TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS
Persons (the "non-realized") are also willing to enter onto a "path" and then end up staying on it, and willing to begin a "journey" which never reaches the destination but continue on that "journey" anyway, and are willing to accept a treatment plan which they are told offers no cure for what ails them but normalize that and stay with that ineffective plan, anyway, for the following reason as well (which is related to reason #52 and "the payoff"):
60. Because of the supposedly-available perks regarding conscience-clearing, soul-saving, forgiveness-assurance, punishment-escapement and rewards-receipt, both now and later.
In the board game "Monopoly," there are several ways one can be forced to "Go to Jail": roll doubles with the dice three consecutive times in one turn, land on the "Go to Jail" space, or draw a "Go Directly to Jail" card from the Chance or Community Chest decks. The result can involve losing one's turn to play and / or having to pay a fine.
With those penalties, it is a major advantage to have a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.
In the "Game of Life" which the masses play, there may be nothing more prized than a card that they can play which will allow them to "Get Out of Jail Free" or "Get Out of Going to Hell" or "Get Out of Being Held Responsible" or "Get Out of Being Punished."
It begins early on with parents who practice corporal punishment. A child who is about to be spanked or whipped by a parent for some supposed transgression might try to beg his or her way out of being punished, or might run away, or might try to hide in order to avoid being punished.
With parents who practice mental and emotional punishment, a child might eventually try to escape mentally or hide out emotionally or dissociate by isolating or by "moving away" mentally to an imagined better place.
With parents who play "Good Cop - Bad God" games and use guilt and shame and threats of their children being punished by some God both now and forevermore unless the children pray to God for forgiveness (along with a promise to "never do that again)", their children learn this:
"We are all sinners and we will never be perfect but God loves good boys and girls but is made sad and angry by bad boys and girls, so you need to strive to be perfect by following the example set by our perfect Lord and Savior who modeled the right way for you to live (except for that time he pushed a boy off a roof and the child broke his leg and that other time he used a whip to beat hypocrites and run them out of a place of worship). So the thing to do if you sin or do something bad is to promptly confess to God when you have done something wrong, ask his forgiveness, and then pledge to never do it again and then be good and not bad."
If someone is raised in a town where the local police play "catch and release" and only scold criminals and then set them free, what is the message? Do you believe that bank robbers and muggers and burglars and car thieves and hit men and hit women in that town will be inspired to give up their lives of crime and forfeit the payoff of getting money without having to work for it? Or might they become even more attached to and dedicated to their criminal lifestyles?
One publication discussed the correlation between (A) that which is believed to be salubrious (i.e., that which is deemed to be beneficial to health and well-being) and (B) religious beliefs and religious devotion and religious practices and concluded that "religious belief is not the only path to a healthier life." Maharaj eventually reached the same conclusion.
In 2000, a psychologist and his colleagues published a meta-analysis of more than three dozen studies of persons who believed that (1) there is a God, and that (2) there are many rewards - payoffs - for believing that.
The nearly-forty studies all exposed a strong correlation between
(a) religiosity
and
(b) what was deemed to be "lower moral standards"
according to the widely-accepted definitions of "morality" in their societies. How could that possibly be?
The nearly-forty studies all exposed a strong correlation between
(a) religiosity
and
(b) what was deemed to be "lower moral standards"
according to the widely-accepted definitions of "morality" in their societies. How could that possibly be?
Might it have something to do with the additional belief that they all hold a "Get Out of Jail Free" cards, making it almost convenient to do whatever the heck they want to do - the effects on other humans be damned - while being sure that starting over again with a clean slate is only a prayer away?
Recorded in the "Old Testament" / Jewish part of their "holy book" are the words of certain Jewish writers who report that
"God is ready to forgive” and that he “will forgive in a large way"; that, by asking, your sins will be “blotted out” or erased and forgiven permanently; and that he will always forgive those who honestly repent (except for certain "unforgivable sins" which are referenced but never identified completely).
In the "New Testament" / Jesus part, it is reported that Christ said that you should not forgive a person who has harmed you seven times but should, instead, forgive her or him "seven times seventy" times.
How many actually keep the accurate records they should when dealing with someone acting like an ass, over and over again, in order to know when they have reached the magic number of 490 forgivings and can finally stop forgiving? With the number of persons totally consumed in the Ultimate Sickness nowadays, that plan is going to require an inordinate amount of paperwork, is it not?
Fortunately for those persons who are tech savvy nowadays, they can carry around a spreadsheet program on their mobile phones to keep track of all that.
(If you believe in karma, there's the Great Accountant of the Universe who will keep up with all of that for you. Much easier, huh?)
Yet those who have experienced what is involved when dealing with persons trapped in the Ultimate Sickness understand that forgiving them 490 times or 490,000 times or 49 million times is not going to change their behavior.
Nor will the behavior of those with the Sickness ever change even if they have been forgiven 490 times or 490,000 times or 490 million times . . . be it by God or man or woman. The belief in forgiveness merely sets the stage for them to do the next selfish, self-centered, egotistical thing that they are going to do. Why?
** Because they have "The Golden Ticket," a "Get Out of Jail Free Card" or a "Get Out of Going to Hell Card" or a "Get Out of Being Held Responsible Card" or a "Get Out of Being Punished Card"
and
** Because of the supposedly-available perks regarding conscience-clearing, soul-saving, forgiveness-assurance, punishment-escapement and rewards-receipt, both now and later.
Remember the criminal-types living in that town where the local police play "catch and release" and only scold criminals and then set them free?
If there's a town a few miles away where the local police lock people away in jail for twenty years for spitting on the sidewalk, do you think the people in the "catch and release" town would give up the ability to escape punishment time and again, no matter what they do? Not only "No," but "Hell No!"
The same applies with those who use their paths or plans to do whatever they want to do to whomever they want to do it to and then start over with a clean slate time and time again. I have witnessed some who have been playing that scam for 20 and 30 and 40 and even 60 years.
And so it is with the non-realized (that is, the not-free-of-ignorance persons) who make up the masses:
the "path with payoffs" they are on, they will end up staying on; the "journey with benefits" they are on, they will continue to follow; and those who have long-preferred what they have erroneously believed to be "an easier and softer way" will stay with their ineffective treatment plan because of its erroneously-perceived "advantages and payoffs and benefits."
the "path with payoffs" they are on, they will end up staying on; the "journey with benefits" they are on, they will continue to follow; and those who have long-preferred what they have erroneously believed to be "an easier and softer way" will stay with their ineffective treatment plan because of its erroneously-perceived "advantages and payoffs and benefits."
To be continued.
Please enter into the silence of contemplation.
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