Posts
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Jesus taught in parables because the minds of the people were not spiritually educated or prepared enough to understand his great truths. The same way that we might use interesting stories to capture the attention of a very young child, so he made kind accommodation to the limits of their heartminds (and ours) by teaching some great spiritual truths with fables or parables. The word "parable" proves that these stories are never to be taken literally, but symbolically; everything in a parable represents or symbolizes something else.
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Showing posts with label spiritual education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual education. Show all posts
Saturday, September 06, 2008
Saturday, July 05, 2008
The "Rewards of God (Love)"
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This project of Love has been correctly identified as your very "reason for being or existence." And your efforts synchronistically parallel many of our own here. (Care must be taken to keep the two separate, for they are cllearly related.)
Reference is to the Pneumarium Project. It is now entering its sixth year. It has been very challenging to keep up any public interest in this project for spiritual education. Yet in the Soul, it is recognized as irreplaceable. Like you, we have had challenges with funding, but our major area of difficulty has been "drumming up" interest. This is written after several promotional emails have gone forth, mostly, without responses.
Most people respond to this major undertaking with a giant yawn or a great snore. This can be discouraging in the extreme, especially on our not-so-good days, when the donkey is weak.
The principle that guides us here is that we must follow the interior recommendations of the Lovemind no matter what the public response is.
Great achievements and accomplishments of the Spirit must never be allowed to be controlled, regulated, or even influenced by public response or opinion.
From the view of publicity or money, the ministries of both Jesus and the Buddha were extreme and somewhat dismal "failures." Neither was recognized much during his own lifetime, and neither had much public support. It is remembered with poignancy how once, when Jesus was gathering a group to hear him speak about the "kingdom of God" in Jerusalem, only four of us showed up to hear him speak. Even he was somewhat saddened, but he said words that will never be forgotten: "God is no bean-counter; it is as important to touch one heart as ten thousand." His eyes were full of sad sincerity.
His lesson was, as he later said, that spirituality is not a "commodity." It is not to be "sold" or "vended" like beans or tomatoes. Love that is rewarded on earth (by fame or money) will not receive any "heavenly" reward, he implied in his famous Sermon on the Mount. (Mt. 6:1)
It is our human glory to be able to serve Love, and love is always its own, and often only, reward. Serving Love, our treasures are great in the "kingdom of heaven."
So, the "success" of this otherworldly ministry is never to be measured by the criteria used to measure "success" in all other fields.
Success is the smallest increase in the happiness or mental wellbeing of one other person, or of the self. That is the spiritual equivalent of a billion dollars!
You already know all this, of course; at best, this is only a reminder of what you already know, not a "new teaching." But selfevaluation is much more crucial to success in any ministry than is public support or economic "success." We must do what Love tells us, when Love tells us. We must follow Love to the ends of the earth, even when it empties our pocketbook and our heartminds, even when we have no treasure to give. Time is the only "currency" of the cosmos; it is the "gold" of the universe. And time can be "given to God" (Love) no matter what our level of poverty. We show that we respect our calling when we give it all, or much of, our time. We have nothing greater to give.
We have continued this fine work of teaching Love in the midst of apathy, ignorance, and even poverty. For doing the right thing is not rewarded by such trinkets and baubles as dollars. It is much more richly rewarded by an interior sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and contentment. It is rewarded by Love, joy, and peace. So, when we meet economic challenges, we are challenged, not to stop the finest work of Love, but to modify it in some way. Perhaps the cosmic Mind does not want us to rent an office; perhaps It wants us to work out of our home; perhaps it is moving us toward greater simplicity. This is not a simple "all stop" or "all go" proposition; our path might require modification, and we might have to work in non-traditional or unconventional ways, to "cut corners."
But what you have is too valuable, too precious, to let it go, or let it pass. We are both being challenged to give our life-projects everything that we have; and, when we are exhausted, to give still more.
CAUTION: This finest of commitments can, as has often been said, exhaust, or even harm, your donkey; so, use with caution. Love asks for, sometimes demands, the very last psychon of mental energy that we can give. And Its rewards are sweet, it is true; but it does not "reward" the way the world rewards, with money or with material things. Instead, It seeks to sustain our Souls.
*******
This project of Love has been correctly identified as your very "reason for being or existence." And your efforts synchronistically parallel many of our own here. (Care must be taken to keep the two separate, for they are cllearly related.)
Reference is to the Pneumarium Project. It is now entering its sixth year. It has been very challenging to keep up any public interest in this project for spiritual education. Yet in the Soul, it is recognized as irreplaceable. Like you, we have had challenges with funding, but our major area of difficulty has been "drumming up" interest. This is written after several promotional emails have gone forth, mostly, without responses.
Most people respond to this major undertaking with a giant yawn or a great snore. This can be discouraging in the extreme, especially on our not-so-good days, when the donkey is weak.
The principle that guides us here is that we must follow the interior recommendations of the Lovemind no matter what the public response is.
Great achievements and accomplishments of the Spirit must never be allowed to be controlled, regulated, or even influenced by public response or opinion.
From the view of publicity or money, the ministries of both Jesus and the Buddha were extreme and somewhat dismal "failures." Neither was recognized much during his own lifetime, and neither had much public support. It is remembered with poignancy how once, when Jesus was gathering a group to hear him speak about the "kingdom of God" in Jerusalem, only four of us showed up to hear him speak. Even he was somewhat saddened, but he said words that will never be forgotten: "God is no bean-counter; it is as important to touch one heart as ten thousand." His eyes were full of sad sincerity.
His lesson was, as he later said, that spirituality is not a "commodity." It is not to be "sold" or "vended" like beans or tomatoes. Love that is rewarded on earth (by fame or money) will not receive any "heavenly" reward, he implied in his famous Sermon on the Mount. (Mt. 6:1)
It is our human glory to be able to serve Love, and love is always its own, and often only, reward. Serving Love, our treasures are great in the "kingdom of heaven."
So, the "success" of this otherworldly ministry is never to be measured by the criteria used to measure "success" in all other fields.
Success is the smallest increase in the happiness or mental wellbeing of one other person, or of the self. That is the spiritual equivalent of a billion dollars!
You already know all this, of course; at best, this is only a reminder of what you already know, not a "new teaching." But selfevaluation is much more crucial to success in any ministry than is public support or economic "success." We must do what Love tells us, when Love tells us. We must follow Love to the ends of the earth, even when it empties our pocketbook and our heartminds, even when we have no treasure to give. Time is the only "currency" of the cosmos; it is the "gold" of the universe. And time can be "given to God" (Love) no matter what our level of poverty. We show that we respect our calling when we give it all, or much of, our time. We have nothing greater to give.
We have continued this fine work of teaching Love in the midst of apathy, ignorance, and even poverty. For doing the right thing is not rewarded by such trinkets and baubles as dollars. It is much more richly rewarded by an interior sense of fulfillment, satisfaction, and contentment. It is rewarded by Love, joy, and peace. So, when we meet economic challenges, we are challenged, not to stop the finest work of Love, but to modify it in some way. Perhaps the cosmic Mind does not want us to rent an office; perhaps It wants us to work out of our home; perhaps it is moving us toward greater simplicity. This is not a simple "all stop" or "all go" proposition; our path might require modification, and we might have to work in non-traditional or unconventional ways, to "cut corners."
But what you have is too valuable, too precious, to let it go, or let it pass. We are both being challenged to give our life-projects everything that we have; and, when we are exhausted, to give still more.
CAUTION: This finest of commitments can, as has often been said, exhaust, or even harm, your donkey; so, use with caution. Love asks for, sometimes demands, the very last psychon of mental energy that we can give. And Its rewards are sweet, it is true; but it does not "reward" the way the world rewards, with money or with material things. Instead, It seeks to sustain our Souls.
*******
Monday, June 02, 2008
Worship and the Pneumarium
*******
When we do incarnate, we bring with us, deep in our minds, "contracts" that bind us specifically to other souls. This is all so that we can perfect our Love for ourselves and for them. A common caution is never to hate anyone, for that hatred can be a strong karmic force; so, next time around, you might be married to that person!
Happily, however, Love can also be an even stronger karmic bond, and will without fail bring you to the side of your Soulmate in a bright loving contract.:)
Jesus' recommendation re our Way of life was to keep it super-simple (the "K.I.S.S." principle). He held up to us as examples three ideals of living creatures who do not try to force life into human-created designs.
He used as parabolic examples the birds, flowers, and nursing infants. (See the latest uld.) What all three have in common is that they do not try to control; they do not force life into patterns that have goals. Instead, they live each minute-- only now-- going with the Flow. They do not irritate themselves by constantly asking what their "purpose" is. Perhaps it is a part of your life-purpose to stop asking this question.
Perhaps a closer study of the Way known as Taoism can help you here.
(Love Ministries has its own rendition of the little great classic of Taoism called Tao Te Cjhing. If you want a copy, just remind me!:)
God is best known, and served, by acts of Love. Love is the only true worship. Worship is not singing hymns, lighting candles, public prayer, going to church, or Bible-study. For none of these activities is, in itself, spiritual. You do much more worship in aiding an older person, a child, a challenged person, or a little animal than in giving a hundred long, drawn-out sermons. It is better to help and aid one creature than to spend a thousand hours doing "church-work."
Still, it is human nature to forget the truly important things, and to get lost in the trivia. This is why we have the Pneumarium gatherings.
Investing in spiritual education, and in spiritual stimulation, is also one of the fine, good, and worshipful uses of time.
*******
When we do incarnate, we bring with us, deep in our minds, "contracts" that bind us specifically to other souls. This is all so that we can perfect our Love for ourselves and for them. A common caution is never to hate anyone, for that hatred can be a strong karmic force; so, next time around, you might be married to that person!
Happily, however, Love can also be an even stronger karmic bond, and will without fail bring you to the side of your Soulmate in a bright loving contract.:)
Jesus' recommendation re our Way of life was to keep it super-simple (the "K.I.S.S." principle). He held up to us as examples three ideals of living creatures who do not try to force life into human-created designs.
He used as parabolic examples the birds, flowers, and nursing infants. (See the latest uld.) What all three have in common is that they do not try to control; they do not force life into patterns that have goals. Instead, they live each minute-- only now-- going with the Flow. They do not irritate themselves by constantly asking what their "purpose" is. Perhaps it is a part of your life-purpose to stop asking this question.
Perhaps a closer study of the Way known as Taoism can help you here.
(Love Ministries has its own rendition of the little great classic of Taoism called Tao Te Cjhing. If you want a copy, just remind me!:)
God is best known, and served, by acts of Love. Love is the only true worship. Worship is not singing hymns, lighting candles, public prayer, going to church, or Bible-study. For none of these activities is, in itself, spiritual. You do much more worship in aiding an older person, a child, a challenged person, or a little animal than in giving a hundred long, drawn-out sermons. It is better to help and aid one creature than to spend a thousand hours doing "church-work."
Still, it is human nature to forget the truly important things, and to get lost in the trivia. This is why we have the Pneumarium gatherings.
Investing in spiritual education, and in spiritual stimulation, is also one of the fine, good, and worshipful uses of time.
*******
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Coming to the Pneumarium
*******
You said that you were "feeling uneasy and a bit selfconscious about not coming to the Pneumarium." I believe that there is a good reason for this. For this is something that your deeper Mind really wants, and wants you, to do.:)
When we fulfill the deeper needs of the Soul, It consistently rewards us, with feelings of serenity, tranquility, peace, joy, and bliss. But if we act against Its needs, or neglect them, it can take a huge toll. We do not live as happily during the day, and we do not sleep as well at night.
We feel, deep down, that "there is something that I should do."
The Pneumarium gatherings are fun and easy. When we do not go, there is no human being that criticizes us, but, often, our own conscience does the work for you. It gently nudges you, over and over; only when that does not work does it produce a sense of slight but increasing anxiety.
If you did not eat, your body would naturally send you all kinds of signals, some of which nmight not be the most pleasant. Your mind/Soul also needs "spiritual food." Many churches and religions, like many books, do not provide this "spiritual food" at all, although they might claim to.
You, dear friend, are experiencing "hunger pangs" because you never let yourself partake of the "feasts" that we regularly share at the Pneumarium.:(
When I was in the cult, people were forced into "meeting attendance."
About a hundred people came to those dull meetings every week, despite the fact that they were boring to the point that you felt like committing hara kiri! And, several times a week, about a hundred people, out of a small-population town, showed up. Almost no one wanted to be there. Yet they regularly came, from a sense of loyalty to the cult. Their regularity often puts the people of Love, who are powerfully much more blessed, to shame!
We personally learned from the cult: We decided never to use guilt or anxiety to "pressure" our friends to attend the Pneumarium gatherings.
We even call them "gatherings" instead of "meetings," because we want nothing in common with the fearbased cult. But, the simple truth is
this:
When you miss our sharings as a family, you are doing harm to yourself; and you might be indirectly "harming" others as well, for everyone is uplifted by these gatherings. This violates the fine lifepattern called ahimsa, which is living without any harm to any living creature, including yourself. That "harm" can be mental, emotional, or spiritual rather than physical.
So, if you are feeling some anxiety, I am truly sorry to hear this. The Pneumarium gatherings, and the family, are never designed to create or support any form of anxiety. But I must also be honest and share with you that, in this case, I believe that this mild anxiety is generated by your Soul as a healthy signal that you are neglecting, and perhaps harming, It. Your Soul is complaining; and the only course of wisdom is to listen to It, and then, out of Love, to heal It! We are having another Pneumarium gathering on Sunday, April 27, and you are, as always, of course, invited.
We provide a clean, warm, comfortable place (cool in summer) with a free meal, free snacks, and continuous free coffee, or tea of many varieties.
We are trying to serve by making your spiritual education and growth-- the only things of real value in this world-- as "painless" and "effortless" as possible!
But coming to the Pneumarium regularly will take a little planning and structuring of your time, and nobody else is going to act like your "papa" or "mama" and do this for you! You are not a "child," and you do not need this! And I certainly have never had any interest in being anyone's "daddy."
So, your whole life can become far richer, far happier, and far more at peace. But it is going to take some microwork on your part. After all, a fulfilled and satisfied life does not "just happen." It is something that we must actively create by our choices! Now, you have a chance to give the most wonderful gift to your own Soul! This opportunity very rarely comes to us in this life! So, do yourself the greatest favor:
Plan to come to our celebrations of life and Love, sharing friendship and wisdom! You'll be very glad that you did!:)
*******
You said that you were "feeling uneasy and a bit selfconscious about not coming to the Pneumarium." I believe that there is a good reason for this. For this is something that your deeper Mind really wants, and wants you, to do.:)
When we fulfill the deeper needs of the Soul, It consistently rewards us, with feelings of serenity, tranquility, peace, joy, and bliss. But if we act against Its needs, or neglect them, it can take a huge toll. We do not live as happily during the day, and we do not sleep as well at night.
We feel, deep down, that "there is something that I should do."
The Pneumarium gatherings are fun and easy. When we do not go, there is no human being that criticizes us, but, often, our own conscience does the work for you. It gently nudges you, over and over; only when that does not work does it produce a sense of slight but increasing anxiety.
If you did not eat, your body would naturally send you all kinds of signals, some of which nmight not be the most pleasant. Your mind/Soul also needs "spiritual food." Many churches and religions, like many books, do not provide this "spiritual food" at all, although they might claim to.
You, dear friend, are experiencing "hunger pangs" because you never let yourself partake of the "feasts" that we regularly share at the Pneumarium.:(
When I was in the cult, people were forced into "meeting attendance."
About a hundred people came to those dull meetings every week, despite the fact that they were boring to the point that you felt like committing hara kiri! And, several times a week, about a hundred people, out of a small-population town, showed up. Almost no one wanted to be there. Yet they regularly came, from a sense of loyalty to the cult. Their regularity often puts the people of Love, who are powerfully much more blessed, to shame!
We personally learned from the cult: We decided never to use guilt or anxiety to "pressure" our friends to attend the Pneumarium gatherings.
We even call them "gatherings" instead of "meetings," because we want nothing in common with the fearbased cult. But, the simple truth is
this:
When you miss our sharings as a family, you are doing harm to yourself; and you might be indirectly "harming" others as well, for everyone is uplifted by these gatherings. This violates the fine lifepattern called ahimsa, which is living without any harm to any living creature, including yourself. That "harm" can be mental, emotional, or spiritual rather than physical.
So, if you are feeling some anxiety, I am truly sorry to hear this. The Pneumarium gatherings, and the family, are never designed to create or support any form of anxiety. But I must also be honest and share with you that, in this case, I believe that this mild anxiety is generated by your Soul as a healthy signal that you are neglecting, and perhaps harming, It. Your Soul is complaining; and the only course of wisdom is to listen to It, and then, out of Love, to heal It! We are having another Pneumarium gathering on Sunday, April 27, and you are, as always, of course, invited.
We provide a clean, warm, comfortable place (cool in summer) with a free meal, free snacks, and continuous free coffee, or tea of many varieties.
We are trying to serve by making your spiritual education and growth-- the only things of real value in this world-- as "painless" and "effortless" as possible!
But coming to the Pneumarium regularly will take a little planning and structuring of your time, and nobody else is going to act like your "papa" or "mama" and do this for you! You are not a "child," and you do not need this! And I certainly have never had any interest in being anyone's "daddy."
So, your whole life can become far richer, far happier, and far more at peace. But it is going to take some microwork on your part. After all, a fulfilled and satisfied life does not "just happen." It is something that we must actively create by our choices! Now, you have a chance to give the most wonderful gift to your own Soul! This opportunity very rarely comes to us in this life! So, do yourself the greatest favor:
Plan to come to our celebrations of life and Love, sharing friendship and wisdom! You'll be very glad that you did!:)
*******
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