[The question being addressed can be seen at the top of the 1 August 2006 posting]
F.: You admitted, maybe unconsciously, that thirty years of involvement with “your” religion have not provided the answers you seek. The end result, after all of that involvement, is that your religion has left you screaming “Help!” But that is not a problem for the true seeker. Actually, that is the required position to be in if you would move farther along the “path.” You revealed a quandary, wondering how to even begin to question all of the “million or more” concepts that you’ve been taught. You need not. You need but consider this:
F.: You admitted, maybe unconsciously, that thirty years of involvement with “your” religion have not provided the answers you seek. The end result, after all of that involvement, is that your religion has left you screaming “Help!” But that is not a problem for the true seeker. Actually, that is the required position to be in if you would move farther along the “path.” You revealed a quandary, wondering how to even begin to question all of the “million or more” concepts that you’ve been taught. You need not. You need but consider this:
Consider which concepts are resulting in more emotional intoxication than all others. Of all of the concepts that persons have been exposed to in the last 5000 years, which ones (historically) have resulted in more fear and separation and war and emotional intoxication and neurosis and psychosis: the math you learned in elementary school, or religion? The science you learned in elementary school, or religion? The English studied in middle school, or religion? The physics learned in high school, or religion? The psychology studied in college, or religion? Your master’s degree work completed in graduate school, or religion? Since (a) religious concepts drive six billion persons on the planet and since (b) those concepts have historically generated more fear and separation and war and emotional intoxication and neurosis and psychosis than all other sources combined and since (c) it is at the religious level that you are now stuck and yelling for help, then begin your questioning there. Why? Prior to Full Realization, each seeker must find where he/she is on the “path.” For example, if one is at level one, see that and shift to level two. Since you are at level three—the religious/spiritual level—see that and shift to level four. That is why you must focus your attention of the concepts that are fixating you at any given level that is short of Full Realization. That is "where" you are. It is from "there" that you are screaming for help. That is where your efforts must lie.
NOTE: Before looking at the “contradictions and limitations” of whatever religion you’ve had three decades of “involvement” with, understand that the Realized would never discourage any person from assuming religious or spiritual roles because those are stations on the “journey” to Realization. They provide a necessary step; however, those personas—as is the case with all assumed roles—must be transitioned if one would Realize Fully. Now, the examples shall be offered.
You mentioned “your religion” but you did not identify the specific “brand” that you’ve been programmed with, so consider a few of the basic teachings of the most popular religions—the ones that came from Abraham. Why? With six billion persons claiming affiliation with one of those three religions, then at least one of the following examples—discussed in the order in which they evolved—should stand a good chance of addressing “your” religion and possibly providing you with some tools that might be used to begin some objective questioning by seeing some of their “inherent limitations and contradictions”:
Judaism: Much of the Jewish dogma is based in the writing of Moses, a plagiarist of the highest order. If you see that two of the most "significant" parts of his writings are lies, then maybe you can begin to question the rest. (1) Moses reports that the God of Abraham spoke to him via a burning bush and identified himself as I AM THAT I AM. With the Middle East having been the "middleman of trade" between the Far East and Europe for centuries, the summarizing statement of the Advaita teachings (“I AM THAT; I AM”) had reached the Middle East during the days prior to Moses. (Later, Christ would offer the Advaita teachings in the same region as well.) Moses took an Advaita phrase and put it in the mouth of a burning bush as if it were original, as if Moses was the first human on the planet to ever hear that phrase. In fact, the phrase had been circulating in the Far East for several millenia. (2) Five hundred years before Moses lived and wrote, there was a pagan religion that did what the three religions of Abraham would do, namely, circulate (and eventually collect into a supposedly "holy" book) a series of didactic stories that purportedly record historical accounts about god/gods interacting with humans. A story that was originally a part of the teachings of that old pagan religion told of an underground God who came to the earth's surface to “lead his chosen people out of slavery and to a land of milk and honey and wine.” That god was said to have a “magic staff” which he used during the desert part of the journey to tap rocks and make water flow forth to provide sustenance for his newly-freed people. He could also wave the magic rod in the air and make food fall from the sky. Once they arrived at their destination after a multi-decade-long journey, the god could not stay but had to return to his underground lair. Sound familiar?
NOTE: Before looking at the “contradictions and limitations” of whatever religion you’ve had three decades of “involvement” with, understand that the Realized would never discourage any person from assuming religious or spiritual roles because those are stations on the “journey” to Realization. They provide a necessary step; however, those personas—as is the case with all assumed roles—must be transitioned if one would Realize Fully. Now, the examples shall be offered.
You mentioned “your religion” but you did not identify the specific “brand” that you’ve been programmed with, so consider a few of the basic teachings of the most popular religions—the ones that came from Abraham. Why? With six billion persons claiming affiliation with one of those three religions, then at least one of the following examples—discussed in the order in which they evolved—should stand a good chance of addressing “your” religion and possibly providing you with some tools that might be used to begin some objective questioning by seeing some of their “inherent limitations and contradictions”:
Judaism: Much of the Jewish dogma is based in the writing of Moses, a plagiarist of the highest order. If you see that two of the most "significant" parts of his writings are lies, then maybe you can begin to question the rest. (1) Moses reports that the God of Abraham spoke to him via a burning bush and identified himself as I AM THAT I AM. With the Middle East having been the "middleman of trade" between the Far East and Europe for centuries, the summarizing statement of the Advaita teachings (“I AM THAT; I AM”) had reached the Middle East during the days prior to Moses. (Later, Christ would offer the Advaita teachings in the same region as well.) Moses took an Advaita phrase and put it in the mouth of a burning bush as if it were original, as if Moses was the first human on the planet to ever hear that phrase. In fact, the phrase had been circulating in the Far East for several millenia. (2) Five hundred years before Moses lived and wrote, there was a pagan religion that did what the three religions of Abraham would do, namely, circulate (and eventually collect into a supposedly "holy" book) a series of didactic stories that purportedly record historical accounts about god/gods interacting with humans. A story that was originally a part of the teachings of that old pagan religion told of an underground God who came to the earth's surface to “lead his chosen people out of slavery and to a land of milk and honey and wine.” That god was said to have a “magic staff” which he used during the desert part of the journey to tap rocks and make water flow forth to provide sustenance for his newly-freed people. He could also wave the magic rod in the air and make food fall from the sky. Once they arrived at their destination after a multi-decade-long journey, the god could not stay but had to return to his underground lair. Sound familiar?
An old, pagan story was stolen by the plagiarist Moses who inserted himself into the god role and created a storyline with Jews enslaved in Egypt—an “event” that is only recorded in the writings of Moses and is not mentioned in any historical document at all. There was no "exodus," there were no magic rods back then, there are no magic staffs now, and all magical (super-natural) beliefs are nothing more than concepts that are to be discarded if the consciousness is to be re-purified. The very basis of Judaism is a plagiarized lie, based in tales from the earlier pagan religions from which all the religions of Abraham evolved. Judaism's "prophet" was a liar who dreamed up fiction or who repeated dreamed-up fiction, but his followers still believe those lies nearly 4000 years later. If your religion happens to be Judaism, might your knowing the facts above inspire you to question the rest of what their “prophet” wrote? And if you can question part of it, can you then find the courage to begin to question it all? Please enter the silence of contemplation. [To be continued tomorrow with a look at Christianity and Islam]
