[Please note: Religion or spirituality serve as the third step on a seven-step journey to Realization. The Advaita Vedanta teachings that provide THE ORIGINAL UNDERSTANDING can serve as a roadmap. To proceed along the “path,” religion and spirituality must be transcended. At the end of the “journey,” not even the roadmap is needed. Nothing else need be done.]
“Prayers to Control the Weather”
In one south Texas community where some earn the money needed to meet their basic needs by growing grain, others meet their basic needs by growing grapes. A special one-hour prayer service for rain was conducted by the grain farmers who prayed that a drought would end and that soaking rains would be provided for their grain crops. Not in attendance were the grape growers whose crop depended on dry weather. The prayer really said: “Almightly God, we know that our neighbors will be harmed by rain, but please send rain anyway because it will help us.”
As Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico, churches organized prayer vigils. In an area near Houston, the prayers said, “May our area be spared a strike from the hurricane. If it must come ashore near Galveston, than at least allow it to veer to the east so that our area will get the benefit of being ‘on the dry side of the storm’.” The prayer really said: “Almightly God, please protect us and screw the people to the east of us.” Evidently those prayers were heard and answered.
So the criteria for abandonment of prayer can be tested:
1. Did those prayers foster belief in lies and belief in the false? Yes. The lie is that there is a god in another world that is creating weather systems and micro-managing their routes and making adjustments to move rain clouds into certain areas upon request or to move storms away from some persons upon request and allowing the storms to destroy the homes and families of others instead.
2. Did those prayers foster selfishness? Of course. How much more selfish can persons be than to say, "God, let it rain to help my crops even if it damages my neighbors' crops" or "God, the storm is coming ashore, but let it hit others and not us.”
3. Did those prayers reinforce the master addiction of persons who wanted to control? Absolutely.
4. Did those prayers reinforce the secondary addiction of arrogant people who want to have influence over a supernatural power and to have the power to decide where it rains and doesn’t and where storms hit and don’t hit? Yes.
5. Did the prayers reinforce egotism and ego-states and then support the belief by personas with a false identity? Yes. How egotistical must persons be to think they can control weather patterns? How egotistical must persons be to think that they can entice “good” weather patterns to come to the area where they live and can send “bad” weather patterns to areas where others live? Obviously, they were trying to support the ego-states of "Farmer," "Homeowner," "Religious Person," and "Spiritual Giant," so "hooked up" with "The Power" that they can control naturally-occurring events on the planet.
“Prayers To Determine Who Dies”
Years ago, a woman on the staff of a Christian Church said, “ I prayed every day for a year that my husband would die.” In a schizophrenic fashion after she divorced the man, she later said, “I pray every day that he will find the happiness that I have found.” What her prayer really said was: “Almightly God, please be my personal hit man who will kill people if they irritate me. And please be the one to bless people I want blessed. In fact, let me play god and decide who gets killed or blessed and decide when they get killed or blessed.”
So the criteria for abandonment of prayer can be tested:
1. Did that prayer foster belief in lies and belief in the false? Yes. She believes that as a good Christian who is a godly woman, she is entitled to certain benefits, one being the ability to get someone killed if he irritates her.
2. Did the prayer foster selfishness? Yes. “I do not care if our five-year old child might suffer by growing up without her father. I want him dead.”
3. Did it reinforce the master addiction of a person who wanted to control? Absolutely.
4. Did it reinforce the secondary addiction of an arrogant person who wanted power over life and dead, over sadness and joy? Yes.
5. Did it reinforce egotism and ego-states and then support the belief by a persona with a false identity? Yes. How egotistical must a person be to think she/he should be able to use a relation with god to control who should die or who should be happy? The ego-state of "Rich Person" who would receive huge sums of money from his insurance companies had her agenda and the ego-state of "Super Religious Person Who Can Get Anything She Wants As a Result of Serving God" can be seen in the example.
In one south Texas community where some earn the money needed to meet their basic needs by growing grain, others meet their basic needs by growing grapes. A special one-hour prayer service for rain was conducted by the grain farmers who prayed that a drought would end and that soaking rains would be provided for their grain crops. Not in attendance were the grape growers whose crop depended on dry weather. The prayer really said: “Almightly God, we know that our neighbors will be harmed by rain, but please send rain anyway because it will help us.”
As Hurricane Katrina entered the Gulf of Mexico, churches organized prayer vigils. In an area near Houston, the prayers said, “May our area be spared a strike from the hurricane. If it must come ashore near Galveston, than at least allow it to veer to the east so that our area will get the benefit of being ‘on the dry side of the storm’.” The prayer really said: “Almightly God, please protect us and screw the people to the east of us.” Evidently those prayers were heard and answered.
So the criteria for abandonment of prayer can be tested:
1. Did those prayers foster belief in lies and belief in the false? Yes. The lie is that there is a god in another world that is creating weather systems and micro-managing their routes and making adjustments to move rain clouds into certain areas upon request or to move storms away from some persons upon request and allowing the storms to destroy the homes and families of others instead.
2. Did those prayers foster selfishness? Of course. How much more selfish can persons be than to say, "God, let it rain to help my crops even if it damages my neighbors' crops" or "God, the storm is coming ashore, but let it hit others and not us.”
3. Did those prayers reinforce the master addiction of persons who wanted to control? Absolutely.
4. Did those prayers reinforce the secondary addiction of arrogant people who want to have influence over a supernatural power and to have the power to decide where it rains and doesn’t and where storms hit and don’t hit? Yes.
5. Did the prayers reinforce egotism and ego-states and then support the belief by personas with a false identity? Yes. How egotistical must persons be to think they can control weather patterns? How egotistical must persons be to think that they can entice “good” weather patterns to come to the area where they live and can send “bad” weather patterns to areas where others live? Obviously, they were trying to support the ego-states of "Farmer," "Homeowner," "Religious Person," and "Spiritual Giant," so "hooked up" with "The Power" that they can control naturally-occurring events on the planet.
“Prayers To Determine Who Dies”
Years ago, a woman on the staff of a Christian Church said, “ I prayed every day for a year that my husband would die.” In a schizophrenic fashion after she divorced the man, she later said, “I pray every day that he will find the happiness that I have found.” What her prayer really said was: “Almightly God, please be my personal hit man who will kill people if they irritate me. And please be the one to bless people I want blessed. In fact, let me play god and decide who gets killed or blessed and decide when they get killed or blessed.”
So the criteria for abandonment of prayer can be tested:
1. Did that prayer foster belief in lies and belief in the false? Yes. She believes that as a good Christian who is a godly woman, she is entitled to certain benefits, one being the ability to get someone killed if he irritates her.
2. Did the prayer foster selfishness? Yes. “I do not care if our five-year old child might suffer by growing up without her father. I want him dead.”
3. Did it reinforce the master addiction of a person who wanted to control? Absolutely.
4. Did it reinforce the secondary addiction of an arrogant person who wanted power over life and dead, over sadness and joy? Yes.
5. Did it reinforce egotism and ego-states and then support the belief by a persona with a false identity? Yes. How egotistical must a person be to think she/he should be able to use a relation with god to control who should die or who should be happy? The ego-state of "Rich Person" who would receive huge sums of money from his insurance companies had her agenda and the ego-state of "Super Religious Person Who Can Get Anything She Wants As a Result of Serving God" can be seen in the example.
Versions of Advaita Vedanta that offer THE ORIGINAL UNDERSTANDING can guide persons away from the insanity of magical thinking and the belief in nonsense and put them back into touch with Reality. Prayers to imaginary gods (with their origins in ancient myths and superstitions) reinforce magical thinking and insanity. Children dream up imaginary friends to play with or to talk to. As they become adults, they give up their beliefs in those "pretend friends" that they dreamed up on their own. It is more difficult for persons to give up their beliefs in "pretend friends from other worlds" and in "pretend powers" that others dreamed up and that persons in positions of "authority" told them really exist. How realistic are your actions and beliefs? Have you given up belief in what they told you so that YOU can uncover what YOU have known all along but have forgotten because of programming, conditioning, and enculturation? Are you employing the inner guru to find the lies and the truth, or are you wasting time paying homage to an outer guru or to some fictitious external power? Are YOU Your Own True Self, or are you still theirs? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued]
