Picture: Fiery morning sky from desert floor
We continue “boondocking” near Borrego Springs. Rick and Judy, Jerry and Lois are all here nearby, as we are able to spread out on these federal lands that have rustic roads and primitive campsites (really you just pick a spot and set up camp within the defined acreage). Carla is going through some spiritual experiences in which her nervous system is highly electrified, so the desert expanse is perfect for us.
Out under the desert sky a sudden breeze races through camp, blows for some time then just as quickly dies down. This repeats itself through the days and nights; it reminds me of a saying of Jesus’:
John 3:7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Of course the wind has sudden surges in environments other than the desert, but on water or mountaintop it somehow seems more understandable as to where or why it comes. But here in open desert it has more the appearance of mystery to its comings and goings.
Jesus was a man of the desert, having gone through austerities in the wilderness he was on intimate terms with nature. In his conversation with Nicodemus, which the above quote is excerpted, Jesus is referring to the invisible sources and mysterious reasons for the habits of both wind and Spirit.
Science prides itself on observing phenomena, manufacturing theories about what it sees, designing an experiment or two and noting if the outcomes behave according to what the theory anticipates; an admirable process for physical and psychological phenomena. However, what about Spirit, that originates outside material creation? That the only “instrument” for measuring results is found through intuition and deep inner experience whose range is beyond that of a telescope or a microscope; what then can physical science say about it?
Even when dealing with unknowable origins we can yet say, “A true understanding is that, spirituality is a science.” We begin with a spiritual practice, and when the experiment is carried out exactly as prescribed the results are predictable. Perform Kriya Yoga and the spine will be spiritually charged, the light of God is seen, the sound of God is heard, the mind is purified and consciousness expands and becomes Self-realized. Or, Chant God’s name, think on His attributes, surrender yourself at His feet and your mind will be purified, you will live in bliss, consciousness will rise above the mundane and you will know God–merge with Him. Your heart, mind and soul are the experimental labs in which these procedures are carried out, the outcome predicted is the transformation of consciousness from the human to the Divine.
And yet, calling an area of study a “science” does not take away its deep sense of mystery. The astronomer may gaze upwards and identify constellations, “There is Orion’s Belt, and there Alpha Centauri, and that is the broad bright Milky Way.” However, that same astronomer may also have times of looking up at the night sky and simply be in awe, sense the immense depth of space from which those tiny lights have travelled, the overwhelming vastness and the incredible power of cosmic forces, both seen and unseen. In that moment of awe is the mystic any different than the fact driven scientist? Are we not joined in wonder, whether it is seeing a giant nebula, a tiny quark, or feeling the bliss of God?
It was ignorance and arrogance that made religious institutions square off against science, and, as perhaps was predictable, science then polarized itself against religion. In fact, both are explorers and seekers of truth; both should be joined in discovering physical and metaphysical realms. No matter the factual gains of science, there will always be mystery to this creation. On one level of experience, matter, like Spirit, will defy knowing from whence things come and whither they go.
Walking amongst desert sage we are in wonder at the sudden gust of wind as well as the surge of bliss that delivers us into a birth of new consciousness. This type of mystery is knowable, in the sense that you can have direct experience of it. However, in nature as in Spirit there will always be that which is unknowable–mind cannot hold know it all, it must simply be experienced. In this mystery of heaven and of earth we may be at ease, for it is all held in perfection by the one living God.