One increasing consensus among scholars
and spiritual observers is that conversion or enlightenment moves forward step
by step from almost totally dualistic thinking to non-dual thinking at the
highest levels. We call that higher way of seeing and being present contemplation.
If this ancient gift could be clarified and recovered for Western Christians,
Muslims, and Jews, religion would experience a monumental leap forward. We
could start being present to one another. We could live in the naked now
instead of hiding in the past or worrying about the future, as we mentally
rehearse resentments and make our case for why we are right and someone else is
wrong.
Good religion is always about seeing rightly: “The
lamp of the body is the eye; if your eye is sound, your whole body will be
filled with light,” as Jesus says in Matthew 6:22.
How you see is what you see. And to see rightly is to be able to be
fully present—without fear, without bias, and without judgment. It is such hard
work for the ego, for the emotions, and for the body, that I think most of us
would simply prefer to go to church services.
Richard Rohr
