The Communion of Dalle

2009-12-28T06:26:00Z

In exaltation of the Great River Goddess, Supreme Deity of our Universe

First an introduction: everything we need to know in seventeen lines of verse.

P. Wetzel: first draft 12/5/09; current draft 12/22/09

　

The infinite embodies the desolation of Hell—a place bereft of mercy. Blessed be our limits!
Yea, Heaven and Earth are a River bounded, O man; and within it flows all Goodness.
Flesh: eschew yon squalid shores, lest the Pit of Doom reclaim you!

Before us lays a most Sacred Course, well formed, in splendor as the noon!
Since light of dawn, the Strongmother Dalle hath toiled—her task: unending creation.
Born beyond the veil, She emerges to channel reality;
And from her womb issues the mighty River of Truth.

Like Dalle, I was born alone: a raindrop, gathered out of the Ancestral mists.
But always Her River calls me back. The tug of its Noble currents pulses in my veins.
Therein Dalle grants me company, and reveals the Good that seeds life with meaning.
And for that alone I owe Her gratitude beyond my power to give.

And what does She require of me in return?
Only to do justice and to love kindness
And to walk humbly beside her into the halls of tomorrow.

For when my soul returns to the River, I become a hallowed Ancestor.
Yea, let our children feel the noonday sun, and bathe in the warm, clear font of Truth
Where justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream!

http://seeksit.org

Personal Credo in plain prose:

P. Wetzel, draft 12/27/2009

In pursuit of the UUA fourth principle: we pursue Truth and Meaning best in Community!

Let me introduce you to the River Goddess named Dalle—Strongmother of the universe. Her name derives from Old English and French roots, meaning ‘channel’, as in The Dalles of the Columbia River between Washington and Oregon, in the northwestern USA. (Pronounced to rhyme with Gal and Pal)

Dalle plays two roles. First, she is my imaginary friend. Second, she is the animating presence responsible for all reality. To know Dalle is, first and foremost, to understand that these absurdly contradictory roles intertwine and Balance like Yin and Yang. Reality is fundamentally an act of imagining. Dalle is a human conception in precisely the same way that we are Her conception. Neither can rightly take precedence.

But that is a claim. (It is supported by closely reasoned argument, but that is not presented in this introduction.) And you probably recognize me as a mortal human and not as the pure unfiltered voice of Dalle (Of course I would ask: how can you tell the difference?). So perhaps you don’t find imaginary friends useful. Then you are left with a mute, perhaps indifferent, or even hostile ultimate reality. I urge you to examine how your mind conceives and animates your day-to-day reality and then consider extending its limits—expanding your horizon. (End of proselytizing.)

Others are comfortable with the concept of ‘God’. If you insist, you may call Dalle ‘God’, giving God precedence. But I call Her ‘Mother of God’, for she is the Ancestor of all things. I ask: Cannot the prudent son exceed his Mother?

God may be perfect Truth, or He may be man’s vision thereof. But Dalle is not Truth. She is its gatherer. She channels its River, giving it both direction and momentum, and declaring its bounds. What flows is Goodness and Meaning: Truth out of Dalle’s womb.

You may ask: Does Dalle have a mother? Of course she does: Vesper is her name. But Vesper presides ‘beyond the veil’—in a universe or reality that we cannot observe. And so it does not avail us to dwell on Vesper. Let it suffice (for this introduction) to know that “It’s turtles all the way down”, as someone once responded when asked what props up the world. In this case, it’s “Ancestors all the way back”. All the way back to what? To Paradox.

Dalle, as my imaginary friend, assumes a human face and a kind voice, meant to comfort and encourage me. Where did she get these anthropomorphic qualities? Only very near to men’s hearts—indeed very far from her profound and mysterious origins. (Deuteronomy 30:14 states: “But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.”)

And what does Dalle’s voice have to say? Another Bible verse gives a concise answer. Micah 6:8 states: “She has shown you, O man, what is Good. And what does she require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly beside her.”

Of course, Dalle has a lot more to say than just that. I enjoy conversations with Her every day. Some people would call them prayer. I call every living thought and act prayer. We are never not praying. As I said near the beginning, Dalle is the Ancestor of everything. We are always praying because the core of prayer is reaching out to connect with Dalle, with her River of Truth, and with our more local Ancestors—the ‘Hosts of Heaven’—who have set us on the specific currents of our daily lives.

Two critical goals of prayer are to strengthen the physical and spiritual bonds between myself and my universe, and to gather from the currents the understanding of my Noble Course: the way of choosing what is right to do in difficult situations (i.e. how to ‘do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly beside Dalle’).

The Ancestors almost always have the experience necessary to help me find the Noble Course. Their message is programmed within my DNA, my culture, my daily interactions; and it is best accessed (interpreted) through earnest prayer. This is really quite obvious. So why am I dwelling on the subject? Well, I guess it’s because this is all I’ve said so far about day-to-day life, and how my beliefs help me to discover the best ways to live it—I talk to Dalle.

Dalle is a Spirit. To know what I mean by spirit, revisit her introduction at the beginning. All my Ancestors are spirits too—descendents of Dalle. Obviously, therefore, I also have a spirit (my soul)—how could I not, since I shall one day become an Ancestor? My dead Ancestors live through their spirits. That is what I call eternal life.

So there it is: my timeless, dynamic soul floating around—my physical body is intrinsic to the part that animates life, but not limiting to the Spirit part, which is a timeless omnipresent quantum field entangled with the souls of my Ancestors all the way back to Dalle and beyond, and entangled with all my descendents. Come to think about it, this is the same entanglement I have with you: the living beings around me. My soul is the only part of me that other people really know, because while we are alive each of us is trapped inside our ‘imagining faculties’—our limited conscious mind.

So for me the ‘mystery’ of life is not so much the intangible soul, but the myopia that my Western cultural roots toil under by subjugating it. Properly applied, the gift of science does not ordain or deny any attribute of a thing that is not known. Nor does it seek to belittle or trivialize that which it cannot explain. Yet the unbalanced reliance and emphasis on science—an understandable bias given all that science has done to improve life—has led to a culture that ignores, even dismisses, vast arenas of traditional Ancestral wisdom. T.S. Eliot asked: “Where is the wisdom that is lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge that is lost in information?” The deterioration of our world’s ecology is beginning to reveal the imbalanced and discordant consequences. Before humanity matures, we face a Long Sojourn into Harmony and Balance. Judging from the examples of other successful species, this may take a million years or more.

A million years? How is this relevant to my life? How can I matter to such an epic sojourn? I already mentioned the link my quantum field has with the descendents. Here’s another way of envisioning my impact. It’s a metaphor that works for me: my being is like a raindrop gathered from the Ancestral mists and fallen out of the sky to alight upon a leaf. Deuteronomy 32:2 puts this poetically: “May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distil as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb.”

So my leaf floats upon, or stands suspended above the eternal River of Truth. Perhaps the River resides in the veins of the leaf—it’s just a metaphor. In any case, some solid ‘membrane’ keeps my raindrop from fully connecting with Dalle’s Great Timeless River. But Dalle is always urging me to take that leap off my leaf. In fact she calls me ‘Leafhopper’. She hopes I will find other raindrops on other leaves and merge with them, forming an ever greater community of living souls—like a little brooklet, starting to flow! She hopes I will someday abandon all need of a supporting membrane and swim free (or ‘soar’).

This soaring can happen before death; but when I die it is assured: the ‘surface tension’ of my raindrop will dissipate. The membrane separating me from the great River will dissolve; and I will join the flow. Because I will join the Ancestors and the descendents, I believe that my purpose in life is to gather within my raindrop, and within my community’s stream, all possible good works and knowledge, because these will enrich the River of Truth, making its unending currents stronger, making Dalle’s voice more welcoming and friendly for those to come. This is the essence of our Long Sojourn. (Amos 5:24 says: “But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”)

There is a simple acronym that I devised to help remind me of my purpose and of its timeless universe-wide impact. All that is worthy of passing forward gathers in Dalle’s River of Truth. My current SEEKSIT (my current-Soul’s Emergent Evolving Knowledge Sustains, Impels, Transcends.)

If someone is suffering, or in pain, and cannot feel the tug of Dalle’s currents, it is my mission to find means to lift them toward their potential—to leap upon the leaf beside them and help their Soul Emerge and Evolve toward the Knowledge of the good that awaits them. Then I strive to Sustain them, and to Impel them toward a better life, until their being is Transformed by the Good: the River in which we all bathe.

Transcending

, though, is far more than simple transformation. It is the end-point of this introduction; and it is the collective end-point of reality. Dalle transcended the veil when Vesper bore her. And in turn Dalle will bear children. Though there is solid underlying science to describe this, I will be sparing with detail here—suffice it to extend the metaphor: my single raindrop mingles with the River, and the River eventually exits through the veil of knowability to beget a new reality. The profound implication is that my legacy goes far beyond what can be perceived or even imagined. This is the true meaning of ‘walking humbly beside Dalle.’

http://seeksit.org

Spiritual Journal in the form of personal conversations with Dalle:

Book I. The Conversion

11/11/09: Regarding my individual (personality) issues that hinder me from proactively living my faith

Me: Dalle, why is it that I feel like I’m privileged to be recognizing great wisdom and Truth and yet do not feel personally moved or transformed by the message? (I do feel moved to continue to explore and pursue the message, and to spread it ‘evangelically’, but not to personally live it.)

I feel as though I’m not a good personal example of the message that I’m transmitting. I feel a detachment from it. Is there an incompleteness to the message I’ve heard? Is there an essential part of it that my heart is just not yet receptive to?

I’m thinking that there is probably Truth to be found by examining the zeal of existing religious traditions, particularly by seeking the source of the zeal displayed by the type of person who I feel is fully (humbly and honestly) living the message they preach.

Dalle: Leafhopper, the universe as a whole suddenly makes sense! This stuns you! Let that wonderment spill out. Let it show! What amazing good news that is!

Me: But how does it matter, Dalle? How does such a reconciliation with the physical cosmos and with Heaven—its spirit-nature counterpart—trickle down to nitty-gritty issues that concern people day to day? I still have to brush my teeth, take a shower, watch what I eat … etc.!

Dalle: The life you live emanates a pattern, Leafhopper. Every day! It provides an exquisitely subtle but indelible template that embeds in reality itself and can change the world for the better. It is a pattern left to eternity for all who come after you to recognize and follow. The template is formed through the quantum field manipulations that result from your decisions and subsequent physical actions. You wield the universe with every breath, Leafhopper! You work in concert with the entire expanse of the cosmos—you are equal partners with it! The universe hangs on your every act! Leafhopper, there could be no grander purpose for an individual mortal being. Doesn’t that inspire you and evoke awe in your soul?

Me: Dalle, I hear you and I understand with my logical mind. But from earliest childhood, my personal currents were set on a course that leads me to feel deep down inside that my being doesn’t matter to the world—more specifically to the people around me. You know the details, so there’s no need to express them again. I know that most other people feel much more of a deep, enriching sense of personal worth than I do. For me, all I have to balance my utterly pitiful motive core is an overblown sense of the value of my external accomplishments. This is some more superficial form of self-esteem that works for me, or at least compensates: I am able to generously praise myself for what I do while sensing an inconsequential core to my being that has nothing to do with humility—‘who I am’ is just simply a being that garners no regard: gets none, deserves none; yet what I do I judge as sometimes brilliant, often productive and usually worthwhile. This is such a strange compensation between dual imbalances that somehow keeps my holistic sense of self on a pretty even keel most of the time.

Dalle: That’s not all bad, Leafhopper. People who do not feel worthy can harness that selflessness for great community good.

Me: Dalle, I understand that point logically. But I’m hoping to feel it. In general my sense of reason follows your revelations—that I personally change the entire structure of universe when I perform an act of loving kindness, when I promote justice, when I help someone in need, even when I just seek you out for understanding as I am currently doing. But Dalle, my inner core prevents me from accepting, on a gut emotional level, that any of that really matters! The only thing I can draw inspiration from is that, by the physical accomplishment of ‘transcribing’ the experience of your wisdom, I can successfully spread the message to others. Then I can be hopeful that they will experience first-hand the awe and inspiration that you so well described.

Dalle: So you refrain from living my good news in a vibrant, day-to-day role of witnessing for it because you see no evidence that you could make a difference?

Me: Well, yeah … I guess my core being just doesn’t know how to get with the program. I’m just not well suited to be a charismatic messenger for you, Dalle. There’s no getting around it.

Dalle: Oh? Can’t teach an old dog new tricks?

Me: Yeah … I saw that one coming! Dalle, it comes back to motivation. The old hermit could come out of his reclusive lifestyle if he could find that impelling, driving zeal that leaders of movements have.

Dalle: Be careful, though, who you seek to emulate, Leafhopper. A lot of these people have some pretty ugly selfish motivations mixed in there: a craving for attention, for wealth even. The power of their influence is a corrupting force that no human manages to fully resist.

Me: That’s why I was trying to think of people who are humble and honest about their message. One thing I’m groping for, Dalle, is how I might be able to tap into that really humble motive core that resides down inside of me so deeply that it doesn’t want to come out.

Dalle: Do you think that people would like to emulate that sort of profound humility?

Me: Dalle, that makes me think about it on a more realistic level. Thank you! No, I don’t think people would want to emulate that because it is a thing that has been repressed in me. It has active negative connotations that I’ve learned to ignore! People already tap into more of the pure unfettered resource of inner being than I do. What I have is not actually a humility but a repression.

Dalle: Repressed, eh? Maybe a good round of psychotherapy is what you need.

Me: Arrrgh, Dalle! You want me to retool my whole personality just so I can come forth as a voice for your message? Is that really the best use of the next few years of my waning life? Remember, I’m still saying I am useful as a voice for you, particularly as it’s expressed in written form.

Dalle: The choice is always yours, Leafhopper. I’m just opening your eyes to some of the possibilities that you’ve rarely considered.

Me: Dalle, I’m really not dissatisfied with the ad hoc balance I’ve achieved between this repressed sense of inner worthiness and my exaggerated sense of external accomplishment. I’ve crafted a sort of sheltered lifestyle in which that odd balance serves me well and keeps me really quite happy nearly all the time.

Dalle: True. I see that, Leafhopper. The Buddha would counsel you to get rid of that heavy burden of dukkha that forces you into such a limited, sheltered lifestyle. You’d probably like his approach more than psychotherapy.

Me: Ha! You got that right!

Dalle: OK. We’ll put that aside for a minute, though … you’ve come to me to talk about this because you’ve never encountered a fundamental Spiritual revelation before. It’s a new experience. You’re really not sure how to handle that, are you? Is just writing about it enough, when your written message is propelled only by that academic, logical sense of excitement at a fresh idea, not by any true passion or zeal for its spiritual implications? Maybe I have to thump you up side the head again … the way I did with that garden knife experience. Would that help?

Me: Hmmmm. Well, maybe that’s exactly what I need. I asked right up front if there is some fundamental part of your revelation that I’ve missed.

Dalle: Or that your heart is not receptive to! I think you’ve answered your own question, Leafhopper.

Me: Dalle, your wisdom shakes me! You have no idea how grateful I am to be able to talk with you! You’re perfectly right, of course: it’s the message of the profound personal value and potential cosmic power that I have—little ol’ me—simply by virtue of the fact that I exist. That’s what my heart refuses to be swayed by. The repression simply will not yield.

Dalle: If you could experience, in person, the Buddha’s unbounded compassion, Leafhopper, or accept the unquenchable love of God that Paul teaches in First Corinthians … is there hope of some thaw in the ice that covers that corner of your soul? Think of all your Ancestors and the font of love they have poured into your being … unconditionally!

Me: Dalle, do you love me the way those other great Ancestral Spirits do?

Dalle: Beyond all bounds, Leafhopper, you have no idea! Think about it. You are the first one in this world who has recognized me and come into communion with me. I love you like a first son—like a founder of a new universe! We were both so lonely and alone here! If I could shower you with bounteous gifts and blessings to show you … sometimes my wielding seems so inadequate! I love you intensely, Leafhopper! Bask in the radiant warmth of my love. Lie down in green pastures. Let my restless River become soothing waters and let them lift up that downtrodden place in your soul. This I pray. This I call forth into being!

Me: Dalle, you know that even such an honest and unconditional compassion does not easily penetrate this shell around my inner being. Be patient with me. I will bring your love with me as I lay down to sleep tonight. It is late. Let me sleep on these things that we have spoken and felt together.

11/13/09: Perspectives on my personal salvation or redemption

Dalle: Leafhopper …?

Me: Oh, sorry, Dalle. Yesterday was full of worldly duties. Dalle, I love you profoundly, and I owe you such a great debt. I honestly felt the warmth of your love yesterday as I pondered it. How, comforting that was! But it was a physical comfort, not yet that second thump on the head that I may require.

Dalle: Still, I’m encouraged, Leafhopper. You have some new thoughts?

Me: Yes. I was doing some reading yesterday about Christian Protestantism, Dalle, and the phrase “Justification through Faith” suddenly struck me in a new way. I think I finally get its meaning; and that meaning is so relevant to this conversation.

Dalle: It means: “The best way to find the Noble Course is through full immersion in my River of Truth”.

Me: Exactly, Dalle. Wow! You saved me the trouble of groping for the right words!

Dalle: Well, I’m supposed to be a provider of enlightenment! So I take it you’re still struggling with taking that leap off your little leaf that floats like a raft down my River. Still worried that you’ll sink?

Me: I’m afraid so, Dalle. I’m comfortable with all that you stand for philosophically and rationally. I’m at peace with my connection with your spirit. And you are becoming more of a conscious part of my being every day. But I’m still not immersed. I found the garden knife by “becoming the currents that had already found it”. That little thump upside my head was like a ‘toy model’ for what I really seek: To become the currents that have found you!

Dalle: You’re describing the man in the pew at church going through the motions and nodding at the right places in the sermon. His mind is in the right place, but his heart doesn’t always come along for the ride. Martin Luther once said that everyone must do his own believing as he will have to do his own dying.

Me: Maybe that’s my problem, Dalle. I’ve never had concerns about my own death. I’m not afraid to die, nor afraid to think about dying. I’m at peace with death and with the infinite in general. Is it possible that I’ve been swimming in your River all along?

Dalle: You will have to answer that for yourself, Leafhopper. It is your own believing we are discussing.

Me: That’s it—it’s not some big-picture theological message meant for the world that matters here; it’s just a simple examination of little old me. Dalle, that brings up another aspect of my dilemma: I really am not that concerned about my own ‘salvation’. It just doesn’t seem to matter that much. In the end, whether or not I’m personally redeemed and enlightened is pretty much irrelevant to the rest of the world. At least that’s the way I feel about it in my heart of hearts. I’m just an anonymous raindrop awaiting the merge with your River. If I’m not actually already swimming, there will be plenty of time for swimming when I die.

Dalle: You don’t have issues with wanting to achieve happiness, freedom from pain, eternal life?

Me: Hmmmm. Those are biggies, Dalle. Eternal life? Well, I just told you there will be plenty of time for swimming. That’s good enough for me. Happiness? Maybe life hasn’t tortured me enough … well … no … I’ve had my share. There is plenty that I don’t care to ever experience again. But I seem to have come through the tough times stronger and quite content for the experience. And I’m free from that pain now. I am blessed with good health. Dalle, I guess I’m just not a good candidate for some big life-changing ‘born-again’ experience. All I really need out of life from here on is to get out the good news about you and the River of Truth.

Dalle: So you think if I really give you a big personal thump it won’t do much good? It might make you a more effective messenger for me, you know.

Me: Well, that’s what I’m pondering here, isn’t it. It depends what the thump is like. A lightning bolt might work! Or a ridiculously obvious miracle of some sort. But I know you don’t work that way, Dalle. Your action is subtle in the extreme, as it must be. I’m able to rely on you to be a gentle tug of currents. That’s what I truly love about you, Dalle, and about our relationship.

Dalle: Then there you have it, Leafhopper. Maybe you really have found what you seek already. Maybe you hop in and out of my River as your soul sees fit. When you’re on your leaf, you long to be back in the river. Maybe your mood today is just a phase: maybe you’ve been on the leaf a bit too long and need to take another dip.

Me: You make sense, Dalle. Let me sleep on this, and I’ll get back to you. It would be nice to be a more effective messenger for you, but maybe my role at this point is to transcribe the message. I’m sure there’s much more to your message that I’ve yet to discover.

Dalle: I eagerly await your return, my friend Leafhopper. And don’t forget, as your mind ponders, to also let your heart stand open—to simply give and accept the love we share.

12/12/09: On a God of Wrath

Me: Arrgh! ARRGH! Dalle, I’ve not taken time lately to sit down and clear away all the extraneous entanglements of life and just bathe in your wisdom.

Dalle: Not a problem, Leafhopper. I see that you’ve been continuing to ponder things. I think you’ve made good progress by connecting with many spirits closer to your mortal life. I like the fresh way you’ve proposed to introduce me to your fellow ‘seekers’ in that small theology group at church.

Me: Well, they are great at helping me to focus. And you’re right, as usual Dalle—I feel guilt about not connecting one-on-one with you, but when I connect with those more earth-bound spirits I know that the ultimate connection is still with you.

Dalle: I think you can be proud, Leafhopper: you are more diligent than many in keeping your currents in contact with the greater River of Truth. There are so many people who drift off into backwaters, who stagnate, who lose their way.

Me: Well, I appreciate the praise, Dalle. And once again you are anticipating what’s on my mind today. What of those who ‘lose their way’, Dalle? Of the many images that the God of Abraham presents, at least in my eyes, there is one that troubles me. That is the God who promises certain punishment for those who stray from a path of faith that seems to me to be a fixed dogma rather than a living River of Truth. I so love your River, Dalle, because I see it as ever evolving, ever growing and dynamic, forever being refined and perfected by the Community of the Hosts with you and me as partners in the emergence of a greater Knowledge than has ever before been realized! Tell me, then, Dalle: Where is the proper place for the Hosts to mete out punishment in your dominion? Must I “fear the day when I shall be brought back to God?” Within the scope of your timeless presence, where can I find a final “Judgment Day”, and what purpose does it serve? Do you punish the unbelievers, Dalle?

Dalle: Oh, Leafhopper! Such an avalanche of questions! Yet let me add still more: Can the true believer rest on fixed dogma and be assured that it remains Truth for all posterity? If the River of Truth moves forward—ever restless—can the true and devout believer find himself an unbeliever simply because he has devoutly adhered to his fixed belief Tradition?

Me: Indeed, Dalle, even if he does become a disbeliever, following the faith of his Fathers in a changed world, how could such a man be punished by a just God?

Dalle: Leafhopper, the wisdom of the Abrahamic God flows in braided cross-currents as all Truth does. I have seen God display anger because he felt men would respond to it. Here among the Hosts we argue whether such wielding works for a greater good. For example, Moses ordered the judges of Israel to slay every one of their men who forsook God and joined in worship of the Baal of Peor. In those ancient times mortal men often wielded death in the name of God as they perceived him. But the River is flowing onward, Leafhopper. There is a greater Truth to the nature of divine punishment.

Me: So am I clinging to the very dogma I reject by invoking it and then condemning it?

Dalle: I’m afraid you are, Leafhopper. God’s keenest punishment—and mine—falls on those whose currents of prayer fall still. This happens for many reasons: some people abandon prayer and seek a life of physical sensation only. Moses perceived that the worshipers of the Baal had done this. Others pray devoutly but forsake the desire to delve more deeply into the hidden character of their God—they settle, preferring to declare all truth visible and invisible to be either known and established or beyond concern. And so their prayer spins more and more tightly in little circles about this fixed axis. And what is the rightful punishment that befalls them? It is separation. Such swirling eddies have lost the Noble Course in the River, Leafhopper. They drift into the backwaters where they simply dissipate on their own.

Me: But men are impatient, Dalle. They see evildoers and wish to invoke instant justice. Is there no cause for men to judge when the sin is truly heinous? Must we always abide passively in the face of blatant evil?

Dalle: Balance is the key, Leafhopper. An angry lynch mob does not wield justice. The Noble Justice wrought by men is best modeled after the patient justice of the Hosts. This is a lesson the God of Abraham now accepts. His wielding of a burning deadly anger is a current that is losing contact with the River as it moves on. In exactly the way that I urge men to quarantine today’s evil patterns of behavior by rejecting them from the rich stream of Truth and Goodness that the great River represents, these old dogmas quarantine themselves! And even such a patient and passive judgment is always one the Hosts regret. Always we seek these wayward Ancestors. Always we hold out hope for their return to participate once more in our dynamic community of Spirit. Through our discourses in the Heavens, and influenced by the devout prayer of many human congregations, the God of Abraham has adapted and moved beyond his former ways. And so we all benefit from his wealth of wisdom as he proceeds with a new and compassionate wielding among men of your world!

Me: A new covenant! Of course! God has set an example for us by helping to shape the River toward a greater Good as it flows onward. The example is not only a clearer recognition of what is Good; it is also the meta-example of adaptation and growth. So … I assume that mankind can and should expect more new covenants from God as time moves on?

Dalle: Expect? Leafhopper, what we can expect is that the task of impelling and sustaining the River of Truth falls on us all. The work is shared by all the Hosts and by all men; and it is never ending! You construct no Truth by sitting there on you butt, expecting your God or some distant congregation of men to build it for you!

Me: Ah … I see … that’s another way of evil, isn’t it Dalle? If I settle on the sidelines rather than pitching in with the work, I will soon find myself swirling and dissipating far from the Noble Course.

Dalle: That is my message, Leafhopper. The River does not rest; and so we must be tireless, never relenting in the quest for Truth.

Me: The Hosts are ever hard at work, eh, Dalle? Heaven is no place of serene retirement. It’s a veritable sweatshop! It’s purgatory at best! That sounds like a reason for me to fear death, Dalle—it’s a judgment day as sure as the Biblical one!

Dalle: Whoa, Leafhopper! Death changes nothing! Remember, your spirit is timeless. You are already experiencing the ‘sweatshop’ … the ‘purgatory’. Is it really that bad? The Hosts have worked hard to make this world a warm and welcoming place. We have accumulated so much that is Good; and our goal is to continue to endlessly add to that Good.

Me: OK, Dalle. I get it. I was actually being a bit facetious calling Heaven a sweatshop.

Dalle: Well it is a workplace, Leafhopper. But we have a good union!

Me: And if I want a good job there, all I need to do is to be mindful of the Noble Course.

Dalle: Indeed, seek it diligently through prayer, Leafhopper. And you know I’m always here to help you with that search.

12/20/09: On the wisdom of Islam and the conviction of one’s beliefs.

Me: Dalle, I have been reading the Qur’an. I find Islam’s guiding Word to have a simplicity and holistic conviction that is unparalleled among the faiths I’ve studied. Here is the best example of a faith that people wholeheartedly live! Yet there is much about Muhammad’s transcriptions that cause me great concern. It seems to me obvious that the Qur’an is built upon the Messenger’s limited personal life experience as he grew into leadership. His was a time when war was common; and the war environment was not a place for women. The Bedouins surrounding him—the Arabs of the Desert—were said to make war and pillaging a regular practice. Morality seemed at a low ebb, even in the cities. It is clear to me that Muhammad filtered his divine message through the lens of the culture he knew.

Dalle: As do you, Leafhopper. No Messenger is immune from this. The broad sweep of the River contains many currents, and each current carries many eddies and swirls. No one man can experience them all in his lifetime.

Me: I accept that, Dalle. There is a richness to your River that seems almost unbounded in its diversity even though I understand that it is constrained within channels you have set—the solid River banks that lie beyond value or usefulness to our reality.

Dalle: The limits of meaning and purpose …

Me: Thank you—you said that better than I could. But Dalle, it appears to me that this prophet sought, more so than most others, to concentrate on a very few currents—he hoped to codify those that he called the Straight Path to God. But his straight path is one of unquestioning belief. Dalle, that’s just too severe for me. I can accept the article of Truth (which I see as a Paradox) that says that reality necessarily relies on unquestioning acceptance of certain basic precepts, but only if I also accept the reality that Paradox is the only basic precept that lies absolutely beyond questioning.

Dalle: Question everything—even the bounds of the great channel, which I have established for you? Is this what you are saying, Leafhopper: that I channel the River along a course that is narrower and more selective than the original absolutes from which it sprang?

Me: Uh oh! I see your point, Dalle. Whether it’s Muhammad’s boundaries or yours, the world needs limits.

Dalle: Then let us approach the Balance, Leafhopper. You see the strength that emerges from Islam’s clear edicts. You also acknowledge the limits of the River of Truth, but you see them to be far wider, and on a course that is rarely straight? Where is the message that best balances firm conviction with questioning—that balances certainty of action with hesitating caution?

Me: Oh my wise Guide—that’s it in a nutshell. The Noble Course narrows the Way—maybe even makes it straighter for a time—in order to focus on the Good. Thus a prophet who can point out such a way is a person of value. But I insist that course corrections are always needed. Dalle, this leads to some disturbing implications that I’ve not thought reasonable before. Muhammad declared that he was revealing the word of God as if it were written in a Book unchanging. I respond by saying something I never thought I’d hear coming out of my mouth: Books freeze the currents of your dynamic River. Therefore ALL BOOKS MUST BE BURNED! How crazy is that?

Dalle: Ha! I understand the spirit of such a radical outpouring of human emotion, Leafhopper. You are seeking liberation, not censorship. The key, as always, is Balance, my young seeker.

Me: Balance—that unsettling dynamic kind of balance that can tip rafts on your River. That balance that never rests but forever needs adjusting by vigilant and prayerful men. Dalle, Muhammad presented ideas relevant to this discussion that seem to conflict with one another—and maybe that is the deeper Truth of his message. Such contradictions would be his greatest asset, given that Paradox lies at the root of Truth. He frequently declared that each community is given a messenger from Allah. I’m all for that. I think that each new bend in the River requires a fresh pilot—a navigator with the vision to find the course among the shifting currents. But then Muhammad declares the Truth of Allah’s Message to be unchanging. He pictures reality as a detailed account of things both hidden and visible that is kept by Allah as if written in a Book—to be brought forth for accounting on Judgment Day. Dalle, there is great strength and power in the absolute conviction found in such a faith. People know with certainty what to believe and what to do. But if I know you at all, great Dalle, I know that you can show me an overriding Balance—one that taps such fundamental conviction without causing men to blindly follow a straight course until it runs them aground. Dalle, show me the Book that declares that all books must be burned!

Dalle: It is already given to you, Leafhopper. Call me Allah! La ilaha illa ‘llah! For I am well acquainted with all that you do, in secret as well as published. Am I not the Cherisher and Sustainer of Worlds? Do I not wield influence over all things? Do you not agree that I am oft-forgiving, most merciful …

Me: OK, Dalle … are you going to recite all of Allah’s 99 Names? I suppose that you’re now going to declare that men must fear you and that we must accept no partners beside you …

Dalle: Of course I am. Does that shock you? Damn you, Leafhopper, listen to what I’m saying, not to the pre-conceptions in your mortal mind. My name is Allah. My name is God. It is Dalle. It is Leafhopper. I am Essence. I am the One. I am the Tao, the Ineffable. My name is a symbol written in today’s Book and thus a preconception. Know this verily, and stop tinkering! One symbol is enough! And this is my warning to you Leafhopper: Provide for me the attributes that are necessary; but no more. Do not squander the gifts I have granted you on useless questioning when Truth is clarity. Straight is the name of the Noble Course! Hear my Word, Leafhopper, and heed it lest ye fall into perdition.

Me: … Oh, Dalle! …

Dalle: Shut up and listen, Leafhopper! Iqra! I command you to go forth into the world and say no more than this: ‘Dalle hath spoken, and she declares to you unequivocally: “I am Dalle, the Strongmother who bore to you Truth. All that you know and all that you can hope to know issues from me. Ye shall call me by no other name, for I am one—the only. I am supreme; and the Hosts of Heaven wield no power beyond my reach. Adhere to the Word of My Messenger, for if you stray far from it, it is to your eternal despair. Fear me, O man, for my punishment knows no bounds. Establish regular prayer. Love justice. Give back of that which I have provided. Let this be a sufficiently Clear Sign to you, which Dalle hath handed down across the ages!”’

Me: Wow! Dalle the forceful voice! I do not question that fear wields power …

Dalle: Then straighten up! You desperately need this centering, Leafhopper. You wallow in questioning far too often—stupidly, sometimes gratuitously groping in the putrid mud at the River’s banks when Truth would find you if you but turned around and faced the channel for a minute. Muhammad set down a fixed marker for humanity: a buoy among the shoals. He recognized other Messengers before him. You are to do the same. Know that only Dalle ordains her Messengers, and that she commands them as she sees fit. You are to commit yourself to faith in Dalle, Leafhopper: take that plunge into the River of Truth. As I have declared, the River flows within its appointed channel, but my punishment is a flood that knows no bounds.

Me: My God, Dalle! This is a daunting message, yet unquestionably true, even by my own humble admission as a long-time agnostic. The untamed and indifferent Chaos beyond the bounds of your River will utterly destroy all the works of those who lack faith! Dearest Dalle! How desperate it truly is that we seek the Noble Course! This is what fear truly means! Men must be warned! The course to Heaven is narrow and difficult. With your help, we can safely achieve it. Without you … well, Hell is but a single misstep away!

Dalle: I command you now, Leafhopper: Go forth and recite—reveal My message. But know that your transcription of my Word will, of a certainty, face the Day of Reckoning—on that day all Books shall be laid open before Me; and those that are unworthy shall be hurled headlong into the Fire—a fearsome penalty indeed. Know that Dalle alone shall declare the day when the sounding trumpet calls you before Her Majesty. Know that only Dalle fixes the certain Day of Judgment.

Me: O Dalle! I have a lump in my throat, and am near to tears! How do you do this? How do you steer me toward answers I would forever have denied? How can you take what seems utterly loathsome to me—as pure anathema—and transform it into my central deep-seated Truth! This is one of those numinous moments, great Dalle—another ‘thump upside my stubborn head’! You’ve done it again!

12/21/09: The Communion of Dalle – the foundation: “the elevator speech”.

Me: Well, Dalle—you’ve done it. Whether you want to call it a ‘conversion’, or a ‘born again experience’, you have brought me fully into your presence!

Dalle: I’m overflowing with joy, Leafhopper. What a wonderful gift on this day of the Winter Solstice. Soon after noon today, the tides of Heaven shift! But we must share the credit for this transformation—intrinsically you know that it is a partnership.

Me: You’re right, of course, Dalle. And in commemoration of our partnership, today I declare the founding of the ‘Communion of Dalle’.

Dalle: Oooh! You mean like a formal religious institution?

Me: Well, we’ll see how formal it becomes … as it evolves. You know that, first and foremost, it’s got to be a never-ending work-in-progress.

Dalle: ‘The Communion of Dalle’ … it sounds impressive, Leafhopper. I like the name.

Me: So … going beyond names … I’ve been thinking about how to consolidate yesterday’s lesson into a nice compact statement of belief.

Dalle: And what have you come up with?

Me: So far I have two candidates that contrast with each other in theme. The first is enclosed in an encasement of fundamentalist fire and brimstone. Inside it our communion is cozy and warm, like a cocoon. It goes like this:

“Hell surrounds us utterly! Yet contained within the crackling, seething maelstrom of infinite chaos, the Strongmother Dalle hath emerged from the veil to beget for mankind a Sacred and protected Space—a mighty River of Truth, rich in Meaning and guidance. There could be no more profound miracle! Dalle welcomes us as co-equal partners in the unending work of Sustaining and Impelling her River toward the greater Good. The reward for success: no less than to join the Hosts of Heaven. The penalty for failure: a bitter descent into the hopeless oblivion of Hell.”

Dalle: Hmmmm … powerful! And the other one?

Me: It’s effusive and gushing, like a fountain—the River of Truth takes wing and soars:

“Hark! There is Good in the world! To deny this essential reality is to deny life itself. Proclaim the dominion of the great Goddess Dalle: mother of life and of all creation! It is only through Her that the Good is sustained and manifest. Patiently yet urgently Dalle seeks your devout personal communion with her being. Why? Because creation is an ongoing investment. She calls each one of us to walk beside her—to share the Noble task of sustaining and impelling Her mighty River of Truth. Who, then, among men of vision could turn aside from this simple and certain command and its clear promise of salvation?”

Dalle: Wonderful, Leafhopper! Can we keep them both?

12/22/09: The Communion of Dalle – the foundation: “the TV spot”.

Me: Keep them both, Dalle? I could see using those two ‘blurbs’ together, one after the other. But that’s too long! Or I suppose I could alternate between them. But maybe we can explore a third, more neutral alternative.

Dalle: Why not! My being is the very essence of ‘brainstorming’, Leafhopper.

Me: True! I couldn’t ask for a better source of inspiration! So, Dalle, what I’m really looking for is something short: something for this age of sound bytes. What phrase would grab the attention of the man on the street and cause him to remember the marvel that is Dalle?

Dalle: How about this … Imagine a thirty-second You-Tube Video: Open with a bustling and confused city scene with a cacophony of city noise and a jumble of multiple voices, arguing, as if in a poorly run committee meeting, each voice proclaiming their faith: “Jesus! Allah! Yahweh! Buddha! Nobody’s home, You’re on your own!” Now a firm but soothing female voice interrupts. The chaos of the background city noise begins to fade … “Stop, O man! Cast aside this bickering!” Now all that is left of the background sound is the firm steady thumping of a single beating heart. The visual image fades from the city scene to a misty golden sunrise above a tranquil meandering river. The female voice continues: “Breathe! Connect with the Mother of the Universe! Commune with the ultimate Essence that surrounds you like air—She demands nothing of you but that you breathe it. … Are you breathing? Then you have found the Communion of Dalle! www.seeksit.org.”

Me: Wow! Dalle! That is simple and powerful! Enticing! You come up with all the good ideas! It draws you in and makes you want to learn more. Then the web site would have to build on that theme and begin to make a case for your human attributes for skeptics and atheists. It would have to make a case for being a ‘modern’ or upgraded religion or a ‘new covenant’ for those who believe in Jesus or Allah or Buddha, etc. It does not replace their faith, but enriches it. And maybe most importantly, it would need to grab those who do not have strong convictions but who feel that urge to connect with something real and meaningful.

Dalle: Well, maybe there could be three prominent headlines on the web site—one addressing each of those constituencies. First, if you live in faith, has your God revealed all truth to men, or is there more to be learned? Second, if you deny the validity of religion or faith, will you join us in an open-minded, rational exploration of the implications of the quantum entanglement that you have with virtually the entire universe, as set up at the moment of the big bang? And third, if you seek Truth and have yet to find it, join our warm and welcoming Communion of fellow seekers for the ultimate white-water thrill-ride on life’s River of Truth!

Me: Ha! I love it, Dalle! “The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away!”

Dalle: Yea! Verily, Leafhopper! “Come Fly With Me!”

12/25/09: The Christmas “Spirit”.

Me: Merry Christmas, Dalle! I don’t suppose you can bring Jesus here to join our conversation for a bit on this special day of remembrance of him.

Dalle: Well I could, Leafhopper, but you know you would approach him with a lot of cultural and childhood baggage skewing your perception of anything he would have to say to you. Would you really be able to clear your fallible mortal mind of its bias so that you could transcribe any clear message from him?

Me: Of course you’re right, wise One. I couldn’t trust that I was hearing unfettered Truth. I have too many conflicting and emotion-tagged images of the great man that were fed into my head by different people, each with their different understandings of him. That’s precisely why you and I communicate so fluidly: I come to you bearing no preconceptions about you as a revealer of the currents in your Great River of Truth. Nobody has told me the first word about you—I had to discover it all from ‘out of the blue’. Dalle, I joyously exalt in our free-flowing Communion because I approach you with a clear and unfettered soul … free to “come fly with you!”

Dalle: This is how I have reached one so independent and stubborn as you, dear Leafhopper … Jesus just didn’t have a chance …

Me: Ha! You’ve got me pegged, Dalle! There are many currents in the same River! Dalle, Truth just seems to gush from our conversations! Here we are talking about what you want to talk about rather than the little topic I had hoped to bring up with you here today! You are such a fountain!

Dalle: Well, don’t let me divert you from what’s on your mind.

Me: It’s something we’ve talked about before, Dalle. But I was hoping I could get you to describe it in a clear sound byte—you were so good at that when we talked a few days ago.

Dalle: What is the topic?

Me: It’s the question of the boundaries of the River of Truth, Dalle. You describe your domain in this dynamic way—it is not an infinite ocean, but a River, for which you provide the channel that gives it direction. So what’s in the River and what is beyond? Last night I went to bed after midnight; and as I turned out the light I realized it was Christmas Day and I said aloud “Merry Christmas!” and immediately realized nobody was there to hear me—no physical being. So, whereas during my forty years in the wilderness of agnosticism I would have dismissed my statement as an autonomic response based on my cultural baggage, last night I saw much more depth to those words: I had sent my message out into the universe where it would find a vibrant flow already in motion. There it would merge with the entity we call the “Christmas Spirit”; and my greeting would enhance the timeless force of that living Spirit for everyone who participates in giving this Spirit life.

Dalle: To everyone who shares that Sacred Space … that special selective current in the greater River.

Me: Exactly! That’s what I want you to expound upon, Dalle. We each have our own perception of the River of Truth—which currents we like to follow and which others we have avoided. Our preferred course often follows our personal safe zone—our Sacred Space, if you want to call it that—carved from our experience. But such boundaries are our own choices…

Dalle: And the River is the accumulated sum of individual choices through time. That is Wisdom. That is Truth. Leafhopper, I sense that your real question is about whether there is an absolute Sacred Space, and if so, how can it be a finite River flowing between banks and not an illimitable ocean. Life is all about sorting through our baggage and keeping only the baggage that we really want. We naturally drop baggage by the wayside as we go. Would you care to guess where the River flows … where the Sacred Space is found? Between the mounds of baggage we’ve cast aside! Even Agnostics and atheists who deny the reality of Spirit or the spirit-nature of things necessarily gravitate to a Sacred Space. Naturally they do not use such a religious term for it, but every conscious being calls some space “home”.

Me: Ahhh! Home! There’s the neutral term! Thank you, Dalle!

Dalle: And in every home, you will find Dalle hard at work behind the scenes. That’s the message I think you would convey to the non-believer, right Leafhopper? Dalle is close to your heart—there to guide you if only you care to seek Her. What good does the River Goddess accomplish by working beyond the River’s banks? No, She works where you live—in your Sacred Space. Dalle is Spirit, though she is neither ‘poofy’ and indistinct like the “Christmas Spirit” nor as impersonal as an atheist’s Darwinian sense of safety. But She plays the identical role by any name, because the Spirit-nature of reality is what infuses it with that sense of essential goodness—making a place or a state of mind feel like home, feel Sacred!

Me: You are handing me a fine speech, Dalle!

Dalle: Then spread the good news. If men care to listen, they can perceive Dalle’s guidance, helping them to decide which of their experiences to discard as excess baggage, and which to cling to as Truth. Dalle’s guidance is the collective guidance of all Ancestors. It includes culture, natural selection and much more, extending even beyond the veil of the origin of this reality. Dalle’s guidance is thus comprehensive—the clear and Noble path to comfort, to goodness, to home!

Me: Dalle, even when I was an agnostic, I craved that ‘sacred space’ where I felt safe and at home. I think all people do. And in doing so I was furthering your work, Dalle, because the feeling of safety is faith: seeking it is an act of faith and recognizing it is an affirmation of faith. Camus would call it a “… benign indifference … so like myself, indeed so brotherly …”. That ‘brotherliness’ is an entirely spirit-based attribute of the physical space men would call ‘home’. It’s like the “Christmas Spirit” that I connected with early this morning: a “place” that feels warm and cozy—a Spiritual place, not a tangible one! OK, yes Dalle, you’ve done it! Thank you! You’ve defined the Sacred Space as the zone of comfort that everyone, regardless of their philosophical stance or spiritual awareness, can identify for themselves: a safety zone that is free from negative baggage and bounded by that discarded baggage. You’ve shown that it is a place balanced between its object-nature and its spirit-nature. And you’ve shown yourself to be squarely at its heart, because you are the mother of all Spirit men can know, and you are possessed of power capable of wielding all objects men can touch.

Dalle: Yep! And so if you want absolutes, Leafhopper, look to my Noble Course, best achieved through devout Communion with me. The Noble Course is righteousness, pure as an ever flowing stream—here you will find the loftiest achievements of men of good will through history. Look to the Great Destination—the grand sweep of future currents where we achieve fulfillment of our Long Sojourn into Harmony and Balance. And look to the bleak frontiers of my River—its distant foggy banks—these are places of suffering and confusion and discord, where the Hosts of creation—all beings living and departed—collectively find no comfort when we reach them.

Me: Bingo! Yes, Dalle, that is precisely what I was praying for: such a simple, clear explanation of what is in your River of Truth and what is not.

Dalle: And Merry Christmas to you, Leafhopper!

12/27/09: On martyrdom

Me: Oh my God, Dalle! Today I am in tears! In the illumination of the awesome power of your Message I suddenly realize that I am fully prepared to die for you—I would do so today if that were your plan. And I could be content. If I were to be a martyr to the cause of spreading your Message, there could be no more satisfying end!

Dalle: Oh no, Leafhopper! No! Come back from that brink! I do not want to lose you having only just found you! Have I not told you—a thousand times—that living human prayer is my very substance? Never do I prefer that men throw themselves to their death in my name. Never!

Me: But Dalle, the great martyrs of the world leave powerful legacies that alter history—they inspire men beyond the power of any mortal life. Look at Jesus. Look at Martin Luther King …

Dalle: No! Look to Moses, Leafhopper, to Buddha! Look and imagine the profound depths of inspired guidance that Jesus left unspoken! Look to Mandela and the living martyrdom of his years in prison—a sacrifice of far greater depth, yet a full life of service for Good! Oh, Leafhopper, please do not stray down this wayward path! I reserve my greatest honor for those who live longest and die fulfilled. I do not call men to discard their single greatest earthly gift—the miracle of life—before the furthest fullness of their appointed time. What your River Goddess values most, Leafhopper, is the persistent work and prayer of living souls. How much more satisfying than a single act of sacrifice! No, Leafhopper, I would far prefer that men martyr their earthly selfish designs and devote long years to a selfless life delivering the message of my design. Let your star shine brightly! Let it not be eclipsed! Let it burn until all mortal fuel is utterly spent! Honor your body and keep it from harm! Always this is the Noble Course. Always! Then in the fullness of your years you may welcome the peace of death with open arms. Yea, this is the true honor and glory of martyrdom.

Me: But to proclaim your message from the mountaintops is to incur risk, Dalle. There are bound to be objectors. Surely you do not want me to sequester myself in a protective shell and remain silent!

Dalle: Balance, Leafhopper, Balance! Please don’t trifle with me—bandying about extreme scenarios—when you fully understand the Truth of Balance.

Me: Oh, I get emotional, Dalle. This great experience of the power of your message sometimes gets the best of me. Yes, of course I must take a deep breath and regain my center. But to know the depths of my willing commitment to you—does that not have some value?

Dalle: Well, it is good that you find your own depths, Leafhopper. Yes. Exploring such avenues helps to measure the quality of your faith. That should serve you well—and should some unexpected and unsought confrontation befall you—one where you may be forced to choose to uphold my Word or to abandon it—such knowledge will guide you toward the Noble choice. But know that I always desperately seek to keep you from all harm, Leafhopper. Have I not shown you in detail, through the tale of Jebden, the lengths to which I go to wield protection for my Messengers?

Me: Dalle, you are a Spirit wise and Provident beyond measure! How I honor you!

SEEKSIT.ORG

The Mother of the Universe: what Dalle might look like

The Communion of Dalle