Conflict: Rishi S

by Anagarika Eddie Rock

One of the most difficult areas to get past in human relations is the idea that “my” religion or ideal is Truth and yours isn’t. When someone says to you that your beliefs are all wet compared to his or hers, how does that make you feel? Historically, it has made people feel so bad that they have killed each other. This is not good.

If only there was a way where we could sincerely say to those who are not of our faith, “You’re okay, even if you do not believe our way.” Unless we find a way to honestly and openly do that, unless we as a nation find a way to say to other countries that they are okay just as they are developing, (as if we didn’t have our problems as a young nation), then we will be in constant conflict.

If, for a moment, we can leave aside threatening and incendiary remarks, such as, “If you don’t become enlightened, you will be reborn into suffering forever,” “Unless you accept Jesus as your savior, you will go to hell,” and “Allah is the only God, accept him or else,” along with all the other claims of various religions (and the numerous branches of the various religions that separate us further, i.e., Catholic and Baptist in the Christian faith), what is there left to talk about?

If we have nothing left to talk about, then of course religion can justifiably be termed a vehicle of separation; something that has caused violence in the past and continues to be a destructive force in the present.

Some might say that their beliefs and principles are more important than any conflict, and that they are ready and willing to die for them. Okay, passion is an important factor, and if their religion or ideal sanctifies conversion by force, then one would be justified in their mind. I posit, however, that in the deep tentacles of all religions lies a universal love for all mankind, regardless of beliefs, and that conversion by force comes from man‘s ego.

In reality, we usually tolerate beliefs other than our own and generally smile and make nice to people of other faiths. But down deep, if we think that they are misguided and that we should save them, or resent the fact that they can’t see the light and consider them inferior to ourselves, then we are two-faced.

Perhaps better than becoming two-faced is having it out with them; arguing about our religions until we are blue in the face, totally exhausted, and ready to strangle each other. At least we would be honest.

In my articles, I try to promote principles that apply to all religions regardless of beliefs. I do this in order to advance past narrow opinions and toward more universal love and respect for each other. I’m not always successful.

I try to see the end product of what a particular religion produces regarding the type of people that result. Are they only nice in a playacting way, closet bigots, or are they genuinely interested in others well being, regardless of the others beliefs?

I can’t say that one way or the other is right or Truth, but I can say, as I look back at history, that one way promotes peace and the other conflict. Again, if conflict is your cup of tea, then I can’t say that you are wrong, but I can say that conflict will create suffering for yourself and others. Also, I can safely, I believe, say that peace promotes ease and joy for yourself and others. Just look at a family in conflict compared to a family in peace. To playact peace is to pretend to be peaceful around your peers but scream at your kids or husband in Wal-Mart! This is also being two-faced.

What it all boils down to is whether or not strong beliefs are worth conflict. If you say yes, then your life will be in conflict. You can’t have conflict with those outside of your immediate group without eventually having conflict within your group. It’s never an outside influence that brings up conflict, conflict is already planted in your mind just looking for a target, and when the outside targets aren’t there, the sharks eat themselves.

The question is; do you want to change your mind from one of conflict to one of peace? Don’t answer too quickly; many people prefer conflict. Conflict, win or lose, boosts the ego and makes one feel that they are alive. Peace, on the other hand does not increase ego or support the notion of a person separate from everyone else.

In my articles, I mention ego or self all the time, because ego, not religion or ideals per se, is the central reason for our internal and external conflicts. The idea of “me.”

So how can you change your state of mind of conflict? Can you keep your strong beliefs and resolve the conflict in yourself? That would be the best of both worlds.

I believe that we can do that, it‘s just a matter of calming down an ego that we have created and now must constantly shore up. This creates the fundamental conflict within ourselves, and has nothing to do with religion or religious beliefs, but everything to do with how we get along with ourselves, our group, and fellow human beings.

If ever there would be a universal religion, it would work toward resolving this problem of conflict within ourselves. Regardless of what we believe or what books we follow, until we understand ourselves and how we interact with that little person inside our heads, all of our actions and ideas will be skewed.

But once we know ourselves and how we operate, we can then believe as we choose, while at the same time understanding and accepting the rest of humanity regardless of their beliefs, because we will know that we are all fundamentally the same.

Anagarika eddie is a meditation teacher at the Dhammabucha Rocksprings Meditation Retreat Sanctuary www.dhammarocksprings.org and author of A Year to Enlightenment. His 30 years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Thervada Buddhist monk.

He lived at Wat Pah Nanachat under Ajahn Chah, at Wat Pah Baan Taad under Ajahn Maha Boowa, and at Wat Pah Daan Wi Weg under Ajahn Tui. He had been a postulant at Shasta Abbey, a Zen Buddhist monastery in northern California under Roshi Kennett; and a Theravada Buddhist anagarika at both Amaravati Monastery in the UK and Bodhinyanarama Monastery in New Zealand, both under Ajahn Sumedho. The author has meditated with the Korean Master Sueng Sahn Sunim; with Bhante Gunaratana at the Bhavana Society in West Virginia; and with the Tibetan Master Trungpa Rinpoche in Boulder, Colorado. He has also practiced at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts, and the Zen Center in San Francisco. 

Article Source: Amazines.com

Title: Journey Through the World of Spirit / God, Gaia and Guardian Angels
Author: David L. Oakford
Media: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Reality Press
Date: 2007

This review originally appeared at Earthpages.org as a voice-over video on December 28, 2007. When recording I had no notes other than the memory of what I’d just read. As such, there’s a certain live quality to this review that I hoped to preserve in this transcript.

The soundtrack was spontaneously composed and recorded just before I made the review. The book was inspiring and plain text just wasn’t enough.

In editing the transcript some extraneous material (e.g. “ahh” “sort of”) was removed.

So here’s the original voice-over review and its much overdue and slightly edited transcript.

Original Introduction

I had a choice… spend hours trying to get something representative down in writing or have some fun doing a video review. I chose to do a video review.

This is my first video review and it’s been a while since I was a DJ but I think it gets the message across: “This is a great book…”

Transcript

This is a great book! I really enjoyed this book. I read it during the hustle and bustle of the pre-Christmas shopping period. And I just found it was a wonderful way to be reminded of things I already believed in. But I think I needed a little refresher course–and this book was it.

It starts off with David’s very honest and frank account of teenage angst and disillusionment. He’s planning on ditching out on his parents at about age 19 to go find himself. He’s going to, I think, live in a tent and travel around and live on the cheap and find a deeper meaning that he couldn’t find in his teenage years.

But before he plans to leave he wants to say farewell to all his friends. So he goes to a party, a farewell party, and one of his buddies comes up to him and gives him some pretty dangerous drugs. The buddy warns David not to take the drugs until he’s instructed on how to use them but David doesn’t listen and proceeds to slip into a coma. At that point he starts to have some pretty interesting experiences.

He starts off by seeing his friends – if I remember right, they’re in a car – but his friends can’t see him. Then he’s back in the house, looking at his motionless body; and he’s still fully awake and alive, moving about the house, sort of hovering like a spirit.

He notes that he can’t move objects. His hand goes through the faucet. And Jim Morrison and the Doors are playing and the music is very irritating to David, which I found interesting because I’ve always liked the Doors — as it deals with otherworldly themes — but it all just sounded like noise when he was in this refined consciousness.

He then proceeds to bigger and better things. A spirit guide comes to help him, one of several otherworldly beings whom David claims to meet in this account. And the spirit guide, whom David calls “Bob” – [laughs] it’s just so much like this book; it’s so unpretentious and straightforward and incredibly well-written, to boot. Anyhow, the spirit guide shows David a scene of the pyramids in Egypt, how they stand today and how they stood around the time of their construction.

One thing I found very interesting about this is that David claims the past and the present interact in some kind of mysterious way, like interacting, overlapping fields.

I think that’s fascinating. To read that in a book… that kind of thing is quite rare. You find it a bit in the Jane Roberts books, the Seth Books, and you find it I believe in Emmanuel’s Books if I remember right (I haven’t looked at those for a few years).

But it’s a fascinating idea that time is interactive, and I found that present in this book. I also found the idea that the heavens are interactive with our Earthly reality. David saw, as a matter of fact (after the Egyptian experience)… his guide took him up to a spiritual city. And this spiritual city apparently interacts with our Earth, and life on Earth, in ways we don’t fully understand.

The bottom line is the spiritual beings (and David outlines quite a few of them)… their basic message is that we should love one another. And I really can’t find any fault with that message whatsoever.

On page 74 David writes:

The unvarnished truth is that I went to heaven, or at least one of them, that is connected to Earth and brought back the simple message to love one another.

You know, I find there’s no conflict here with my Catholic faith. Some of you may know that I, myself, converted to Catholicism in 2001 and some Catholics might not like this book. There are a few swipes at organized religion and I understand that perspective. I used to be like that when I was a kid, actually.

I never went to Church or anything like that. If I didn’t have spiritual experiences within the Catholic Church I wouldn’t go. The whole reason I converted is because I do have spiritual experiences. But for those who don’t have spiritual experiences in the Church I understand how they can just see it as seemingly wooden and formulaic—it’s not, it’s not just that.

And I think this is one point I would disagree on but other than that, I mean… hey, Earthpages is about dialogue so I try to look for the interesting and the good and if I disagree with something I just say so.

I would highly recommend this book. I think it’s incredibly well-written, honest and there’s such a complexity to the account that it really makes one feel that it’s not just a hallucination. Some materialist psychiatrists will say that all near death experiences are just the brain’s way of trying to make you feel good before you die but, I don’t know, I just think that this book… the complexity, detail and duration of the near death experience really tends to make one think there’s something to it.

–MC

The Viking Serpent takes the viewer into the heart of Norway, where Harald S. Boehlke, son of a Norwegian diplomat, presents his case for a radical reinterpretation of the traditional Biblical symbols for evil.

Longstanding tensions between orthodox and Gnostic Christianity are highlighted with Boehlke favoring the Gnostic position.

Boehlke’s unusual and unique pro-Gnostic argument is backed up with on-site evidence, cartographic analysis and historical data.

At the very least, this DVD is thought-provoking and should serve as a launch pad for those interested in following up on Boehlke’s extraordinary and far-reaching claims.

The DVD also contains some truly beautiful footage, with director and host Philip Gardiner facilitating as a kind of guide to Boehlke’s challenging exposition.

The Viking Serpent is recommended for those wanting to learn more about Gnosticism and the Celtic Church while enjoying some breathtaking scenes of the natural and architectural marvels of Norway, surely one of the most aesthetically pleasing countries in the world today.

–MC

Shekinah: Mystic Lens / Sadiq Alam

By: Kiernan Antares

Are you hearing talk of 2012 and wondering what all the hype is about? Are we on the verge of Armageddon as doomsday sayers are spouting? 2012 movies are starting to come out and many of them will support this theory to strike fear in the hearts of many or just for the sensationalism to attract people’s attention and dollars.

When I started to write my book Phoenix Star in 2004, I was struggling to understand what I believed surrounding the prophecies of 2012 and the end of the Mayan calendar. My research had revealed that there is a rare astronomical alignment known as the ‘Dark Rift’ that is predicted to occur on December 21, 2012 but the logical part of my brain couldn’t seem to grasp its meaning. What exactly is going to happen?

Did it mean the planet would implode or explode? Would humans as a race simply disappear as the planet travelled through the Milky Way Galaxy? Or would some, who had attained a certain level of enlightenment, survive and then exist on a higher plane?

Inspiration led me to craft a story weaving in elements of transformation, divine spirit, and magical gifts that culminated in a moment of time that stood still on the planet. When I completed writing the final scene something extraordinary happened to me. Something more mystical and divine than my imagination could conjure up.

I experienced an awakening of light and sound and spirit radiating throughout my entire being. I experienced the power of the Divine Feminine.

The sound of angels singing within, through, and around me was almost deafening.

It left me sobbing, shaking, and vibrating with intense divine love.

There were and are no words to describe this experience that I still remember as vividly as when it happened in 2006.

Since being touched with this power of the Divine Feminine my life has changed irrevocably. The process of transformation has been deep at work, awakening and healing my heart to what feels like back to the source of my creation.

Spirit gifted me with inspiration and a vision for all that could be that is being validated with each passing day, in my life and the world at large.

Getting back to December 21, 2012 for a moment, let’s contemplate what the ‘Dark Rift’ is and what I believe it may mean. The Mayan long calendar ends on this date, marking the end of a period of 5,200 years and it also happens to align with a rare astrological alignment that only occurs once every 26,000 years.

The scientific community has concluded that our planet, sun and our entire solar system originated in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. They are also now convinced that at the center of the Galaxy is a massive black hole. The ancient Maya believed that this black hole is the ‘birthing place’ for all life and the bulge in the center of the Galaxy was termed the Cosmic Womb. Within the center of this womb there appears to be a dark corridor and it is this place that has been named the ‘Dark Rift’.

The December Solstice Sun of 2012 is expected to align with and arise out of the back side of the ‘Dark Rift’, passing through the Galactic Equator as if it is being birthed anew. This period marks the end of the Fifth Mayan Sun and the dawning of the Sixth; a New Galactic Cycle and the transformation of our world or what I call the Phoenix Star.

What is not widely known, however, is according to recent astrological calculations the Solstice Meridian began aligning with the Galactic Equator between 1998 and 1999. The Sun because of its size moves very slowly and will not fully cross the Equator and emerge onto the other side until 2018?a full 20-year cycle.

Meaning, that we are already smack in the middle of this birthing process and need not wait until 2012 to see that the world is changing and urging us to let the power of the Divine Feminine energies of love transform our lives.

2012?will it be death or the midway moment of our journey through the Center of the Cosmic Womb?

I believe it is the latter and I believe we have the power, strength, and fortitude to ride the waves of labor pains and raise our collective consciousness to witness the birth of a New World, if we embrace the power of the Divine Feminine now and let it reawaken our hearts.

Whether or not you believe this is real, something is going on. Millions of people around the world are meditating, participating in world peace initiatives, turning to healers, coaches, spiritual teachers and holistic or alternative modalities to help them find greater health, more meaning and purpose to their lives?an awakening is occurring on a global scale.

We are living in these times to experience and master what is known as the Hero’s Journey?or rites of passage, something every single one of us must endure, in one form or another.

Some of the elements of the Hero’s Journey include experiencing and transforming:

• Lack of self-worth and self-love
• Lack of courage and focus
• Pain and patterns of illusion and programs from past lives
• Overwhelming guilt and shame that suppresses our gifts
• Taking responsibility for one’s life and actions
• Healing our wounds
• The Dark Night of the Soul
• Finding our ‘voice’ and purpose
• Reclaiming and standing in our power

As we clear the layers of the past we become open and receptive to heart and soul activations which translate into feeling great love for ourselves and humanity. We are able to experience true freedom, become leaders, and step into our divinity that is waiting for us as our birthright.

This may seem overwhelming, but if you have the desire and invite the Divine Feminine into your life miracles can and will happen.

Watch for signs, listen and act on inner guidance and you will be shown the way. Pay attention to what you are resisting because this is often the very thing you need to do to master the next step on your path. Explore new avenues previously feared or ignored.

No one knows for certain what is really going to happen but I’d rather live each day as if it was my last and treasure each moment in the eternal bliss of my heart.

SAY YES! To life and let the Divine Feminine awaken, bless and activate your heart and soul.

About the Author:

Kiernan Antares is an author, healer and spiritual teacher dedicated to awakening the hearts of humanity. Whether through the written and spoken word or through her healing touch this modern day mystic and visionary is becoming widely known as a pure source of Divine Love. She has an uncanny ability to get to the core essence of any matter and transform it into an expression of infinite love, beauty and wisdom. Contact:
Email: kiernan@kiernanantares.com
Website: www.kiernanantares.com
Website: www.divineblessings.ca

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – The Power of Divine Feminine and the Great Awakening

Title: The Trickster and the Paranormal
Author: George P. Hansen
Media: Hardcover Book
Publisher: Xlibris (564 pp. with endnotes and index)
Date: 2001

George P. Hansen’s The Trickster and the Paranormal offers a variety of paranormal considerations around the psychological, anthropological and literary image of the trickster. Hansen’s exposition of Max Weber and Claude Lévi-Strauss is competent while reflections on Emile Durkheim are thought-provoking.¹

The Trickster provides a clear account of some of the main trends in semiotics and critiques classical notions of so-called primitive and advanced religion. It also looks at contemporary cross-currents in psi and psi research. Considerable focus is given to the American psi scene but not at the expense of the rest of the globe. References made to leading international figures, particularly European, are usually accompanied with brief but telling biographical sketches.

My main reservation with The Trickster is its reliance on the structuralist notion of binary opposition. In fairness, Hansen provides reasons for using binary opposition as the methodological backbone of The Trickster. He says a structuralist approach stimulates thought in areas which otherwise might be ignored. And he rightly notes the need for structure and limitation in any inquiry and exposition. The issue, I suppose, is what type and degree of structure is best.

It seems reasonable to accept a binary opposition of good and evil.² But a master opposition in ethics doesn’t justify generalizing the notion of binary opposites to every modality of “our current Western worldview.”³ Hansen does say that the trickster mediates and collapses binaries, and that this process involves numinosity. But, again, he seems to firmly believe that Western culture is predicated on binaries (pp. 31, 62).

Another analytical consideration emerges when Hansen acknowledges uncertainties arising from the so-called emic/etic debate yet applies anthropological data in support of the trickster theory as if the debate were fully resolved. This is one aspect of the The Trickster that just doesn’t make sense. Hansen periodically upholds the trickster as if it weren’t a device designed – or constructed as Foucault said – to stimulate thought. Instead of insisting on universal binaries and a mediating/collapsing trickster, wouldn’t it be simpler to just say that the numinous compels us to reevaluate our current assumptions and opinions?

With regard to ethics, Hansen says the Godhead contains both good and evil, and seems to advocate a type of pantheism where the dyads of creator/creation and good/evil are respectively taken as one and the same—perhaps something like the “warp and the woof” of the Upanisads. Not much mention is given to monotheistic theologies where an entirely benevolent creator/God endows human beings with free will and thus permits evil for a greater good. A discussion of St. Anselm’s faith-based view, “I believe in order to understand,” along with the propositional statement, “reason follows revelation,” might have been useful in rounding out The Trickster.

This leads to another aspect of The Trickster that I found dissatisfying. Different mystics from various world traditions are presented as if they experience the same type of numinosity, when in fact we can’t be sure^.4 Freud’s so-called ‘backward-looking’ theories and Rudolf Otto’s rather basic distinctions regarding the numinous are treated in some detail, but The Trickster doesn’t probe too far beyond these standard reference points for numinosity.

To its credit, however, The Trickster questions current thinking on mysticism. Mysticism may overlap, Hansen says, with other paranormal abilities.⁵ Other positive aspects of the The Trickster can be found in the discussion of UFOs, frauds and hoaxes. Hansen’s treatment of lab research on psi and its practical implications is useful except, perhaps, where he notes confounding variables with retroactive PK yet proceeds to suggest certain research directions as if these indeterminable factors are “not too severe.”⁶

The section on literature and literary criticism offers some pointed observations on French rationalists. Thoughtful and mature reflection can be found on the oft diffuse relations among imagination, reality, paranoia, mythology, ontological boundaries, space, time, life, afterlife and the self. Still, and at the risk of sounding like an old-school theologian, I didn’t see too much on the idea of a created self, humbly existing in an “I – Thou” relationship with an omnipotent yet perfectly loving Creator.⁷

On the whole, The Trickster is an engaging and intelligent book. And it would be entirely unreasonable to expect a bona fide innovator like Hansen to create a slick, seamless work in largely uncharted areas. The Trickster should help readers to better understand psi in relation to the socio-political world of the 21st-century. As cutting-edge material, one might encounter a few bumps along the road. But for its considerable scope and heuristic value The Trickster and the Paranormal is certainly worthwhile.

Notes

1. For instance, Hansen argues that Durkheim has been largely misunderstood by sociologists. For Hansen, Durkheim does not reduce the idea of the numinous to non-mystical origins. This is an interesting if debatable claim. Consider, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, trans. Joseph Ward Swain (London: Allen & Unwin, 1964), pp. 218-22, 427, 439-440, 442-443, 444.

2. I would suggest that heaven and hell exist independently of whatever relativistic language games we might play with the terms ‘good’ and ‘evil.’ When viewed from the perspective of everlasting life, this is supremely practical.

3. (a) See p. 62. Among other things, Hansen notes the binary code used in computing; but are human beings computers?

4. See p. 78. Along these lines, William James, Evelyn Underhill, Joseph Campbell, C. G. Jung, Mircea Eliade, John Milton, Sri Aurobino and St. Teresa of Avila each suggest that numinous experience may exhibit radically different qualities and textures.

5. We must ask whether paranormal abilities are in every case equivalent to divine gifts.

6. See p. 330, 342-43. It is assumed that visible subjects (or “social groups” consisting of human beings) and not some invisible external agent largely influenced pre-recorded trials. The latter possibility would still involve a reevaluation of space and time. However, it is conceivable that if a destructive supernatural power did exist, it could dupe people into believing they’re producing a retroactive PK effect when they’re not. See my discussion on discernment in ETs, UFOs and the Psychology of Belief.

7. Granted, brief mention is given to the idea of ‘heaven’ and the ‘mystical marriage,’ and Otto runs throughout the book. But with regard to the latter, I felt that I was mostly reading Hansen’s Otto instead of Otto’s Otto.

–MC

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.

Folklore by I'mBatman

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4

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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Copyright © Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

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

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

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.

—

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

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Copyright © Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

NYC - Rockefeller Center: 30 Rockefeller Plaza - Wisdom by Wally Gobetz

Copyright © Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

Here’s a quote from a brain imaging story in Mail Online that seems to overstep its bounds.

Professor Jeste admitted the possibility that wisdom and free will are based on the make-up of someone’s brain rather than metaphysics is unsettling (Full article » http://tr.im/irbJ).

Not that we should overlook our bodies and our brains. But there are so many problems with this story that it’s hard to know where to begin.

First, assuming the article accurately represents the published research we’d do well to remember that any observed links between brain activity and wisdom are correlations. And any good high school science teacher will note that correlation is not the same thing as causality.

This is so basic to science yet so often glossed over or completely ignored in brain imaging stories that sometimes it seems overzealous researchers get a bit too excited over flashy, photoshopped looking brain images instead of being primarily concerned with doing sober and responsible scientific research.

But not only that. Sociology or Philosophy 101 professors tell us, rightly so, that the whole definition of science is still wide open to debate. There’s no single definition. How easily we forget that ’science’ is a manmade word and a diverse human enterprise, one rooted in and influenced by a myriad of cultural biases.

In fact, some argue that a truly scientific perspective would also allow for the possibility of spiritual factors in human thought and behavior. And some theologians, like Hugh of St. Victor, even go as far to say that theology is the purest and noblest of all the sciences.

The debate goes on. But one thing seems certain. When it comes to reductive interpretations of brain imaging studies and their dazzling high-tech pictures, we’d be wise to realize that seeing is not necessarily believing.

Reclining Buddha

Copyright © Michael Clark. All rights reserved.

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Violence and the Just War

With so many different schools, scriptures and interpretations of scripture within Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity, one might wonder how anything meaningful can be said about Krishna, Buddha and Christ.

There’s always a counterexample, it seems. If we say Jesus is about love, one could cite the Catholic Church’s teaching about the so-called Just War. If we say Krishna is all about killing as outlined in the Bhagavad Gita, one might refer to the Mahabharata, the massive epic in which the Gita appears:

This is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you. (Mahabharata 5, 15, 17)

One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities are due to selfish desire. (Mahabharata, Anusasana Parva, 113.8)

And a popular Hindu myth has Krishna sporting with milkmaids, symbolizing the playfulness and love through which God enters the soul.

Buddhist scriptures speak of peace and non-violence, and Buddhism is often hailed as a non-violent path. But Moojan Momen points out that scriptural, philosophical and folkloric justifications for violence are found in the Buddhist tradition.† Bernard Faure also says that Buddhist doctrine has been adapted to justify war.

While there’s theological overlap among Krishna, Buddha and Christ and their respective religions, differences are also present.

I don’t intend to outline a comprehensive, detailed analysis of these three religions. This would take several volumes and even then would be incomplete. But a few salient points can be made.

Let’s begin with Krishna as he appears in the Bhagavad Gita.

The sacred scripture of the Gita is often hailed as the Hindu Bible, located, as I’ve noted, within the larger epic of the Mahabharata.

Some scholars see the Gita as a later addition to the Mahabharata, although nobody knows for sure just how or when the Gita originated.

Hindus and other people around the world love and admire the Gita because it’s said to synthesize all previous aspects of Hinduism within a coherent system, like a jewel set in the crown of this ancient religion.

It would be misleading to say that the Gita epitomizes a religion as vast and multifaceted as Hinduism but it certainly represents an important part of it.

Various attempts have been made to define Hinduism. While some say Hinduism has no dogma nor creeds, this is questionable.

The Himalayan academy summarizes three leading definitions of Hinduism:

In all definitions, the three pivotal beliefs for Hindus are karma, reincarnation and the belief in all-pervasive Divinity.

Again, this article is addressing Krishna as depicted in the Gita and not Hinduism as a whole. Along these lines, one definition of Hinduism, a judicial one drafted by the Indian Supreme Court in 1966 and affirmed in 1995, asserts the necessity of believing in the sanctity and truth of the Vedas, not the Gita.

While aspects of the Vedas affirm the ancient caste system and animal sacrifice, they’re intrinsically non-violent when it comes to human affairs.

The Gita, on the other hand, is mostly about good people being cheated by bad and the restoration of political, ethical and cosmic balance through the notion of sacred warfare.

If we focus on the Gita it might appear that, in some instances, killing for God is acceptable. After all peaceful attempts to resolve a disagreement have failed, the deity Krishna urges the reluctant hero, Arjuna, to fight. And Arjuna eventually becomes a slayer, par excellence.

But it’s not quite that simple because psychological interpretations of the Gita emphasize interpersonal dynamics and self-growth instead of physical violence.

The non-violent hero, Mahatma Gandhi, for instance, said the Gita could “untie any spiritual knot.” Here, the warfare depicted in the Gita is really about the struggle between light and dark, good and evil, superior and inferior.

This is a healthy interpretation that doesn’t advocate violence but addresses the realities of developmental struggle.

The psychiatrist C. G. Jung had a similar perspective in an entirely different context with his intensive psychological study of alchemy. For Jung, the inferior parts of the self are purified through suffering, symbolized by the intense heat applied to raw materials as the alchemists searched for the so-called “philosopher’s stone,” the alleged eternal aspect of the self.

A non-violent, psychological and holistic interpretation of the Gita and Jung’s take on alchemy both point to the idea of purification through suffering. However, the Gita could also be regarded as a text that legitimizes Holy War (or in Catholic terms, the Just War) but the idea of alchemy could not be twisted into a justification for physical violence. So this analogy only goes so far.

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† Moojan Momen, The Phenomenon of Religion: A Thematic Approach, Oxford: Oneworld, 1999, p. 410. For more on world religions and violence, see Crosscurrents.

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