For the
ever-Deepening Path of my non-denominational Ministries,I have studied many
theologies; some with very in-depth passion.
Although I was
born, raised, baptized and even Catechism'd a Catholic:-O
My inquisitive
nature, asked too many questions of:
Why some of our
Irish church folks were inspired to fight and bomb other Irish Christian
folks...
often praying for
'God's' blessing to bomb thy neighbor, "HIS" children.
During my youthful
Catechism schooling...
It was bad enough
when I asked if there was an adult version of these mythic "stories".
I told the nun
that:
"Wow! 'God'
was really upset with those ancient men from Babel,
Threatening 'God
Almighty by building a tower of sticks & stones to reach 'Heaven'.
Surely 'He' must be
extremely mad at the tall buildings in New York! :-O
As a child, I
pondered:
"How many more
'fibs' will they make me believe or else face eternal damnation?"
After a meeting
with the catholic school principle nun to further understand the deeply
spiritual and philosophic concerns of an innocent kid...
I never again had
to invest my time in 'such studies' during the otherwise endlessly fun summers.
There is a very
long list of reasons that so many other folks have thrown out the 'Spiritual
Baby' along with the dirty dogma bathwater of un-transcended traditional
religions.
A tragedy that is
beyond measure.
Everyone born has a
natural inclination to connect 'themselves' to something that is bigger and
more meaningful than life as it typically appears with all its struggles and
challenges.
The lack of answers
by the nuns & "adults" fueled my inquisitive inquires further
into 'seeking', searching, and pondering the philosophical questions 'Life',
the Bigger Picture, and
'my' place in the
'Timeless Wonder of it All'.
Father Thomas
Keaton, a recently Transcended Roman Catholic monk and Abbot of St. Joseph's
Abbey,
stated that:
"All the
world's religions combine, is at best...
A bad translation
of God.
His Deeply
contemplative, full immersion of really connecting personally with Spirit was a
major breakthrough for progressive Catholics, Christians and even 'seekers'
from many diverse theologies with his famous 'Centering Prayer' mediation.
Like the Theravada
Buddhist meditation of Vipassana, typically a 10-day mediation focusing on the
direct experiential perception of our True Nature, integrating, Morality,
mindfulness of breathing, and reflection.
Father Thomas
helped create his famous 'Centering Prayer' that had a similar approach to
contemplating profound scriptures...
(as opposed to the
man made up myths, magic and miracles and other dogmas.)
The Tao states
that:
Anything that can
be read or written...
Is NOT the Tao.
Father Thomas
states that:
Silence, is the
language of God.
My personal
Transcendence of the man made up myth, magic and miracles that are required to
be taken as 'God's' unquestionable word, or face eternal damnation, was
beginning to broaden my path or personal Spiritual growth.
'Personal'
Spiritual growth was very much not encouraged within most traditional doctrine.
It was more of,
"Don't experience spirit yourself, just take our word for it."
Again, with the
insistence that myths were to be taken, not usefully and metaphorically, but to
be taken unquestionable as the word of 'God'...
or suffer eternal
damnation...
Well, with this
'self-defeating Modus Operandi'...
It keeps getting
harder to tell young, post-modern rational folks to abandon their rational
intelligence and dive mindlessly into an un-rational belief of man made up
myths, magic and 'miracles'.
Never mind the
absolute power created by the corruption of church and state, and the countless
1000's of innocent folks tortured to death in hideous 'evil' fashions,
including academics like Bruno. Copernicus had to wait until on his death bed
before he dared published the work that changed everything we knew about our
relation to the universe.
Galileo dared prove
that our narcissistic, power driven self-absorbed concepts of 'Us', God's
chosen planet to be the center of the universe... was simply not true,
"Here! Just
look into my telescope!"
Galileo was stripped
of all his privileges, exiled by house arrest and by threat of death was told
never look into that evil telescope again!
But yet, at the
same time they were shaming Galileo...
the Pope finances
one of the world's largest telescopes of the times and have maintained the most
extensive observatories privately owned for over 500 years. At least they
finally pardoned Galileo nearly 500 years later:-O
At the core
contemplative aspects of all spiritual Practices and even the dominate
religious traditions, there are many commonalities of moral, virtue and a
non-distracted mental space.
The deeply
connected Christian scholars and mystics brought forth the basis of the most
prolific religion in history, but those in power created the dogma and indoctrination attached to many religious traditions that were born of an insatiable
power-ego-driven drive for domination capitalizing on the most powerful
military weapon and political tool...
Never before was it
conceived that without much funding, a huge army could be assembled and make
their own way, way over to 'god's' enemy and kill everyone there; the church
pulled this off by allowing this mob to rape and pillage anywhere along the way
and back.
Brilliant, if not
diabolical... The combination of 'church and state'.
Absolute power
corrupts, absolutely.
Again, the 'church'
atrocities are not 'evil'!
Sadistic ego driven
torturing of others in the name of 'God', back in the good 'ol days, was
perfectly normal during that embarrassing time of our human evolution.
Almost all
religions today have transcended this embarrassing unevolved trait.
Those that still
continue the atrocities the Christians were doing 1000 years ago are still
embracing the traditions of their mislead father's, father's mis-perception of
their religion.
Traditional
religions that don't allow the scrutiny of review by a group of qualified
peers, Is ultimately keeping the flock in the dark ages.
By not progressing,
not transcending with the evolving world views...
Only empty rituals
are left to be indoctrinated into a deaf, dumb and blind-faith for the ones
that inherit their father's, father's outdated religion, unquestioned.
Along a Path of
Deep Spiritual pursuit...
One begins to learn
that the eternal nature of our Being is inseparable from all others, yet...
Most religions will
insist that 'we sinners' are separate, not only from the un-reachable holy
heights of 'God', but also separate from every other human spirit...
particularly the ones that don't worship like 'they' do; a mentality of divide
and conquer that perpetuates the illusion of being separate from 'God' and all
others.
It's curious that
it is believed that 'God' Himself infallibly wrote the words of the Bible by
His own hand, yet:
There are over
33,000 denominations of Christianity that just about each one has a slightly
different spin on the infallible word of 'God':-O
The progressive
human element strives for perfection in ever increasing stages of 'transcend
and include'.
All successive
achievements since the 'Big Bang', from subatomic particles to our own evolved
body and triune brain, and the integration of post-modern societies that have
evolved along with our collective world view.
In all aspects of
life, it is advisable to 'do one's own due diligence'.
In fact, that very
phrase is included in the forms to sign when buying a house.
And...
No one buys a new
car without at least some basic comparisons with the competitors.
Yet, we tend to not
bother with the Divine Right of our Free Will to use our due diligence when
committing the perspectives of our Eternal Nature to the most profound aspect
of our earthy and Spiritual existence...
It's at least a wee
bit more profound than investing in a car or house!
It's your Life - Do
your due diligence!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Just because your
parent's, parent's, parents were indoctrinated into the power of 'church and
state' or succumbed to the fear of a made up 'satin' or the fear of 'god'
HIMself.
It's OK to make a
sensible search into the True Nature of our Being.
Shop around and
find your own 'Way'!!
It seems fairly
universal in the less dogmatic contemplative traditions
that 'the True
Nature of our Being':
Is not the 'story
of our life', our body, brains, mind, egos, emotions, the work we do or the
things 'we' like or dislike...
So much so, that
even if it were possible to meet 'ourselves' after 'we' die here...
We would not even
recognize 'ourselves' without the veils that obscure the True Nature of our
Being by the mistaken identity that 'we' typically project 'ourselves' to be.
In the Tibetan Bon
traditions, which integrated Buddhism along the way, evolved it is said for
over 18,000 years in an unbroken lineage that inspired many profound teachings
including the Practices of the 'Great Perfection' - Dzogchen, and profoundly
what became a collective body of work referred to as:
"The Book of
the Dead", regarding the Bardo state between death and rebirth.
The Ultimate goal
of Enlightenment is the objective nature of Dzogchen - The advanced teachings
of "The Great Perfection", with the Bardo described as a sort of
final check point for Enlightenment in which different approaches to
Enlightenment can possibly be experienced, with the 'Rainbow Body'
enlightenment achieved while still alive, thus, never physically dying.
(Similar to the
'concept' that: 'Christ became a body of light and transcended without
physically dying)
Then during Bardo,
various opportunities for Enlightenment can possibly manifest during the up to
49 days of Bardo.
And, if ya can't
achieve Enlightenment within those 49 days, perhaps a 'favorable rebirth' might
be 'your' 'ticket'...
And that's where
the philosophic conundrum blossoms into these 'inquires' :-O
The Buddha taught
the doctrine of Anatta, which refers to the doctrine of "non-self",
that there is no unchanging, permanent self, soul or essence in living beings.
Buddha taught that
Anatta does not mean there is no afterlife, no rebirth or no fruition of karma.
It's not a bitter
pill to swallow to consider trading the belief in 'a' soul, eternally separate
from 'God' and all others...
Vs.
Being an
inseparable aspect of all 'souls' and everything there is.
Not only 'at One
with God', but 'at One with everything there is'.
I'll choose
Boundless spaciousness instead of the limited 'self' we often mistake for our
True Nature.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here within lies
the conundrums of Buddhism...
If there is Anatta
- no self & no soul, then: Who is it, that can be re-born or if well along
'The Path',
what 'individual'
gets a favorable rebirth?
The Buddha asserted
that there is no soul, but there is rebirth, for which karmic moral
responsibilities are necessary, along with 'right view' and 'right actions' for
'one' to gain liberation.
The 8-Fold Noble
Path is the Buddha's 'road map' to Enlightenment, but he also encouraged others
stating: 'by any skillful means' that leads you to liberation.
All slopes lead to
the mountain top...
The path one takes
can take anywhere between an instant or eons.
That's what
Siddhartha did as he went from Guru to Guru,
Searching for the
insights of his own skillful means to manifest.
Your Path is paved
by personal 'experience', so...
Do it your 'Way'!
Or at least realize
that contrary to what the 'church' projects that there is only one way to
eternal bliss, and that's 'their way'...
There are as many
'ways' to eternal bliss as there are beings born.
Personal
'experience' is an essential centering aspect of all transcendence.
During Buddha's time
and back around when heaps of religions were forming...
Survival of the
fittest mindsets were not nearly transcended yet, especially in societies that
bred competitiveness in a 'dog eat dog' viscous cycle that was so prevalent
back then...
and still
perpetuated to this day, if not on a wee bit less barbaric fashion, but
spiritually and personally self-defeating non the less.
It was imperative
to integrate some insistence on morals and virtues on a society that struggled
for survival with very meager opportunities.
A time when the
world view was such that it was universally understood:
The world is flat Slavery
was perfectly normal and women were not even considered fully human, only a
property of a man.
Still to this day,
outdated traditions inspire 58% to go along with this male short sided
un-evolved view.
Just before
Buddha's time, Confucius & The 'Tao' presented insights, primarily based on
the morals and virtues of the:
Harmonious
integration of Families, government and the collective societies.
The slow evolution
of human kind, as we climbed down off the trees and began the 'prehistoric man'
stage.
Chimps fight each
other to gain the dominate of the clan.
The clan fights
other clans to take their foraging grounds.
Bigger monkeys
fight any other clan for the survival of their species.
Man evolved from
that survival trait burned into our DNA programming.
Some overzealous
religions would insist that 'man was born a sinner',
Naturally inclined
to be 'evil'.
When it was not
'evil', a term some religions inventeed and depend on to scare you to
worshiping their way...
But simply our
human evolution.
We started out in
the animal word of survival of the fittest.
That's not evil, it
was what was required then.
There is no
'sin'...
That too was
conspired by the hand of man during the earlier stages of our evolution.
We can now look
back and see how morally repulsive our collective atrocities have been all
along our evolutionary path.
And let those
reflections inspire a wider circle of embrace today, until a Transcendence that
Includes the sensibilities of everyone, and every 'thing' that we are
custodians of, are fully integrated into our collective world view.
------------------------------
With countless 10's
of 1000's of various religions, in which nearly all of them have their own
version of the 'after life', based on biased projections of man's archaic world
views...
Despite the fact
they all consider their version to be the only way to avoid eternal demotion...
It is evident that
- No one really knows 'what comes next'.
So far...
My thoughts on
'after this life' seems to resonate with the description Philosopher Ken Wilber
writes of so eloquently, based on his ambitious research of all the known
theologies possible and expresses those Wisdoms of... What comes next... about,
'Becoming at One with it All'...
Kosmically
connected to the whole of Everything in a 'Holographic like Sacred Synchronous
Universe of a Collective Consciousness' sort of way.
A 'non-duel'
perspective that we simply have no way to relate to or conceptualize of...
'Being at One with
it All'.
But these are some
ways to feel a wee bit of that experience.
'Your Transcended
loved one is now the radiance of every beautiful sunset'
'The sparkle of a
sunlit dew drop on a morning flower... '
You become an
inseparable part of everything there is.
Allow that Blissful
Reverie take you away for a Timeless moment, whenever you just...
'Let yourself Be'.
Consider that:
One does not need
to fully understand everything there is to know about
'gravity', in order
stay firmly on the ground...
It happens
naturally.
Birth and Death
happen naturally, and whatever follows is natural as well.
Perhaps there is a
special place in a 'hell realm' for those that really mess it up here and die
not learning a thing about anything...
OR NOT
:-O
Considering that
most contemplative spiritual traditions point out that the True Nature of our
Being is not our egos, emotions, nor our dirty or divine deeds...
so therefore, from
their collective perspectives:
There would be no
'one individual' that goes to an afterlife that can be punished.
~ ~ ~
I spent the first
few decades of my 'cognitive' life convincing myself that,
like the life I
know, surly 'we', our soul, must evolve in stages...
so rebirths must be
how 'we', our 'soul', evolves...
yet,
In my early 20's,
after a few years of focused meditation practice,
I attended a series
of workshops that accumulated into an opportunity
to experience a
guided past life regression with an expert in that field.
I experience
numerous lives... very vivid. Very much like:
Going through one's
own memories of something profound that just happened last week.
As 'real life' as
real life gets, just like playing back one's own profound memories...
but, what surprised
me the most was...
that I came away
from that experience with a completely new perspective on past or future
lives...
As much as I
expected to witness 'my' past lives...
I came away with
the strong feeling that I was merely (or profoundly) tapping into some sort of
'collective' consciousness.
The thinking that 'We'
evolve in stages and rebirths must be how our 'soul' evolves...
This tends to waste
a bit of time on "one's" Path.
If even for a brief
ponderance here & there...
To even consider
that a "you" can just pick up 'spiritually & or intellectually'
where "you" left off and continue to complete 'your' mission...
this is not just a
delusion and a waste of time...
It solidifies the
misplaced notion of being a 'self' that stays intact eternally as who 'you'
currently mistake the true nature of your Being.
Whatever it is,
that is the 'Eternal' Nature of our True Being...
Was never born,
will never die, is changeless and inseparable from all that there is...
A far cry from the
boundlessly limited 'self' 'we' mistake 'ourselves' to be.
Our True Nature is
not the 'story' of 'ourselves' we project ourselves to be.
Those so Inspired
can experience the True Nature of one's Being with a personal Practice.
In meditation,
develop a deep sense of focused, relaxed concentration on pure emptiness.
You will eventually
be aware of an 'Awareness'.
It is always
present.
This non-distracted
Clear Light of Awareness will illuminate the essence that is
our True Nature of
our Being.
Once experienced,
spend more time just 'Being', fully present in the moment...
And each moment we
can turn off our super computer brain from it's useful when needed but endless
thoughts spawning new thoughts, judging, comparing, calculating, adding 'our'
biases...
Abiding within our
Inner Stillness, Silence and Boundless Spaciousness, will increase the sense of
our True Nature.
The perspective of
one who exudes the virtues of 'Enlightenment', sees the perfection in the
'ever-present' moment.
That trait can be
learned by anyone.
However...
The 'non-duel'
inseparable connection to all there is... well,
that typically
takes up most of one's Path...
yet...
It is Always
Already Alright and Within 'us'...
once we peel back
the veils we've projected that blinds 'us' from our True Nature.
Once it is realized
that 'the True Nature of our Being', Is not our:
Body, brains, mind,
egos, emotions, the work we do or the things 'we' like or dislike...
The more we can
experience the perfection in everything that 'Is'.
Starting with deep
mediation, the experience of one's 'Inner Stillness, can open a door to one's
'Inner Silence'.
Then, Awareness of
the Union of Inner Stillness, Silence and Boundless Spaciousness of our Being
reveals a perpetual Bliss beyond measure.
Regarding the
conundrum of Buddhism...
As much as my
empirical thinking mind wanted to project it's perspective on an evolving
soul...
My experiences were
leading me to feel otherwise.
In the last few
years of deepening Practice, my 'empirical thinking mind' has caught up to what
my experiences feel.
It is quite
liberating just to have come to this perspective, at least intellectually.
Even just a toe in
the pond of liberation is enough to feel the Bliss and perfection of the
Ever-Present Moment...
at least for longer
and longer periods of Pure Awareness.
Most traditions
support the notion of:
'do good or your
soul will pay in the afterlife'.
Without a soul
& karma to scare people into being good, tt was apparently a big concern of
the times to really drive home the moral issues.
The Buddha asserted
that there is no 'self' no soul - Anatta, but there is rebirth for which karmic
moral responsibility is a must.
In the Buddha's
framework of karma, right view and right actions are necessary for liberation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The more I look
into this conundrum,
the more the so
called 'failure' is exposed.
With the conclusion
of the Tibetan perspective of Bardo, and the insistence on an individual &
or person to ether 'go to' nirvana or return to Earth for the endless samsara
and rebirth cycle...
The logical view of
Anatta with respect to:
'Who is it that
obtains 'Enlightenment'?...
When the True
Nature of our Being is Always Already Enlightened.
'Who is it that
returns for an endless cycle of samsara and rebirths?
Since there is
nothing about the actions of our material body and it's egos, emotion and deeds
done to or for others that 'we' take with 'us' to wherever 'we' go from here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of
whether a 'being' has a soul or a self that continues on with rebirths until
'they' finally get it...
The Tibetan
tradition of Practicing Bardo Yoga throughout one's life to help one stay fully
aware during the transcendence of this life, has some enduring merits.
The inspiration
when dying - to remain fully aware, for as long as I can recall, feels like a
natural inclination to me, as this was the case when I nearly drowned to death
while cartwheeling along the bottom of the Missouri River, caught by a massive
undertow...
When it felt I'd
pass out any moment...
I stopped my
vigorous 'swimming for life movements' and just...
let it be...
I had the very
strong desire to witness fully aware, whatever mystery was to come...
There was an
astonishing sensation of Bliss beyond measure, as I drifted along in a reverie
in the completely black depths of this muddy river...
Then I met with the
bottom firmly and finally realized where 'up' was and pushed off the bottom
with all my might...
I find it
intriguing that with the Tibetan view of, 'remaining fully aware', is the
imperative perspective of entering the Bardo and to wherever comes next.
We can't know
everything, and if we could, we couldn't simply express this 'experience' to another.
It seems like it's
a natural given that one should be moral and compassionate.
To assume all
humans are born evil or sinners or natural assholes...
Is a wrong
assumption.
Just because so
many ignorant beings seem like this, it's all the cause and effect of one's
upbringing and societal surroundings.
One shouldn't need
the Buddha to tell ya to treat others well.
So if our parents
couldn't express sensible morals into us.
And society fails
to integrate a sense of communal 'Loving Kindness'...
Then those that are
remain such slow learners, could be compelled to concern themselves with guilty
thoughts of:
"Holy shit!
I've been an asshole all my life!
What's gonna happen
to Meeeeeee:-O
Any 'being'
concerned with a 'Path' or the inspiration to 'seek' info & Insights...
just that wee bit
of Awareness is usually enough to 'get' the basics of:
How to live their
life with harmony, compassion, understanding and loving kindness.
Anyone can do this.
Those that are not
yet inspired to 'Be' with 'the Way' of common sensitivities, are not my
concerns, particularly if they are not concerned for themselves.
So whatever happens
to those beings will, in a vague sense, be just like what happens to all us
other sentient beings...
a return to the
collective consciousness from which 'we' came...
"Where there's
no more you & me, no more they & we, just unity."
Although we should
all extend our intentions of good will to all sentient beings...
It's not 'Zenful'
to be a 'goodie-goodie' and make your mission to make "them" 'get it'.
From my
perspective:
The ignorant will
cling to and grasp at whatever they are compelled to.
Their perspectives
of hope & fear become 'who they think they are'.
You can't help
those who don't even know they need help to realize 'they' are
something other
than the limited 'self' they mistakenly take to be 'them'.
Their perpetual
'pain and suffering' is based on their own ignorance of the True Nature of
their Being.
A subtle change
towards a 'Right View' has profound benefits of liberation.
So then aside from
those that have no inspiration to Just get along with everything...
Are the rest, that
intrinsically feel what is right or wrong.
They instinctively
know what good thoughts or bad thoughts are.
They understand
that reactive egos and emotions are not part of their true nature.
For those, there
isn't really a big concern for whatever comes next.
There is no fear of
going to a man made up mythic 'hell' for being bad...
'cause that's not
your nature, so the cause & effect of karma can never build up in this
life, nor carry on beyond this life... even it was possible.
Then there is the
common sense of realizing that,
Whatever is to come
after this life, is beyond our ability to even comprehend,
even if it were
laid out in perfect easily read 'words'.
There is nothing in
this current existence that one could relate to whatever comes next.
All beings born
have infinite potential... for positive or negative actions.
In a reasonable
post-modern society, there is only the failings or the un-evolved nature of our
collective societies that determine if the majority of us become inclined to
'get it'... or not.
When the person
from 'tech support' fails us,
it not this
employee's fault, it's the failings to
properly train and
educate the working 'collective'.
There is a
perfection in everything that 'is'.
If one has taken
the effort to be mindful and compassionate with loving kindness.
There is a Bliss
experienced in the ever-present moment.
Taking this Bliss
through one's life, is the liberation.
Whatever comes
next, will be, the natural perfection.
It will remain a
mystery that is beyond our conception...
Until it is
experienced, by
the fundamental
Awareness that is our True Nature.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
All 'religious
traditions' need to consider integrating the 'Ken Wilber' Transcend and Include
evolution.
He also published a
body of work regarding these and other yet to be transcended shortcomings of
Buddhist concepts in:
"the fourth
turning of Buddhists Dharma".
The bottom line:
Most well read,
experienced, non-biased 'seekers' on a Path of Spiritual Insights can agree:
We just can't
really know everything.
Regarding:
Understanding the
full Truth of the 'Timeless wonder of it all'...
It's likely that most
of us won't even realize a bit of this while here fully surrounded by the
reinforced projections that perpetuate the mistaken sense of 'who it is we
really are'.
Despite how many
religions seem to have their own blue print of the hierarchies of 'Heaven'...
And they vary with
every slightly different religion, some even have the details of 'Heaven' fine
tuned to the exact amount of space they have before 'Heaven' is full.
(BTW, they say it's
only 144,000)
'The Truth' about
after this life...
Is that we just
can't know it, until we fully experience it.
And that makes it
impossible to come back as 'us' and tell everyone about it in mere words.
We can't know
everything, or the Absolute Truth...
But we can be
mindful of what is Not True!
Just as the
mythology of the old Greek 'Gods' are obvious to us now as certainly not our
real 'gods', but just the projections of the archaic world view of 18th century
bc...
Be wary of dogmatic
demands to fully buy into fear-based faiths of myth, magic and so-called
miracles and abandon your 'Divine Right' of Free Will.
One should be free
to choose openly, intelligently the philosophically sound perspectives of how
to live your life, without fear of the 'man made up' concept of eternal
damnation.
Religious
traditions and stubborn family ways, often take away one's Divine Right of Free
Will.
Be Mindful of your
thoughts.
Are they of
Unconditional Loving Kindness for all?
Or are they based
on egotistical, self-serving bad intentions, envy, revenge or emotional
reactions... ?
If one is Mindful
of thoughts, only Unconditional Loving Kindness will be expressed in one's
speech and actions.
Love feels better
than hate, and giving properly feels better than receiving.
Be in Love with
what 'Is', and you eternally have bliss.
Don't pine about
the past or fret about the future.
All we have is this
moment...
'Be' fully present
and find contentment in the ever-present moment...
And you will be
liberated.
It's not magic...
It's just the
'Right Perspective'.
Find yours today!
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