Even after reading the first page I don't know what kind of "honesty" this blogger attributes to that person. If I behaved like that person and made a guru responsible for my spiritual development, while making foolish pranks on other people and contemplating cheating them out of their money, what is supposed to happen? A "reward" by God or the universe or whatever?

Every tool for self-insight ever developed by mankind cannot work if you are not honest to yourself.

Of course it does perfectly fit to the general Alternet attitude to mash up any kind of spiritual interest and bash them altogether. Intellectual maturity does look different than that.

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The writer of this piece is being perfectly honest as long as he is seeking his personal identity and his relationship to the universe.

The best one-liner about all this is Marx's "religion is the opiate of the masses.."

But I sympathize with religion as a source of solace "that should only be abolished until the sources of people’s pain— an unfair economic system — had been eradicated." (Marx)

The best way "discuss" "religion" is with no talk at all, in the manner of the ancient teachers of Zen.

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There are people we could call “spiritual collectors” or “spiritual butterflies”. They collect spiritual experiences, old religions and new age movements like postage stamps, like a butterfly going from flower to flower. They are likely to miss the true experience as one more piece of their collection, because if it were easy or obvious to know where truth is and which is a true prophet or guru, then the whole game of creation, man and seeking and finding God be impossible. Many try drugs, despite Ram Dass warning in Be Here Now that psychedelic drugs are not the way: if it were, then people like Buddha and Jesus would have recommended them. Prem Rawat also said it: “you cannot find yourself with drugs, you can only lose yourself”

Psychedelic drugs, alcohol and intoxicants open the door to entities, evil spirits, or perhaps not so evil spirits, just ignorant dead who crave for sensory pleasures of the body they can no longer feel in the astral body, like sex, food, alcohol, etc. and are constantly looking for a “door” to this world. These entities access your subconscious and stay there as “bad company” (in the words of Yogananda), and plant thoughts and decisions on the victim’s consciousness that the victim takes for his own, while they are induced, a process ignored by the victim. We might call this “astral parasites”, very similar to the body parasites, an independent organism that lives in our bodies without our noticing them and live through us. Most people who open the door o their consciousness to an entitiy can never close it again in the same lifetime and remain a kind of “astral slaves” with the difference that a normal slave knows he is a slave, but an astral slave ignores it.

Many think “spiritist” and “spiritual” are the same or similar things, as the name is similar, so they try this directly with ouija boards, seances, etc. Spiritism is contact with the dead, no matter which fashionable modern or new age name you want to give it like “channeling”, etc. People think if someone does not look like the girl in the exorcist then there is nothing. Influence through astral entities can range from zero percent to a very high percentage. We might consider possession by entities is when the influence is over 51 %, so many people we all know are influenced by entities. The fastest growing “spiritual” experience in the West seems to be spiritism, which people do not consider dangerous. But it is. Thinking that contact with spirits is spiritual is like the joke of a man who booked a “spiritual” holiday, when he got there he saw everybody drunk, and when he asked why is this “spiritual” they answered: “What do you think we are drinking? Spirits!”

There are little statues found in India which are four or five thousand years old representing a yogi sitting in lotus meditation position with the mark of the “third eye” in the forehead. Yoga, the science of religion, seems to be the oldest science. It is the origin of all religions. Yogis travelled to all of Asia as Buddhist missionaries and Buddhism was taught in Egypt and Greece before Christ. Abraham, or A-Brahm owes his name to a name of god in India, Brahma or Brahm. The Menorah Jewish symbol with 7 candles comes from the 7 chakras. Abraham learned yoga from yogis that came to Babylon from India. The same 7 chakras are the 7 seals the soul must break to ascend to God in the book Revelation or Apocalypse.

Sorry for the long post. I need a second one.

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Jesus travelled to India and Tibet from 14 to 29 years old, and learned and practiced yoga with the highest lamas, gurus and yogis, and after achieving the highest degree of spiritual evolution was given the spiritual title of Krishna or Christ (same origin and meaning), the highest spiritual achievement. Yogananda say the highest beings have been Krishna in the East and Jesus in the West. Then he went to Palestine and taught yoga and meditation in private to the 12 apostles. The bible has many references to yoga, which have been misinterpreted by the Christian scholars who interpreted the bible and formed 90 % of Christian doctrine, 300 to 500 years after Christ. They could not possibly know yoga. Read http://reluctant-messenger.com/aquarian_gospel.htm

If you are also a seeker, as we are all in one way or the other, we all look for happiness and peace, (in that order usually, while it should be first peace then happiness) then read “The Second Coming of Jesus the Christ” and “The Baghavad Gita” (God speaks to Arjuna) by “Paramahansa Yogananda” (http://www.yogananda-srf.org/scoc/index.html). Then you will understand the Bible for the first time. And if you want to look for truth, then 1) you have to be completely honest with yourself. 2) get rid of your false pride and ego as much as possible. Over a certain ego size you will never find. Yoga saying: “The door to truth is very low, nobody can pass with a high head”. And 3) keep on until you find. Jesus said “Knock and the door will open”. He did not say how long. Seek until you find. Jesus also said God is within us, not in any building belonging to any church or religion. Prem Rawat may also help (http://nl.maharaji.net/). The Bhagavad Gita quotes God saying “When I take a human form fools never recognize me”. Rather than “fools” perhaps we may say the arrogant, the insincere, and those having only superficial intellectual curiosity but not a deep thirst for God will never find.

The University of Rotterdam (and others) have now scientific proof, after their bio-psychology department carrid out research with meditators and non-meditators, with EEG graphics and CT Scan pictures, that meditators that have prcticed for long (many years) have more alpha waves, better concentration and more control over negative reactions and emotions. Yogananda says meditation starts to change the brain and mind from the first day, but the effect is not felt at conscious level for “some” time. "Some" time, in yoga, may mean many years.

Good luck, brothers.

With love from a seeker who found. And sorry for the long posts.

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this won't be off topic.

No Attacks Since When?

If there remains any justice in this nation, let history show that the only thing this administration was actually good at was fabricating its own version of reality. They've failed at everything else and then made up stuff to obfuscate those failures.

His main points are attacking Peggy Noonan and plugging his book, insider stuff, but I hope it doesn't get lost on people that the attacks never stopped. They were just defined as civic acts of safety.

We have had many attacks, this financial threatening is only the latest. Right before that the oil prices, before that, housing, jobs, diseases, food safety, etc... they go on and on, one shock after another.

Don't think the torture revelations wasn't a big shock? It was, many of us still have not gotten over it. But they are deliberate about it so they have conditioning shows on TV. The MTV type degradation of women and blacks has been coddled along for years. The Republican TV values have been horrifically degrading to women and minorities.

The white judges judge that the white men in power should have the right to degrade women and blacks pretty much in any way they want. It is stare decisis.

One shock after another... Just think of the blow they can deliver by shutting down the auto industry...

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Since man first experienced a thunder storm he has wondered at the majesty of it all.When you look back to the beginnings of any religion you find a morality play or someone using fear of the unknown to control a population.They all share a common desire to allow a people to thrive and survive in a hostile and confusing world.The creation stories of most religions are just rehashes of stories passed down through time.These were just people.The deities were just people that could accomplish things that mystified an ancient people.That or a godlike creation of some holy man who probably spent days fasting before consuming a hand full of some kind of drug.That people are still bowing and scraping to some magical being is sad.The fact that they think their magical being is and makes them superior to everyone else is pathetic.If any of these profits showed up today they'd be locked up in an asylum.I have no problem with anyone believing whatever they need to get through the day.I only marvel at their belief that they have the right to tell others how to behave or what to eat or drink or smoke.More people have died horrible deaths in the name of countless deities.Enough already.

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Gods, religions, the whole supernatural schtick is the bunk. Period. For those who seek for something beyond the material universe-- which should be awesome enough in itself to satisfy anybody’s need for mystery and wonder-- I know of a couple of bridges you can buy real cheap. One’s in Alaska and it doesn’t go anywhere (and how Zen is that?), and the other is in Brooklyn.

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Joining a cult, flapping your arms, or speaking in tongues are not ways to find God. We need to look within, a seemingly simple task, but one with profound consequences, if you look deeply and honestly. Then, after looking within, you need to act, for a person's religiosity is not separate from his/her actions.

Again, it sounds simple, but looking within and then acting decently and charitably are not easy acts. The ones who truly succeed--well, we call them "saints."

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Without an innate sense of wonder, nothing fills the void.

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I found this article to be funny but it also invoked a feeling of pathos. It is so typical of our consumerist society that a man would spent forty years looking outside himself for something to fill the void within.

Having said that, let me add that I don't have any definitive answers. I have not found "it." However, I think I have found some clues. They are in a biblical text that you will not find in the bible. It is called the Gospel According to St. Thomas. Anyone who cares to can find the history and full text of this "book" on the internet.

The first bit I find particularly relevant to this article is Thomas verse 3 where Jesus says:

"...the Kingdom of God is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty, and it is you who are that poverty."

The second bit is Thomas verse 77 where Jesus said:

"I am the light that shines over all things. I am everywhere. From me all came forth, and to me all return. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there."

These two verses tell me that I should be looking for peace within myself and for heaven on earth. But then, that's just me. To paraphrase the Buddha, "To each his own."

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30 years ago I had the experience this man was seeking. And for 30 years I have slowly been understanding what that means. But I wasn't seeking the experience at the time. I was however in a very tight spot (that's another story). One of the things I have noticed is that God is not for sale. Anyone trying to make a living selling God is just trying to make a living and nothing else. If they ask for money walk away. We need religions so that people can progress at their own speed. They too will reach a point someday when religion is no longer needed (for them). It becomes a problem when they think it would be good for everyone.

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prejudice, sexism, homophobia, hate, etc. on this planet.
If you believe in some kind of all powerful god do you really need to pay some church in order to commune with him/her/it?

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GOD IS SEVERELY PUNISHING AMERICA TO ETERNAL DAMNATION FOR BEING A GREEDY PIGSHIT AND A RESOURCE PLUNDERER AND GOING TO RECKLESS WARS FOR FINITE RESOURCES JUST TO KEEP THE YANKEE SELF-RELIANT CONSUMERISTS COMPLETELY DELUDED ! AND TO THE MAFIA SHOPPERS WHO KILLED THAT 34 YEAR OLD, GOD WILL PUNISH YOU EVEN MORE AND YOU DESERVE THE DEATH PENALTY !!!! AND TO HELL WITH ALL YOU FASCIST GUN TOTING TERRORISTS WHO ARE EMPOWERING THE ELITES AND THE MILITANTS HERE AND AROUND THE WORLD !!

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All gurus, priests, popes rabbis, reverends, ministers, mullahs are frauds peddling superstition and lies because all religion is a lie.

There is no god, no higher power. God is Santa Claus for adults. No heaven, no hell.

The rational mind rejects superstition and those who use superstition as a tool for manipulation.
Woman Rebel, No gods, no masters.

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Aw....seems like the greatest addiction/religion of all is whatever increases the adrenaline level to the body/mind/spirit connectors.

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What else is required of us but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?

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It boggles my mind what people will believe, try this one on for size (with links), Is Obama the Antichrist … Or the Messiah? and tell me what you think of it.

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Oh for crying out loud. Are these people seeking spiritual enlightenment or are they just plain nuts?

Flapping your arms like a chicken is decent exercise and probably quite fun if you are in the proper mood. But a pathway to God?

For me, reading articles like this validates my atheism.

Luv,
granny

Granny's crazy videos = Go get a chuckle!

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There is no god. Experience of the "spiritual world" is nothing more than the short circuiting of the brain due to mental illness, ingestion of hallucinogens, or sensory deprivation. Frantic shuttling from one religious ritual to the next, as described by the author, is futile. It is time to give up. Only then have you found something.

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The entire story of Christianity has been recycled throughout recorded human history in almost exact detail featuring numerous different "gods". All these gods are mythical and represent the sun.

"Myth of Religion; The Solar Messiahs God's Sun Christ Horus" is a Youtube video extract from http://zeitgeistmovie.com/

Youtube Video

Although I had completely rejected religion, I still believed that Jesus Christ existed as a human being until around 5 years ago when I read the book "The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold" by Acharya S

It is completely possible to reject religion and yet maintain a belief in God. It comes down to how you personally define God. I don't personally accept the concept of God being external to the Universe and controlling it - so if that is your definition of God - then I don't believe in God.

God is more a state of mind.

Altered states of mind are endemic throughout human history and achieved by numerous different techniques including music, chanting, dancing, meditation and hallucinogenics.

Some may consider such states of mind - which can be exceedingly powerful experiences - as revelations of God - whilst others will consider them to be a state of psychosis or mild schizophrenia. I believe altered mental states are the primary reason that human beings have maintained beliefs in God, Religion and Spirituality throughout recorded history.

Altered Mental States can be extremely pleasurable - as if you have become a part of God - or touched by God - so it is not surprising that human beings endeavour to reproduce these states - by for example going to Church - or going to see a Rock Band.

However, I personally cannot explain all my spiritual life experiences purely as a kind of mental illusion. For example, I have multiple real life experiences - where prayer not only worked but appeared to do in an almost miraculous way - positively affecting other human beings.

I don't believe it is possible to communicate with the dead - and I don't believe that evil spirits can invade people's minds. They can certainly appear to invade people's minds - and exorcism may appear to work. Its probably preferable to ECT for the religiously afflicted.

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Around the age of 14 I became a die hard atheist because I could not believe a kind loving God was allow the abuse I endured at the hands of my guardians where I was beaten with iron pokers, broom handles, and I still carry more than 50 scars on my arms where I was burned with cigarettes.

Then in 1996 I had an OBE (Out of Body Experience) that showed me in no uncertain terms that our bodies are mortal, but our essence (soul if you will) is far GREATER than most people have any clue. I was already a Zhan Zhuang Qigong master, and knew that our lifeforce could do things many people believe is impossible.

After my glimpse into what we really are; I dedicated the rest of my life to being an energy healer, and helping others awaken to who and what they really are.

I have received the title master in seven other disciplines. I also read four different translations of the bible (KJV, NASB, NIV, and the Living Bible) cover to cover. I also read many other scriptures such as the Q'uran. Bhagavad Gita, Hindu vedas, Buddhist sutras, and other scriptures. I also studied Taoism, and the Kabbalah; (but the more I studied the Kabbalah the more confused I became. There are at least four different versions of the Kabbalah, and they contradict one another. There is the real Kabbalah taught by Rabbis, then there is the occult kabbalah practised ny Dion Fortune (SP), Alister Crowley, etc. then there is the new age Kabbalah expressed by new age authors like Ted Andrews, and others, then there is the kabbalah taught by Yehuda and Michael Berg at the Kabbalah center (the kabbalah for spiritual babies.

All of my searching came crashing down around my ears when I noticed marked similarities in most of the world's religions.

The two things that brought spirituality into focus for me was

1. Cultures all over the world discovered their lifeforce energy. Often called akasha, ch'i, ki, itaki, mana, manitou, prana, Reiki, windhorse, and hundreds of other names.

2. Cultures all over the world, and even science is realizing there are three parts of the soul. Here are some of the examples I found.

a. The Kabbalah calls the three parts of the soul Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshammah.

b. Mongolian Shamanism calls them the Ami, Suns and Suld.

c. Lakota Shamans call then the Nagi, Nagapi, and Tunkashila

d. Freudian psychology called them the Id, Ego, and Super Ego.

e Christianity talks of the trinity

f. modern psychology calls then Sub Conscious, Conscious, and Super Conscious minds. In 2001 science discovered that human beings have two physical brains. One is the mass of neurons and synapses between your ears. The OTHER physical brain in the body is located in the solar plexus. In the solar plexus above and behind the stomach is a ganglia of other neurons and synapses. This second brain receives oxygen and nutrients via the Celiac artery. Science calls this second brain the ANS (Autonomic Nervous System). If you want to verify this do a keyword search on Google or other search engine for neurons solar plexus or ANS.


g. In Max Freedom Long's vision of Huna they are called Unihipili, Uhane, and 'Aumakua.

h. The Dreuds used the symbol "The Three Drops of Awen" to sumbolize three levels of consciousness combined into one cohesive whole.

I. The Celtic people used the Tryskelle another symbol representing Three in one.

So I waded into the abyss of all of the garbage I thought about myself, all of the lies my guardians, and authority figures told me was true and got rid of the trash.

continued

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"If you seek enlightenment diligently, soon enough someone will sell it to you."

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When you seek god you are admitting that you are not there already. You automatically separate yourself. Seeking is separation. Quit looking and be it.

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If you want to debase yourself with the myth du jour, knock yourself out, just don't get in my face with your revelations and/or epiphanies, or try to sway me to your way of "thinking". If you were a thinking person, you wouldn't be the way you are.

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How utterly boring to read one more piece on Alternet about this topic. Why not just have the headline every day: "95% of the human race is delusional because they believe in invisible things"?

You know what: we don't care if you share our cosmology. All most of us are interested in, at least those of us who read your website, si whether you are interested in being allies for justice. The glib, sophomoric comments are a big excuse for doing nothing. Here in the town where I live, it's the churches and the synagogues that get off their asses and help people in trouble. I don't agree with all of their approaches, but they are building houses, providing food, advocating for just social policy. What have you done lately?

The left is a dead force precisely because it is more interested in being right about the universe (who knows, maybe you're all right, and there is no God) than in being engaged with its own neighborhood.

It doesn't have to be this way. You have fallen hook line and sinker for the wedge strategy invented by the GOP in the 70's: split the left along religious lines. It worked: you despise anyone who believes in God, and thus people who believe in God have stopped looking to you as allies. So the left is a shell of its former self. Happy?

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After years of reading chanting, meditation, praying, fasting in the search for our hire power
I have discovered that the emptiness within us is the place where God lives inside of us.....

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for all of this time, at least the last eight years I thought George W. Bush was God - the ONE TRUE GOD! Like "WOW" man.

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Every genuine religious tradition in the world teaches that God’s names are holy and meant to be glorified. The Bible contains numerous references to glorifying God and His holy name. (Exodus 15:3; Deuteronomy 32:2-3; I Chronicles 16:8-36; Psalms 29:2, 47:1, 86:11, 91:14, 96:1-3, 97:12, 98:4-6, 113:3, 116:1-17, 146:1, 148:1-5, 13)

The Lord and His name are praised throughout the Psalms. "I will praise the name of God with a song," says King David. (Psalm 69:30) In other places we read: "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord: and shall glorify Thy name." (Psalm 86:9)

"O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him: talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name." (Psalms 105:1-4) "...Praise Him with the timbrel and the dance; praise Him upon the loud cymbals." (Psalm 150:4-5)

Israel Baal Shem Tov (1699-1761), the great Jewish mystic, founded Hasidism, a popular pietist movement within Judaism, in which members dance and chant in glorification of God. The Hasidism were especially influenced by verses in Psalms calling for the joyful worship of the Lord through song. (Psalms 100:1,2, 104:33)

According to The Jewish Almanac: "In the Jewish tradition the name actually partakes of the essence of God. Thus, knowledge of the name is a vehicle to God, a conveyor of divine energy, an interface between the Infinite and the finite...It is curious that a tradition that places such a strong emphasis on the One God possesses such a large number of names for the divine. Each name, however, actually represents a different quality or aspect of God."

When teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus Christ glorified God’s holy name: "Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name." (Matthew 6:9) Jesus also approved of his disciples’ singing joyfully in praise of God. (Luke 19:36-40) Of his own name, Jesus said: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there with them." (Matthew 18:20) The apostle Paul told his gentile followers to speak to one another in psalms and hymns, to sing heartily and make music to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:19) He further taught them to instruct and admonish one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. (Colossians 3:16)

Paul wrote to his gentile congregation in Rome: "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) According to the historian Eusebius, there was "one common consent in chanting forth the praises of God," in the early Christian churches. The Gregorian chants, popularized in the sixth century by Pope Gregory and later by works like Handel’s masterpiece the Messiah, with its resounding choruses of "hallelujah" (which means "praised be the name of God" in Hebrew), are still performed and appreciated all over the world.

In addition to praising the Lord’s name and glories through music, song, and dance, there has also emerged the practice of meditating upon God by chanting upon beads of prayer. St. John Chrysostom of the Greek Orthodox church, recommended the "prayerful invocation of the name of God," which he said should be "uninterrupted."

The repetition of the Jesus prayer ("Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me") became a regular practice among members of the Eastern Church. In The Way of a Pilgrim, a Russian monk describes this form of meditation: "The continuous interior prayer of Jesus is a constant, uninterrupted calling upon the divine name of Jesus with the lips, in the spirit, in the heart...One who accustoms himself to this appeal experiences...so deep a consolation and so great a need to offer the prayer always, that he can no longer live without it."

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"Perhaps you’ve heard about Hesychasm, a technique of mantra meditation that was employed by Christians as far back as the third century after Christ," says the Reverend Alvin Hart, an Episcopalian priest in New York. "The method was the simple chanting of ‘the Jesus prayer,’ which runs like this: ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon me.’ I personally have found great comfort in this mantra."

According to Reverend Hart, "Although it was recently popularized by the New Age movement...’the Jesus Prayer’ has a long and venerable tradition in the Philokalia, an important book on Christian mysticism. The word Philokalia literally means ‘the love of spiritual beauty,’ and I can say that the book definitely brings its readers to that level of appreciation...

Reverend Hart says, "When we call on God—and we should learn how to do this at every moment, even in the midst of our day-to-day work—we should be conscious of Him, and then our prayer will have deeper effects, deeper meaning. This, I know, is the basic idea of Krishna Consciousness. In the Christian tradition, too, we are told to ALWAYS pray ceaselessly. This is a biblical command. (I Thessalonians 5:17)

"In a sense, this could also be considered the heart of the Christian process as well. For instance, in the Latin Mass, before the Gospel is read, there is a prayer spoken by the priest: dominus sit in corde meo et in labiis meis, which means, ‘May the Lord be in my heart and on my lips.’ What better way is there to have God on one’s lips than by chanting the holy name? Therefore, the Psalms tell us that from ‘the rising of the sun to its setting’ the Lord’s name is to be praised. And Paul echoes this idea by telling us that ‘whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (Romans 10:13)"

In Islam, the names of God are held sacred and meditated upon. According to tradition, there are ninety-nine names of Allah, found inscribed upon monuments such as the Taj Mahal and on the walls of mosques. These names are chanted on an Islamic rosary, which consists of three sets of thirty-three beads.

The Sikh religion is a blend of Hinduism and Islam. The Sikhs emphasize the name of God, calling Him "Nama," or "the Name." Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, prayed, "In the ambrosial hours of the morn I meditate on the grace of the true Name," and says that he was instructed by God in a vision to "Go and repeat My Name, and cause others to do likewise."

Rosaries are used in Buddhism. Members of Japan’s largest Buddhist order, the Pure Land sect, practice repetition of the name of the compassionate Buddha ("namu amida butsu"). Founder, Shinran Shonin says, "The virtue of the Holy Name, the gift of him that is enlightened, is spread throughout the world." Followers believe that through the name of Buddha a worshipper is liberated from repeated birth and death and joins the Buddha in the "Pure Land."

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Reincarnation IS compatible with Christianity. The NT describes one as a spirit, entangled in a body of flesh. The NT distinguishes between the carnal and the spiritual. “It is the Spirit that giveth the body life,” taught Jesus, “the flesh profit nothing.” (John 6:63) Paul taught Jesus had both an earthly and a spiritual nature (Rom. 1:3), and referred to his own spiritual self. (Rom. 1:9)

The spirit is a prisoner to sin and the flesh in a body doomed to death. (Rom. 7:18-24) Christians are to behave in a spiritually, rather than in a fleshly way. (Rom. 8:4; 13:14; I Peter 2:11) The desires of the Spirit and those of the flesh are opposed to one another. (Gal. 5:13,16-17) Christians have “crucified the flesh with its passions and desires;” they “live by the Spirit” and are “directed by the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:19-26)

To be carnally minded is to die. One must transcend one's lower, bodily nature. (Rom. 8:5-14) Saving the spirit of an individual differs from the destruction of the person’s flesh. (I Cor. 5:5)

God’s kingdom is not carnal, but spiritual: “...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither does the perishable inherit the imperishable...For this perishable must put on imperishability and this mortal must put on immortality. (I Cor. 15:50,53)

The body is like a lump of clay. (Rom. 9:21; II Cor. 4:7) The body decays, but the self is renewed in spiritual life. (II Cor. 4:16-17) The body is a temporary tent in which the spirit resides; the spirits of the faithful will soon be clothed in everlasting, heavenly bodies. (II Cor. 5:1-3) The spirit resides inside a body of flesh. (II Cor. 10:3) To identify with the body is to be absent from the Lord. (II Cor. 5:8-10)

Paul wrote of being “caught up as far as the third heaven...whether in the body or out of the body I do not know...” (II Cor. 12:2-3)

Being with Christ differs from remaining “in the body;” one’s self is separate from the physical body. (Philippians 1:21-24) Christians are to set their sights on heavenly, not earthly things, and to put to death their earthly nature. (Col. 3:1-5)

The flesh decays, but the word of God is eternal. (I Peter 2:23-25) To love this world is to alienate oneself from God’s love, because the passions of this world are temporary. (I John 2:15-17) This world belongs to the devil (II Cor. 4:4); this present world is evil (Gal. 1:4).

God rewards each individual according to his deeds. (Rom. 2:6) One reaps what one sows. (II Cor. 9:6; Gal. 6:7) Some souls remain entangled in decaying flesh, while others turn to the Spirit. “The one who sows for his own flesh will harvest ruin from his flesh; while the one who sows for the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.” (Gal. 6:8)

A kernel of spirit is placed in a body:

“...God gives it a body as He plans, and to each seed its particular body. All flesh is not the same; but one kind is human, another is animal, another is fowl, and another fish.” (I Cor. 15:38-39) The NT also distinguishes between earthly bodies and heavenly bodies. “There are heavenly bodies and also earthly bodies; but the radiance of the heavenly is one kind and that of the earthly is another kind.” (I Cor. 15:40)

Resurrection in the NT is not the reassembling of dust into living bodies, but rather, the clothing of the spirit with a new body; the placing of a kernel of spirit into a new body, from where its existence continues.

The NT emphasizes the distinction between the soul and the body, the clothing of the soul with a new body, and the eternal nature of the soul and its relationship to God versus the temporary nature of the flesh and the material world. These concepts can all be found in the doctrine of reincarnation.

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FEELING GOOD
I loved the feeling at church camp when we all swayed back and forth, arms around each other, singing Jesus songs. I feel the same feeling when I hold a baby in my arms, have a small animal put it's head trustingly on my shoulder, or watch the leaves fall from the trees like snowflakes.

That "religious moment" feeling is just that, a feeling - that can be had if you look at the world in wonderment, allow yourself to experience and be in the moment in beauty. Very hippy, I know. And all this without drugs.

BEING GOOD
Nobody wants to be a victim, so we have laws, and nobody wants to be really offended, so we have some social, unwritten laws (don't pick your nose or fart in front of others).

I think people are naturally good - and without religion, we would still take care of each other and do good because as a tribe, community, family, we thrive only as well as the rest. Nobody wants to see themselves neglected, so we should not neglect others. Have you seen the videos of dogs rescuing people - not their owners, and especially, the dog rescuing the dog off the highway?

I don't do good or NOT do bad because I fear punishment in the afterlife. I actually feel a little distrustful of people who need a weekly reminder to be good and why. I do good because that is what I want everyone to do - the right thing. Of course, that is subjective, but that is where the RATIONAL part comes in.

No gods, no monsters, indeed. I am not afraid of the dark (used to fear ghosts). Just dark parking lots in bad neighborhoods (where people out of desperation & survival may rob me). And dark woods, where a real live creature that might be hungry might get me.

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Many people have discussed and debated the problem of evil being in this world if God is Good, Omnipotent, and Omniscient.

The answer came to be God cannot intervene because it denies humankind Free Will.


There is no such thing as Free Will. We are already Slaves.


We are composed of two things, our genetics taken from the sperm and egg of our parents, and our environment which is made up of experiences and molecules absorbed by the body in a chronologically linear way.

We had no choice over our genetics. Science has shown genetics have an incredibly powerful effect in determining our attributes, likes, dislikes, physical features, etc.

We also had no choice over our environment. When we were all growing in the womb, we had no choice over the chemicals we were exposed to, nutrients we fed on, no choice at all.

By the time we got out of the womb, and started to grow up, our likes and dislikes, attributes, etc were already determined by our genetics and previous environmental experience.


We are slaves to our genetics and environmental experiences, they determine the decisions we make when faced with new choices.


If God were to intervene to prevent evil, he would not be denying us Free Will, he would be making us slaves to his will for the specific choices he intervenes in. Either way we don't have Free Will, either way we our decisions are inevitably determined by forces outside our control.


There is no Good, Omnipotent, Omniscient God. The God of the bible, the torah, the koran, etc, does not exist.

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While I thought the review of my book was humorous and insightful, I would like to make clear that in selecting the most outrageous moments to quote out of context, the blogger managed to reduce what for me was quite a serious and deep spiritual quest to a parody of itself. (For example, trust me, I never tried to peddle Chicken Sqawking Therapy to unsuspecting spiritual seekers! The book makes that clear. And I received no royalty payments from the book which sold 40,000 copies, and which was not a case of my "making shit up," but was actually a pouring out of whatever I thought would be genuinely helpful to people, albeit written at the tender age of 27, nearly 3 decades ago.) I would hope readers of this blog would at least reserve judgment until reading the book, which I've been told many times has been not merely a funny and entertaining experience for readers, but more often than not, a moving and inspirational one as well.
Thanks!
Eliezer Sobel
www.the99thmonkey.com

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And maybe it takes longer than a couple months to discover what it is about.

There's a song that Joan Baez sang that goes "Be not too hard, for life is short, and nothing is given to man." It's a beautiful folk song, and in its essence, it's true.

We are left to contemplate the mysteries of God, in whatever manner speaks to us the best. There are no answers, only the product of man's gazing, listening, attending, throughout the ages.

Therapies and cures for fear and alone-ness are secular.

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Over a dreamland
there's the sound
of a delicate
sadness, and over
the way there's
a light that
invites you to
discover the sun.

Francesco Sinibaldi

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...that humans are social animals? That we survive only in groups, supporting each other, the strengths of some filling in for the weaknesses of others? Or has everyone in the USA totally bought into the "free and individual" nonsense that is constantly preached to us by those who use it to lead us around by the nose?

Karl Marx said, "Religion is the opium of the people." I saw graffiti on a wall in Rome that said, in English, "Communism is the opium of the people." In America, you could just as well say, "Freedom is the opium of the people." Or perhaps "democracy" or "material possessions" or "a warm house, a TV set, and the Internet."

Ultimately, we're all doing what it looks like we're doing, not what we say we're doing, and it looks like we're just trying to be part of a human group that provides a better chance of survival in a hostile world, "to cure myself of terror," as Sobel was quoted at the end of the article. And that's what religion is, or government, or the company you work for, the sports team, the Boy Scouts, your lodge, family, community, etc. You can find things to criticize in any one of them, but your chances of survival are seriously lessened without one or more of them. And your survival becomes irrelevant without them.

So, "O-bama, Hey-bama, 'Bama, 'Bama, O! 'Bama-hey, 'Bama-O, 'Bama. Hey, B.O., B.O, won't you give me a 'Yo!' 'Bama-O, Bama-hey, Superstar!" From the soon-to-be-produced musical, "Barack Obama, Superstar."

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God is what we don't understand.

In the past it was Thunder Storms, earthquakes, the sun rising and setting, disease, crops growing (or failing to grow), etc., etc.

As our knowledge grew, the number of things that people (well, educated people, anyway)attributed to GOD diminished.

The problem is that religions want things to remain static (ever notice how many religions talk about "God's unchanging word"?) even though things are changing all around them as we achieve greater and greater understanding.

Add the fact that religion is constantly used as a way to manipulate people as well as to achieve and maintain power, and it becomes obvious that the central core of religion is NOT what's best for mankind as a whole or finding TRUTH, but in benefiting the people in power in the religions - and their political pals.

We've all believed stuff that isn't true...monsters under the bed, Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. Heck, for thousands of years people believed the sun revolved around the earth, the world was flat and other outlandish ideas - even that epilepsy was caused by possession, women were not fit to be educated, have a profession or even vote!

Most of us stop believing the fairy tales by the time we're close to our teens...but only a few of us include the stories of "Gods" in that category and reject them as well. Why? Well, because there are these organizations all over the world who regularly teach the "Truth" of religion.

Imagine for a moment that in every town in the USA and across the world, there were organizations regularly teaching the "Truth" of the Tooth Fairy...and they were tax exempt! It would be bad enough that they were teaching nonsense as truth, but TAX EXEMPT?!!

First of all, tax exemption means there is a financial incentive for people to create new religions. Secondly, it forces people like me to support religions that I don't agree with on any level, because my taxes are higher due to the fact that the religions don't pay their taxes...even though the beliefs of many of those religions pose a direct and real threat to the continued existence of myself, family and friends. Fundamentalists and the "Left Behind" crowd are positively excited to welcome the end of the world as a "victory" for their god and salvation for themselves.

I personally believe in an afterlife, but see it as a natural function of the universe, similar to gravity or radiation. Just one more thing we don't understand...yet. The difference is that I'm not trying to convert people to my belief or coerce people into supporting me by becoming a tax exempt religion...and could not care less if anyone else in the world agrees with me. If other religious supporters would adopt the same attitude, I wouldn't care what they believed, either...but they DON'T.

Religion is just superstition with more money and better PR...and mostly filled with hypocrites and fakes, in my experience...which is pretty extensive, actually.

If we're going to find the answers we need to the many, many serious problems that threaten our survival as a species, we need to grow up, stop believing in fairy tales and insist on a science and reality based approach. At last count, about 16% of the population of the US said religion plays no role in their life or beliefs. It's not anywhere near enough, but it is a start...and has increased substantially over the years.

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If you lead an unethical, unjust and selfish life no prayer, chant, sacrifice, pilgrimage or whatever is going to make you whole or be at peace with yourself.

The Golden Rule is a good place to start even if you are an Atheist, Agnostic, Deist or member of some non-Christian faith system or philosophy.

Do unto others as you would have them to do unto you

Otherwise, treat people as you would like to be treated- period. It's harder than it seems at first glance to be graceful and forgiving when people are not so nice to you. It's a discipline, a learning curve and a journey in itself.

Peace.

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"...and Muhammad is his prophet."

I say at least they got the first 4 words right.

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Only Judaism is to be blame for being the root religion from which both Christianity and Islam sprung. Jews were also some of the earliest followers and spreaders of Islam and Christianity.

It's beyond time to throw the entire Judeo-Christian-Islamic triage of religions on the scrap heap of history and move on.

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...but i dont think you seek enlightenment by watching people go to the bathroom or donning deer antlers.

If there is a god or gods they are probably laughing at you for your self absorbed search for a higher power.

In my opinion the search for enlightenment and/or a higher power revolves around proper self-less living. The quest for harmony with everything around you is a start. Even if you dont find god you will very likely find peace of mind realizing you simply do not know one way or the other.

Kind of hard to do in the world we live in today.

Im surprised you didnt realize how full of shit you were during the mushroom experience.

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on articles like this one. Any talk of God seems to bring out the all-knowing, self righteous agnostics/atheists. They're as bad as any in your face, right-wing Christian fundamentalist. They know it all and anyone who doesn't share their view is a damned idiot, someone to be insulted and dismissed. I'm not a religious person, but I would never dismiss someone's religious or spiritual beliefs, or smirk at what they may hold dear. A little consideration for your fellow human beings goes a long way. Agreed?

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When the soldiers asked John the Baptist, “And what shall we do?” he replied, “Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.” Since they could not remain soldiers and practice nonviolence, this passage suggests he told them to put down their weapons and seek a peaceful profession.

Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, said: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9) Expressing concern for God’s children, he said, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“In concrete and vivid precepts,” writes Professor G.J. Heering in The Fall of Christianity, “the Sermon on the Mount set forth the character and conduct of those who really follow Jesus: of those who may really be called God’s children; of those who shall submit to the rule of God, of those who shall enter His Kingdom; in short, of true Christians: the pure in heart, the meek, the peacemakers, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and are willing to suffer for its sake. They are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

"And then follow the commandments; ‘Ye shall keep yourselves from murder but also from revenge. And in place of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, resist not that which is evil; but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ Can one find one little implication in these words that does not plead for peace or that does not shrink from violence in every degree or form?

“Jesus does not give detached commands. He brings you whole being and doing and suffering under the compulsion of one single principle. ‘Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy, but i say unto you: love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you: that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matthew 5:43-45; Luke 6:27-38)

“’Love even your enemy!’ This is the highest demand that can ever be made. This love of enemy is not just one virtue among many, but the fairest flower of all human conduct.

“It is recognized that these commands though lay stress on the inward disposition and have not the force of law, were certainly meant as concrete instructions for the followers of Jesus. They had to be obeyed. Their carrying out was counted on. Behind these injunctions, which admit no cleavage between conduct and character, stands the newly sent Ambassador of God with His ‘But I say unto you.’

“Not only the war of aggression but also defensive warfare is ruled out by the Sermon on the Mount...the gospel condemns war...We have primarily to recognize, however hard it may be to do so, that the waging of war has no place in the moral and spiritual teachings of Jesus."

In her 1991 essay, “The Bible and Peace and War,” Ursula King asks, “how are we to explain that Jesus, the founder of Christianity, is often called ‘the Prince of Peace’ and yet Western civilization so deeply shaped by the Christian story which is clearly pacifist in origin and essence, has become so militaristic from an early stage in its history?”

King quotes Christian pacifist John Ferguson from his 1977 study War and Peace in the World’s Religions:

“The historic association of the Christian faith with nations of commercial enterprise, imperialistic expansion and technological advancement has meant that Christian peoples, although their faith is one of the most pacifistic in its origins, have a record of military activity second to none.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said that in today’s world the choice is either nonviolence or nonexistence.

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. . . but disappointed by the article. Indeed, "All is God." I am God, right now, just as I am; and so are you. No search is necessary, no contortions required. God is all around us, as well as in us--all of us. This truth is easy to say, but difficult to realize. The path is inner, and basically requires only contemplating this truth. Enlightenment will come when it comes--it can't be tracked down like an elusive prey.

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Why is alternet celebrating an idiot like this. It's stupid enough to be sucked in by one religion/cult/guru etc. But to be sucked in by dozens? Why waste one's time documenting the lowest common denominators of humanity? To think any answers whatsoever (beyond "how much money will dumb people throw away?") can be found by going on a "spiritual journey" like this is the height of stupidity.

Acupuncture, astrology, shen, ki, feng shui, and anything else New Age is complete garbage, and everyone knows it. At least the vast majority of people who think that there was a guy who could walk on water were indoctrinated into that belief at a young age. Followers of New Age religions are vastly dumber as they have to make the conscious joice to reject reason and science for idiocy and superstition.

Its not open-minded to embrace a bunch of religions at once. Its stupidity multiplied. It doesn't make you well rounded or cultured. It makes you gullible.

Seriously Alternet, enough with this bullshit. It gives a bad name to liberals and progressives.

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It is 'odd' that these beliefs are held so strongly in USA

By which I mean that the weirdness of USA includes ~35% of the population who are militantly convinced religious believers, a lesser but still large percentage who are militantly anti-belief, and a minority who are where most of the rest of the planet is. Which is to say, tolerant, unless certain social norms are violated.

Why do you guys who express disdain for belief, feel the need to do so?

It suggests a lack of sophistication in YOUR belief structure, such that you have to scorn others.

Personally, coming from a convinced Catholic background, I 'lost the faith', one afternoon about 40 years ago. But I never found it appropriate to scorn (or question) others beliefs, unless they impinged on democratic norms.

And while I used believe that I really did, more or less, know it all, (Big Bang, creation of matter from energy, the fact that everything afterwards is explainable within those first few micro seconds of the universe's existence), age has at last given me a small bit of humility.

The devastating logic of youth eventually shows a few holes in its carapace.

I would recommend further reading. Perhaps on Jefferson and the separation of Church and State.

Militant atheism seems so fundamentally daft. Logical, agnosticism is more scientific; and you can hardly be a militant agnostic.

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Ecclisiastes: All is vanity. So you knew about fame and consumer goods. But it shouldn't take a lifetime of being diddled by oneself and other morons and con artists to work out that 'all' is exactly what it says. Even and especially our devotions. Now claim your freedom although that too is (on balance) of no consequence. Please send money....

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It should be obvious from the review, and if it isn't obvious then its a bad review, that this book is a parody on the process of and the strict adherence to religion. M. Sobel is holding it out for us to laugh at ourselves and our processes in trying to know ourselves. Why are all of you taking this so seriously as if he is claiming to have the answer(s). Furthermore, why are you poking fun at a 40 year process? If you still aren't looking, if you have it all wrapped up in a neat little bow, then you have more to ponder than "Who is God? and Who am I?", you have to ask yourself if you are sane if you all of a sudden one day stop looking.

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While I haven't read the book, I fear the reviewer has done the author a disservice to focus exclusively on the oddities of the individual religious/spiritual practices. As an interfaith minister who has taken her share of ayahuasca, it is clear to me that the many paths are but window dressing on the magnificence that lies beneath. These idiosyncrasies make for great travelogues, but it is the ineffable, indescribable that merits study.

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Please tell him to go home, get a job, work hard, and BE QUIET. Then he might have some hope of hearing God.

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Not surprising that he searched and failed to find what he was seeking. What few people know is that God seeks only those who He has elected and predestined to Salvation, and wishes to save - we can't find Him, He knows who and where we are, and seeks us in His own good time.

It's all about God and HIs sovereign choices and timing, it's not about us.

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We can be fairly sure that Gravity exists

So the Big Bang happens and all this stuff gets projected out into the empty void of space

And this stuff travels at exceedingly high velocity - and the Universe expands

But after an exceedingly long time, the process of expansion of the Universe should slow down - because of the Gravity Effect

Not only should the process of Universe expansion slow down, it should also reverse.

And all the Matter in the Universe will be attracted to each other - and ultimately after an exceedingly long period of time - will come together

And there will be a Big Bang

And the Universe will expand again

And it is entirely possible that there was no start to this process

Its always gone on and always will

And if true - it should mean that when you die you go to heaven - and heaven is when you become aware of your own existence maybe sucking your thumb in your Mother Womb.

When you are dead time is irrelevant - it doesn't matter how long it takes.

I came up with this theory when I was 16/17 - with my mate Paul at College studying Physics, Maths & Chemistry

We had no idea that this theory had been extremely popular and repetetive throughout human history - before Christianity was invented.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_return

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Although it is an agnostic (i.e., no recognition of a personal God) moral philosophy a few centuries older than Christianity, Buddhism teaches a consistent ethic of reverence for all life. No wars have ever been waged in the name of Buddhism. The act of abortion is also explicitly condemned in the Buddhist canonical scriptures. Sir Edwin Arnold's poetic biography on Siddhartha Gautama, The Light of Asia, caused quite a controversy in Victorian England: centuries before Jesus, an earlier teacher lived "the Christ life."

The ethical teachings of the Buddha are quite similar to those found in the Gospel of Jesus: One must never be proud nor harbor anger against anyone. He who humbles himself shall be exalted, while the one who exalts himself shall be degraded. Harsh language must never be used against anyone.

Avoid lust, anger and greed. One should not scrutinize the mote in a neighbor's eye without first noticing the beam in one's own. One must "turn the other cheek" if attacked or abused. One's own possessions must be shared with the less fortunate. If a man obtained the whole world and its riches, he still would not be satisfied, nor would this save him.

In 261 B.C., the Indian emperor Ashoka witnessed firsthand the innumerable casualties he caused during one of his many military campaigns. His heart was filled with grief. He converted to Buddhism. 19th century scholar and writer H.G. Wells considered Ashoka's conversion to Buddhism one of the most significant events in world history.

Ashoka, formerly a bloody and ruthless emperor, became a remarkably kind and gentle leader. Ashoka established some of the first animal rights laws. He stopped the royal hunt, the sacrifice of animals in his capital city, the killing of animals for food in the royal kitchens, and gave up the eating of meat. Ashoka made it illegal to kill many species of animals, such as parrots, ducks, geese, bats, turtles, squirrels, monkeys and rhinos. He forbade the killing of pregnant animals, or animals that were nursing their young. He declared certain days to be "non-killing days," on which fish could not be caught, nor any other animals killed. He established wells and watering holes, places of rest and hospitals for humans and animals alike.

Ashoka educated his people to have compassion for animals, and to refrain from killing or harming them. He sent missionaries to all the neighboring kingdoms to teach mercy, compassion and nonviolence. Through Ashoka's patronage, Buddhism was spread all over the Indian subcontinent. Buddhism would eventually reach the rest of Asia; today there are an estimated 300 to 600 million Buddhists worldwide.

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The first precept of Buddhism is: "Do not kill, but rather preserve and cherish all life." There is an ancient poem, reputed to be the only text ever written by the Buddha himself, which states:

"Let creatures all, all things that live, all beings of whatever kind, see nothing that will bode them ill. May naught of evil come to them."

The Buddhist emperor Ashoka (268-223 BC) declared in one of his famous Pillar Edicts: "I have enforced the law against killing certain animals..The greatest progress of Righteousness among men comes from the exhortation in favor of non-injury to life and abstention from killing living beings."

Mahayana Buddhism supports the vegetarian way of life. According to the Mahaparinirvana Sutra: "The eating of meat extinguishes the seed of great compassion."

The Lankavatara Sutra says:

"For the sake of love of purity, the bodhisattva should refrain from eating flesh, which is born from semen, blood, etc. For fear of causing terror to living beings let the bodhisattva, who is disciplining himself to attain compassion, refrain from eating flesh...It is not true that meat is proper food and permissible when the animal was not killed by himself, when he did not order others to kill it, when it was not specifically meant for him...Again, there may be some people in the future who...being under the influence of the taste for meat will string together in various ways many sophisticated arguments to defend meat-eating...But...meat-eating in any form, in any manner, and in any place is unconditionally and once and for all prohibited...Meat-eating I have not permitted to anyone, I do not permit, I will not permit..."

The Surangama Sutra says:

"The reason for practicing dhyana and seeking to attain samadhi is to escape from the suffering of life. But in seeking to escape from suffering ourselves, why should we inflict it upon others? Unless you can control your minds that even the thought of brutal unkindness and killing is abhorrent, you will never be able to escape from the bondage of the world's life...After my parinirvana in the final kalpa different kinds of ghosts will be encountered everywhere deceiving people and teaching them that they can eat meat and still attain enlightenment...How can a bhikshu, who hopes to become a deliverer of others, himself be living on the flesh of other sentient beings?"

The Dalai Lama has said, "I do not see any reason why animals should be slaughtered to serve as human diet when there are so many substitutes. After all, man can live without meat."

For further reading:

Dr. Tony Page, Buddhism and Animals
Norm Phelps, The Great Compassion: Buddhism and Animal Rights
Steven Rosen, Diet for Transcendence

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I have never met any religious person who was not, underneath it all, lost. Religion is,I think, a manifestation and ironically a prolongation of this lost condition.
How very sad.

TRC

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All I know of religion and things religious is that if it does not emanate from within yourself -- your heart and soul, you are missing the boat.

If you look for salvation, enlightenment, nirvana, shamanic ecstacy, or whatever, in the "out there" instead of the "in here" you are not going to find it. No guru, leader, clergy, or prophet can bestow it.

However, you will indeed find a whole lot of fellow seekers looking to fulfill themselves by community, dogma, fellowship, or whatever. And just like all too many of the "EST-holes" I have known, they will not allow their vanity to say "I don't get "it"", they will cling to the group to support their assertions that they do get "it".

What I have observed over the course of my lifetime is that the stories, rituals, tools, and implements of religion/spirituality are the most useful ex post facto of the religious experience. Otherwise, you might as well be describing a sunset to a person born congenitally blind, or a symphony to a person born deaf.

To cling to the sect, dogma, ritual, or congregation for enlightenment is to mistaken "the map for the territory" or "the menu for the meal".

Seeking is fun, and I am never going to stop. I've been down so many of these very same paths. I am a genuine religious tourist.

In the stillness of my own being, I have been informed that what "God" wishes (whatever "God" may be) is sincerity in your worship. It doesn't matter what particular faith, creed, dogma, community, or philosophical belief system you utilize, it's all about your sincerity. We are all trying to climb the same mountain. Once you reach the top, all paths merge into one.

Dominus vobiscum

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I have never liked organized religion. I don't want someone telling me what to believe in or how to pray. As for the search for God, I can tell you what I have found. As a psychic who has had a wide variety of paranormal experiences, there certainly is life after death. Although I despise quoting any bible, God is neither male nor female, but both. God is everywhere and nowhere--and you don't have to travel to find it nor take psychedelic substances. God certainly isn't a person. God is the universe and everything in it, so no one thing--be it alive or dead--can be singled out and worshiped separately, particularly since everything is connected to everything else. In the words of my native brethren, "we are all related." I see the Earth's aura and I understand that everything is alive. If I want to see God, I just look outside my window.

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Thanks......seen the same stuff I've seen, and participated in....know people who 'did' the Brazil thing...but I got it through the locals here in the USA....But the newagers who went to Brazil came back to MARKET it here. Know people who have spent thousands to go to the far east to open a Light Window as they called it....Reiki has been renamed many times and additional atunements added....all to make money....its all about the money...went to a local evangelical church a few monthes ago..the pastor raised $6,000.00 in five minutes out of a crowd of 50.

And in reading the comments you certainly touched and challenged alot of people...shame on you for telling the truth....

Gonna print this out and send to all the new age self declared gurus I know....there are many around; and all declare they know what is best...

Got Visa?

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Searching for GOD is fruitless. GOD only exists in the minds of humans. Any human who believes GOD exists will tell you all kinds of gobbledegook to try to convince you.
Invention of JHWH, Jahweh, was the Hebrews (Jews) attempt to control their people. As they wandered about the areas where they lived, they even adapted some of the "literature" of other people to give their GOD credence.
A logical quest of Zoroastrianism (Persia) and other ancient belief systems will help to understand why the violence of nature brought about worship, trying to appease the "gods" they believed were the cause of natural disasters.

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Just like in the mainstream news media. And the so-called "progressives" come out in droves to talk trash. Yeah, that's sure showing tolerance. What a bunch of lying, hypocritical assholes.

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