Responses to Karen and Joe

Karen and Joe made some comments re some recent articles in the uld.
Here are responses:

Dear Karen,

The ancient art of Chinese physiognomy (face-reading) is based upon the study of thousands of faces over many centuries. We need not be dogmatic and claim that it cannot be wrong, that it is always correct, but it is generally a reliable system. If we discover contradictions to its principles, or exceptions, we are free, of course, to believe that the entire system is flawed, or that it does not work. Or, in some cases, we might simply need more knowledge, or a more objective perspective. At any rate, it is a very fascinating system that increases understanding of our fellow human beings.

To Joe:

Dear Joe,

Yes, my friend, we must admit that evil really does exist in our world. For ours is a world of illusion and duality. Evil does not exist absolutely-- that is, in the perfect Mind of the Absolute, the Supreme, the Ultimate. But in this world, it is a very real factor. It is really an educational guideline, for its avoidance helps the human mind clarify the meaning of the good, by contrast. We can see how hideous, how
horrible, is evil, and that impels us away from it, keeping us more firmly on the path of goodness. To deny the absolute existence of evil is not to deny the existence of evil. It does exist, and is very real, within the context of a world that itself has only a secondary reality.

An ancient mystic wrote, "God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him." (1 Jn. 1:5) So, in the perfect Mind of God, which is stainless purity, "evil" has no reality; most of what we call "evil" might be the outworking of a perfectly good, and educational, karma. This is the spiritual explanation of suffering.

"Depart!"

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When, in the parable, the Lord says, "Depart from Me, workers of iniquity! I never knew you!" he is not discussing eternal damnation. Instead, he is talking about the review of a single life.

In any given life, there are many who waste time and energy in the pursuit of evil, ignorance, or just general stupidity. At the end of every life, we all must encounter Judgment Day-- a review and evaluation of the life that we have just lived.

In every generation, there have always been those to whom the Holy Spirit has said, "Depart from Me!" This "departing" is living a life apparently "separate" from Love. No one can ever actually live separate from Love, for Love is God. But we can live a life, or more than one, in apparent "separation" from Love.

And the illusion of being separate ("departed") from Love is "hell."

So, yes, some Souls do spend some time in the hellstate, due to their having preferred materialism or selfishness over Love. These hellstates are mental illnesses, often quite dramatic, and can last from a few minutes or hours to hundreds of years. The amount of time that a Soul(mind) spends in "hell" is directly proportional to the cruelty, apathy, or complacency with which she lived her life on earth.

It is God's active will that no one go to hell. But, by His permissive will, people are allowed to form their own destinies, and workers of evil are not welcomed into the sweet, intimate oneness of Love, but are told to "depart," to move away from the interior Christ of Love. In time, their cruelty or shallowness drives them so far away that they can forget that God even exists within them. This total spiritual amnesia is also a form of hell.

Only the consistent practice of Love can keep the heartmind always in a "heavenly" state-- the bliss that is the opposite of the sufferings of "hell." That is why we are all, and always, called to Love.

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A Man (Most Deservedly) Alone

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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.
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Beware the Anti-mystic

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The mystic is a being who makes honor, honesty, justice, fairness, and, most of all, Love the nucleus around which her entire life orbits. But there are truly anti-mystical people in this world. These mentally ill people are called, by psychologists, "sociopaths." (Sometimes, they are also called "psychopaths.")

A sociopath is a person who has sown the seeds of hatred, pain, obscenity, and violence life after life. In fact, he or she has created such a monstrous mind that, in this life, he or she is born without a conscience. This person is enormously, immensely unspiritual; in fact, the sociopath is spiritually crippled. All true spirituality is absent from his/her life.

The very ill sociopath often believes her/himself to be "superior" to the mystic, and to all others. For good people must live within the limits of a Love-trained conscience. Because the sociopath lives without any moral compass, or interior "gyroscope," he/she often sees him/herself as "free" of the need for goodness, honesty, decency, or responsibility.

The sociopath can lie outrageously. He/She can cheat, steal, gossip, ruin, and even kill without feeling a thing. In politics, the sociopath can be absolutely ruthless.

In public, of course, the sociopath must pretend to have "normal" feelings, but is often exposed by this single fact: The sociopath never really cares at all for or about other people. She can pretend, for short periods, to be charming, and even caring. But, sooner or later, her behavior-pattern will give her away. "For even her "acts of kindness" are contaminated by utter selfishness. She never performs a truly selfless act.

This nightmarish disease of the mind is always dominated by a naked, often absurdly cruel, selfishness. The sociopath is incapable of true kindness, empathy, goodness, selflessness, or Love. The sociopath, if she/he becomes a political leader, can mass-murder hundreds of thousands without feeling even a minor twinge of conscience. He/She can smile in your face while killing you-- or a friend, or a stranger. He or she can do absolutely anything, no matter how hideous or horrible, and never spend a single sleepless night; for the sociopath is totally without conscience. Because of this cruelty, ruthlessness, and total absence of goodness, the sociopath often creates much "personal success" in either politics or business. But she is always a miserable failure as a human being. For she/he has no idea in the world what even "goodness" means.

Since it is estimated that one out of every twenty-five people might be a sociopath, do not be surprised if you know one personally. The sick sociopath might be a member of your own family or neighborhood. Sociopathology is related to, but is not the same as, the mental illness called "paranoia." (The paranoiac believes that everyone is secretly acting against him/her, out to "betray"" him/her.

The sociopath is unable to love. He/she is in perpetual hell within her/his own mind, but cannot create a way out,for the way out of "hell"is Love. Best advice: If we do know someone who has the symptomology of the sociopath, and since we cannot change or heal her, it would be better for everyone if we simply avoided the agony that can be caused by the sociopath. For a sociopath, unable to love, devoid of Love, is as close
to true "evil" as any human being can come.
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