Posts
A new sister has recently got in touch with us via email. Her name is Victoria, and she is recently doing final confrontation with the Jehovah's Witness cult. She needs all the help, all the contact, that she can get during this most "lonely" and isolated period of her life.
Her ema is:
binspired2day@earthlink.net
So, please write to her, with messages of upliftment and positivity. Let her know that this world is filled with good, compassionate, loving human beings. [Her religion has taught her to fear and distrust "worldly" people (non-cult-members.)]
Please encourage her fledgling attempts at an independent life. [Her religion fosters utter dependence.] Please offer your friendship. Please do it now, before it "escapes your busy day."
Love,
shi and the Love Education Team
Monday, April 30, 2007
Red Wine and Cancer
Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
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Pitt Study: Red Wine Could Kill Cancer Cells
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Pitt Study: Red Wine Could Kill Cancer Cells
A new University of Pittsburgh medical study found that red wine could kill cancer cells.
Researchers discovered that a naturally occurring antioxidant found in red wine and many fruits and vegetables selectively kill Leukemia cells. Researchers hope the discovery will lead to a more selective, less-toxic therapy for Leukemia.
*******
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Hope: Impeach the President
Thanks to Chris Finer
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Hope for this Country: Vermont Senate: Impeach the President
Friday, April 20, 2007 11:32 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By ROSS SNEYD
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont senators voted Friday to call for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, saying their actions have raised "serious questions of constitutionality." The non-binding resolution was approved 16-9 without debate — all six Republicans in the chamber at the time and three Democrats voted against it.
The resolution says that bush's and cheney's actions in the U.S. and abroad, including in Iraq, "raise serious questions of constitutionality, statutory legality, and abuse of the public trust." "I think it's going to have a tremendous political effect-- a tremendous political effect on public discourse about what to do about this president," said James Leas, a vocal advocate of withdrawing troops from Iraq and impeaching Bush and Cheney.
Vermont lawmakers earlier voted to demand an immediate troop withdrawal from Iraq in another non-binding resolution. Democratic House Speaker Gaye Symington has kept a similar resolution from reaching the floor in her chamber. She argued that an impeachment resolution would be partisan and divisive and that it would distract Washington from efforts to get the United States out of Iraq, which she says is more important.
In the Senate, Republican Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie had opposed the resolution, but he was absent Friday. That left Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Peter Shumlin in charge, and he immediately took up the measure.
More than three dozen towns voted in favor of similar nonbinding impeachment resolutions at their annual town meetings in March.
*******
Jesus and Immortality
*******
Jesus was an awakened, illuminated, and enlightened man. The great psychologist Dr. Carl Jung believed that the Gospel-stories were allegory, not literal history. As fundies, of course, we were dogmatically locked into the straight-jacket of insisting that every word was literal history.
But legends grow like weeds, especially around amazing or unusual people. Sometimes, these mythologies have nothing to do with "real" or literal events. It is not necessary to be dogmatic about this issue. Personally, a "middle of the road" approach is preferred here: Certain events and descriptions in the Gospels might well be symbolic legends, and others might well be literal, or have had a foundation in an actual event.
But still, it would be a terrible mistake (often made by fundies) to confuse Gospel writers with the modern definition of the word "historians." They often wrote, not to be "accurate" in the literal and scientific modern sense, but to get across spiritual lessons. At times, most ancient writers could not have cared less whether a described event actually, literally occurred. The important thing to them was not historical accuracy, but the lessons.
We know for certain that legends grew up around other "celestial" or spiritual messengers and teachers. It is said that the Buddha, for example, was "born of a virgin," and that he wrestled with Mara, the tempter, for forty days and nights before his enlightenment. But Buddhist scholars and experts universally agree that these were symbolic statements. They indicated a special being of light who recognized that he was not a body, but a mind (Soul). That is why great teachers are often divided from the rest of us by a story re parthenogenesis (birth from a virgin).
So, we need not believe in the literal virgin-birth to follow, understand, or love Jesus as a master, a "son of God." Nor, by the way, need we disbelieve. We can simply keep an open mind. Unlike the cults, people of sophisticated spirituality do not need "black and white," simple "yes or no" answers to every question.
In fact, recognition of Jesus' full humanity actually brings him closer to "home," as he was truly "one of us." The very ancient Christian formula said that he was "true God and true man." He was a man who realized that his true or higher Self was an immortal, non-physical Soul. At Its core, this Soul was the Spirit, God, or Love. In fact, he directed this Soul to become an incarnation or perfect reflection of Love
(God).
He was not a freak, a one-of-a-kind forever being. Instead, his early disciple got it right when he said, "Christ died for you, leaving you a model to follow his footsteps closely." So, our most active Love for Christ lies not in worshipping his human form, but in trying honestly to follow him, as he called upon people to do. In fact, he had a habit of saying, "Follow Me."
So, as he said, "The things that I do, you also will do-- and even things greater than these." So, do we see Jesus as God?
Yes, for he said the perennial statement of the mystic. He said, "I and the Father are one." But if Jesus is a model, not a freak, it implies that, deep down, in our minds, in the deep Unconscious, we are also unified with the great perfect Mind (Spirit) called "God." Indeed, like Jesus, we all have a Lovemind or Love-nature "buried" deep within the "unconscious" Mind. Our challenge is to tap this interior Christ-nature, this Christ-spirit, and to manifest Its Love in our world.
Ancient Christians such as Marcion (about 140 CE) clearly distinguished between "Jesus" the man and "Christ" the Spirit. Jesus the historical man was born, lived, and died. But Christ the everlasting Spirit lived through that death; as a Soul, he proved that death is a survivable experience. It was among his more important lessons: "I will die," he said in effect, "and I will come back to my friends and prove that you -- and we all -- survive death. Death is not the end."
And of course, his body (Jesus) did die. But his enlightened Soul (Christ) did not. (Indeed, in his Soul he had become the Mind of God, deep within him as It is within you and me, and all beings of Love.)
So, in our lives, "Jesus Christ" is a human image of the God beyond ordinary imagination, and beyond even symbols. In Jesus, we can see the "face of God," the full human and divine expressions of Love.
As you can see here, the knowing that God is Love changes everything. Then, we do not have the traditional difficulties of the history of theology. We do not have to explain how Jesus and God-- two different "persons"-- are "one," as Jesus declared. Love lives in your heart, as It did in the heart of Jesus. A human mind can "become one" with Love by living Its principles, for Love is not "another person." This very simply explains such profound mysteries as the "oneness" of Jesus and God.
Since Jesus was a model, we are expected to "follow" him, to live as he lived, and to act and behave with Love towards even our "enemies," again, as he said. For we, like him, are potentially "one with" God. God is not another "person" (this word means "mask") in outer space. God is the very deep Lovemind (Mind filled with only Love, overflowing with Love) at the core of all minds. It is a shared or collective Mind, the very deepest Unconscious. The entire "material, external, physical" universe is an expression of the Mind of God.
We usually live our everyday lives in a kind of sleep, or unawareness of spiritual ideas. That is why, in the symbolic book of Genesis, "Jehovah" (the principle of ignorance) put "Adam" to sleep, and the record never says that Adam ever woke up. Human history begins after Adam is put to sleep by the god of ignorance, Jehovah. Only later does the God of Love come to us, and awaken us. ("Awakening" is a synonym for "enlightenment.")
Again, a whole library could be written to answer your most profound inquiry. Several books have been written here about the deep mysteries of God and human minds, and the many relationships and interactions among them.
Your second question concerns the afterlife. That there is an afterlife is what gives deeper meaning to our actions and lives here on earth. For earth is a place of visitors, but no one really "lives" here.
For years, we were in total denial of death. As Jehovah's Witnesses, we suffered from a severe form of "thanatophobia," or death-terror. But, for the first time in history, tens of thousands of people have actually died, and biomedical technology has made it possible to literally bring them back from the dead. (See the breakthrough work, by Dr. Raymond Moody, Life After Life. It can be found at any bookstore, in a used paperback edition.) Medical interviews have proved, beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt, that these people continued as minds after their bodies were heart-dead and brain-dead. (They were truly clinically dead. To say that they had a "near-death experience is simply a way of giving in to sixteenth-century materialism, which denies survival.) Of course, Jehovah's Witnesses and materialists dismiss the afterlife because, for other reasons, they do not want to believe in it. They say that it is all brain-induced hallucination. But this idea must be wrong, for if you give ten people a powerful drug, such as lsd, you will have ten very different experiences; for the cells and structures of different brains are very different. But many thousands have died and returned with accounts of exactly the same experience. I can attest to this truth, for I have died twice.
How many people would have to return from a country called "Russia," where you have never personally visited, before you would believe that this country really existed? It is similar with the afterlife.
Antique materialism, and Jehovah's Witnesses, claim that all thought, and consciousness, originate in the physical brain. Modern medicine and science now question this dogma. The famous neurophysiologist Sir John Eccles said that the brain was merely the "switchboard" for a non-physical mind (Soul). People have been able to think even after huge portions of their physical brains have been destroyed in accidents.
Immortality is one of the clearest teachings of the Christian Scriptures. To limit this to 144,000, based on a literal interpretation of a verse in Revelation (14:1), inside the teaching that the entire book of Revelation is symbolic, does not make consistent good sense.
Again, entire libraries have been written on this most captivating subject, so they cannot all be adequately summarized here. Since cults keep their members in enforced ignorance, discouraging reading, I take the opposite tact: Read everything! As a free and independent adult, you can choose what you want to believe, and know, and need not fear "influence" by books. Books cannot harm you; that is simply a superstition designed to keep people in ignorance.
Much, much more to come later, my friend. In fact, would you like to read one of my other books? If so, simply say the word, for teaching and learning were the two reasons that I was born.:)
*******
Jesus was an awakened, illuminated, and enlightened man. The great psychologist Dr. Carl Jung believed that the Gospel-stories were allegory, not literal history. As fundies, of course, we were dogmatically locked into the straight-jacket of insisting that every word was literal history.
But legends grow like weeds, especially around amazing or unusual people. Sometimes, these mythologies have nothing to do with "real" or literal events. It is not necessary to be dogmatic about this issue. Personally, a "middle of the road" approach is preferred here: Certain events and descriptions in the Gospels might well be symbolic legends, and others might well be literal, or have had a foundation in an actual event.
But still, it would be a terrible mistake (often made by fundies) to confuse Gospel writers with the modern definition of the word "historians." They often wrote, not to be "accurate" in the literal and scientific modern sense, but to get across spiritual lessons. At times, most ancient writers could not have cared less whether a described event actually, literally occurred. The important thing to them was not historical accuracy, but the lessons.
We know for certain that legends grew up around other "celestial" or spiritual messengers and teachers. It is said that the Buddha, for example, was "born of a virgin," and that he wrestled with Mara, the tempter, for forty days and nights before his enlightenment. But Buddhist scholars and experts universally agree that these were symbolic statements. They indicated a special being of light who recognized that he was not a body, but a mind (Soul). That is why great teachers are often divided from the rest of us by a story re parthenogenesis (birth from a virgin).
So, we need not believe in the literal virgin-birth to follow, understand, or love Jesus as a master, a "son of God." Nor, by the way, need we disbelieve. We can simply keep an open mind. Unlike the cults, people of sophisticated spirituality do not need "black and white," simple "yes or no" answers to every question.
In fact, recognition of Jesus' full humanity actually brings him closer to "home," as he was truly "one of us." The very ancient Christian formula said that he was "true God and true man." He was a man who realized that his true or higher Self was an immortal, non-physical Soul. At Its core, this Soul was the Spirit, God, or Love. In fact, he directed this Soul to become an incarnation or perfect reflection of Love
(God).
He was not a freak, a one-of-a-kind forever being. Instead, his early disciple got it right when he said, "Christ died for you, leaving you a model to follow his footsteps closely." So, our most active Love for Christ lies not in worshipping his human form, but in trying honestly to follow him, as he called upon people to do. In fact, he had a habit of saying, "Follow Me."
So, as he said, "The things that I do, you also will do-- and even things greater than these." So, do we see Jesus as God?
Yes, for he said the perennial statement of the mystic. He said, "I and the Father are one." But if Jesus is a model, not a freak, it implies that, deep down, in our minds, in the deep Unconscious, we are also unified with the great perfect Mind (Spirit) called "God." Indeed, like Jesus, we all have a Lovemind or Love-nature "buried" deep within the "unconscious" Mind. Our challenge is to tap this interior Christ-nature, this Christ-spirit, and to manifest Its Love in our world.
Ancient Christians such as Marcion (about 140 CE) clearly distinguished between "Jesus" the man and "Christ" the Spirit. Jesus the historical man was born, lived, and died. But Christ the everlasting Spirit lived through that death; as a Soul, he proved that death is a survivable experience. It was among his more important lessons: "I will die," he said in effect, "and I will come back to my friends and prove that you -- and we all -- survive death. Death is not the end."
And of course, his body (Jesus) did die. But his enlightened Soul (Christ) did not. (Indeed, in his Soul he had become the Mind of God, deep within him as It is within you and me, and all beings of Love.)
So, in our lives, "Jesus Christ" is a human image of the God beyond ordinary imagination, and beyond even symbols. In Jesus, we can see the "face of God," the full human and divine expressions of Love.
As you can see here, the knowing that God is Love changes everything. Then, we do not have the traditional difficulties of the history of theology. We do not have to explain how Jesus and God-- two different "persons"-- are "one," as Jesus declared. Love lives in your heart, as It did in the heart of Jesus. A human mind can "become one" with Love by living Its principles, for Love is not "another person." This very simply explains such profound mysteries as the "oneness" of Jesus and God.
Since Jesus was a model, we are expected to "follow" him, to live as he lived, and to act and behave with Love towards even our "enemies," again, as he said. For we, like him, are potentially "one with" God. God is not another "person" (this word means "mask") in outer space. God is the very deep Lovemind (Mind filled with only Love, overflowing with Love) at the core of all minds. It is a shared or collective Mind, the very deepest Unconscious. The entire "material, external, physical" universe is an expression of the Mind of God.
We usually live our everyday lives in a kind of sleep, or unawareness of spiritual ideas. That is why, in the symbolic book of Genesis, "Jehovah" (the principle of ignorance) put "Adam" to sleep, and the record never says that Adam ever woke up. Human history begins after Adam is put to sleep by the god of ignorance, Jehovah. Only later does the God of Love come to us, and awaken us. ("Awakening" is a synonym for "enlightenment.")
Again, a whole library could be written to answer your most profound inquiry. Several books have been written here about the deep mysteries of God and human minds, and the many relationships and interactions among them.
Your second question concerns the afterlife. That there is an afterlife is what gives deeper meaning to our actions and lives here on earth. For earth is a place of visitors, but no one really "lives" here.
For years, we were in total denial of death. As Jehovah's Witnesses, we suffered from a severe form of "thanatophobia," or death-terror. But, for the first time in history, tens of thousands of people have actually died, and biomedical technology has made it possible to literally bring them back from the dead. (See the breakthrough work, by Dr. Raymond Moody, Life After Life. It can be found at any bookstore, in a used paperback edition.) Medical interviews have proved, beyond the shadow of any reasonable doubt, that these people continued as minds after their bodies were heart-dead and brain-dead. (They were truly clinically dead. To say that they had a "near-death experience is simply a way of giving in to sixteenth-century materialism, which denies survival.) Of course, Jehovah's Witnesses and materialists dismiss the afterlife because, for other reasons, they do not want to believe in it. They say that it is all brain-induced hallucination. But this idea must be wrong, for if you give ten people a powerful drug, such as lsd, you will have ten very different experiences; for the cells and structures of different brains are very different. But many thousands have died and returned with accounts of exactly the same experience. I can attest to this truth, for I have died twice.
How many people would have to return from a country called "Russia," where you have never personally visited, before you would believe that this country really existed? It is similar with the afterlife.
Antique materialism, and Jehovah's Witnesses, claim that all thought, and consciousness, originate in the physical brain. Modern medicine and science now question this dogma. The famous neurophysiologist Sir John Eccles said that the brain was merely the "switchboard" for a non-physical mind (Soul). People have been able to think even after huge portions of their physical brains have been destroyed in accidents.
Immortality is one of the clearest teachings of the Christian Scriptures. To limit this to 144,000, based on a literal interpretation of a verse in Revelation (14:1), inside the teaching that the entire book of Revelation is symbolic, does not make consistent good sense.
Again, entire libraries have been written on this most captivating subject, so they cannot all be adequately summarized here. Since cults keep their members in enforced ignorance, discouraging reading, I take the opposite tact: Read everything! As a free and independent adult, you can choose what you want to believe, and know, and need not fear "influence" by books. Books cannot harm you; that is simply a superstition designed to keep people in ignorance.
Much, much more to come later, my friend. In fact, would you like to read one of my other books? If so, simply say the word, for teaching and learning were the two reasons that I was born.:)
*******
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Worshipping Love
*******
Your note brought megaphotons of joyful light into the local "world" here! Your sheer joy, a fruit of the Spirit, poured out of every word. This does not mean that you will never again have a "lower energy" day, but this uplifting feeling (mood) is a simple foretaste of your inevitable future. For your Soul is just beginning to feel its ecstatic freedom, and It is celebrating!:)
Re your boys: You are right: They are your sacred assignment from the cosmos. You will never be responsible for everything that they do or say. For, especially as they grow into adulthood, they have to live out their chosen and designed destiny, lifeplan, or life-agenda. This might have little to do with you, although they have certainly been blessed with a smart and compassionate mother. And this fact will bless them forever!:)
We who believe that God is Love take this truth very,very seriously. This means nothing less than that we worship Love. This makes us better people every day. We uplift compassion, kindness, and goodness-- all as expressions of Love. The very best gift that you could ever give your boys is to explain this fact to them.
Most people claim to "believe in" and even "worship" God. But when you ask them exactly what it is that they worship, they are often silent, or confused; it seems as if they have never given the question any thought. Many, of course, worship the "ultimate extraterrestrial"-- some "external god" in outer space. Others worship the confused, contradictory impossibility of the attempt to blend the angry and psychotic Jehovah with the Lord of Love. Still others admit that they still worship the wargod of four millennia in the past-- the primitive, cruel, violent, unjust Jehovah, or some variation. (These are very mixed up, and trying to worship a mean god makes them mean; for people become like the god(s)whom they worship.
And there are many other godimages, of course. But the people of the Way, the people of Love, know precisely Whom and What they worship. For we worship Love. This fills our minds with clarity and joy, our hearts with contentment and fulfillment; for human beings were and are designed to worship Love. It is totally fulfilling and absolutely satisfying, in a way that worship of any false god could never be.
God (Love) fills our lives with deep tranquility, bottomless joy, compassion, tenderness, forgiveness, and everything else that is liberating and joyful.
If you choose to make it clear to your boys that you are a serious worshiper of Love, they will never be misled by the plethora of false gods and nutty ideas proliferating among the cults and denominations. Also, they need not grow up confused. If you answer the nuclear question f all life-- "Who or What is God") then your life has a solid, grounded serenity that is immovable. If this God is your ground of being, your
Source, your Friend, Father, and Mother (in the spiritual world), it gives you a feeling of indisturbable peace. Your life grows imperturbable. Nothing can sway you from this path.
If you walk the Way of Love, you will take an interior vow never voluntarily, deliberately to harm any living creature. (This includes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm.) This keeps you out of trouble.
As an example, sex is one of the most beautiful forms of Love. Yet the honor within the harmless life (your vow) makes you want the very best for yourself. (This arises from self-Love.) The need to "harm no one" includes yourself, and we also try never to harm anyone emotionally. And the very best is a solid, monogamous, faithful relationship with one Soul, your Soul-mate. You trust the Spirit within to guide you towards this very special person. So, Love does not imply promiscuity, but quite the opposite. For promiscuity creates only pain, suffering, misery, and anguish in the long term. Out of self-Love, you will work to develop and cultivate the patience to find your real Soul-mate, for this will lead to a stability in life that reinforces the stability of your interior peace. Self-Love and other-Love change everything for the better.
Other challenges in life, if met with Love, can also be solved through a balanced blend of compassion and reason. This makes life easier and more enjoyable for yourself and for everyone else. You have begun to touch the sense of deep happiness now that your Soul (very deep mind) has begun to "remember" the Way of Love. This will get only better and better in the future. You have begun a long and winding road that will end up in ecstasy, or total joy, which is the will of Love (God) for you. What a sheer delight it is, and how kind of you, to allow us a small window into
your progress and growth. I want to be there always for you, my friend.:)
*******
Your note brought megaphotons of joyful light into the local "world" here! Your sheer joy, a fruit of the Spirit, poured out of every word. This does not mean that you will never again have a "lower energy" day, but this uplifting feeling (mood) is a simple foretaste of your inevitable future. For your Soul is just beginning to feel its ecstatic freedom, and It is celebrating!:)
Re your boys: You are right: They are your sacred assignment from the cosmos. You will never be responsible for everything that they do or say. For, especially as they grow into adulthood, they have to live out their chosen and designed destiny, lifeplan, or life-agenda. This might have little to do with you, although they have certainly been blessed with a smart and compassionate mother. And this fact will bless them forever!:)
We who believe that God is Love take this truth very,very seriously. This means nothing less than that we worship Love. This makes us better people every day. We uplift compassion, kindness, and goodness-- all as expressions of Love. The very best gift that you could ever give your boys is to explain this fact to them.
Most people claim to "believe in" and even "worship" God. But when you ask them exactly what it is that they worship, they are often silent, or confused; it seems as if they have never given the question any thought. Many, of course, worship the "ultimate extraterrestrial"-- some "external god" in outer space. Others worship the confused, contradictory impossibility of the attempt to blend the angry and psychotic Jehovah with the Lord of Love. Still others admit that they still worship the wargod of four millennia in the past-- the primitive, cruel, violent, unjust Jehovah, or some variation. (These are very mixed up, and trying to worship a mean god makes them mean; for people become like the god(s)whom they worship.
And there are many other godimages, of course. But the people of the Way, the people of Love, know precisely Whom and What they worship. For we worship Love. This fills our minds with clarity and joy, our hearts with contentment and fulfillment; for human beings were and are designed to worship Love. It is totally fulfilling and absolutely satisfying, in a way that worship of any false god could never be.
God (Love) fills our lives with deep tranquility, bottomless joy, compassion, tenderness, forgiveness, and everything else that is liberating and joyful.
If you choose to make it clear to your boys that you are a serious worshiper of Love, they will never be misled by the plethora of false gods and nutty ideas proliferating among the cults and denominations. Also, they need not grow up confused. If you answer the nuclear question f all life-- "Who or What is God") then your life has a solid, grounded serenity that is immovable. If this God is your ground of being, your
Source, your Friend, Father, and Mother (in the spiritual world), it gives you a feeling of indisturbable peace. Your life grows imperturbable. Nothing can sway you from this path.
If you walk the Way of Love, you will take an interior vow never voluntarily, deliberately to harm any living creature. (This includes physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual harm.) This keeps you out of trouble.
As an example, sex is one of the most beautiful forms of Love. Yet the honor within the harmless life (your vow) makes you want the very best for yourself. (This arises from self-Love.) The need to "harm no one" includes yourself, and we also try never to harm anyone emotionally. And the very best is a solid, monogamous, faithful relationship with one Soul, your Soul-mate. You trust the Spirit within to guide you towards this very special person. So, Love does not imply promiscuity, but quite the opposite. For promiscuity creates only pain, suffering, misery, and anguish in the long term. Out of self-Love, you will work to develop and cultivate the patience to find your real Soul-mate, for this will lead to a stability in life that reinforces the stability of your interior peace. Self-Love and other-Love change everything for the better.
Other challenges in life, if met with Love, can also be solved through a balanced blend of compassion and reason. This makes life easier and more enjoyable for yourself and for everyone else. You have begun to touch the sense of deep happiness now that your Soul (very deep mind) has begun to "remember" the Way of Love. This will get only better and better in the future. You have begun a long and winding road that will end up in ecstasy, or total joy, which is the will of Love (God) for you. What a sheer delight it is, and how kind of you, to allow us a small window into
your progress and growth. I want to be there always for you, my friend.:)
*******
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Caution: Tabloid Metaphysics
*******
Metaphysics, like its relative, spirituality, can be great fun! It is not all serious, humorless facts and figures, dull and boring. For true spirituality, at its best, includes a sense of play and fun.
Still, , we must distinguish metaphysics from the deeper, and much more important, spirituality. And because metaphysics is, at its best, related to spirituality, it must have a certain serious quality. It is much more than "fun and games."
We must use discrimination and discernment-- both spiritual gifts-- to select those metaphysical activities that will truly aid in spiritual development and growth. And there is, happily, very much in metaphysics which supports, motivates, and creates spiritual effects. An example is the study of crystals, that of color, or sound-music. For the fields of chromotology and chromovisualization can be very spiritually valuable, as can the field of audiosonics, used in both healing and meditation.
But there is another field of metaphysics of which the careful student must beware. It is the facile, shallow area called "tabloid" metaphysics. This analogy implies that there are forms of metaphysics that have a relationship with spirituality aanalogous to the relationship of "yellow" or "tabloid" journalism's relationship to true news.
As you cannot get much reliable scientific news or details of current events from ragsheets, so you cannot derive anything of real spiritual value from tabloid metaphysics. It is spiritually worthless, yet can cost a fortune to indulge.
What marks this tabloid metaphysics? It is similar in contents to the contents of ragsheet-journalism. Some metaphysicists (not all are spiritual) claim to have a special relationship with a dead (former) movie-star or tv-star. Others claim to "channel" such famous persons as Princess Di. Using these to improve spirituality would be similar to getting all your news from the Weekly World News.
These tabloid pretenders charge a lot of money for their "services." But they offer nothing of real value. They cannot aid clients to live better lives. Often, they do not even pretend to offer anything spiritual, for they are spiritually bankrupt.
Tabloid metaphysics will not only waste your time and energy, but also your funds. It is quite expensive-- another sign that the ego is in charge. Instead of using money to support frauds and phonies, you need to think about giving funds to reliable charities, or directly to poor people, challenged persons, or the generally suffering inhabitants of our poor little planet.
*******
Metaphysics, like its relative, spirituality, can be great fun! It is not all serious, humorless facts and figures, dull and boring. For true spirituality, at its best, includes a sense of play and fun.
Still, , we must distinguish metaphysics from the deeper, and much more important, spirituality. And because metaphysics is, at its best, related to spirituality, it must have a certain serious quality. It is much more than "fun and games."
We must use discrimination and discernment-- both spiritual gifts-- to select those metaphysical activities that will truly aid in spiritual development and growth. And there is, happily, very much in metaphysics which supports, motivates, and creates spiritual effects. An example is the study of crystals, that of color, or sound-music. For the fields of chromotology and chromovisualization can be very spiritually valuable, as can the field of audiosonics, used in both healing and meditation.
But there is another field of metaphysics of which the careful student must beware. It is the facile, shallow area called "tabloid" metaphysics. This analogy implies that there are forms of metaphysics that have a relationship with spirituality aanalogous to the relationship of "yellow" or "tabloid" journalism's relationship to true news.
As you cannot get much reliable scientific news or details of current events from ragsheets, so you cannot derive anything of real spiritual value from tabloid metaphysics. It is spiritually worthless, yet can cost a fortune to indulge.
What marks this tabloid metaphysics? It is similar in contents to the contents of ragsheet-journalism. Some metaphysicists (not all are spiritual) claim to have a special relationship with a dead (former) movie-star or tv-star. Others claim to "channel" such famous persons as Princess Di. Using these to improve spirituality would be similar to getting all your news from the Weekly World News.
These tabloid pretenders charge a lot of money for their "services." But they offer nothing of real value. They cannot aid clients to live better lives. Often, they do not even pretend to offer anything spiritual, for they are spiritually bankrupt.
Tabloid metaphysics will not only waste your time and energy, but also your funds. It is quite expensive-- another sign that the ego is in charge. Instead of using money to support frauds and phonies, you need to think about giving funds to reliable charities, or directly to poor people, challenged persons, or the generally suffering inhabitants of our poor little planet.
*******
Cults, Learning About, and Knowing, God
*******
This poor world contains a delicious, and very rich, potpourri, or smorgasbord, of spirituality. Members of certain cults or guru-groups are not the only people who have struggled valiantly and honestly to live lives of honor, peace, joy, and Love. Indeed, for many, the laws of human leaders and gurus (often in cults) are more important than even the immeasurable Love and grace of God. Through the centuries, many people have honestly striven to know God personally and directly, and they had not been cult-members. (Indeed, there were thousands if not millions of God-loving men and women before these cults came along.) The facile and shallow argument that Biblical characters were "really" cult-members in their hearts does not at all stand up to historical scrutiny. The older writers of the Scriptures were Jews, and the more recent ones Christians, but the name of a cult is not found a single time in the entire Bible.
Neither is the word "organization" found anywhere in the actual Scriptures. For it was simply not important enough ever to be mentioned.
I believe that God is Love, and that learning to love yourself and others is the only Way to please God and to find true fulfillment and satisfaction. I believe that God does not really care exactly what micro-doctrines you believe (since no one knows everything), but God, as living Love, does care how you behave and treat others. Orthodox Christians somehow came up with the odd idea that what you believe, rather than how you live, can "make" you a Christian, but Jesus denied this, saying that Love alone would mark his true followers. (Compare Jn. 13:35) So, in history, we have many people who "believed the right things" about Jesus, God, and the Bible, but were murderers, rapists, thieves, and liars.
So now, the personal spiritual path is "Love plus nothing." This reflects the simplicity and compassion (including non-judgment and forgiveness) taught by Jesus. And it is very easy, reflecting again his declaration that his "load is easy and My burden light."
All the religions in the world, so often filled with anti-spiritual pride, probably do not know a thimble-full about the infinite God of the cosmos, who is vaster and more beautiful than the galaxies. So, their pride in doctrine actually reflects a kind of foolishness or intellectual limitation. And nowhere do the Scriptures command us to understand God, but only to love Him, in the same manner that we learn to love human beings and other creatures.
God can be known, but not by the jigsaw piecing together of separate data. He can be known only by the moving, touching experience of Love.
Knowing that "God is Love," it is only reasonable that the ancient texts are implying the "radical" but enjoyable idea that we should worship Love in its most universal form. This has nothing to do with sexual activity (the way a fundycult-member would likely interpret it), but has everything to do with selfesteem, selfrespect, and compassion, respect, and tolerance for, and goodness and kindness towards, other people and other creatures. For God lives in and through them all.
*******
This poor world contains a delicious, and very rich, potpourri, or smorgasbord, of spirituality. Members of certain cults or guru-groups are not the only people who have struggled valiantly and honestly to live lives of honor, peace, joy, and Love. Indeed, for many, the laws of human leaders and gurus (often in cults) are more important than even the immeasurable Love and grace of God. Through the centuries, many people have honestly striven to know God personally and directly, and they had not been cult-members. (Indeed, there were thousands if not millions of God-loving men and women before these cults came along.) The facile and shallow argument that Biblical characters were "really" cult-members in their hearts does not at all stand up to historical scrutiny. The older writers of the Scriptures were Jews, and the more recent ones Christians, but the name of a cult is not found a single time in the entire Bible.
Neither is the word "organization" found anywhere in the actual Scriptures. For it was simply not important enough ever to be mentioned.
I believe that God is Love, and that learning to love yourself and others is the only Way to please God and to find true fulfillment and satisfaction. I believe that God does not really care exactly what micro-doctrines you believe (since no one knows everything), but God, as living Love, does care how you behave and treat others. Orthodox Christians somehow came up with the odd idea that what you believe, rather than how you live, can "make" you a Christian, but Jesus denied this, saying that Love alone would mark his true followers. (Compare Jn. 13:35) So, in history, we have many people who "believed the right things" about Jesus, God, and the Bible, but were murderers, rapists, thieves, and liars.
So now, the personal spiritual path is "Love plus nothing." This reflects the simplicity and compassion (including non-judgment and forgiveness) taught by Jesus. And it is very easy, reflecting again his declaration that his "load is easy and My burden light."
All the religions in the world, so often filled with anti-spiritual pride, probably do not know a thimble-full about the infinite God of the cosmos, who is vaster and more beautiful than the galaxies. So, their pride in doctrine actually reflects a kind of foolishness or intellectual limitation. And nowhere do the Scriptures command us to understand God, but only to love Him, in the same manner that we learn to love human beings and other creatures.
God can be known, but not by the jigsaw piecing together of separate data. He can be known only by the moving, touching experience of Love.
Knowing that "God is Love," it is only reasonable that the ancient texts are implying the "radical" but enjoyable idea that we should worship Love in its most universal form. This has nothing to do with sexual activity (the way a fundycult-member would likely interpret it), but has everything to do with selfesteem, selfrespect, and compassion, respect, and tolerance for, and goodness and kindness towards, other people and other creatures. For God lives in and through them all.
*******
Respectful Speech: An Expression of Love
*******
There is never a moment when the Love-nature can be "turned" or shut off, closed, ignored or neglected safely. For this Way of Love is not a mere religion; it is a pervasive Way of life. As such, it permeates our very thoughts; it saturates our thoughts and words, our very behavior.
It is a real part of the mind, even of the Soul. So, we can never "vacation" from Love. It guides us all the Way, all the time, in both matters large and small. This implies that in even our joyful, carefree "playing," we cannot conscientiously deny or ignore It. That is why the person of Love decides not to pass along jokes that are harmfully directed to hurt people. She will never make fun of a person's racial heritage, or in other ways mock the blameless and the harmless.
She shows equal respect for all good and honest people, all the time. She adamantly refuses to use words of disrespect, putting down others because of their racial heritage, neighborhood, educational levels, friends, or imperfections.
This does not mean that, for example, political parody or satire is "off limits," for it can be a relatively harmless form of political expression and/or freedom. But all mockery or evil condemnation of people of a certain national heritage is out of bounds, for it hurts innocent people. And, in reflective (karmic) psychology, it also condemns the joker who is poking fun. So, as in all things, we must live as honorably as possible.
For the people of Love, this includes the principle of ahimsa, or harmlessness (non-injury). This means that we have taken an interior and private vow, to ourselves, to create deliberate harm to no other living creature. (This includes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harm.) We especially want to avoid harming, or threatening harm, towards the innocent, minorities, the harmless, or the powerless. For in many societies, these people (or creatures) are already victims, and to add to their pain will definitely create negative karmic consequences.
We want to live reasonably, so as to avoid the creation of any bad or hurtful karma for ourselves. But this desire (or need) to avoid bad consequences is not the reason that we strive to live in goodness, without any deliberate or voluntary evil. No, we do this because we are committed, heart and soul, to becoming a higher life-form. We are not-- none of us-- just "naked apes" in a "human zoo." No, we are the children of God (Love); and, like genetic children, we truly want to reflect the qualities and characteristics of our spiritual Father/Mother, Who is Love. We want to be good, or improved, people not because of the fear of karma, which is negative, but because we long to become beings of purest Love. The becoming of pure, unmixed Love is still in our future, but, at unconscious levels, as the Buddhist sisters and brothers remind us, we are "already the Buddha."
To reach for this splendid, glorious goal is the Way of the wise and enlightened. It is the Way of growth, development, and spiritual evolution. So, it is inevitable. Love pushes us in the right direction, always. Each must love maximally-- and there are different "maximums" for each and every Soul. So, do not work towards a flawless perfection. Instead, work for improvement-- to be and do better today than yesterday, or last week, or last month. This helps us to avoid fanaticism and perfectionism-- both of which are psychological disorders-- and to reach instead for a realistic and reachable goal.
So, at all times, even in humor and lighter conversation, do not allow yourself to fall into the "grime" and "sludge" of disrespectful or hateful talk. We do not have to respect all behaviors, for some are evil and do not deserve respect. But still, we must respect the tiniest spark of God (Love) even in the most ignorant, cruel, or stupid. We can criticize their activities, but we can never "send anyone to hell
forever." For that is to judge them-- evaluating their total being as forever irretrievable and irredeemable. For if we do this to others, it is only a matter of time until we do it to ourselves. And a negative selfesteem is the root of almost all psychological hells.
*******
There is never a moment when the Love-nature can be "turned" or shut off, closed, ignored or neglected safely. For this Way of Love is not a mere religion; it is a pervasive Way of life. As such, it permeates our very thoughts; it saturates our thoughts and words, our very behavior.
It is a real part of the mind, even of the Soul. So, we can never "vacation" from Love. It guides us all the Way, all the time, in both matters large and small. This implies that in even our joyful, carefree "playing," we cannot conscientiously deny or ignore It. That is why the person of Love decides not to pass along jokes that are harmfully directed to hurt people. She will never make fun of a person's racial heritage, or in other ways mock the blameless and the harmless.
She shows equal respect for all good and honest people, all the time. She adamantly refuses to use words of disrespect, putting down others because of their racial heritage, neighborhood, educational levels, friends, or imperfections.
This does not mean that, for example, political parody or satire is "off limits," for it can be a relatively harmless form of political expression and/or freedom. But all mockery or evil condemnation of people of a certain national heritage is out of bounds, for it hurts innocent people. And, in reflective (karmic) psychology, it also condemns the joker who is poking fun. So, as in all things, we must live as honorably as possible.
For the people of Love, this includes the principle of ahimsa, or harmlessness (non-injury). This means that we have taken an interior and private vow, to ourselves, to create deliberate harm to no other living creature. (This includes physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual harm.) We especially want to avoid harming, or threatening harm, towards the innocent, minorities, the harmless, or the powerless. For in many societies, these people (or creatures) are already victims, and to add to their pain will definitely create negative karmic consequences.
We want to live reasonably, so as to avoid the creation of any bad or hurtful karma for ourselves. But this desire (or need) to avoid bad consequences is not the reason that we strive to live in goodness, without any deliberate or voluntary evil. No, we do this because we are committed, heart and soul, to becoming a higher life-form. We are not-- none of us-- just "naked apes" in a "human zoo." No, we are the children of God (Love); and, like genetic children, we truly want to reflect the qualities and characteristics of our spiritual Father/Mother, Who is Love. We want to be good, or improved, people not because of the fear of karma, which is negative, but because we long to become beings of purest Love. The becoming of pure, unmixed Love is still in our future, but, at unconscious levels, as the Buddhist sisters and brothers remind us, we are "already the Buddha."
To reach for this splendid, glorious goal is the Way of the wise and enlightened. It is the Way of growth, development, and spiritual evolution. So, it is inevitable. Love pushes us in the right direction, always. Each must love maximally-- and there are different "maximums" for each and every Soul. So, do not work towards a flawless perfection. Instead, work for improvement-- to be and do better today than yesterday, or last week, or last month. This helps us to avoid fanaticism and perfectionism-- both of which are psychological disorders-- and to reach instead for a realistic and reachable goal.
So, at all times, even in humor and lighter conversation, do not allow yourself to fall into the "grime" and "sludge" of disrespectful or hateful talk. We do not have to respect all behaviors, for some are evil and do not deserve respect. But still, we must respect the tiniest spark of God (Love) even in the most ignorant, cruel, or stupid. We can criticize their activities, but we can never "send anyone to hell
forever." For that is to judge them-- evaluating their total being as forever irretrievable and irredeemable. For if we do this to others, it is only a matter of time until we do it to ourselves. And a negative selfesteem is the root of almost all psychological hells.
*******
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Jehovah, Jehovah's Witnesses, Faith and Works, and Money
*******
When speaking generically, I almost always use the feminine rather than the masculine. This is because women have traditionally been ignored, neglected, or abused by traditional religions, and this is my tiny symbolic act of "protest." It is also a tribute to women. Thus, when referring in the previous email to "teachers," I used feminine rather than masculine generic words. We are so accustomed to always saying "he," "him" or "his" that this was actually confusing!
This life has been one of immense and intense spiritual growth. This spirituality is an interest, a compelling fascination, which accompanied personal birth. Very earliest memories concern such "profound" questions as the existence and nature of the world, and a thirsty grasping to discover the nature of God. (In order really to learn anything, the childish idea of God as a "big daddy in the sky" had to be outgrown. And it needed to be learned that God was Love. That was the beginning of
wisdom.)
After over a half-century of exploration, no career that is more important or fulfilling could be found than spiritual teacher. Spiritual material is shared with you, a stranger, because your happiness is important to our world. And this contentment arises from only a more lucid understanding of God.
It is "obvious," as you say, that Judaism and Christianity are different faiths. Yet many fundies, including Jehovah's Witnesses, do act and behave, and believe, as if the revolution of Christianity never occurred. They continuously mistake the Hebrew Bible for the "word of God," and almost always mistake the Jehovah of the Hebrew Scriptures for the God of pure and utter Love.
But the two god-images are oil and water; they will never mix. So, it is very far from "obvious" that Judaism and Christianity are really different religions, as fundies are always trying like mad to merge, meld, fuse, and force together their various doctrines, especially their astonishingly contrasting God-images.
(Btw, technically, the Bible is not the "word of God. For, in the Scriptures themselves, the Greek word logos does never refer to any written text, but to the Spirit, the living Presence of God. Hebrews 4:12, often oddly cited by cults, says plainly that "the Word of God is alive and exerts power." No book is "alive," so this is the same logos of John 1:1, which was God. The phrase "word of God" is never used,
anywhere in the Scriptures, to refer to the Scriptures!
The concept of "Jehovah" evolved during the centuries. It was by no means static. At first, Jehovah was simply another wargod, along the lines of Chemosh and Molech. Later, he was given some better human qualities, and ceased to be only a severely hard soldier. (In ancient times, each tribe or nation tried to make its god as ferocious and intimidating to the enemy as possible; thus, the notorious brutality and heartlessness of Jehovah.)
Fundies are accustomed to seeing Jehovah as immutable and unchanging; this was the source of your confusion. For Jehovah was merely an idea, and was interpreted differently by soldiers, merchants, prophets, and others. There is no completely homogeneous presentation of Jehovah in the Scriptures.
Your question about "faith without works" is a great and thoughtful one.
Jehovah's Witnesses emphasize this because they espouse a "works" doctrine, in complete contradiction to the Christian view of grace. Here is how that operates: Faith comes first, and faith creates the works. Works do not create the faith, or salvation, as the Jehovah's Witnesses teach. As is true of many truths, if you mix up the sequences, you miss the truth.
To say, "I love everybody," is ridiculously easy. It requires no action at all beyond the mere saying. But a person who truly has faith in the interior and invisible Power must manifest that faith by how she lives.
Jesus and the early Christians were fine examples. Although famous for their Love, for even Romans and Jews, they did not sell books. The early Christian church was not a sales-organization; early Christians sold nothing. By stark contrast, the Jehovah's Witnesses rake in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. No one knows where all this money is going, as they carefully hide it. But the point is that early
Christianity was never a "sales-org."
So, the "works" of Love do, and must, exist as an intrinsic, interwoven aspect of the real Christian life. They are, in fact, produced by the "indwelling Spirit" in the heart of the Christian or other good person.
They are a fruit, not of human will, but of the "Spirit," as in Galatians 5:22, 23.
We do not deny, as Christians, the beauty and necessity of good works; we embrace and celebrate them. Without them, our faith would indeed be as unliving as the proverbial doornail.:) What we deny is specifically that works result in, create, salvation. For salvation comes from grace-- from the fact that God loves us. To try to add to this grace is unnecessary, like adding a fifth wheel to a car.
Jehovah is "simple-minded." He is also petty, and has all the emotional maturity of an undisciplined five-year-old.
You ask about the word "psychospiritual." I have a degree in psych, but feel that psychology is greatly, enormously enriched when it includes, or is combined with, spirituality. Specifically, what is needed is agapology, the psychology of Love. I do free advising (counseling) and educational work in an attempt to help people maximize their happiness and productivity. We should not put all our "eggs" in the "basket" of
tomorrow, but need to learn how to live wisely and fruitfully today, right now. For God as Love needs to be recognized as being in the world right now. Only Love has the power to transform individuals, and only better individuals can create an improved society. So, every good person, including yourself, is directly involved in world-transformation.
This can occur only under the guidance of God (Love).
*******
When speaking generically, I almost always use the feminine rather than the masculine. This is because women have traditionally been ignored, neglected, or abused by traditional religions, and this is my tiny symbolic act of "protest." It is also a tribute to women. Thus, when referring in the previous email to "teachers," I used feminine rather than masculine generic words. We are so accustomed to always saying "he," "him" or "his" that this was actually confusing!
This life has been one of immense and intense spiritual growth. This spirituality is an interest, a compelling fascination, which accompanied personal birth. Very earliest memories concern such "profound" questions as the existence and nature of the world, and a thirsty grasping to discover the nature of God. (In order really to learn anything, the childish idea of God as a "big daddy in the sky" had to be outgrown. And it needed to be learned that God was Love. That was the beginning of
wisdom.)
After over a half-century of exploration, no career that is more important or fulfilling could be found than spiritual teacher. Spiritual material is shared with you, a stranger, because your happiness is important to our world. And this contentment arises from only a more lucid understanding of God.
It is "obvious," as you say, that Judaism and Christianity are different faiths. Yet many fundies, including Jehovah's Witnesses, do act and behave, and believe, as if the revolution of Christianity never occurred. They continuously mistake the Hebrew Bible for the "word of God," and almost always mistake the Jehovah of the Hebrew Scriptures for the God of pure and utter Love.
But the two god-images are oil and water; they will never mix. So, it is very far from "obvious" that Judaism and Christianity are really different religions, as fundies are always trying like mad to merge, meld, fuse, and force together their various doctrines, especially their astonishingly contrasting God-images.
(Btw, technically, the Bible is not the "word of God. For, in the Scriptures themselves, the Greek word logos does never refer to any written text, but to the Spirit, the living Presence of God. Hebrews 4:12, often oddly cited by cults, says plainly that "the Word of God is alive and exerts power." No book is "alive," so this is the same logos of John 1:1, which was God. The phrase "word of God" is never used,
anywhere in the Scriptures, to refer to the Scriptures!
The concept of "Jehovah" evolved during the centuries. It was by no means static. At first, Jehovah was simply another wargod, along the lines of Chemosh and Molech. Later, he was given some better human qualities, and ceased to be only a severely hard soldier. (In ancient times, each tribe or nation tried to make its god as ferocious and intimidating to the enemy as possible; thus, the notorious brutality and heartlessness of Jehovah.)
Fundies are accustomed to seeing Jehovah as immutable and unchanging; this was the source of your confusion. For Jehovah was merely an idea, and was interpreted differently by soldiers, merchants, prophets, and others. There is no completely homogeneous presentation of Jehovah in the Scriptures.
Your question about "faith without works" is a great and thoughtful one.
Jehovah's Witnesses emphasize this because they espouse a "works" doctrine, in complete contradiction to the Christian view of grace. Here is how that operates: Faith comes first, and faith creates the works. Works do not create the faith, or salvation, as the Jehovah's Witnesses teach. As is true of many truths, if you mix up the sequences, you miss the truth.
To say, "I love everybody," is ridiculously easy. It requires no action at all beyond the mere saying. But a person who truly has faith in the interior and invisible Power must manifest that faith by how she lives.
Jesus and the early Christians were fine examples. Although famous for their Love, for even Romans and Jews, they did not sell books. The early Christian church was not a sales-organization; early Christians sold nothing. By stark contrast, the Jehovah's Witnesses rake in hundreds of millions of dollars per year. No one knows where all this money is going, as they carefully hide it. But the point is that early
Christianity was never a "sales-org."
So, the "works" of Love do, and must, exist as an intrinsic, interwoven aspect of the real Christian life. They are, in fact, produced by the "indwelling Spirit" in the heart of the Christian or other good person.
They are a fruit, not of human will, but of the "Spirit," as in Galatians 5:22, 23.
We do not deny, as Christians, the beauty and necessity of good works; we embrace and celebrate them. Without them, our faith would indeed be as unliving as the proverbial doornail.:) What we deny is specifically that works result in, create, salvation. For salvation comes from grace-- from the fact that God loves us. To try to add to this grace is unnecessary, like adding a fifth wheel to a car.
Jehovah is "simple-minded." He is also petty, and has all the emotional maturity of an undisciplined five-year-old.
You ask about the word "psychospiritual." I have a degree in psych, but feel that psychology is greatly, enormously enriched when it includes, or is combined with, spirituality. Specifically, what is needed is agapology, the psychology of Love. I do free advising (counseling) and educational work in an attempt to help people maximize their happiness and productivity. We should not put all our "eggs" in the "basket" of
tomorrow, but need to learn how to live wisely and fruitfully today, right now. For God as Love needs to be recognized as being in the world right now. Only Love has the power to transform individuals, and only better individuals can create an improved society. So, every good person, including yourself, is directly involved in world-transformation.
This can occur only under the guidance of God (Love).
*******
Shining Sapphire Account Update
*******
Special Thanks and Acknowledgments
*******
To all our Dear Friends of the Heart and of the Light,
We are excited and delighted to fulfill our promise to keep all of you updated re the Shining Sapphire Account-- the funds now being collected for the production of the "abiographical" video. If you have any suggestions for it, please send them along.
We are delighted to report that we have had several pledges from our dear friends, you who so care for the things that are truly important. Thank you so very much! And, so far, we have received our first six donations. [We plan to remind all of you, our friends, from time to time, in the uld ("Universal Love Digest").] This is not an exercise in ego-- our common challenge. It is simply a way of acknowledging, and thanking, our friends for their courtesy, support, and Love. (We hope that, in the days to come, this "list of donors" will grow! Meanwhile, we are starting the list in alphabetical order.:)
The first donations have arrived! They have been sent in by:
Carol "Coral" Espelage, $50
Pat Fields, $150
Mick Gallagher, $50
Ronda Lambert, $75.
Brenda Lee, $25.
Terry Smith, $50.
_________
Total 041707: $400.
*****
Thank you! Donations of any and every size are welcome. Use our PayPal donate button. If you are using checks, please make them out to Love Ministries, Inc. Our snailmail address is:
Love Ministries, Inc.
5100 Liberty-Fairfield Rd.
Liberty Township, OH 45011.
Thank Love in your hearts, and thank all of you, with deep sincerity and gratitude.
Love,
shi and the
Love Education Team
Special Thanks and Acknowledgments
*******
To all our Dear Friends of the Heart and of the Light,
We are excited and delighted to fulfill our promise to keep all of you updated re the Shining Sapphire Account-- the funds now being collected for the production of the "abiographical" video. If you have any suggestions for it, please send them along.
We are delighted to report that we have had several pledges from our dear friends, you who so care for the things that are truly important. Thank you so very much! And, so far, we have received our first six donations. [We plan to remind all of you, our friends, from time to time, in the uld ("Universal Love Digest").] This is not an exercise in ego-- our common challenge. It is simply a way of acknowledging, and thanking, our friends for their courtesy, support, and Love. (We hope that, in the days to come, this "list of donors" will grow! Meanwhile, we are starting the list in alphabetical order.:)
The first donations have arrived! They have been sent in by:
Carol "Coral" Espelage, $50
Pat Fields, $150
Mick Gallagher, $50
Ronda Lambert, $75.
Brenda Lee, $25.
Terry Smith, $50.
_________
Total 041707: $400.
*****
Thank you! Donations of any and every size are welcome. Use our PayPal donate button. If you are using checks, please make them out to Love Ministries, Inc. Our snailmail address is:
Love Ministries, Inc.
5100 Liberty-Fairfield Rd.
Liberty Township, OH 45011.
Thank Love in your hearts, and thank all of you, with deep sincerity and gratitude.
Love,
shi and the
Love Education Team
Sunday, April 15, 2007
A Man (Most Deservedly) Alone
*******
Several politicians and newscasters have recently described george bush as a "man alone." While at one time, his corporate-supportive and ecologically destructive policies were supported by several Republicans and conservatives among leaders, today, he has alienated even the people (including "Christians") of his own party. Even the most vociferous supporters have abandoned his sinking ship. In the elections of twenty-oh-six, politicians fled from being photographed with him, and backtracked from any apparent agreement with this little dictator.
Some see him as an inept incompetent, others as a simple moron. (His i.q. is only 90.) Still others present him as deliberately evil, despite his incompetence. In his deliberate policies, he has clearly sided against the people, and firmly placed himself squarely on the side of evil.
It is difficult to dispute the portrayal of the man as a sociopath. Strong evidence indicates that he has no conscience. That he cares not at all for human life was clearly demonstrated by his reaction to the Katrina catastrophe; and he has continued to disregard the value of human lives in Iraq. (Some estimate that he has been responsible for the murder, through war, of 600,000 Iraqis, including many women, and many children. (To be a formal, official "soldier" in Iraq, a child of twelve can qualify.)
Besides mass-murder, and hideous neglect, bush has consistently acted in favor of large corporations, and against the best interests of the average working man and woman. He has resisted several programs designed to aid the poor and the challenged, while spending many billions on bombs and other instruments of death and torture for his war.
He has severely, extremely, and consistently resisted and opposed laws that restrict pollution; indeed, for the sake of the rich, he has even attempted to reverse these, moving some industries backwards towards the tragic situation of the 1970's. He has proved in several ways to be a "backwards thinker." His priorities are topsy-turvy, upside-down, and backwards. For him, it is clear that money is much more important than human life. Indeed, if enough money is involved, human life is quickly sacrificed to the demon of gold.
This is his real and only "god." In blowing his own trumpet-- loudly and repeatedly-- on what a good "Christian" he is, bush has brought only shame to this fine and beautiful faith. In his crooked politics, his past history, his hatred for Mother Earth, his zeal for a nightmarish war, his negligence of the value of human and other life, and other ways, he has shamed Jesus Christ. We recall that Jesus was a radical, and terrified the conservatives of his day with the simple message of Love. (He would likely be kicked out of many modern "Christian" fundy churches.)
So, the evidence is very strong that bush has been an utter and abominable failure-- as a man, as a businessman, as a politician, and certainly, as a Christian. His implicit approval of torture and dishonesty prove that he is a puppet of corruption. His evil life has already set the wheels of karma rolling for the next few hundred centuries.
*******
Several politicians and newscasters have recently described george bush as a "man alone." While at one time, his corporate-supportive and ecologically destructive policies were supported by several Republicans and conservatives among leaders, today, he has alienated even the people (including "Christians") of his own party. Even the most vociferous supporters have abandoned his sinking ship. In the elections of twenty-oh-six, politicians fled from being photographed with him, and backtracked from any apparent agreement with this little dictator.
Some see him as an inept incompetent, others as a simple moron. (His i.q. is only 90.) Still others present him as deliberately evil, despite his incompetence. In his deliberate policies, he has clearly sided against the people, and firmly placed himself squarely on the side of evil.
It is difficult to dispute the portrayal of the man as a sociopath. Strong evidence indicates that he has no conscience. That he cares not at all for human life was clearly demonstrated by his reaction to the Katrina catastrophe; and he has continued to disregard the value of human lives in Iraq. (Some estimate that he has been responsible for the murder, through war, of 600,000 Iraqis, including many women, and many children. (To be a formal, official "soldier" in Iraq, a child of twelve can qualify.)
Besides mass-murder, and hideous neglect, bush has consistently acted in favor of large corporations, and against the best interests of the average working man and woman. He has resisted several programs designed to aid the poor and the challenged, while spending many billions on bombs and other instruments of death and torture for his war.
He has severely, extremely, and consistently resisted and opposed laws that restrict pollution; indeed, for the sake of the rich, he has even attempted to reverse these, moving some industries backwards towards the tragic situation of the 1970's. He has proved in several ways to be a "backwards thinker." His priorities are topsy-turvy, upside-down, and backwards. For him, it is clear that money is much more important than human life. Indeed, if enough money is involved, human life is quickly sacrificed to the demon of gold.
This is his real and only "god." In blowing his own trumpet-- loudly and repeatedly-- on what a good "Christian" he is, bush has brought only shame to this fine and beautiful faith. In his crooked politics, his past history, his hatred for Mother Earth, his zeal for a nightmarish war, his negligence of the value of human and other life, and other ways, he has shamed Jesus Christ. We recall that Jesus was a radical, and terrified the conservatives of his day with the simple message of Love. (He would likely be kicked out of many modern "Christian" fundy churches.)
So, the evidence is very strong that bush has been an utter and abominable failure-- as a man, as a businessman, as a politician, and certainly, as a Christian. His implicit approval of torture and dishonesty prove that he is a puppet of corruption. His evil life has already set the wheels of karma rolling for the next few hundred centuries.
*******
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Caring for Your "Donkey"
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When your physical body ("donkey") becomes sick, it is sending you a message. It is saying, "I need more rest," or, "I need more relaxation," or, "I need attention," or, "I need better nutrition," or, "I am over-stressed," or, "I need de-toxifying," or a similar message.
The most compassionate response is to "shut down" any unnecessary activities, and give your body extra rest. This is common sense, but is anything but common. Some take biological signals (sickness) as "challenges." They feel "weak" if they give in, and yield to the donkey's demand for rest. They actually see the "battle with illness" as some sort of macho contest. They really, but secretly, feel very weak inside, and so, they try to prove how "tough" they are. So, when ill, they go about their regular business: They go to work, visit others, and otherwise continue their normal lives.
This further stresses the body, over-whelming it. It also spreads any virus- or bacteria-caused disorder, spraying or infecting friends, family, and strangers with micro-critters that also make them sick.
This is the most unloving (antiagapic) response imaginable. This is not "endurance" or "toughness," but simple carelessness and ignorance. It is foolishness, stupidity, and cruelty.
When the donkey becomes ill, you need to stop, for a while, all unnecessary social activities. You need to get extra rest, and extra sleep. Take the phone off the hook for a few hours, and ignore mail and email for a day. You can use supplemental vitamins and minerals to strengthen your "donkey." You might want to try echinacea and golden seal, as well as extra vitamin c. You need to eat regularly, moderately, and healthily. Do all your friends a favor, and stay away from them-- at least, until you are asymptomatic (without symptoms of illness).
Distract yourself from thinking about illness, with entertainment and good reading. Or take the time to do some positive spiritual reading. Use the healing-power of hot water and sunlight. Use chromovisualization to surround your donkey with blue energy for rest, red-orange for activation and energization. Most importantly, cancel appointments and get extra rest and sleep. Do not push yourself.
*******
When your physical body ("donkey") becomes sick, it is sending you a message. It is saying, "I need more rest," or, "I need more relaxation," or, "I need attention," or, "I need better nutrition," or, "I am over-stressed," or, "I need de-toxifying," or a similar message.
The most compassionate response is to "shut down" any unnecessary activities, and give your body extra rest. This is common sense, but is anything but common. Some take biological signals (sickness) as "challenges." They feel "weak" if they give in, and yield to the donkey's demand for rest. They actually see the "battle with illness" as some sort of macho contest. They really, but secretly, feel very weak inside, and so, they try to prove how "tough" they are. So, when ill, they go about their regular business: They go to work, visit others, and otherwise continue their normal lives.
This further stresses the body, over-whelming it. It also spreads any virus- or bacteria-caused disorder, spraying or infecting friends, family, and strangers with micro-critters that also make them sick.
This is the most unloving (antiagapic) response imaginable. This is not "endurance" or "toughness," but simple carelessness and ignorance. It is foolishness, stupidity, and cruelty.
When the donkey becomes ill, you need to stop, for a while, all unnecessary social activities. You need to get extra rest, and extra sleep. Take the phone off the hook for a few hours, and ignore mail and email for a day. You can use supplemental vitamins and minerals to strengthen your "donkey." You might want to try echinacea and golden seal, as well as extra vitamin c. You need to eat regularly, moderately, and healthily. Do all your friends a favor, and stay away from them-- at least, until you are asymptomatic (without symptoms of illness).
Distract yourself from thinking about illness, with entertainment and good reading. Or take the time to do some positive spiritual reading. Use the healing-power of hot water and sunlight. Use chromovisualization to surround your donkey with blue energy for rest, red-orange for activation and energization. Most importantly, cancel appointments and get extra rest and sleep. Do not push yourself.
*******
Those Who Do Not Enter the Kingdomh
********
Sorry about the lateness of this response, but it was unavoidable. You ask about the text at Luke 13:26-28. It says, "Then shall ye begin to say, 'We have eaten and have drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.'
But he shall say, 'I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in
Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and have drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,..."
As he makes clear in the context, people who represent Christ are to be viewed as Christ Himself. So, those who teach the teachings of Christ are actually the same Holy Spirit acting through people as the very same Spirit (Christspirit, Holy Spirit) that acted through Jesus. So, they say, "Thou hast taught in our streets."
He mentions those specifically who have rejected him by rejecting workers and teachers of divine Love and grace-- the essence of the anti-materialistic message of Jesus. The part about "seeing" Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the "kingdom" seems to have been symbolic. Remember that he was speaking to Jews, and their sacred heroes were the founders of their nation-- these three men. So, these represented all people of honest goodness among the Jews, who truly tried to worship and serve God.
These, by grace, are permitted into the "kingdom" not because of personal righteousness, but because of God's Love (grace). So, the message was that good persons enter that kingdom, and others still have learning to do.
So, they are not permitted permanent entrance into the kingdom, because they still have things that they need to learn, and personality-components, such as Love, that they need to improve. Jesus does not say that these "workers of iniquity" will be forever banned from the kingdom, but that, at the end of a life, they might not get in. For their "schooling" has not yet been completed. For, in another place (Jn. 12:32), he predicts, "If I be lifted up, I shall draw all people to Myself."
So, at the end of this life, there will be people who have not learned much from this life, whose spiritual education will force an almost immediate return to the earth-school. They will gnash their teeth and mourn for the opportunity lost by their ignorance and/or deliberate misdeeds.
*******
Sorry about the lateness of this response, but it was unavoidable. You ask about the text at Luke 13:26-28. It says, "Then shall ye begin to say, 'We have eaten and have drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.'
But he shall say, 'I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in
Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and have drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not from where you are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets,..."
As he makes clear in the context, people who represent Christ are to be viewed as Christ Himself. So, those who teach the teachings of Christ are actually the same Holy Spirit acting through people as the very same Spirit (Christspirit, Holy Spirit) that acted through Jesus. So, they say, "Thou hast taught in our streets."
He mentions those specifically who have rejected him by rejecting workers and teachers of divine Love and grace-- the essence of the anti-materialistic message of Jesus. The part about "seeing" Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the "kingdom" seems to have been symbolic. Remember that he was speaking to Jews, and their sacred heroes were the founders of their nation-- these three men. So, these represented all people of honest goodness among the Jews, who truly tried to worship and serve God.
These, by grace, are permitted into the "kingdom" not because of personal righteousness, but because of God's Love (grace). So, the message was that good persons enter that kingdom, and others still have learning to do.
So, they are not permitted permanent entrance into the kingdom, because they still have things that they need to learn, and personality-components, such as Love, that they need to improve. Jesus does not say that these "workers of iniquity" will be forever banned from the kingdom, but that, at the end of a life, they might not get in. For their "schooling" has not yet been completed. For, in another place (Jn. 12:32), he predicts, "If I be lifted up, I shall draw all people to Myself."
So, at the end of this life, there will be people who have not learned much from this life, whose spiritual education will force an almost immediate return to the earth-school. They will gnash their teeth and mourn for the opportunity lost by their ignorance and/or deliberate misdeeds.
*******
Too Busy to Notice You're Too Busy
Thanks to Karleen Sell
Too Busy to Notice You’re Too Busy
By ALINA TUGEND
Published: New York Times, March 31, 2007
More.
Too Busy to Notice You’re Too Busy
By ALINA TUGEND
Published: New York Times, March 31, 2007
RECENTLY I’ve found myself annoyed by how busy my friends seem. Putting aside the possibility that they are avoiding me, some are so on the go that they barely have time to tell me they do not have time to talk. Every phone call, no matter how short, seems to be interrupted by several others. That is, of course, if I actually get a live person on the other end of the phone.
I consider my life to be somewhat filled and fulfilling. I have a husband and two children, work part time, volunteer, exercise several times a week (well, usually) and socialize regularly. For the record, I do not have a baby sitter, but do have a house cleaner for about four hours every two weeks.
But, and I am almost embarrassed to admit this, I also have time to read novels, catch a movie or play once in a while and have the occasional long lunch with a friend.
In our busy, busy world, however, I sometimes feel as if I am the odd one out. Although those who are overworked and overwhelmed complain ceaselessly, it is often with an undertone of boastfulness; the hidden message is that I’m so busy because I’m so important.
Now I realize that busyness is not an absolute: everyone has a different threshold. I have one friend for whom more than one social engagement a weekend is just too much; others love to party, party, party. And most people would trade in bored and stagnant for a little stress if they were engaged in doing something they loved.
I am also aware that there are many who have no options; who must work exhausting hours simply to survive. But I am speaking about those who choose to keep up a frenetic pace that seems largely self-imposed, unnecessary — and unenjoyable.
More.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Love Ministries Radio Shows Available
Thanks to Isaiah "Liquideyes" Toran!
Did you miss any episodes of the radio show High Spirits?
Now you can hear them!
24/7 access
The purpose of Love Ministries, Inc. is to provide practical applications of the vision of the Spiritual World, that can be used in realistic ways in ordinary, everyday life. Far too often, the down-to-earth implementation of Spiritual principles has been ignored, so that the idea comes across as something weird, abstract, indefinable, inscrutable.
Did you miss any episodes of the radio show High Spirits?
Now you can hear them!
24/7 access
The purpose of Love Ministries, Inc. is to provide practical applications of the vision of the Spiritual World, that can be used in realistic ways in ordinary, everyday life. Far too often, the down-to-earth implementation of Spiritual principles has been ignored, so that the idea comes across as something weird, abstract, indefinable, inscrutable.
Fairness for Israel and Palestine
Thanks to Mick Gallagher and please read the article at the url.
Kristof: US should stop biting tongue on Israel
Kristof: US should stop biting tongue on Israel
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Special Thanks and Acknowledgment
*******
To all our Dear Friends of the Heart and of the Light,
We are excited and delighted to fulfill our promise to keep all of you updated re the Shining Sapphire Account-- the funds now being collected for the production of the "abiographical" video. If you have any suggestions for it, please send them along.
We are delighted to report that we have had several pledges from our dear friends, you who so care for the things that are truly important. Thank you so very much! And, so far, we have received our first four donations. [We plan to remind all of you, our friends, from time to time, in the uld ("Universal Love Digest").] This is not an exercise in ego-- our common challenge. It is simply a way of acknowledging, and thanking, our friends for their courtesy, support, and Love. (We hope that, in the days to come, this "list of donors" will grow! Meanwhile, we are starting the list in alphabetical order. :)
The first donations have arrived! They have been sent in by:
*****
Thank you! Donations of any and every size are welcome. If you are using checks, please make them out to Love Ministries, Inc. Our snailmail address is:
Thank Love in your hearts, and thank all of you, with deep sincerity and gratitude.
Love,
shi and the
Love Education Team
To all our Dear Friends of the Heart and of the Light,
We are excited and delighted to fulfill our promise to keep all of you updated re the Shining Sapphire Account-- the funds now being collected for the production of the "abiographical" video. If you have any suggestions for it, please send them along.
We are delighted to report that we have had several pledges from our dear friends, you who so care for the things that are truly important. Thank you so very much! And, so far, we have received our first four donations. [We plan to remind all of you, our friends, from time to time, in the uld ("Universal Love Digest").] This is not an exercise in ego-- our common challenge. It is simply a way of acknowledging, and thanking, our friends for their courtesy, support, and Love. (We hope that, in the days to come, this "list of donors" will grow! Meanwhile, we are starting the list in alphabetical order. :)
The first donations have arrived! They have been sent in by:
- Carol "Coral" Espelage, $50
- Pat Fields, $150
- Ronda Lambert, $75
- Brenda Lee, $25
- Total 040407: $300
*****
Thank you! Donations of any and every size are welcome. If you are using checks, please make them out to Love Ministries, Inc. Our snailmail address is:
Love Ministries, Inc.
5100 Liberty-Fairfield Rd.
Liberty Township, OH 45011.
Thank Love in your hearts, and thank all of you, with deep sincerity and gratitude.
Love,
shi and the
Love Education Team
Monday, April 02, 2007
Love and Love Ministries
*******
Every act of Love (compassion) is an act of true worship. Whenever you help an animal, or save a dog, or show Love to any human being, you are in active and very fruitful "worship." This Love is, in fact, the only real worship. For going to church, studying the Bible, singing hymns, and saying public prayers-- usually mistaken for worship-- can be done by any fool or hypocrite. But no fool or hypocrite can love.
In harmony with this finest of principles, every thought of Love is a true "prayer."
A life spent in services such as the saving of animals and the adoption of children is a life spent in sacred service. There is no better use of time or spiritual resources. No act of Love is ever "illusion." Each is an everlasting "investment" in your own eternity. Each and every act of compassion is worth the timenergy that it requires to do it, and results are very, very real.
Thanks for your kind offer to support the work of Love Ministries. We never charge for our spiritual work; seminars, lectures, tapes, and personal advice (through email, telephone, or visits) are all given free. But our work, especially publishing books, can become quite expensive; and so, we do receive voluntary Love-donations from time to time. Thanks again for asking.
*******
Every act of Love (compassion) is an act of true worship. Whenever you help an animal, or save a dog, or show Love to any human being, you are in active and very fruitful "worship." This Love is, in fact, the only real worship. For going to church, studying the Bible, singing hymns, and saying public prayers-- usually mistaken for worship-- can be done by any fool or hypocrite. But no fool or hypocrite can love.
In harmony with this finest of principles, every thought of Love is a true "prayer."
A life spent in services such as the saving of animals and the adoption of children is a life spent in sacred service. There is no better use of time or spiritual resources. No act of Love is ever "illusion." Each is an everlasting "investment" in your own eternity. Each and every act of compassion is worth the timenergy that it requires to do it, and results are very, very real.
Thanks for your kind offer to support the work of Love Ministries. We never charge for our spiritual work; seminars, lectures, tapes, and personal advice (through email, telephone, or visits) are all given free. But our work, especially publishing books, can become quite expensive; and so, we do receive voluntary Love-donations from time to time. Thanks again for asking.
*******
Checking the Oil
A lot of folks can't understand how we came to have an oil shortage here in our country. Well, there's a very simple answer. Nobody bothered to check the oil.
We just didn't know we were getting low. The reason for that is purely geographical.
Our OIL is located in various states. But our dipsticks are in Washington, DC.
(Thanks to Karleen Sell.)
We just didn't know we were getting low. The reason for that is purely geographical.
Our OIL is located in various states. But our dipsticks are in Washington, DC.
(Thanks to Karleen Sell.)
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