"The world is a spinning die, and everything turns and changes: man is turned into angel and angel into man, and the head into the foot and the foot into the head. Thus all things turn and spin and change, this into that,, and that into this, the topmost to the undermost, and the undermost to the topmost. For at the root all is one, and salvation inheres in the change and return of things."...Martin Buber.*
Today, one week into 2024, rather than considering specific goals and New Year resolutions, I am reflecting on a more general sense of direction in the New Year. With the stunning quote above, Martin Buber integrates insight from his study of ancient Taoism with his reflections on the mystic teachings of Hasidic Judaism (18th century to present): The world is a dynamo sustained by alteration.
Buber extends this idea to a spiritual process, quoting the Bible (Genesis 12-1): "Now God said to Abraham, 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee.'" Buber interprets God's command "get you out of your country" as metaphor, actually meaning the "dimness you have inflicted on yourself" and similarly, the layers of birthplace, home and kin refer to the "dimness inflicted" on us by family, by mother and father--those who shaped us from birth. He concludes the spiritual message is, "Only then (when we have left that dimness behind) will you be able to go to the land that I will show you."
Metaphysically, this is a reference to spiritual consciousness; we grow out of our "dimness" with the light of new understanding, through a willingness to move beyond what we have known and experienced, to a deeper understanding. Here leaving home, moving, changing, is not about a 'Promised Land', or a physical place. It is a movement in consciousness. It is both individual and collective. Each generation moves our world through change led by collective consciousness. We as individuals, move through our lives in stages of change that reflect both our natural physical processes over time, and our shifts in consciousness. Those shifts in consciousness may be collective (arising from and sustained by our generation) and/or they may be singular, arising from our individual nature, yet contributing to the whole blossoming of life.
In any given time period, change is inevitable. But, change includes modulating forces, moving in a variety of directions, along with the "drag" forces that pull backward, not forward (forces of return) or seemingly frozen. Yet, there is a wholeness, as the world continues to unfold. One glimpse of our personal spiritual participation in this dynamo, can nourish and direct us throughout this year. Sometimes we see it clearly, directly; sometimes subtly, and at other times, it is imperceptible. In what direction is the movement of life pulling you? What alterations call? Are you summoned to the front lines of change, or are you a hidden gem that heals and supports? The possibilities are endless; even now, your way is moving. (Susan Nettleton)
*quotes are from Buber's book Ten Rungs: Hasidic Sayings, "The Rung of the Way", pg. 69-70.
For poetry: https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/.../ANewWorld/index.html