated in one’s relationship with the divine. In these basic human cases where it is perceived to be a problem the psychological counsellor seeks to deal with the

projection of human need by identifying, then tracing the projection back to its internal root so that its reality can be expressed, embraced and integrated. Panikkar’s thesis would be to apply the same behaviour to spiritual perception to similarly trace one’s perception of the divine as in the monotheistic projection back to an interior experience. The process is designed to help one discover a maturing perception of integral awareness whereby one can awaken to the Cosmotheandric intuition which is awaiting the evolving mind.

4.2.2 Attitude

Panikkar indicates that, ‘the advaitic order of intelligibility is intrinsically

pluralistic…’401 _{To understand the impact of advaitic relationality arising from the}

reality of pluralism is to see the inter-in-dependent interaction of all such ‘poles.’ The capacity to either transform or resist change is shaped by attitude. Rationality prefers identification of the objective, yet plurality provides a natural energy to move beyond such duality and so transform attitude. Panikkar continues to illustrate that the

advaitic intuition is not a super-system but the foundation for the transformation of

399 _{ibid., 304.} 400 _ibid. 401 _{ibid., 24.}

158 attitude.402 _{The importance of attitude is that it introduces the implication of grasping}

the advaitic vision. It is necessary for the transformation of who we are and as an outcome the transformation of the quality of our heart. It requires a ‘new innocence,’ a ‘voiding’ of ourselves and even of our expectations.403 _{We are reminded of the}

Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3f) in which Jesus speaks of the same inner transformation of our heart, through the attitudes we develop.

The transformation of attitude assists the maturing of the pilgrim so aiding one to discover the vision of the ‘third eye,’ the perception of spirit, beyond but including the common sight of the senses and reason. Such perception of spirit is that which enables one to grasp the advaitic Cosmotheandric vision.

Panikkar sees the tragedy of human spiritual blindness, perceptively captured in the words of St. John’s prologue where he notes the sentiment that, ‘we do not receive that very light which comes to us because our praxis is selfish.’ (Jn. 1) Most human traditions argue in a similar vein. He reinforces this observation by speaking of such human blindness as if divinity is veiled to the ordinary eye.404

Attitude has a profound influence on the way we see reality, which is the

comprehensive response of the human experience to the totality of environment. Attitude is the character and measure of that response. The objective of life is the continuous transformation of human attitude for the purpose of increasingly

awakening the mind to the fullness of that environment of which we are a part. This is the journey of enlightenment that is generated by the inter-relating dynamic of the poles. Life in the advaitic reality identifies the creative energy generated by way of the inter-relationality of the poles in search of the integral polarities. It sees the energy of Spirit working through creation to transform the human in pursuit of fulfilling reality’s purposes of which the ‘purity of heart’ is fundamental for the creature for it speaks of the fulfilment of ultimate unity. 405

402 _ibid. 403 _{ibid., 22.} 404 _{ibid., 178.} 405 _{ibid., 35.}

159 4.2.3 Purification of the Heart

Our hearts are purified by the buffeting and wrestling with the dynamic relationality between the infinite poles of life. This journey of life is abrasive and challenging and captured in the prayerful words often attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola:

Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest,

to labour and not to ask for any reward,

save that of knowing that I do your will O Lord.’

It is the life of purity generated by the spirit of the inter-independent, inter- relationality of the advaitic reality.

The Divine, the Human, and the Cosmic are correlated and interconnected but each is independent in an inter-in-dependent way. For an exclusively rational mind this is difficult to grasp. In fact, it cannot be com-prehended by reason. This is also the challenge of advaita.406

Panikkar points out that enlightenment is the state of mind that a person enjoys if he or she can embrace the advaitic vision as is spoken of according to the non-dual school of Vedanta.407 _{Such sight enables one to see the advaitic reality that all is}

relationality and that relationality is the process necessary for leading us on the journey of love that purifies the heart through the corresponding transformation of attitude.

The reason is not only moral; it is ontological. Only when the heart is pure are we in harmony with the real, in tune with reality, able to hear its voice, detect its dynamism, and truly “speak” its truth, having become adequate to the movement of Being, the Rhythm of Being.408

The heart of this interior journey requires one to turn to the ultimate awareness of the whole that constitutes all that we are. We can develop this awareness with openness, humility and respect for the life it offers. Such openness, humility and respect are characteristic of the way of contemplation.

Rather than a way to reach the goal, we should speak of how to open

ourselves up to that very Whole that permeates us, and not just to a part, but

406 _{ibid., 278.} 407 _{ibid., 267.} 408 _{ibid., 35.}

160 to an image, an icon that reflects the Whole. The proper word would be

contemplation in its deepest sense. The only “method” is not to prepare the way, but to prepare ourselves. The sages of all traditions have called it the “Purification of Heart,” an interior pilgrimage.409

The true listening is verified by the transformation of our interior being, our heart, our soul, so that we enter deeply and fully into life’s reality, the rhythm of being, in Panikkar’s words. Panikkar’s insight is reflective of the great insightful wisdom of Jesus. More than inspiring sentiments, Panikkar sees Jesus’ words as the path that maps the radical new life to which enlightened humanity must aspire.

… “Blessed are those of pure heart because they shall see God” (Mt 5:8). I understand this to mean that a pure heart, a naked heart stripped of pre-judices and after-thoughts, because it is innocent, because it does not even harm itself (in-nocens) through self-reflection, shall enter into immediate contact with reality. The pure of heart shall be real, shall live life to the full and not just feel or think about it, notwithstanding the human condition which can only reach that purity after forgiveness, purification, redemption, illumination, or realization.410

Panikkar sees that this interior journey of transformation is not simply one for self- awareness but is a search for inner harmony and is commensurate with an expansive awakening to see that we are one with all that is. Harmony with self means harmony with the universe which is harmony with the divine, for this is the advaitic reality of relationality. Panikkar writes, ‘My only point here is that we shall not discover the real situation we are in, collectively as well as individually, if our hearts are not pure, if our lives are not in harmony within ourselves, with our surroundings, and

ultimately with the universe at large.’411

4.2.5 The Spirit of Worship

The genuineness of this newly transformed life ultimately leads to the experience humans have always spoken of as worship. It is the experience of the life that

declares the worth of all reality. It is known in both the awe-inspiring knowing of the ultimate ecstatic union with the infinite but also in the sacredness of the concrete reality of our daily life. It is the measure of the spirit of true worship, which brings

409 _{ibid., 17.} 410 _{ibid., 267.} 411 _{ibid., 35.}

161 together the sincerity of engagement, through both listening and self-offering. It develops an expectation of transformation that is ultimately characterised by the purifying of the heart. Such worship transforms the experience aligned to mere repetitive behaviour. The wholistic expression of Being touches a quality identified as love that is reflective of the pure, whether, speech, song or prayer. The call of the maturing attitude is enhanced by the capacity to listen - for to listen is to engage with the listened to.

We commented on speech, song, and prayer; but they are truly speech, song, and prayer if they are original and not mere repetition, if they are creative, that is, if they come out of nothing, out of silence. What effects their emerging out of nothingness so that each speech, song, and prayer is

authentic, genuine, and new each moment is our capacity for pure listening to the Source - wherever and whatever it may be. We listen only if we are attentive; we are attentive if we are interested; and we are interested if we are void of other conflicting interests, if our heart is pure; and our heart is pure if it has been purified by that very Silence which prompted us to listen. Here we have again the vital cycle of life.412

And so the journey of life will lead us to the true nature of Being, which we have said is relational. As the heart is purified through this relationality, we realise reality is love. Love as reality is an all-encompassing perichoresis of relationality, engaging our deepest and broadest knowing of our self, and it is eternal. In integral terms, it is time-free. As Jesus conversed with the rich young ruler over the question of how one could obtain eternal life, they identify the way of love as the love of God and the love of one’s neighbour as oneself. (Matt 10:27) For Panikkar this is the Cosmotheandric experience of love, the eternal love which not only the young ruler pursued but for which all humanity yearns. Panikkar summarises the love that is the foundation of all religious traditions and amplifies it as spirit and truth.

We need the insight of the third eye. “God is spirit and those who worship God must worship in spirit and truth.” This might fairly be stated as “Those who want to strike the right method to approach God must do it in spirit and truth.” This should be a golden rule of worship.413

The advaitic Cosmotheandric way for Panikkar is the pathway for love and worship. As has been previously indicated, the final stage of this project will explore the application of such love through a contemporary review of the summary of the law of

412 _{ibid., 347.} 413 _{ibid., 348.}

162 love. (Matt 10:25-28) I argue that within the context of Panikkar’s advaitic

Cosmotheandric integral perception, love discovers its rich pathway to the fulfilment of human life.

4.3 CONCLUSION

Panikkar, the integral human mutant, as described variously by those who knew him, had a great deal of personal resource to draw upon for his journey of life through the twentieth century and its turn to the beginning of the twenty-first.

Through this chapter, I have outlined his philosophical and mystical personality. Panikkar has spoken of a vision that serves well to honour and understand the integral vision of consciousness. He has opened a description of a world to speak to the contemporary scientist, the theologian, the philosopher, the mystic, the social worker, the politician, as some examples. From the very notion of Being in its becoming he has respected both the earliest forms of human life and succeeding eras of evolution through to the current understanding of life as we know it, a time evident of a highly developed and complex society with challenges hardly dreamt of in time past. Through his explanation, past, present and future can be seen to come together in the one diaphanous perception. Reflecting the time-free aperspectival world that Gebser spoke about and the fourth dimension of Albert Einstein, he explains how an

understanding of both transcendence and immanence is reflective of the one great tempiternal reality.414 Such a reality is beckoning humanity of this era to awaken to such a unity as opposed to the separate space realities previously understood. This reality the rational mind on its own cannot comprehend, for it requires the perception of the integral working of the third eye. At the heart of his explanation is the Creator, the Creation and the Creature together forming an awareness of reality as an inter-in- dependent, inter-relational wholistic unity. With creative dexterity, he has addressed advaitic reality and coined the term the Cosmotheandric intuition to present it as the means for establishing a new mythos for humanity of the twenty-first century. I present this mythos as the necessary ‘symbol of transformation and meaning’ that

163 universalist, trans-personal psychologist, philosopher Wilber declares necessary for humanity to effectively move forward into the subtle, vision-logic integral world of consciousness.

If this chapter has outlined Panikkar’s philosophical attitude, the following chapter will complement his personality orientation and draw upon those very grounded dimensions of his mind by applying his vision in the more commonly identified world of the concretised spirit. I will endeavour to do this by speaking of three particular contexts.

Firstly, an explanation of the Christian faith, notably the Trinity and Jesus the Son of God; secondly, the interfaith world growing ever more vital in our globalising humanity; and thirdly, the secular society which so shapes much of the Western world which has led the way in laying the foundations of life in the twenty-first century.

Each of these domains of reality can be considered primary dynamics for shaping the way we engage this integral era. Christians must articulate their faith consistent with integral understanding. The globalising world is challenged to identify ways that the many religious traditions can work together for the common wellbeing of all

humanity. The newest discoveries of knowledge, particularly in the western world, have presented a notion of God that can be easily ignored. It is spoken of as secular. The integral perception so expands this description with the vision that all is sacred. These primary perceptions of reality are addressed by Panikkar to enable reason to be incorporated into integral consciousness. This is also vital for the way forward to be practical.

164 CHAPTER FIVE

PANIKKAR APPLIED

The signs of the times – and through them, the Spirit who reveals himself in them – invite us to open wide the doors of ‘oikoumene’, to break down the walls (of

protection once upon a time, but nowadays of separation) of the so-called Christian city and to advance to meet all men with outstretched arms. They no longer permit a man to remain at the particularistic and limited, perhaps even sectarian and

exclusive, level of his own individual experience with Christ, for the only true experience of Christ is in human and cosmic ‘koinonia’. Furthermore, the

experience of Christ and the spirituality which springs from it must expand in faith right up to their full Trinitarian dimensions.

Raimon Panikkar415

5.1 INTRODUCTION

This third stage of the Pastoral Circle continues the theological reflection. It consists of two chapters, this being the second. The previous chapter, describes Raimon Panikkar’s philosophical explanation of the integral world. It was symbolised by the Cosmotheandric intuition, which is his integral vision of all reality. His

Cosmotheandric vision seen as a symbol of transformation and therefore meaning is that which I present as meeting Ken Wilber’s call to humanity for living effectively in the emerging integral world of consciousness.

As I indicated at the end of the previous chapter, the purpose of this new chapter is to outline the way in which Panikkar applied his Cosmotheandric vision to three

primary dynamics of life which are shaping the new globalised world. Understanding his integral vision within each of these three dynamics of life will greatly assist the way forward. Firstly, Panikkar applied his thinking to an integral understanding of Christianity. Two major beliefs will be addressed, firstly the doctrine of the Trinity and secondly the nature of Jesus as the universal Christ. Concerning the former, he speaks of the Trinity as reflective of the very nature of reality which he discusses through the advaitic concept from within the Hindu tradition. What is most

significant in his discussion regarding the latter subject is the rational preoccupation with the explanation of Jesus the Christ throughout the previous centuries under the

415 _{The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man (Maryknoll, New York Orbis Books, 1973;}