Sunday Musings – November 3, 2019
Unbecoming
Yesterday I listened to a rebroadcast of the April 19,2018 conversation Krista Tippett had with Angel Kyodo William, Zen priest, author and the second black woman to be recognized as a teacher in the Japanese Zen lineage. I was poignantly reminded that “…from a liberatory standpoint, is to recognize, oh, we’re not trying to become something, we’re trying to un-become. We’re trying to undo ourselves”.
I think, perhaps it was Ram Dass who I first “heard’ talk about the process of unbecoming. He would remind me of the teacher Jesus saying, in essence, if we wanted to grow spiritually (enter the kingdom of God) we would have to become as little children.
Over the years many teachers have reminded me that if we want to grow spiritually we must undo all those lies we have learned about ourselves, each other and the world; we have to drop all the labels by which we humans seek to define ourselves and each other; lies which then separate us from ourselves and each other.
The paradox is that by “undoing” or “letting go” of that substitute for self which is defined by the lies and the labels we reclaim ourselves.
We live in a time and in a nation in which it is increasingly difficult to believe the lies of racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and of an economic system which is designed to increase the disparity between those who possess a large share of the wealth and those who are now euphemistically called food challenged, housing challenged and health care challenged. In other words those who are hungry, homeless and without access to health care.
We live in a time and in a nation in which many once again more openly and desperately attempt to prove their worth by the pigment of their skin, their gender, their ability to be a sound business person who gets wealthy on the backs of many other, their ability to treat others as sexual objects or their ability to use power to bully and destroy. This is not new behavior. As is always the case just before growth many of us humans desperately hold on to old fears and delusions.
The good news is that the mirror of these deceptions is shining brighter than ever. The good news is that there are an increasingly large number of people rising from the ashes of all numbing addictive behaviors (alcohol, other drugs, sex, food, power, money and things) to reclaim their humanity. Often it is those who have seen the abyss who will lead the way. Perhaps this is what teachers such as Jesus meant when he said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Teachers such as Rev. Williams and many of the guests of podcast hosts such as Krista Tippett, Terry Gross and others have a voice which is inviting all of us to unbecome – to claim the sacredness which is us; to claim the freedom to know what really matters is how well we take care of ourselves and each other.
Teachers are also often those who are using the tools of programs such as the 12 step programs of AA, NA, MA, OA, SA, SAA who are leading the way to unbecoming in order to become.
Written November 3, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
Unbecoming
Yesterday I listened to a rebroadcast of the April 19,2018 conversation Krista Tippett had with Angel Kyodo William, Zen priest, author and the second black woman to be recognized as a teacher in the Japanese Zen lineage. I was poignantly reminded that “…from a liberatory standpoint, is to recognize, oh, we’re not trying to become something, we’re trying to un-become. We’re trying to undo ourselves”.
I think, perhaps it was Ram Dass who I first “heard’ talk about the process of unbecoming. He would remind me of the teacher Jesus saying, in essence, if we wanted to grow spiritually (enter the kingdom of God) we would have to become as little children.
Over the years many teachers have reminded me that if we want to grow spiritually we must undo all those lies we have learned about ourselves, each other and the world; we have to drop all the labels by which we humans seek to define ourselves and each other; lies which then separate us from ourselves and each other.
The paradox is that by “undoing” or “letting go” of that substitute for self which is defined by the lies and the labels we reclaim ourselves.
We live in a time and in a nation in which it is increasingly difficult to believe the lies of racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, and of an economic system which is designed to increase the disparity between those who possess a large share of the wealth and those who are now euphemistically called food challenged, housing challenged and health care challenged. In other words those who are hungry, homeless and without access to health care.
We live in a time and in a nation in which many once again more openly and desperately attempt to prove their worth by the pigment of their skin, their gender, their ability to be a sound business person who gets wealthy on the backs of many other, their ability to treat others as sexual objects or their ability to use power to bully and destroy. This is not new behavior. As is always the case just before growth many of us humans desperately hold on to old fears and delusions.
The good news is that the mirror of these deceptions is shining brighter than ever. The good news is that there are an increasingly large number of people rising from the ashes of all numbing addictive behaviors (alcohol, other drugs, sex, food, power, money and things) to reclaim their humanity. Often it is those who have seen the abyss who will lead the way. Perhaps this is what teachers such as Jesus meant when he said the first shall be last and the last shall be first.
Teachers such as Rev. Williams and many of the guests of podcast hosts such as Krista Tippett, Terry Gross and others have a voice which is inviting all of us to unbecome – to claim the sacredness which is us; to claim the freedom to know what really matters is how well we take care of ourselves and each other.
Teachers are also often those who are using the tools of programs such as the 12 step programs of AA, NA, MA, OA, SA, SAA who are leading the way to unbecoming in order to become.
Written November 3, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
coachpickett.org
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