The Absolute is the Relative: Touching Race, Injustice, and Love

The Absolute is the Relative: Touching Race, Injustice, and Love

With Caverly Morgan  •  Recorded March 9–23, 2019

A 3-part Webinar Series with Caverly Morgan

 

All being is shared being. To know that is peace. To live that is love.”
~ Caverly

When we engage in the distortion that the relative plane is separate from the absolute – that it is something to transcend or ‘just an illusion’ – we ignore the reality of the illusion. What is the illusion comprised of? How is it known? And by whom?

The relative may appear to arise out of the absolute, as waves appear to arise out of the ocean, but like waves, both relative and absolute are components of a greater whole. They are not separate. When we know ourselves as this whole which subsumes everything, we cease to diminish or dismiss the mystery of being human. We experience viscerally that “the world is my family.”

In this 3-part series with Caverly Morgan, we will explore:

  • Terms and consequences of of identifying with the illusion that the absolute and relative are separate
  • The way in which our liberation is bound in each other
  • Race and injustice through the truth of collective liberation – which is inherent and our birthright
  • Living in accordance with our deepest understanding and acting in service to and on behalf of that understanding.

From this understanding, we recognize that liberation is not a singular experience. There can be no individual ego that experiences enlightenment. We suffer when we forget that. We suffer when we perceive ourselves as separate from the collective – on the level of consciousness (the absolute) as well as with our neighbor (the relative).

When we recognize that the world is arising in us, Awareness, there is nothing to dismiss. How, then, in our situation of privilege on the relative plane, do we dismiss injustice, bias, cruelty in the name of transcendence or ‘spiritual understanding’? How do we participate in systems of oppression while ignoring the effects on our neighbor, as well as the whole?

Do we fall for the story that the awakened life we seek is mine to have rather than ours to be? And what’s love got to do with it?

You will receive:

  • Three 90-minute talks by Caverly Morgan to watch at your convenience
  • Downloadable Audio Recordings that you can keep forever

See a talk by Caverly Morgan:

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Module 1: Form is Not Different from Emptiness

Mar 9, 2019 10:00am - 11:30am PST

We begin the course with the truth of oneness. From the recognition of this truth, we are unafraid to know the absolute while simultaneously engaging in the relative. We don’t experience them as separate.

“In order to fully realize our humanity it is necessary to recognize our divinity.” – Rupert Spira

In module one, we lay the groundwork for our exploration by defining terms and exploring the consequences of identifying with the illusion that the absolute and relative are separate.

Duration: 1 hours, 47 minutes

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Part 2: Embodiment is the Nexus

Mar 16, 2019 10:00am - 11:30am PDT

In module two, we explore the way in which our liberation is bound in each other. In a faulty understanding of the nature of reality, we are oppressed. In a faulty understanding of the nature of our social structures, we are oppressed. This module explores race and injustice through the truth of collective liberation – which is inherent and our birthright.

“Without inner change there can be no outer change. Without collective change, no change matters.” – Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Duration: 1 hours, 50 minutes

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Part 3: Loving and Living Truth in the World

Mar 23, 2019 9:00am - 10:30am PDT

On truth’s path, wise is mad, insane is wise. In love’s way, self and other are the same. Having drunk the wine, my love, of being one with you, I find the way to Mecca and Bodghaya are the same.”
~ #302, from Rumi’s Kolliyaat-e Shams-e Tabrizi (Tehran, Amrir Kabrir, 1988)

The final module for the course will focus on love. Loving wholeheartedly. Loving fully. Loving recklessly. We’ll explore living in accordance with our deepest understanding and acting in service to and on behalf of that understanding.

“All being is shared being. To know that is peace. To live that is love.”
~Caverly

Duration: 1 hours, 33 minutes

Caverly Morgan

Caverly Morgan is a meditation teacher, author, speaker, and nonprofit founder. She is the founder of Peace in Schools, a nonprofit that created the nation’s first for-credit mindfulness class in public high schools. Caverly is also the founder of Presence Collective, a community of cross-cultural contemplatives committed to personal and collective transformation. She is the author of A Kids Book About Mindfulness and The Heart of Who We Are: realizing freedom together.

Caverly blends the original spirit of Zen with a modern nondual approach. Her practice began in 1995 and has included eight years of training in a silent Zen monastery. She has been teaching contemplative practice since 2001 and leads meditation retreats, workshops and online classes internationally.

Caverly speaks publicly on topics including contemplative practice, personal and collective transformation, social entrepreneurship, authentic leadership, and mindfulness education, and has been featured in publications such as Mindful magazine (as a cover subject) and The New York Times. She has been a teacher and presenter at the Science and Nonduality Conference, 1440 Multiversity, Sangha Live, the Mind and Life International Symposium for Contemplative Research, Buddha at the Gas Pump, Open Circle, the New York Zen Center of Contemplative Care, and many more.

https://www.caverlymorgan.org/books
https://www.caverlymorgan.org/theheartofwhoweare