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The sense of beauty is the very beginning of solid spirituality, and no one can make progress until she has cultivated a sense of beauty and harmony.:)
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Showing posts with label harmony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label harmony. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Respectful Speech: An Expression of Love
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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.
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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.
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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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