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When I was a child I spent a lot of time in the woods and creeks around my house. I had no playmates and whatever got done I did. I spent a lot of time in a kind of cave....sort of a washed out place where I could crawl into and see outside at both ends yet remain hidden. My first experience was there as I sat quietly and watched the squirrels play,the rabbits eat, the crows calling each other.....one of my favorite times was listening to the cardinals letting their peers know their territory boundaries and calling to each other. I guess some of my paganism came out because cardinals have a special place in the folklore of my people. But it was there I first heard the voice of angels............
It was there I first heard the guides talk to me......in the quiet of an early morning, alone, and in the midst of the creation.
I was fortunate because I went to a baptist church, we had a pastor who did several things very very right. First he believed that a period of silence was essential to any worship. He encouraged us to seek him in silence and meditation. Second, he separated the services between this meditation and quiet time and the sermon/lesson time. I am so grateful he never relied on the cheap and easy sermons of fear......."Do this or you will go to hell!"/"Do this and you are lost forever!" kind of crap. Instead he preached a God of love, of compassion, of acceptance.
To not really change the subject, but I know it might, I have attended churches today where there is no quiet time. They have a praise group singing and shouting and talking in tongues, then an associate pastor with a short sermon on giving, then a collection, then a pulpit pounder extorting the latest atrocity in Washington, or being fearful of the gay agenda, or being fearful of a mosque somewhere, or being fearful of Mormon missionaries, or being fearful of whatever the latest boogyman/gonna rule the world demon is. And there is no period of silence. There is no exhortation to seek God within. There is no effort to come close to the creator. there is no period of silence.
How are people, even church people, supposed to know God/the creator if there is no silence? It there is no moment in their religious life where they talk to the creator without cacophony?
Of all the problems besetting society today, this lack of silence, the inundation of noise, is the most fearful of all. The joy of turning the page on a captivating book, the sound a cardinal makes as it greets the sun, the wipporwill at twilight, the lightning bug illuminating a field by the thousands, a quiet time with the creator. We seem to be losing these things. And it is a loss our society can ill afford.
I'm glad you had a good start on the stillness when you were younger as that is when our minds are the most "flexable" and more willing to be open as we grow older.
Most churches now rely on the lip service rather that what is most important. The soul.
Back to the original topic of this thread, then....
What drives a person to spend money to follow the 'teachings' of a self-proclaimed 'master/guru' who offers no proof of credibility, is elusive to followers, has been accused of plagiarism, fear mongering, and is possibly a tax cheat?
I'm trying to understand the thought process of spiritual seekers who would even give this any consideration at all...or is it that they are simply desperate and not thinking at all, and unwilling to do their research?
Back to the original topic of this thread, then....
What drives a person to spend money to follow the 'teachings' of a self-proclaimed 'master/guru' who offers no proof of credibility, is elusive to followers, has been accused of plagiarism, fear mongering, and is possibly a tax cheat?
I'm trying to understand the thought process of spiritual seekers who would even give this any consideration at all...or is it that they are simply desperate and not thinking at all, and unwilling to do their research?
Broken promises. The one asking for the money is telling them that if they believe a certain way, they can guarantee their place in heaven for them. So, the masses join in on that one idea believing what that one person has told to be the truth. They forget that they actually have to do some work. They have to Love. It's just easier for them to take someones word and remain stagnate than to do the work and see where it takes them.
Thank God I never fell into that trap. I seek with all my heart to know the real instead of the fake. I have found this to be the most loving way to live. Just being and being love.
Superstition, gullibility, magical thinking, fear of the unknown and assorted mystical biases seem to drive people to either seek out some human Guru (guide, teacher, priest, pastor, Pope, etc.) to follow . . . or to shun the whole idea in FEAR. The ONLY teacher you can ever reach in meditation or devout prayer is God . . . in the form of His Holy Spirit (Jesus' human consciousness). There is NO OTHER Guru or teacher or Truth or Way or Path or Light or Life available to us than Jesus.WE DO NOT NEED ANY MAN TO TEACH US WHAT GOD HAS "WRITTEN IN OUR HEARTS."This is a fact of the design of our reality and is NOT a choice we get to make. God calls . . . NOT us . . . we accept. We just have to sincerely seek and be open. When will our species be mature enough to seek God on our own and listen to the Holy Spirit within . . . and not a bunch of human manipulators and money grubbers.
Sorry for the rant . . . my meditations have been disrupted by negative transients lately.
So you're saying that we dont need someone to direct us in the right direction? Ok, but doesnt this post alone contredict that? That means you think we should also get rid of churches, priests, pastors and all religious figures.
I am sorry, but your idea of "god" is wrong. I am wondering if you believe in Christ as well? if you do and fallow his teachings, you are fallowing a guru(master).
I would love to explain how your views on god are wrong, but it would take too long for this post. If interested send me a pm.
So you're saying that we dont need someone to direct us in the right direction? Ok, but doesnt this post alone contredict that? That means you think we should also get rid of churches, priests, pastors and all religious figures.
God has "Written in our hearts" all we need to know and since Jesus' death and rebirth as Spirit . . . we have His Holy Spirit to guide us within our consciousness.
Quote:
I am sorry, but your idea of "god" is wrong. I am wondering if you believe in Christ as well? if you do and fallow his teachings, you are fallowing a guru(master).
I would love to explain how your views on god are wrong, but it would take too long for this post. If interested send me a pm.
Tell you what . . . you read these and then get back to me.
I am sorry, but your idea of "god" is wrong. I am wondering if you believe in Christ as well? if you do and fallow his teachings, you are fallowing a guru(master).
I would love to explain how your views on god are wrong, but it would take too long for this post. If interested send me a pm.
hmmm...
a very black and white judgement about someone else's idea of god being wrong.
Why does that send up a red flag with me?
<p.s. fallow is uncultivated land... get a dictionary before you publish such judgements.>
God has "Written in our hearts" all we need to know and since Jesus' death and rebirth as Spirit . . . we have His Holy Spirit to guide us within our consciousness.Tell you what . . . you read these and then get back to me.
You still haven't answered the question in your own words - why did you need to post that which we allegedly already have in our hearts?
The Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao...
Those posts are in my own words. That which can be spoken points to the validity of the goal.
No, that which can be spoken, without offering concrete proof, merely reflects the speaker's opinion and in no way points to any valid conclusions.
So I ask again - why do you need to verbalize that which is already in our hearts? Defense of your faith? Fine. Attempt to convince others? Faulty logic.
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Ancient truth...
