On Doing Your Own Spiritual Work

Remember what I wrote about doing your own spiritual work (i.e., reading stuff for yourself and listening to God yourself)? Well, I did not do that. I realized this about a week ago.

See, I grew too attached to someone who I considered a teacher and a savior. I read his messages and took them to heart. I even developed a stupid internet crush on the guy.

What I have finally realized is what worked for him was not working for me, and being so attached to him that I listened to him as opposed to listening to God retarded me in my spiritual development. I finally "came out" and admitted my crush to him on a public forum where I was justly given a verbal slap in the face by this person. I needed this to see my foolishness.

This has made me realize in spades that I need to listen to God directly and not follow after what someone else is doing, even if they one of the main people who helped me out of Hellfire Fundamentalism. I focused on the human when I should have focused on the God, Son, and Spirit coming through that person. I love you, my readers. (Though not in a romantic sense!) Take care.

God bless.

Criticism of Christian Publicaitons

Time Changer is like many other Christian movies: retarded theology, cliches, and horrible writing. Wait, I was being redundant. Oh well.

Basically, a guy from the late-1800s goes into the future and sees the evils of modern-day society. Something Awful does a hilarious job of reviewing this piece of tripe.

Many people may find it odd that I mercilessly ridicule Christian movies in general. In many Christian circles, it's almost considered heresy to criticize anything to do with Christianity. It does not matter how idiotic, demeaning, and downright hateful a writer's interpretation is. If a person makes a parody of it or criticizes it, then that person is seen as "mocking God." I think Christianity would be taken more seriously if other Christians were not afraid of pointing out absurdity within their ranks.

Yes, there are things in the world that are wrong, but simply saying that "Jesus said it was wrong, and that's that" is a silly argument. It may work amongst a few Christians, but non-Christians will see right through this assertion right to a person's lack of logic, laziness, or both. People are converted through examples of Christ in other people (people having the faith in God to fill them with the Spirit--when they are filled with God, and the vessel acting accordingly (even though it is still all God)) and the beckoning of the Holy Spirit, not inane arguments and Bible-thumping. Wait, was I being redundant against just now? Forget it...

On Emptiness

I may have frightened some of you off when I mentioned the emptiness I found upon remembering myself for the first time. That emptiness was me, myself, my own being. I am empty. However, I believe the Holy Spirit resides there because I sense him. This is after making the differentiation between myself and the Godhead with and/or in myself.

I think that the Holy Spirit could come through even if people were not empty at the core of their being. From what I read in the Bible, the body is like a conduit through which the Holy Spirit flows.

Also, about being a machine--John Godolphin Bennet, author of Making a Soul, says that there is a difference between doing and choice. We do not do--everything in us happens whether we like it or not. Choice is different, because it means possibilities. You can choose to remember yourself (being acutely aware of yourself being present to yourself (as my professor, Dr. Quentin Dinardo, would say)--that you're you, you're in the here and now). This paradox is much like the paradox one finds upon reading the Bible concerning free will--you have a choice, but you're still a slave to sin. I think that what Bennet and Ouspensky (author of The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution) are talking about is at least almost exactly like the paradox found in the Bible. I do not want to make any absolute statements here, since translations of the Bible may be full of errors and I do not know everything.

When you remember yourself, you have more possibilities because you are in a higher state of consciousness. I have been there. Since I am in sleep again, it is difficult to explain it. It's difficult anyway since spiritual things can not be fully tied down in words.

The experience was as if a photograph with a bright lightbulb was being taken. I sensed everything, and everything seemed so clear. Bennet, Ouspensky, and others assert that when we have accidental moments of self-consciousness (self-remembering), we create memories.

I do not necessarily agree with everything Bennet and Ouspensky say. I still believe that Jesus was the Son of God and died as a sacrifice for my sins, but the material from my Consciousness and Spirituality class gave me a better vocabulary for assimilating and organizing my faith in my heart and mind.

"The entrence to the temple is gaurded by two demons; they are confusion and paradox (Q. Dinardo, personal communication, 2007)." This was originally stated by a Sufi mystic, but I do not remember his name.