Why no confidence in one's Spiritual Path?

I don't understand why some religious people get so "worked up" when books/articles/questions are presented to question their faith. If one's faith is strong, then questioning AND being questioned should served to help us discover the truth behind it to further expand our knowledge and deepen our faith isnt it? Or is our idea of Faith so fragile that it needs to be kept under Museum Security or it will shatter.

If Divine's path and power cannot stand up to a few questions from what the religious minded calls slanders of the Evil Ones... are these same religious people then saying Divine's Wisdom, Knowledge and Power are beneath that of the Devils?

Being a Believer and having faith is meant to Liberate you from Fear, but if it causes you confusion and doubts, it is time for you to CLEAR those doubts, the "Devil" CANNOT do to us what the Divine hasn't allowed him to do, for the Divine ALWAYS reserves a way out for you in EVERY trial he puts you through. We came to this earth with a brain to think. analyse and grow in intellect and use it... Humans were never meant to be robots to just believe blindly.... THAT is reserved for terrorists and domesticated farm animals....

I love all beings but......

Many Religious hearted ones when discriminated upon because of their faith will fight back like a Tsunami gone wild, isn't ironic that these are the same people that discriminate others just for loving someone that doesn't fit into a perfect cookie cutter mold, or at the very least whom they choose to sleep with. Adulterers are often just given a slap on the wrists, many a preacher/priest/pastor have fallen due to weakness but EXPECT everyone to forgive them coz they have EXTERNALLY shown repentence... question is will they extend the same Compassion and Mercy upon others in a similar predicament?

" Do unto others, what you want others to do unto you"
"Love thy neighbor as thyself..." ( I dont see the scriptures saying love ONLY the virtuous and straight neighbor, you can hate the rest and send them to the gutters)
" I will lead all sentient beings to enlightenment... ( the bodhisattva vow says ALL... not some )
----- and many many more holy texts that can be quoted upon

Persecute someone for their sexuality/gender/race/faith , expect oneself to be persecuted in turn
Be unmerciful to them, then expect NO mercy from others when WE fall... and we all will one day.
For IF they are truly the lost ones, shouldn't the Faithful be the ones to show them the Love of Divine? Not just by quoting the text but living it as part of life. The faithfuls are the ones that reflect the image of the Divinity on earth... by being Bigots, Racists or any negative -ists we are reflecting the image to the world... the Divine looks like THAT too...especially when we declare out loud ... I am in THAT religion! I am saved.

Would you like to Spend eternity with a Bible Thumper?

Hindus, Taoists and Buddhists all believe Divinity is present in everything. Even an apparently Wicked one has a place in the Grand Cosmic plan... If Judas did not do what he did, Christ wouldnt have been sacrificed as the lamb. Judas played his part by allowing himself to be despised for all eternity, so that we can all learn lessons of loyalty... so that the plan of God can be put into action... If Devadatta did not constantly try to kill the Buddha, Buddha's way of peace, forgiveness and Loving Kindness wouldnt have been shown for us to learn.

Personally I believe, if you we can be Christ-like, Buddha-like or God-like- live life in Love, Care and Sharing with others as Christ and the sages did, why wouldn't the Omniscient one save that person?

Imagine: A SAVED "holy man" who seems "Filled with the Holy Spirit" but is hurtful to the hearts of others in words, unsharing in action or a Pacifist who educates the world in Jesus Christ's ways of Peace and Harmony but is not a christian, but who puts himself/herself out there to share the Love of the Divine with all who are sick, homeless and in despair ( not just Lip Service: God saves, god Loves you)....

Who would "God" send to Heaven at the end of it all? Would you like to be Praising the Lord in midst of nasty and mean people who curse you with brimstone and fire for all eternity? ( Habits die hard, if they were that fiery on earth, that won't change in a poof )

Divinity is found in all things... True Divinity is Unconditional Love... to say I will only Love and Care for you if..XXX.( place your condition here ) is already a first sign of imperfect love.

A Heaven of Wicked Ones?

A preacher approached me and started evangelising to me, telling me that if I were to renounce my old ways, old gods and old thoughts and accept the "good news" which he had to offer, I would be rewarded with the promise of heaven. And he asked me, wouldn't I like to go to heaven? I happened to be in a rather negative state of mind this week, as when things go wrong it truly just pours, my answer to him was a little curt, I told him: This is ASSUMING I am worthy enough to enter or choose a heaven, but even then

- if THAT heaven is filled with people who kill and harm millions of innocent lives, just so they can gratify their carnal lusts for 100 virgins.. I don't want in.

-if THAT heaven is filled with judgemental people who condemn others just for not making the choices they did - I don't want in

-if THAT heaven is filled with War-Mongering Hateful discriminating people - I don't want in

-if THAT Heaven is filled with disrespectful people who criticise, belittle and castigate the cultures and beliefs of other - I dont want in

-if THAT heaven is filled with hypocrites that point the finger at the faults of others, but make justified excuses for their own in the name of "divine" -I dont want in either.

I would like to go to the Heaven that Great Mother Teresa is in.
I would like to go to the Heaven that Peaceful Gandhi is in
I would like to go to the Heaven that Noble Rev. Martin Luther is at
I would like to go to a Heaven where Heroines and Heros of Justice, Equality and Love for all beings go.... The Heaven where people are joyful and kind, the heaven where humor is high, the heaven where peace and happiness presides and every night is a party Without discrimination and hate.... now THAT is a heaven i want in.

Spiritual BRaggists

Over the last week, I have spoken to some people and reflected back on things some people have been talking about. For some strange reason, over the last week I have been meeting up Spiritual "braggists". These are people whom advertise themselves as "Vajrayana" practitioners of the Highest Order, and go about "revealing" the deities they have taken initiation in, the retreats they have done and what others they gonna obtain. Of late, I have been contemplating on one thing, if I was standing in the middle of a railway track and a 200kmh train was coming my way, who would be the Divine deity I would call upon? In my early years, Deity empowerments collecting was my thing, going for them with utmost ignorance, pride and arrogance. Thinking myself so special for taking such profound practices at such a young age... i took my first initiation when I was 13. But with the whole party of deities, in times of dire need... or at the moment of death, when confusion, fear and uncertainty floods our senses, who would I call? That is the main reason why, I think Atisha encourage devotees to devote to one deity and accomplish that one deity in order to attain all deities. No one needs to know what deities we are practicing, for example the Great Lama Tsongkapa was practising Vajrayogini Tantra for years, and even his closest disciples did not know that was his main focus, although he was a master in ALL tantras... by experience and intellectual knowldge. So.. I try to keep as mindful a tab as I can about "revealing" my deities and practices, because all braggists really care about is the Ego. Wanting others to feel respect and admiration about how "advanced" they are. I truly truly hope I am nothing like that.

The other people I have reflected upon, are those that shout out over a speaker phone or anything similarly loud audio wise or text wise, about the millions and billions of mantras they have done. And the persevering effort they had put into their most fervent of retreats... At first glance, most people will be filled with deep inspiration and gladness for that person. And on exit from the "retreat", the millions of mantras have not changed their critical nature. At every turn and every corner someone annoys them, and the worst part is NOW... because of the Spiritually powerful retreats they have done, they will use religion to hide their caustic nature. They give justice and reason to the nasty things they say about others, like " I should tell XYZ off, before he creates more bad karma and he so irritates me!!!!" So much for the billions of mantras done in retreat when I come out the same if not worse.

MAN = Protect and TRA= Mind, Mantra is meant to protect the mind by making peaceful the mind, generating loads of merit and causing to arise ANTIDOTES to poisons that we have such as Anger, Hatred, Jealousy and Impatience to state a few. SO if I were to recite tens of thousands of mantras to Tara, and making sure everyone knows how "holy and pure" I am, and I come out still mean if not meaner... more critical... and now with an added bonus... and over inflated Ego that I am now..somebody! The cherry atop the cream, non-spiritual people observing us will definitely be sure that Tara does NOT exist, and mantras do squat to change our hearts.

Beware of Speech, Beware of Ego, Beware of Vanity.... these are very sneaky and harmful faults, for they can masquerade as virtues and reason, and then... slowly slowly corrode our already minimal practices... corrupting them into Aspects of Greed and Shadow.

Why does a person respect religion?

About Me

Member since: July 24, 2006

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People respect religion, because it is SUPPOSED to represent the Highest ideals of Humanity at the time the religion manifested.

If we were an American, would we respect the simple but meaningful document called the Declaration of Independence? It's not the paper we are respecting, but the value of what was written. Something that brought freedom and liberty to millions of people... who still enjoy its benefits till today

The same with religion, flat world, round world, heaven or hell... I dont really care hehe, I personally believe scriptures and texts can be altered thru intrepretation. Loss of subtle meanings through translations, here is where we follow what our heart and mind tells us. Whether Spiritual or non-spiritual, at the end of the day we can only have any sort of faith IF our heart and mind "approves" if only one aspect approves, thats when Faith is wavering, because one part of us sees a "flaw" in the engine. If unsure, always question....

So at the end of the day, respect the essence of Highest Ideals which was written in texts, not the sages that teach/wrote them, not the words, not the paper nor the font. That is how I believe respect of religion should come from... this applies to any philosophies in Life.... whatever touches our hearts and enlivens our minds. For if it doesn't why cling on to something that doesn't help you grow and evolve? Its like someone who holds onto a car but never learned to drive. Its only a display but brings no benefits, in fact, you pay thru your nose periodically just t o maintain it.

Faith is....

Faith is to experience Divine Love in a way that no words can even begin to describe. It is like explaining to one born blind what the color red looks like, or telling someone who has never tasted it, what the taste of an apple is like. We can give hints, but unless the seeker experiences it himself or herself, they will never ever truly know. It is beyond words. It is Hope.

Faith is Loving the Divine by putting full trust in them, just like we did as a baby. We had full trust that our Mother and Father were the most powerful beings in the universe who are able to protect us from all harms and any harms. It is Trust.

Quality of Life for Quality of Heart

Learn to Uplift the hearts of those fallen to despair,
Learn to Inspire the broken confidence of those in fear
Learn to Reach Out to those lost in Hopelessness
Learn to Give to those in need of a Kind and Caring Heart.

For it is by improving the Quality of Life in others,
Will you be improving the Quality of Heart in you.

Power prayer?

This week someone asked me about prayer: How, Why and if it works.

Whatever faith we are, be it Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Pagan etc. Praying for a life totally free from troubles and obstacles is a Fool's Prayer. The Divine puts beings on earth for the purpose of becoming a better, stronger and more benevolent person. Life itself is a learning process to reach the Ultimate goal of Godliness/ Heaven/ Enlightenment. Each and every saint/prophet/avatar had to go through the darkest of moments before they saw the light. What would make us different?

If someone like Christ, Gandhi, Buddha or St. Francis had to go through the worst of Tribulations, mortals like us would have to go through our own little set of trials also I believe.

Praying for a sick person, isnt always best to pray for what WE think is right ( ie. to live ) but of course, we dont pray for them to DIE... that would be morbid. I believe if we were to pray, the best prayer would be praying for the best possible result for the victim, that they would have the most minimal of sufferings and receive maximum of blessings. Imagine being ill and to live in a vegetated state, that would be total horror.

Going "New Age" in discussion: Thought is energy and power. It is first through thought, that inventions are made, art is produced and things are manifested. So the power of thought, coupled with the energy of action definitely can make things happen. Collective prayer does invoke energy of sorts, notice how mass hysteria happens? Or a bar room brawl? Or a food fight? ( all collective Pack hysteria or Hive mentality haha )... and when the "energy" cools down, a sense of guilt and regret sets in, and we begin to wonder WHY we reacted the way we did...haha Mass Hypnosis? Or do pagans, eastern mystics and new ageists have a point there?

Psychologically speaking, a person who "knows" there are caring people around them, has been proven to induce the limitless human brain to work "miracles". At the end of it all, it is all about brain power, mind power and empathic power. A person in total despair, will go into the light faster than you can say Mother Flower Crabs.

At the end of the day, isn't it better to fill the air with prayerful thoughts that are encouraging, harmonious and caring than to fill it with thought powers of Aggression, Hatred and Vengence? Cause in the latter case, its not the thinker that gets totally hurt, its everyone else around them that will be seared and burnt by their negativity.

Going Against the Tide to Flow with the Ocean

Be Loving and Forgive those who break your heart
For only with Love and Forgiveness will your heart truly heal.

Be Patient to those whom your name Tarnishes
For only through Patience will you glimpse your Nature of True Compassion

Be Merciful to those who try to bring you Harm
For Mercy is deserving of them should they continue their harmful nature, a place of darkness will await them at the tunnels end.

For only by going against the tides of Harmful instincts that incite Vengence in your hearts, will you find the flow of harmony that calms the tides of unhappiness.

Be True to your Spiritual Path... LOVE and FORGIVE!
Be Persevering in your Spiritual Practice!... Live PATIENTLY!
Be a Blessed One of your Spiritual Deity!... Show MERCY!
Be a Blessing to others! .... Be JOYFUL and CARING
....Just as you too wish the Divine to bring Blessings of Auspiciousness into your Life and Home

Om Mani Sri Hum

Rewards of Loving and Giving

The key to all humanity's happiness is Love. That which is given from Selfless Love is a Gift unstained by Greed, Pride and Attachment! If one can truly Give of Love, from Love and with Love, no being will ever be too small to notice and no problem will e'er be too big to solve. This is because the Love of Giving brings with it many rewards, rewards of Friendship, Trust, Harmony and Joyfulness, while the Giving of Love circles back as Blessings of Kindness, Peace and Caring Humility.

A Cultivator of the Spiritual Path who develops a Heart filled with Giving-Love is a cultivator who becomes a Loving Gift to fill the hearts of all whom they chance to meet with Joy, Comfort and Happiness