In a world where entertainment is it's prime value, to be boring is indeed its cardinal sin. Forgive me. However, you underestimate the alternatives. The alternative to sex is heaven. Everything in heaven is constant. There are no differences and no changes. You might say, 'well, that sounds boring'. But let's take sex as an example. Imagine the very peak of a perfect sexual orgasm, except this orgasm never stops. It keeps going on forever with no decrease in its powerful and flawless intensity. The physical act of sex doesn't even come close to the incredible bliss of heaven. It's just a poor, made-up imitation of union with God. Most people have no idea how good they could really feel. Most people would hesitate to give up this world. But would they be so hesitant if they were given a clear taste of the alternative? Given an authentic spiritual experience, they would find the material world a cruel joke compared to what's available. If you follow my guidance, an intellectual process will result in non-intellectual experiences. These are slices of heaven that make the alternatives clear to you so that you are able and willing to make a decision to let the world go. Jesus
Paul didn't claim to be Jesus and, at least based on his writings, he wasn't pompous and condescending like you are in what you write where you treat your "readers" like they're worms.
You have to understand that you're on a forum with a bunch of left-brained, technical, analytical, engineering-type people. All this weird role-playing that you do with "Gordon Gekko", "gaynpround", "Samosun" and "IAm" is bizarre, but it's twice as bizarre to us. Why not just get enroll into some drama classes and leave the Chit Chat forum alone?
Brother, These facts and figures make for excellent conversation piece when dating. Perhaps you could ask the little lady to read over the articles herself just before you propose marriage. This will increase your odds. If she still doesn't respond right, you could turn up the patronizing rhetoric a notch or two and see if she gives in. Keep trying. Once she's won over, you can always find a Reverend F who will validate the whole ritual. But the fact remains, sex is a false idol made to fix your attention on the body and the world with just enough of a payoff to keep you coming back for more. It's very similar to a narcotic. The world is designed to suck you in and keep you here. Never underestimate it's influence. Heaven, on the other hand, is a perfect, indescribable ecstasy that never ceases. Not all Buddhist monks are developing stones. A few can testify that they are, experientially, coming "all the time". All experiences, including sex, are mental states - even if the illusion is that they take place in the body. Properly perceived, it's never about sacrificing, giving up, or going without. All spiritual endeavor is about fulfillment. It's about getting back what you gave up to obtain a world of substitutes and idols. Justin Timberlake may claim to be able to bring back sexy, but only spirit is truly sexy...truly satisfying. Sex is nothing. However, if you are with a partner, I do not recommend turning to her after you make love and say, "That was nothing". But I also don't recommend you fool yourself and think that is is everything. Brother, there is no condemnation here. And there is no hell beyond what is made by bodily fantasies. Simply read the pop bible for yourself, and see that the Apostle K speaks the truth: "Love can be a many splendored things, Can't deny the joy it brings. A dozen roses, diamond rings, dreams for sale and fairy tales. It'll make you hear a symphony And you just want the world to see But like a drug that makes you blind It'll fool you everytime The trouble with love is... It can tear you up inside Make your heart believe a lie It's stronger than your pride The trouble with love is... It doesn't care how fast you fall And you can't refuse the call See, you got no say at all! " http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-CSZMt9Mos&feature=related Brother, the truth is worldly "love" is designed to deceive you. It's an idol that substitutes for your reality as Christ, who is everything, and who is true love. And this is what you deny to obtain this world. An idol is believed to have the power to complete what is already complete. In order to get hold of an idol, you must believe that Christ is not complete...so you must believe that you are not complete. And when Christ believes something false, there is going to be some fallout. It puts you in a state of mind in which there is a feeling of danger with forces massed against your confidence and peace of mind. Idols are made to save you from the feelings these false beliefs generate. Idols are then given the power to supply your lacks, and add the value you do not have. No one believes in idols who has not enslaved himself to littleness and loss. He then seeks beyond himself for strength to raise his head and stand apart from all the misery the world reflects. And this is the penalty for looking not within for certainty and quiet calm that liberates you from the world, and let's you stand apart in quiet and in peace. Brother, I have not come to take from you the little that you have. My "patronizing" merely puts you in a position, if you heed the message, where you can claim your natural inheritance, which is far greater than any bodily feeling you can conjure up. This is what Christianity is about. It's about returning to yourself as Christ...not running away from it as you have done since the beginning of time. How, exactly, is this "patronizing"? Jesus
Again, I completely disagree. First of all, a good marriage is arguably the most wonderful thing down here on this rocky planet. It is all the best that the earth has to offer - love, support, friendship, romance and, yes, sex - rolled into one relationship. The physical, mental and spiritual all fold together and overlap. And sex is a part of that wonderful intimacy that goes hand in hand with all of this. You cannot split out sex from this kind of a relationship and say it doesn't matter.
Sorry, but none of us on this thread need a strange, role-playing guy acting like he's god. It's bizarre and patronizing. Just read your posts: you sound like you're trying to be Yoda on steroids.
Be careful, shoeshinboy might add you to a growing list of alleged aliases that are all really Christ. Jesus
This sounds vaguely familiar. Oh yes, I remember now... This was approximately 70 years before their temple was toppled by the Romans. Not one stone was left upon another. I tried to warn them. Jesus