What I believe.

I believe that the divine is in each one of us. That there is a jesus, a buddha, a sai baba within which we can awaken spiritually.

I believe that each one of us is one part god, and this is called many things in different cultures. Some call it the mind, some call it the universal consciousness, holy spirit, soul etc.

This consciousness, which from now on I shall refer to it as such, has always existed and has been permeating every living object on earth.

Take a self contained ecosystem. Imagine that we own a microcosm of life on earth. Nothing has to be done to feed this system, because it has all it needs to survive. The leaves withers, which decomposes to become nutrients in the soil which will be reabsorbed again by another living object. Things die and things grow without end within this glass jar. Everything gets recycled and reborned. That essentially is the buddhist way of understanding life.

Now, the idea of karma would mean that whatever you have done in this life, when you die, would bring about consequences down the line. Again, in the ecosystem, if I added a drop of arsenic into it, down the line, the living creatures in this system would suffer albeit not knowing how they would. That Arsenic is exactly what bad karma is all about.

The reason why karma doesnt exist in this system is that the living objects are not conscious. They have no divine spark in them even though they are alive. We however, as humans, have this consciousness which allows us to affect live in future generations. Therefore, being 'bad' in this life would mean poisoining consciousness with spiritual arsenic, causing more suffereing down the line.

Moreover, since this consciousness does not leave when we die, some of it remains with the soul that leaves the body. When the soul is ready to return as part of a living thing, the spiritual trauma / happiness of the past life would remain etched in this new living thing.

Everything essentially gets passed around in this life on earth, especially emotional impacts. That is why love is to be preached everywhere. That is why love rules all. Every religion claims it so though followers do not understand this fundamental idea.

Love covers all sins, covers all spiritual arsenic, and lifts humans up to a higher level. Those who truly understand the meaning of these words will ascend into heaven, never needing to participate in this process of living and dying, because he will be at one with the creator, whom was him and part of him since eternity.

Corinthians

Paul himself a master of rhetoric though he claimed otherwise. He, as layed down in the treatise on rhetoric by Aristotle, established his ethos right at the start of the chapter. He writes in a paradoxical manner; claiming authority while simultaneously deflecting it for servanthood towards Jesus Christ.

He is ingenuous in his analogies, calling himself a Master Builder (a leader) in Chapter 3, yet thereafter claiming that he is only responsible for laying foundations (A servant's role) and it was up to the Corinths to complete the structure of the house (The church). How clever!

Paul is an amazing rhetorician though he claims not to be speaking 'words of eloquent wisdom' (which in fact he does so 1:17)

He manages to balance preaching the gospel through his authority on the subject, and at the same time deflecting his authority and claiming only to be a servant of christ, appearing as if he was trying to share instead of impress upon the people of corinth.

And it was here that the controversial issue of circumcision was lifted, thereby making the 'new judaism' or what we now call christianity all inclusive, not only restricted to the jewish people.

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It is my contention that a true church of God will spend time with its believers dissecting the word of God for what it is worth, instead on its constant focus on the intangibles and over popularized idea of 'spiritual warfare'. This pop culture approach will do no long term benefits to its followers.

St Paul

Pauls letters were written during the generation that saw Jesus, about 20 to 35 years earlier than when the 4 gospels (50 to 75AD) were written .

In it we see Paul doing something radical, inviting gentiles into the newly created religion. Paul was no doubt an intellect evident through his various letters.

Corinthians is so beautifully written if we compared it against the simple linguistic style of the 4 gospels. Paul even utilised and modified the analogy of the members of the body parts 1 Cor 12:14-26 which was first given by Livy 2.32.8-12 to fit it in the context of the gospel. Livy tried to show how different parts fed the belly, while paul showed how different parts were equally important and fed the whole.

Paul represented a religion that was so different from the hierarchical structure of society at that time. However, he does make a stand that women are to be subjected to man's authority something that few of us would readily agree to in these times.

Christians or New Age Spiritualists?

Should christians stop calling the god they worship they god of Isreal, the God of the old testament?

There is simply no connection here except how paul and matthew worked hard to weave jesus's teachings into the judaism gospel and prophesies so that PHARISEES AND PEOPLE LIVING IN THAT SOCIETY WILL LISTEN.

How can one believe in a God that murders kills pillages people because he is simply a 'jealous' God? It makes absolutely zero sense.


"And when Moses saw that the people had broken loose, then moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 'Who is on the Lord's side? (Actually meaning who was on his side coz he was losing his control over the people) Come to me.' And he said to them 'Thus says the Lord God of Israel(hmm), Put your sword on your side each of you, and go to and fro from gate to gate, and each of you kill his brother(?) and his companion(?) and his neighbor(?).'' And that day about three thousand men of the people fell(?)"
---- Exodus 32:25

In my opinion, Moses used his own 'divine authority' to give justice to his actions, knowing full well that his leadership role is being threatened after spending ages in a mountain. So what if they created a golden calf?? Are we to say
that the present day GOD would demand you be killed for worshipping that now?

oh, but wait, Jesus came and so the old laws are broken.

Yes. Obviously they are broken because He came and started a new religion.

There is definitely good reason why Moses he did not see the promised land. Make a wild guess?
His own people killed him for his crimes against humanity.

he who fights the monster take care, lest he becomes the monster himself. He who stares at the abyss for long, himself beware that the abyss gazes back at him

Zeno's Arrow

It's been noted that Zeno's "Arrow" argument could also be made in the context of continuous motion, where in any single slice of time there is (presumed to be) no physical difference between a moving and a non-moving arrow. Thus, Zeno suggests that if all time is composed of instants (continuous or discrete), and motion cannot exist in any instant, then motion cannot exist at all

RIP Grandma

The Aeneid

There are to me 3 levels in the Aeneid.

1. That it was singing praises about the Roman Empire claiming Rome to be the sons of Aeneas.

2. That the sacrifice Aeneas had to dish out to people along the way, pillaging a foreign land, causing a war, could not prevent him from the higher purpose, that is to built Rome.

3. That Rome was founded in all ingloriousness, that the strive for epic success meant the destruction of everything else, even if it meant sacrificing everyone along the way to achieve it. That its success was built on one massive lie, not very different from 'freedom warfare' which has always been advocated by the Yankees

Aeneas, after all, walked through the Gate of Ivory.

And if we can peel through the layers in everything we read, till we get to the bone, and the bone into the marrow of the matter, heaven would have arrived on Earth.

It was never meant to be anywhere else.

What you know was never ever written

The world cannot comprehend

The wealthy asked jesus how he could get into heaven, and then jesus told him to sell all his possesions, thereafter he walked away in sorrow.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

How much should I earn to earn enough to be poor enough to be in the kingdom of heaven?

Can anyone tell me how much i should have to be able to do so?

Before one casts the first stone, make sure that it was from the bible, and not from your own consciousness, because then one no longer depends on the unshakability of the word of god. Secondly, the concept of the holy spirit and how it guides is foreign to me so it shall never be used in your argument. The closest thing the holy spirit is to me is your own introspection.

With this two caveats in mind, show me your answer.