We are asked to indulge asceticism’s seeming deprivation that we turn to the omnipresent abundance of the natural world
the mere presence of a lily, the sight of a flower, or a patch of grass should be enough to inspire the deepest gratitude and overflowing euphoria
we must become re-sensitized to the miracle of every moment
yes, every miraculous moment is full of the impossible divine mystery of all that is — if you look at a garden and are not struck by wonder, then you are not seeing the garden for what it is. The impossible miracle of life is everpresent and wondrous and mysterious and sublime.
asceticism asks us not to give up pleasure, but to find extravagant luxury and overflowing bliss in the seemingly simple.
I have said it before: ascetics are the greatest hedonists of us all, for the pleasure that they find in life never ends, never leaves, is not dependent on anything — and what power is in such an attitude and way of living and being.
they rediscover the garden of Eden. Paradise, reconstructing it post-fall.
you know how they reconstruct it?
not with the hands, but with their eyes
a mere matter of observing what is.
we needn’t need, for we already have.
The ultimate answer is our lack thereof
And in there is ultimate freedom
THE CLOSET MYSTIC 