Open Mind
I used to be an atheist, then I was a Hindu, and I've been a Christian since 1972. What denomination? Doesn't matter, there are good and bad things about any group. I say I'm a Generic Christian.
People are spiritually hungry in our time, which inspires scammers, crooks,and conmen to sell them spiritual remedies. An open mind is a good thing, but not so open all your brains fall out.
I see ads for the conmen on Youtube: Whatever you can think in your head, you can hold in your hand. Sign up for my seminar on the Power Within You to get anything you want. Only $1,500 for this teaching that's worth $9500!
What a bargain! Whatever the conman thought in his head (how can I make money off spiritually hungry people?) he intends to hold in his hand ($1,500 a pop)
If it doesn't work for you, IT"S YOUR FAULT! It's the Law of Attraction, endorsed by Ophrah, so it must be true. You attracted failure to yourself! Sign up for my advanced course.
I call that woo-woo. Selling magic. Why don't the gurus just imagine the Powerball numbers for this week? Because they can't. Because it's a scam.
A guy came to the Senior Center looking for foolish old folks to sign up for his seminars. The Sedonna Method to health, wealth and happiness. I'm familiar with the method. He got me last week to explain his magic. I was already PO'd at him for telling a man who just found out he had congestive heart failure that he had attracted it to himself.
You know Sedonna? I got a Master's degree in Metaphysic from them. And I told him I think it's woo-woo-watered down, Americanized Buddhism sprinkled with jargon about chakras and kundalini.
He was taken aback. "I just want to help people," he said. 'Look, if you want to help people, drop the jargon. Jargon is just to elevate you as some kind of expert, some kind of authority-a guru.
He walked away, because a guru is exactly what he wants to be and he wants to be rich and famous too.
Don't be so open minded all your brains fall out. OK? You don't need a guru.
Everything's Connected
Einstein, they tell me, was a pretty smart guy. I always liked him because I like science and because he said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
I was reading about Einstein's denial that he was an atheist. He said his was the God of Spinoza. So who is this Spinoza and who is his God?
Baruch Spinoza was a Jew living in the Netherlands (1632-1677) He is now known as a very influential philosopher, but was not honored as such during his lifetime. He had been thrown out of his synagogue as an athesit in his early 20s, because he did not believe the stories in the Old Testament were literally true.
As I read Spinoza's propositions, I was quite astonished. Not only did he believe there was a God, he asserted that there wasn't anything else! That all of what we call nature, the universe, and we ourselves are in God-already. Because there isn't anything else. We are not God, but still significant; a pixel in the picture of reality. We are eternal because we are in the eternal I AM.
He wasn't a fan of organized religions. After all, those are humanly organized structures and reflect human limitations. God is beyond human limitations.
This is not what we label pantheism: that gods are in the trees, mountains and springs and those physical things should be worshipped. This God is way beyond that; kind of a powerful, intelligent, living energy that holds it all together in the dynamic process of Life.
God is in the Glimmers
We all know what triggers are-some random comment or image that brings to our mind a painful feeling. I see trigger warnings on videos and banned words like "rape" or "suicide."
Banning a word does not heal wounds. If only we could ban the reality the word describes! If a word causes you to melt down, please seek healing. Please, so your life won't be crippled by a tragic event. I want you to have a good, full, free life.
The opposite of triggers is glimmers. Some random comment or image that brings to our mind an uplifting feeling, a rush of wonder. Glimmers are everywhere, if you have eyes to see; to see through the mundane goings-on we pass daily.
Many people complain that God is hidden, silent. Not true. He whispers to us constantly. If God is everywhere present, then he is present in the grocery store, in the parking lot, and in the kitchen.
See through to the glimmers and listen to God.
I am an artist and rather obsessed with 'seeing through.' So I made these Glimmer Fish. They look like colored glass and their colors change depending on your perspective. Fins are see-through, right?. I'm working on a dragonfly today. Look at a dragonfly's eyes! Enjoy their irridescence. A glimmer...the world is full of them.
