February 2006: Assisi

February 2006: Assisi

Dear Friends,

As many of you know, we have been in Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis and St. Claire. Of course, there is much here which takes up these two persons in a commercial or external manner. Yet, when walking through the Umbrian hills or among the stone buildings of the old city, one often feels the holiness of the place, and of the holy people who have lived here. And one can connect with Francis’ love of material creation as a revelation of the spiritual Creator.Francis’ holy attitude toward the world has a great healing power. In the west, many people believe that only matter is real. He shows us how to read nature as book which reveals a higher spiritual and moral order of existence.

In the east, the reality of matter is often denied. Yet Assisi has a strong attraction for large numbers of spiritual seekers (and, alas, also some charlatans) on the Hindu and Buddhist paths. Perhaps they sense that Francis found a path of liberation from the bonds of material necessity and sensual desire not through escape from--but rather through love of--nature.We had the good fortune to be able to read George MacDonald’s last and most powerful book, “Lilith”. In it, he writes: “Truth is all in all, and the truth of things lies, at once hid and revealed, in their seeming.” The appearance of things--how they are perceived by our bodily senses--hides their truth to those caught up in abstract theories and intellectual systems. Yet, this same appearance reveals the truth to those who look on it with love and unprejudiced openness.As the German scientist Goethe put it, “The senses do not deceive; but our judgements deceive us.” What the Indian sages have called “maya”, i.e. illusion, is not a characteristic of the senses. Illusion is the result of jumping to conclusions.

Knowledge, in contrast, comes from observing things fully and patiently and allowing them to reveal themselves to our unbiased thinking.Like all real virtues in life, this approach to knowledge is easy to understand... and hard to put into practice. It requires changing deep-seated habits, and developing the humility to listen inwardly. But the results of doing so are well worth the effort!

Mother Nature is waiting to reveal to us the work of the first six “days” of creation. And she is waiting for us to continue this work in the spirit and name of the Creator: to crown His work of infinite wisdom with a love born in the freedom of our hearts.We send you our heartfelt greetings and give our thanks to all who have helped us in so many ways.

William and Alexandra