Learning Real Love-Taoism through Suffering

Learning Real Love-Taoism through Suffering
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Happy April!:) A touch early, but it arrives tomorrow!:)

I am so delighted that this world, with its donkeygifts, has "driven" you towards two directions at once-- greater compassion, and total reliance on [the Goddess of Love,] Aphrodite. For these are the two best gifts in the universe. And there is no better way to teach them than to put the donkey in "danger," or, as you imply, in serious uncertainty.

Any kind of suffering, although we would rather see our friends avoid this aspect of life, teaches and increases compassion. She who suffers little often loves little, not because she is unkind, but because she is unaware, almost oblivious. There is no finer teacher than personal suffering. If we take it "to heart," and carefully examine it, suffering gives us many positive gifts-- but none better than these two (releasing control and loving others more deeply), without which we cannot become
"spiritual adults."

That is why good people have always suffered, often for others, often for the karma of the whole world. (This is a major theme, and cannot be overlooked, in the life of Jesus, as well as of Francis and many other saintmystics and sages.)

This is the universe's way of saying, "Welcome to the human race." It is a real initiation into deeper, and much brighter, spirituality. It aids us to practice Love-Taoism-- the real thing, not just words. For no one follows Tao more, or more sincerely, than she who has given up, abandoned, all desires to "control, all hopes of control." She has truly turned her life over to the higher Power of Love, trusting that Love can and will move in her without her interference. We do not, she finally realizes, make Love happen; we can only permit It.
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God and Healing

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God can heal any person of any condition at any time. Absolutely anything is possible with God, as Jesus said.

Why does God (Love) not perfectly heal everyone, giving the great gift of a perfect bodymind to all His/Her children?

This is possible, but God allows the inconvenience and even suffering of illness in order for us to learn compassion through empathy. A person who has never suffered would feel no compassion towards others who suffer. But she who suffers much, loves much.

Imperfect health is the essence of our spiritual training in Love.
Illness also makes us humble, realizing that we cannot control everything with the conscious mind. The tendency towards "magical thinking' is so attractive, so tempting, that God often allows us to experience illness in order that we can realize our full and complete dependence on Love (God).

Added to the above is our karmic heritage. If ever, in our long history, we have harmed another with deliberate intention, our body might reflect the same or similar condition. But even if this might be so, it does nothing to neutralize or dilute our real need to show compassionate Love towards all. Also, some suffering is the result of voluntary or elective karma; it was chosen by a Soul to accelerate spiritual development.
Also, remember that illness is not "totally bad," for it can provide us with opportunities for exits from these bodies.

But this is by no means the most common explanation. A fourth reason for illness is that it teaches us precisely what we need to learn. Most of the great and lovely saintmystics and mastersages of history have suffered from some biological shortcomings. These could turn their attention away from the glittering baubles of the external world, turning their gaze inward.

At any rate, we know that illness is not the result of a "curse" by God, but is instead an evidence of His special blessing. St. Paul had eye-trouble, about which he prayed many times. God apparently did not heal him, but told him, "My strength shall be complete in thy weakness."

These "weaknesses" remind us continually not to depend upon the ego, but upon only infinite Love (God). They slam the interior brakes on ultraegotism and egocentricity. For only when humbled from the illusion of selfimportance does a heart turn towards Love.
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The Sermon on the Mount: A Classic of Spiritual/Mystical Literature, Part I of XL

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The Sermon begins at Matthew 5:1:

TEXT:

1. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2. And he said: 3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

COMMENTARY: He promises the Kingdom of Love, as participants, to those who, say other translations, are "beggers for the Spirit," or those who are "aware of their spiritual needs." Only those enlightened by the interior Lovespirit or Lovemind become "members" of the "kingdom." For the word "kingdom" means, "domain of a king." The "domain" of Christ/God is not geographical, as in Palestine, but is spiritual. The spiritual "domain" ruled by God the Holy Spirit is the heartmind.

TEXT:

4. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

COMMENTARY: People are often made sad by the conditions of karma in this world, or sad because this "material" world is a place of suffering. But, in time, in karma, they are, Jesus promised, going to find "comfort" in the Presence of Love.

The Book of Job

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The Book of Job is unique. The ancient text identifies Job as an "Asian," or, in older translations, "an Oriental." So, Job was not a Hebrew. He might have been Chinese. At any rate, he is famous for his profound wisdom, and Job is a classic in spirituality. Unlike the other books of the "Hebrew Scriptures," it is not simply a product of Hebrew culture.

As an Asian, if he was spiritual-- and he must have been-- it was probably a spirituality more along the lines of Taoism or Buddhism rather than Judaism. These faiths are famous for their strengthening the Soul against suffering and loss. Some varieties are almost fatalistic in their acceptance of suffering. But, at any rate, unlike the Hebrew faith, these Asian Ways do have a valid and fair explanation for suffering.

Job proves that a man can conduct his life in purity and justice even if the universe seems to be unjust. Of course, the cosmos is never unjust, being under the guidance of Love (God). But the working out of karma can make the cosmos appear ruthless, unjust, and unfeeling. Life on earth can seem to be hell.

Job, in challenging Jehovah, actually proves himself more aware of more factors, actually confusing Jehovah, and backing him into a kind of corner. Jehovah ends up "defending" himself with the last-resort argument, "How dare you question me?" Jehovah really has no satisfactory answers to all the suffering on earth-- as indeed the Hebrew faith did not understand why human beings have to suffer so much. For the Hebrew religion made mo room for karma, and hence, had not a clue.

Job is almost Buddhist in its concentration on suffering and its meaning. It is the one book in the Hebrew Scriptures that asks the truly profound questions about this difficult life on earth. I have read it several times, and it is well worth reading and rereading.
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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.

Bearing Your Cross: Suffering and Wisdom

Bearing Your Cross: Suffering and Wisdom
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Every person on earth comes to this place in order to take various tests, exams-- to test her mental, emotional, and spiritual strengths. More often than not, a real "test" involves something challenging or even "scary"-- something the fear-filled ego would rather avoid altogether.

In very early Christianity, the "Cross" of Jesus became the universal archetype (symbol) of all suffering. For the "passion" (suffering) of Jesus became a model of how to handle all pain and suffering. We are to turn it over to God (Love), relax into the "pain" with the confidence that the Holy Spirit of Love can lesson our pain. Meditation, for example, might not get rid of all pain all the time; but several studies have shown that it can lessen pain-- physical or mental-- by up to eighty
percent.

Going into even deeper meditation, as Jesus did, can eradicate even more pain, as the human mind begins actual mergence, melding, or fusion with the Mind of the One, deep in the Unconscious.

I know hundreds of [people, some with a fair degree of intimacy. Every one of them is facing some challenge-- usually a major one-- in this life. Souls do not come to earth for "vacation." (There are higher universes for that.) Earth is not a play-world (although many do exist). Earth is a "school-world," and no one is really here to have fun! Souls come to earth to learn, and only to learn. So, we have opportunities to learn from every minute of every day, and from friends, family, enemies, and strangers. They are all the "teachers" of the person on the Way.

That is one reason why the cosmos often looks "hard" or "unfeeling" or even "uncaring" to us. For it simply does not matter that we enjoy our lives here. All that matters is that we are learning; but, still, one of the things that we learn is how to have more fun! We are blessed, in fact, to find bliss!:)

Each must "bear her Cross," that is, take her tests and exams. We are asked to do so with patience and understanding, not kicking and screaming like toddlers. How a person faces suffering is a faithful barometer of her spiritual wisdom, indicating even her spiritual "age" (maturity).
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"Purgatory" and "Hell"

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I believe that, in the history of religion, both "hell" and "purgatory" were symbolic terms concerning eternal life after death. Both concerned states or conditions experienced here on earth.

To simplify the complex literature, both "hell" and "purgatory" contain suffering. In fact, both conditions might contain the exact same suffering. But "purgatory" originates with a word that means "purification." So, in the condition of "purgatory," you are making real progress, both mental and spiritual. Purgatory improves people.

"Hell" does not necessarily improve a person. It is recognized as suffering due to negative karma. The person suffers, but does not know why. She knows why only after enlightenment. When a person knows why she is suffering, this transforms her state from one of "hell" to one of "purgatory."

For only when we understand why we suffer does suffering have a purifying effect on our Souls. So, hell and purgatory might be exactly the same conditions; the difference lies in the one suffering, in her awareness, knowledge, understanding, or wisdom.

An enlightened being is never so careless as to end up in hell. But purgatorial states are common on earth for both enlightened and some unenlightened people.

The very old tradition teaches that a Soul can be "prayed out" of purgatory. This superstition evolved from the awareness that total escape from purgatory was possible by discovering Union through communication with God (interior Love). For Love ultimately liberates us all from all suffering-- including all "hell" states and "purgatory" states.

We all suffer on earth. The wise are called upon to understand why suffering exists, to understand karma and universal justice, for Godmind is always just and never unjust. This realization alone, deeply felt, can liberate from hell and move a person into purgatory. With further study, work, Love, and yielding to the divine will, a person is moved, in time, from "purgatory" into "heaven" (bliss, joy, or ecstasy). This is, in the final analysis, an act of God (Love), and not anything that we "do." This is "salvation," and originates with only grace, although we can make our lives more beautiful by cooperating with the calling of Love.

This movement in Mind, from purgatory to heaven, is enlightenment. It is also called "liberation" and "salvation."
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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!

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