Posts
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The meaning of "dualism" in mystical metaphysics is the illusion of a world that exists apart, or separate from, the One or one Mind (Creator or Dreamer of the worlds). In this illusion or dream, "evil" seemed just as real as the good. But in Genesis, when God creates this world, he declares everything, several times, to be "very good." But the human mind, in ignorance, disagrees. It claims that "evil" also exists, and, in our imperfect dream, it does; it is created by the inevitable force of karma. Falling into this illusion, in the allegory of Genesis, human nature )"Adam and Eve") ate from the "forbidden fruit." That is how the human mind was "expelled" from "Eden" (a word that means "pleasure").
Together with this illusion, the human mind also came under the baleful dominance of the Jehovah-myth, for it was "Jehovah," not God (elohim) that expelled the human mind ("Adam and Eve") from "Eden," the perfect state of Union or Unity with nature and with God (Love).
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Thursday, February 28, 2008
Jesus' Death Not a Sacrifice!
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The whole idea of "sacrifice" arises from almost every ancient religion.
The ancients saw their gods in very anthropomorphic forms. This long word simply means that they had a wide spectrum of human qualities. God as pure Love would have soared right over their heads like a distant jet!
In fact, ancient faiths such as Judaism and Islam did not really have much to say about the relationship of human Love with the divine.
To please the primitive gods, you had to give them gifts. And some of them, including Jehovah, were carnivores, like the primitive tribes that served him. They actually wanted and needed meat!
This need for "sacrifice" proves just how primitive, backwards, and spiritually arrested were the savages of earlier times.
Jesus knew, and taught, that God was Love. His was a much more advanced and sophisticated view of God. His God was not in the sky, but in the heart. His God commanded Love, but needed nothing from human beings.
It was not long after his death, however, that his followers abandoned his essentially mystical faith, and backslid, or reverted, to the ancient and arrested god of the early Jewish tradition. They assumed that this god still needed sacrifices; sacrifices erased sin; and so, they interpreted the death of Jesus in an arrested "Old Testament" pattern--- as "sacrifice."
Jesus knew that this world, and this life, were not Reality; he taught that the world and physical body were, to quote Docetist Christians, "phantoms." He did not really "live" on earth as his home; in fact, he was a bit uncomfortable with this world. He said of his followers, "They will be no part of this world, as I am no part of this world." For him, dying was like a change of clothing, as it reminds us in "The Celestial Song," a great mystical classic.
So, he wanted to use even death to symbolize just how important is Love.
By his voluntary and terrible death, he volunteered to carry upon his back the karma of many, even of the whole world! So, he prayed that his death would create karmic payment for "sins" (errors) that he had not committed, but that others had.
His death, then, was a supreme act of Love. It is the greatest act of Love imaginable. For he said, "No one has greater Love than he who gives his life for his friends." We can fulfill this every day by using most of the time in our lives to serve others, thus "giving our lives" to our "friends."
But don't let the reversed, regressive, and primitive thinking of so many "Christian" churches deceive you: Jesus' death had absolutely nothing to do with the primitive, disgusting idea of "sacrifice"!
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The whole idea of "sacrifice" arises from almost every ancient religion.
The ancients saw their gods in very anthropomorphic forms. This long word simply means that they had a wide spectrum of human qualities. God as pure Love would have soared right over their heads like a distant jet!
In fact, ancient faiths such as Judaism and Islam did not really have much to say about the relationship of human Love with the divine.
To please the primitive gods, you had to give them gifts. And some of them, including Jehovah, were carnivores, like the primitive tribes that served him. They actually wanted and needed meat!
This need for "sacrifice" proves just how primitive, backwards, and spiritually arrested were the savages of earlier times.
Jesus knew, and taught, that God was Love. His was a much more advanced and sophisticated view of God. His God was not in the sky, but in the heart. His God commanded Love, but needed nothing from human beings.
It was not long after his death, however, that his followers abandoned his essentially mystical faith, and backslid, or reverted, to the ancient and arrested god of the early Jewish tradition. They assumed that this god still needed sacrifices; sacrifices erased sin; and so, they interpreted the death of Jesus in an arrested "Old Testament" pattern--- as "sacrifice."
Jesus knew that this world, and this life, were not Reality; he taught that the world and physical body were, to quote Docetist Christians, "phantoms." He did not really "live" on earth as his home; in fact, he was a bit uncomfortable with this world. He said of his followers, "They will be no part of this world, as I am no part of this world." For him, dying was like a change of clothing, as it reminds us in "The Celestial Song," a great mystical classic.
So, he wanted to use even death to symbolize just how important is Love.
By his voluntary and terrible death, he volunteered to carry upon his back the karma of many, even of the whole world! So, he prayed that his death would create karmic payment for "sins" (errors) that he had not committed, but that others had.
His death, then, was a supreme act of Love. It is the greatest act of Love imaginable. For he said, "No one has greater Love than he who gives his life for his friends." We can fulfill this every day by using most of the time in our lives to serve others, thus "giving our lives" to our "friends."
But don't let the reversed, regressive, and primitive thinking of so many "Christian" churches deceive you: Jesus' death had absolutely nothing to do with the primitive, disgusting idea of "sacrifice"!
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Wednesday, February 27, 2008
The Transfiguration
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The famous Transfiguration of Jesus is one of the most wellknown, and spectacular, accounts of "visionary," not mystical, events in history.
We must begin by the caveat that it might not have been a literal event, but a symbolic one.
For example, "Moses" and "Elijah" were very ancient members of the Jewish religion. They often appeared in the experiences of visionaries. As human beings, of course, they were dead, and had been so for centuries.
But, as parts of visions, they were "alive and well" in the visions of dozens of Jewish visionaries. (A "visionary" sees visions, and is not the same as a "mystic," who might never see a vision.)
But as archetypes (symbols of mind), they represented two facets of Jewish religion: legalism and the belief in the extraordinary (miraculous) powers of God. (Many miracles were ascribed, in the ancient tales, to Elijah.)
Moses, historically, had been recognized as the writer of the Pentateuch or Torah, the first five books of the Bible-- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jews were the original "people of the Book." In other words, their original faith was not ennucleated around a principle such as Love or goodness, but used as its core the written Scriptures, which grew finally to include the thirty-nine small books of the Hebrew Scriptures, known to most Christians as the "Old Testament."
These archetypes arose, during the vision, from the collective (shared) Unconscious. This vision was of a very rare type, for it, at least, in the later tellings, was shared by Jesus and his disciples, unless the entire account is an allegory (symbolic tale).
During the vision, the entire place was flooded with light, a perfect and picturesque symbol of the actions of Love. For Love is Light; for "God is Light." (1 Jn. 1:5)
This could not have been Jesus' first realization of the Christ of Light within him, for he was already the Christ. The account was recorded as further evidence that he was the Christ, especially to convince the doubting. Such stories as this, whether apocryphal or not, are commonly told of deeply spiritual people. In a short time, they become legend. And later, many of them are mistaken for actual "history."
Just a brief note on the word "Christ." This word, among Christian gnostics (most early Christians) was a term of immense respect and great awe. The Greek word Khristos was not just a translation of the Hebrew masshiah ("messiah"). This is a very common mistake made even by ministers and some scholars.
But early Christians never claimed that Jesus was the Jewish "Messiah," and he was not. For the Messiah, said the legends and "prophecies," was to be a great and bloody general who would raise an army of thousands, slaughtering thousands of Romans and other "enemies" of Israel, and freeing the Jewish people from foreign domination.
The real and truest, most reliable experts on the "Messiah" are the Jews. They formulated the concept, and they have studied it quite profoundly for centuries. So, when you want to learn about a strictly Jewish teaching, it does not make sense to ask a Christian-- a person of another faith. And when you ask Jewish scholars whether Jesus was their Messiah, they will answer, to a person, "No."
So, Jesus was not the "Messiah," and never taught that he was. There is one verse in Mark where he appears to have claimed that he was, but the texts of the original Christian Scriptures passed through many hands, and were emended several times to say what the scribe wanted them to say.
So, they are a fairly unreliable document when it comes to technical details of "truth" (Reality). That is why the person of Love follows her Love-trained conscience rather than ancient texts.
So, the magnificent Transfiguration probably was, originally, an account of a solitary vision seen by Jesus on the Mount. Through decades of embellishment, and retelling, it grew into the dramatic, overblown, fantastic, spectacular tale that we now have in our Bibles.
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The famous Transfiguration of Jesus is one of the most wellknown, and spectacular, accounts of "visionary," not mystical, events in history.
We must begin by the caveat that it might not have been a literal event, but a symbolic one.
For example, "Moses" and "Elijah" were very ancient members of the Jewish religion. They often appeared in the experiences of visionaries. As human beings, of course, they were dead, and had been so for centuries.
But, as parts of visions, they were "alive and well" in the visions of dozens of Jewish visionaries. (A "visionary" sees visions, and is not the same as a "mystic," who might never see a vision.)
But as archetypes (symbols of mind), they represented two facets of Jewish religion: legalism and the belief in the extraordinary (miraculous) powers of God. (Many miracles were ascribed, in the ancient tales, to Elijah.)
Moses, historically, had been recognized as the writer of the Pentateuch or Torah, the first five books of the Bible-- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jews were the original "people of the Book." In other words, their original faith was not ennucleated around a principle such as Love or goodness, but used as its core the written Scriptures, which grew finally to include the thirty-nine small books of the Hebrew Scriptures, known to most Christians as the "Old Testament."
These archetypes arose, during the vision, from the collective (shared) Unconscious. This vision was of a very rare type, for it, at least, in the later tellings, was shared by Jesus and his disciples, unless the entire account is an allegory (symbolic tale).
During the vision, the entire place was flooded with light, a perfect and picturesque symbol of the actions of Love. For Love is Light; for "God is Light." (1 Jn. 1:5)
This could not have been Jesus' first realization of the Christ of Light within him, for he was already the Christ. The account was recorded as further evidence that he was the Christ, especially to convince the doubting. Such stories as this, whether apocryphal or not, are commonly told of deeply spiritual people. In a short time, they become legend. And later, many of them are mistaken for actual "history."
Just a brief note on the word "Christ." This word, among Christian gnostics (most early Christians) was a term of immense respect and great awe. The Greek word Khristos was not just a translation of the Hebrew masshiah ("messiah"). This is a very common mistake made even by ministers and some scholars.
But early Christians never claimed that Jesus was the Jewish "Messiah," and he was not. For the Messiah, said the legends and "prophecies," was to be a great and bloody general who would raise an army of thousands, slaughtering thousands of Romans and other "enemies" of Israel, and freeing the Jewish people from foreign domination.
The real and truest, most reliable experts on the "Messiah" are the Jews. They formulated the concept, and they have studied it quite profoundly for centuries. So, when you want to learn about a strictly Jewish teaching, it does not make sense to ask a Christian-- a person of another faith. And when you ask Jewish scholars whether Jesus was their Messiah, they will answer, to a person, "No."
So, Jesus was not the "Messiah," and never taught that he was. There is one verse in Mark where he appears to have claimed that he was, but the texts of the original Christian Scriptures passed through many hands, and were emended several times to say what the scribe wanted them to say.
So, they are a fairly unreliable document when it comes to technical details of "truth" (Reality). That is why the person of Love follows her Love-trained conscience rather than ancient texts.
So, the magnificent Transfiguration probably was, originally, an account of a solitary vision seen by Jesus on the Mount. Through decades of embellishment, and retelling, it grew into the dramatic, overblown, fantastic, spectacular tale that we now have in our Bibles.
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Overwork and Burnout
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Many aspects of our lives are optional. In lifedesign, we can choose to include some factors, and exclude others.
But what is about to be said here is not optional. It is mandatory.
You, like so many loving, good, service-oriented people, are about to break and ignore the core-law that guides the people of Love. This can create some disastrous karma, for it is chosen willingly.
For you are ignoring selflove. Selflove is the nucleus of Love.
Selflove is the very Love of God reflected upon the self or Self. This is not a factor that can be safely, reasonably, sanely, or lovingly ignored.
Selflove is inignorable and indispensable. To follow Jesus' "love your neighbor as yourself" contains the implicit guideline that we should be loving ourselves. Historically, even some of the people of Love thought that they could ignore this vital principle. But their lives proved them disastrously wrong!
Your life, and your body, are not "your own." They both "belong," in real ways, to the Goddess, to lovers, to friends, and, to some extent, to the world, to our species and to others.
So, from a spiritual perspective, it is illogical, and antiagapic
(counter-Love) selfishly to claim that "It is my body, and I can do whatever I want with it."
For it is as serious, and deeply karmic, an error ("sin") to abuse your body as it would be to harm the body of any other living creature. Now, I know that you would never practice torture, or harm bodily anyone who came to you for help.
Now, your own mind has called, repeatedly, for your help. But you have responded with abuse-- by driving it. I once was in your boat: I thought that it was okay, just fine, to abuse your body, if you did it for God (Love), that is, to help others.
But I killed the body. In fact, it died twice. And it was revealed to me, in the afterlife state, that voluntarily pushing your body to extremes, beyond its moderate limits, is an act of torture that can grow into an act of murder!
So, no matter what else you have to do, no matter what rules you must break, no matter whom you must disappoint or let down, no matter if you must change occupations, you must cut back your hours. The Goddess is never unreasonable: She asks us to do our very best, all the time. But especially the energy of scorpio will try to drive us to go beyond our best!
This is, by definition, impossible. So, Love never asks this of us. It is never selfishness to make the body Priority One. Yes, it is more important, when it is suffering, than the very real needs of others. For if it fails, you cannot give aid or assistance to anyone!
So, no matter what the cost or inconvenience, you have been pushed into making this decision: Decide for your body, not against it. For the body makes a wonderful friend, but a nightmarish and terrible "enemy." Make friends with it; it can be your best friend if you do not continue to abuse it.
Schedule regular periods of rest, relaxation, meditation, listening to quiet music, reading-- to be Priority One events. Everything else must come second. Insist, and do not give up, on cutting back on your cases.
(You will serve each client so much better.:)
These are not simply healthy suggestions. They are the results of personal intuition that tells me that your biophysical system is near the shattering-point. If this selfabuse continues, you will reap a nightmare whirlwind of karma. Some biological disasters can severely cripple you, and these are often irreversible or incurable. It is said that, if you do not listen to the gentle teacher, the harsh teacher stands just around the next corner; he holds a wooden four-by-four in this hands, and he is ready to smack you, hard, like a batter hitting a ball! But, right now, you can avoid much of the agony (and it is severe and unforgiving) of the harsh teacher by listening to the gentle teacher.
Trust. Have faith. You are not "indispensable." The cosmos continued just fine without your present form, for billions of years. After you leave the earth, it will continue for billions more. Do not follow the ego here, for it will lie and say to you, "You must keep doing all your work, for no one else can do it." Foolishness! Thousands of others can do it! And, in the short term, the cosmos is teaching you to delegate responsibility. For, ultimately, you are responsible for the spiritual success and growth into Love of one person only: And that is you. And you are failing the test!
*******
Many aspects of our lives are optional. In lifedesign, we can choose to include some factors, and exclude others.
But what is about to be said here is not optional. It is mandatory.
You, like so many loving, good, service-oriented people, are about to break and ignore the core-law that guides the people of Love. This can create some disastrous karma, for it is chosen willingly.
For you are ignoring selflove. Selflove is the nucleus of Love.
Selflove is the very Love of God reflected upon the self or Self. This is not a factor that can be safely, reasonably, sanely, or lovingly ignored.
Selflove is inignorable and indispensable. To follow Jesus' "love your neighbor as yourself" contains the implicit guideline that we should be loving ourselves. Historically, even some of the people of Love thought that they could ignore this vital principle. But their lives proved them disastrously wrong!
Your life, and your body, are not "your own." They both "belong," in real ways, to the Goddess, to lovers, to friends, and, to some extent, to the world, to our species and to others.
So, from a spiritual perspective, it is illogical, and antiagapic
(counter-Love) selfishly to claim that "It is my body, and I can do whatever I want with it."
For it is as serious, and deeply karmic, an error ("sin") to abuse your body as it would be to harm the body of any other living creature. Now, I know that you would never practice torture, or harm bodily anyone who came to you for help.
Now, your own mind has called, repeatedly, for your help. But you have responded with abuse-- by driving it. I once was in your boat: I thought that it was okay, just fine, to abuse your body, if you did it for God (Love), that is, to help others.
But I killed the body. In fact, it died twice. And it was revealed to me, in the afterlife state, that voluntarily pushing your body to extremes, beyond its moderate limits, is an act of torture that can grow into an act of murder!
So, no matter what else you have to do, no matter what rules you must break, no matter whom you must disappoint or let down, no matter if you must change occupations, you must cut back your hours. The Goddess is never unreasonable: She asks us to do our very best, all the time. But especially the energy of scorpio will try to drive us to go beyond our best!
This is, by definition, impossible. So, Love never asks this of us. It is never selfishness to make the body Priority One. Yes, it is more important, when it is suffering, than the very real needs of others. For if it fails, you cannot give aid or assistance to anyone!
So, no matter what the cost or inconvenience, you have been pushed into making this decision: Decide for your body, not against it. For the body makes a wonderful friend, but a nightmarish and terrible "enemy." Make friends with it; it can be your best friend if you do not continue to abuse it.
Schedule regular periods of rest, relaxation, meditation, listening to quiet music, reading-- to be Priority One events. Everything else must come second. Insist, and do not give up, on cutting back on your cases.
(You will serve each client so much better.:)
These are not simply healthy suggestions. They are the results of personal intuition that tells me that your biophysical system is near the shattering-point. If this selfabuse continues, you will reap a nightmare whirlwind of karma. Some biological disasters can severely cripple you, and these are often irreversible or incurable. It is said that, if you do not listen to the gentle teacher, the harsh teacher stands just around the next corner; he holds a wooden four-by-four in this hands, and he is ready to smack you, hard, like a batter hitting a ball! But, right now, you can avoid much of the agony (and it is severe and unforgiving) of the harsh teacher by listening to the gentle teacher.
Trust. Have faith. You are not "indispensable." The cosmos continued just fine without your present form, for billions of years. After you leave the earth, it will continue for billions more. Do not follow the ego here, for it will lie and say to you, "You must keep doing all your work, for no one else can do it." Foolishness! Thousands of others can do it! And, in the short term, the cosmos is teaching you to delegate responsibility. For, ultimately, you are responsible for the spiritual success and growth into Love of one person only: And that is you. And you are failing the test!
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Sunday, February 24, 2008
Love and Life
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The majority of human beings has no experience with Love-- either that of friends or Love-partners.:) This ignorance is astonishing. You, like all the rest of us, are here to unravel the many and complex mysteries of "a crazy little thing called Love.":) Yes, it is hard and grueling work; we feel, at times, that it will drive us nuts! It does drive us-- but not nuts, but into the arms of everlasting Love. For all real human Love is also divine Love. We make these distinctions for convenience alone,
but Love cannot be meaningfully divided from Love. The Lover within you loves the clouds, mountains, and seashore; it is She who loves friends and others as well. We must all learn the difficult lessons of "getting out of Her way," and the art of "casting no shadows" in Her Light.
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The majority of human beings has no experience with Love-- either that of friends or Love-partners.:) This ignorance is astonishing. You, like all the rest of us, are here to unravel the many and complex mysteries of "a crazy little thing called Love.":) Yes, it is hard and grueling work; we feel, at times, that it will drive us nuts! It does drive us-- but not nuts, but into the arms of everlasting Love. For all real human Love is also divine Love. We make these distinctions for convenience alone,
but Love cannot be meaningfully divided from Love. The Lover within you loves the clouds, mountains, and seashore; it is She who loves friends and others as well. We must all learn the difficult lessons of "getting out of Her way," and the art of "casting no shadows" in Her Light.
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Can the English language survive Bush?
Thanks to Mick Gallagher.
Can the English language survive Bush?
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Can the English language survive Bush?
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The following are gems of intellect from the collected wisdom of george bush:
"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."
"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure. "
"One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'." "
"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."
"The future will be better tomorrow."
"We're going to have the best educated American people in the world. "
"I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."
"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe ."
"Public speaking is very easy."
"A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls. "
"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. "
"For NASA, space is still a high priority."
"Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."
" It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it. "
" It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."
The best for last - did you know that gwb could read upside down? (Hint: Note the book in his hand!:)
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The Allembracing Mind and Mystical Experience
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The "bliss, good; no bliss, also good" is the Taoist perspective that is being developed and consciously cultivated here: If, for example, you give permission to use your latest letter, that will be very good, and will help many!:) But if you do not, that will also be good!:) ("Good" comes always in two varieties: Yes and no, black and white, an event occurs or it doesn't.) It is up to each person to figure out how it is "good" when what she does not want happens!
But if, as all mysticsaints and masterteachers agree, the world is formed from a perfect (flawless, stainless) Mind, then it too must reflect a symmetric perfection.
Cultivating the "allembracing" mind, as the Buddha called it, is one of the most challenging tasks of a seeker of enlightenment. For it means embracing lovingly, not only those things that we, and our parents, love, but also those that are despised.
This means that the kitten and puppy are good, as everyone knows, but so is the rattlesnake. The butterfly is beautiful; and so is the tarantula.
Many things that we have been programmed to reject as "bad" or "ugly"
have hidden interior goodness, with concealed beauty.:) This includes, finally, even death.
As a society, we are at last starting to move towards the cusp of the realization that, as early Christians always said, death is good, not bad. For it is as natural as the dewdrop shimmering on the rose in a shining sunrise, as natural as breathing. And it leads to a world far superior to this one-- a world, not of broken bodies, but of minds only-- minds that project "lightbodies" as real as, and far more sensual than, these poor imitations now in use.
For when the current "game" is over, we shall slip from the "sheaths" of these forms, and soar beyond the clouds, into the Milky Way. This is the greatest adventure of any life.
But we are solidly, repeatedly, gruesomely taught to fear death. If we do fear death, a pale is cast over the bright flowers, and warm sunlight, of everyday life. But it is demanded that everyone approach death with sheer terror-- an odd perspective for a "Christian" nation. For the earliest Christians did not fear, but celebrated, their deaths. (In rather unhealthy extremism, this led to the philosophy of martyrdom.)
And the famous mystic Solomon wrote, "The day of one's death is better than the day of her birth."
*******
The "bliss, good; no bliss, also good" is the Taoist perspective that is being developed and consciously cultivated here: If, for example, you give permission to use your latest letter, that will be very good, and will help many!:) But if you do not, that will also be good!:) ("Good" comes always in two varieties: Yes and no, black and white, an event occurs or it doesn't.) It is up to each person to figure out how it is "good" when what she does not want happens!
But if, as all mysticsaints and masterteachers agree, the world is formed from a perfect (flawless, stainless) Mind, then it too must reflect a symmetric perfection.
Cultivating the "allembracing" mind, as the Buddha called it, is one of the most challenging tasks of a seeker of enlightenment. For it means embracing lovingly, not only those things that we, and our parents, love, but also those that are despised.
This means that the kitten and puppy are good, as everyone knows, but so is the rattlesnake. The butterfly is beautiful; and so is the tarantula.
Many things that we have been programmed to reject as "bad" or "ugly"
have hidden interior goodness, with concealed beauty.:) This includes, finally, even death.
As a society, we are at last starting to move towards the cusp of the realization that, as early Christians always said, death is good, not bad. For it is as natural as the dewdrop shimmering on the rose in a shining sunrise, as natural as breathing. And it leads to a world far superior to this one-- a world, not of broken bodies, but of minds only-- minds that project "lightbodies" as real as, and far more sensual than, these poor imitations now in use.
For when the current "game" is over, we shall slip from the "sheaths" of these forms, and soar beyond the clouds, into the Milky Way. This is the greatest adventure of any life.
But we are solidly, repeatedly, gruesomely taught to fear death. If we do fear death, a pale is cast over the bright flowers, and warm sunlight, of everyday life. But it is demanded that everyone approach death with sheer terror-- an odd perspective for a "Christian" nation. For the earliest Christians did not fear, but celebrated, their deaths. (In rather unhealthy extremism, this led to the philosophy of martyrdom.)
And the famous mystic Solomon wrote, "The day of one's death is better than the day of her birth."
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More Healing
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I have a thousand times read books such as those that emphasize "positive thinking," and they promise that the conscious mind can do anything! But I must politely disagree. Nevertheless, some of them have offered most valuable treasures of positivity!:)
Here is the simple truth: With some disorders-- perhaps karmic ones-- it simply does not really matter what you say or think! All the negativity in the world will not harm one if no karmic factors are involved. And this principle also works conversely.
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I have a thousand times read books such as those that emphasize "positive thinking," and they promise that the conscious mind can do anything! But I must politely disagree. Nevertheless, some of them have offered most valuable treasures of positivity!:)
Here is the simple truth: With some disorders-- perhaps karmic ones-- it simply does not really matter what you say or think! All the negativity in the world will not harm one if no karmic factors are involved. And this principle also works conversely.
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
Do We Respect and Love Animals?
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Most spiritual people would answer this inquiry with a clear affirmative!
Yet, we must ask ourselves, and try to be honest in this interior inventory, "Do I really love (and respect) animals?"
The answer might surprise you.
We all hate, and are repelled and revolted, by animaltorture, of course.
But we have all had this issue thrust in our faces due to the notorious, infamous abuse of cows practiced by a slaughterhouse in California. In that hell of a place, cows-- those too sick to move, or to walk-- were impaled by the tongs of forklift trucks; some were drowned by having water from hoses shot into their mouths and noses; others were beaten to death; others were electrocuted, or tortured by electrical prods; others were beaten senseless.
We can imagine our response if we heard of such atrocities occurring to our beloved dogs, or cats. But a cow is also a sentient being, with feelings. If you put a number of them in a field, they will congregate together, for they are quite gregarious. And they also have a kind of "Love" for each other, and especially for their young.
From the view of pure anatomy, the brain/nervousystem of this mammal is fairly high in the ranks of evolution. Compared to lower forms, this mammal has a wide spectrum of emotive responses.
So, she deserves a little respect. We need not go so far as some forms of Hindu tradition, which worship the form of this mammal, but we, as spiritual people, do owe respect to all "sentient" (selfaware) creatures.
We do respect some. We would not tolerate the widespread slaughter, for example, of horses. "That is ridiculous!" one might object. "They're just cows, for Godsake! You are just being silly when you suggest 'respect' for them!"
This is, in fact, the common attitude that dominates our backwards and primitive society. It actually makes the average person laugh, scornfully, to suggest such a "radical" thing as "respect" for cows! On the surface, due to our shared social programming, it does seem absurd!
But it is precisely this attitude-- that living things are not sacred, but are to be regarded, like blocks of wood, as "things," to be used and abused for human convenience, that led the workers at the slaughterhouse to practice animaltorture.
Animaltorture, almost all psychologists agree, is a form of insanity.
Indeed, the practice is regarded as a strong indicator of later sociopathy (absence of a conscience).
By stunning contrast, we, the people of Love, are the people of conscience. We can rely and depend upon our conscience to guide us, telling us the difference between right and wrong. Spiritual adult people do not depend upon holy books to form and direct their lives, but upon a Love-trained conscience.
The truth is, the sociopaths that practiced animaltorture were only a different degree, not a different kind, than the average person.
For the average person is a carnivore. And cows are killed, by the hundreds of thousands, every day, often in nightmarish,hellish ways, to provide the burgers and steaks of carnivores. Some slaughterhouses place electrical prods up the rectums of cows to electrocute them, for it is cheaper than any other way. ("Anything to save a buck.")
But do we not have the "right," as "superior" beings, to kill whatever creatures we want, in order to feed ourselves? Perhaps, if there were no proteinsources outside of meat, if we needed it to survive, this would be a justification.
But to make the situation clear, let us hypothesize that we encountered an alien race from space. Let us further suppose that they were way ahead of us in their evolution. Let us say that they were as far above human beings as we are above cows. And then, let us suppose that they wanted to create "human farms" where human beings could be reared to provide them with meat!
We would hit the roof! Would we not consider this incredibly hideous?
Would we not revolt? At that time, vegetarianism, for the higher life-forms, would no longer be an abstract or academic discussion, but would be a practical-- very highly practical-- issue of survival itself!
Well, I submit to you that it should never be reduced to an academic, abstract idea. The highest compassion should move us all to exercise the compassion on "lower" creatures that we would demand from higher beings!
*****
Most spiritual people would answer this inquiry with a clear affirmative!
Yet, we must ask ourselves, and try to be honest in this interior inventory, "Do I really love (and respect) animals?"
The answer might surprise you.
We all hate, and are repelled and revolted, by animaltorture, of course.
But we have all had this issue thrust in our faces due to the notorious, infamous abuse of cows practiced by a slaughterhouse in California. In that hell of a place, cows-- those too sick to move, or to walk-- were impaled by the tongs of forklift trucks; some were drowned by having water from hoses shot into their mouths and noses; others were beaten to death; others were electrocuted, or tortured by electrical prods; others were beaten senseless.
We can imagine our response if we heard of such atrocities occurring to our beloved dogs, or cats. But a cow is also a sentient being, with feelings. If you put a number of them in a field, they will congregate together, for they are quite gregarious. And they also have a kind of "Love" for each other, and especially for their young.
From the view of pure anatomy, the brain/nervousystem of this mammal is fairly high in the ranks of evolution. Compared to lower forms, this mammal has a wide spectrum of emotive responses.
So, she deserves a little respect. We need not go so far as some forms of Hindu tradition, which worship the form of this mammal, but we, as spiritual people, do owe respect to all "sentient" (selfaware) creatures.
We do respect some. We would not tolerate the widespread slaughter, for example, of horses. "That is ridiculous!" one might object. "They're just cows, for Godsake! You are just being silly when you suggest 'respect' for them!"
This is, in fact, the common attitude that dominates our backwards and primitive society. It actually makes the average person laugh, scornfully, to suggest such a "radical" thing as "respect" for cows! On the surface, due to our shared social programming, it does seem absurd!
But it is precisely this attitude-- that living things are not sacred, but are to be regarded, like blocks of wood, as "things," to be used and abused for human convenience, that led the workers at the slaughterhouse to practice animaltorture.
Animaltorture, almost all psychologists agree, is a form of insanity.
Indeed, the practice is regarded as a strong indicator of later sociopathy (absence of a conscience).
By stunning contrast, we, the people of Love, are the people of conscience. We can rely and depend upon our conscience to guide us, telling us the difference between right and wrong. Spiritual adult people do not depend upon holy books to form and direct their lives, but upon a Love-trained conscience.
The truth is, the sociopaths that practiced animaltorture were only a different degree, not a different kind, than the average person.
For the average person is a carnivore. And cows are killed, by the hundreds of thousands, every day, often in nightmarish,hellish ways, to provide the burgers and steaks of carnivores. Some slaughterhouses place electrical prods up the rectums of cows to electrocute them, for it is cheaper than any other way. ("Anything to save a buck.")
But do we not have the "right," as "superior" beings, to kill whatever creatures we want, in order to feed ourselves? Perhaps, if there were no proteinsources outside of meat, if we needed it to survive, this would be a justification.
But to make the situation clear, let us hypothesize that we encountered an alien race from space. Let us further suppose that they were way ahead of us in their evolution. Let us say that they were as far above human beings as we are above cows. And then, let us suppose that they wanted to create "human farms" where human beings could be reared to provide them with meat!
We would hit the roof! Would we not consider this incredibly hideous?
Would we not revolt? At that time, vegetarianism, for the higher life-forms, would no longer be an abstract or academic discussion, but would be a practical-- very highly practical-- issue of survival itself!
Well, I submit to you that it should never be reduced to an academic, abstract idea. The highest compassion should move us all to exercise the compassion on "lower" creatures that we would demand from higher beings!
*****
Friday, February 22, 2008
Starting a Pneumarium Group
*******
Life as a lifedesign consultant and psychospiritual advisor-- in short, a spiritual teacher-- has given meaning and purpose to life.
Start a Pneumarium! Remember that it takes only two people to start a regular Pneumarium. If the two of you meet regularly, and do not give up, in time, a third person will come, and then, a fourth.
If you like, you are free to use one of our books as a "guide to suggested ideas.":)
Remember that God treasures each one infinitely. One enlightened or Love-activated heart is equally important as ten thousand! Don't get caught in the "numbers game." God is disgusted with "megachurches" of thousands, because they so often actually help no one! They are much too busy helping, promoting, and supporting themselves. They are nothing but religious corporations and moneycollectors, and their leaders lust after fame and wealth, contrary to the Way of Jesus.
For Jesus met in small, even tiny, groups, and gave personal attention to whomever with whom he happened to speak. So, let us follow the humble Jesus, and treasure infinitely each and every heart. For it is much more important to share the cosmic Love of God with one heart than to share merely intellectual ideas with ten thousand.
*******
Life as a lifedesign consultant and psychospiritual advisor-- in short, a spiritual teacher-- has given meaning and purpose to life.
Start a Pneumarium! Remember that it takes only two people to start a regular Pneumarium. If the two of you meet regularly, and do not give up, in time, a third person will come, and then, a fourth.
If you like, you are free to use one of our books as a "guide to suggested ideas.":)
Remember that God treasures each one infinitely. One enlightened or Love-activated heart is equally important as ten thousand! Don't get caught in the "numbers game." God is disgusted with "megachurches" of thousands, because they so often actually help no one! They are much too busy helping, promoting, and supporting themselves. They are nothing but religious corporations and moneycollectors, and their leaders lust after fame and wealth, contrary to the Way of Jesus.
For Jesus met in small, even tiny, groups, and gave personal attention to whomever with whom he happened to speak. So, let us follow the humble Jesus, and treasure infinitely each and every heart. For it is much more important to share the cosmic Love of God with one heart than to share merely intellectual ideas with ten thousand.
*******
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