the science of prejudice/intolerance

What's true for seeing colour is also true for seeing form and shape. In fact it's true about everything we see. When you look at this image, you are aware of two very differently sized tables.

via

So why do they look so different? Because your brain takes the image on the retina and creates what it sees according to what the information would have meant in the brain's past experience of interacting with the world.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Now, doesn't that make you think about what is taught to children?

No wonder it is written 'the sins of the father are visited upon the sons'

cloud walking

A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes;

a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs;

an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all - he's walking on them.

Leonard Louis Levinson

The world rejoices

Joseph Olupot in Arua, Uganda, writes:

"It is thrilling to see the valuable lives of people being rescued after such a long time of hopelessness and desolation. I could not contain my happiness. I am delighted. I join the Chileans in celebrating."  via

Dan Lundmark from Long Beach, US tweets:

"Awesome watching Chilean miners rescued and reunited with family, after months trapped 700m underground, on my birthday! What a gift." via

 

erhem!  Maybe the world wide rejoicing at this incredible rescue where a nation has illuminated the importance of 1 human life…. may help others to come to a similar comprehension……

being motivated as a motif

“So go about life condemning none, but looking kindly and with love upon all; hold no harsh thought even about a so-called enemy.

In truth, no man can really be your enemy, all are your teachers; and when you are tempted to feel injured or resentful because of some apparent injustice, look first within yourself and ask, "What has this to show me, what have I to learn from this?" In time truth will reveal itself, so that instead of thinking antagonistically you will be able to say, "Thank you, brother, for you have taught me much, and helped me".

The other person's motive is not your business”

White Eagle

 

Rays of Love

Mundaka Upanishad  2.2.10-11

Love Light

 

"Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low".

Henry Ward Beecher

Ayodhya- the new word for SHAME

A secular court has now made a judgement about this disputed 'holy' site.

In essence the three protagonist parties will share the site.

Once again we see secular society teaching ethics and morality to 'old religions'.

If only these 'religious' participants could have embraced 'One-ness' and come to the decision to share the site themselves.

What difference would it have made?

2,000 lives difference!

There is nothing 'holy' about a 'religious' site that has claimed 2,000 lives upon the altar of hate!

Here is what was said on this blog on 5th March 2002……. read Afsana's story, a 15 year old. Read it and marvel, as I do, at such lovingness from a child.

It were better if all three of the protagonists 'religions'  in this case agreed to utilise the disputed land to erect a memorial to all those who died – and spent the rest of their lives praying daily there for the souls of the murdered innocents.

 

Ayodhya is the Indian word for 'shame'….if it wasn't before, it is now!

human observation

"the way Sir Willoughby continues to speak through the answers of other characters, returning to notice their replies only when his own vein of thought is exhausted" is a "wonderful observation of human speech"

Angus Wilson commenting upon George Meredith's tragicomical novel, The Egoist.

Carpe Diem - 02

It doesn't really matter what religion you are – or if you have no religious beliefs at all.

Whether we meditate or pray

But in these coming hours let us all set aside some moments to send out our loving and peaceful thoughts/prayers/meditations  for a resolution of this desperate problem

It is time for LOVE and PEACE to begin to resolve this Middle East wound which has stubbornly refused to be healed for so very, very, very long.

We, the world, sincerely request and desire that all parties involved will find an honourable, respectful and peaceful method….

to save the children of the future.

(Carpe Diem 1 can be found here)

we are climbing…

"There are in all religions essentially only 3 types of persons:

1. Those who always look to others to tell them the words. Studying the words themselves
implies too much effort. For these any 'confrontation with a Godly presence is emotionally satisfying but is often regarded as a mere coincidence'.

2. Those who study and know the words.  Intellectually. They are 'libraries of knowledge' able, at any moment, to recite an appropriate verse or text. For them such studies are emotionally rewarding and intellectually appealing, whilst hiding in the thoughts of others they have no need to deal with real spiritual  life situations or with themselves. They are exceptionally skilled at steering group 1.

3. Those who have gone beyond the words, the metaphors, the traditions and whose hearts have welcomed the deepest meaning of the words. For these 'the word has become flesh' These are easily recognisable, for they speak little with words. Their loving eyes shout their awareness of one-ness. Their compassionate actions (without requiring 3rd party recognition or reward) manifest a living faith and a loving religion. Their example, once observed, does not seek to lead others, yet in the beauty of it's lovingness others  awaken to their own beauty.

Yet all have their unique and precious place within the totality of one-ness. Each 'group' helps  us  to 'know and love ourselves and thus know and love all others'...and those 'steps of understanding' are the stairway to heaven".

gg

unheard Prophecy – 38 years ago!!

"In 1972 Pope Paul VI said, 'Satan's smoke has made its way into the temple of God...'  Now, as we enter the third millennium, it is no longer 'smoke' but a raging fire. Catholicism is in the throes of the worst crisis in its entire history." - Fr. John Hardon, S.J., Introduction to The Marian Catechist

What crisis?   Ah, you can get a glimpse if you Google Cardinal Sodano who, according to CatholicHerald.co.uk is " a catastrophe waiting to happen"

And all this time you were thinking I was anti-catholic, huh?  Read again what Pope Paul VI says……

I am 'anti'  any religion or persons in 'positions of religious authority' who seek to abuse the peoples of the world, the 'children of the One God', with lies, hypocrisy, manipulation, fraud, embezzlement, murder, rape, mutilation…or anything else that does not respect the individualism created by the One God or honour the sanctity of life..

To be 'anti' is not too hate, it is to love your brother/sister enough to help them see the log that is in your own eye, so that they may better find the speck that is in their eye.

margin notes____01

In this apparently PR dominated world it is often difficult to really know what persons in powerful positions are actually saying…and meaning.

I remember from my youth a film " The shoes of the Fisherman" where a fictionalised powerful man actually DID mean what he said…..

Anthony Quinn played the lead role…along with many, many top-rate actors/actresses at the time. Of course, a 1968 film may seem a little lacking in CGI or even violence/sex……but if you have any interest in 'non-marginalised religious/ethical actions' it's worth watching……especially if you are interested in moral actions that create scandal because they are so moral – as opposed to the opposite margin.

Courtesy of IMDB you may be able to watch a trailer HERE

it does not say what it says it says____002

"….adherents of a given religion, like everyone else, focus on things that confirm their attitudes and ignore things that don’t. And they carry that tunnel vision into their own scripture; if there is hatred in their hearts, they’ll fasten onto the hateful parts of scripture, but if there’s not, they won’t. That’s why American Muslims of good will can describe Islam simply as a religion of love. They see the good parts of scripture, and either don’t see the bad or have ways of minimizing it.

So too with people who see in the Bible a loving and infinitely good God. They can maintain that view only by ignoring or downplaying parts of their scripture.

For example, there are those passages where God hands out the death sentence to infidels. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told to commit genocide — to destroy nearby peoples who worship the wrong Gods, and to make sure to kill all men, women and children."

Robert Wright (amongst other things has taught philosophy at Princeton and religion at the University of Pennsylvania).

what is written in the margin…..

"religious bodies - including institutions linked to the Catholic Church - need to be free to act in accordance with their own principles and specific convictions based upon the faith and the official teaching of the Church" 

Pope Benedict XVI, speaking at Westminster Hall, London on 17 Sept 2010.

In an interesting, if somewhat intellectual, analysis of the roles between religion and State, the Pope bemoaned the 'marginalisation of religion" in modern societies. Within the speech were the above words.

Freedom of religion is a precious and deeply treasured aspect of most modern democracies – yet that freedom is moderated by the requirement to honour and uphold the moral and/or ethical standards within a society as manifest by laws that protect human rights.

'Marginalisation' is nothing more or less than the refusal of society, and the peoples that constitute society, to accept a lower standard of behaviour from religious organisations than is required, practised and manifest within secular society.

Freedom to act within a religion pre-supposes a basic fundamental of respect for others. This is integral in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, etc.etc. Time after time in ancient writings of any and all of these religions the same message is found – behave towards others as you wish them to behave towards you.

As has been observed before on this blog, society is now teaching ethics and morality to the major religions. For as long as that continues – and the major religions continue to espouse outdated and immoral standards of human rights – for this long shall the major religions continue to be marginalised.

< the scientific approach>(l+c=u)

 

"She had a wonderful sense of humour. I learned from her that the highest forms of understanding we can achieve are laughter and human compassion."

Richard Feynman, Nobel Prizewinner 1965 in Physics (jointly with Julian Schwinger and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga) talking about his mother.

getting grey…..

via

"Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority, only to the highest rank.

Every man alone is sincere.

At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It kind of reminds me that as children we all have an innocence of faith/belief…. and then we fill ourselves with other people's experiences/ideas/concepts….so that by the time we are 30 years old, we have become fairly expert at making all the conceptual permutations that are necessary to allow us to do whatever we want, say whatever we want,….always claiming to be part of the 'peer group'.

it does not say what it says it says……..huh?

There is a general misunderstanding about 'old religious texts'. General simply because most people are busy getting on with their lives and have little time for in-depth study, Form Criticism or Higher Criticism researches occupy much time…so unless you are unemployed or long-term sick, you are unlikely to devote a lot of time to such researches.

For these reasons 'sound-byte religion' has become the norm at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.

So, check out this article which looks at some of the 'mirror settings' that can take a sacred text and severely alter or obscure it's intended meaning:

check out the full article HERE

interchangeable wisdoms

He said, "To do unto all men as you would wish to have done unto you, and to reject for others what you would reject for yourself."

via

Change the name of the religion, it doesn't really matter……some beautiful truths are universal.

remembered

Love makes hearts sing

Not everyone is trying to get headlines and attention by extreme actions – like terrorist activities or Burning Korans or complaining about new religious building a few blocks away from 'ground zero'..

CLICK HERE to have the full story about this inter-faith community in Memphis.

In these true events you can actually begin to understand the concept of 'the ONE GOD'

Not forgotten

always it is the children who pay………..

legalised paedophilia???

Ok. So we thought the Catholic Church had a pretty bad past on this subject. They are now paying the price in lost respect, revulsion and decline.

But as has been mentioned in this blog before, many 'religious organisations' are also revealed to be lacking in this morality. As has also been mentioned here, Islam – with it's seperate and warring clans and groups (Sunnis, Shia, Wahabbi, Alawites, Taleban, etc.etc.etc.) – is no stranger to Paedophilia.  However, most of the time this is presented as isolated incidents in modern life, or in the past.

So, take a look at modern Syria – where the government has actually removed 1000 teachers who wore the niquab – and read about recent 'proposed revisions' to State Law:

"…as a concession to Islamists, …..…a proposed rewrite of Syria’s personal status law, which governs civil matters, leaked last year, retained provisions that made it legal for men to marry girls as young as 13 years old"

via

Oh Dear, Islam…..between the BACHA BAZI in Afghanistan and proposed laws like this in Syria……and your reliance upon ethical and moral standards of more than 1000 years ago……you set a poor example in this modern world

Time to modernise………?

Carpe Diem…the children cry

The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs.  The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists.  ~William J. Clinton, 1

inter-dependency

“The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.”

Theodore Roosevelt

 

Spiritual Sudoku – Postscript 1

 

"There’s a seller’s market in ideologies that gives people a chance to feel victimized"

David Brooks    VIA

never-ending story

VIA

Many roads, ONE destination – One-ness.

"The great Sufi saints like the 13th-century Persian poet Rumi held that all existence and all religions were one, all manifestations of the same divine reality. What was important was not the empty ritual of the mosque, church, synagogue or temple, but the striving to understand that divinity can best be reached through the gateway of the human heart: that we all can find paradise within us, if we know where to look. In some ways Sufism, with its emphasis on love rather than judgment, represents the New Testament of Islam."  

William Dalrymple

via

spiritual sudoku

There are some who 'play the mind games' with spiritual truths. It's a kind of spiritual sudoku. It's entertaining. Sold as an expensive necessity to life or as the latest 'ticket to an enlightened nirvana", consciousness, or self-satisfying personal indulgence.

balancing polarities

“I have learned silence from the talkative,

tolerance from the intolerant,

and kindness from the unkind;

yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers”

Kahlil Gibran

“Sometimes it is only when you meet the opposite of what you are

that you truly become what you are”     geoff groom

Respect is free

 

For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Nelson Mandela

never to late to say 'sorry'

At 93 – and following a stroke in 1996 – KIRK DOUGLAS still has important things to say, and does say them….

it is written……….

.

Eternal truths will be neither true nor eternal unless they have fresh meaning for every new social situation.

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Healing kindness

"Research has shown that a simple act of kindness directed toward another improves the functioning of...[our] immune system[s] and stimulates the production of serotonin in both the recipient of the kindness and the person extending the kindness. Even more amazing is that persons observing the act of kindness have similar beneficial results. Imagine that! Kindness extended, received or observed, beneficially impacts the physical health and feelings of everyone involved"

 

The Power of Intention     Wayne Dyer, Ph.D

the necessity of love

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive." - Dalai Lama

 

"The mind is like a parachute…it works best when it is open"      Dalai Lama

Cambodia court

 

This poem was written many years ago in memory of all the innocents who died at the hands of their own government in Cambodia – approximately 25% of the population.

 

FORGET – ME – NOT

geoff groom

sensitive morality

"People who behave morally don’t generally do it because they have greater knowledge; they do it because they have a greater sensitivity to other people’s points of view"

 

David Brooks, NYT

happiness recipe

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."

 Abraham Lincoln

situational penitence

"The Catholic Church continued to heap insult upon injury when it revealed its long-awaited new rules on clergy sex abuse…."

Maureen Dowd, New York Times…read the full article here

"(it)…did not issue a zero-tolerance policy to defrock priests after they are found guilty of pedophilia; it did not order bishops to report every instance of abuse to the police; it did not set up sanctions on bishops who sweep abuse under the rectory rug; it did not eliminate the statute of limitations for abused children; it did not tell bishops to stop lobbying legislatures to prevent child-abuse laws from being toughened."

errr….what does it take for the Vat to realise that with each step it takes down the road of denial, it more than echoes Peter?

Within 20 years this org in it's present form will have disintegrated from within.

real ideas?

treasure……..

via

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival. ~

C.S. Lewis

the injury of boredom

 

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Henry David Thoreau

Sakineth Ashtiani

story here

Iran, Islam – show us the evidence!!!!!

'it's only words…..'

 

"It is of little consequence where the words come from, where the thoughts originate. Whether from some ancient text imbued with divine attributions, or from some 'other-worldly' guest in our consciousness. Whether from some perceived 'spiritual presence' or from the mouth of a child.

There can be little doubting that these unspoken words of love, motivations of compassion, punctuate our lives, they are the pause between our breaths.

To cease to heed them is to cease to breathe correctly. To not take notice is to degrade our importance and role in the life of the world and humanity.

The only, yes only, thing of consequence is to give ourselves permission to not only listen to the words of one-ness lovingness – but to allow ourselves the joy of the actions motivated by those words".

gg

All is change….

"Feeling is our connection to something greater than us"

Little Grandmother

One of her videos here

expert-ease

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mistakes that can be made in his subject and how to avoid them.

Werner Karl Heisenberg

one-ness….historically acclaimed

convoluted consciences

The Vatican has stepped up its criticism of raids by Belgian police investigating alleged child sex abuse, calling the detention of priests "serious and unbelievable".  via

Ah, so the words 'serious and unbelievable' are known to the Vat.

They are words that the rest of us know and especially those victims of abuse whose trust and faith were abused in a serious and unbelievable way.

Righteous indignation by the Vat seems a little misplaced in this scenario and, worst, the Police actions demonstrate what the majority of us know – the Vat can no longer be trusted!

Why, oh why, must they continue to resist the inevitable – better to simply co-operate fully. Nobody blames the whole Catholic Church, or any church, for the wickedness of a few. However, responsibility for the continued cover-up and abuse of power has not been accepted. The Vat is in denial.

It's inability to be fully truthful is both 'serious and unbelievable'.

Surprise Heavenly Meetings

We do not have TV – by choice – but do have a screen for watching DVD's and videofilms. I was recently able to buy, at a very cheap price, this film:

Which was actually quite good and very thought provoking. Really surprising the way in which the plot unveils people you never would think of as being the people to meet in 'heaven'. (if you want to know more then go to imdb.com )

It's an interesting exercise to try and think about who those people could be in one's own life. Often our lives impact upon another's in ways that we cannot imagine and do not realise.

"Because everything we say and do is the length and shadow of our own souls, our influence is determined by the quality of our being".
Dale E. Turner

Islam? u r in danger of…..

The beacon of ridicule and moral judgement that has forced the Catholic Church to face the realities of it's hypocrisy in respect of human rights is now being turned upon Islam as, little by little, the child-abusing practices and traditions are being revealed.

Beware,Islam. You are being destroyed from within.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

A seven-year-old boy was murdered by the Taleban in an apparent act of retribution this week. Afghan officials said that the child was accused of spying for US and Nato forces and hanged from a tree in southern Afghanistan.

Daoud Ahmadi, the spokesman for the provincial governor of Helmand, said that the killing happened days after the boy’s grandfather, Abdul Woodod Alokozai, spoke out against militants in their home village

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Child bride beaten for running away  via

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Yemeni child bride dies of internal bleeding  via

 

 

existing joyfully

Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars... and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful.  Everything is simply happy.  Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance.  Look at the flowers - for no reason.  It is simply unbelievable how happy flowers are.  ~Osho

we owe them so much…

Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky,
We fell them down and turn them into paper,
That we may record our emptiness.
~Kahlil Gibran

 

The felled tree was the inspiration for the tapestry "Statement" by Ragnhild Monsen

Revelations – or Mark

"Pope Appoints Panel To Investigate Child Abuse In Irish Catholic Institutions"  via  says the headline.

 

Too little, Too late, says this blog!

"For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light". Mark 4:22, Matthew 10:26, Luke 8:17

A staggeringly amazing century

In our striving for perfection we often overlook the massive humanitarian advances of this past 100 years. Taking a look at http://www.healthofnations.com/ratings/indicators/inputs/idpt was a reminder to me.

It is remarkable to see the exceptionally high levels of vaccination, worldwide, against such former killers as Measles or Diptheria. Go to the 'healthcare inputs' tag and select from the category indicator window. There is some amazing healthcare standards information on the website.

Also, today, is announced a blood test for discovering the presence of cancer cells in individuals, up to 5 years before any tumour is visible.

All this amazingly beneficial work proceeds relatively quietly in the 'background' of our societies.

But then, there are always some who will look for some other, more pessimistic, perception of the world. Fortunately I am not one of them :)

beautiful spring morning

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LiveJournal Tags: Bengtsfors,Dalsland,Vestre Silen,Sweden,Ragnhild Monsen

simple religion

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion.

Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

the virtues of tolerance

"Have we become so intolerant that we refuse and fight differences, which are to humanity what seasons are to life?" 

the official Le Matin newspaper, considered the mouthpiece for the royal palace (Morocco)

Is it really someone else's fault….?

 

"Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes."
Eleanor Roosevelt

"In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility".
Eleanor Roosevelt

oh, by the way, that Pollen Path….

“Oh, beauty before me, beauty behind me, beauty to the right of me, beauty to the left of me, beauty above me, beauty below me, I'm on the pollen path”   Navaho Indian traditional saying

more here

"when you reach that point of self-knowledge when all you can see, all around and within, is the magnificence, the awe-inspiring wonderment of the endless flow of beauty into your brain and senses – when you reach that point, Behold….. you touch the God within"   gg

(with acknowledgement to The Upanishads)

Kahlil Gibran…on Death

VIA

Respectfulness….

"To lose a friend through life circumstances that cause seperation, this is the way of life.

To lose a friend through sickness and death, this is a sadness only comforted by the memories of     the shared joys.

To lose a friend through debt, that is a 'greek tragedy'.

 Therefore, treasure the wonder of friendship whilst you may,

take the days of friendship as divine gifts, replete with untold blessings,

and if you would help your friend do not place upon them the heavy weight of gratitude, help     because it is your joy to help.

Yet in all these things, be sure to value and honour the greatest component of friendship which is not the lovingness, nor the generosity, nor the helping hand, nor the inspiring spirit…..the greatest component of friendship is respect"

gg

artificial cells

As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world - that is the myth of the atomic age - as in being able to remake ourselves.
Mohandas Gandhi

colour prejudice

"clearly, nature is prejudiced towards the creation of beauty in limitless permutations of colour and form"

gg

sand grains are mountains

"I tell everybody a little parable about the 'teaspoon brigades.' Imagine a big seesaw. One end of the seesaw is on the ground because it has a big basket half full of rocks in it. The other end of the seesaw is up in the air because it's got a basket one-quarter full of sand. Some of us have teaspoons, and we are trying to fill it up.

Most people are scoffing at us.

They say, 'People like you have been trying for thousands of years, but it is leaking out of that basket as fast as you are putting it in.' Our answer is that we are getting more people with teaspoons every day. And we believe that one of these days or years -- who knows -- that basket of sand is going to be so full that you are going to see that whole seesaw going zoop! in the other direction.

Then people are going to say, 'How did it happen so suddenly?'

And we answer, 'Us and our little teaspoons over thousands of years.'"   Pete Seeger

via

also from Pete Seeger

"Here's hoping enough of your dreams come true to keep you optimistic about the rest. We've got a big world to learn how to tie together. We've all got a lot to learn. And don't let your studies interfere with your education."

No celibacy law in Church

Hey Guys and gals – there is NO ban on Catholic Priests and Nuns getting married!

You don't believe me, huh?

Well, ok, today "The Vatican is expected to assert that bishops aren't its employees because they aren't paid by Rome, don't act on Rome's behalf and aren't controlled day-to-day by the pope". (via)

So if Bishops aren't 'employees' then I guess priests and nuns are not 'employees' either. Celibacy is, therefore, not a contractual term of employment since, the Vat states, there is no employment!.

.

Readers may also wish to know that those oft quoted words "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" was not the motto of Microsoft or Apple, nor were they words that originated with Glen Beck. It was actually "Sir Walter Scott , in Canto VI, Stanza 17 of "Marmion" (1808) an epic poem about the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513".(wiki. answers.com).

regression obsession

 

I have received an email notification for a program that 'records  your screen activities and plays them back like a movie to see what you did the whole day." It's a fair program and I can see it has uses when you have 'client-orientated work'.

But, you gotta admit, the general concept seems a little humorous.I mean, today is the 16th., so I can spend today looking at what I did yesterday 15th – and what I did yesterday (15th) was spend the day looking at what I did the day before (14th) – and what I did 14th was spend the day looking at what I did the day before (13th – no it wasn't a friday),…. and so on, ad infinitum!

Now, please forgive me for this, but my neurons and dendrites can't help relating the above to studies of the Bible, or The Koran, or The Ghita, or…. well, you get the idea. The main difference being, of course, that the majority of 'students' stick at the bits they like best and then keep 'replaying that program'.

Take, for example, the Judao/Christian obsession with sin and guilt. All of it premised upon the ancient story of Adam, Eve and that pesky snake. How many 'students' go beyond to the FIRST creation story in the Bible? You know, that one where the One God created everything (and condemned nothing)  and 'behold, it was very good'.

Still, who am I to question the record getting stuck on the gramophone player and repeating, repeating, repeating, repeating, repeating………..

I would rather be in the NOW listening to the voice of my heart. Since I am a part of the One God and can never, therefore, be apart from the One God – I'll listen for the whispers of lovingness that echo through me to the world around me.

Signs of the times…

'There will be signs and portents…..". Somehow I don't think religious texts like this quite meant this:

Yep! That's correct. This is a genuine sign in New Mexico,USA. (there are more such signs via

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-lansky/9-signs-that-prove-god-ha_b_576596.html)

Now the question is, is this advertising hype or a true statement of beliefs?.

It's pretty much the same in all sects and denominations and most religious institutions: most forcefully expressed belief systems are forcefully expressed because the expressers are trying to convince themselves.

Hey, if the sign was really – no, I mean really – an expression of true belief then Christ must have been turning a blind eye to a lot of the fraudulent and abusive activities of some institutions. But then it is perhaps unfair to try and truly discern matters of truth and faith within the actions of discredited religious institutions.

Now, what was it he said about 'you have turned my Father's house into a den for thieves and robbers…." or something like that, huh?

spiritual quest….

 

 

or if you want something 'heavier'….

 

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." -Aesop

Pathways…….

It used to be said "all roads lead to Rome", though I am not sure that this was a vatican reference or a purely political reference to the Roman empire.

Nowadays it would seem that most, if not all, jihadist terrorism and extreme fundamentalist Islamic  distortions all seem to have a common pathway…….and a common destination. Time after time after time researches into the 'influences that have affected  so called 'Islamic' terrorists and/or terrorist movements' trace the same route. It seems that  many of these pathways lead to 'The Shadow of the Koran' and other writings from , Sayyid Qut'b.

It is, perhaps, worth noting that  "The ulema of Al-Azhar University school took the unusual step following his death of putting Sayyid Qutb on their index of heresy, declaring him a "deviant" (Al-Azhar - the chief centre of Arabic literature and Sunni Islamic learning in the world) – source Wikipaedia. Perhaps it would be allowed to mention that Al Quaeda is predominantly Sunni and yet, for example,  there are very strong identifiable links between Qut'b's works  and Osama bin Laden's declared aims.

I have previously mentioned, in this blog, that  Islam is not a unified faith but, as with many religions (particularly Christianity) is troubled by schism, dissension and often violent disagreement.

I mention this, at this time, for two reasons:

1. To be fair to the majority of peace-loving, tolerant and caring Muslims who populate this world.

2. To draw attention to the aspects of this internal Islamic struggle to cope with the transitions of the 20th and 21st centuries, which are creating massive strains upon old and out-dated standards of morality (as we also see in Catholicism)..

The old-tactic of 'creating a common enemy to unite a cause' is nowhere more visible than in the modern struggles of Islam. Check out Iraq. Check out Iran. Check out Yemen.

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BUT – before we support, in the name of 'religious freedoms' any modifications to our higher humane standards such as those espoused by Al Quaeda , Taleban or promoted under  the more extreme variations of Sharia law, we need to be very certain which faction we support. It is hard to have respect for actions which deny or contradict the lovingness of the One God or demean moral and humane standards that have evolved over thousands of years.

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The defence of tradition, which in centuries past served society, is not a road to travel down where that tradition no longer meets the higher moral, ethical or humane standards expressed within a society.

nursery knowingness

"Six months old and he can tell good from evil

Scientists have discovered that babies can start to make moral judgments by the age of six months and may be born with the ability to tell good from bad hard-wired into their brains.

Infants can even act as judge and jury in the nursery. Researchers who asked one-year-old babies to take away treats from a “naughty” puppet found they were sometimes also leaning over and smacking the figure on the head."

via

"The new research contradicts the theories of Freud and others that humans begin with a moral 'blank slate'"

Awareness, it would seem, is a permanent state of being.