Some people may feel that religion is a form of escapism. For most people, it is a form of faith where they can comfort themselves with the believe in the existence of an omnipotent being. However, we should also not forget those who believe that no such being/s exist, that we are the masters of our own destiny.(Here I am refering to the major religions of the world founded by past masters, or saints. Examples of these past masters would be Jesus Christ, Sakyamuni Buddha, Prophet Mohammad, Laozi, Confucius, etc.)
No matter our beliefs, what is true is that almost all of the major religions teach their followers how to be a better person. To be a better human being, to commune with our souls in order to return to our TRUE self. And they do this through stories, poetry, doctrine, dogma, etc, to inspire us to follow the right path.
Therefore, we should not segregate religion into their differences. Instead we should view all the different religions as different schools trying to attain the same goal. They just each go about trying to help us achieve the goal in a different way. Let me try to illustrate this in 2 ways, first I shall use the example of the British education system, and then followed by the use of an example in the American education system. First, under the British educational system, we could say that all the world's different religions are like the many secondary schools in the system. At the end of the final year of the school system, everyone must sit for the standardized examination known as the GCE'O levels as a graduation requirement. They must pass the exam to qualify for graduation and also to move on to an institute of higher learning. Under the American system, religions would be like the High Schools preparing students to do well in their SATs, so that they may be able to enter an institution of higher learning.
Despite the vast compassion of the ascended masters who gave us this knowledge, there are some who would use that knowledge for their own perversion. In such a case we should always remember that it is not the religion that is teaching them the wrong things, but the people involved who chose to pervert the information to their own advantage. This is why we have terrorist who claim they act in the name or their god, or pastors using their status in the church to commit sexual crimes, etc. No religion is free of such problems all of them have their own share of perverted followers, some more then others. Hence, we should all be cautious and have trust in our own natural instincts when trying to discern the right from the wrong. Any GOD worthy of our devotion will be ONE who will bring immense compassion and love to all, a love so great that the vastness of the oceans on earth cannot hold a candle to it. A love so great that we can do no wrong in HIS eyes against him. A love so great that no matter how we slight, despise, or ridicule HIM; HE will still shower compassion and love upon us - immeasurable absolute unconditional love. HE will love us equally no matter who we are or what we are and regardless of what we have done.
The good news here is that we are all capable of that. We all have that nature within all of us. The capacity to love unconditionally. That is our TRUE self. Our instinct is our soul speaking to us. Our soul knows things we are not conscious of. The soul holds knowledge beyond our present lifetime. Our soul is our Higher-self. Religion is the window to our Higher-self. Religion exist to help us see past the arrogance we exercised oh so long ago, so that we may again get in touch with our Higher-self. If we truly practice what they preached, our TRUE self will start to reveal itself gradually. As our TRUE self reveals itself, we may suddenly find that we have hidden talents beyond our wildest imagination. Those talents are what we have always possessed, but chose to ignore because of our attachment to this world and everything that comes with it. It is not lost though, we can find it when we find our TRUE self to reclaim what was lost.
Showing posts with label self. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, October 5, 2009
The insignificant self
Most of us are so busy with our lives that we do not usually ever pause to consider the bigger picture. We are always rushing to get somewhere, or get something done. Too many things to do with too little time to complete it - our busy lives.
Consider this, zoom out a little, and we have the area we live in, the house, and the neighborhood we live in. A step further out some, and we get the city. Further out, we have the state, the country, the planet earth, solar system, galaxy, etc. What is happening to all of them, what is going on out there? That is when we start to realize how small and insignificant we are when compared to the whole. We are like atoms in the pen we use for writing on a piece of paper.We have been preoccupied with ourselves that we have forgotten the bigger picture, and have in some sense neglected it. We are so into living our lives and making it more comfortable, that we have forgotten that we are part of the bigger whole. Some may even argue that our modern society has become narcissistic.
The important thing is we are part of a community, that is part of the earth, which is part of the cosmos. Everything we do affects them all. Just as the existence of a collection of atoms in a particular formation that makes up the pen we use for writing. A single atom that is out of place, or lost, makes it less of a pen now. We do not know, nor claim to know, what would happen to a normal pen if it suddenly lost one of its atom, we can only guess at what will happen.
However, the point is, our lives are intimately intertwined with the grander scale of things, some of which are beyond our comprehension. Everything that we do, has a consequence somewhere, or sometime down the time line. Thanks to the mass media on global warming, I am sure most of us are already aware of that as one of the consequences of our actions. I am not trying to put anyone down, but merely pointing out that we should all stop living a selfish life. A life based around our own self, and start thinking about being more conscious of all around us, the environment, your neighbour, friends, the old man down the street which you do not know the name of, etc. Spare a thought for them, see if you can make a difference in their lives. It does not mean that we have to go out of our way to make a difference, just make some changes in the way you think about them. That can make a difference in their lives. The simple act of greeting someone you meet on the street can make a change in someone’s day. It all starts from the thought. When the opportunity arises, see if you can be off any service, or help, to them. Another example is recycling your waste (eg. recycling paper), it helps the environment. These are just examples of making a difference without going out of your way, or breaking a sweat. You will be surprise at how easy it is.
Consider this, zoom out a little, and we have the area we live in, the house, and the neighborhood we live in. A step further out some, and we get the city. Further out, we have the state, the country, the planet earth, solar system, galaxy, etc. What is happening to all of them, what is going on out there? That is when we start to realize how small and insignificant we are when compared to the whole. We are like atoms in the pen we use for writing on a piece of paper.We have been preoccupied with ourselves that we have forgotten the bigger picture, and have in some sense neglected it. We are so into living our lives and making it more comfortable, that we have forgotten that we are part of the bigger whole. Some may even argue that our modern society has become narcissistic.
The important thing is we are part of a community, that is part of the earth, which is part of the cosmos. Everything we do affects them all. Just as the existence of a collection of atoms in a particular formation that makes up the pen we use for writing. A single atom that is out of place, or lost, makes it less of a pen now. We do not know, nor claim to know, what would happen to a normal pen if it suddenly lost one of its atom, we can only guess at what will happen.
However, the point is, our lives are intimately intertwined with the grander scale of things, some of which are beyond our comprehension. Everything that we do, has a consequence somewhere, or sometime down the time line. Thanks to the mass media on global warming, I am sure most of us are already aware of that as one of the consequences of our actions. I am not trying to put anyone down, but merely pointing out that we should all stop living a selfish life. A life based around our own self, and start thinking about being more conscious of all around us, the environment, your neighbour, friends, the old man down the street which you do not know the name of, etc. Spare a thought for them, see if you can make a difference in their lives. It does not mean that we have to go out of our way to make a difference, just make some changes in the way you think about them. That can make a difference in their lives. The simple act of greeting someone you meet on the street can make a change in someone’s day. It all starts from the thought. When the opportunity arises, see if you can be off any service, or help, to them. Another example is recycling your waste (eg. recycling paper), it helps the environment. These are just examples of making a difference without going out of your way, or breaking a sweat. You will be surprise at how easy it is.
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