If we believe in the pantheist or Taoist principle of all things being connected, we walk our talk by serving all things. As an ecstatic, I find heart-rendering joy through service.
We are part of a great weave. Call it the World tree, the dance of life, the Tao—call it Fred. We can be codependent in this weave, or we can have boundaries but still be within it. We can fight it, or we can be fed by. And we can surrender to it.
Surrender can be just a fancy pompous word unless we are of service. There are other ways one must follow through on the notion of surrender for it to actually be surrender, but for now let’s focus on service.
But before we do, I need to add an aside: I am not suggesting we must perfectly attain any of the ideals I set forth here. I would be a hypocrite to suggest I have anywhere near attained these ideals myself. I do cleave to these ideals, and do my best to achieve them (though my best is often poor), and this is all my Gods ask of me.
Okay, back to service. We can serve the weave. My belief and experience is that, if we believe the Taoist or pantheist principle of all things being connected, we walk our talk by serving all things. Serving community, serving Gaia, serving all of life, serving family, serving one’s spiritual tradition(s) and spiritual teacher(s) and spiritual student(s), serving one’s Gods.
We must also serve self, self is part of the weave. Sometimes, we best serve by serving self alone. For example, when we are ill or need to build courage to serve others. Or when we simply need time alone to enjoy ourselves.
Ultimately, to be part of the weave, we serve in surrender. I often forget that. In other words, when my Gods ask me to do something, I often try to set about doing it my way instead of Theirs. But to really do that which my Gods ask me, I must also implement it the way They ask. (Oh, my, in this essay, surrender becomes service becomes surrender.)
When we serve, we align ourselves within the weave, we start flowing with it. We start being fed by it in ways that we cannot otherwise. There is healing and empowerment not otherwise available.
What’s more, we experience connectivity so sublime that it is orgasmic. Literally orgasmic. I have great orgasms because I am of service.
I painted this blessing banner quite a while ago, but post it here bc it is in the spirit of my prayer.
I am blessed to feel connected to every star in the universe and know the thrill of all starlight radiating around me, with me, through me. I know this weave because I am blessed to be of service.
My prayer: Gods, I know that serving is a blessing to me, because all things come from you—my breath, my ability to rise in the morning, my joy, my serving. Everything of me is from you. So do not let me think that my service to others makes me superior. Getting the chance to serve others makes me very very lucky! It is to you I must turn if I want to serve: I pray, please bless me with the power to serve—including the willingness to serve. And bless me with the humility to serve in surrender—when You set me a task, help me implement it the way You ask.
I’m confused. I read “Be a Goddess,” which describes God in anthropomorphic terms. But here you describe yourself as a pantheist, even a “non-theistic” pantheist on another page.
How can you believe in a personal, anthropomorphic God and be a non-theistic pantheist?
Wow, thank you, I bet a lot of people wonder about that, but do not have the nerve or honesty to ask me! Pleased to meetcha!
I do not think there is a way to answer you outside of oral tradition. I will try, but it will be a poor and probably inadequate answer. It might mislead more than inform.
I find few contradictions in being theist, pantheist, and non-theist, but the operative word is “being” as opposed to believing. Yes, there is divine paradox in my state of being, and there is need for enormous dialectic in how I live, and there are definitely some contradictions puzzling me in terms of how to execute my belief systems some days, but i suspect paradox, dialectic, and a handful of contradictions are inherent in any mystic’s life. All in all, the combination of being theist, pantheist, and non-theist reflects my perception of reality. And to live honestly, I can only live by my perception.
Hm, but I have just written it is not a belief system but a way of being, and that is not true. Oh, this is really an oral traditions thing, argh. Bc I do truly believe all these things that many people find contradictory.
I could give a more left-brain answer, but I do not think that would be helpful bc I’ve discovered that folks who are puzzled by how i live do not usually find a left-brain answer any more useful than the sort of thing I wrote above, and this is already turning into an epic-long response. But I will give one left-brain analysis, an example of how I “be” my beliefs: Though I believe in deity that is person, I often relate to that deity through pantheist practices.
I would add that in my lifelong observances of how the cosmos works, the only conclusion I can come up with re divinity is that pantheism, theism, and non-theism are not contradictions. I know most people see them as such, and i support them to see as they choose, and I hope they support me to live the way I do.
Finally, there is a primitive mind that is intelligent and spiritual. That mind in me finds truth in my definition of divinity. It is a challenging position to actually live. But many heartfelt truths are.
I hope this was a useful answer. I could pick a million holes in it, could deconstruct it myself in an instant, it really cannot be conveyed well outside oral tradition, so I hope you read for the spirit of what I am trying to say.
Good grief, this was almost 500 words, and took a lot of thought, I better get back to work, lol. Thanks for visiting. Do come again!