Oh you go, girl! Hey, I don't mean to heap on the praise, pal, but you've raised this thread to another level. Do you write professionaly? You express yourself w/great clarity and focus, it really is some of the finest writing and debate I've seen on the net. And of course, obviously, this just makes "I am...'s" silliness that much more banal. Perhaps he should call himself, much more accurately, "I am... not." H...
So true. I was once criticized for dropping the valuation that my particular society had sought to implant within me, the valuation that said that a son should follow in the footsteps of the father. That if the father is a carpenter, then you have got to take over the family business. Instead, I said, "I must be about my Father's business." And I spoke, of course, of my heavenly Father. I had to know the Truth of who I was, and my purpose was to awaken Christ. I broke the traditions, the rules of the family structure within that community, within that time frame. Like many of you, I was a bit of a rebel. And where other children were conforming to the pressures of society, I went off to study with the rabbis and teachers, to sit in the desert at night, often not to return. Even at the age of twelve I separated myself form my parents at the time of a great festival, and went to hang out in my Father's house and talk with the spiritual leaders. Archimedes might call this a "hobby". Are you willing to break the conventions of the world in which you live? Beloved friends, look well, then, to see: Where am I perceiving myself as a victim of the world I see? Is it your job that you hate? No one forces you to drive your car upon the freeway to arrive at your place of employment - no one. And you reply, "Oh, but I must survive!" Then you have made yourself a victim of the perception of the need to survive. Any one of you at any time is perfectly free to drop the valuation you have placed upon the world. There is an acceleration of the healing process only when you completely release any valuation on victimhood, that is, the belief that, "Somehow, in some way, someone or something has done something to me." Now, that is a simple thought to hear, and one can nod their head (even hcour). It is another thing to look honestly upon your reactions in life to make sure that you are not, at any time, perceiving yourself as a victim. Friends, you must discover any corner of the mind that is yet holding out the view that life is something which happens to you, and that there is something you are helpless to change. The position of being a victim is a position of loss of power. And Christ is not about loss of power. In any situation, it is you with all power under Heaven and Earth to teach only love. But that requires that you let the world off the hook - that no one and no thing is any longer responsible for your joy, your happiness, and your peace. You can look out with equanimity upon a neutral world. You are awake and you are free - all because once you made a decision to give up victimhood, and to assume responsibility for learning how, in all situations, to be only the presence of love. I cannot make this decision for you. I can only walk with you on the way that you choose. The ultimate state of consciousness in not an aversion of this world, but the embracing of this world...even it if IS insane! Ultimately, forgiveness is forgiveness of one's self for ever allowing delusion to settle into one's own mind, whereby one perceived one's self as separate from God, separate from brothers and sisters, capable of being victimized. Forgiveness, when completed, is the establishment of Love. That is why the practice of forgiveness is so extraordinarily valuable. In fact, you could say that, ultimately, the practice of forgiveness is the whole of spirituality. Why? Because forgiveness means to let the world off the hook, to step out of any sense of victim consciousness, and then even beyond that, to forgive one's self for the perceptions they have made in error - perceptions of one's brothers and sisters, of the world, and of God. Remember always that all events are neutral. In large measure, the process of awakening is a process whereby you dissolve the value you have placed upon certain ideas and perceptions of what life is and what life is for. Yes, there are times you will be troubled, as you come to realize that what you thought the world was for, and everything you have been putting your energy into, means nothing. Often, this precipitates a period of what has been called by certain mystics the "dark night of the soul". It is really not the dark night of the soul. It is the dark night of the ego, and the healing of the soul. No one can make the decision for you. And the patterns you feel weighed down by, the fears that are yet within the mind will remain with you for all of eternity - until you decide to heal them. From that desire, you will attract the situations, the teachers, the books, and the experiences that provide for you the opportunity to do so. Jesus
Sorry amigo -- nothing to prove here. One would think you have nothing to prove either, with the whole walking on water / son of God thing and all... but hey. Gotta do what ya gotta do. (Shrug)
However, I would add this caveat: Most people do not want to view the world as it is. They do not want to face the reality of who they are, or where they are. Because of the mind's great plasticity, this strong desire to mask reality is effectively molded into a cartoon world. Jesus
You can attack me all you want but the fact remains it all comes down to CHOICES. I understand culture perfectly fine, is it my fault that these people choose to live primatively like animals attacking and killing each other ? Geography ? Call me crazy but that baby picture had some green grass in it, which means the land supports life at least in the area where the picture was taken. The whole damn continent is surrounded by water and last time I checked there were fish in the sea. I tell you what I do understand, I understand that you can talk out of your ass and ramble on quite well. But how does that help the people in Africa ? This problem can only be helped by educating people to make better CHOICES. But first they have to want to change.
you do not seem to get it. there are no choices. these people have none. they cannot go anywhere. there is not enough to go anywhere and there has never been. a mother who just made it into a refugee camp after her husband, brother and father were killed, has NO choice. if they make it to some water they MUST stay there, everything else is immediate suicide. don't you think they would love to escape, constantly contemplating on where they could move? and do you honestly believe that illiterate inhabtiants of a village of several hundred people have any perspective on where they could move to avoid the effects of civil war? and who do you think is in the refugee camps? those who try to escape. those who are not welcomed anywhere. those who simply CAN'T MAKE IT ANYWHERE. and now some fellow on an internet board tells them they should have been smart earlier on. you know what: it is people like us, supporting governments like ours to exploit africa. it is not so much THEIR choice as it was OURS earlier on that was at least partially responsible for what is going on there. climate change? heard of that? not to speak of economic exploitation and cultural damage or weapon sales to certain african groups. oh lord. and i really have to write this.
ah, and sorry. i responded to your former ideas and not your latest. oh yeah, these women have huge choiceson how many children they have. and their poor choices are what makes them prostitutes at fourteen, after having been raped at twelve by their brothers.
Now it is the controlling parties fault and nothing can be done right ? If this was true, the United States would still be under British control.