The Buddha rejected the way of the ascetic, but people get hung up on his view of attachments and miss his message. Avoidance can be an attachment, and no insult intended if you are Christian, but in my experience those most concerned with Satan are Christians. They are more concerned about Satan and evil than they are God.
I am a Christian, and I agree. I always got a very dualistic message from what I was taught. There was this loving acceptance in some instances, and there was this horrible fear based system intertwined. What if Christians accepted that they were afraid? Would their faith suffer?
I think that’s the interplay of opposites. For instance, the most concerned with God I find are atheists, but from the antithesis comes a synthesis. A bit of hermetic philosophy, nice.
I don’t actually disrespect the Christian way. I dare say if anything, I maybe respect it more than they do. There are references in the Bible stating roughly this, the word of God is written upon the human heart, and that God has not given us a spirit of ignorance and fear. The church seems to want the ignorance and fear, and need it badly. But there is wisdom in their received message, and in a sense it was Satan who blocked it. Their belief in Satan.
Though I was raised Catholic, I do not participate in church other than on holidays. Its message was always so negative to me. Though my personal beliefs are Christian, I always felt that what they were telling me was distorted in some way and/or incomplete. I respect that, and respect other Christians who claim their faith as you do. Regrettable, they’re not numerous.
I get along fine with Christians except for a few fanatics. Yes, and the fanatics haven’t claimed their faith. They have claimed an agenda. Fanaticism is very fear-based. God is love. Fear is not love. Those who fear have not love. Those who fear have not God. There are truths that are broad across the world spectrum. They are visible in the world, in our own natures, and prejudice is not our nature. It’s our thinking. Truth can be apprehended.
I meditate with some Buddhists at times. The focus on meditation and inner nature is something I found lacking in the Christianity I was taught. Which is strange, but true. The church teaches against meditation, but the Bible does not. It’s actually rather obvious and blunt in its description of it. The Bible speaks of going into a closet. Closets didn’t hold clothes in that time, they were private cells, alcoves. It advocates this strongly, and says “be still and know that I am God.” Know the presence of God in seclusion as well as communion. Jesus meditated as did the prophets. In judging, the orthodox hurt themselves most. Sabotaging their very own creed.
I suppose whatever path one is on, obstacles and difficulties come at you from all sides at some point. Yes, and it’s been described in all cultures. The spiritual life is this life now. Our lives, your life and mine. You can’t not be spiritual. People often think they can fail at that. Can anybody tell me how its possible to fail at being spiritual? It is possible to fall out of touch with intention, but is that failing to be spiritual, or failing to be centered? And by centered I mean balanced, but in truth is that even any form of failure?
“Failing” to be spiritual implies a state where one is not spiritual at all. Indeed it does. Do you know of any such state? I do not. Such thinking is known as “all or nothing thinking”, a very common cognitive distortion. Yes, nature abhors a void, so there are none.
Absolutes do not hold up well to any type of scrutiny. They don’t, because they don’t manifest. They don’t manifest, because they aren’t true. All truth manifests.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~