There is a Universal Law of Abundance – Part 2

Understand Abundance & Breath: TheeErin

Author: Russell Symonds

Simply praying may not help much. Instead it may be more effective to meditate intensely for more than 15 minutes on the actual result of one’s intent which must be in tune with the good of all and never against anyone’s wishes. By understanding some of the timeless, mystical truths deeply embedded in the Lord’s Prayer, one can find great comfort, guidance and inner peace, knowing that God’s will for all is only happiness and prosperity.

Why is Prayer Seldom Answered?

Prayer is not enough. You must visualize with faith and meditate daily on the ideals that you want to change your life around toward while working closely with a strong sense of God’s personal love and blessing. You must put all your emotional energy (enthusiasm) and focus into what you do want while avoiding thoughts and feelings of what is not wanted or considered undesirable. I don’t at all mean being irresponsible, but rather put one’s focus and energy into being more responsible and caring than ever before, because that is one of the positive ideals, traits, and/or qualities of success that’s most practical to have.

You also must make the new ideals that you want a habitual way of thinking. Never forget you are a powerful spiritual being whose consciousness and thoughts are not just limited to and caused by the physical brain (which is really just a “conduit, switchboard or condenser” through which the physical world can be accessed by the soul), but are from a timeless, multidimensional source of massive power and of universal (holographic) origin and influence. The Reality that is You are actually at or above the level of creation itself. You are a powerful spiritual being, living on Earth to experience and overcome physical limitations.

You absolutely must not wish any harm against anyone else, but rather be very grateful and appreciative of their lives. Avoid jealousy, all sense of competition and all self-righteousness. Instead sense the Oneness of all life and sincerely wish for others all the best of everything. What goes around comes around. Love God in others with all your heart. Respect and serve God in others with all your heart. Avoid all fear (of losing) and attachment to what you have already. Real happiness, true happiness comes from within. As a child (reflection) of God, you are independently wealthy.

To meditate on what is needed is far more potent than simply praying. That means one is to concentrate, visualize with all one’s inner senses for nearly an hour a day the actual fulfillment of one’s goal, desire or dream. Learn how to focus all one’s attention to the exclusion of all other thoughts on the one most desperately needed or desired thing, whether it be piles of money, gold, a house, a relationship, or even a tranquil garden of blossoming roses and all the sublime scents of nature; if it is good for your soul, then it has to come to pass! The more focus and the less distraction one has, the sooner whatever you focus on can unfold into your life as an actual experience. It is important to conserve one’s sexual energy because sexual energy is a creative force and may very well be an essential help for one’s ability, inspiration and enthusiasm (all are essential!) to focus and concentrate on whatever goal has to be reached. Then all one’s actions must in turn logically comply with, responsibly engage in, and physically become involved with the actual accomplishment of the goal in mind.

What You Renounce You Can Have

True prosperity is achieved through following the above inspiring principles with a loving and joyous attitude. Never forget the supreme commandment: love God with all your heart. Build up a habitual attitude of love, joy and gratitude. These positive attitudes give off a strong positive influence, blessing the atmosphere, all other people, all other life forms, and your relationship with the entire inner universe of your being or inner Reality, thus changing everything you experience.

Your Relationship with God

Why even bother to have a relationship to God and who is God anyway? God is a cosmic conscious “computer” of infinite size and vastness, encompassing and consisting of all dimensions, especially those beyond time and space, cause and causation. God is beyond even the duality of existence and non-existence: after all, what is pure awareness? So anyone asking whether God exists or not is beside the point. You can’t possibly describe or even comprehend this pure awareness which is the Source of all experience and creation. You can only experience it. But you must work with and strive to know and love this awesome Reality behind all existence because it is the underlying Source of you. It is the tree of the branch that you depend on for support, the trunk of your “tree” of creation. You are a part of God and to the degree you can drop all fears, desires, etc. and to the degree you can develop a profound sense of love, joy, prosperity and laughter, determines just how much of this truth you will experience. The metaphysical books by Joseph Murphy gives one confidence and knowledge as to where and how to take the “helm” of one’s life and turn it around to the “still waters” of peace, and the abundance of an “overflowing cup.” We give up or renounce our fears and desires by realizing that they are fulfilled already with the unsurpassed mercy and abundance of the universe. These truths are as timeless as the 23rd Psalm.

The Deep Meaning Behind the Lord’s Prayer

There are many variations and translations of this prayer. It is one of the most widely recited prayers in the world. Of course, there is a major metaphysical meaning and significance to every word of the Lord’s Prayer that tells us how to live in complete harmony with the universe, and when recited with devotion and sincerity of heart will saturate one with a great sense of awe, love and abundant blessings from God.

“Our Father which art in Heaven” proclaims the universal consciousness of Godhood or Spirit as being in a continuous state of perfect wholeness or “Heaven.” God is all knowing, all truth, all love, all powerful and all joy. To know this state of consciousness is to always be in a state of heavenly joy, abundance and bliss.

“Hallowed by thy Name.” The name of God, whatever it may be, is to be made holy or set apart for holy use. Never cry out the Lord’s name in vain (how many times have we all done this?) because it’s vibration is potent and all too wonderful for it to ever be abused in a fit of mundane frustration. Would you want to say something as sacred and close to your heart as the name of your true love, your soul mate and spouse forever in a way without reverence and respect? Love is too sacred and any name or word for one you love, who is the nearest and dearest (God) should be a deep and sacred joy to meditate on or chant deep within the sacredness of one’s heart.

“Thy Kingdom come.” We must remember that God is far more than just a religion or a prayer. God’s purpose is to lead us up through many states and stages of evolution or consciousness or strata of being, revealing entire kingdoms or spheres of 100% natural realities of finer and finer vibrations (far beyond the range of the physical senses) that are awesomely beautiful, abundant and all fulfilling in their nature. The “Kingdom” is within all conscious beings and when it arrives (or rather when we arrive to it) we get to live in paradise. The main challenge is to live in this paradise as a perfect master of life while still on Earth and to create abundance where originally there was only lack.

“Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven” is the great reason why many souls must come to this earth which is so full of misery and all sorts of challenges. This statement reveals God’s intention for all of us which is to somehow channel light from heaven and to manifest on Earth the same goodness and values always found in the higher realms beyond death and above the physical plane, and to bridge the gap between heaven and Earth, and to even create a communication bridge between the spheres so that Spirit can directly guide and instruct physically incarnate humans toward a much more fulfilling destiny of wondrous abundance and permanent salvation from suffering. In other words, we are here to create heaven on Earth, however, most tragically and unfortunately too many are mired in spiritual ignorance and are therefore doing just the opposite and are often undoing all the good things the wise and good souls are trying to do.

“Give us this day our daily bread” and we are praying in this way to become established in the attitude of receiving God’s universal abundance, provision or care that is also very personal, complete, and affectionately loving. This prayer acknowledges the fact that we are lovingly looked after by Spirit for our own good and safety depending on how much we acknowledge Spirit, how much we put Spirit first in our lives. Spirit is the more feminine aspect of God that is the Divine Mother, Zero Point Energy or Sustainer of all animate and inanimate objects and can be heard in the right ear as the universally creative “Om” sound. Her universal consort is God the Father who is the great, unmanifested infinitude and guiding laws of physics and principles of all reality, or pure consciousness beyond all manifestation without end.

As we come to “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” we discover there is a universal law that underlies the importance of forgiveness.

Jesus in St. Matthew 14 and 15 had this to say about the prayer: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive men not their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” This statement is what I believe to be the foundational truth behind that widely acclaimed A Course in Miracles which teaches forgiveness as a way toward miraculous recovery from all kinds of difficulties and challenges people are often afflicted with. After all, if you feel one owes you even a simple apology or had made your life miserable and should bring back all kinds of compensation, never forget all the favors you must owe others! There is a universal law of karmic balance so subtle that materialistic scientists completely dismiss it, yet it is so profound and fundamental to the health of the soul, to ignore it would be the height of spiritual stupidity and ignorance. Holding a grudge, or insisting everyone who owes you money pay up, and/or never letting go of old hatreds and long unsettled debts would only serve to block one’s progress forward into a much freer life of healing vitality, spirituality, abundance, and prosperity.

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” means if we are not centering our life on God’s glorious values of light, love and goodness, then what are we centering our lives on? If we seek not the Light, we could soon end up in darkness. We must always discriminate between good and bad, light and dark, chastity and lust, etc. or be lost in many reincarnations until we do learn, “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and death in this sense means having to go through as many cycles of birth, suffering and death until all karmic lessons are paid off. Only when we are free from selfish materialism does the everlasting life in multitudinous heavenly existences ultimately become available. How wise indeed are those who stay away from the temptations of materialism and selfishness!

“For thine is is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever” signifies the endless and wonderful existences in the eternities of heaven most worthy of attainment. We must keep in mind that the eternal glorious Kingdom of Heaven and God’s profound love is potentially within all souls. Words fail to depict and describe the actual experiences of souls living out their eternal spiritual lives in the higher spheres which are full of wonders and wondrous abundance impossible to convey to those on Earth because everything must be brought down to a materialistic level to be understood in our three-dimensional universe of corporeal reality.

“Amen” is “Aum” or “Om” or original sound of creation that is the Holy Ghost or Spirit. A whole book can be written on this remarkable syllable alone but it represents the sound often heard in the inner right ear by mystics and yogis during deep meditation. It comes from the Source of creation which is Zero Point Energy which sustains every electron in its orbit and is the ultimate source of all matter and energy and is the entire ocean of energy, prana, or Spirit engulfing all creation.

The mystical truths of the Bible come from a profound and universal Source of knowledge which is God. By focusing on all the wonderful qualities of God, one becomes more and more like what one focuses on.

More information and videos related to this article can be found right here: http://www.wholejoy.com/thelawofabundance/income.html

Russell Symonds (Shaktivirya) has dedicated his life to finding wholeness and is living the “wholeness” lifestyle. His website, Science of Wholeness is a spiritual and nutritional information and research center dedicated to helping you find your keys to wholeness (everlasting joy, love, bliss, rejuvenation, and much, much more). There is no greater thing of beauty, value and joy as wholeness!

The rest of his original articles and his free online book can be found here: http://www.wholejoy.com/wholeness/NEWS.html

About the Author:

I am a spiritual truth seeker looking for wholeness, or the perfect inner joy and abundant health that we all long for. I have found much of that wholeness through ionized water fasting, afterlife research, advanced dieting/nutritional supplementation, meditation, and transmutation of the lower chakra energies into a higher expression of joy and love.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – There is a Universal Law of Abundance – Part 2

Newsweek says “We Are All Hindus Now”

Sunset yoga: GrahamKing

Special to Earthpages.org

“We Are All Hindus Now”—headlines the article in the upcoming edition of prestigious newsmagazine “Newsweek”, saying “U.S. Views on God and Life Are Turning Hindu”.

Written by its religion editor Lisa Miller, it says, “…recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.”

Acclaimed Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, commenting about the Newsweek viewpoint, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that community was glad that rich philosophical thought of Hinduism was being recognized and accepted widely outside the Hindu circles.

The article quotes a religion professor at Boston University who has long framed the American propensity for “the divine-deli-cafeteria religion” as “very much in the spirit of Hinduism…”

It further says: “So here is another way in which Americans are becoming more Hindu: 24 percent of Americans say they believe in reincarnation, according to a 2008 Harris poll. So agnostic are we about the ultimate fates of our bodies that we’re burning them—like Hindus—after death. More than a third of Americans now choose cremation, according to the Cremation Association of North America.”

Article ends with: So let us all say “om.”

Rajan Zed, who is president of Universal Society of Hinduism, further says that religion is a complex component of human life and a deeper, more inclusive and broader understanding of religion is needed. We are all looking for the truth and in our joint s earch for the truth, we can learn from one another and thus come closer to the truth. Dialogue brings us mutual enrichment, Zed adds.

Newsweek, launched in 1933, is published from New York City in four English language and 12 global editions and has a worldwide circulation of over four million. Jon Meacham is the editor.  It is owned by The Washington Post Company with Donald E. Graham as chairman. Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world, has about one billion adherents, including about 2.3 million in the USA. Moksha (liberation) is its ultimate goal.

Parapraxes, Accidents and Necessary Mistakes

A life spent making mistakes is better than a life spent doing nothing: sara b.

Copyright © 2009 Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

Parapraxes is an unusual word that might intimidate those unfamiliar with psychoanalytic theory. But it’s a pretty simple idea.

In the Psychopathology of Everyday Life Freud says parapraxes are unintentional acts resulting from an unconscious wish, desire, attitude or thought (London: Penguin, 2002 [1901]).

Parapraxes could involve forgetting names and sequences of words but classic examples are slips of the pen or tongue.

Imagine someone at a cocktail party accidentally saying “I love your horse” instead of “I love your house.”

For Freud the hidden meaning of a parapraxis points to the person making the slip. In the above example he or she could be an avid equestrian or possibly an intensely sexual person, the horse being a well-known symbol for virility. Indeed, Freud attributed tremendous significance to the libido.

C. G. Jung was once Freud’s protege and tried to develop the idea of parapraxes with the concept of the shadow. For Jung the shadow has both personal and collective aspects. An irruption of shadow contents into daytime activities could stem from an unresolved personal complex, the larger forces of the collective unconscious¹ or some combination of the two.

Jung significantly differed from Freud in his belief that unintended slips don’t always exclusively refer to the person making them. Parapraxes can point to an entire situation among several or even many people.

Charles Brenner, M.D. believes that parapraxes have profound implications. Although we may dismiss accidents and mistakes as mere flukes brought on by stress, distraction, sleep deprivation or malnutrition, Brenner says “in the mind, as in physical nature around us, nothing happens by chance, or in a random way” (Elementary Textbook of Psychoanalysis, New York: Anchor Books, 1957, p.2).

The difference between healthy and unhealthy attitudes about parapraxes hinges on whether or not we learn from them.² If an accident or mistake isn’t too serious, with a few hours of reflection we can usually figure out why we goofed and how we might avoid similar problems in the future.

An unhealthy attitude, however, would be something along the lines of “I’m no good. Why do I always keep messing up? Life stinks and so do I.” Another unhealthy attitude would be aggressive denial: “I don’t have time for this. I don’t give a damn anyhow.” Or perhaps childish self-aggrandizement, “He’s just an idiot. I’m superior to him so can do whatever I please.”

How we respond to our mistakes is crucial.

Jung believed the self is on a natural trajectory toward wholeness. Nature heals and corrects; and since mankind sprung from nature, Jung maintained that increased awareness enhances our mastery over the environment. For Jungians, then, self-knowledge means more confidence, vitality and sense of meaning.

However, Jung’s perspective seems to overlook the theological ideas of grace, spirit and providence. Jung does, indeed, use the word “grace” in his Memories, Dreams, Reflections (New York: Vintage, 1965, p. 40) and he also says numinosity plays a key role in the deeper aspects of psychological development. But can we really know if the types of numinosity Jung talks about are of the same quality and texture as bona fide grace?

On this point some Christian fundamentalists have gone whole hog and utterly demonized Jung.

Even Satan, so Christian theologians say, comes as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).³ But rather than demonize Jung it seems that the mature option is to carefully discern spiritual experiences and stay open to the possibility that something better might be just around the bend (Jacques Guillet et al., The Discernment of Spirits, Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1970, p. 110; Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, New York: New American Library, 1955, p. 361; William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, London: Penguin, 1985, p. 423).

Along these lines Jung wrote that numinosity isn’t a single type of experience. It’s manifold; and some forms of numinosity are said to be healing and others destructive.

But, again, we can’t be sure just what Jung was talking about because numinosity as a personal experience seems near impossible to compare among individuals and, moreover, difficult to publicly verify.

The Romanian scholar Mircea Eliade recognized this problem while comparing a dazzling array of world religions and their respective mystics, yogis, saints and shamans. Eliade felt it was far too simplistic to assume that all seekers experience the same kind of inner light (Yoga: Immortality and Freedom, New Jersey: Bollingen, 1969, p. 339).

Eliade also questioned whether Jungian theory was accurate to the data studied or, especially with regard to alchemy, a superimposition of Jung’s own brand of thinking onto ancient manuscripts, myths and religious ideas (The Forge and the Crucible, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978, p. 196).

Assuming Jung is right that psychological development may entail parapraxes, accidents, mistakes and even numinosity^,4 why, one might ask, would mistakes be necessary?

Answering this question could involve several different approaches.

Jung, himself, believed that psychological complexes have a life of their own. Just as marine life is easy to forget from the surface, the moment we swim in the sea the charms and potential dangers of underwater creatures become quite real.

Remember the movie Jaws? So it is, Jung says, with the contents of the unconscious–particularly the collective unconscious. Ignore or repress the unconscious and it returns full-force.

In trying to answer why mistakes might in some odd way be necessary, a believer in reincarnation – and let’s not forget that it is a belief – might speak to the alleged truth and related effects of karma theory and reincarnation.⁵

Catholics, on the other hand, believe that God permits parapraxes, accidents and mistakes for some good reason, such as the restoration of humility, this being essential for true spirituality.

Jung too speaks of deflating the bubble of excessive egoism. But for Jung this is a natural process directed toward psychological integration – a union of opposites – instead of something permitted by God for personal humility and for the development of the high degree of purity required for heavenly life.

Jung himself notes this difference, suggesting, particularly with Protestant Christianity, that its Trinitarian symbols are upwardly skewed and overly masculine. He also contends that Protestantism ignores the fourth element of the shadow as well as an ‘eternally feminine’ (anima) aspect of the self, the latter being present in Catholicism to some degree with Papal dogmas about the Virgin Mary.

Regardless of how we explain mistakes, it seems they’re almost inevitable because inferior psychological contents eventually express themselves. If not recognized, integrated and articulated in a healthy way, these inferior contents usually force their way, slip or perhaps are permitted out. ⁶ And these intrusions and eruptions may occur during moments of solitude or within the complicated dynamics of relationship.

As imperfect beings living in a world tarnished by hypocrisy, exploitation and mindless violence, it seems we’re bound to feel the stress at some level and encounter parapraxes, accidents and mistakes. Whether or not we learn from them makes all the difference.

It might even play a role in humanity’s survival into the 22nd century.

Notes

1. Daryl Sharp’s Jung Lexicon defines this and many other concepts with excerpts from Jung’s work.

2. Some say that even tragedies may ultimately be viewed in a positive light. For examples of this perspective, see There Are No Accidents: In All Things Trust in God (Fr. Benedict J. Groeschel, C.F.R. with John Bishop, 2004) and A Step Further: Growing Closer to God Through Hurt and Hardship (Joni Eareckson Tada, 1980).

3. “Satan Comes as an Angel of Light.“ Talk like this often pushes a few buttons. Some get upset perhaps because unresolved complexes are activated. Meanwhile some Christians self-righteously dismiss all things perceived as non-Christian. Surely both extremes are to be avoided or possibly redirected. But redirection usually takes time. It also requires a degree of psychological maturity and a great deal of patience. Sometimes the exigencies of life mean we just have to move on until things hopefully sort themselves out.

4. Jung says it also involves synchronicity but this is beyond the scope of this article.

5. I find this limiting. In my view far too many believers in reincarnation have a few (or many) unusual experiences and don’t stop to consider that their interpretation of inner events may be unduly colored by underlying assumptions, desires and beliefs. For alternatives to the theory of reincarnation, see Farewell to Karma and Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea.

6. Philosophically speaking we’re touching on the idea of teleology and in theology, soteriology. Teleology refers to the belief that creation moves or is directed toward some logical endpoint. Soteriology has to do with the belief in a divine plan, the afterlife and personal salvation.

Michael Clark, Ph.D. is the administrator of earthpages.org and earthpages.ca. His varied interests focus on human potential in the 21st century and beyond. Connect with Michael at Twitter and Facebook.

Confessions of a Skeptic

The reincarnation of Elizabeth: Vincent Bernier

By Ken Gross

How shall I put this? I do not believe in reincarnation. Not in this lifetime. I think Fitzgerald got it right; there are no second acts. One day I will die and that will be that.

Thus stands like a rock my unflinching opinion on the subject.

So, when my agent — who believes in everything except me — asked me to write a book about reincarnation, I said, “Sure.”

Why pick a hard-core skeptic, a journalist, (for God’s sake!), a Cassandra marinated in the smoky cynicism of H.L. Mencken to write a book about something as gauzy and hopeful as faith. It would be like turning the rationalist fox (no relation to the irrational media Fox) loose in the paranormal henhouse?

Obviously, he needed a doubting Thomas, a disbeliever, a cranky cynic to demonstrate that the fix wasn’t in. Who better to vouch for the integrity of Disney World than a certified grouch?

And then there’s this interesting other question: why would I take such a job?

The answer is simple. I don’t know. I do like to look into forbidden rooms, I watch Hannity (just to scream at the set), I poke at a sore tooth. I once told Ed Koch how I thought he was doing; (he didn’t appreciate the opinion, but as I always say, don’t ask and I won’t tell.)

Who should ghost the book? Bridey Murphy? Some gullible slave to the outré opinions of the occult?

No, me, a reliable nay-sayer. I saw my duty and backward into the past I marched.

There was, of course, a catch. In order to do this book, I would have to sort of “pass over,” in a manner of speaking. That is, the child who is the subject of this book lived in Lafayette, Louisiana — the Deep South — a part of the country in which I have had more than one near-death experience.

In 1971, when I was a reporter for Newsday on Long Island, I rode with Charlie Evers (the brother of the slain NAACP civil rights leader, Medgar Evers,) as he campaigned for governor of Mississippi. We rode all over the Mississippi Delta and as we drove across the exposed highway, I heard the sound of bullets whizzing past our windshield. Snipers in the trees. Charlie kept a loaded pistol on the seat of the car in case we got a flat. A spare tire in that part of Mississippi in the early ’70’s was not enough.

So that’s how I remembered the south. With fear and disbelief.

But this was 2007 and James Leininger lived in the quiet coastal plain of Louisiana — a town called Lafayette. There were no Obama posters, but there were storefront poker palaces and fast-food stretches and a decent hotel. (At one chicken restaurant, as I waited in line for lunch, the manager loudly fired the entire staff, then came out and asked if anyone on the line wanted a job. I went to find a McDonald’s.)

Bruce and Andrea Leininger were a handsome couple. Not unsophisticated. She had been a ballet dancer in New York and he studied political science at Columbia University under Zbigniew Brzezinski. Now he was working in human relations in the oil industry.

When I got down there, and we started to work on the book, they did not have a clear idea of how this story unfolded — just that something miraculous had taken place to their son James under their roof. It was a painful and awkward process — putting it all together, getting the sequences right, checking out the details, finding the right structure. Together, we drew up timelines and made charts and put it down on paper:

In the year 2000, when James had just turned two, he began to shout in his sleep — not always coherent — but it seemed to be about a World War II pilot killed in the battle of Iwo Jima. At first, it was just a kid having nightmares. But slowly, over a period of time, the child, James Leininger, began to deliver incredible accurate details, speak coherently, add uncanny facts — minutiae about the pilot — James Huston — his life and history. The information he divulged was of such breadth and diversity that it became impossible to dismiss, and even now, even as I still do not believe in reincarnation, I have no reasonable explanation for that unwinding story.

I’ve heard people say, oh, he must have been coached, or influenced by watching TV. But this was a child in his diapers, still sucking on a bottle. How could he be coached to know the flight characteristics of World War II era fighter planes? How could he know the names of the ships and the sailors who had taken part in a certain battle at a certain time?

James Leininger had been examined and tested by Carol Bowman, an authority on the subject of children who have supposedly experienced “past lives.” She vouched for his authenticity. James had already appeared on television (a media vetting that has popular, if not scientific standing), and was recognized by the paranormal community as the most authentic case of an American “past life.” Children experiencing “past lives” is a well-established (albeit controversial) field of paranormal studies. Several universities have departments devoted solely to its study.

It was always Bruce’s intention to debunk his son’s story. He was an evangelical Christian and thought that proof of reincarnation would damage his faith — one life, one soul, everlasting. Andrea accepted her son’s claims and didn’t attach any particular religious significance to the whole thing. But Bruce was dogged. Over time, he found that there was an annual reunion of members of the ship that his son had named as his own in his sleep. If he could prove that there were no Corsairs (the plane that James insisted he had flown in the war), he would have made his case that the story was not true and his faith was safe. Bruce began to attend the reunions of surviving crew members of Natoma Bay — an escort carrier that took part in the battle. He gathered up facts, all confirming the data fed by his son James, all also confirming that there were no Corsairs on Natoma Bay. He held onto that discrepancy as a holy chalice.

But something odd happened. During the course of his quest to debunk the story, Andrea tracked down the families of the dead crew members and eventually found James Huston’s sister, Ann. The sister had never had any contact with the ship or with the reunions. Still, she was curious about James Leininger, and, finally, sympathetic to his claims to be her brother. She was old and it was hard for her to travel from California, however, so she sent a batch of photographs of her brother taken during the war. And in a couple of the photographs, there was James Huston standing in front of a Corsair.

There were other odd things — when she sent James Leininger a drawing that her mother made of James Huston — the child asked where was the other picture? The other picture — buried up in the attic for sixty years — was a drawing of Ann. Her mother had made two drawings when they were children. How could James Leininger have known that? Ann was stunned. No one knew about that other picture. Except her dead brother.

As I say, I don’t believe in reincarnation. I hardly believe in carnation. I am a secular, rationalist skeptic. But I have no reasonable explanation for James Leininger/Huston.

©2009 Ken Gross, co-author of Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot

About the Author:

Ken Gross, co-author of Soul Survivor: The Reincarnation of a World War II Fighter Pilot, is a novelist and nonfiction writer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

For more information please visit http://www.soulsurvivor-book.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Confessions of a Skeptic

Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 4

Inferno | Hell by Daniele Margaroli

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Hell – Temporary or Eternal?

Another difference between the belief and non-belief in reincarnation has to do with the Christian view of hell.

Many adherents of reincarnation say hell is a temporary state where bad actions are punished and souls are educated in a kind of cosmic classroom. Souls learn how their actions harmed self and others by actually seeing the effects of their choices.

But once the lessons are learned, these souls are given another chance with a new birth. And so the cycle continues until the soul reaches absolute perfection.

This sounds great. And some say that we can do whatever we want and it doesn’t really matter.¹

In sharp contrast, the vast majority of Christians believe we have only one life. In Catholicism hell is no temporary schoolroom but an everlasting state without any hope for deliverance.²

While direct biblical opposition to reincarnation is fairly rare, Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, often uphold the following as proof that they’re right.

Just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time… (Hebrews 9:27-28)

And St. Thomas Aquinas adds this slightly less direct passage:

Even before they had been born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose of election might continue, not by works but by his call) she was told, “The elder shall serve the younger” (Romans 9:11-12)

Individuality, the Body and Heaven

Reincarnation theory also differs from Christian theology when it comes to the resurrection of the body–this being the belief that the individual soul and a glorified body eventually unite after death.

Many adherents of reincarnation see ultimate liberation in terms of the disappearance of an illusory sense of individuality. Instead of truly becoming oneself, the personal self and subtle spiritual body (or bodies) eventually merge into the absolute. At this point one loses all individuality and becomes supreme bliss.³

Most reincarnation theories outline astral realms and heavens but these are only temporary rest stops for the soul journeying toward undifferentiated bliss in the absolute.

This clearly differs from Christian belief. For Christians, heaven is an everlasting reward for the blessed who behold God’s glory while retaining their created individuality.

Generally speaking we could say that reincarnation theory looks at ultimate reality in terms of the soul falling into God like a drop falls into the ocean. Whereas non-reincarnation perspectives see the soul as getting close to God, basking in God and even interceding for God, but never becoming God.

The World at our Fingertips

Reincarnation is an imaginative and intriguing theory within the history of ideas.

Ironically, many are willing to believe in reincarnation – the strange idea that we leave our bodies and enter another one – but feel that contemporary paranormal ideas are too far fetched for serious consideration.

Perhaps this bias is partly due to the ancient nature of reincarnation theory. Old feels safe. And ancient traditions are often passed off as having automatic authenticity just because they’re old.

But that’s not a scientific approach. It’s a political and ideological one.

Indeed, some seem to forget that reincarnation is just a theory. But shouldn’t we be making newer, better theory considering all the scientific advances and fresh philosophical ideas at our fingertips today?

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¹ See Matthew 7:15, 24:11, 24:24; Mark 13:22; 2 Peter 2:1.

² Catholics do, however, believe in purgatory but this is a place for venial sins and forgiven mortal sins. Mortal sins unforgiven at the time of death result in the soul’s permanent estrangement from God– that is, eternal hell.

³ The psychiatrist C. G. Jung saw the ego as the highpoint of Western civilization and objected to this by asking, who experiences this bliss if the individual no longer exists? Ram Dass replied by saying that Jung was afraid to move past identifying with the comfortable social role of “psychiatrist.”

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Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 3

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Flashbacks and Interpretation

Some believers in reincarnation say they’ve had so-called flashbacks of past lives, sometimes through the allegedly scientific process of past-life regressions, a kind of hypnosis.

The main difficulty here lies in the believer’s interpretation of their experience. What may seem like sure evidence of reincarnation to some might be explained differently by others.

Alternate interpretations of the flashback experience take two main forms–empirically vs. spiritually based.

Empirically based explanations suggest that, instead of encountering a past life, a person having a flashback might actually be engaging in cryptomnesia and confabulations.

Spiritually based alternatives to the theory of reincarnation of are three main types. Essentially, spiritually based hypotheses suggest that, instead of seeing a past life, a person is

1. Intuitively connecting with another human being
2. Sensing the presence and memories of a deceased person
3. Being deceived by a demonic presence that mimics a deceased person

The philosopher C. D. Broad’s idea of the psychic factor develops the second of the above.

Essentially a Western retelling of the Buddhist idea of skandhas,^¹ Broad believes that at death certain mental qualities, if not the total personality, exist for a time to eventually dissipate into nothingness. This is what he calls the psychic factor. If sufficiently clustered, these hopes, fears, dispositions, desires and memories attach themselves to another person.

Broad believes the psychic factor could also associate with an embryo, having a vital influence on human personality development.^²

Genes and Social Conditioning

DNA - Blue by Spanish Flea

Another way to explain flashbacks from so-called past life regressions is becoming increasing visible. This has to do with DNA and the idea of ancestral imprinting. The idea is that certain ancestral memories are inherited through our genetic code.

To this day the precise neuropsychological mechanisms of memory remain unclear. Until memory is fully understood, it seems reasonable to ask whether certain memories are genetically transmitted.

The psychiatrist Carl G. Jung recognized this possibility:

Besides these collective deposits, which contain nothing specifically individual, the psyche may also inherit memory acquisitions of a definite individual stamp.³

An additional question is whether environmental stimuli could trigger the recall of genetically inherited memories.

Researchers generally agree that memory doesn’t work like a digital camera. Memory is almost always an imaginative reconstruction of past events. Accordingly, our interpretation of genetic memories would likely be colored by psychological factors and socially conditioned beliefs.

A Holistic Model

Stained Glass on Floor by Eric in SF

Life is often bigger than any single theory or explanation. And it’s tempting to try to combine several perspectives into a unified theory that would look at physiological, psychological, environmental and psi factors contributing to the belief in past lives.

For instance, could our genetic blueprint act as a filter that facilitates, colors or hinders an encounter with souls, spirits and other paranormal influences?

By way of analogy, our genetic code could have the same kind of effect as a stained glass window. Only certain paranormal influences and numinosities⁴ would be permitted to enter consciousness, just as only some colors of the spectrum pass through a stained glass window.

After these influences and numinosities have passed through the genetic filter, psychological traits and social conditioning would play a significant role in determining how one responds to them, both intellectually and emotionally.

In short, we usually try to make sense of unconventional experiences according to who we are and what we believe at a given moment. This depends, in large part, on our psychological makeup and worldview.

A holistic model does not rule out but embraces the possibility of spiritual influences acting on the psyche. But it does not assume these influences are evidence of past lives. Nor does it assume the influences are ethically good or conducive to mental health. Instead, external spirits or powers acting on the individual are seen as just that–they are not necessarily traces from ‘past lives’ nor authentic dimensions of the person experiencing them.

This is not a particularly new idea. In fact, some 2,000 years ago biblical writers earnestly warned fellow seekers about deceptive spiritual influences:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

What is new is our increased knowledge of physiological, psychological and social factors that might underpin and make a person vulnerable to spiritual and self deception.

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¹ Buddhist belief posits five skandhas, or aggregates of attachment which together form the total personality. Impermanent and subject to change, they are said to be the source of all suffering.

² See John Hick, The Philosophy of Religion, second edition, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973: 114.

³ Carl Jung cited in Gerald S. Blum, Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964: 24.

⁴ Numinosity is not a common word but it’s a good one. For its definition follow these links: http://epages.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/numinosity/ and http://earthpages.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/numinous/

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Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 2

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Folklore and Reality

Believers in reincarnation sometimes say that many ancient cultures believed in some form of reincarnation.

A good number of ancient myths do point to some kind of reincarnation theory but, at the same time, many cultures contained figures opposed to these ideas.

For instance, the ancient Greek and Indian materialist philosophers of the Epicurean and Charvaka schools, respectively, forcefully argued against any kind of immortality of the soul.

Rarely was life so simple in the ancient world that everyone embraced just one philosophy or outlook on life. In fact, the better scholars of religion and myth say it’s doubtful that everyone believed in their prevailing myths, even if these myths did happen to involve reincarnation.

Just like today, people probably faked it by showing outward signs of belief to avoid the repercussions of being different from the horde.

But even if, for the sake of argument, we momentarily agree that reincarnation does figure prominently in the ancient world, this doesn’t tell us much.  It’s almost like saying

Easter Bunny by Michael Clark

Every Christian child believes in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, therefore these folkloric characters exist.

Most Christians would say that folklore enriches childhood and even adult years. But they would add that at a certain point in one’s spiritual formation fascinating stories are put in context and more insight is gained by allowing the intellect to follow faith–and not the other way around.

Accordingly, Christians tend to see reincarnation as a limiting theory one hopefully grows out of.

The words of Saint Paul illustrate this perspective well:

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.

1 Corinthians 13:11

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Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 1

Pretty sure I'm paying for some sins I committed in a past life, this week. Photo by J. Star

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Reincarnation is the belief that the soul travels from one life form to another.

It is often understood as the soul leaving the body at the point of death and, not too long after, taking a new birth.

However, in most Asian religions the reincarnating soul may spend a considerable amount of time in astral realms before returning to an Earthly body.

Does reincarnation make sense?

The theory of reincarnation hinges on the notion of karma. Opponents say that karma theory is an easy way to create meaning out of a sometimes harsh and unjust world or perhaps to rationalize bad habits and personal weaknesses.

Meanwhile, believers say karma theory is rational–it makes sense and is based on knowledge instead of blind faith.¹

Statements like the above send up a red flag for those not adhering to reincarnation theory. Opponents to reincarnation say the immense and awesome workings of God cannot be reduced to human theories like karma and reincarnation, nor may the divine mystery be fully understood through reason alone.

In the Jewish and Christian prophetic traditions God’s workings are said to supersede our human psychological projections, imaginings and philosophical systems. Moreover, God is not understood as God’s creation, a popular idea in New Age circles where “The Universe” is synonymous with ultimate reality (philosophers call this perspective natural pantheism).

The voice of God (as Yahweh) speaking to the Jewish prophets illustrates the difference between natural pantheism and the belief in God as supreme Creator of the universe.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are my ways higher than your ways
And my thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55: 8-9).

Likewise in the Book of Job, Yahweh poses a series of questions to emphasize Job’s human limitations.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me if you have understanding?
Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades
or loose the chords of Orion? (Job 38:4, 31).

Job is a “blameless servant” who, nevertheless, undergoes intense suffering. While this is not the place for a theological discussion about this thought-provoking book of the Bible, it’s enough to say that Job is reminded of the inestimable value of humility.

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¹ In some models of reincarnation God’s grace may override bad karma, which arguably is a faith position.

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Modern science, ancient wisdom now merging

Cradle of Time by Jason Corneveaux

By Steve Hammons

Some of today’s scientists are theorizing that the universe and our everyday reality may not be quite what we think.

These scientists join the ranks of philosophers, theologians and people around the world who have thought about views on heaven and the afterlife, angels, reincarnation and other metaphysical concepts.

The theory that our universe might actually be a “multiverse” seems to be gaining support.

According to these ideas, there may be several or many intersecting dimensions. Our everyday world is one part of this multiverse, according to these perspectives.

Other dimensions may be unseen and difficult for us to perceive, some of the theories claim. At the same time, there may be circumstances when we might become aware of these other environments and influences.

Like gravity, magnetic energy, invisible parts of the light spectrum and other known natural forces, there may also be similar natural dimensions that we cannot always perceive, according to some views.

Do these concepts help us explain things like near-death experiences (NDEs), extrasensory perception (ESP), unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and other unusual phenomena?

PHYSICAL, METAPHYSICAL IN TANDEM

Interestingly, these modern scientific perspectives are consistent with many traditional views and beliefs in cultures around the world.

For example, Native American Indians have traditionally valued the unseen in nature as an important aspect of reality and life.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, for the diverse Indian traditions of the people of Oklahoma, “Native logic is guided by the knowledge that the metaphysical and physical forces both operate in life.” And, “physical and metaphysical dimensions work in tandem.”

This view is consistent with many other philosophies around the world. The unseen or spiritual and our everyday reality go hand in hand.

Our ancestors and loved ones may have passed on to one of these other dimensions. And, it is not clear what the connections or pathways are between our world and the theorized afterlife dimension.

How these possible unseen aspects of the universe or multiverse might actually work is currently being explored by physicists, mathematicians and other scholars.

An actual afterlife dimension may not be so far away. It may be closer than we think. Our ancestors and loved ones might be just around the corner or on the other side of some metaphysical door.

Of course, all of us living today will one day learn more about it when we, too, pass on.

Or, perhaps one day there will be greater integration of our world and the possible dimension in which our ancestors and loved ones may now live.

CONSCIOUSNESS AND DIMENSIONS

As we think about these kinds of ideas, the area of human psychology, consciousness and awareness comes into play. How do we, or can we, perceive or understand more about other dimensions, if they exist?

Intellectual logic can probably take us only so far. Then we might have to move to other kinds of perception such as our deeper mind, our unconscious, our intuition, our dreams and visions, and what is sometimes called “anomalous cognition,” which includes a kind of unconventional awareness or understanding.

This is also probably a nonlinear kind of consciousness. In other words, life and reality as well as our deeper mind may not always move in a line from point A to point B to point C. There are also cyclical and circular features as well as more constant forces.

The Oklahoma Historical Society’s Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture does a pretty good job of describing this kind of perception: “As nonlinear people, Indians are cyclical by nature. Day changing into night is a cycle, the full moon’s monthly repetition is another cycle, and the seasons rotate as well.”

“Life itself, then, is a rotation of circles. Indian peoples’ concept of time is that their stories, transmitted through the oral tradition, enliven the past, and that prophecies bring the future back to the present in a time continuum. This is Indian reality; this is the thought pattern of Oklahoma traditional Indians. Nonlinear reality is a powerful theme in the Oklahoma Indian experience.”

One of these cycles might include today’s modern scientists who are rediscovering connections between discoveries in physics and the ancient views of traditional peoples.

Maybe this circle or hoop is now being completed. Maybe today’s physicists searching for a primary force such as “zero point energy” will discover what the Great Spirit has created and the first Americans understood.

Maybe this is the path to other dimensions, including the place from where angels, ancestors and loved ones watch over us and protect us.

Krishna, Buddha and Christ: The same or different? (Part 5 and Conclusion)

Reclining Buddha

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A Voice from God

In Catholicism peaceful living and spiritual growth go hand in hand. As the believer increases in perfection and becomes closer to God the soul usually experiences an increase in heavenly graces.

The Christian vessel, as it were, washes not just the outside but the inside of the cup to receive the pure waters of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 23:26).

Christian mysticism is not understood as a prelude to or justification for violence. However, one might object by citing Joan of Arc, her voices apparently coming from God and urging her to lead the French army into battle.

But it was the Catholic Church which eventually canonized her. The Gospels, themselves, never condone violence.

God or no God?

As mentioned earlier, religion can be complicated. Whenever one makes an assertion, an exception seems to arise. But the New Testament and Buddhist ideals of non-violence clearly differ in the sense that Buddhists do not believe in an ultimate, omnipotent, omniscient and eternal God.

Put simply, Buddhists do not believe in God. Instead, Buddhists normally contextualize the idea of God saying “God” is just another cultural concept to get past on the road to Nirvana, a journey involving the belief in reincarnation.

In Christianity, however, the unselfish love of enemies arises from inviting the living presence of God to dwell in one’s heart. Happiness isn’t just inside, as so many say. Rather, happiness is having a good relationship with God, who ultimately is beyond the self but also immanent.

Christian salvation doesn’t merely rely on one’s own contemplative efforts because God, and not oneself, is believed to be the source of all goodness and being.

Some see this ultimate dependence on God as a weakness but from a Christian perspective it’s just the way things are.

One will only get so far through one’s own initiative. And that, for many Christians, is a serious limitation for Buddhists.

Granted, Buddhism speaks of compassionate and intervening bodhisattvas who dispense graces to seekers along the way. But these exalted beings are not regarded as God.

A monotheistic God is never present in Buddhism and at some point even bodhisattvas must be surpassed to enter into the nothingness/fullness of Nirvana, a place where the apparently illusory idea of individuality also vanishes.

While some Christian mystics do talk about losing the self in a boundless ocean of God’s love, God never disappears from the picture. And it’s doubtful that Christian mystics are advocating a complete loss of individuality.

Heaven and Hell

Related to the discussion on violence and non-violence is the Buddhist perception of hell.

Hell isn’t eternal for Buddhists. It’s more like a stopover in a crummy hotel room where one eventually checks out.

Likewise with heaven. Heaven is described as a sort of ’spiritual health spa’ enjoyed between lifetimes and the reincarnating soul must eventually leave heaven to become fully enlightened. In fact, in Buddhism one encounters numerous heavens and hells before reaching full enlightenment.

Upon attaining enlightenment, Buddhists say the soul realizes it doesn’t exist and even the idea of past lives becomes illusory. After all, how can one have a past life is one never existed?

These are interesting philosophical ideas but a Christian aiming for heaven might wonder if the Buddhist heavens could be astral realms and not heaven as understood within Christianity.

Since Buddhist hells are not eternal, they perhaps would be closer to the Catholic notion of purgatory because for Christians hell is eternal. Nor is the Christian hell a mere way-station or, for that matter, cool Hollywood fantasy as we see in movies and video games.

For the vast majority of Christians, hell is just hell, forever and ever and ever…

And when it comes to the opposite, namely paradise, the Christian understanding of grace as a living presence that guides believers to an eternal heaven is relativized and arguably absent in Buddhism.

True, Buddhist schools variously speak of emptiness, fullness and enlightenment. And they speak of transitional grace and temporary heavens and hells. But Buddhist do not believe in eternal heaven and hell as articulated within Christianity.

Conclusion

This brief comparison suggests that the scriptures and beliefs emerging from Krishna, Buddha and Christ exhibit points of similarity but are not equivalent.

As we’ve seen, the Mahabharata speaks of peace but in the Gita Krishna emphasizes holy warfare.

By way of contrast, Christ, as part of the Holy Trinity is said to be co-equal with God and the Holy Spirit and willing to sacrifice himself on a cross rather than engage in violence.

Meanwhile, Buddha doesn’t believe in God and the Buddhist nirvana is said to surpass the Christian understanding of heaven and hell.

Both Krishna and Buddha speak of many lifetimes and associated opportunities for salvation through reincarnation, whereas the Christ of the Gospels entreats disciples to get it right the first time, presumably because for Christians there is no reincarnation.

To gloss over these and other differences may be well-intentioned but imprecise. And it’s doubtful that a confused belief in religious homogeneity will contribute to meaningful dialogue and genuine interfaith harmony.

While many promising commonalities can be discerned among today’s faith groups, it will take clear and honest thinking for humanity to get it right for the 21st century and beyond.

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