Spiritual activities and interpersonal skills

According to this blog "The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity", "spiritual" activities (such as praying and reading the Bible) do not necessarily enhance one's interpersonal skills. In fact, if one is not careful, doctrines and books tend to influence his mindset to the extent of discriminating others who do not think or believe like him. Therein lies the danger of organised religion, which perpetuates the illusion of separation and "us" versus "them". 

I have come to realise that life is not about doctrines; life is all about relationships with people. If those who are still being influenced by religious teachings treat us unkindly, we know it is because of their attachment to doctrines and not because of us. We can only keep resting in our belovedness and perfection, and love them from afar, like what Jesus said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

We are a perfect workmanship created in love, and how others treat us does not define us because we are defined by our original identity. How someone treats other people does not define them; it only reflects him. If he chooses to treat others like enemies just because they disagree with his views, his actions are only a product of religious conditioning from the Christian fundamentalist circles, and he knows not what he was doing. We can rise above the way such people treat us, and we can continue to fly high as eagles.

There is a book written

"There is a book written... not in print, but written in the souls of humanity... some read it, some don't, but this book is deep within all... and life is designed to draw our attention inward to this book". - Joshua Guild

Yes, there is a book written not in print but in the souls of humanity. Each of us has a life story and we create the chapters with our thoughts and live accordingly. Perhaps this explains why many of us like to read books because we find much of the stories written in the books mirror our  own stories written in our souls, and we can relate to them and learn from them as well.

This also reminds me of the verse that says we are living epistles, open and read by people. At the esoteric level, we are the good news, as our life story is hidden in Christ our true identity, and our book cover bears the image of god or divine unconditional love. When we take time to be still and meditate, we are reading the book written on our heart that reminds us of who we are - the I Am. Page after page reveals to us the infinite measure of our worth and the depth of our belovedness, the full extent of our completeness and perfection, the glory of our innocence, and the  beauty of our unity and oneness with the universe. The book of our soul is a page turner, hard to put down once we start reading it as it is spiritually enlightening, intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling.

Our true identity - Christ in us the hope of glory - have done so many things such as doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil (ego or false identity) that if they were written one by one, even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written, as John wrote in his gospel. I believe that is also because the works of Christ are still being written today in our hearts - they are a neverending story since God is all the while expressing His love through us His beloved children.

The narrow and hidden path

"To judge others is a wide path, easy to access and get carried along upon. But to love others is a narrow path; hidden at first glance, in fact it takes time to even discover its trail, but blessed are those who seek it out and journey upon it."- Mick Mooney

The above quote on the wide and narrow paths reminds me of Jesus' words on the mount of beautitudes. It is interesting to see that the narrow way that leads to life can be referring to a non-judgemental approach to living life. I believe it not only promotes inner peace and well-being but also enables people to experience eternal life, which is knowing our highest self and our true identity as one with god/divine love, and one with one another.

I suppose the wide path, on the other hand, leads to destruction in the sense of destroying the sense of unity and harmony when people judge one another, which we all tend to do from time to time as part of human nature. But as the above quote says, the narrow path is a hidden path at first glance, and it is worth seeking this path of our divine nature, for its reward is life (peace, wellbeing, unity and harmony with self and others). This is a timeless reminder, and I believe each person can discover and re-discover this hidden and narrow path that  leads to life through contemplative living in stillness and silence, as well as reminding and exhorting one another.

Spiritual interpretation of the scripture

Any god whether it be a Yahweh, an Allah, a Jesus, a Mother, or a Father is a manifestation of the subconscious mind to establish security in a perceived 'unsettling' world. I am Yahweh, the God-Man standing, Allah is my anatomy (Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head), Jesus is my Self-deliverance from Sin (ie, the lower nature). My brain is Mother and Father (Right and left); the Mother being my creative nature; the Father being my analytical mind. It's all me playing 'hide-and-go-seek' on myself. — with Silas Rodriguez.

I agree with my best friend on the spiritual interpretation of the passage from the scripture about "honouring one's father and mother, that it may go well with you" that it is actually about honouring both sides of our brain - the creativity and intuitive aspect as well as the logical and analytical aspect of our brain. Indeed, the letter (literal interpretation) kills (or condemns), but the Spirit (metaphysical interpretation) gives life.

On a similar note, it occurred to me recently that the passage in 1 Corinthians about honouring God in our body and in our spirit is meant to be interpreted spiritually as well. Committing spiritual adultery is to be under the law (system of do's and don'ts). Hence, we are exhorted to stay under grace and be attuned to our true identity in Christ, that is not attached to any label or false identity such as prostitutes or murderers. Our true identity is divine unconditional Love, which is eternal and will never change. Yes, it is interesting to see scriptures in a new light that brings freedom, hope and life into our life.

Some thoughts on loneliness and spiritual abuse

I can relate to the feeling of loneliness because I have experienced it before many times, especially when I was in my 20s and early 30s. It is like a “spiritual attack” on our mind, which afflicts all of us at one time or another. It was almost like there are “voices” in my head, trying to convince me that I was not good enough and that other people are enjoying their lives and not caring about me. Loneliness is not a pleasant experience at all. So I can understand the bouts of loneliness people are going through, especially when they are living all by themselves. If I were them I would probably be facing the same situation. It is a perfectly human and normal thing and I can understand that.

On another note, I have just come across this insightful blog “We Are Spiritual Abuse Survivors“, which was written by a spiritual abuse survivor. Although I haven’t been subjected to any severe form of spiritual abuse in the past since I was attending a fairly grace-based christian church institution for several years, I can relate to some of the things shared in the blog. I have seen and heard some of the examples of spiritual abuse mentioned in the blog (in varying degrees). I am sharing the blog here as the readers who may have been spiritually abused before may find comfort in knowing they are not alone.

Among some of the things I can relate to in the blog are:

“We all experience vulnerability in difficult emotional times.  Most people find some sort of support to see them through.
…
We thought we were specially called by God.  We learned later that we were just a means to an end, with the end being the elevation of our leader.
Or we were rigidly raised to believe that everything on the outside of our group was bad.  That only our group alone understood God, salvation, and the keys to living rightly.
We were taught or reconditioned to fear everything that contradicted our leaders’ edicts.  We believed dissent to be wicked, evil, and Satanic.
And then we learned something about our leaders that made us question all that we built our lives upon.
We learned that there are a lot of people claiming that they are God’s exclusive one-and-only end time prophets.  They all have their own franchises, and they all seem to know exactly when Jesus is coming back.
…
We learned that some of our phobias have been granted to us by leaders who manipulated us into believing that the world is really a terrible, horrible place.
Of course, our leader’s group is wonderful and the only good to be found in the world.
Or is it?
And then we learned that asking these questions makes us expendable to the leader and the rest of the group.
When we raised objections about our leader, we were called dangerous, rebellious, demonic, or apostate.  People distanced themselves accordingly.
And when we left, or when we were banished or shunned, we became a part of ‘the world’ that we so feared.  We were disfellowshipped as pagans, heretics, and anathema.  (Disfellowshipped is a fancy term for ‘kicked out with no home and no place to go.’)
We were as good as dead to everyone who once claimed to love us.
We believed that eternal punishment was inevitable.
We believed that we left the hidden truth, the narrow way, and the only light.  That we could either repent, delude ourselves, or suffer in silence.  Alone.
…
Because of the Internet and our Googling late into the night when we can’t sleep, we’re learning that we aren’t the only ones.  Because of the anonymity that the Internet affords, we’re getting braver.  We’re telling our stories.
We’re speaking out.
We are still fish out of water.  We care deeply about other hurting people because we know what it means to hurt.
We don’t have demons.  We aren’t possessed.
We’ve experienced trauma.  And it has never been nor will ever be our fault.
We have to convince ourselves of this sometimes.
We’re healing.  Slowly.”

I like the conclusion of the blog:

“Some of us have found God since the abusive experience, and some of us have not and may not.  Some of us will get there eventually.  We need to be free to experience whatever path we choose.  We are valuable regardless of the road we take.
…
We’re complicated, but we’re worth it.  We’re passionate, brave, creative, thoughtful, loyal, benevolent, enjoyable, beautiful creatures that have been through something hard and lived to tell the tale.”

Yes, I admire the courage of those who have gone through spiritual abuse in institutional churches to face their ordeals, and share their experiences with others for their encouragement. I agree that they are passionate, brave, creative, thoughtful, loyal, benevolent, enjoyable, beautiful creatures that have been through something hard and lived to tell the tale.

Nuggets of encouragement (Feb 2011)

The more we talk and meditate about the gospel, the more we are conscious of and walk in the victory and freedom Jesus has accomplished for us at the cross.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share with us the same divine nature of love and non-violence.

Emmanuel - God is always with us and He has equipped us with everything we need to prosper and have good success.

God gives His beloved sleep.

What is desired in a man is kindness, grace and mercy.

Keep expecting good things to happen, for surely His goodness and love chase my beloved and I and our family down all the days of our life.

Jesus is wild and untamable - He is the epitome of power, love and sound mind. It's fun and exciting to flow with him.

Allow ourselves to be pampered and cared for by the Lord, and He will give us the prayer of our belief system.

God's ways are ways of grace and mercy.

We are God's poetry in motion, created for his pleasure.

Jesus came to redeem us from identity crisis, and restores to us our original blueprint of His image and glory.

With humility comes wisdom and honour. God gives grace to the lowly.

Jesus came to serve. We are blessed serving, ministering and building up one another.

We are defenders of the weak, comforters of the weary and healers of the oppressed.

We live by your grace. We rest in your all-sufficient grace. Your strength is made perfect in weakness.

We create as we speak - blessings and glory and honour and goodness and love!

Speak to the rock about who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ.

God is one with us. He does not dwell in duality.

Redemptive imagination about our oneness with God is the power to heal the world with peace and love.

Today we choose life by putting on the mind of Christ by aligning our thoughts with God's, and we will live the abundant life.

Our strength is to lift up the weak, and our wisdom is to set the oppressed free. We are blessed to be a blessing.

Enlightenment. Awakening. Realising we are all one with God in Christ and there is no duality.

Dare to speak our mind for liberty's sake. Don't care what people think. Don't let the seed of blessings die unborn. We create what we speak.

When we are flowing with love, joy and peace, others are also set free from oppression and bondage.

The best things in life aren't things. We can do no big things; only small things with a big heart.

We may be only one person to the world, but we can be the world to one person.

True freedom is found in serving faithfully my loved ones - that's blessed captivity.

Why we fall prey to dogma

 

"We fall prey to dogma because we are living in fear and seeking security, seeking to be "right" and "correct"; but the most we accomplish with dogma is to keep our minds buzzing with ideas and confirmations, constantly guarding what we've learned, constantly defending positions, fearful of what we hear, of what we see. Thus, dogma is simply a religious path formed of ego, it's footing established through fear of eternal punishment and desire for eternal security."
~ Bobby Hinkle (from Free Believers Network)

Friendship is the essence of the Gospel....

Someone said:

"Friendship is the essence of the Gospel....
Without deep connection, we have missed the basis of the Life of God

When we differ in beliefs and by those differences estrange ourselves from others, we have endorsed the lies that have separated Mankind for thousands of years....

We are One....not primarily in our beliefs, but in who we are, based on His belief about us....

If our beliefs have divided us even if we have believed 100% correctly, then our beliefs have failed us...

Love others you love yourself
It is simply ... Profound !"

Yes, unity and harmony goes deeper beyond the differences in the belief systems of people. The life and love of God transcends any religious book or scripture or theology - whether it is called the bible or the quran or the bhavagad gita or lotus sutra - we are all one indeed. Doctrines and theologies are merely constructs of the mind, and those who hold on tightly to their doctrines or scriptures are only liable to become attached to fundamentalist dogmas.

As I have observed, those who are attached to a particular book or scripture tend to use circular reasoning in their argument (eg "I believe the bible is the word of god, and whatever the word of god says is true, therefore I believe the bible is true"). This circular reasoning perhaps becomes a hindrance for people to be free from the religious mindset of separation and ego, since it tends to give people the impression that only they know the "truth" and other people do not know the "truth". Yet we know that truth is universal and is not confined to any religion or any "holy book", just as love is universal and includes everyone.

So yes, the heart of the matter is that we are all one - we are brothers and sisters of the same family of the human race, of the spiritual realm, regardless of our differences in belief systems, cultures, etc. It is like what this quote says too.

~What If?~
"What if our religion was each other, if our practice was our life, if prayer our words? What if the temple was the Earth, if forests were our church, if holy waters ~ the rivers, lakes and oceans. What if meditation was our relationships, if the teacher was life, if wisdom was self-knowledge, if love was the center of our being?“
~Ganga White

Yes, love is the centre of our being, just as friendship is the essence of the gospel.  

 

To be great is to be misunderstood

Emerson said, "To be great is to be misunderstood."

Someone added, "The more 'above average' you are, the fewer number of people will understand or comprehend you."

Yes, the more 'above average' we are, the fewer number of people will understand or comprehend us because we are rising above the conformist mindset of the society. Like eagles, we want to soar high above limitations that society and religion try to impose on us. Like what Ralph Smart concluded in his videos, the world is moving to a higher vibration. May we continue to stay in higher vibration and dive deeper and deeper into esoteric wisdom and love.

Wild and Wise Women

"Go deeper, go deeper. Don't land anywhere." H.W.L. Poonja

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=386968114671769&set=a.171294852905764.30355.160615880640328&type=1

'The easiest thing in the world to be is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position.' ~ Leo Buscaglia
Always be your true self..... :)) Lx

Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Yes, love believes the best of a person and brings out the best of him or her. Love recognises the full potential of the person and helps actualise his or her hidden qualities to the fullest, like what the quote says. For example, my beloved twin flame inspires me to express my potential to love, as she builds me up through her encouragement  and support as well as sharing edifying nuggets of wisdom with me. I have been reflecting that conversing with my beloved is like a blessed homecoming to our resting place, where I take refuge from the performance-oriented system and mindset of the world that is based on the illusion of duality and separation, and be refreshed by our inner journey to discover more of our innate oneness and reawaken to our true divine identity as beloved and perfect spiritual beings on a human journey. Together, we shall continue to flourish and overcome the system of the world, and experience more of love and freedom from religion and condemnation both for ourselves and others around us.

We all need revelation of the gospel

We all need revelation of the gospel, for Proverbs 29:18 says "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law." The new covenant interpretation of "keeps the law" is to believe in Jesus (seeing our true identity in Him), for He has fulfilled the law on our behalf.

I believe it is possible to have peace and harmony in the world, when we all see one another as new creations in Christ, no longer from a worldly point of view. What we need is a constant reminder of who we are in Christ - "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)

Angry preaching comes from angry preachers

 "Angry preaching comes from angry preachers. If you attend a church where the preacher fusses and fumes and yells at the congregation you should consider leaving it because you the listener are not being respected. No one should be yelled at. Respect yourself and your family enough to not subject yourself to it.

If you want to snuff out the flame in someone's heart, tell them what the Bible says about their mistake. Tell them "I told you so!" Tell them how God hates what they did. And when you're done you will have taken what little spark of a life there was left and turned it into a smoldering ember nearly extinguished" Scott Livengood

Judgment and condemnation always kill life whereas understanding and compassion will always nurse life back to health.
~ Skip Newby

 "A preacher can be disrespectful without yelling too. Those are the sneaky ones".EDK

I  agree with Scott Livengood, Skip Newby and EDK - angry and/or disrespectful preachers are to be kept at a distance for the sake of our peace and dignity, so that we are not subject to their abuse. We would rather be where there is gentleness and compassion instead of judgment and condemnation. The letter (literal interpretation of scripture and law of telling people do's and don'ts)
kills and condemns, but the Spirit (symbolism and unconditional love and grace of unveiling our true identity of beauty and perfection) gives life and builds people up. May we continue to follow the
unforced rhythm of grace and rest in the kingdom of heaven within,  even as we love the religious people from afar.

 For myself I can say, that if there is a God, and he is such a being as [the Universalist] describes, I can bow before him and give him all my heart. He says God is love, made the world in love, and in perfect wisdom, and well adapted to serve the divine purpose.

He then made a family, all of them have sinned, and some of them have fallen very low, but God is determined, according to [the Univers alist], to stand by His family, every one of them, let come what will come, till he makes all of them respectable.

This standing by His family, as every true Father ought to do, is what I like in [the Universalist's] idea of God. But if there is a God, and he has created a family and will at last turn against most of them, and in burning wrath cast them into Hell forever, as [traditional Christianity] describes, I should hate him—he is not as good as I am, for I propose to stand by my family and every member of it for as long as I live. It is an insult to ask me to love and worship a God who is guilty of doing what we would detest in an earthly father. –Robert Ingersoll

 Yes, like what Robert Ingersoll said, a loving God (according to universalists) is a true Father who loves his family unconditionally and stands by them come what may, and is worthy of our worship and admiration. But a vengeful god (according to traditional christianity) who consigns most of his family to eternal torture is not worthy of our attention and respect - I would say that kind of god is only a mental projection of the human ego or shadow.

We know that Jesus came to reveal who the true Father is, for we who has seen him has seen the Father - one who is kind, gracious and compassionate. We also understand that those who hold on to the idea of a mean, vengeful god are also mean and condemning to others because that is their worldview that causes them to behave that way. Hence, Jesus had prayed for the Father to forgive such people, for they knew not what they were doing, for indeed in their unconscious state, they did not know what they were doing. They probably didn't know how much harm they caused when
they quoted bible verses to judge or condemn people because they thought they were serving god, when actually they were serving their ego. (Paul used to persecute others thinking he was serving god, until he encountered the grace of Christ.) As for us, we will continue to be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves when dealing with religious people,