Posts
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India is the most "spiritual" country in the world. Its history goes back to the invention of writing, and the great sages, masters, saints, and teachers of India wrote some of the greatest classics, including the Upanishads.
I am a Christian, as well as a Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Kabbalist, and Sufi. My admiration for the profound traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism is enormous. The philosophy of reincarnation, believed by most Christians in the first century after Jesus, gives the fullest and most tenable explanation of suffering. The concept of polybiography has been embraced by almost all mystics, from all traditions and centuries. The other profound mystical teachings, about Mind, form a matrix for spiritual psychology.
The teachings of mystical "oneness" with a great Mind form a psychophilosophy that underlies a Way of life that is fulfilling, satisfying, and that creates happiness and contentment.
This Way is called "mysticism." And while there were many and brilliant mystics in Christianity (gnostics), Judaism (kabbalists), and Islam (sufis), the glowing luminaries of this tradition, its giants, were found in India, as the Hindu and Buddhist sages of compassion (Love). These masters set a beautiful example in caring, not only for human beings, but for all other sentient beings. Living in true ecospirituality, they understood principles that our planet desperately needs right now, when mindless, shallow, and cruel people are devastating the earth for money and profit. We need to resurrect their message that the entire world is sacred, that greed is a door to "hell," and that Love (compassion) is our destiny.
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Thursday, March 24, 2005
Thrilling Nexuspoints!
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All of us have experienced dramatic, mind-rocking moments that have changed our lives forever! These are called "nexuspoints." After they tornadically rush into our lives, nothing is ever the same!. During these thrilling, luminous moments, we are "reborn,"!
Four have been known in this life, and all orbit the theme of Love. The first was marriage, thirty-four years ago, to the Love of youth, who has blossomed into a lovely, gentle, intelligent, smart, tender, funny lady with whom it is a pleasure to spend life. She has stood valiantly during life's most horrific hurricanes, and has been there when life was a battle-ground, and when it was a play-ground.
The second nexuspoint occurred in the mind, not the world. It was a Niagara of Love that washed over the entire being, saturating it in the pristine and stainless Light-ocean of Love. This unsought experience lasted only about ten minutes, but those life-changing moments could not have been more powerful had they lasted a millennium! For in that moment, it was revealed that the only important pursuit, among the thousands that life offers, is to love. Out of all the fine goals of politics, religion, business, education, and other life-areas, all that truly counts, in the final moments of our lives, is how well, and how often, we loved ourselves and others.
This monumental breakthrough led to the next nexuspoint: At the age of four, the family joined an extremist rightwing religious cult. It held to some antihuman ideas, such as the one that God was going to murder the entire human race (except for cultmembers). It was saturated hopelessly with superstitions, and saw "evil spirits" everywhere. All churches, religions, and all people, except cultmembers, were "demonic" and controlled by Satan. The god of the cult was petulant, violent, unreasoning, capricious, and threw regular temper-tantrums. He had the emotional maturity of a four-year-old. Compared to being immersed in a galaxy of pure Love, the cult was no competition! So, it was time for voluntary resignation. That was the best move possible, in the twenty-twenty vision of retrospect!
The fourth nexuspoint occurred when the donkey (body) experienced serious kidney-failure. That was when the beloved sister Pat rushed to the rescue! Eighteen years older, she had always been part sister and part "mother," with a deep, abiding Love between us that was mutual. Over the years, it had grown into a beautiful, infinite power that unified our hearts in warm brightness. When her brother, still in the cult, heard of the condition, he fled in terror and panic, lest he be asked to donate an organ! But sweet Pat as rapidly hurried to give! She could not wait! Since a part of her now lives within, our Love has grown into a special sharing, a kind of "oneness." What a great pleasure and delight was that special sharing!
Due to these powerful nexuspoints, a career in psychology has been followed and cultivated. It is a special subsystem of psychology called "agapology"-- the Science of Love. Learning to love is the key to liberation, and a dozen books on this fascinating, captivating subject have been written. The free services of lifedesign consultant and psychospiritual advisor have been pursued for over thirty years, and they have filled life with joy!
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All of us have experienced dramatic, mind-rocking moments that have changed our lives forever! These are called "nexuspoints." After they tornadically rush into our lives, nothing is ever the same!. During these thrilling, luminous moments, we are "reborn,"!
Four have been known in this life, and all orbit the theme of Love. The first was marriage, thirty-four years ago, to the Love of youth, who has blossomed into a lovely, gentle, intelligent, smart, tender, funny lady with whom it is a pleasure to spend life. She has stood valiantly during life's most horrific hurricanes, and has been there when life was a battle-ground, and when it was a play-ground.
The second nexuspoint occurred in the mind, not the world. It was a Niagara of Love that washed over the entire being, saturating it in the pristine and stainless Light-ocean of Love. This unsought experience lasted only about ten minutes, but those life-changing moments could not have been more powerful had they lasted a millennium! For in that moment, it was revealed that the only important pursuit, among the thousands that life offers, is to love. Out of all the fine goals of politics, religion, business, education, and other life-areas, all that truly counts, in the final moments of our lives, is how well, and how often, we loved ourselves and others.
This monumental breakthrough led to the next nexuspoint: At the age of four, the family joined an extremist rightwing religious cult. It held to some antihuman ideas, such as the one that God was going to murder the entire human race (except for cultmembers). It was saturated hopelessly with superstitions, and saw "evil spirits" everywhere. All churches, religions, and all people, except cultmembers, were "demonic" and controlled by Satan. The god of the cult was petulant, violent, unreasoning, capricious, and threw regular temper-tantrums. He had the emotional maturity of a four-year-old. Compared to being immersed in a galaxy of pure Love, the cult was no competition! So, it was time for voluntary resignation. That was the best move possible, in the twenty-twenty vision of retrospect!
The fourth nexuspoint occurred when the donkey (body) experienced serious kidney-failure. That was when the beloved sister Pat rushed to the rescue! Eighteen years older, she had always been part sister and part "mother," with a deep, abiding Love between us that was mutual. Over the years, it had grown into a beautiful, infinite power that unified our hearts in warm brightness. When her brother, still in the cult, heard of the condition, he fled in terror and panic, lest he be asked to donate an organ! But sweet Pat as rapidly hurried to give! She could not wait! Since a part of her now lives within, our Love has grown into a special sharing, a kind of "oneness." What a great pleasure and delight was that special sharing!
Due to these powerful nexuspoints, a career in psychology has been followed and cultivated. It is a special subsystem of psychology called "agapology"-- the Science of Love. Learning to love is the key to liberation, and a dozen books on this fascinating, captivating subject have been written. The free services of lifedesign consultant and psychospiritual advisor have been pursued for over thirty years, and they have filled life with joy!
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
God as "Energy," Part 1
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I firmly and solidly disagree with the direct quote that you made from the writer. He has fallen into a snare that entraps so many without discernment and discrimination. He claims that God is "neither good nor evil." And, like so many who fall into this trap, he believes that his view, or he himself, is "more sophisticated" or "more enlightened" than others.
This is far from high spirituality, as he obviously believes it to be. It is blatant and dangerous ignorance masquerading as "nonjudgment." It turns "God" into a blind, dumb "energy." He presents the most beautiful and wisest Mind in all creation as a blank, a morally neutral, force of Mind. This is truly and utterly to misunderstand God or Love.
If Love were really a morally neutral energy, then it would be as acceptable to hurt others as to help them. Nothing in the wide universe of morality has any meaning, nothing really matters, if "God" or enlightened Mind is this "gray" neutrality. This man, although claiming to be a "teacher," has utterly misunderstood the nature of Love (God).
His teaching is that "God," as mere energy, could be used by evil people to do evil just as readily as good people use It to do good! Both Hitler and Jesus could use this same energy, and so, "God" was the servant of both.
God is not a servant of human beings at all, but their Master. And God is the furthest in the cosmos from the morally neutral, uncaring "monstrosity" of a "God" which he presents, who could be "used for" supporting nightmarish evil. Could "god" be used, as energy, to support rape, stealing, torture, or murder? As naked and neutral energy, the answer is yes. But as the true Font of goodness, God, as Love, always supports those ideas and actions that support life. So, a basic mystical definition of "evil" is voluntarily, deliberately to harm living things, including yourself. This harm can be physical, moral, psychological, social, spiritual, or emotional.
God would, and could, never support such ghastly activity. God, as Love, is and was never morally "neutral." God did not support the horrors of the Inquisition and witch-trials, for example, and did not support the genocides of the nazis and others. God does not support active satanism-- the glorification of deliberate fear and evil.
No, this dangerous "teacher" has missed the truth by a thousand lightyears. With a tone of moral and intellectual superiority, as if he alone knows this great but subtle "truth," he has denied the very foundation of all goodness, by saying that God lacks this basic essential quality, and by implying that God does not support goodness. Goodness, he implies, is nothing but a human interpretation-- often misleading and always unreliable. He has truly, tragically, hurled the infant to the ground along with its water for bathing!
I firmly and solidly disagree with the direct quote that you made from the writer. He has fallen into a snare that entraps so many without discernment and discrimination. He claims that God is "neither good nor evil." And, like so many who fall into this trap, he believes that his view, or he himself, is "more sophisticated" or "more enlightened" than others.
This is far from high spirituality, as he obviously believes it to be. It is blatant and dangerous ignorance masquerading as "nonjudgment." It turns "God" into a blind, dumb "energy." He presents the most beautiful and wisest Mind in all creation as a blank, a morally neutral, force of Mind. This is truly and utterly to misunderstand God or Love.
If Love were really a morally neutral energy, then it would be as acceptable to hurt others as to help them. Nothing in the wide universe of morality has any meaning, nothing really matters, if "God" or enlightened Mind is this "gray" neutrality. This man, although claiming to be a "teacher," has utterly misunderstood the nature of Love (God).
His teaching is that "God," as mere energy, could be used by evil people to do evil just as readily as good people use It to do good! Both Hitler and Jesus could use this same energy, and so, "God" was the servant of both.
God is not a servant of human beings at all, but their Master. And God is the furthest in the cosmos from the morally neutral, uncaring "monstrosity" of a "God" which he presents, who could be "used for" supporting nightmarish evil. Could "god" be used, as energy, to support rape, stealing, torture, or murder? As naked and neutral energy, the answer is yes. But as the true Font of goodness, God, as Love, always supports those ideas and actions that support life. So, a basic mystical definition of "evil" is voluntarily, deliberately to harm living things, including yourself. This harm can be physical, moral, psychological, social, spiritual, or emotional.
God would, and could, never support such ghastly activity. God, as Love, is and was never morally "neutral." God did not support the horrors of the Inquisition and witch-trials, for example, and did not support the genocides of the nazis and others. God does not support active satanism-- the glorification of deliberate fear and evil.
No, this dangerous "teacher" has missed the truth by a thousand lightyears. With a tone of moral and intellectual superiority, as if he alone knows this great but subtle "truth," he has denied the very foundation of all goodness, by saying that God lacks this basic essential quality, and by implying that God does not support goodness. Goodness, he implies, is nothing but a human interpretation-- often misleading and always unreliable. He has truly, tragically, hurled the infant to the ground along with its water for bathing!
God as "Energy," Part 2
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A few more details about God:
The Scriptural texts of the world's great spiritual traditions do not present "God" as mindless energy, devoid of will, intelligence, discernment, or discrimination. God is the deepest Mind, or deepest Self, in mystical traditions. They make it crystal-clear not only that God has mind, but that God is Mind. And since God is Mind Itself, how could Mind be mindless? It is mind-boggling just to realize just how seriously that God can be misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Some people want to believe that God is just mindless energy that can be manipulated, because they selfishly, greedily want to get something personal. Some want "success" that will harm others, or even the environment. If God cared, they would find themselves on opposite sides from Her/Him. So, it is more comfortable for greedy types to present God as an energy, just waiting to be used by them.
Some very primitive peoples in history have worshipped energy. They worshipped lightning, thunder, waterfalls, storms, hurricanes, and often, even saw these natural phenomena as "spirits."
Modern uneducated people can make the same mistake when they try to turn "God" into mere energy. Mystics have always spoken, for example, about the "will of God." "Will" means "desire." How can energy have a will? It does not.
God loves and comforts Her/His children. How could dumb energy do this? It couldn't.
But God is not interventionistic, and this has led some down the dead-end alley of atheism. But it has driven others to "energism"-- the fallacy that God is "nothing but" energy.
And it is true that God does not intervene in the affairs of the natural world. Giant hands do not come down from the sky and stop horrendous tornadoes and destructive hurricanes.
"Why not?" screams the inner four-year-old, within all of our minds. It desperately longs for God to be a "big daddy,"to save and protect the inner child.
But the simple truth is this: Protecting you from life is NOT one of God's functions, or jobs. For God is Love, and it is our job to turn every event of our lives to the discovery of interior Love. Events direct us, force us,to do this until nothing matters but Love. For this is precisely where God wants us. He/She wants us to grow to the point where nothing else is important, nothing but Love counts. For that is a real kind of enlightenment, and leads, later, to supreme enlightenment!
Love is to support and aid us in our pain, agonies, and suffering. And this Love does not shower down upon us from the sky. (Remember, there is no God "up there.") No, instead, Love emanates to us from other creatures, beings whom God has "exteriorized" into the "outer" world. We might draw Love and comfort from a puppy, or from a brother or sister, but there is no Love without minds to carry and manifest it. This is why God "needs" the universe of living beings, including yourself. The Mind of God "externalizes," or sends itself out, as "your" mind, and His/Her Love then becomes "your" Love.
If God were nothing but a morally "neutral" energy, it would be just fine to torture small animals, or even human beings, killing them mercilessly. But no, it is the fine element of God within that prevents this sadistic and sickening behavior. God cares for Her/His world through us, and this care includes puppies, kittens, other creatures, and other people. Every time that we love, God flows into the world.
Mystics worship Mind. More specifically, we worship Love, or Lovemind. It is the nucleus of the entire Enlightenment Tradition that God is Love.
So, it is spiritually unsophisticated, and hopelessly uneducated, even backwards, to see God as mere "energy." That sucks the very lifeblood from all spirituality, for real spirituality is not about "spooks" or "spirits," but about Love! And Love is as far from "neutral" as you can possibly get!
The will of Love has two forms: active and permissive. God's active will is for all creatures to enjoy life maximally, with no pain, no problems. But God's "permissive" will is different. It allows free will. That means that creatures must be free to sow the seeds of karma.
It is impossible for any being to be "partially free." For if you are "partially free," you are not free at all! It is an all-or-nothing state, which is almost unheard of!
Since we are totally free, we can sow the seeds of "bad" karma. This explains why there is so much evil, suffering, and loss in the "material, external" world of dualism (illusion).
To explain our terrible world, then, does not require that we abandon Love, or God as Love. It does not demand that we reduce God to a mindless, willess, unthinking, dumb, blind energy. For Love truly does exist right smack in the middle of all the hatred, fear, suffering, and loss. If we respond to Its call, we have chosen the highest path possible for any human being!
A few more details about God:
The Scriptural texts of the world's great spiritual traditions do not present "God" as mindless energy, devoid of will, intelligence, discernment, or discrimination. God is the deepest Mind, or deepest Self, in mystical traditions. They make it crystal-clear not only that God has mind, but that God is Mind. And since God is Mind Itself, how could Mind be mindless? It is mind-boggling just to realize just how seriously that God can be misinterpreted and misunderstood.
Some people want to believe that God is just mindless energy that can be manipulated, because they selfishly, greedily want to get something personal. Some want "success" that will harm others, or even the environment. If God cared, they would find themselves on opposite sides from Her/Him. So, it is more comfortable for greedy types to present God as an energy, just waiting to be used by them.
Some very primitive peoples in history have worshipped energy. They worshipped lightning, thunder, waterfalls, storms, hurricanes, and often, even saw these natural phenomena as "spirits."
Modern uneducated people can make the same mistake when they try to turn "God" into mere energy. Mystics have always spoken, for example, about the "will of God." "Will" means "desire." How can energy have a will? It does not.
God loves and comforts Her/His children. How could dumb energy do this? It couldn't.
But God is not interventionistic, and this has led some down the dead-end alley of atheism. But it has driven others to "energism"-- the fallacy that God is "nothing but" energy.
And it is true that God does not intervene in the affairs of the natural world. Giant hands do not come down from the sky and stop horrendous tornadoes and destructive hurricanes.
"Why not?" screams the inner four-year-old, within all of our minds. It desperately longs for God to be a "big daddy,"to save and protect the inner child.
But the simple truth is this: Protecting you from life is NOT one of God's functions, or jobs. For God is Love, and it is our job to turn every event of our lives to the discovery of interior Love. Events direct us, force us,to do this until nothing matters but Love. For this is precisely where God wants us. He/She wants us to grow to the point where nothing else is important, nothing but Love counts. For that is a real kind of enlightenment, and leads, later, to supreme enlightenment!
Love is to support and aid us in our pain, agonies, and suffering. And this Love does not shower down upon us from the sky. (Remember, there is no God "up there.") No, instead, Love emanates to us from other creatures, beings whom God has "exteriorized" into the "outer" world. We might draw Love and comfort from a puppy, or from a brother or sister, but there is no Love without minds to carry and manifest it. This is why God "needs" the universe of living beings, including yourself. The Mind of God "externalizes," or sends itself out, as "your" mind, and His/Her Love then becomes "your" Love.
If God were nothing but a morally "neutral" energy, it would be just fine to torture small animals, or even human beings, killing them mercilessly. But no, it is the fine element of God within that prevents this sadistic and sickening behavior. God cares for Her/His world through us, and this care includes puppies, kittens, other creatures, and other people. Every time that we love, God flows into the world.
Mystics worship Mind. More specifically, we worship Love, or Lovemind. It is the nucleus of the entire Enlightenment Tradition that God is Love.
So, it is spiritually unsophisticated, and hopelessly uneducated, even backwards, to see God as mere "energy." That sucks the very lifeblood from all spirituality, for real spirituality is not about "spooks" or "spirits," but about Love! And Love is as far from "neutral" as you can possibly get!
The will of Love has two forms: active and permissive. God's active will is for all creatures to enjoy life maximally, with no pain, no problems. But God's "permissive" will is different. It allows free will. That means that creatures must be free to sow the seeds of karma.
It is impossible for any being to be "partially free." For if you are "partially free," you are not free at all! It is an all-or-nothing state, which is almost unheard of!
Since we are totally free, we can sow the seeds of "bad" karma. This explains why there is so much evil, suffering, and loss in the "material, external" world of dualism (illusion).
To explain our terrible world, then, does not require that we abandon Love, or God as Love. It does not demand that we reduce God to a mindless, willess, unthinking, dumb, blind energy. For Love truly does exist right smack in the middle of all the hatred, fear, suffering, and loss. If we respond to Its call, we have chosen the highest path possible for any human being!
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Who Are You? The Spiritual Question of Identity
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"Identity" is what spirituality, in its depths, is all about. Often in teaching it is said, "'Who do you think you are?' is the most important question that you will ever answer."
Most are content with the "Sam Jones," or, "Mary Smith" on their birthcertificate or driver's license, but the enlightened seek, and find, much more. The first thing that we discover is that we are not bodies, but minds. Bodies have membranes (skin) that divide us from other bodies. But Mind has no such barriers.
Shortly after you realize that you are a mind, then, it is possible to feel, to know, that your mind is part of a much greater Mind. You know, with every fiber of your being, that you are part of a vast, illimitable, immeasurable Mind just as surely as a drop of water is part of the ocean.
This "oceanic" or "galactic" Mind is God, or Lovemind. This special knowing or awareness is called "gnosis."
This is the single fact that distinguishes an enlightened person from others. Her identity, her "secret" identity, is Mind, and Mind is infinite. It is God.
It is this immediate relationship with infinite interior Mind that allows her to say, "I am God." But this is not ego speaking, but the radiant and glowing Lovemind speaking through her. She is not at all claiming that her person has become God in totality, but, instead, because she is Mind, she is God in nature. For mind is the same nature as Mind.
So, you can still have the human identity. You can be the best husband, father, and friend in the cosmos, for now, you have recognized that you are a manifestation or "shining forth" of Love Itself. This tends at once to recreate you within as the very best human being, and to erase ego. So, the mystic's claim of "being God," or "Being one with God" is absolutely free of arrogance.
After her illumination-experience, the enlightened mystic truly feels that, "I am Mary Smith," is a lie; for that is nowhere near all that she is, has discovered her Self to be. This is why, in fact, mystics so often change their names. Most do not realize that even Jesus had a name-change, for when he was born, he was given the name, "Immanuel," and only later changed it to Yehoshua, or Jesus.
The practical effect is that the enlightened give up their old identities. These tend gradually to die away, and the new self forms within the Mind. This is the meaning of "being born again."
After rebirth, she is no longer exclusively the daughter of human parents, but is the daughter of God (Love). So, the enlightened is only "part human," for she is also "part Spirit." Her goal is gently, incrementally, to erase the human part (the "lower nature" is what mystics call it), and to become the very "incarnation" of Love or God.
Anyway, just a quick review of the reason that you and I were born, or created!:)
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"Identity" is what spirituality, in its depths, is all about. Often in teaching it is said, "'Who do you think you are?' is the most important question that you will ever answer."
Most are content with the "Sam Jones," or, "Mary Smith" on their birthcertificate or driver's license, but the enlightened seek, and find, much more. The first thing that we discover is that we are not bodies, but minds. Bodies have membranes (skin) that divide us from other bodies. But Mind has no such barriers.
Shortly after you realize that you are a mind, then, it is possible to feel, to know, that your mind is part of a much greater Mind. You know, with every fiber of your being, that you are part of a vast, illimitable, immeasurable Mind just as surely as a drop of water is part of the ocean.
This "oceanic" or "galactic" Mind is God, or Lovemind. This special knowing or awareness is called "gnosis."
This is the single fact that distinguishes an enlightened person from others. Her identity, her "secret" identity, is Mind, and Mind is infinite. It is God.
It is this immediate relationship with infinite interior Mind that allows her to say, "I am God." But this is not ego speaking, but the radiant and glowing Lovemind speaking through her. She is not at all claiming that her person has become God in totality, but, instead, because she is Mind, she is God in nature. For mind is the same nature as Mind.
So, you can still have the human identity. You can be the best husband, father, and friend in the cosmos, for now, you have recognized that you are a manifestation or "shining forth" of Love Itself. This tends at once to recreate you within as the very best human being, and to erase ego. So, the mystic's claim of "being God," or "Being one with God" is absolutely free of arrogance.
After her illumination-experience, the enlightened mystic truly feels that, "I am Mary Smith," is a lie; for that is nowhere near all that she is, has discovered her Self to be. This is why, in fact, mystics so often change their names. Most do not realize that even Jesus had a name-change, for when he was born, he was given the name, "Immanuel," and only later changed it to Yehoshua, or Jesus.
The practical effect is that the enlightened give up their old identities. These tend gradually to die away, and the new self forms within the Mind. This is the meaning of "being born again."
After rebirth, she is no longer exclusively the daughter of human parents, but is the daughter of God (Love). So, the enlightened is only "part human," for she is also "part Spirit." Her goal is gently, incrementally, to erase the human part (the "lower nature" is what mystics call it), and to become the very "incarnation" of Love or God.
Anyway, just a quick review of the reason that you and I were born, or created!:)
*******
"Turn the Other Cheek"?
"Turn the Other Cheek"?
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I am a great admirer of Jesus, and consider him the number one role-model for this life. And he did say, "When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other to him." Jesus was a man of moderation; he avoided dangerous extremes.
He did clearly teach pacifism. The wise do not look for trouble; in fact, she will go to great lengths, go considerably out of her way, to avoid problems and conflicts. So, when physically attacked, you do have the option of simply giving up, or "turning the other cheek." And in many, if not most, situations, that is exactly what the wise would do.
But Jesus meant this statement to be good advice, not a law carved in granite. If I am attacked, I have the option to turn the other cheek when, as Jesus said, I am "struck." But if my wife, or helpless child, is attacked, I also have the right to defend them. For Love (God) tells me not to stand by and do nothing.
For, as intelligent beings, we cannot live mindlessly by setting laws in concrete and thoughtlessly, mindlessly obeying them. God wants us to obey Him/Her (Love), of course, but She/He also wants us to use reason, thinking, and compassion to make our own adult decisions.
Still, we must work to live out of Love for all when possible. Even when defending against an attacker, I must "love" him-- not trying to injure him permanently, or to kill him out of vengeance. Also, if I have even to give my life to defend my wife or helpless child, this could occur, for "No man hath greater Love than he who gives his life for his friends."
The Way of non-resistance or pacifism is the Way of the "spiritual warrior." For our "weapons" are words, ideas, and concepts, and we "do battle" with concepts, not with fists, guns, and knives, for we are the people of peace.
So, to sum it up, we do have the right, and sometimes the obligation, to "turn the other cheek" when we are personally attacked. But this does not apply when our wives, helpless children, friends, or other loved ones are attacked.
Also, there is a very thin line between attack and defense. A very vigorous defense might, indeed, appear to be an "attack." The person of peace is never interested in "attacking" anyone. As we said, this is offensive violence, and has no place in the life of Light. But nature teaches everywhere that we do have the right to self-defense, should we choose to use it. Even your dog or cat has sharp teeth and claws that can be used for defense, and it is natural for any creature, when attacked, to defend itself. We would do so in moderation, being careful not permanently to harm or damage the attacker.
To take Jesus' statement too literally could be very dangerous and foolish. Should a woman just allow herself to be raped? Should she just collapse like a ragdoll, without a hint of resistance? This is extremism, an unbalanced, unhealthy form of pacifism. If Jesus' words were a law from God, to be followed literally, at all times, she would have to do so. Yet how hideous that would be-- a ghastly nightmare. So, my friend, there are definitely times when self-defense is the only reasonable, or loving, response, when strictly defensive violence is necessary.
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*******
I am a great admirer of Jesus, and consider him the number one role-model for this life. And he did say, "When someone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other to him." Jesus was a man of moderation; he avoided dangerous extremes.
He did clearly teach pacifism. The wise do not look for trouble; in fact, she will go to great lengths, go considerably out of her way, to avoid problems and conflicts. So, when physically attacked, you do have the option of simply giving up, or "turning the other cheek." And in many, if not most, situations, that is exactly what the wise would do.
But Jesus meant this statement to be good advice, not a law carved in granite. If I am attacked, I have the option to turn the other cheek when, as Jesus said, I am "struck." But if my wife, or helpless child, is attacked, I also have the right to defend them. For Love (God) tells me not to stand by and do nothing.
For, as intelligent beings, we cannot live mindlessly by setting laws in concrete and thoughtlessly, mindlessly obeying them. God wants us to obey Him/Her (Love), of course, but She/He also wants us to use reason, thinking, and compassion to make our own adult decisions.
Still, we must work to live out of Love for all when possible. Even when defending against an attacker, I must "love" him-- not trying to injure him permanently, or to kill him out of vengeance. Also, if I have even to give my life to defend my wife or helpless child, this could occur, for "No man hath greater Love than he who gives his life for his friends."
The Way of non-resistance or pacifism is the Way of the "spiritual warrior." For our "weapons" are words, ideas, and concepts, and we "do battle" with concepts, not with fists, guns, and knives, for we are the people of peace.
So, to sum it up, we do have the right, and sometimes the obligation, to "turn the other cheek" when we are personally attacked. But this does not apply when our wives, helpless children, friends, or other loved ones are attacked.
Also, there is a very thin line between attack and defense. A very vigorous defense might, indeed, appear to be an "attack." The person of peace is never interested in "attacking" anyone. As we said, this is offensive violence, and has no place in the life of Light. But nature teaches everywhere that we do have the right to self-defense, should we choose to use it. Even your dog or cat has sharp teeth and claws that can be used for defense, and it is natural for any creature, when attacked, to defend itself. We would do so in moderation, being careful not permanently to harm or damage the attacker.
To take Jesus' statement too literally could be very dangerous and foolish. Should a woman just allow herself to be raped? Should she just collapse like a ragdoll, without a hint of resistance? This is extremism, an unbalanced, unhealthy form of pacifism. If Jesus' words were a law from God, to be followed literally, at all times, she would have to do so. Yet how hideous that would be-- a ghastly nightmare. So, my friend, there are definitely times when self-defense is the only reasonable, or loving, response, when strictly defensive violence is necessary.
*******
Sunday, March 13, 2005
Serving Love in Opposing Cults
It is always a precious event when you can take the hand of a true friend. It is even better when you can offer genuine healing of heart, mind, or Soul.
We all find our spiritual truths and strengths at different times in our life-cycles, based largely on exactly how much our Souls need to learn from the most valuable (but agonizing) "school" of the cult. People such as you and I, who were "true believers" through our early twenties, had to stay locked in their chains because we had to learn more about the pain of cultic prisons. Why did we have to take a more difficult course than others, liberated in their early twenties? We might not consciously know, but we can rest assured that there was a reason, that it did create a special kind of wisdom, and that this unique wisdom will be used by our Souls-- probably in helping others.
Your course was just different from theirs, as was mine. We did not stay in the cult longer because we were stupid, but because we needed to learn more, or differently, from the "class" or "course" of cult-myopia.
Besides, you, like the rest of us, were terrorized with the message of ignorance and brainwashing-- that anyone "outside the truth" was "apostate" at least, and "demonized" at worst. You were only a kid. Most people do not begin much actual strong spiritual growth until they gave got their twenties (and often some of their thirties) out of their systems. According to nature's plan, we are still "playing" or "goofing off" until life makes us, forces us, to be serious about spirituality. Just thank Love that you are now free-- it is worth every minute, even if we have to wait ten thousand years to find freedom!:)
What the psychic told you, i.e., that your Soul came here to have its experiences, so that it could learn to help others, is true of everyone.
It is highly objectionable, and arrogant, for any religious faith to claim to have the "whole and only truth," exclusive of all other faiths. How stupidly closed-minded is that? And the claim that the "saved," or "the elect" will alone "survive Armageddon" is taught by every group of fundamentalists in the world.
I agree with the guy who would not want to live on an infinite golf-course, especially if it were an absurd presbytocracy (rule by elders). What a nightmare that would be! As for the guy who wanted to sing the songs of the cult, his programming went into his heartmind much too deeply. He certainly needs all the healing and "normalization" that he can get! That poor dude needs help!
You went to the gathering with a most noble motive: To serve, and to give aid to, those in need of deprogramming. But as so often happens to us all, your disappointment was created by your expectation. We all need to live with as few serious expectations as is reasonable or possible.
Keep up the noble, excellent, healing work, both within yourself and with others. That is the work of Love, of compassion, to which we are all and always called! This is what Lovemind wants.
We all find our spiritual truths and strengths at different times in our life-cycles, based largely on exactly how much our Souls need to learn from the most valuable (but agonizing) "school" of the cult. People such as you and I, who were "true believers" through our early twenties, had to stay locked in their chains because we had to learn more about the pain of cultic prisons. Why did we have to take a more difficult course than others, liberated in their early twenties? We might not consciously know, but we can rest assured that there was a reason, that it did create a special kind of wisdom, and that this unique wisdom will be used by our Souls-- probably in helping others.
Your course was just different from theirs, as was mine. We did not stay in the cult longer because we were stupid, but because we needed to learn more, or differently, from the "class" or "course" of cult-myopia.
Besides, you, like the rest of us, were terrorized with the message of ignorance and brainwashing-- that anyone "outside the truth" was "apostate" at least, and "demonized" at worst. You were only a kid. Most people do not begin much actual strong spiritual growth until they gave got their twenties (and often some of their thirties) out of their systems. According to nature's plan, we are still "playing" or "goofing off" until life makes us, forces us, to be serious about spirituality. Just thank Love that you are now free-- it is worth every minute, even if we have to wait ten thousand years to find freedom!:)
What the psychic told you, i.e., that your Soul came here to have its experiences, so that it could learn to help others, is true of everyone.
It is highly objectionable, and arrogant, for any religious faith to claim to have the "whole and only truth," exclusive of all other faiths. How stupidly closed-minded is that? And the claim that the "saved," or "the elect" will alone "survive Armageddon" is taught by every group of fundamentalists in the world.
I agree with the guy who would not want to live on an infinite golf-course, especially if it were an absurd presbytocracy (rule by elders). What a nightmare that would be! As for the guy who wanted to sing the songs of the cult, his programming went into his heartmind much too deeply. He certainly needs all the healing and "normalization" that he can get! That poor dude needs help!
You went to the gathering with a most noble motive: To serve, and to give aid to, those in need of deprogramming. But as so often happens to us all, your disappointment was created by your expectation. We all need to live with as few serious expectations as is reasonable or possible.
Keep up the noble, excellent, healing work, both within yourself and with others. That is the work of Love, of compassion, to which we are all and always called! This is what Lovemind wants.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Dolphins or Dollars
Here is the article submitted to the local paper. Please join your intentions with mine that it be published, and the public educated about this atrocity!
*******
Dolphins and Dollars***
Life is more precious than money. Even the most ignorant fool in the
world knows this. But men in power behave as if it were not so!
For example, the U.S. navy is now working with low-frequency active(lfa) sonar-devices that create such loud bursts of sound that thesinuses and eardrums of whales and dolphins explode! This is agonizingly painful! The devices also cause bleeding in lungs and brains a thousand miles from a lfa device.
Yet the U.S. Navy opposes plans to restrict this deadly technology. In this, it flies in the face of international efforts by Nato and the E.U. In fact, the Pentagon has drafted a policy that allows for the murder of these beautiful creatures-- by destroying the Marine Mammals Protection Act. In supporting this murder, the current administration has resisted the entire world-community! Again, the clock turns backwards.
Since these creatures are mammals, much like us, not fish, they are sensitive and intelligent creatures. They are able to love, think, communicate, create, and organize, showing a level of intelligence that approaches the human. Further, these are friendly, helpful, harmless, and joyful creatures. To continue to use devices that make the insides of their heads explode is the height of insensitive obscenity. When deafened, these sweet creatures starve.
The current administration has always valued money over life-- even human life. It has proved this so many times that even true supporters can no longer deny it. In killing, carelessly and needlessly, mammals nearly as intelligent as we, we are lowering ourselves to subhuman levels of behavior. It is time that we demand the development of alternative technologies that are silent, and harmless to our friends in the seas. It is time that we demanded that our government be more than a wallet, but that it gain a heart!
*******
Written by:
Richard Francis,
5100 Liberty-Fairfield Rd.,
Hamilton, Ohio 45011
***
Ph. 513-737-5683.
***
Email: rmfrancis@juno.com
Love and Militarism
Love is stronger than hate, even when it appears to be at its weakest. Hitler's armies are all dust-- as evil always disintegrates-- but the Way of Love is as strong as ever in the hearts and minds of billions. And when Hitler is an obscure reference known only to historaians, people will still recognize, and strive to follow, Jesus Christ, the Master of Love.
So, things are not at all as they appear. Love appears weak, as it has for thousands of years, and military might looks very powerful-- as it did in ancient times. But how many people can name any of the "great and powerful" generals of history--of the Roman Empire, for example, or of even the more recent Third Reich? Now, compare that with the number of people who recognize the noble names of St. Francis, the Buddha, or other messengers of Love! This will give you a wider and higher perspective of the totality of human history. You can escape the "key-hole picture" of only this moment and this place.
Of course, being only and always "here and now," that is our assignment on which we must work for improvement. But it does not unfold as the Reality of history, or of infinity; it is a somewhat limited view if we take it as the whole of existence.
So, things are not at all as they appear. Love appears weak, as it has for thousands of years, and military might looks very powerful-- as it did in ancient times. But how many people can name any of the "great and powerful" generals of history--of the Roman Empire, for example, or of even the more recent Third Reich? Now, compare that with the number of people who recognize the noble names of St. Francis, the Buddha, or other messengers of Love! This will give you a wider and higher perspective of the totality of human history. You can escape the "key-hole picture" of only this moment and this place.
Of course, being only and always "here and now," that is our assignment on which we must work for improvement. But it does not unfold as the Reality of history, or of infinity; it is a somewhat limited view if we take it as the whole of existence.
Multiple Universes
I have long believed in, followed the intuition of, mulltiple universes. For if every soul did not do every possible thing, it, and the cosmos, would necessarily be "incomplete." So, when you followed the left turn of a fork in the road, another self, in another cosmos (or "dimension") took the right-hand turn. When your soul is finished playing the earthgame, you will come together, in one soul, with countless selves from innumerable universes, and you will have the knowledge, wisdom, and experience of all of them. Looking back on your life, you need never wonder "What would have happened if i had done this or that?" For, in some cosmos, you did those things! Each fork in the road creates others, so that, when you made a decision at age five, it might have altered the rest of your life. But other selves made other decisions! This alone can make you complete.
We, even in this life, do overlap with other dimensions or universes. One of them is the Homeworld, the place where we go for refreshment between lives on earth. This world is what my novel, Luminous Ecstasies and Passions, is all about. It is a celebration of the spiritual within the sensual.
It helps to realize that you are never alone-- no matter how unconventional or unorthodox ("weird") you might be!
We, even in this life, do overlap with other dimensions or universes. One of them is the Homeworld, the place where we go for refreshment between lives on earth. This world is what my novel, Luminous Ecstasies and Passions, is all about. It is a celebration of the spiritual within the sensual.
It helps to realize that you are never alone-- no matter how unconventional or unorthodox ("weird") you might be!
Worldenders
Worldenders have a unique psychology. Part of their views arise from alienation: They want to punish a world that has ignored and neglected them. Part is selfesteem: They want to prove themselves "superior" by having known the future, and by "correctly predicting" the "end." (So far, thousands of attempts have failed, some spectacularly!:) Part of the source is simple hatred: They long to see the bloody death of all their "enemies," and everyone is an "enemy." Part of the equation is a "metaphysical soap opera," simply because their lives are so boring. They need the "thrill" of imagining the extinction of the population of the world to give them a charge, to make them feel alive.
Presbycons
Presbycons
*******
We find most news services to be untrustworthy, and often, seriously biased towards the extreme right-- rightwing whackos, otherwise known as "neocons," although "presbycons" ("old conservatives") would be a more
appropriate word to describe these people.
*******
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Judgment and Discrimination
As spiritual people, we do not practice judgment. But before this is understood meaningfully, it is vital that we understand what "judgment" is. For some superioristically-inclined people believe that it is "judgment" to disapprove of anyone or anything! To say, for example, that torture is evil, they say, is "judgment." But does this counter-intuitive claim make any spiritual sense?
This is an unhealthy extreme, for it leaves you without any reference-points, lost in the world of everyday reality. It is true, as a spiritual principle, that everything is God, and so, everything is absolutely good. But we do not live in an absolute world-- a world of pure interiority. For the mystically enlightened recognize two worlds: The everyday world of "twoness" (duality): In this world of ordinary, everyday life, many activities, actions, events, situations, things, and even people can be "evil," "unspiritual," and even "antispiritual."
In the world of pure Mind, there is no real or absolute "evil." But, it is not superspiritual to say that you have nothing "negative" to say about anyone. For this attitude of being "nonjudgmental" tends to lead to spiritual pride, the opposite of spiritual progress. Is it really "just as good" to torture babies as to help the needy? Is it really equivalent to be a "satan-worshipper" as to worship the Lord of Love? Is it really irrelevant that a man rapes a woman instead of loving her?
People are brought to states of complacency and apathy by the idea that these warped and twisted attitudes represent "nonjudgmentalism." Actually, these noncaring and nutral ideas do not represent the high spiritual state of nonjudgment. Instead, they represent a very low state of moral relativity or moral neutrality-- a very low state of illusion, masking as something higher, even admirable.
Love is the opposite of complacency. So, no person of Love is ever apathetic towards suffering. She never lightly dismisses the suffering of others, shrugging and saying, "It's just her karma." No, for love always demands action to aid, comfort, and help any living creature under any conditions!
"Judgment" is not the formulation of opinions. It is not the ability to tell right from wrong. This is discrimination, also called discernment.
Without this ability to tell right from wrong, a person does not become a "master," as certain proud people of moral neutrallity snobbishly view themselves. A person who is neutral about everything has fallen into one of the most subtle snares of illusion, and has been thoroughly deceived. She has managed to miss the entire point of this life.
The world of everyday reality is a cosmos created by God to be dualistic. This is to test us, to present opposites so that we might choose between clear alternatives. The everyday world is supposed to be, is created, this way. Ultimate and absolute reality is monistic, not dualistic. That is, It is all good, and contains no "evil." But, as people on earth, we must, we need to, recognize the difference between good and evil.
Without this spiritual discernment/discrimination, we are not "spiritual geniuses," or "superior"; we are simply interiorly blind. We have truly lost the way.
So, what is "judgment"? It is the declaration that any person or condition is irretrievable to the core. It is the statement that any person or situation is absolutely bad, irredeemable, containing no good.
When, for example, a fundie sends a person's soul to "Hell, forever and ever," though it is done in only the mind,that is "judgment." But to say that Adolph Hitler was evil, bad, or foolish is not the error of judgment; it is discernment, and common sense, besides. When a person declines to become a neo-nazi or satanist because these encourage evil, she is acting from wisdom, not ignorance! To argue otherwise is absurd!
Spiritual people consider no person or situation unsalvageable, or without a trace of merit or goodness within. We deny that "evil" has absolute existence, but this is by no means the same as saying that evil does not exist! In our world, and several million others, evil does indeed exist as the enemy, and opposite, of good! So, we do not practice judgment. But this does not make us foolish, or blind, unable to discern the gulf between good and evil.
But spiritual people are marked by a passion for good, and so, this is symmetrized by an equal passion against evil-- defined as any factor designed to harm sentient (selfaware) beings.
Truly spiritual people are never just gray, colorless, neutral, or apathetic. In fact, they are blessed with clearer awareness and stronger feelings than average about justice, compassion, environmental sacredness, and a list of other issues. This is their incentive and motivation to act. Even the purest Taoist is no "bump on a log," for she will always stand up to defend the helpless and the innocent. (It was in Taoism, in fact, that defensive Kung Fu was developed for precisely this
fine purpose.)
The spiritual being does not attack others, but is allowed to use even physical violence in a purely defensive manner. In the same way, she can defend truth against lies, against falsehoods, and against misunderstandings. She can, in all good conscience, follow the commands of Love to expose evil and untruth wherever she finds it.
Lightyears from being a bored and boring non-actor in the play of life, claiming to be "above it all," with a sneer, the enlightened person uses the "props" of the "play" to help others find liberation. To use the props means that she recognizes relative good and relative evil, and uses these, too, to help liberate others. This is the assignment of even the bodhisattva.
Discerning what is good from what is evil provides helpful gidelines to keep us from falling into paths of darkness. Early Christians had a group among them that recognized the "allgood" universe, that everything is God. But it was not long before these self-styled "enlightened" people began to rationalize that lying, torture, murder, rape, and stealing were also "God." So, they said, in their deep spiritual disease, any behavior was acceptable. (A group called the "Frankists" among the Jews made the same discovery, and the same mistake.)
Enlightened people are never morally neutral; they know better. For she who falls into moral neutrality is quickly taken over by the lower nature of greed, lust, violence, and apathy. These all betray deep ignorance, even while masking as "superior wisdom" or "deeper spirituality." These people fall away from Love (God) into the demonic (fear); and on this path, it is possible to be lost and confused for centuries, even millennia.
Basic common sense (anything but common) alerts us to the common-sense observation that certain behaviors and actions are evil (antiagapic or contrary to Love). Mysticism upholds the real and selfevident fact that there are many activities that are indeed antiagapic; these lead to interior "hells" of darkness and ignorance.
Never be fooled, then, by the simplistic pretense that you must be neutral to everything evil; the mystical truth is the opposite. It includes a proagapic (Love-supporting) and agapogenic (Love-generating) lifedesign.
Without discrimination, one falls. The old cliche correctly reminds us, "She who does not stand for something will fall for anything." She who does not stand in defense of Reality will fall for any illusion.
This is an unhealthy extreme, for it leaves you without any reference-points, lost in the world of everyday reality. It is true, as a spiritual principle, that everything is God, and so, everything is absolutely good. But we do not live in an absolute world-- a world of pure interiority. For the mystically enlightened recognize two worlds: The everyday world of "twoness" (duality): In this world of ordinary, everyday life, many activities, actions, events, situations, things, and even people can be "evil," "unspiritual," and even "antispiritual."
In the world of pure Mind, there is no real or absolute "evil." But, it is not superspiritual to say that you have nothing "negative" to say about anyone. For this attitude of being "nonjudgmental" tends to lead to spiritual pride, the opposite of spiritual progress. Is it really "just as good" to torture babies as to help the needy? Is it really equivalent to be a "satan-worshipper" as to worship the Lord of Love? Is it really irrelevant that a man rapes a woman instead of loving her?
People are brought to states of complacency and apathy by the idea that these warped and twisted attitudes represent "nonjudgmentalism." Actually, these noncaring and nutral ideas do not represent the high spiritual state of nonjudgment. Instead, they represent a very low state of moral relativity or moral neutrality-- a very low state of illusion, masking as something higher, even admirable.
Love is the opposite of complacency. So, no person of Love is ever apathetic towards suffering. She never lightly dismisses the suffering of others, shrugging and saying, "It's just her karma." No, for love always demands action to aid, comfort, and help any living creature under any conditions!
"Judgment" is not the formulation of opinions. It is not the ability to tell right from wrong. This is discrimination, also called discernment.
Without this ability to tell right from wrong, a person does not become a "master," as certain proud people of moral neutrallity snobbishly view themselves. A person who is neutral about everything has fallen into one of the most subtle snares of illusion, and has been thoroughly deceived. She has managed to miss the entire point of this life.
The world of everyday reality is a cosmos created by God to be dualistic. This is to test us, to present opposites so that we might choose between clear alternatives. The everyday world is supposed to be, is created, this way. Ultimate and absolute reality is monistic, not dualistic. That is, It is all good, and contains no "evil." But, as people on earth, we must, we need to, recognize the difference between good and evil.
Without this spiritual discernment/discrimination, we are not "spiritual geniuses," or "superior"; we are simply interiorly blind. We have truly lost the way.
So, what is "judgment"? It is the declaration that any person or condition is irretrievable to the core. It is the statement that any person or situation is absolutely bad, irredeemable, containing no good.
When, for example, a fundie sends a person's soul to "Hell, forever and ever," though it is done in only the mind,that is "judgment." But to say that Adolph Hitler was evil, bad, or foolish is not the error of judgment; it is discernment, and common sense, besides. When a person declines to become a neo-nazi or satanist because these encourage evil, she is acting from wisdom, not ignorance! To argue otherwise is absurd!
Spiritual people consider no person or situation unsalvageable, or without a trace of merit or goodness within. We deny that "evil" has absolute existence, but this is by no means the same as saying that evil does not exist! In our world, and several million others, evil does indeed exist as the enemy, and opposite, of good! So, we do not practice judgment. But this does not make us foolish, or blind, unable to discern the gulf between good and evil.
But spiritual people are marked by a passion for good, and so, this is symmetrized by an equal passion against evil-- defined as any factor designed to harm sentient (selfaware) beings.
Truly spiritual people are never just gray, colorless, neutral, or apathetic. In fact, they are blessed with clearer awareness and stronger feelings than average about justice, compassion, environmental sacredness, and a list of other issues. This is their incentive and motivation to act. Even the purest Taoist is no "bump on a log," for she will always stand up to defend the helpless and the innocent. (It was in Taoism, in fact, that defensive Kung Fu was developed for precisely this
fine purpose.)
The spiritual being does not attack others, but is allowed to use even physical violence in a purely defensive manner. In the same way, she can defend truth against lies, against falsehoods, and against misunderstandings. She can, in all good conscience, follow the commands of Love to expose evil and untruth wherever she finds it.
Lightyears from being a bored and boring non-actor in the play of life, claiming to be "above it all," with a sneer, the enlightened person uses the "props" of the "play" to help others find liberation. To use the props means that she recognizes relative good and relative evil, and uses these, too, to help liberate others. This is the assignment of even the bodhisattva.
Discerning what is good from what is evil provides helpful gidelines to keep us from falling into paths of darkness. Early Christians had a group among them that recognized the "allgood" universe, that everything is God. But it was not long before these self-styled "enlightened" people began to rationalize that lying, torture, murder, rape, and stealing were also "God." So, they said, in their deep spiritual disease, any behavior was acceptable. (A group called the "Frankists" among the Jews made the same discovery, and the same mistake.)
Enlightened people are never morally neutral; they know better. For she who falls into moral neutrality is quickly taken over by the lower nature of greed, lust, violence, and apathy. These all betray deep ignorance, even while masking as "superior wisdom" or "deeper spirituality." These people fall away from Love (God) into the demonic (fear); and on this path, it is possible to be lost and confused for centuries, even millennia.
Basic common sense (anything but common) alerts us to the common-sense observation that certain behaviors and actions are evil (antiagapic or contrary to Love). Mysticism upholds the real and selfevident fact that there are many activities that are indeed antiagapic; these lead to interior "hells" of darkness and ignorance.
Never be fooled, then, by the simplistic pretense that you must be neutral to everything evil; the mystical truth is the opposite. It includes a proagapic (Love-supporting) and agapogenic (Love-generating) lifedesign.
Without discrimination, one falls. The old cliche correctly reminds us, "She who does not stand for something will fall for anything." She who does not stand in defense of Reality will fall for any illusion.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
LOVE AND MARRIAGE
People often claim that money is the most important factor in marriage, or even in friendship. But life has taught me that Love is the platinum thread that holds human hearts together. It is the rose whose fragrance decorates life with beauty.
Jesus knew the great secret that only Love can make people truly happy. He recommended it as a response to not only friends, but to enemies. If you love your enemies, it simply means that you have no "enemies"! And that is a sweet and pleasant life indeed!
But loving your best friend is the most fun that you can possibly have! Still, Love is no simple matter. There are many kinds of Love, and many power-levels. You love your mother differently from the way in which you love your dog, and your brother differently from your love for your Love-partner. But, with a Love-partner, the ideal is to have the power "turned all the way up"! In other words, you do not want to love parsimoniously or stingily, but with a wide-open heart and mind! You want to give this Love everything that you've got, and not hold back!
Real Love-- the power that welds people together-- is the sweetest state of mind possible to the human heartmind. That is why everyone so loves to "be in Love." It is the "highest high" imaginable! The psychology of Love-- agapology-- greatly enriches our lives, for it studies the multiple ways in which Love is expressed.
When a Love is tested by events and time, it gains a beautiful pattina that nothing else in the whole world can give you. A Love that is tested by biomedical, economic, or social crises can be the most powerful of all.
In my relationship, Love with my wife Adamaria has been made invincible by trauma, disaster, and general catastrophe. We are accustomed to seeing these kinds of events as "bad things," but, if their effects are invested in strengthening Love, the worst becomes the best! Is it too ideal to claim that a Love can be "invincible"? No, it is not an exaggeration, for "God is Love." It is possible for a good Love, or a great one, to continue for centuries, or even millennia! For Love is greater than death, and time.
If God is truly Love-- and I believe that He is-- then, it is no hyperbole to say that Love is the most important factor in life. And if it is, we want to make It "number one," bar none! So, we must never put off until tomorrow an act of Love. NOW is always the appropriate time to express the deep, warm, bright Love of our hearts. NOW is the time to enrich our Love-partner's life, and our own, by sharing Love verbally, as well as nonverbally. Love should never fall to "number two" on our "top ten"! Work to keep it first!
A million glittering diamonds and emeralds could never begin to match the beauty of a heart held firmly in the hands of Love. Nothing in the entire cosmos can match It for wisdom, beauty, or joy! But the lovely blossom of Love can wilt if we do not maintain it. How is this done? By expressing, and treasuring, our Love every day. We must think of it often during the day, express it often, and just relax into it, and bask in its warm, bright light.
Since now is the only time that any of us will ever have, take this moment to go to your loved one and express your Love. Do it now! For later might be too late! And do it very often, for Love unexpressed is Love missing.
The truly Love-filled relationship can bring to you the very illimitable, immeasurable Power of God. Your true Love will be waiting, arms open, when the storms of life blind you with their gusts. She will lead you, support you, heal you. Every act of Love is an act of healing, and every one is also an act of worship. So, work to make your relationship with your special Love-partner a part of your sacred worship. A relationship without God (Love) is on its way to dissolution, ready to vaporize. But a relationship filled with Love is like a great diamond-- rare, beautiful, filled with light, and indestructible! For the moment that you invite God (Love) into a relationship, it gains superhuman power.
The best Love-partner is first a good friend. She/He will be there for you during the blackest midnight. She/He will pour out upon your head the balm of comfort. When you speak, you will be heard from the heart. Soft, gentle, and tender hands and eyes will always support your best interests.
When your Love-partner is also your best friend, every day brings increasing Love and Joy, as well as profound tranquillity, into your life. Life becomes breath-takingly beautiful, and with every thought, you want nothing but for this Love to last forever. And, if it is the real thing, it will.
Jesus knew the great secret that only Love can make people truly happy. He recommended it as a response to not only friends, but to enemies. If you love your enemies, it simply means that you have no "enemies"! And that is a sweet and pleasant life indeed!
But loving your best friend is the most fun that you can possibly have! Still, Love is no simple matter. There are many kinds of Love, and many power-levels. You love your mother differently from the way in which you love your dog, and your brother differently from your love for your Love-partner. But, with a Love-partner, the ideal is to have the power "turned all the way up"! In other words, you do not want to love parsimoniously or stingily, but with a wide-open heart and mind! You want to give this Love everything that you've got, and not hold back!
Real Love-- the power that welds people together-- is the sweetest state of mind possible to the human heartmind. That is why everyone so loves to "be in Love." It is the "highest high" imaginable! The psychology of Love-- agapology-- greatly enriches our lives, for it studies the multiple ways in which Love is expressed.
When a Love is tested by events and time, it gains a beautiful pattina that nothing else in the whole world can give you. A Love that is tested by biomedical, economic, or social crises can be the most powerful of all.
In my relationship, Love with my wife Adamaria has been made invincible by trauma, disaster, and general catastrophe. We are accustomed to seeing these kinds of events as "bad things," but, if their effects are invested in strengthening Love, the worst becomes the best! Is it too ideal to claim that a Love can be "invincible"? No, it is not an exaggeration, for "God is Love." It is possible for a good Love, or a great one, to continue for centuries, or even millennia! For Love is greater than death, and time.
If God is truly Love-- and I believe that He is-- then, it is no hyperbole to say that Love is the most important factor in life. And if it is, we want to make It "number one," bar none! So, we must never put off until tomorrow an act of Love. NOW is always the appropriate time to express the deep, warm, bright Love of our hearts. NOW is the time to enrich our Love-partner's life, and our own, by sharing Love verbally, as well as nonverbally. Love should never fall to "number two" on our "top ten"! Work to keep it first!
A million glittering diamonds and emeralds could never begin to match the beauty of a heart held firmly in the hands of Love. Nothing in the entire cosmos can match It for wisdom, beauty, or joy! But the lovely blossom of Love can wilt if we do not maintain it. How is this done? By expressing, and treasuring, our Love every day. We must think of it often during the day, express it often, and just relax into it, and bask in its warm, bright light.
Since now is the only time that any of us will ever have, take this moment to go to your loved one and express your Love. Do it now! For later might be too late! And do it very often, for Love unexpressed is Love missing.
The truly Love-filled relationship can bring to you the very illimitable, immeasurable Power of God. Your true Love will be waiting, arms open, when the storms of life blind you with their gusts. She will lead you, support you, heal you. Every act of Love is an act of healing, and every one is also an act of worship. So, work to make your relationship with your special Love-partner a part of your sacred worship. A relationship without God (Love) is on its way to dissolution, ready to vaporize. But a relationship filled with Love is like a great diamond-- rare, beautiful, filled with light, and indestructible! For the moment that you invite God (Love) into a relationship, it gains superhuman power.
The best Love-partner is first a good friend. She/He will be there for you during the blackest midnight. She/He will pour out upon your head the balm of comfort. When you speak, you will be heard from the heart. Soft, gentle, and tender hands and eyes will always support your best interests.
When your Love-partner is also your best friend, every day brings increasing Love and Joy, as well as profound tranquillity, into your life. Life becomes breath-takingly beautiful, and with every thought, you want nothing but for this Love to last forever. And, if it is the real thing, it will.
The "Upanishads"
The Way is older than any formal, organized religion. It predates Catholicism, even Christianity, by millennia. Perhaps its oldest literary expression is found in the very ancient teachings of the Indian Upanishads, which talk a lot about God as the deeply interior Dreamer/Creator of the "material" and "external" world. In those texts, the Dreamer/Creator is called "Brahman," or simply the "Self." Several good translations into English are available, and these mystical texts are the subject of Part V of Volume 2 of Luminous Jewels of Love and Light.
Highly recommended reading for the student of mysticism, these documents originated in the eighth century BCE.
Highly recommended reading for the student of mysticism, these documents originated in the eighth century BCE.
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