We will never find out who we are by identifying with form of anykind. We are really formless, which means that we aren't the body or the mind, since they are both form. We are what we are, and this never changes, as our reality is eternal. Once you realize that, then you know who you are through being present. Time cannot change you!
What you will find cannot be found in the world, and even the mind cannot understand it. It has nothing to relate it to. Don't think about it! Do it! It will come to you when the mind is quiet. The mind is a delusional device made to distract you from who you are, and you can't think your way into bliss.
Thinking positive is not the goal, as it usually relates to your life situation. Presence is the cause, positivity is the effect. You will run short if you search to attain the effect, and if you get it, you won't be satisfied. Choosing the effects is avoiding the cause, which is you. Searching for effects will get you stuck in the world, and it is only a dead end.
Presence might not sound very appealing, because it can't be explained. Don't miss it because of that! This isn't an opinion in the same way as liking death metal is. You won't be disappointed when you find it. You are being when you are present, which means you are done doing. This is not a dead end; it is a life end. All the effects that you wanted beforehand will fall into place. You can finally rest.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Mistakes of the Gnostics
Gnosticism basically states that man is truly divine, but has been manipulated by an evil spirit, trapping us in the material world. One interpretation of Gnosticism says that spirit is good and the physical is bad, which leads to say that we should mortify the physical. Another interpretation has been that, since we are permanently divine souls as our birthright, we can get wasted.
The Gnostic movement, in my opinion, has hit the spot in some areas. But both of these interpretations are in no way beneficial. They lead down the road that only leads to trouble. However, speaking of Gnosticism as a whole, I fully agree with the statement that we are truly divine. We can't change how we were created by God, and we should be grateful that we can't accidentally destroy ourselves. That is where I think they hit the spot.
But I still disagree with the idea of good and bad, as well as the evil spirit enslaving us and limiting us to this world. I am agreeing with many others when I say that divinity is beyond good and evil. Nothing is really good and bad; those are judgements that we have made ourselves. The same goes for the idea of an evil spirit limiting us, because we are only limiting ourselves. We have to give up our own idea of how to live in order to be free from the mess, and let God take over, since He created us.
The judgements of good and bad are all our idea. There is no evil, except for that which we think is evil. It's the same for good. Since there is only one God, the duality of good and bad cannot apply to Him. And by the Gnostics saying that the material world is bad, they are living in their own hell.
The only thing that resembles the evil spirit idea is the ego, but there are some major differences. The ego was our own tiny mad idea, and we only let it manipulate us by giving it authority. But, as I have said in earlier posts, the ego is not real. Neither is the physical world; it is only a dream, our own little game. By believing it to be real, we forget that we have the authority over what happens in the game. Reality is our own divinity, the Self. The meaning of life is to wake up to God's reality.
Another funny Gnostic belief was that the darkness overcame particles of the light, therefore enslaving us. This is obviously not true, as darkness cannot remain in the light's presence.
The Gnostic movement, in my opinion, has hit the spot in some areas. But both of these interpretations are in no way beneficial. They lead down the road that only leads to trouble. However, speaking of Gnosticism as a whole, I fully agree with the statement that we are truly divine. We can't change how we were created by God, and we should be grateful that we can't accidentally destroy ourselves. That is where I think they hit the spot.
But I still disagree with the idea of good and bad, as well as the evil spirit enslaving us and limiting us to this world. I am agreeing with many others when I say that divinity is beyond good and evil. Nothing is really good and bad; those are judgements that we have made ourselves. The same goes for the idea of an evil spirit limiting us, because we are only limiting ourselves. We have to give up our own idea of how to live in order to be free from the mess, and let God take over, since He created us.
The judgements of good and bad are all our idea. There is no evil, except for that which we think is evil. It's the same for good. Since there is only one God, the duality of good and bad cannot apply to Him. And by the Gnostics saying that the material world is bad, they are living in their own hell.
The only thing that resembles the evil spirit idea is the ego, but there are some major differences. The ego was our own tiny mad idea, and we only let it manipulate us by giving it authority. But, as I have said in earlier posts, the ego is not real. Neither is the physical world; it is only a dream, our own little game. By believing it to be real, we forget that we have the authority over what happens in the game. Reality is our own divinity, the Self. The meaning of life is to wake up to God's reality.
Another funny Gnostic belief was that the darkness overcame particles of the light, therefore enslaving us. This is obviously not true, as darkness cannot remain in the light's presence.
Monday, May 28, 2007
The Ego
We have ourselves wrapped up in this delusional package. We identify ourselves with the unreal. Basically, the whole illusion falls under the ego influence. The ego is our sense of individuality. It is what makes us perceive separation instead of our unity. It makes the "I," the "mine," the "you," the "them," the "that." It is fear and all negative emotions, it is attachment, it is aversion, it is ignorance. The ego tries to overthrow God and escape from Him. It is the meaningless ripple in the grand ocean. It is the patch of desert in the expansive garden, where the desire to be separate allows nothing to grow. It is limitation, and the false self. It hides in the darkness of the past and future, trying to escape the present. People can live their whole lives identifying with the ego and the physical body. This the source of all troubles.
How do we escape the ego influence? Don't identify with it. Once you know you are not the body, mind, or the ego, you will inevitably find your true Self. Your senses make you perceive everything except reality. You will not find reality through your five senses. The ego, however, demands that you use your senses to as your seeking device. But know that the ego's rule is this: seek but do not find. You know this to be true; you have probably lived your life this way. Seeking and never finding. If you are somehow attracted to this way of seeking and are afraid of finding completeness, you can use as much time as you want to continue searching and never finding.
You must not keep on identifying with the ego if you desire to be free. This is the only way to overcome it. If you fight it, you are still using the ego. You can't destroy the ego by using it! Its weakness is awareness and light. If you watch what you feel, like anger, pain, fear, etc. without judging it, it will fade away. Presences is awareness, awareness is light. If you are not aware of the ego, you have your back to the light. It is different if you have pain in your leg and aware of it, but are worried about it and are trying to avoid it. Both pain and worry are ego devices, so pure awareness without judgement is how you use the light to dispel the darkness.
Know that the ego is not a battle against God. Everything of the ego is not real. It will only trample on the sleeping Son of God. So be aware. The ego is not evil or good; it is insane darkness. God is not good or evil either, as there is nothing but God; He is the truth and the light. Wake up to the truth! Don't be trampled by darkness!
How do we escape the ego influence? Don't identify with it. Once you know you are not the body, mind, or the ego, you will inevitably find your true Self. Your senses make you perceive everything except reality. You will not find reality through your five senses. The ego, however, demands that you use your senses to as your seeking device. But know that the ego's rule is this: seek but do not find. You know this to be true; you have probably lived your life this way. Seeking and never finding. If you are somehow attracted to this way of seeking and are afraid of finding completeness, you can use as much time as you want to continue searching and never finding.
You must not keep on identifying with the ego if you desire to be free. This is the only way to overcome it. If you fight it, you are still using the ego. You can't destroy the ego by using it! Its weakness is awareness and light. If you watch what you feel, like anger, pain, fear, etc. without judging it, it will fade away. Presences is awareness, awareness is light. If you are not aware of the ego, you have your back to the light. It is different if you have pain in your leg and aware of it, but are worried about it and are trying to avoid it. Both pain and worry are ego devices, so pure awareness without judgement is how you use the light to dispel the darkness.
Know that the ego is not a battle against God. Everything of the ego is not real. It will only trample on the sleeping Son of God. So be aware. The ego is not evil or good; it is insane darkness. God is not good or evil either, as there is nothing but God; He is the truth and the light. Wake up to the truth! Don't be trampled by darkness!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wisdom
Wisdom is perhaps the greatest virtue for every situation. It lets us think before we dive in to something that can hurt us and trap us. If we go living our lives without wisdom, then life is not worth living, as we are only abusing ourselves. Intelligence isn't as important; the wise will be much more successful in his life situation. However, spending our lives trying to learn everything in the world in order to gain wisdom is too long of a route to take. The truly wise would know not to take the long road to wisdom. Well, where should we start?
Solomon is known as the wisest man in The Bible. He asked God for wisdom, and he got much more. He is wise enough to not to become attached to the effects of God, such as wealth. This is why he asked for wisdom instead of wealth. What made him so wise? It was the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Like I said, there is a shortcut to wisdom, and it is indeed the wisdom of God. You could say that wisdom of many things in the world is vital, so that suggests that we should be pointed in many directions to attain diversity. What is so great is that your focus doesn't need to be multi pointed in order to get the same effect; it can be one-pointed toward God. Since he is the cause of all effects, knowledge of Him is knowledge of all his effects.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, there is a section named Powers. It shows the effects of yoga. Yoga means union (with God), and that shows that being one-pointed toward God is basically yoga. A yogi is given all the powers needed to serve as the aware Son of God. There are no limitations at all. Yes, you are granted all of the occult powers. These wise yogis knew that they shouldn't seek occult powers, since they are God's effects. Nevertheless, they are granted all of them anyways from seeking the wisdom of God. This is what Jesus did.
A living example of this, however, would undoubtedly be Mahavatar Babaji. He has passed all limitations, and knows exactly how to help every single individual. For people who have sought spiritual guidance from him, he knew everything about them before talking to them. He knew exactly how to help them the most, whether it was touching their base of the spine or yelling in their face. He has used his followers for certain spiritual purposes through the ages, as seen on the Sanskrit Classics website, http://www.sanskritclassics.com/OmPage.htm
"He has been serving the world for a long time through many people and by revealing so many disciplines, as follows:"
Jnana Yoga: Through Dakshina Murti
Hatha Yoga: Through Maha Buddha Baba
Raja Yoga: Through Sankara in the eighth century
Raja Yoga: Through Kabir in the fifteenth century
Kriya Yoga: Through Yogiraj Sri Sri Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasay
Tantra Yoga: Through Brahmani
Nada or Sabda Yoga: Through Burua Baba
Bhakti Yoga: Through Paramhansa Brahmananda
Mansa Yoga: Through Hairakhan Baba
Mantra Yoga: Through Nim Karoli Baba
Pasupat Yoga: Through Sombari (Somari) Baba
Purna Yoga (Purna Kriya Yoga): Through Swami Satyeswarananda Vidyaratna Babaji.
Be wise, and seek the wisdom of God.
Solomon is known as the wisest man in The Bible. He asked God for wisdom, and he got much more. He is wise enough to not to become attached to the effects of God, such as wealth. This is why he asked for wisdom instead of wealth. What made him so wise? It was the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Like I said, there is a shortcut to wisdom, and it is indeed the wisdom of God. You could say that wisdom of many things in the world is vital, so that suggests that we should be pointed in many directions to attain diversity. What is so great is that your focus doesn't need to be multi pointed in order to get the same effect; it can be one-pointed toward God. Since he is the cause of all effects, knowledge of Him is knowledge of all his effects.
In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, there is a section named Powers. It shows the effects of yoga. Yoga means union (with God), and that shows that being one-pointed toward God is basically yoga. A yogi is given all the powers needed to serve as the aware Son of God. There are no limitations at all. Yes, you are granted all of the occult powers. These wise yogis knew that they shouldn't seek occult powers, since they are God's effects. Nevertheless, they are granted all of them anyways from seeking the wisdom of God. This is what Jesus did.
A living example of this, however, would undoubtedly be Mahavatar Babaji. He has passed all limitations, and knows exactly how to help every single individual. For people who have sought spiritual guidance from him, he knew everything about them before talking to them. He knew exactly how to help them the most, whether it was touching their base of the spine or yelling in their face. He has used his followers for certain spiritual purposes through the ages, as seen on the Sanskrit Classics website, http://www.sanskritclassics.com/OmPage.htm
"He has been serving the world for a long time through many people and by revealing so many disciplines, as follows:"
Jnana Yoga: Through Dakshina Murti
Hatha Yoga: Through Maha Buddha Baba
Raja Yoga: Through Sankara in the eighth century
Raja Yoga: Through Kabir in the fifteenth century
Kriya Yoga: Through Yogiraj Sri Sri Shyama Charan Lahiri Mahasay
Tantra Yoga: Through Brahmani
Nada or Sabda Yoga: Through Burua Baba
Bhakti Yoga: Through Paramhansa Brahmananda
Mansa Yoga: Through Hairakhan Baba
Mantra Yoga: Through Nim Karoli Baba
Pasupat Yoga: Through Sombari (Somari) Baba
Purna Yoga (Purna Kriya Yoga): Through Swami Satyeswarananda Vidyaratna Babaji.
Be wise, and seek the wisdom of God.
Time and Eternity
You cannot use time to reach eternity. These are mutually exclusive, and only one of them is true. Eternity is the true form of God, which means that there is only eternity. The rest is illusory. You don't reach eternity by the death of the body. You can't use your past to reach eternity, and you will never be in eternity in the future. The only gate to eternity is through the present.
Our thoughts are always relating either to the past or future, as everything we see right now comes from past experiences. The ego uses time by rewrinting the past in the future, which means that it will control our destiny as long as we identify with it. Your whole life will go by like this unlees you stay in the now. Focus on what you feel in your body, as well as the unchanging. Instead of listening to what you hear, listen to the unerlying silence. If you have pain in your body, avoiding it and making a problem out of it will make it grow. All you have to do is feel it without labeling it, and eventually it will dissolve into bliss through being present.
Presence always comes from the inner world, where eternity is. This is why yogis can meditate for hours without being aware of the passing of time. That's because only the outer world runs on time. If you like time, don't be present. The ego will take care of you, making you stressed, angry, upset, afraid, and controlled. You will be aware of the passing of time, and will worry about the past and future. Just to let you know, time will be there as long as you want it. If you're not present, however, the ego will take the past, and jump right over the present, into the future. Do you like your past? If you think about it a lot, it will happen again in a different form.
You don't even know what eternity will be like until you can stay present. Once you find out what you really are in the present moment, you won't worry about staying that way for eternity. You are finally aware of your completeness, perfectness, your holiness, and your wholeness. You will know God's love, peace, bliss, and joy for eternity in heaven. So, you can identify with the ego and stay in time, or you can find eternity through the Self by staying present!
Here's a couple diagrams of the ego or "red donut" clouding the awareness of the eternity of God. This was made by the podcast called A Cloud Does Not Put Out the Sun. Check out their website at http://www.cloudsun.com/
Our thoughts are always relating either to the past or future, as everything we see right now comes from past experiences. The ego uses time by rewrinting the past in the future, which means that it will control our destiny as long as we identify with it. Your whole life will go by like this unlees you stay in the now. Focus on what you feel in your body, as well as the unchanging. Instead of listening to what you hear, listen to the unerlying silence. If you have pain in your body, avoiding it and making a problem out of it will make it grow. All you have to do is feel it without labeling it, and eventually it will dissolve into bliss through being present.
Presence always comes from the inner world, where eternity is. This is why yogis can meditate for hours without being aware of the passing of time. That's because only the outer world runs on time. If you like time, don't be present. The ego will take care of you, making you stressed, angry, upset, afraid, and controlled. You will be aware of the passing of time, and will worry about the past and future. Just to let you know, time will be there as long as you want it. If you're not present, however, the ego will take the past, and jump right over the present, into the future. Do you like your past? If you think about it a lot, it will happen again in a different form.
You don't even know what eternity will be like until you can stay present. Once you find out what you really are in the present moment, you won't worry about staying that way for eternity. You are finally aware of your completeness, perfectness, your holiness, and your wholeness. You will know God's love, peace, bliss, and joy for eternity in heaven. So, you can identify with the ego and stay in time, or you can find eternity through the Self by staying present!
Here's a couple diagrams of the ego or "red donut" clouding the awareness of the eternity of God. This was made by the podcast called A Cloud Does Not Put Out the Sun. Check out their website at http://www.cloudsun.com/
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Preparation before Self-Realization
There needs to be a significant change in perception before you are able to feel God. Basically, we need to stop identifying with the ego and thinking the way it does. You can't just start meditating right now and have your body fill with light. After I had experienced the ego to the extreme while I was manic, I knew that I wanted to see thing differently. I was somehow curious about spirituality and our true nature after being delusional. I started in a strange category, reading things like Ramtha and New Age sorts, and even though I learned that we are a lot grander than we think we are, I still didn't know how to manifest that greatness.
Luckily, after running into Gary Renard's books, I was introduced to A Course in Miracles. This book has probably caused the most change in my life than any other source. Since I've started that book, I have only seen more of the same. The statements are in such a clear package that I can see every major religion fit into it. Since I already knew quite a lot about Western belief-systems from being born Christian, I decided to investigate Eastern thought. What I have found there has also influenced me a lot, after reading about Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Some great Eastern scriptures are the Dhammapadda, The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, Shankara's Crest Jewel of Discrimination, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and The Tao te Ching. My favorite translators are Swami Prabhavananda and Eknath Easwaran. Besides the classics, there are some recent spiritual masters that should be read about also. Paramahansa Yogananda's books are phenomenal and anyone works from Ramakrishna's disciples were great, too. Here's an image I made that shows the relations of the Eastern masters:
Besides those, I recommend everyone experience A Course in Miracles. Read the whole thing, and you'll see how the ego can't take it. This shows that you are changing your perception for the better. Once you start doing the workbook, you might have some interesting experiences. The book might be hard to tackle and hard to understand for most, but there are so many secondary resources that can help immensely. Gary Renard's books focus on A Course in Miracles, and Eckhart Tolle's works have helped me a lot. While I was reading his book, The Power of Now, I experienced this intense peace in my whole body before I fell asleep. It's beyond words. And I know it's just the beginning for me. Another author that might help is Kenneth Wapnick. He has been the main teacher for A Course in Miracles ever since it was written, and was one of the main people of the Foundation for Inner Peace. You can also check some Podcasts on iTunes that are free and help a lot. One of them is Gary Renard's podcast, and the other is called A Cloud Does Not Put Out the Sun.
As reading A Course in Miracles is bound to change your life, you will inevitably get in the habit of forgiving things that bother you. I have talked about this before in an earlier post, and it is perhaps ACIM's main focus. I'd like to say that forgiveness works the same way as Jnana Yoga does, which focuses on discrimination. This type of discrimination is not the negative type that we are familiar with - it sifts out Atman from non-Atman, or the real Self from the false Self. This is really important to use when something in the world is bothering you at the moment, because it will take your worries away. You will know that anything material is not real, so it can't affect you since the Self is unstained by what happens in the world. Like I said, this is very similar to ACIM's forgiveness.
Luckily, after running into Gary Renard's books, I was introduced to A Course in Miracles. This book has probably caused the most change in my life than any other source. Since I've started that book, I have only seen more of the same. The statements are in such a clear package that I can see every major religion fit into it. Since I already knew quite a lot about Western belief-systems from being born Christian, I decided to investigate Eastern thought. What I have found there has also influenced me a lot, after reading about Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. Some great Eastern scriptures are the Dhammapadda, The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, Shankara's Crest Jewel of Discrimination, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and The Tao te Ching. My favorite translators are Swami Prabhavananda and Eknath Easwaran. Besides the classics, there are some recent spiritual masters that should be read about also. Paramahansa Yogananda's books are phenomenal and anyone works from Ramakrishna's disciples were great, too. Here's an image I made that shows the relations of the Eastern masters:
Besides those, I recommend everyone experience A Course in Miracles. Read the whole thing, and you'll see how the ego can't take it. This shows that you are changing your perception for the better. Once you start doing the workbook, you might have some interesting experiences. The book might be hard to tackle and hard to understand for most, but there are so many secondary resources that can help immensely. Gary Renard's books focus on A Course in Miracles, and Eckhart Tolle's works have helped me a lot. While I was reading his book, The Power of Now, I experienced this intense peace in my whole body before I fell asleep. It's beyond words. And I know it's just the beginning for me. Another author that might help is Kenneth Wapnick. He has been the main teacher for A Course in Miracles ever since it was written, and was one of the main people of the Foundation for Inner Peace. You can also check some Podcasts on iTunes that are free and help a lot. One of them is Gary Renard's podcast, and the other is called A Cloud Does Not Put Out the Sun.
As reading A Course in Miracles is bound to change your life, you will inevitably get in the habit of forgiving things that bother you. I have talked about this before in an earlier post, and it is perhaps ACIM's main focus. I'd like to say that forgiveness works the same way as Jnana Yoga does, which focuses on discrimination. This type of discrimination is not the negative type that we are familiar with - it sifts out Atman from non-Atman, or the real Self from the false Self. This is really important to use when something in the world is bothering you at the moment, because it will take your worries away. You will know that anything material is not real, so it can't affect you since the Self is unstained by what happens in the world. Like I said, this is very similar to ACIM's forgiveness.
Cause and Effect
Most people have rearranged cause and effect in the opposite order. By doing this, we seem helpless. It seems that our lives are always at stake, and that we need to defend them. This rearranging of cause and effect is what made us think we are bodies. Atheists and agnostics will not accept that they are spirits, therefore cutting themselves off from their divine reality. As I have said in an earlier post, we are told to consist of a body, a mind, and a spirit. And listing these consistencies in this order suggests that the body comes first. It suggests that the body is also the mind because the brain is in the body, which means that we will not exist any longer if our body is not alive. Also, some might say that the spirit was made by the the mind, or the brain. But how could we live after the body dies if the spirit was made by the body, which is very limited?
The reason why we are truly spirit is because it is constant, and never changes. We can't have a mind and a body that always changes without something that never changes. Another example is that there could be no planets, solar systems, galaxies and universes without there first being space for it to use. Also, the minuscule cannot create the grand. Therefore, all the great things in life cannot surpass its source in greatness. This means that spirit is ever-new, endless joy to the utmost extreme. If you throw a ball in the air, it will not go faster in that direction than the speed of the force you gave it initially.
One of the excuses that people make to limit themselves is that the mind comes from the brain. When scientists have observed brainwaves, they have seen that it starts in the brain and moves into other parts of the body. But, does this mean that its original starting point was in the brain? No. The brain is only a device to pick up thought waves, the transmitter into the physical. Just as our brain tells us to move our hand, our mind, transmits thoughts into the brain. If we identify with the body and die, we will still have continuous thoughts.
But, the further question is, what made the mind? The mind changes every moment, so it must come from a source that does not change. That is spirit. And the spirit is unlimited. It is the same spirit in everything, the ocean to cause the waves. If we perceive ourselves as the body making the made up mind and spirit, we are limited and enslaved. If we know that we are spirit, and the mind and body are only waves instead of the false identifications as the whole sea, then we are limitless and free.
Please, don't read my posts if you prefer to think of yourself as limited.
The reason why we are truly spirit is because it is constant, and never changes. We can't have a mind and a body that always changes without something that never changes. Another example is that there could be no planets, solar systems, galaxies and universes without there first being space for it to use. Also, the minuscule cannot create the grand. Therefore, all the great things in life cannot surpass its source in greatness. This means that spirit is ever-new, endless joy to the utmost extreme. If you throw a ball in the air, it will not go faster in that direction than the speed of the force you gave it initially.
One of the excuses that people make to limit themselves is that the mind comes from the brain. When scientists have observed brainwaves, they have seen that it starts in the brain and moves into other parts of the body. But, does this mean that its original starting point was in the brain? No. The brain is only a device to pick up thought waves, the transmitter into the physical. Just as our brain tells us to move our hand, our mind, transmits thoughts into the brain. If we identify with the body and die, we will still have continuous thoughts.
But, the further question is, what made the mind? The mind changes every moment, so it must come from a source that does not change. That is spirit. And the spirit is unlimited. It is the same spirit in everything, the ocean to cause the waves. If we perceive ourselves as the body making the made up mind and spirit, we are limited and enslaved. If we know that we are spirit, and the mind and body are only waves instead of the false identifications as the whole sea, then we are limitless and free.
Please, don't read my posts if you prefer to think of yourself as limited.
Friday, May 25, 2007
False Idols
Idols seem to be a big issue for some and a gift for others. Speaking through various religious beliefs, people are devoted to "idols" (like in Hinduism), and others might have such an opposite opinion, stating we should not enough have an image in our minds representing an idol (as believed in Islam). What's pretty ironic about this is that an idol, in western beliefs, is something that does not represent the true form of God. This means that even our desire of something trivial, like sex, music, movies, surfing, shopping, etc., is replacing God within our minds.
Aspects of Hinduism practice Bhakti, or devotion. It is tradition that families choose certain deities to worship, like Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, and the Divine Mother, so that they can become closer to God. These are seen by others as false idols, and not God. However, these devoted Hindus are focused more on something divine than we are, as all of these worshipped deities are personal forms of God.
Most of us are constantly thinking about useless things and are addicted to them. It seems to be that the biggest false idol that America is attached to is American Idol (pardon the pun). Even I sometimes want to read books, but I am not attached to them. If I were, I wouldn't be able to experience what these spiritual books are trying to teach! I find it funny that we overlook the most immediate thing that we have, which is God, and replace Him with things that are hard to maintain. And God is so much better that he can't even be compared! However, don't take my word for it. You have to experience it for yourself.
From left to right: Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Ramakrishna Paramahansa
In order to find God, it helps most to be devoted towards Him in some sort of image, so it can be related to. Christians might say that the polytheistic religions are worshipping false idols while they themselves could always be thinking of Jesus. Jesus is just the same as Krishna, since they were both considered incarnations of God. Other examples would be Buddha and Ramakrishna. However, focusing on these beings are just a tool for devotion towards God. This doesn't mean that it is at all necessary; many other people, like myself, don't require an image and it might not feel right. I just focus on what is; what I feel in my inner body. This way of doing it is most preferable for Muslims, but someone from any religion might feel the same way. Still, other people like thinking of Jesus and praying to him, since he is referred to as Christ, as Gautama is referred to as Buddha.
False idols are most often sense-objects that can only be fulfilled in certain situations. So, worshipping Shiva would be okay, since that can be done in any situation. Addictions are false idols, as you can't instantly receive them at any moment. For example, if someone is addicted to sex, they can't have sex again instantly when they're done, and a partner isn't always available anyway. Same thing with drugs, and even people and video games, no matter how "innocent" you might consider them. You can't play video games without a screen. People, friends, and family aren't always available, and they can greatly hurt you emotionall when they perish. It is okay, however, to know that everyone is in your presence at all times, only as long as you're present. In this way, people aren't considered false idols because you don't require for their bodies to be close to your own body.
Don't sweat any of these things. This is only useful when trying to be spiritual. Video games or people obviously won't be considered a false idol if you're an agnostic or atheist.
Aspects of Hinduism practice Bhakti, or devotion. It is tradition that families choose certain deities to worship, like Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, and the Divine Mother, so that they can become closer to God. These are seen by others as false idols, and not God. However, these devoted Hindus are focused more on something divine than we are, as all of these worshipped deities are personal forms of God.
Most of us are constantly thinking about useless things and are addicted to them. It seems to be that the biggest false idol that America is attached to is American Idol (pardon the pun). Even I sometimes want to read books, but I am not attached to them. If I were, I wouldn't be able to experience what these spiritual books are trying to teach! I find it funny that we overlook the most immediate thing that we have, which is God, and replace Him with things that are hard to maintain. And God is so much better that he can't even be compared! However, don't take my word for it. You have to experience it for yourself.
From left to right: Jesus Christ, Gautama Buddha, Ramakrishna Paramahansa
In order to find God, it helps most to be devoted towards Him in some sort of image, so it can be related to. Christians might say that the polytheistic religions are worshipping false idols while they themselves could always be thinking of Jesus. Jesus is just the same as Krishna, since they were both considered incarnations of God. Other examples would be Buddha and Ramakrishna. However, focusing on these beings are just a tool for devotion towards God. This doesn't mean that it is at all necessary; many other people, like myself, don't require an image and it might not feel right. I just focus on what is; what I feel in my inner body. This way of doing it is most preferable for Muslims, but someone from any religion might feel the same way. Still, other people like thinking of Jesus and praying to him, since he is referred to as Christ, as Gautama is referred to as Buddha.
False idols are most often sense-objects that can only be fulfilled in certain situations. So, worshipping Shiva would be okay, since that can be done in any situation. Addictions are false idols, as you can't instantly receive them at any moment. For example, if someone is addicted to sex, they can't have sex again instantly when they're done, and a partner isn't always available anyway. Same thing with drugs, and even people and video games, no matter how "innocent" you might consider them. You can't play video games without a screen. People, friends, and family aren't always available, and they can greatly hurt you emotionall when they perish. It is okay, however, to know that everyone is in your presence at all times, only as long as you're present. In this way, people aren't considered false idols because you don't require for their bodies to be close to your own body.
Don't sweat any of these things. This is only useful when trying to be spiritual. Video games or people obviously won't be considered a false idol if you're an agnostic or atheist.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Key to Heaven and the Bliss of God
This title is kind of funny because we were actually never locked out of Heaven - we're are it. We don't need to do anything to be in Heaven. But that's exactly what you have to do! No-doing. Our whole situation was made up in favor of something other than how God made us. This whole world is an insane idea. How could we make something better than what our Creator created anyway? We are truly no better and no worse than God. Everything perceived with your made-up senses is not real. When we desire and our attached to sense-objects, we are enslaving ourselves to limitation. Clinging to life and our bodies suggests that God did not create us in safety. These worldly perceptions need to change if you want to be aware of Heaven.
I cannot correctly explain what Heaven is like, but knowing what it is not will help you to be aware of it. You must know that it is non-dual, and you must be non-attached to everything of the world. You must be in a state of no-doing, which means that your mind must not wander and you should only be focused on being. Heaven is being instead of doing, real instead of unreal, unity instead of duality and separation, eternity instead of time.
You can be in Heaven and still be on earth. This is what Jesus, Buddha, Ramakrishna and many others have done. You must be present enough to be aware of Heaven. So, you must be know that the present moment is the only way to get there. You will never be in Heaven in the future or the past, because you are presently in Heaven. It is similar to how you think you are flying in a dream or having a nightmare when you're actually in bed, except Heaven feels so grand that you can't put it into words. You also have to know that everything is God, and that you must not struggle to be in Heaven because God is everywhere.
Meditation is vital before you are able to feel Heaven throughout the rest of your days. Never give up the effort to be non-attached and meditate. Even when you just get a taste of Heaven, know that there is a lot more to experience. Meshed within our bodies is a "spiritual thermometer." It runs from our navel to our brain. There are three kundalini centers at our navel, one at the level of our heart, one at the throat, on at the tongue, and finally one at the brain. Deep meditation will cause the coiled kundalini energy to spring up our body and eventually pass through all seven centers. Once it reaches the brain, we will be completely awake to Heaven. Don't just read this and say, "Well, that's an interesting opinion." Try it. If not, you will surely miss the permanent bliss of God.
One thing about this is that people might think that the body and the mind are being wasted because of this. "If you say they aren't real, then how are they useful at all?" Nevertheless, when your minded becomes one-pointed towards seeing God in everything and only desiring Him, you will realize Him as well as devote your body and mind for His use. He will do everything for you; you don't have to move your feet or struggle to think. It will be done by God for the most benefit spiritually for everyone. Again, this is how Jesus lived. Go for it.
I cannot correctly explain what Heaven is like, but knowing what it is not will help you to be aware of it. You must know that it is non-dual, and you must be non-attached to everything of the world. You must be in a state of no-doing, which means that your mind must not wander and you should only be focused on being. Heaven is being instead of doing, real instead of unreal, unity instead of duality and separation, eternity instead of time.
You can be in Heaven and still be on earth. This is what Jesus, Buddha, Ramakrishna and many others have done. You must be present enough to be aware of Heaven. So, you must be know that the present moment is the only way to get there. You will never be in Heaven in the future or the past, because you are presently in Heaven. It is similar to how you think you are flying in a dream or having a nightmare when you're actually in bed, except Heaven feels so grand that you can't put it into words. You also have to know that everything is God, and that you must not struggle to be in Heaven because God is everywhere.
Meditation is vital before you are able to feel Heaven throughout the rest of your days. Never give up the effort to be non-attached and meditate. Even when you just get a taste of Heaven, know that there is a lot more to experience. Meshed within our bodies is a "spiritual thermometer." It runs from our navel to our brain. There are three kundalini centers at our navel, one at the level of our heart, one at the throat, on at the tongue, and finally one at the brain. Deep meditation will cause the coiled kundalini energy to spring up our body and eventually pass through all seven centers. Once it reaches the brain, we will be completely awake to Heaven. Don't just read this and say, "Well, that's an interesting opinion." Try it. If not, you will surely miss the permanent bliss of God.
One thing about this is that people might think that the body and the mind are being wasted because of this. "If you say they aren't real, then how are they useful at all?" Nevertheless, when your minded becomes one-pointed towards seeing God in everything and only desiring Him, you will realize Him as well as devote your body and mind for His use. He will do everything for you; you don't have to move your feet or struggle to think. It will be done by God for the most benefit spiritually for everyone. Again, this is how Jesus lived. Go for it.
Speaking of the Devil (and heaven and hell)
Many people believe in demons, devils, Satan, and hell. Many think it's a bunch of bogus. Here's what I have to say.
I think that demons, hell and so on are just as real as the universe, the world, your body, and your mind. These things, however, are not real. It was our tiny mad idea that created all forms, separation, and time. We made our bodies and our mind. We also made all planes of existence except for Heaven, which was created by God. Heaven has always been, as well as God, the Son of God (which is us), and the Holy Spirit. All of these are one and eternal, and the only true reality.
We have made the physical realm and the astral realm. Within the astral realm, there is a dual existence - a heaven and hell. However, this heaven is not God's true Heaven; it is a very cheap imitation of it. The physical realm is just a densest realm where all realms are incorporated into it. We don't have to worry about how God is going to judge us or where we are going to be when we die, because we are already in the realm that we will be in. We seemingly put ourselves where we are, even though we are truly in Heaven.
So, for the people who are depressed, in deep pain, afraid, angry etc., they put themselves in hell. Those who feel great all the time, they put themselves in heaven. This is their choice and opinion when ignorant towards God's opinion. But, these are not permanent; only God's Heaven is permanent. Therefore, people will be in heaven or hell until their opportunity to be in a physical body again is fulfilled through their remaining desires and attachments to the world.
People's thoughts and motivations are so strongly negative that demons and pain manifest in their dreams and worldly life. For example, Paul Schroeder's negativity has caused his own made-up demons to attack him. Here's a picture that his wife took of a light in a cave crevice:
People become possessed through their own strong desire. And the pain consequentially comes. They will become delusional and perceive Satan, while everyone else is unaware of it. If you believe your body and the world is real, then Satan and hell will be real for you too. Don't worry; you can't be hurt by merely being. Jesus says "I grant you the power to tread over serpents." Don't forget that, or you might put yourself in hell.
However, we enter heaven through the power of positive thinking. We are free to get whatever we want instantly, and have it manifest. This is where someone who practices The Secret diligently will probably end up. If you are able to do this successfully in the physical realm, it will happen for you. You could have everything you would ever want instantly, and over and over again. Here's the thing: it's not what God willed for you, which is where and what you really are: Heaven.
I think that demons, hell and so on are just as real as the universe, the world, your body, and your mind. These things, however, are not real. It was our tiny mad idea that created all forms, separation, and time. We made our bodies and our mind. We also made all planes of existence except for Heaven, which was created by God. Heaven has always been, as well as God, the Son of God (which is us), and the Holy Spirit. All of these are one and eternal, and the only true reality.
We have made the physical realm and the astral realm. Within the astral realm, there is a dual existence - a heaven and hell. However, this heaven is not God's true Heaven; it is a very cheap imitation of it. The physical realm is just a densest realm where all realms are incorporated into it. We don't have to worry about how God is going to judge us or where we are going to be when we die, because we are already in the realm that we will be in. We seemingly put ourselves where we are, even though we are truly in Heaven.
So, for the people who are depressed, in deep pain, afraid, angry etc., they put themselves in hell. Those who feel great all the time, they put themselves in heaven. This is their choice and opinion when ignorant towards God's opinion. But, these are not permanent; only God's Heaven is permanent. Therefore, people will be in heaven or hell until their opportunity to be in a physical body again is fulfilled through their remaining desires and attachments to the world.
People's thoughts and motivations are so strongly negative that demons and pain manifest in their dreams and worldly life. For example, Paul Schroeder's negativity has caused his own made-up demons to attack him. Here's a picture that his wife took of a light in a cave crevice:
People become possessed through their own strong desire. And the pain consequentially comes. They will become delusional and perceive Satan, while everyone else is unaware of it. If you believe your body and the world is real, then Satan and hell will be real for you too. Don't worry; you can't be hurt by merely being. Jesus says "I grant you the power to tread over serpents." Don't forget that, or you might put yourself in hell.
However, we enter heaven through the power of positive thinking. We are free to get whatever we want instantly, and have it manifest. This is where someone who practices The Secret diligently will probably end up. If you are able to do this successfully in the physical realm, it will happen for you. You could have everything you would ever want instantly, and over and over again. Here's the thing: it's not what God willed for you, which is where and what you really are: Heaven.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Religion Relationships
Many people see religion as a bunch of strange beliefs that are always in conflict with each other. There have been so many wars and conflicts through history and today about religious differences, and it seems that it will never stop. However, is this view of religion the correct one?
There are a couple "family trees" of where our major religions came from. One of the "trees" started with Judaism of Israel, of which the base transferred into Christianity, which also later led to Islam. The other "tree" started from the traditions of Hinduism in India, which evolved into Buddhism, and was then spread to China and other countries to mesh with religions like Taoism and become Zen Buddhism.
With religions like Judaism and Hinduism, the leaders of the movements were many. Judaism had Abraham, Moses, Isaac, Jacob, etc., while Hinduism had Rama, Krishna, Vishnu, Shiva, etc. The more recent religions focus more on one person who caused the movement: Christianity had Jesus (Christ), Islam had Muhammad, Buddhism had Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), and Taoism had Lao Tzu. Nevertheless, all of these leaders have always referred to their former teachings, and they always serve as a fulfiller or a clarification of those teachings. Jesus never desired to abandon Judaism for his new religion, and Buddha never disrespected or disagreed with the teachings of the Hindus so much to suggest an intent to make a separate religion. They were merely there as a guide during a period in time of corrupt religion and belief systems.
Now, all of these conflicts between religions were not influenced by the leaders of the religions; it comes from the people who desire to be right, and thereby use their particular religion to prove others wrong. Jesus wouldn't attack or insult Buddha if they were standing next to each other, and neither would Abraham do so with Krishna! The people who desire war and conflict are falsely associating spirituality and religion with something else.
When someone experiences the ultimate truth and feels God "in every atom," they will be in utter bliss, joy, peace and unity; at that point, there is no more conflict and no opposing side. This is what our spiritual leaders experience, and where their belief system comes from. For them, it is not a made up idea - they are reporting back what they experience. Also, they are able to see the truth in all major religions, and the experience they have is no different than what the leader of another religion has experienced. Buddha and Jesus experienced the same exact thing. The seeming differences are only from culture, terminology, and past references to former leaders.
(From left to right): Jesus the Christ, Sri Ramakrishna, Sarada Devi, Gautama the Buddha
None of these religions is wrong or worse or better than the other; they all have the same beginning and reach to the same goal. There are saints from every religion that have been capable of experiencing the ultimate truth. It makes no difference if they are from former religions or later religions, such as Judaism > Christianity > Islam or Hinduism > Buddhism. This is because religious corruption is corrected eventually by newer saints who still follow the older religion.
There's no reason to make a conflict! We should examine all religions and use the Middle Way, connecting the similarities and the harmonious message. Religions from different areas of the world have been joined, such as Taoism and Shintoism with Buddhism. Zen Buddhism was started in acknowledgement of the identical message and teachings of Buddhism and Taoism. So the goal is to experience Self-realization, or the Ultimate Truth; then the harmony of all religions will be seen and lived.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Secret
Everybody by now knows about The Secret. It's been the top seller for a while, so I guess people seem to love it. However, it can cause some problems. Sure, it's great, but it isn't the biggest secret either.
We all fantasize about what life would be like if we had this, or that, and The Secret tells us we can get it. We have to feel like we already have it, and think of it for awhile. Then it comes to us. The problem is that people don't know what they really want. All of their fantasizing will never make us happy, even if we get what we fantasize over. We all know that when we want something really bad and then we finally get it, there is always some sense of disappointment. We have lived our lives thus far, and we haven't got over it yet. "Ooh, life will be good when I'm finally married." Speaking of marriage, half of the people who get married get divorced. Even our hobbies get old. Like music, for example. If I listen to a new band that I just thought was awesome, it would slowly get old, and then it's not as pleasurable to listen to. I'm also sick of Borat, even though I subconsciously quote him repeatedly.
We must understand that the world runs on duality. You can't have an up unless you get a down later. Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Led Zeppelin has a song called Good Times Bad Times. Bipolar is exactly that. When we cling to the "good" things in life frequently, then we get frustrated, stressed, nervous, afraid, angry, hurt - all of these things just as frequently. So, when The Secret teaches us that we can get what we want materially, we will still have the down times and be miserable over and over again. Hopefully we all realize this before we waste years of our lives seeking things out in the world.
The bigger secret than The Secret is that we are everything we want and need. This never changes, no matter what happens in your life-situation. Through Self-realization, you will know that you are and have far better than what we could fantasize about. You don't have to cling to it to have it - you are it. You no longer get a dose of duality over and over again. This whole life-situation is how we would prefer ourselves to be instead of how God created us to be. Now, honestly, do you want to identify yourself with this bone-and-flesh prison of yours? You would prefer being limited than limitless? And you would struggle to be this way at the cost of fear and pain? This is up to you. If you like what The Secret offers, that's fine. But you are just wasting your time until you awaken to the bliss that you are.
We all fantasize about what life would be like if we had this, or that, and The Secret tells us we can get it. We have to feel like we already have it, and think of it for awhile. Then it comes to us. The problem is that people don't know what they really want. All of their fantasizing will never make us happy, even if we get what we fantasize over. We all know that when we want something really bad and then we finally get it, there is always some sense of disappointment. We have lived our lives thus far, and we haven't got over it yet. "Ooh, life will be good when I'm finally married." Speaking of marriage, half of the people who get married get divorced. Even our hobbies get old. Like music, for example. If I listen to a new band that I just thought was awesome, it would slowly get old, and then it's not as pleasurable to listen to. I'm also sick of Borat, even though I subconsciously quote him repeatedly.
We must understand that the world runs on duality. You can't have an up unless you get a down later. Charles Dickens wrote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Led Zeppelin has a song called Good Times Bad Times. Bipolar is exactly that. When we cling to the "good" things in life frequently, then we get frustrated, stressed, nervous, afraid, angry, hurt - all of these things just as frequently. So, when The Secret teaches us that we can get what we want materially, we will still have the down times and be miserable over and over again. Hopefully we all realize this before we waste years of our lives seeking things out in the world.
The bigger secret than The Secret is that we are everything we want and need. This never changes, no matter what happens in your life-situation. Through Self-realization, you will know that you are and have far better than what we could fantasize about. You don't have to cling to it to have it - you are it. You no longer get a dose of duality over and over again. This whole life-situation is how we would prefer ourselves to be instead of how God created us to be. Now, honestly, do you want to identify yourself with this bone-and-flesh prison of yours? You would prefer being limited than limitless? And you would struggle to be this way at the cost of fear and pain? This is up to you. If you like what The Secret offers, that's fine. But you are just wasting your time until you awaken to the bliss that you are.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Limitations
Basically everyone says that we're human, and of course that's very logical. But, why can't we say that we're more than human? What's so bad about that? "Well, we're not. It's not bad to say that we're more than human, but the truth is we aren't." Thanks for the motivation.
However, there are those that have realized that we aren't just human. This isn't an opinion for them; it is truth. It is only an opinion to us. Come on, look at Jesus. Yes, he was the Son of Man, but he was also the Son of God. He never said that we were less than him. He said he was the first among many to do what he did. He said that we are capable of doing as much as or more than he did, and he motivates us to do so. Why do we automatically make excuses for these? You don't want to be like Jesus and the countless others? So be it.
There is this other man that has past all limitations and is still living here today. He is referred to as Mahavatar Babaji, and has been explained as being 600-1800 years old. He claims to have trained the great Indian philosopher Shankara in the 7th Century CE. He was the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya in the 1800's, who was in turn the guru of Sri Yukteswar, who was also the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. Yogananda saw him in the 1930's and had an artist draw him from memory.
Apparently, there are many recent color pictures of him. And he's young! There are so many stories about him available on the web, as well as some books. They call him an avatar because he is beyond all limitations. He can take any form he likes, and he says he can see through every eye and beats in every heart. He can instantly heal anyone, raise the dead, and so on and so forth. He can really do anything, and is here to help us all. He teaches Kriya Yoga, and assures that we can do the same as he can.
So many religions, and spiritual groups, books and people talk about this. This seems to be a universal truth. We are truly divine, and us mistakenly identifying with our ego, body, and mind has clouded up this truth. We don't need to become an avatar, a Buddha, a Christ, the Atman, and we don't need to reach nirvana, heaven, or paradise. We have and are truly all of these things. We just need to know it and awaken to it. Using our mind, body or ego to do these things will not do anything. So when you look at your body for an answer to if you are truly limitless, it won't work. When you hear your ego saying, "No, I can't do that," don't listen. If you use your logic to get the answer, you will find limitation.
It's not you! None of these things are you! If you hear yourself say "No," that's still the ego. Don't let it limit you. Once you stop identifying yourself with the mind, body and ego, you will know what you truly are - and it's beyond words.
However, there are those that have realized that we aren't just human. This isn't an opinion for them; it is truth. It is only an opinion to us. Come on, look at Jesus. Yes, he was the Son of Man, but he was also the Son of God. He never said that we were less than him. He said he was the first among many to do what he did. He said that we are capable of doing as much as or more than he did, and he motivates us to do so. Why do we automatically make excuses for these? You don't want to be like Jesus and the countless others? So be it.
There is this other man that has past all limitations and is still living here today. He is referred to as Mahavatar Babaji, and has been explained as being 600-1800 years old. He claims to have trained the great Indian philosopher Shankara in the 7th Century CE. He was the guru of Lahiri Mahasaya in the 1800's, who was in turn the guru of Sri Yukteswar, who was also the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. Yogananda saw him in the 1930's and had an artist draw him from memory.
Apparently, there are many recent color pictures of him. And he's young! There are so many stories about him available on the web, as well as some books. They call him an avatar because he is beyond all limitations. He can take any form he likes, and he says he can see through every eye and beats in every heart. He can instantly heal anyone, raise the dead, and so on and so forth. He can really do anything, and is here to help us all. He teaches Kriya Yoga, and assures that we can do the same as he can.
So many religions, and spiritual groups, books and people talk about this. This seems to be a universal truth. We are truly divine, and us mistakenly identifying with our ego, body, and mind has clouded up this truth. We don't need to become an avatar, a Buddha, a Christ, the Atman, and we don't need to reach nirvana, heaven, or paradise. We have and are truly all of these things. We just need to know it and awaken to it. Using our mind, body or ego to do these things will not do anything. So when you look at your body for an answer to if you are truly limitless, it won't work. When you hear your ego saying, "No, I can't do that," don't listen. If you use your logic to get the answer, you will find limitation.
It's not you! None of these things are you! If you hear yourself say "No," that's still the ego. Don't let it limit you. Once you stop identifying yourself with the mind, body and ego, you will know what you truly are - and it's beyond words.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Spirituality... What's the Point?
The majority of people have their basic belief systems and try to defend it. Our religious beliefs have caused many problems, and has led to large wars, conflicts, hate, and fear. We all live with a certain belief system even as a child, and we either believe in it and try to defend it or seem to see no point in it. We are doubtful of God's existence, and we tend to think that it religion is a very controversial subject. The people who are exremely religious usually make it a fight against every other religion, and are always try to prove them wrong. What's the point in all this? Does God even exist anyway?
For the people who have experienced God (or whatever they personally call it), it is no longer a fight of belief systems. They know it to be true, so they are instead looking at every religion and seeing the truth in it. People like Sri Ramakrishna and Paramahansa Yogananda lived their lives fully immersed in God, and decided to teach this message to the West, showing how Chrisitanity is indeed correct and offering techniques to know this is so. For those who have experienced it, the techniques were not opinion-based but truth-based, in the same way that 2+2=4.
Everyone is capable of experiencing something much greater than the mind can imagine. But, it matters on what the individuals focus is on - it's either on being right or being happy. Those who are determined to be right are very limited, since usually one belief system is chosen as the right one. Even this emphasis makes people forget that religion is supposed to bring happiness, and they will forget to do what their religion asks them to do! These people are always angry as well, and aren't able to live in peace. However, for the people that put their main emphasis on being happy, there is so much available. One could approach a certain belief system, follow it completely, and be able to easily see the harmony of all religions. They could go anywhere and find the utmost happiness. Being right won't matter anymore. You have got what you asked for. For those who want to be right, they will be right. But they won't necessarily be happy.
Also, when approaching religion and spirituality, don't just start believing what a certain source says. Yes, the motivation for practical use is needed, but don't just take their word for it and run around telling everyone else that believes differently that they're wrong. You are just making life suck for you and for everyone else.
For the people who have experienced God (or whatever they personally call it), it is no longer a fight of belief systems. They know it to be true, so they are instead looking at every religion and seeing the truth in it. People like Sri Ramakrishna and Paramahansa Yogananda lived their lives fully immersed in God, and decided to teach this message to the West, showing how Chrisitanity is indeed correct and offering techniques to know this is so. For those who have experienced it, the techniques were not opinion-based but truth-based, in the same way that 2+2=4.
Everyone is capable of experiencing something much greater than the mind can imagine. But, it matters on what the individuals focus is on - it's either on being right or being happy. Those who are determined to be right are very limited, since usually one belief system is chosen as the right one. Even this emphasis makes people forget that religion is supposed to bring happiness, and they will forget to do what their religion asks them to do! These people are always angry as well, and aren't able to live in peace. However, for the people that put their main emphasis on being happy, there is so much available. One could approach a certain belief system, follow it completely, and be able to easily see the harmony of all religions. They could go anywhere and find the utmost happiness. Being right won't matter anymore. You have got what you asked for. For those who want to be right, they will be right. But they won't necessarily be happy.
Also, when approaching religion and spirituality, don't just start believing what a certain source says. Yes, the motivation for practical use is needed, but don't just take their word for it and run around telling everyone else that believes differently that they're wrong. You are just making life suck for you and for everyone else.
Friday, May 18, 2007
How Do You Really Forgive?
Christianity and A Course in Miracles both focus a lot on forgiveness. Jesus really tried to teach forgiveness to the people of his time, but they weren't yet able to understand what he was really trying to teach, as I have shown in my other posts. Today, forgiveness has basically been taught and interpreted in a way that causes too many problems and seems ineffective. People usually either need to be convinced enough to forgive someone, label everyone as sinners (including themselves), and/or make themselves bigger or better than everyone else.
The first of these three is not a "technique" that should be practiced, since it is not applicable in every situation. For example, someone barges into your house and murders your spouse. What can be a convincing argument that will make you get over it and not hold grudges against the murderer anymore? If you even manage to do so, how can this be applied to every other situation?
The second and third are "techniques" that can be applied to every situation, but they both reinforce a barrier against God, which is the opposite of what you want to happen. Acknowledging that everyone is not perfect causes fear, guilt, sadness, pain, etc., which means that no one will feel that they are free from the labels of everyone else. No one would ever again be Christ-like if everyone used this way of forgiving, since Christ knows he is perfect and he acknowledges the perfectness in everyone. Seeing everyone as a sinner or imperfect will never let you realize that you are actually perfect.
The third "technique" is the ego's way of forgiving. You are preferring separation when you want to make levels of importance, so "playing the role of God" does not allow you to see the oneness that God is. Making yourself bigger than everyone shows that you prefer individuality which is what the ego is all about. "They are the sinners, and I'm perfect. Therefore, I will forgive them for being worse than me."
We are all labeling everything we see and making it what it is. When we see a new person, we instantly assume what they are like. So, we are never really seeing it for what it is. God has a label for everything, and it's the simplest one possible: everything is perfect. He created everything how it needed to be so that it is in favor of our maximum joy, bliss, and peace. The problem is that we have labeled our whole situation and made everything separate. We are under the influence of our made-up ego.
The good thing is that we know that everything that we encounter in our life-situation was made by us and not by God, so we can actually surrender our ideas to God's perfect creation. That's how we really forgive. If someone does murder your spouse, you know it was your idea and you are just doing it to yourself. It is only real as long as you think it is. God would never have this happen; he wouldn't even create things separated. He loves us that much! So just know that your-life situation is not real, but was only made up by you. God wills the best for everyone and everything.
I have discovered this to be true because of my experience in the hospital. I would think things are happening to me when they aren't, since no-one else is experiencing it. So I was creating the seeming horror in my life. Just recently, I've understood that it goes further than that. Maybe I'm not the only delusional one; is the whole world living under the same influence? After that realization, I got to get a sneak peek at how things really are. I have to say, we all got it wrong. True forgiveness is giving up our painful delusions in order to know perfection everywhere.
The first of these three is not a "technique" that should be practiced, since it is not applicable in every situation. For example, someone barges into your house and murders your spouse. What can be a convincing argument that will make you get over it and not hold grudges against the murderer anymore? If you even manage to do so, how can this be applied to every other situation?
The second and third are "techniques" that can be applied to every situation, but they both reinforce a barrier against God, which is the opposite of what you want to happen. Acknowledging that everyone is not perfect causes fear, guilt, sadness, pain, etc., which means that no one will feel that they are free from the labels of everyone else. No one would ever again be Christ-like if everyone used this way of forgiving, since Christ knows he is perfect and he acknowledges the perfectness in everyone. Seeing everyone as a sinner or imperfect will never let you realize that you are actually perfect.
The third "technique" is the ego's way of forgiving. You are preferring separation when you want to make levels of importance, so "playing the role of God" does not allow you to see the oneness that God is. Making yourself bigger than everyone shows that you prefer individuality which is what the ego is all about. "They are the sinners, and I'm perfect. Therefore, I will forgive them for being worse than me."
We are all labeling everything we see and making it what it is. When we see a new person, we instantly assume what they are like. So, we are never really seeing it for what it is. God has a label for everything, and it's the simplest one possible: everything is perfect. He created everything how it needed to be so that it is in favor of our maximum joy, bliss, and peace. The problem is that we have labeled our whole situation and made everything separate. We are under the influence of our made-up ego.
The good thing is that we know that everything that we encounter in our life-situation was made by us and not by God, so we can actually surrender our ideas to God's perfect creation. That's how we really forgive. If someone does murder your spouse, you know it was your idea and you are just doing it to yourself. It is only real as long as you think it is. God would never have this happen; he wouldn't even create things separated. He loves us that much! So just know that your-life situation is not real, but was only made up by you. God wills the best for everyone and everything.
I have discovered this to be true because of my experience in the hospital. I would think things are happening to me when they aren't, since no-one else is experiencing it. So I was creating the seeming horror in my life. Just recently, I've understood that it goes further than that. Maybe I'm not the only delusional one; is the whole world living under the same influence? After that realization, I got to get a sneak peek at how things really are. I have to say, we all got it wrong. True forgiveness is giving up our painful delusions in order to know perfection everywhere.
Make a Sacrifice?
In some religions, sacrifice is a big thing. Jews used to believe in sacrificing animals to compensate for their sins. Then, Jesus came and seemed to represent an "ultimate and final sacrifice" for our sins. Even though these kind of sacrifices don't happen anymore, some still feel that we need to give up something dear to us in order to be spiritual. For example, there was a man during Jesus' time that followed the ten commandments closely, and asked Jesus what he should do next. Jesus told him to give everything away. There are people who have interpreted this and thought that they should give up everything up as well.... and then their lives fell apart.
The problem here is that the idea of sacrifice has seemed to be continued in Jesus' teachings. Now, Jesus wasn't there to make people's lives fall apart! He wanted to do the exact opposite! So, he must have meant something else. What he meant was that we should be in a state where we are no longer attached or needy of things in the outer world. So, if you had to give up everything you had, you be in a state of mind where you are unnaffected by this change. You could have it or not; you wouldn't mind it at all. This means you don't necessarily need to sacrifice anything. The only difference is that "all your treasures are in heaven."
Now, you might still be curious of why Jesus is told to be a sacrifice for our sins, even though he didn't teach sacrifice. Well, there are many things that Jesus has said that were taken literally. In this case, he said, "I am the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." So, people assumed that he is a sacrifice for our sins. His point was that he was trying to get rid of sacrifice by showing that it was unnecessary. He approached even the so-called sinful, and he didn't require them to sacrifice anything; he was not the sin "tax-collector." He would heal anyone, but didn't need to forgive anyone - he became forgiveness itself. So, he is "the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." People falsely connected the statement with his death on the cross and saw him as a sacrifice. But he never said he is or was going to be a sacrifice! He only knew about his death threw intuition, and was okay with it because it was a chance for him to resurrect.
There is another instant where we can see Jesus' message being interpreted falsely. He said, in the Gospel of Thomas, "When a man becomes a woman and woman becomes a man, and they are one and the same, then you will enter the kingdom." People must have misinterpreted it and left it out of the bible because they thought he meant that we should all get a sex change. Just know that Jesus doesn't always talk literally. He doesn't want us to sacrifice, and he doesn't encourage us to have a sex change.
The problem here is that the idea of sacrifice has seemed to be continued in Jesus' teachings. Now, Jesus wasn't there to make people's lives fall apart! He wanted to do the exact opposite! So, he must have meant something else. What he meant was that we should be in a state where we are no longer attached or needy of things in the outer world. So, if you had to give up everything you had, you be in a state of mind where you are unnaffected by this change. You could have it or not; you wouldn't mind it at all. This means you don't necessarily need to sacrifice anything. The only difference is that "all your treasures are in heaven."
Now, you might still be curious of why Jesus is told to be a sacrifice for our sins, even though he didn't teach sacrifice. Well, there are many things that Jesus has said that were taken literally. In this case, he said, "I am the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." So, people assumed that he is a sacrifice for our sins. His point was that he was trying to get rid of sacrifice by showing that it was unnecessary. He approached even the so-called sinful, and he didn't require them to sacrifice anything; he was not the sin "tax-collector." He would heal anyone, but didn't need to forgive anyone - he became forgiveness itself. So, he is "the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world." People falsely connected the statement with his death on the cross and saw him as a sacrifice. But he never said he is or was going to be a sacrifice! He only knew about his death threw intuition, and was okay with it because it was a chance for him to resurrect.
There is another instant where we can see Jesus' message being interpreted falsely. He said, in the Gospel of Thomas, "When a man becomes a woman and woman becomes a man, and they are one and the same, then you will enter the kingdom." People must have misinterpreted it and left it out of the bible because they thought he meant that we should all get a sex change. Just know that Jesus doesn't always talk literally. He doesn't want us to sacrifice, and he doesn't encourage us to have a sex change.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Is This World the Absolute Reality?
When questioning if this world is reality, it sounds ridiculous to most, but few would know that this is not reality. It's obvious that anyone could easily say that this is reality because there is nothing else that we know, and that this world seems so real because our senses transmit undeniable feelings. When we have a strong headache, we know it real for sure. But really, what is real to you is whatever you identify as being real. But isn't there a reality that exists without our input?
Our thoughts make up our world. Thoughts change, and so does the world. The change comes from separation, which produces degrees, aspects and intervals. This is the reality we identify with. But, since it changes, we are making up every moment. For example, the reality is that I'm listenting to music. But, who put the music there? I did! So, this world only exists with our input! It is not there without us, so it must not be the reality.
We say that we are made of three things: body, mind, and spirit. These have been interpreted differently by different people. Whoever came up with this idea of body, mind, and spirit must have listed them in the order that were the most important or undeniable. So, most of us think that we are a body. We also have a mind, but some say that our mind is our brain, so we are only everything in our physical body. This is a very self-limiting opinion, but go ahead and believe it if you must. However, a large group of people don't even consider the spirit to be part of that list! And the people that do say that we have a spirit claim it changes as our mind and body do.
If one of these things is to be our permanent reality that exists without our input, it is most likely to be the spirit. Maybe we should list it backwards: spirit, mind, and body. Even better: we are only spirit. This is where most people scoff at the idea. "Of course that's not it! Look! I have a body, and I'm thinking as well!" Great statement! But what happens when you die? No more body. The mind changes as the body does, so its not permanent and absolute either. And we are the ones who are making it up because we are the ones who are thinking.
Some people actually declare that we are only spirit. The rest is illusory. And this isn't an opinion to them or a philosophical statement. It is reality. They feel it even stronger than the feeling of your arm being stabbed by a kitchen knife. It is so strong that, as was the case with Lieh-Tzu, the body is no longer seen or felt and thinking is unnecessary. Lieh-Tzu, however, was still more productive than we are everyday. It is the life of someone who identifies with spirit, and no longer has any struggles. The body and mind is basically a dream to them- waves surfacing the deep ocean. So, it's up to you to identify with whatever you want; what are you? Body, mind, spirit?
Our thoughts make up our world. Thoughts change, and so does the world. The change comes from separation, which produces degrees, aspects and intervals. This is the reality we identify with. But, since it changes, we are making up every moment. For example, the reality is that I'm listenting to music. But, who put the music there? I did! So, this world only exists with our input! It is not there without us, so it must not be the reality.
We say that we are made of three things: body, mind, and spirit. These have been interpreted differently by different people. Whoever came up with this idea of body, mind, and spirit must have listed them in the order that were the most important or undeniable. So, most of us think that we are a body. We also have a mind, but some say that our mind is our brain, so we are only everything in our physical body. This is a very self-limiting opinion, but go ahead and believe it if you must. However, a large group of people don't even consider the spirit to be part of that list! And the people that do say that we have a spirit claim it changes as our mind and body do.
If one of these things is to be our permanent reality that exists without our input, it is most likely to be the spirit. Maybe we should list it backwards: spirit, mind, and body. Even better: we are only spirit. This is where most people scoff at the idea. "Of course that's not it! Look! I have a body, and I'm thinking as well!" Great statement! But what happens when you die? No more body. The mind changes as the body does, so its not permanent and absolute either. And we are the ones who are making it up because we are the ones who are thinking.
Some people actually declare that we are only spirit. The rest is illusory. And this isn't an opinion to them or a philosophical statement. It is reality. They feel it even stronger than the feeling of your arm being stabbed by a kitchen knife. It is so strong that, as was the case with Lieh-Tzu, the body is no longer seen or felt and thinking is unnecessary. Lieh-Tzu, however, was still more productive than we are everyday. It is the life of someone who identifies with spirit, and no longer has any struggles. The body and mind is basically a dream to them- waves surfacing the deep ocean. So, it's up to you to identify with whatever you want; what are you? Body, mind, spirit?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Is Anger Justified?
There is a controversy about anger. Is it justified or not? If we go to spirituality, A Course in Miracles claims that anger isn't justified. However, everyone believes the answer obvious: of course it's justified! People use the example of Jesus at the temple, where he starts flipping over tables and exclaiming his people to be in a "den of thieves." So, people think, "Hey, if Jesus justifies anger, then we should be able to as well!" What I can say is that Jesus never said that anger was justified; people assumed it was.
How I see it is that its okay to be angry, as long as you like it. Anger is a very common thing, and it seems inhuman to not be angry when someone hurts you, insults you, steals from you, etc. So that's why we justify it. However, we must ask ourselves this: do we like being angry? Does it feel good? If the answer is yes, then go ahead. Be as angry as you like for as long as you like. The problem is that it eventually makes a long chain of people angry. Our justified anger leads to wars and conflicts. But, come on, no one likes to be angry.
Many spiritual masters have never said that anger is justified. I have only heard them say the opposite. The only sense of "anger" I have found is more of an assertion or taking responsibilties for someone. For example, there is this story by Sri Ramakrishna about a poisonous snake who was taught how to be peaceful and to not harm anyone. After its master has taught it this discipline, a couple of kids knew that it was now okay to approach it. So, they picked the snake up by its end and slammed it several times against the ground. The snake was barely alive, and eventually became very thin. It rarely ever came out of its hole, and had only enough strength to eat fallen fruits. About a year later, its master returned to see how it was doing. He asked, "Why have you become so frail?" Because of its teachings of harmlessness, it forgot about the kids attempting to kill it. So, the master asked it to try to remember. Once the snake told him what happened, the master said, "Yes, it's true I told you not to harm anyone, but did I not tell you to hiss?" So, we can tell that we can still think and be peaceful and still assert ourselves.
Sri Yukteswar (above)
The other example is an example from Paramahansa Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar. When Yogananda became his disciple, he accepted that Yukteswar was now responsible for taking care of his situation. This granted Yukteswar to be able to monitor Yogananda's thoughts. So, when he started daydreaming, Yukteswar had to do whatever it took to correct him. He said, "Do you want to seek guidance from me or not? If you do, you must do what I say." Yukteswar was, however, a very peaceful man. He would not act this way with everyday people; only with his disciples.
This now shows the event with Jesus in a different light. Jesus was just asserting himself, since he was now responsible for his followers and disciples. To be a disciple, you must be disciplined. Masters like Jesus have to make sure that their disciples will do what they require them to do. As for the other people that Jesus was in contact with, he was absolutely peaceful! We all know that he loved his "enemies." He cared deeply for the "scum" of the world. That is how to act around everyday people. The people close to you, like your families or disciples, must be disciplined to "grow up." So you must assert your self.
Anger is not for the spiritual people, since it says nowhere in their writings that anger is justified. Justified anger is an assumption made by the everyday people, since people get angry everyday. Anger is justified only if you want it to be. Anger never helps, though; you are only hurting yourself. The more you are angry the less that you are happy, since your anger takes up a slot of time that could be dedicated to joy. Don't worry: it's your free will. Just know anger isn't really freedom - it is enslavement to yourself and others.
How I see it is that its okay to be angry, as long as you like it. Anger is a very common thing, and it seems inhuman to not be angry when someone hurts you, insults you, steals from you, etc. So that's why we justify it. However, we must ask ourselves this: do we like being angry? Does it feel good? If the answer is yes, then go ahead. Be as angry as you like for as long as you like. The problem is that it eventually makes a long chain of people angry. Our justified anger leads to wars and conflicts. But, come on, no one likes to be angry.
Many spiritual masters have never said that anger is justified. I have only heard them say the opposite. The only sense of "anger" I have found is more of an assertion or taking responsibilties for someone. For example, there is this story by Sri Ramakrishna about a poisonous snake who was taught how to be peaceful and to not harm anyone. After its master has taught it this discipline, a couple of kids knew that it was now okay to approach it. So, they picked the snake up by its end and slammed it several times against the ground. The snake was barely alive, and eventually became very thin. It rarely ever came out of its hole, and had only enough strength to eat fallen fruits. About a year later, its master returned to see how it was doing. He asked, "Why have you become so frail?" Because of its teachings of harmlessness, it forgot about the kids attempting to kill it. So, the master asked it to try to remember. Once the snake told him what happened, the master said, "Yes, it's true I told you not to harm anyone, but did I not tell you to hiss?" So, we can tell that we can still think and be peaceful and still assert ourselves.
Sri Yukteswar (above)The other example is an example from Paramahansa Yogananda's guru, Sri Yukteswar. When Yogananda became his disciple, he accepted that Yukteswar was now responsible for taking care of his situation. This granted Yukteswar to be able to monitor Yogananda's thoughts. So, when he started daydreaming, Yukteswar had to do whatever it took to correct him. He said, "Do you want to seek guidance from me or not? If you do, you must do what I say." Yukteswar was, however, a very peaceful man. He would not act this way with everyday people; only with his disciples.
This now shows the event with Jesus in a different light. Jesus was just asserting himself, since he was now responsible for his followers and disciples. To be a disciple, you must be disciplined. Masters like Jesus have to make sure that their disciples will do what they require them to do. As for the other people that Jesus was in contact with, he was absolutely peaceful! We all know that he loved his "enemies." He cared deeply for the "scum" of the world. That is how to act around everyday people. The people close to you, like your families or disciples, must be disciplined to "grow up." So you must assert your self.
Anger is not for the spiritual people, since it says nowhere in their writings that anger is justified. Justified anger is an assumption made by the everyday people, since people get angry everyday. Anger is justified only if you want it to be. Anger never helps, though; you are only hurting yourself. The more you are angry the less that you are happy, since your anger takes up a slot of time that could be dedicated to joy. Don't worry: it's your free will. Just know anger isn't really freedom - it is enslavement to yourself and others.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
The Path
What I have discovered, so far, of what our responsibilities are here are really simple. Every religion says that we should be devoted to God and God only. This means that we shouldn't be attached to anything worldly, since they are only effects of God's cause. Seeking the source is very important. The question is: why? Why should we do this? Well, it depends on how happy you are. If you're satisfied with your life, like you couldn't ask for more, then there is no reason to seek God. Heck, how do we know He exists? That is one opinion of spirituality. For me, I came towards spirituality because I couldn't deal with life without it. Would you look forward to an endless life of depression, mania and paranoia? I sure wouldn't.
So you have to be convinced that there is something bigger. Luckily, through that motivation I was able to find that "bigger something." Even though I have only dove downward a little, I know how much deeper I can go. This experience is better than anything the world has to offer, and you can only get it by being detached from worldly pleasures. Another great thing about this is that you don't have to do anything to receive this joy. You have to be in state of no-doing, which is awkward because we usually have to repeat doing things to keep up our satisfaction before were torn down by something else.
People usually have a hard time of settling down to do nothing meditate. Our minds our constantly running and are always distracted. The only convincing thought that I have at this moment is that you would be shooting for the highest. Everything else you have done will never surpass what your goal will offer you. The truth is that this goal of God is the only correct goal; only God is, and he is the cause of all these little things that you are attached to. And the cause is always greater than the effect. So focus on what you feel in your body, but no that only God exists, and everything else in the world, including your physical body, isn't ultimately real.
This way, you know how to forgive without boosting your ego. If something bothers you at all, know that it isn't real. See God in every situation, and let Him make all the judgements.
Of course, this is only the beginning for me, but this is the path and the guidelines that I have taken to get me to where I am.
So you have to be convinced that there is something bigger. Luckily, through that motivation I was able to find that "bigger something." Even though I have only dove downward a little, I know how much deeper I can go. This experience is better than anything the world has to offer, and you can only get it by being detached from worldly pleasures. Another great thing about this is that you don't have to do anything to receive this joy. You have to be in state of no-doing, which is awkward because we usually have to repeat doing things to keep up our satisfaction before were torn down by something else.
People usually have a hard time of settling down to do nothing meditate. Our minds our constantly running and are always distracted. The only convincing thought that I have at this moment is that you would be shooting for the highest. Everything else you have done will never surpass what your goal will offer you. The truth is that this goal of God is the only correct goal; only God is, and he is the cause of all these little things that you are attached to. And the cause is always greater than the effect. So focus on what you feel in your body, but no that only God exists, and everything else in the world, including your physical body, isn't ultimately real.
This way, you know how to forgive without boosting your ego. If something bothers you at all, know that it isn't real. See God in every situation, and let Him make all the judgements.
Of course, this is only the beginning for me, but this is the path and the guidelines that I have taken to get me to where I am.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
In The Beginning...
I have made this blog in order to transfer my thoughts written in my journal onto the web, for everyone to see and comment on. I am not going to write all of my past journals for everyone to see here, but my thoughts will be written here from now on. However, I will mention why I have become so interested in spirituality at quite a young age.
Almost exactly a year ago, in 2006, I had an experience with mania. My parents didn't understand what was going on at first, but we were able to find out that I had bipolar disorder. I have been able to see how dysfunctional the world can be through this experience, even though it was the toughest part of my life. Paranoia makes everything seem like the world is in chaos, while no-one else is aware that I am experiencing it. The positive side about this is that I realized I had to escape this once I knew that it wasn't desirable. I never wanted to be controlled by this manic-depressive illness again. I was okay with accepting I had it, and I knew that I didn't want it.
So, I became deeply interested in how we got into this life-situation. I started thinking constantly, and started reading a lot. Once I had run into A Course in Miracles, I started feeling that everything was okay, and I was safe. The message in the Course said everything I needed to hear, and everything else that I have read seemed to say the same thing, even though they were from different religions.
Luckily, it has recently gone past mere reading. I started applying these teaching to my life, and it allowed my to experience something grand. Before I fell asleep one night, I reached a state where my whole body was filled with this wonderful sensation, stronger and more pleasant than anything the world has to offer. It was undeniable, and it makes life in the world seem unreal. Nevertheless, I didn't think I was going to have this happen to me at age sixteen. I can only hope to reach even deeper in my spiritual journey, as well as hoping that everyone else is up to finding what I have found as well.
Almost exactly a year ago, in 2006, I had an experience with mania. My parents didn't understand what was going on at first, but we were able to find out that I had bipolar disorder. I have been able to see how dysfunctional the world can be through this experience, even though it was the toughest part of my life. Paranoia makes everything seem like the world is in chaos, while no-one else is aware that I am experiencing it. The positive side about this is that I realized I had to escape this once I knew that it wasn't desirable. I never wanted to be controlled by this manic-depressive illness again. I was okay with accepting I had it, and I knew that I didn't want it.
So, I became deeply interested in how we got into this life-situation. I started thinking constantly, and started reading a lot. Once I had run into A Course in Miracles, I started feeling that everything was okay, and I was safe. The message in the Course said everything I needed to hear, and everything else that I have read seemed to say the same thing, even though they were from different religions.
Luckily, it has recently gone past mere reading. I started applying these teaching to my life, and it allowed my to experience something grand. Before I fell asleep one night, I reached a state where my whole body was filled with this wonderful sensation, stronger and more pleasant than anything the world has to offer. It was undeniable, and it makes life in the world seem unreal. Nevertheless, I didn't think I was going to have this happen to me at age sixteen. I can only hope to reach even deeper in my spiritual journey, as well as hoping that everyone else is up to finding what I have found as well.
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