Today's Considerations
Blood is the fluid which circulates in the
principal vascular system of human beings and other vertebrates. In humans that fluid is said to consist
of plasma in which red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended.
It has been called "the vital principle" for life-forms with vascular systems. Why? Because it is quite possible to receive a wound and then 'bleed out" in a manner of minutes.
Bloodletting and bloodshed on planet earth have been commonplace for as long as blood-circulating organisms first evolved into being. Animal corpses, like an African buffalo for example, have long been recycled by the ecosystem, providing energy and nutrients for living creatures such as lions and scavengers living on the veldt. Blood sucking insects have long prevailed. Blood loss for one (such as a dead bird) has always become the "lifeblood" for another (such as a vulture).
Some animals, such as rams or bucks as well as thousands of other male animals, fight for the right to breed with the strongest in their midst and occasionally blood is shed, though the fights seldom end in a "death."
Yet only among humans has the shedding of blood taken on conceptualized and ritualized and admirable and even commendable levels, all of the gore and slaughter and murder involved notwithstanding.
As long as 7000 years ago, the humans who created / dreamed up the concepts of gods and goddesses - and after Abraham, "a one, true god" - humans were sacrificing other humans in order, supposedly, to "appease a god" or to "gain something from a god" or to "receive an eternal reward" or to "avoid punishment both now and forever," at least according to the belief systems which persons have been taught throughout the ages.
[Thus what Maharaj called "learned ignorance" became codified and endorsed by what would become the most influential institution ever in all of human history in terms of controlling persons and promulgating beliefs and perpetuating those beliefs by passing them along, unquestioned and unquestioningly, from one generation to the next.]
So the first instance of ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed involved a belief in gods and goddesses or a god and the belief that gods wanted humans to sacrifice to them as a way to show honor to the gods and to mollify or placate or soothe gods who were so unstable emotionally that they could be pleased at one moment but sociologically-and-pathologically-angry at the next moment.
During subsequent periods, it was believed that angry gods would withhold rain for crops, would choose sides in human vs. human conflicts and decide whether invading armies would be victorious or defeated, or would spare “good” people from the ravages of nature (floods, fires, typhoons / hurricanes, etc.) while letting the "bad" suffer and die.
Understanding the history and motivations of the religious masses who have been driven by their personality-based fears and desires, Maharaj told his visitors, "First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
So the earliest examples of ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed evolved out of (1) the “invention of a God” (or gods and goddesses); out of (2) the creation of religion; out of (3) the dreaming up of concepts about a god or gods being the singular cause of everything that happens to every person on the planet; out of (4) belief in a god being the single granter or denier of wishes; out of (5) the belief that a god can best provide protection and defense and safety and security (of body and mind and personas) but only for those the god deems to be “good”; and out of (6) the belief that an angry god could be appeased by sacrifice, beginning with humans sacrifice. Beliefs. Beliefs. Beliefs.
Later, items on "the approved sacrificial lists" were expanded to include food or objects or drink, but human sacrifice is still being practiced in some areas of the planet right now: sometimes that presently involves killing people during worship services (as among those adherents of Santeria), and sometimes they now involves killing “bad” humans who are not members of "the right religion or sect."
But the earliest ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed involved a father and / or mother sacrificing a virginal daughter; later, involved a father who was willing to sacrifice a son (see the “Torah” or the "Pentateuch" or “Old Testament”); and later it involved "a Heavenly Father" sacrificing a son (see the “New Testament”).
Earlier, Hindus had translated the Sanskrit word Yagya as "sacrifice" (or "offering” or “oblation" or more generically as "worship”). The word has also been used by some to describe the offering of ghee (clarified butter) as well as grains, spices, and wood, all tossed into a fire along with the chanting of sacred mantras. The fire among some was said to represent Agni, the divine messenger who carried offerings to the Devas (that is, to any of the benevolent supernatural beings which many Hindus had been taught to believe in).
Later, after Islam was invented, the sacrificing of animals to Allah was practiced and sometimes included the killing of a sheep, a goat, a camel, or a cow with the addendum that “the animal must be healthy and conscious." The same rule applies when beheading one deemed to be an "infidel": the infidel must be conscious at the time of the killing.
Today, all around the globe, certain humans more than others are on "the approved sacrificial list," including those who do not obey instantly and precisely any order give by all in authority who have been given the right to bear arms and to fire those arms at will; additionally, the bloodshed can involve the purging of those deemed by authority figures to be "undesirables," both within a nation’s boundaries or abroad; and can involve the killing of one’s mate during “the breakup of a relationship.”
[Note that 59% of all women murdered annually in the U.S. are killed during such breakups, so the shedding of blood can, therefore, involve the killing of a human female by a male. It can also include the killing of one human male by another during a contest for a woman. Here in the U.S., one can witness regularly such happenings:
May 7, 2015
HOUSTON, TX. (AP) An argument about a woman left one man dead early Thursday morning.
[The news report continued] The shooting happened about 3:15 a.m. outside a home in southeast Houston in the 5000 block of Balkin near Milart, according to the Houston Police Department. Police said the two men were in the driveway of the house when the altercation began. That's when police saw one of them men pull out a gun and shoot the other. The wounded man died at the scene.
May 8, 2015
MISSOULA, MONT. (AP) - An estranged husband who shot and killed his television news director wife and a family friend before turning the gun on himself died early Friday. The shooting happened Wednesday evening at the Missoula home of ABC / Fox Montana news director Kalee Scolatti.
Scolatti, 34, called friend Anthony Dupras to the house after her husband, Nicholas Scolatti, showed up there, according to authorities. Once Dupras arrived, Nicholas Scolatti, 36, shot them both, then shot himself in the head.
Kalee Scolatti and Dupras died that evening. Nicholas Scolatti was taken to a Missoula hospital, where he died from his injuries a day and a half later.]
And all of the above bloodshed, whether the incident happened 7000 years ago or five days ago, was preceded by dualistic thinking and dualistic beliefs (deemed to be sacred and / or worth dying for and / or worth killing for) by persons who had assumed a false identity or adopted a false identity and were being driven by the subconscious agenda of their personalities.
It has been called "the vital principle" for life-forms with vascular systems. Why? Because it is quite possible to receive a wound and then 'bleed out" in a manner of minutes.
Bloodletting and bloodshed on planet earth have been commonplace for as long as blood-circulating organisms first evolved into being. Animal corpses, like an African buffalo for example, have long been recycled by the ecosystem, providing energy and nutrients for living creatures such as lions and scavengers living on the veldt. Blood sucking insects have long prevailed. Blood loss for one (such as a dead bird) has always become the "lifeblood" for another (such as a vulture).
Some animals, such as rams or bucks as well as thousands of other male animals, fight for the right to breed with the strongest in their midst and occasionally blood is shed, though the fights seldom end in a "death."
Yet only among humans has the shedding of blood taken on conceptualized and ritualized and admirable and even commendable levels, all of the gore and slaughter and murder involved notwithstanding.
As long as 7000 years ago, the humans who created / dreamed up the concepts of gods and goddesses - and after Abraham, "a one, true god" - humans were sacrificing other humans in order, supposedly, to "appease a god" or to "gain something from a god" or to "receive an eternal reward" or to "avoid punishment both now and forever," at least according to the belief systems which persons have been taught throughout the ages.
[Thus what Maharaj called "learned ignorance" became codified and endorsed by what would become the most influential institution ever in all of human history in terms of controlling persons and promulgating beliefs and perpetuating those beliefs by passing them along, unquestioned and unquestioningly, from one generation to the next.]
So the first instance of ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed involved a belief in gods and goddesses or a god and the belief that gods wanted humans to sacrifice to them as a way to show honor to the gods and to mollify or placate or soothe gods who were so unstable emotionally that they could be pleased at one moment but sociologically-and-pathologically-angry at the next moment.
During subsequent periods, it was believed that angry gods would withhold rain for crops, would choose sides in human vs. human conflicts and decide whether invading armies would be victorious or defeated, or would spare “good” people from the ravages of nature (floods, fires, typhoons / hurricanes, etc.) while letting the "bad" suffer and die.
Understanding the history and motivations of the religious masses who have been driven by their personality-based fears and desires, Maharaj told his visitors, "First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."
So the earliest examples of ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed evolved out of (1) the “invention of a God” (or gods and goddesses); out of (2) the creation of religion; out of (3) the dreaming up of concepts about a god or gods being the singular cause of everything that happens to every person on the planet; out of (4) belief in a god being the single granter or denier of wishes; out of (5) the belief that a god can best provide protection and defense and safety and security (of body and mind and personas) but only for those the god deems to be “good”; and out of (6) the belief that an angry god could be appeased by sacrifice, beginning with humans sacrifice. Beliefs. Beliefs. Beliefs.
Later, items on "the approved sacrificial lists" were expanded to include food or objects or drink, but human sacrifice is still being practiced in some areas of the planet right now: sometimes that presently involves killing people during worship services (as among those adherents of Santeria), and sometimes they now involves killing “bad” humans who are not members of "the right religion or sect."
But the earliest ritualized bloodletting and bloodshed involved a father and / or mother sacrificing a virginal daughter; later, involved a father who was willing to sacrifice a son (see the “Torah” or the "Pentateuch" or “Old Testament”); and later it involved "a Heavenly Father" sacrificing a son (see the “New Testament”).
Earlier, Hindus had translated the Sanskrit word Yagya as "sacrifice" (or "offering” or “oblation" or more generically as "worship”). The word has also been used by some to describe the offering of ghee (clarified butter) as well as grains, spices, and wood, all tossed into a fire along with the chanting of sacred mantras. The fire among some was said to represent Agni, the divine messenger who carried offerings to the Devas (that is, to any of the benevolent supernatural beings which many Hindus had been taught to believe in).
Later, after Islam was invented, the sacrificing of animals to Allah was practiced and sometimes included the killing of a sheep, a goat, a camel, or a cow with the addendum that “the animal must be healthy and conscious." The same rule applies when beheading one deemed to be an "infidel": the infidel must be conscious at the time of the killing.
Today, all around the globe, certain humans more than others are on "the approved sacrificial list," including those who do not obey instantly and precisely any order give by all in authority who have been given the right to bear arms and to fire those arms at will; additionally, the bloodshed can involve the purging of those deemed by authority figures to be "undesirables," both within a nation’s boundaries or abroad; and can involve the killing of one’s mate during “the breakup of a relationship.”
[Note that 59% of all women murdered annually in the U.S. are killed during such breakups, so the shedding of blood can, therefore, involve the killing of a human female by a male. It can also include the killing of one human male by another during a contest for a woman. Here in the U.S., one can witness regularly such happenings:
May 7, 2015
HOUSTON, TX. (AP) An argument about a woman left one man dead early Thursday morning.
[The news report continued] The shooting happened about 3:15 a.m. outside a home in southeast Houston in the 5000 block of Balkin near Milart, according to the Houston Police Department. Police said the two men were in the driveway of the house when the altercation began. That's when police saw one of them men pull out a gun and shoot the other. The wounded man died at the scene.
May 8, 2015
MISSOULA, MONT. (AP) - An estranged husband who shot and killed his television news director wife and a family friend before turning the gun on himself died early Friday. The shooting happened Wednesday evening at the Missoula home of ABC / Fox Montana news director Kalee Scolatti.
Scolatti, 34, called friend Anthony Dupras to the house after her husband, Nicholas Scolatti, showed up there, according to authorities. Once Dupras arrived, Nicholas Scolatti, 36, shot them both, then shot himself in the head.
Kalee Scolatti and Dupras died that evening. Nicholas Scolatti was taken to a Missoula hospital, where he died from his injuries a day and a half later.]
And all of the above bloodshed, whether the incident happened 7000 years ago or five days ago, was preceded by dualistic thinking and dualistic beliefs (deemed to be sacred and / or worth dying for and / or worth killing for) by persons who had assumed a false identity or adopted a false identity and were being driven by the subconscious agenda of their personalities.
To be continued.
Please enter the silence of contemplation.
