103: Richard Rohr - The Quest for the Grail
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- Опубліковано 21 жов 2023
- Interview begins @ 9:25
Father Richard Rohr explores his experiences with men and men's work. Growing up in a Catholic seminary surrounded by males, he became acutely aware of both the beautiful and neurotic facets of masculinity. His time working in an Albuquerque jail exposed him to how men suffer and express their pain, which deepened his understanding and prompted reflection on male-centric theories. This allowed him to better address the unique sufferings faced by men. He emphasizes the importance of healthy male role models for men to emulate, ensuring they engage with the world with integrity. Drawing parallels, he narrates a fascinating tale of aggressive young elephants in Africa that were pacified when elder bull elephants were introduced as positive male influences.
The episode touches on the intricacies of the masculine archetype, navigating the sensitive conversation surrounding masculinity and femininity and the unification of separated entities. Father Rohr elaborates on the four central male archetypes: King, Warrior, Lover, & Magician. The discussion then shifts to rites of passage, highlighting how certain traditions may miss the essence of such rites. Father Rohr points out that unlike females, who undergo a natural rite of passage with the onset of menstruation, males lack an equivalent biological marker, necessitating cultural rites to signal their transition to manhood.
The conversation examines the significance of rites of passage in balancing the spirit and soul, the importance of shadow dynamics in personal development, and the paradoxical nature of a religion centered around divine incarnation yet suppressive of bodily pleasures. The conversation doesn't shy away from controversial topics, discussing the Catholic Church's history with pedophilia, the systemic issues that might contribute to such atrocities and the cyclical nature of sin and redemption.
This comprehensive discussion offers invaluable insights into masculinity, spirituality, and the complexities of human nature.
Bio:
Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher Father Richard Rohr bears witness to the deep wisdom of Christian mysticism and traditions of action and contemplation. Founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation, Father Richard teaches how God’s grace guides us to our birthright as beings made of Divine Love. He is the author of numerous books, including The Universal Christ, The Wisdom Pattern, Just This, and Falling Upward.
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Deep gratitude for this meaningful encounter with such a dear friend. Timeless and urgent.
Insightful and intelligent conversation. Thank you gentlemen 🙏
Fr. Rohr is a joy to connect with. Thank you for tuning in.
This is brilliant! It is such an important conversation during these times. It would be lovely to have more of these with Richard Rohr because you bring out the best in each other. Will be sharing far and wide.
Thank you for sharing on Threads.
This is beautiful. Thank you! Your comment means so much Bea:)
This has been one of the most powerful and important discussions I have ever heard. Thank you, Father Richard and John, for your willingness to share your thoughts and insights with us. We need this kind of honesty if humanity is ever to become what we are capable of.
Thank you, too, for sharing this road map. I am fully committed to becoming the kind of person you describe.
Thank you for this powerful share. Blessings and peace be with you on your journey.
Thank you so much for this, John. I've listened to RIchard Rohr probably more than any other religious leader but always learn something new. And I appreciated all that you had to add as well.
John, I'm so happy for you and your good work! Sue
Wow, Sue! Thank you for checking in here. Sending love
That was a feast.
Centering Prayer has brought me such joy. I read " The Cloud of unknowing" ; to call Fr. Richard Rohr a Mystic is putting it mildly. Veronica OCDS R.l.
so true! i saw this so apparent when i worked for a Bishop in the Catholic Church!
If I may, when we over emote like in the example of four-letter-words being used loudly, it is a call if not for help at least for attention in the literal sense. "Look here, at this misapprehension.", "look here, at this discomfort and chaos.".
Each of us, in all our glorious messes, are indicators of spiritual dis-ease, and as far as I'm concerned the messes are communication from God to wake up. Unfortunately there are so few of us walking about with a solid foundation that the behaviors are becoming normalized and people are either afraid to intervene or find it a relief of their own pressures to just join in.
Maybe others here can relate: my whole life not knowing my self or God to any real depth I've abused my power with every opportunity. The longer I work at changing, the more I see I've missed the mark.
Thank goodness I became one of those nasty messes that brought attention to the problem.
🙏
beautiful :)
This was a deep one, John. As you wrapped up the conversation with Richard you touched on the knarly, and still semi-tabboo, subject of suicide, and the consequences on the family line. Briefly, I've visited those darker corners of the inner map over the past c.6 years, and a central theme has been the almost karmic consequences of a suicide on my mother's side, that led to inner encounters with what I have come to label as the "Inhumane Family Spirit". Lets call it an inter-generational dynamic, that edges into Wetiko territory. So my experiences of this theme, and how it relates to my own grail quest has, and continues to, possess potent transpersonal elements. Blessings to you brother, and looking forward to future 'casts.
Blessings to you! You picked up on one of the most important threads of the interview. The statistics and realities of suicide continue to motivate much of my work.
Thank you for sharing this.
Just to respond with a culturally polarized problem, can you imagine asking the question "What does a healthy feminine look like?" I mean, if anyone tried to define me in purely feminine psychology I would be sorely misunderstood as a person. I mean, I contain both masculine and feminine qualities and need both to survive in these times. Would not men be the same? I believe, and I could be wrong, but to define oneself and perhaps elucidate what is expected of oneself by their cultural peers, in other words by social pressure, is a 'patriarchal quality' rather than a masculine quality. Would this not be perpetuating the too-narrow confines of a patriarchal perspective in modern identity politics for both men and women? Does the last several millennia serve only the psychology and development of men? The Elysian mysteries were in the service of the feminine and masculine individual/subjective perspectives of a person as he/she relates to society. As a woman, I have had to carefully translate all modern and ancient wisdom from a patriarchal perspective into a personally lived experience. The method of obtaining empirical wisdom need not be attributed to men, but to patriarchy. There is enormous value in this social endeavour, yes? But the subjective experience of the living wisdom of the body cannot be capitalized and become a commodity for the engine of an exploitative culture. I wonder how we can stop calling the process "men's work' and siphoning off personal experience from the feminine aspects of life, which could too be cultural if we wanted it. Can you imagine flipping the term 'men's work' to 'women's work?' and the ghastly misrepresentation of meaning this might hold? I hope this illuminates a shadow side to isolating, separating and defining by gender. Blessings to both of you, not for what you do, but for who you are.
I would add a critical item touched on his books: that the prince and the grail king commit to service. Community service is often missing with our young men. Perhaps men who go into military service get this, but society doesn't respect the wounded soldier - the wounded Fisher King.
The result is a loss of meaning in our youth and men, which you did mention later in this conversation regarding the suicide rate.
I am about to participate in a panel discussion on Wagner's Parsifal and the whole talk ends with a discussion about service and compassion - what ails the? Thank you
If you're a sacred mystic you either practice white or black magic. I choose white
dont go too deep! we are not all scholars!!
This is an important note. Thank you for sharing it.
could you speak the words in a more common words. those of us are not intellectual!!