The Fifth Door: Transcendence Complements Engagement

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Stepping through the Door

Different people bring very different attitudes to bear on the relationship between transcendence and engagement. Some people have never meditated, never had any kind of mystical experience that lifted them out of mundane realities. They remain completely caught up in the trials and tribulations of making material life work. Some of these folks are quite cynical about anything "religious" or "spritual", and live in a very literal world. At the other extreme, some people are so enamored of the mystical that strive to be as ethereal and detached as they can be. Some even assuming an attitude of superiority, looking down smugly on the unenlightened folks who are so caught up in their jobs, relationships, and moods.

If you are reading this, chances are you are somewhere in between these two extremes. Still, you might want to take a few moments to reflect on your own biases and attitudes.

The World Tree

As a symbol for the complementarity between transcendence and engagement, I have chosen the World Tree Yggdrasil from Norse mythology. The World Tree is the central structure of the cosmos, embracing the loftiest heavens in its high brances, while its roots stretch deep into the mysteries of the underworld. Around its trunk are the middle worlds where humanity dwells. The Tree is a living being, with a circulatory system. The roots pull up water and minerals from the earth and carry them all the way up to the leaves. The leaves take in the air and sunlight, creating the food that is needed to sustain the Tree and help it grow.

The World Tree connects sky and earth, and is furthermore the structure that keeps the two distinct, gives them each its own place, its own context. In the traditional symbolism, an eagle perched in its branches and a dragon or serpent coiled about its base. The eagle's flight is a splendid metaphor of transcendences, of that call to rise above an earthbound existence and see everything from afar. The coiling dragon represents the physical roots of our life-force; it is the kundalini coiled at the base of the spine, the primal being within all living things.

We, as human beings, dwell between these two creatures, partaking of the Tree's living form and its gifts of food and shelter. We can contemplated its deepest roots or its highest branches, but we do not live there. We live where the two come together, where body and spirit meet. It is our great gift that we can blend these two principles together, in a kind of creative alchemy.

Jupiter

Our astrological poster child for the interplay of transcendence and engagement is Jupiter. On one level, Jupiter (Greek Zeus) is a rendition of the Indo-European sky father. Viewing the world from the lofty heights of Olympus, he serves as judge and overseer. (The eagle, not surprisingly, was his traditional bird.) Jupiter, as the patriarch of the Greco-Roman pantheon, served as a placeholder for deity in general, and for the associated concepts of religion and piety. He was the figurehead for all our spiritual yearnings and aspirations.

On the other hand, Zeus was notorious for his sexual escapades and other meddlings in human affairs. He was no stranger to the pleasures of the body, and not above playing favorites in mortal disputes. He was thoroughly at home in the ego-driven world of humanity.

The dichotomy is reflected in the astrological signs ruled by Jupiter: Pisces and Sagittarius. Pisces is the most mystical of the signs. We associated it with dreamy, oceanic oneness and ego transcendence. Pisces can have trouble engaging the world productively, because the details of personal goals and the drama of life seem irrelevant to the Piscean vision. Sagittarius, on the other hand, is all fired up to explore - to go places, meet people, and sample the dinner menu. Sagittarius is determined to seek out and enjoy all that life has to offer. (US astrologers tend to emphasize the sign's connection with spiritual pursuits, including religion and higher education. In the European tradition, however, Sagittarius has a strongly hedonistic quality. The lower body of the centaur makes this case symbolically.)

Taken altogether, Jupiter is simultaneously bestial and deific, lusty and blissful, selfish and just, fiery and cool. He is a god image from an earlier time and culture, one whose gods were more hands-on. For Jupiter, the material world is a playground full of delights. If a god could get excited by participating in the sensual, rough-and-tumble world of human drama, then so, as spiritual beings, can we.

Homework

Here are some ways to explore the balance of transcendence and engagement in your life.

  1. Take up a daily meditation practice.
  2. List five of your "guilty pleasures", then reflect on what makes them "guilty".
  3. List five things you are especially attached to. Contemplate living without them.
  4. Think of a particularly spiritual or profound experience you have had. What role did the physical world play in that experience?
  5. Do you think sex is (or can be) spiritual? Why or why not?
  6. If life were a play and you were an actor, how would you behave to get the greatest satisfaction from your performance?
  7. Imagine yourself first as the eagle on the World Tree, then as the dragon. How does the universe appear those two vantage points?
Seven Doors is a regular feature of Starweaver's Gems from Earth and Sky

Copyright © 2008 Tom Waters