Fr. Seán ÓLaoire

So I love the Star of David that it unites those two.

There's both an ascending quality and a descending quality.

So with that kind of a template then, if I look at the basic religions of the world and I try to see them through their eyes,

And what I see is that, you know, the shamanistic religions, which are the oldest in the planet, they go back at least 60,000 years in Australia, that they're kind of appreciative of nature.

And that literally the cosmos itself was sung into being by the ancestors.

And so that sense of participation in nature itself, that's really, really beautiful.

But it doesn't mean that they're all kind of saints.

And so I think that shamanism brings an extraordinary level of respect for Gaia herself.

I think the beauty of the monotheistic religions was that there was an attempt through the mystics of these groups to balance both the ascending and the descending.

And the realization that, you know, the greatest form of love, I think the greatest form of love is relationship.

It's very easy to be a monk on a mountain.

Easy for me to be a monk on a mountain here.

If you're in a relationship or you're raising a family, you know, every day you're going to be tested.

And so, but they're both necessary because the monks that you mentioned in the Himalayas, you know, they're growing, they're bringing some kind of divine energy and they're growing it.

into the ether of the planet itself.

So they are contributing, but they're not being tested on a daily basis by having to get up and go to work.

You're not going to feed a sick child.

You're not going to please a wife who's in bad humor or whatever.

And so I think the best way to walk the talk of spirituality is to be in a significant relationship.

and wonder, how am I doing in this relationship right now?