What is that you want from spirituality?
Do you want a free pass to heaven?
Do you want to make this world a better place?
Do you want to change yourself into a better person?
I mean, does your spiritual quest has a practical aspect to it or is it purely academic?
Let’s face it:
For the last 2000 years Christianity, Islam and Judaism have ruled the Western world.
(Or at least have been fighting over the rule of it.)
Look around at the hatred and war we are waging against each other in the name of God.
It hasn’t work for the last 2000 years, it is not going to work now.
Love is the way
Agree 100%
But love it is a very hard emotion to manage.
(Not because Jesus’ teachings are not valid but because I am not strong enough to follow the doctrine of love.)
That is my personal reason of choosing Buddhism as my spiritual practice.
(Notice I did not call it religion because I do not adhere to any organized religion practice.)
By practicing right thought and right action I have become more tolerant, less judgmental, I have open up my heart to more love and understanding than ever and in general I am a better Christian now as a Buddhist – if you know what I mean.
I also have a problem with the Buddhist doctrine.
At least with the way it is practiced here in the West.
Buddhism is supposed to be the spirituality of transformation.
Some where on the way we have lost that practicality.
Buddhism now, it is a very academic, dogmatic, empty dialog.
I do not care if this so called reality is temporary and I don’t care if it is an illusion.
I WANT A BETTER ILLUSION!
I want to better myself; I want to better my life.
I want to laugh, to cry, to win, to loose, to live.
If Buddha had a problem with human suffering that is fine with me.
I do not have that problem.
I love my suffering, I love my struggle and I love my pain.
It means I am alive, for God’s sake.
I’ll have enough time to sit around in eternal bliss when I’m dead.
So are we going to get ourselves up from our meditations buts and do something about it, or are we just going to keep up the same bullshit we’ve been doing for the last 2000 years?
I don’t know about you but I am going for it.
I have nothing to lose :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
I couldn't agree more.
Too often we focus too much on our purity and zen-high-horse that we forget to just chill and enjoy life.
Spirituality means going beyond human thought and emotion which, as we all know, is flawed. The higher way is the way we all want to strive for, but may never reach in this lifetime. We can really only wish each other well on our personal journeys. Good luck with yours.
abraham was a wise man. could he foresee where his teaching will go?
humans have fought for all their history, long before that, and will continue. they struggled and looked for improvement.
did they achieve a better world, better selves? of course! so many cool gadgets, so many new ways to die; so wonderful education, so much more suicides and murders.
a mice runs in a wheel. it's alive. it will exhaust and it will die. as countless before and countless after.
am i cold and dead? indeed i am, like a rock. rock, that shelters from the storm and grants materials for homes, yet brings death to the careless.
seeing one who chooses torture and death, as countless before and after, will a cold dead rock shed a tear?
peace.
mickael
"Buddhism now, it is a very academic, dogmatic, empty dialog."
An interesting debate as usual, but is this not how religious divisions begin in the first place: the Catholics werent quite representing what everyone wanted, so Martin Luther forms the Protestants: the Christians can't quite explain how evolution fits in with the 7 day thing, so we get Christian Scientists and Scientologists.
The basic precepts of religion are as a way of living: be nice to one another, don't steal, don't kill - but do we need a God to make us do these things?? Not sure that we do.
What is that you want from spirituality? Peace in my heart, and that whole uplift, walking on air feeling that comes with it.
Selfish, I know, but it took a lot of struggle to get to here - digging through and shrugging off various bits of imprinting, and accepting hard things. Besides, I'm firmly convinced we're here to enjoy here.
"Religion" gives a few men a lot of of power over the minds of a lot of other men. It's is easy to enslave the bodies of men with chains, but you can only enslave their minds with faith. The more fundamentalist, strict and rules driven the dogma, the more powerful the invisible bondage.
I've come to believe that this is the original purpose of many faiths, to keep the lower casts faithful to the Pharaoh, otherwise they'd turn on him, and he would lose all his glamor, and power.
They promise justice and peace in heaven, so the people don't look for it on Earth. It's a pretty good racket, IMO.
I look to nature to nuture my spirit. Spirtuality in the sense of a religion? No, I don't seek that...
@ Josh – I know, Zen masters use to be rebels not religion peddlers.
@ Aggie – If spirituality is emotionless, thoughtless state of mind, I do not want it.
@ Mickael – The problem is that we can’t afford to fight anymore.
@ Pixie – Unfortunately it is not God’s choice.
We have the free will to choose good or evil as well.
@ Sylvie – That is why I stay away from organized religion.
@ Talon – Yes the temple of nature.
I need to get out there and recharge my batteries :)
special are we? :)
this world won't change a bit before you do. i've learned this the hard way. please take an easier option.
good luck.
mickael
Have a great vacation and have some fun. Live out loud.
Post a Comment