Monthly Archives: October 2014

JOY, THE OXYGEN OF GOD

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Just what percentage of people need to become enlightened
In order to save the world?

By “enlightened” I mean someone who sees reality,
As well as herself, as part of that reality
Without rationalizations, fantasies, or taboos.

People might appear mature, intelligent, and reasonable at first glance
But actually are none of these
Because of self-interest
Or some advantage that might be obtained by manipulation
Or, more subtly, by missing the point.

The world continues on its merry way of being “the same old same old”:
With men judging women and women judging men,
The educated judging the less educated, the rich judging the poor,
And the poor envying and half-heartedly despising the rich in turn,
While non-caring people sit at home and judge everyone who’s outside their door –
Even those related by blood.

One day, however, a great iron door will start shutting for good –
After which, all our rationalizations and judgments will not mitigate the developing rain of blame
That will probably only increase the level of pain.

Our insistence upon an impeccable stupidity, ignorance, and unconscious violence can’t be effective forever, can it?

That iron door is now nudging itself shut –
The door that, once closed, life will become truly horrible –
Where we’ll no longer be able to remember “the good old days” –
Our days of blessings and hope.

So – my question is:

What percentage of enlightened people will it take
For us to start believing in God again –
To hear, once again, the brilliant bird of the heart
That never stops singing?

I believe it’s the exact percentage of people
Willing to sacrifice themselves for everyone and everything else,
Plus one, (are you that one?),
That’ll bring in universal Joy, like some unimaginable dawn,

The kind of joy
That God breathes –
That actually keeps God alive!

HOW QUICKLY CAN CHANGE COME – IN INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION?

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Are religious institutions subject to evolution? And, if so, how quickly can change come within them?

In species evolution, it can take millions of years for a significant change to occur, but, sometimes, it can come much more quickly, e.g., in just a few generations for bird beaks that can no longer effectively open naturally-available seeds. (See, The Beak of the Finch, by Jonathan Wiener, Knopf, 1994).

But religions seem to roll along for millennia without much change even though, today, if humanity doesn’t soon begin experiencing a world-wide democratic spiritual transformation, the earth may be in serious danger from the collective grave military, environmental, and health threats currently confronting us.

Today, though, priests still find themselves standing behind their sacramental tables holding up what they believe is holy.  Or reciting age-old stories, with a bit of effort to make them fresh. However, only once in a very long while, does an individual person come into the world and propose major spiritual changes. But, unfortunately, soon after they die, they’re replaced by previous ancient spiritual mechanisms that have been re-formulated by the kind of people who want to earn a living and gain respect from the management of religion.

Because so few people have ever seriously attempted a major revision of religion – and they have usually arrived so far apart in time – there’s always been plenty of room for the managers of religion to manipulate the new spiritual ideas and images into something else entirely.

That’s why we need to have a lot more of these people – a really lot! And they need to keep coming.

If that happened, perhaps in just a few generations, like the finches, human beings as a species might start experiencing profound and permanent spiritual change. And later, looking back, people might wonder what took so long.

So, are we ready to take a peek outside our seemingly unchangeable false selves and religious institutions to begin a fresh search for a true God, as well as for our true selves?

Wait a minute, you mean now?

Yes, now – why not now?!

THEY’VE GOTTEN WAY TOO BIG!

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They’ve gotten too big! – I mean Jesus, Buddha and Mohammed – like a succession of Macy’s Day Parade balloons. But how did this happen since, at one time, they were human beings just like us? Continuous attention by large numbers of people over a long period of time accomplished it. Hundreds of millions of minds and hearts focused on a few individuals over millennia and, eventually, you’ll create something that’s no longer human – just giant light projections bouncing off the dark insides of people’s heads.  The psychic wattage has just been enormous.

In turning attention back to ourselves, we seem so small in comparison.  All three of these people repeatedly told us that they were just human beings. But that made no difference once they physically left us – because institution-building in each case had gotten well underway.

So how can we get them back down to earth without seeming disrespectful?  We’re certainly thankful for their existence – for their time with us – it was a good thing.  But such deep and largely unreflective worship has gotten us diverted from our duty to respect ourselves, as well as being a major distraction from God – who lives in our own hearts.

We’ve been on the way a long time now, and we’re finally ready to arrive!

We’ll begin by engaging with God and our true selves directly – not with a giant projection. Then, we’ll open up the colorful gift of joy secretly placed in our hearts – that little present God provided us at birth – to be opened only on the day we wake up spiritually.

This present was not one given to Jesus, Buddha, or Mohammed – because they’ve already opened their own special gifts –

No, this present was given solely to us –

A personal joy – straight from God!