Tag Archives: God

GOD IS A DOOR AND NOTHING ELSE

Posted on by

1

Even though God is a person,
God isn’t a person, or a power,
Or even the culmination of all the thoughts that have ever been thought –

In other words, God is not an object –
God is a door.

Most of the time, however, we aren’t thinking about doors,
Much less Spirit –
Mainly, we’re thinking about ourselves,
Our possessions or troubles –
And in church,
We worship God as an object –
Much like any other object in our lives.

Sometimes, we think about death –
Another kind of door –
But not for long.

A real God, however –
The one we need so terribly,
Is always a door out of ourselves –

A door to truth, love, justice
And beauty –
That door!
The one that passing through leaves us radiant –

It’s the door to an inner garden
Where a fountain of joy can be found –

The door we wish for with all our hearts,
But almost never find –

Unconsciously, we understand how difficult ecstasy is to achieve,
And that, in order to pass through and discover it,
We need to become
Someone else –

The stranger in our dreams
We’ve always hoped to meet.

WHEN

Posted on by

1

When a human animal meets a human being, he immediately starts looking for something to eat, and, if nothing “edible” appears, he’ll probably get bored or angry.

When a human being meets a human animal, she may feel amused or loving, but sad at the waste.

When a human being meets another human being, they recognize one another. A bemused sparkling in their eyes announces the mutual acknowledgement of God’s presence. Upon this joyful recognition, the surrounding space fills with light and laughter.

From “Diner Mystic”

THE CHOICE

Posted on by

0

People, today, are much too busy to think about God –
Too busy to pray – and also –
Too busy to even notice the brilliance of Nature’s seasonal displays.

God wanted to get people over their material obsessions to live a more spiritual life –
But, unfortunately, people haven’t been concerned about that at all.

Increasing numbers of people are moving ever more quickly through their lives –
Like human bullets shot from birth –
Ignoring their need for slowness – that is, taking their time.

God is surprised at this –
But shouldn’t be.

A wind is rising, but nobody notices
Since they’re situated so deep inside their office parks.

Flowers have been releasing exquisite odors all morning
But peoples’ noses are stuck deep inside their coffee cups.

God gave us a natural world in which to live
But we’ve constructed a separate world designed for conventional lives.

I think we’ve already made our choice:

The only question being –
Is it truly irrevocable?

AVATARS ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES ABLE TO GIVE UP THEIR EGO

Posted on by

0

Babies are totally open to God – arriving in the form of pure energy. Since they come straight from God, they’re completely natural upon arrival. But after a surprise landing in this world, they need to figure out how to survive – in this given time and place. So they do, but the cost is high. They’re faced with the necessity of becoming someone people who’re already here are able to recognize and the culture use. Since they’re raised by parents – people who’ve already made the requisite compromises – the baby should ultimately find itself able to “fit in”.

So, this baby, who started out life as a tiny energy “sun,” will eventually start dimming because so much of her natural energy will be perceived as being “alien” to her surroundings. There’re no human words for the kind of energy that doesn’t fit into this world – only God has the precise words for that.

Eventually, the baby matures – becoming a “person,” developing her own ego, and eventually becoming an “integral part of society”.

By that time, the baby, unfortunately, will have lost much of the beautiful spontaneous energy God had originally provided her with.

Someday, however, that baby – once an adult – might begin wondering where all her previous energy had gone and whether it might ever be regained. She might even begin remembering what it was like to live in “the Garden,” and realize that, in order for her to return, she might have to give up everything.

Happily, though, she’ll soon come to understand that, since she’s no longer a child and is now capable of an adult’s understanding, she’ll be able, if she so decides, to start living as an adult and recapturing all her original energy – by giving up her ego and start living as her true self .

That’s when she’ll be met with the necessity of surrendering – not everything as she had at first thought – but only her self-created false ego.

If her ego presses her hard, however – and it probably will – not to let it go –
She’ll let go anyway – like a balloon that simply floats away into the blue!

That’s what Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed did –
And that’s what she’ll do too.

JUST WHAT IS SACRED?

Posted on by

0

“Everything!” say the Zen people
But have no idea, really, how that might work.

“Nothing” says 21st Century Man
And doesn’t give it another thought.

Actually, it’s naming a specific object or task
As being “holy” –
As if, by naming it, one can make it so.

There are those who try to eat the sacred
Believing, by swallowing it, you can bring God inside you –
Many religions practice a form of this belief.

The word “sacred” has also been used by various religions
And their faithful
As an “Open Sesame” to their proprietary collective –
A password that can get you past the front door.

Usually, when one claims something is “sacred,” they mean it’s “related to God” –
Something God has “touched” in the past and might want to touch again.

Are there people that, in and of themselves, are sacred?
Or is it only when such a person touches an object that makes it so –
For example, a spiritual symbol that can be worn on a gold chain
Ensuring that, if one suddenly dies, they’ll have a better chance of ending up with God?

Maybe sacred objects are simply reminders passed by along the road of life
Muttering: “There’s something important you’ve been missing.”

Back here, though, in the land of sunshine,
One final bit of unconscious joy is allocated just before we pass
To brighten up our final step
Into glory or, alternatively, to the place that’s quickly going dark.

Hopefully, long before then, you’ll be allowed the time to become a little more
“Sacred” yourself –
You know – along with God – in the land of the living.

JOY, THE OXYGEN OF GOD

Posted on by

1

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?

Posted on by

0

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!

Posted on by

0

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!

IF GOD IS “SPIRIT” THEN, BY DEFINITION, GOD IS ABSOLUTELY FREE

Posted on by

2

God needs this kind of freedom in order to be God. But, if that’s so, then religion and spirit may be incompatible.  Jesus taught that God is “Spirit,” like love – or truth, justice or beauty. But isn’t it true that Spirit can never be experienced by insensate institutions – but only by individual human beings?

Each institutional religion provides a “spiritual” foundation for itself by adopting a set of ideas (orthodoxy) and practices (orthopraxy).  But if God is absolutely free, then how is it possible for people belonging to such an institution to find God simply by agreeing in advance where God can always be found – both in word and deed?  Since God is “like the wind,” always on the move, we also have to be ready to move at any time if we ever hope to stay close to God.

Given that we need to stay on the move in order to be holy, we should resist the temptation to define ourselves in a formal way or to accept any kind of set identity – because, in doing so, we’ll eventually get frozen in place, even though the Spirit will continue enjoying ongoing “play” in the universe.  We also shouldn’t try to define God either because that would only be a futile attempt to “stop” God’s movement (even if only in our minds) – which is impossible.  If God ever “stopped,” and became a stationary idea, image, or name, then God would no longer be “like the wind which blows wherever it pleases,” as Jesus described the nature of God in John 3:8.

What I’m trying to say is that religion may be antithetical to Spirit, that is, to God.  Whenever a person commits himself or herself to a specific religion, they almost immediately abandon (at least for a time) their individual search for God.  Religions offer us packaged “Gods,” and broadcast to the world that they have all the answers to life’s most important questions. But, actually, they don’t have these answers because our questions are constantly changing, we are constantly changing, and God is also constantly changing as well. Consequently, many (or most) of our accepted conventional ideas about religion may be wrong.  If God is “like the wind,” it makes no sense to dedicate ourselves to religious orthodoxy or orthopraxis, much less to church buildings, holy books, creeds, or academic credentials required to become a religious leader.  Unfortunately, we have gotten this all wrong!

The first thing we need is to become as free as possible – in our souls, our spirits, and our lives. Spiritual evolution is contingent upon how much freedom we’re able to attain for ourselves. For human beings, freedom opens the door to attaining everything worth having: the ability to tell the truth – all the time; to love and to be able to actually achieve it; to be as spontaneous as children; to be just – that is, able to do the right thing at the right time; and to end up living lives in “heaven on earth” – experiencing and fully enjoying all the beauty that surrounds us.

With sufficient freedom, even if starting off basically as human animals, we’ll eventually be able to become human beings – just like Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammed and many others have done.

In sum isn’t it obvious that it’s largely impracticable for us to reach God by committing our time and energy to an external “social vehicle” like religion?

This is the principal reason why spirituality is becoming ever more popular and institutional religion increasingly less so.  Religion, historically, has not been able to resist getting itself mixed up with power, with the consequence that people have not been as successful as they might otherwise have been in tasting the “sweetness of spirit” in their lives – the kind of infinite joy that’s potentially available for all of us.

The incontrovertible proof that religions have been “anti-spiritual” in nature is the fact that, in all of them, asking critical questions is strongly discouraged. But how anyone thinks they can reach God without first asking a lot of questions and making many mistakes is beyond me. Why aren’t all questions valid, at least for the asking, no matter how stupid or naïve they might be?

God, like the wind is always on the move – everywhere and at all times. That’s why some religions refuse to countenance any image of God, or even word for “God”. How can you name or picture “Spirit” that, by its very nature, is unceasingly on the move? Humans have wanted to mold and worship a stationary God who’s “dead in the tracks” so they can believe it might be possible to exercise some form of control over such God. Well, even though the managers of these religions have been able to control the language and images their particular religion uses for God – such people will probably never be able to actually encounter, much less develop a deep relationship with the divine.

So, my question is, is it possible for us to start all over again – even though it would be painful to acknowledge wasting so much energy over millennia on a wrong idea – i.e., the attempt to institutionalize “Spirit” – which by definition can’t work? In fact, isn’t it true that the greater effort we put into institutionalizing Spirit, the farther we’ll eventually end up from God.

Let’s try spiritual freedom – trusting in the spirituality of actual individuals. If this happens, it’ll be alright. No – more than that – it’ll be really good!

I promise.