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As far as being an "atheist," that is a little too extreme for us as well. Through the centuries, very spiritual people have regularly been accused of "atheism," due to the fact that we unanimously reject the common god of society and our culture. This is the Jehovah-myth, almost universally, but very tragically, embraced by almost all Christians. But in teaching that God was Love, Jesus implicitly rejected this ancient wargod. And, I believe, he also explicitly rejected Jehovah in his more esoteric teachings, shared not publicly but with only disciples.
The mistaking of Jehovah for God is the most significant error ever made in the history of the Western world. It has made possible the justification of wars and other horrors.
Like you, I am not much on "organized, official, or orthodox" religion.
I still do not "belong" to any, and have no plans to.
But we do treasure our extended spiritual family. It is simply wonderful and beautiful, and is a real Love-center in our lives. It gives us strength and serenity. So, every two weeks, for the past five years, we gather to discuss the truly important things of life, summed up as "spirituality." There is a galaxy between spirituality and religion. For spirituality is more similar to good, creative, constructive, healing psychology than it is to religion.
Anyway, we would like to invite you to come on over for one of our informal and relaxed gatherings. They are always on Sunday, and we gather every two weeks. (This is so as not to put time-pressure on our schedules.) We start at eleven, break at noon, and share a meal. Then, we come together again at one, and by two pm, we wrap the whole thing up. We start late because Sunday is the only day that our friends can sleep late, and we end early in order to give them the rest of their Sunday.:) It is always fre, and our next gathering will be on April 13 (We just enjoyed one two days ago.)
We believe that, in this life, there are no "innocent victims," that "bad things happen to good people" as a result of karma. This is the only explanation that we have found, after three decades of serious and intense research, that makes any sense.
But it does not mean that a person harmed anyone if she is suffering right now. For it could also be "elective karma," which the Soul can choose voluntarily-- in order to grow, or to help someone else grow.
So, like the cosmos itself, karma is not "black and white." Many of the greatest mastersages and saintmystics have suffered from some rather serious conditions. This is due to courage, for they did not flee in terror from "negative" conditions, as do so many "positive thinking" advocates, who are secretly terrified of life.
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Showing posts with label atheist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atheist. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Sunday, September 09, 2007
"Atheists" and Mystics Share Skepticism
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Watch the baby when tossing out all that bathwater! Your article against swallowing the whole Bible was very bold, even startling! But you did fail even to mention the galaxy that separates "Jehovah" from "God.":):) It is similar to that galaxy that separates the atheist from the mystic, although both have fully rejected the cultural, anthropomorphic, historical, and Scriptural godimage common to this society.
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Watch the baby when tossing out all that bathwater! Your article against swallowing the whole Bible was very bold, even startling! But you did fail even to mention the galaxy that separates "Jehovah" from "God.":):) It is similar to that galaxy that separates the atheist from the mystic, although both have fully rejected the cultural, anthropomorphic, historical, and Scriptural godimage common to this society.
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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Faith, Love, and Justice
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Faith and Love, although deeply related, are not quite identically the same thing. The world tests both, every day.
Faith is the absolute certainty that an invisible Power exists and is a part of our lives, and cares for us. This "faith" can actually be simply the product of close and careful observation.
For there are so very many things that occur that we do not, and cannot, influence or control. We must have a kind of "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow, and there is absolutely nothing that we can do either to prevent this, or to make it happen. We must have a similar faith that the sun, water, and soil will create fruits and vegetables. Then, we must have faith that this miracle-- the creation of delicious foods from water, dirt, and sunlight, will create blood, bones, teeth, eyes, and skin from tomatoes and watermelons.
We must also have faith that our bodies will take in oxygen, and use it in a thousand ways to support our biochemistry. We must have faith that thousands of biochemical processes will occur in our bodies.
To show just how complex these processes are, scientists estimate that to describe all the processes occurring in your body in one single second would require forty-seven large volumes of fine print!
Everyone has these kinds of faith-- even a person who claims that she is a total atheist, and has no faith in anything.
But when it comes to Christian faith, we must add another factor. We, as Christians, must develop a very special faith. This is faith in Love.
In a world that can be, and often is, quite horrible, we must believe that Love (God) is in charge of absolutely everything. We must believe, to put it colloquially, that "He's got the whole world in His hands."
This is the Christian, and general mystical, belief in God as Love. In a world whose major purpose is the outworking of negative karma, there is so much suffering. The Buddha said, for example, that "life is suffering," and we have all suffered in this world-- some more, some less.
The question is this: How can we live in such a nightmarish world, and still believe that Love is in charge and control of the whole show?
The only answer lies in karma. I have quite carefully studied, over the past forty years, every Christian "explanation," and many varieties of Christian faith. (I have attended the churches of forty-seven Christian sects and denominations.) I have also read widely in Christian literature.
One amazing fact that I discovered, which will be denied out of ignorance by many Christians, was that, until the second century after Jesus, reincarnation was a staple of Christian belief. Before the great Corruption of the fourth century, almost every Christian in the world accepted reincarnation as fact.
There is a lot of "blah-blah" about "the will of God," but that phrase means nothing if you cannot explain why the "will of God" includes so much horror and agony for living creatures.
Karma says that nothing happens at random. If we suffer, we are helping, at a soul-level of deep mind, to create that suffering. It is bringing justice to the cosmos; it is also teaching all to love-- often, by showing the "hell" of its absence.
This is a universe of harmony. God or Love never creates suffering, but God allows it to create growth and progress in all of God's children. Earth is such a painful mess because it is a planet full of "kindergarteners" or "pre-schoolers" spiritually. Among many human beings, there is zero interest in spirituality (Love), and so, the cycles of karma continue, for only Love can ever erase or neutralize karma.
This letter, then, is the result of over four decades of looking for an answer that makes sense. Honestly, if I can ever find a better answer than karma, I will drop and throw away karma, and embrace the new answer!
*******
Faith and Love, although deeply related, are not quite identically the same thing. The world tests both, every day.
Faith is the absolute certainty that an invisible Power exists and is a part of our lives, and cares for us. This "faith" can actually be simply the product of close and careful observation.
For there are so very many things that occur that we do not, and cannot, influence or control. We must have a kind of "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow, and there is absolutely nothing that we can do either to prevent this, or to make it happen. We must have a similar faith that the sun, water, and soil will create fruits and vegetables. Then, we must have faith that this miracle-- the creation of delicious foods from water, dirt, and sunlight, will create blood, bones, teeth, eyes, and skin from tomatoes and watermelons.
We must also have faith that our bodies will take in oxygen, and use it in a thousand ways to support our biochemistry. We must have faith that thousands of biochemical processes will occur in our bodies.
To show just how complex these processes are, scientists estimate that to describe all the processes occurring in your body in one single second would require forty-seven large volumes of fine print!
Everyone has these kinds of faith-- even a person who claims that she is a total atheist, and has no faith in anything.
But when it comes to Christian faith, we must add another factor. We, as Christians, must develop a very special faith. This is faith in Love.
In a world that can be, and often is, quite horrible, we must believe that Love (God) is in charge of absolutely everything. We must believe, to put it colloquially, that "He's got the whole world in His hands."
This is the Christian, and general mystical, belief in God as Love. In a world whose major purpose is the outworking of negative karma, there is so much suffering. The Buddha said, for example, that "life is suffering," and we have all suffered in this world-- some more, some less.
The question is this: How can we live in such a nightmarish world, and still believe that Love is in charge and control of the whole show?
The only answer lies in karma. I have quite carefully studied, over the past forty years, every Christian "explanation," and many varieties of Christian faith. (I have attended the churches of forty-seven Christian sects and denominations.) I have also read widely in Christian literature.
One amazing fact that I discovered, which will be denied out of ignorance by many Christians, was that, until the second century after Jesus, reincarnation was a staple of Christian belief. Before the great Corruption of the fourth century, almost every Christian in the world accepted reincarnation as fact.
There is a lot of "blah-blah" about "the will of God," but that phrase means nothing if you cannot explain why the "will of God" includes so much horror and agony for living creatures.
Karma says that nothing happens at random. If we suffer, we are helping, at a soul-level of deep mind, to create that suffering. It is bringing justice to the cosmos; it is also teaching all to love-- often, by showing the "hell" of its absence.
This is a universe of harmony. God or Love never creates suffering, but God allows it to create growth and progress in all of God's children. Earth is such a painful mess because it is a planet full of "kindergarteners" or "pre-schoolers" spiritually. Among many human beings, there is zero interest in spirituality (Love), and so, the cycles of karma continue, for only Love can ever erase or neutralize karma.
This letter, then, is the result of over four decades of looking for an answer that makes sense. Honestly, if I can ever find a better answer than karma, I will drop and throw away karma, and embrace the new answer!
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