No-self to God-Self

[Shin]

[cetus]

[Shin]

8 minutes ago, cetus56 said:

You would have to ban me for that  

Please don't 

[abrakamowse]

[abrakamowse]

And to close all this nonsense I will leave you specially @Soul-lover 2020 this video.

I hope before judging it and not watching it you will check Alan Watts background, I will post some here so you will see it's not someone that doesn't know about religion and about Jesus life.

"Born in Chislehurst, England, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zentraining in New York. Pursuing a career, he attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master's degree in theology. Watts became an Episcopal priest in 1945"

 

[Soul-lover 2020]

Abrakamowse,

Jesus Christ was - and is - the one and only Jesus Christ, the one and only God-man, the Great I AM, the Beginning and the End for all things, the visible image of the invisible God....  You're preaching to the converted.

To say that the Holy Bible is "nonsense" is arrogance indeed. 

I rest my case.

THE END  

 

     

[abrakamowse]

11 minutes ago, Soul-lover 2020 said:

Abrakamowse,

Jesus Christ was - and is - the one and only Jesus Christ, the one and only God-man, the Great I AM, the Beginning and the End for all things, the visible image of the invisible God....  You're preaching to the converted.

That's the problem! You "think" you are converted, but you are not. Denying yourself is much more deep than just "accepting Jesus" like Churches suggest, they are deluded too.

 

12 minutes ago, Soul-lover 2020 said:

To say that the Holy Bible is "nonsense" is arrogance indeed. 

I rest my case.

THE END  

I didn't say that. Who said that?

[Shin]

21 minutes ago, Soul-lover 2020 said:

Abrakamowse,

Jesus Christ was - and is - the one and only Jesus Christ, the one and only God-man, the Great I AM, the Beginning and the End for all things, the visible image of the invisible God....  You're preaching to the converted.

To say that the Holy Bible is "nonsense" is arrogance indeed. 

I rest my case.

THE END  

 

     

[abrakamowse]

@Shin

[jbram2002]

Quote

Children can understand the Bible.  So what's your problem with it?

Children can understand a lot of things, such as the idea the earth is flat, or that it is round, or that vaccines are evil, or that they are lifesaving. They believe there are monsters under their beds and that they can scare them away with an adorable "rawr". Just because a child can "understand" something does not make it unassailable fact. This is just a silly presumption.

@Mikael89 This is a close-minded opinion. There are plenty of Christians who travel the path to self-awareness. Alan Watts is one of the more familiar faces. One's faith does not prevent them from discerning Truth. It's only when their religion gets in the way, as is the problem here, that they run into roadblocks.

Edit: Looks like the post I was replying to got deleted somehow.

Edited May 14, 2019 by jbram2002

[abrakamowse]

I really don't like to get into this kind of discussions because no one arrives to nothing. But it makes me sad to see how many people the traditional Church is making them believe that because you say some magical words and you just believe in something silly you are saved.

That's false. But... what can we do? Sometimes I just know they will reject the true, because is easier to believe in fairy tales and fantasies rather than seeing truth with their own eyes and not through the crazy interpretation that the Christian Churches had done to truth.

Crazy and sad indeed.

[Shin]

2 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

I really don't like to get into this kind of discussions because no one arrives to nothing. But it makes me sad to see how many people the traditional Church is making them believe that because you say some magical words and you just believe in something silly you are saved.

That's false. But... what can we do? Sometimes I just know they will reject the true, because is easier to believe in fairy tales and fantasies rather than seeing truth with their own eyes and not through the crazy interpretation that the Christian Churches had done to truth.

Crazy and sad indeed.

It is called indoctrination,

Make your peace with it,

It is how it is.

[Ananta]

 

On 5/13/2019 at 11:27 AM, Preetom said:

"Fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge"

Actually this is a very important instruction for any serious spiritual journey to begin.

Hi,

How so? This has not been my experience. What I find fearful is the thought that I am a finite, individual, volitional entity.

Knowing it's Isvara/God that is in charge of all of manifestation, including the "apparent" person is comforting, I think.

On 5/13/2019 at 11:27 AM, Preetom said:

renounce your busy, stupid, anxious life to God

Haha ?

On 5/13/2019 at 11:27 AM, Preetom said:

The fear of God is the fear that consumes all other fears and thus liberates a soul from all fears and anxieties.

Perhaps I just don't understand this?

[Preetom]

@Anna1

The whole theme of any serious spiritual teaching is this: ignore the conventional, material world that everyone is used to and in turn focus more and more on the metaphysical realm. Any serious spiritual teaching can be fit into this description.

Imagine if a devotee renouned all her 'worldly' fears. She only fears God or more accurately takes God seriously. 

What do we fear most in our lives? The fear of losing the things we are most invested and attached to. Those are the things which take up most of our concerns. Devotional teachings instructs to surrender that burden on God and only remain faithful to God.

I know, superficially the term fear of God sounds weird. But thats where the paradox lies. Its a fear that can consume all other fears.

Just like self inquiry sounds and seems like the most selfish position one could take-ignore everything and only focus on your self keenly. And yet thats how the self gets transended once and for all.

On the other hand, if one ignores the ego self and keeps attending to other things, that ego will always remain intact and fatten.

Similarly, devotionally speaking, if a seeker doesn't fear God that doesn't mean he stops having fear. No! He actually starts having the most petty, selfish, irrational fears due to his material attachments.

And the bit you talked about being infinite, free etc-those are the fruits/byproduct of the work. Enlightenment or total surrender whatever you call it

Edited May 14, 2019 by Preetom

[abrakamowse]

39 minutes ago, Shin said:

It is called indoctrination,

Make your peace with it,

It is how it is.

I'll do that 

@Anna1  @Preetom

The first time I saw the "void" I was so scared that the word fear doesn't describe well what I felt. I was not prepared at all...

Now I want to experience that again, and be calm and quiet... I know there's bliss after that.

 

[Shin]

8 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

I'll do that 

@Anna1  @Preetom

The first time I saw the "void" I was so scared that the word fear doesn't describe well what I felt. I was not prepared at all...

Now I want to experience that again, and be calm and quiet... I know there's bliss after that.

 

[abrakamowse]

@Shin

 

[Ananta]

37 minutes ago, Preetom said:

The whole theme of any serious spiritual teaching is this: ignore the conventional, material world that everyone is used to and in turn focus more and more on the metaphysical realm. Any serious spiritual teaching can be fit into this description.

I think you need to see it as unreal, an illusion, yes. Yet, it exists, even if the existence is only "apparent" and occurring only here and now.

37 minutes ago, Preetom said:

Imagine if a devotee renouned all her 'worldly' fears. She only fears God or more accurately takes God seriously

Okay, I'll choose takes God seriously. Fear isn't in my vocabulary along with spirituality. 

37 minutes ago, Preetom said:

What do we fear most in our lives? The fear of losing the things we are most invested and attached to. Those are the things which take up most of our concerns

Yes, see, this is where I was going when I said fear of being an independent, individual "real" entity... I meant and all its "problems". The belief in all that is some scary shit.

37 minutes ago, Preetom said:

Devotional teachings instructs to surrender that burden on God and only remain faithful to God.

Yes, okay, I see what your referring to, I just don't use the same terms. Like I would never say "remain faithful to God", because ultimately I'm awareness and that is primary/fundamental, but to each their own.

39 minutes ago, Preetom said:

Just like self inquiry sounds and seems like the most selfish position one could take-

Yes, I understand Self-inquiry. What some may not understand is that the Self (capital S) is awareness/Brahman and that is the fundamental reality, therefore one's true Self.

44 minutes ago, Preetom said:

Similarly, devotionally speaking, if a seeker doesn't fear God that doesn't mean he stops having fear. No! He actually starts having the most petty, selfish, irrational fears due to his material attachments

I can't say I'm on board with this. I don't get the fear thing, but I respect it's your point of view. Can I ask what tradition has taught you this? If it's too personal, no problem. Just was curious.

[Ananta]

47 minutes ago, abrakamowse said:

The first time I saw the "void" I was so scared that the word fear doesn't describe well what I felt. I was not prepared at all...

Hm, I've heard ppl say this, but it wasn't my experience, of the non-experience. Hehe.

But, there was no one home during. It wasn't until "after" that thought came back and said, "whhaatttt?".

[jbram2002]

@Mikael89 That point of view makes sense, but I caution you to separate the ideas of religion and faith. They are two very different qualities. Religion is restricting while faith is freeing.