August 11, 2004
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The following in white is a comment…..from a concerned Christian
“I am the way the truth and the life” – Jesus (king james version)
I don’t agree with a lot of what you say, especially when you quote Jesus from some unknown source, so it bothers me when you try to mix him into this picture of melting-pot religious thought.
Jesus was not a gnostic. these ideas are, by anyones definition, gnostic. therefore Jesus does not support these ideas. Ideas like Universal Consciousness and everything being a natural flow of the tao is not something Jesus taught.
stop here if you don’t like what i am about to say:
Taoism only answers mans need to elevate himself to a level self-justification. It holds no answer for why people like Hitler are able to exist in this “ocean of waves.” I guess he was a tsunami that overpowered the smaller waves, right? where is the justice in the bigger scheme of things? there is none in taoism. The tao is a dead end. A dead end, that is, if you are thinking outside of your self, but the tao is only about YOU. it is the SELF-centered and SELF-justifying way.
So i can understand how the tao would work if no one looked around and was honest about what they saw. How can we have peace WITHOUT accountability? WE CANNOT. to substitute accountability for the sake of peace is to create a deceitful hybrid called selfish tolerance. “I look my way, you look yours” then we collide.
“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” – matthew 10:34 (kjv)
he came to set clear divisions of what right and wrong is. he understood what a human perspective of peace is, and it is not REAL peace because it shirks accountability for the sake of having tolerance.
Two-thousand years ago the Gnostics were strong competition for the Christians, but eventually the Church got the upper hand, burned what Gnostic writings it could find, and murdered the Gnostics in the name of Jesus.
The Cathari/Cathars were an ascetic group of Christians in the Middle Ages that interpreted the Bible symbolically, channeled healing energy much like Reiki practitioners do today, used herbal medicine, and accepted the doctrine of reincarnation.
[All references to the doctrine of reincarnation were omitted from the Bible by decree of Emperor Justinian in 533 AD. Henceforth, anyone preaching it faced governmental prosecution.]
They strove to live an apostolic life of poverty and charity. Most Cathars believed Jesus of Nazareth to be an angel and not one with The Original Creator. The word Cathari comes from the Greek word “katharos” (purified) and means “the pure ones.” They started their own Christian sect, complete with churches and retreats in the region that was once called Languedoc (now the south of France) in the Twelfth Century.
Some present day scholars claim that Catharism stemmed from Gnosticism. However, this is inaccurate as the two philosophies represented two entirely different focuses. Firstly, unlike the Cathars, the Gnostics did not accept the doctrine of reincarnation. Secondly, Gnostics believed that inner knowledge was what led one to enlightenment, while the Cathari believed that the cultivation of spiritual purity and service to others brought them closer to God after they left the flesh. Hence, the Gnostics embraced a contemplative intellectual focus while the Cathari embraced a spiritual focus of selflessness and purity.
Eventually, the Vatican totally lost control over the region of Languedoc and attempted a number of times to get it back (along with the money from tithing) peacefully, with no success. Celibacy was not enforced among Catholic priests but was enforced among the Cathar clergy, which made the latter appear to be closer to God. Additionally, there was much corruption in the Roman Catholic Church at that time and this was well known. (Although in all fairness, it appears that the crime of pedophile priests sexually abusing and raping innocent children was not as rampant then as it is today.) Catholic clergy (especially bishops, cardinals and popes) would often have one or more mistresses, adorn themselves with rich attire and jewels, and live as wealthy noblemen. Another moral pitfall was the practice of the Catholic clergy accepting money for indulgences (favors from heaven). Consequently, many Roman Catholic priests, bishops, cardinals and popes became quite wealthy. In contrast, the peaceful, gentle Cathar clergy or “perfecti,” devoted to a life of poverty and charity, appeared to the general population of Languedoc to be more spiritually principled than their corrupt Catholic counterparts.
After a papal legate was assassinated by Cathar knights in France, Pope Innocent the Third decided to initiate what has come to be called “The Albigensian Crusade” to destroy the Cathari in Languedoc. The reason why the “heretics” were called “Albigensians” is because many of them purportedly lived in the town of Albi.
Consequently, Catholic mercenary armies led by northern French noblemen demolished entire towns and butchered thousands of people, including many Catholics. Heinous crimes against innocents were committed in the process, e.g., women – especially Cathar priestesses/parfaits — were stripped and gang raped; a point which never made it to the history books. These unchecked atrocities paved the way for the reign of terror that was The Spanish Inquisition. Another casualty of the crusade: the dream of the fledgling country of Languedoc becoming its own nation was extinguished and that region just became part of France.
They could torture, rape and murder innocents but they could not destroy their spirits; while the torturers, rapists and murderers faced their own demise after they left their bodies.
“tao would work if no one looked around and was honest about what they saw. How can we have peace WITHOUT accountability? WE CANNOT. to substitute accountability for the sake of peace is to create a deceitful hybrid called selfish tolerance.”
Dosmangoes
I wish for all the vision to see and the ears to hear.
These are the foundations of world peace…
In a world which has not awakened.
Is it not time to be accountable?
The blood on our hands……….
We killed the gnostics and heritics
We took this land in blood from our brothers
we enslaved our fellow man to built this nation.
We kill our brothers today and take what we want… oil.
We break apart our families and our children
We fight with our parents
We lie, cheat and steal.
We inprison “dangerous” pot smoking hippies.
While we allow our government to be run by criminals
We spend more money on weapons that food……
In a world where millions die each year of starvation!
We are the Romans of the new order.
The steel of our industry is the continuation of the same society, which forged the nails of the cross.
it is time to take the nails from our hands.
The time for peace is Now….
Let every man find peace in himself….
Let that peace fill the world with its light.
Comments (19)
Dear Dos,
I have always maintained that one of the major drawbacks to enlightenment in this plane of existence is the propensity for mankind not only to latch onto, or become indoctrinated into one of the many competing and murderous religions and sects. We have had too many “Crusades” throughout history of one type or another. While I am sure that there is a living prophet amongst humanity now, I am not sure that I will live to hear his Truth. So until then, I shall have to remain true to my own Truth, one to which I have held for years, and one which allows not only for Christ, Hitler, the murder of the Gnostics, Taoism, Buddhism, and any other ism that you can think of, because it is a Universal. This life is fleeting, fast, and foolish, fickle, fallow, yet fulsome. It disagrees with itself on a minute to minute basis, and it doesn’t seem to be at peace, even when it’s at peace. But it ends. And that’s when it begins. We shouldn’t push the envelope while we’re enjoying life here, since it’s not long that we stay.
Very involving and thought provoking prose as usual.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet,philosopher,fool
AllThingsMike
Beautifully argued…. and thought prevoking. I believe if we can learn to love ourselves… we can then truely begin to love all around us… but it always starts with self.
Many people have mistaken me and claimed that I am Self centered and Self justifying. I often speak of the creative force in life as Self, the I am self, everything else is Self. I say this because I am aware that I do not exist, only a manifestation of Self. But these people are unable do understand that I am not refering to Self as they refer to self. They are refering to Self in a selfish way. They can only understand Self as in the confines of their ‘self’. Too many self’s, but anyway.
There are to ways to god or peace or whatever it is you call it. Masculine and Feminine. Masculine aspects include religions that have a God or a higher power, and they seek (key word “seek”) to know God. Were as the mystics empty them “self” to allow God “Self” to use them. The masculine religions can be easily narrowed down ,because they are constantly doing battle with them “self” to allow God to use them. We as the mystics are not battling ourself because we know that “We” or “I’s” do not exist and that we are inherently perfect without “self”. Which only leaves “Self”. The mystic can understand in any instant all at once in an eternal second, where as the seeker’s spend many lives learning what mystics have learned in one instant. That is my understanding of relgions. People decide which path for themselves, and it is not any of my concern whether or not they agree with me. Take things at your own pace.
That was much longer than I intended… sorry.
It is interesting that when Christians remark about accountability, they forget that their God had the Israelites go into the promised land and smite the heads of the children of the enemy destroying “man, woman and child”. They forget that the Greek word “way” in the Scripture “I am the Way, the truth and life,” is logos and also means an uttered sound. In the beginning was the Word…the Way…the uttered sound…and that “Way” or vibration is the same vibration that those meditating chanting “Ommmm” are afixing themselves to…and the way to Heaven or spiritual bliss (in this life and out of this life) is through that heavenly vibration…the same vibration or word that brought physical reality into existence…and I could write all night…but Christians indoctrinated into their orthodoxy can only undestand love from and through their doctrines and religion…yet Jesus said, “They who are not against me are with me.”
I still go along with Irv Yalom.
Its not that man is shaped in God’s as much as that each man shapes his personal god in his own image and gives it attributes and virtues and then calls it God. When reading holy books, people don’t seek to discover, they seek to prove.
I’m not an atheist, I just can’t conceive of an entity vast and powerful enough to create a universe we can’t see to the end of who would actually be concerned whether some minute individual somewhere had actually ‘kept’ this little law, or said this little prayer, or not eaten this part of this little animal and might actually punish someone for it. This is humanity’s doing, not a Creator on the scale of the universe to me. Its arguable. Nothing can be proved.
“The sages speak of many names, but the Truth is One.” ~The Vedas~
“The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You.” ~Jesus of Nazareth~
From the Kybalion:
“The Hermetists believe and teach that THE ALL, “in itself,” is and must ever be UNKNOWABLE. They regard all the theories, guesses and speculations of the theologians and metaphysicians regarding the inner nature of THE ALL, as but the childish efforts of mortal minds to grasp the secret of the Infinite. Such efforts have always failed and will always fail, from the very nature of the task. One pursuing such inquiries travels around and around in the labyrinth of thought, until he is lost to all sane reasoning, action or conduct, and is utterly unfitted for the work of life. He is like the squirrel which frantically runs around and around the circling treadmill wheel of his cage, traveling ever and yet reaching nowhere–at the end a prisoner still, and standing just where he started.
And still more presumptuous are those who attempt to ascribe to THE ALL the personality, qualities, properties, characteristics and attributes of themselves, ascribing to THE ALL the human emotions, feelings, and characteristics, even down to the pettiest qualities of mankind, such as jealousy, susceptibility to flattery and praise, desire for offerings and worship, and all the other survivals from the days of the childhood of the race. Such ideas are not worthy of grown men and women, and are rapidly being discarded.”
“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Light.” ~Jesus of Nazareth~
“The Way that can be called ‘The Way” is not the Eternal, Unchanging Way.” ~Lao Tzu~
It’s All the same, with different names.
Everybody’s playing,
each a little different,
the same ancient games.
All is One, One is All.
The All is within you, inside All.
The Earth keeps on spinning,
The Universe keeps on grinning,
It’s All a dance of light, outside.
Take that chance, you might be right, inside, but
I guess we’ll have to wait and see…
Above All,
May Peace be with you,
and Blessed Be.
reachin-time-space-we’re just babies man…
all the words-in silence we find…
Why must simple words be marred by human emotion? It is all too human to substitute our own experiences and feelings into words … we limit it by not opening it up to other possibilities.
Self … it is not a bad word.
As for the rest of your entry. It was quite the interesting read. Though … I feel my question is still unanswered. It just has me question more … Why death? … and … Why in that particular way?
I tend to agree with Savon.
“When reading holy books, people don’t seek to discover, they seek to prove.”
Intensely thought provoking post, Dosmangoes
:goodjob:
For me, religion has always been a way to give a reason for endless wars, not endless peace; for giving reasons for enslavement and no freedoms. For the right to call others degrading names and feel justified in doing so.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You.” ~Jesus of Nazareth~
This was the single most reason that Christ was crucified and why even His followers today have a hard time with current Church teachings. The Jews were looking for a worldly Messiah that would restore to them the splendor of Solomon’s times. What they got instead was a Man that told them to find within themselves the Way to the Light. The Light is always there. It is we who stand within the dark cursing it. Where there is no Light, there can be only darkness. How then to find a peace that all can agree on?
Religion is unnecessary. It is and has always been a control mechanism, a way for men (and a few women) to make themselves rich and be able to call the tunes the rest should dance to.
My last “vision” was several months ago while working with my healing group. It was a very large circle that night with 27 people working for a common purpose. When we were done, the vision I had was of the world being encircled by an atomic blast, starting at the equator and blowing northwards toward the pole. I am still waiting to find out if that vision was actual or metaphorical. Hopefully, the image was only a warning not a foretold event.
The point is: to argue whose religion is right or wrong isn’t the point. Finding the Light is the point. Staying in it is the goal.
Peace and Blessings. Namaste.
:sunny:
Hey doug i got released from the hospital yesterday so ill cya later
Very interesting post and comments as well.I am a follower of the Master teachings of Jesus…though I am these days almost ashamed to be called “christian” for it has gotten way out of hand for reason sited by you and many other reasons I will not list…I can make it as simple or complicated as I want…The truth to me is !esus was sent to show us the prototype of our possibilities in human form…he came to tell us of our power not to take it from us…Power to transform with love and discernment not hate and judgementalism…If the light would be in majority having gone the way to be a vessel,change would occur…Old structures and forms are about to fall…misuse of authority and power in all arenas will be crumbling …along the way ,maybe in unison we as children of God will be ready to manifest a better world…The New Jersuleum….
blessings,
beckon
Clever birds~:eek:
You guys …..WoW :heartbeat::love::heartbeat:
Bows….. namaste
bows lower
I have a problem… of sorts. In my past 3 lives, I was a soldier who died in a war just before I was to be married. THREE TIMES!!! So now, once again, I have charted myself to be a soldier again. I’ve been in the Army for the past 2 years. And now, once again, there is a war… And it’s possible my unit may be deployed to Iraq soon. I’ve been recieving messages lately that the same course of the past 3 is going to repeat itself. I’m engaged to be married now (again following the same course) and we plan to marry in January of this next year. I suppose what I’m trying to say with all this is that I need prayer. Or “sending of energy into the universe.” Whatever term you’d like to attach to it, the idea is the same. I am not sure I will be able to alter my course based solely on my own energy…
…it looks like a nuclear blast …but it is large asteroid inpact?…same effect…and they do predominately hit near the equator….with the effect you describe.
This wasn’t an asteriod impact or anything from space. My impression was that we would blow ourselves up if we continue on our present course. There are many of us working to stop this and many beings from other planes are here to help and prevent this. The fact that so many of us xangans are now feeling the first effects is a good thing. Many like yourself are becoming ‘aware’ to more possibilities for this planet. There is a whole generation unaware of this and they are entering this plane, this time, prepared to help and eventually lead us to a better time and better planet for all of us but they are yet unaware of ‘how’ to do this. You are positioned perfectly to enable this. First, as a school teacher and secondly, thru this blog. Many listen to your written thoughts and take them to heart. You are already a “Lightworker”, whether you know this or not and we need many more like yourself to change these challenging times.
Keep writing!
Namaste! Peace for all and blessings. :heartbeat:
:sunny:
I don’t need to say anything, I’ve already preached EVERYTHING you put in your post, too many synchronistic events, overwhelming, I’ll talk to you later, most likely when school starts, writing your syllabus yet?
It always makes me sad when people can’t agree to disagree. I am not you. You are not me. Expecting me to believe exactly the same thing you do is just stupid. With over six billion people in the world, and more on the way every second, any sane person has got to admit that there are going to be people with different ideas as a matter of course. And accept that fact… move on…
We are the many faceted reflections of the One. Attempting to change our “sibling” reflections is like trying to alter the individual ripples in a pond. Our reflection will only be destroyed in the process.
hmmmm….. while yes the gnostics and christians have seperate beliefes, much of the gnostics beliefs can be seen through the Current jhaova’s witness’. ( sp?) the main issue i have with this train of thought is that they deny that christ was God incarnate. this being a central point to christanity. it would be easy to see where division would arise. As far as Tao I have a high respect for it and have several friends who follow it strongly. I agree with most of it to a point ( ie all living things have an energy) however I feel this energy is as any other form of energy ( light heat ect…) and is / should be manipulated for the benifet of whomever or what ever is useing it. I however do not believe as some do that this energy is the embodiment of God but rather something that stems form nature ( thus it is the creation not the creator)
Finally as far as catholic stories go my favoret is Fredrick barbarosa the Pope and the Anti-Pope but this is another story fo ranother time