Conscious Aging with John Robinson, Ph.D.

Feb 03, 2018 8:23 PM EST

I went to seminary, not to be a paid minister but to learn things that I didn't understand. I was assigned to write a paper so I chose Martin Luther. I looked in the reference information in our seminary for a book that would be my source for my paper. I found "Luther's Works". Great. I hurried off to the shelf where it was located. To my surprise, there were 55 volumes of Luther's Works. All were the size of a Bible. I was in a state of shock as a novice. There was another seminarian who went on and on with thoughts from hundreds of theology books read, comparing and contrasting, arguing doctrinal statements and interpretations, developing questions of exacting precision, referencing endless authors and sources to predicate support, doubt, or new questions. Frankly, it was intimidating, exhausting and demoralizing. I enjoyed what I learned in seminary. But what I also learned is that all of this is too complex. There must be a better way. And it has to be so simple that the least of us can access it. God, it seems now, isn't that complicated after all. God is with us all the time and always has been. It is just that our false self has trashed up and plugged up our clarity of vision. Getting my false self behind me is difficult but, it is now easier than reading 55 giant volumes of "Luther's Works"!

- SeeGee

Feb 04, 2018 9:22 AM EST

Thank you. I would feel exactly the same.

- John Robinson

Feb 04, 2018 2:57 PM EST

Hi John - Happy new year. Thanks for these thoughts on letting go of our beliefs. For me, that also means giving up my belief or expectation that I will experience unity, ultimate reality, or our authentic nature. I am content to just let the experience come. I happened to be spending a little time with Barbara Ehrenreich's experience of a wild God today - can't say that I've experienced that myself but I recognize the authenticity of her experience. Most of all I am drawn to your notion of mystical consciousness vs mystical experience- being at home with the space of awareness in which experience unfolds.

- David

Feb 05, 2018 6:00 AM EST

Thank you.

- John Robinson