Richard Rohr – A Spirituality of Subtraction

Meister Eckhart rightly pointed out that spirituality has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition. I am sad to say that most spirituality in the West has largely become a matter of addition. This “spiritual consumerism” focuses on learning more spiritual ideas, earning merit badges from God, trying to attain enlightenment, and the will power of heroic moral behavior. Yet the counter-intuitive nature of the Jesus-journey shows it is not at all about getting, attaining, achieving, performing, or succeeding (all of which tend to pander to the ego). Jesus’ spirituality is much more about letting go of what we do not need anyway. It more often involves unlearning than learning. Jesus taught us the way of descent, which we later called “the way of the cross.” Like few other Christians, Francis profoundly understood such a major turn-around. He wanted God, not his ego, to steer his life; so he practiced letting go of his own will, his own needs, and his own preferences until he was free of their domination and able to find happiness at a much deeper and more truthful level.

Richard Rohr – Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction – 1 – Liberation theology for consumerists

Beginning with today I intend to publish a series of quotes from the audio lectures of Richard Rohr titled Letting Go: A Spirituality of Subtraction, St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2005, Audible.

Here is how these lectures are presented on the Audible site:

In our culture, the “good life” means getting more. This series of retreat talks challenges listeners to subtract–to release whatever hinders us from siding with the cosmic Christ, whether that be in our inner world or our outer world. Father Rohr offers a daring vision which calls us to surrender, to liberation, to making room for real freedom.

These  are more or less exact quotes (I have transcribed these during some of my latest flights and I may have skipped a word here and there). The these I will add where necessary some of my own comments.

I hope you will find there as useful as I have found them. It is going to be a steep ride, so prepare for some surprises.

Here are the first two.

Dr. Valentin Teodorescu despre ‘forta mistica’ si altele asemenea

Draga Doru,

Ti-am scris un mesaj mai lung, dar din pacate, printr-o greseala de tastare l-am pierdut…De aceea voi incerca sa-ti raspund, din lipsa de timp, mai pe scurt…Din pacate nu cunosc prea bine disputele dintre Tudor Popescu si ortodoxia, de care el s-a distantat. In special, daca a avut rezerve in legatura cu teologia mistica ortodoxa, nu stiu la ce anume mai precis se refera aceste rezerve. Doar daca as cunoaste detalii mai precise mi-as putea face o opinie asupra acestor lucruri…

Nu sunt un mare specialist in mistica… am mai citit cate ceva, dar ceea ce eu stiu nu se poate compara cu ceea ce stiu Danut, Emil Bartos, Silviu Rogobete sau Daniel Farcas. Insa din cate am studiat, in legatura cu criticile aduse lui Ton sau Wurmbrand, acestea sunt, in opinia mea gresite si dovedesc ignoranta.

Lansare de carte la Cluj – Meister Eckhart. Misticul din causul ochiului, de Daniel Farcas

Meister Eckhart. Misticul din causul ochiului

La Editura Polirom a aparut, in sfirsit, cartea prietenului Daniel Farcas Meister Eckhart. Misticul din causul ochiului. Lucrarea a fost premiata in cadrul Concursului de debut „Ioan Petru Culianu”  pe anul 2008.

Iata o scurta prezentare a cartii, de pe situl Polirom.

Daniel Farcas a cistigat Concursul I. P. Culianu

Editura Polirom din Iasi a anuntat astazi ca prietenul nostru Daniel Farcas a cistigat editia 2007 a Concursului de debut I. P.  Culianu.

Sincere felicitari!