"The Death of the Contemplative Mind"

 Richard Rohr, a theologian who was recommended to me by my professor, states in his video "Christianity and Unknowing", that the split in the churches after the reformation is responsible for what he calls "the death of the contemplative mind." I love this statement. I have found that there is a very thin line between what Rohr describes as "knowing" and "not knowing and not needing to know". I think part of the reason is that people in communities are so worried about preserving the purity of their ideas that they forget the whole point of contemplative life. I also believe that there is so much emphasis on religious identity, and I wonder if there is room for a religious non-identity: a just being in the midst of other beings. An example of this is to walk into a situation with a 'trying mind': a mind that simply tries things out, rather than trying to put on something like it is a kind of character armor.
   When I was in group meditation practice tonight, the participants were talking about sitting in the full lotus posture and I could not help but feel a certain resistance. I was interpreting the discussion along the lines of: it's better for me to sit in full lotus, and I should try it out, even if for a little while. I stayed  with the sense of disconnection I was feeling, and later I was able to see that these voices are only suggestions, and I can feel free to experiment with them. But what happens if an entire community starts to believe that something absolutely should be the case, or has to be the case, in order for one to be a serious or committed spiritual practitioner? That, I think, is when the curiosity of trying turns into the dogma of knowing, and when there is this illusion of people progressing toward an ideal state. I think this is the kind of thing that can only lead to a depression or a despair: the sense that one is never owning up to the ideal. But, one thing that helps me in these situation is to honor foolishness. Maybe I am not "It", and maybe I am just here!
    As Rohr remarks, as a participant in the dance of the divine, there is nothing to prove, only interconnection. But sometimes in order to really be comfortable in that community, there needs to be a space for rebellion (albeit with the chance of a dialogue), but also for reconnecting. I can't describe it other than a kind of flow--sometimes one pushes back when it's too hot, then draws back in when it's too cold, and so on. To know that this flow is happening all the time and have the vocabulary to speak of that flow seems to be an important skill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnTC4NNIACk