It is interesting to me how if you truly study comparative religions you will find that bottom line they all say the same thing and yet all the wars are fought over the specifics of each individual one. For example, "Obeying God" is talked a lot about in the Jewish tradition. In the Christian tradition it is called "Doing God's Will". In Eastern religions it's best described in Zen as "a flow in harmony with the Divine". In Islamic sects it is called "Surrendering to God".

It is all about the ego being put in it's proper place by daily seeking of guidance through meditation or prayer. Rational thought and logic is not all there is to us, there is also Intuitive Insight which when functioning properly (and this requires a lot of purification and insight) keeps us in synchronicity with Nature and Life.
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It is not religion or the practice of it that is bad it is the lack of understanding and the usurping of power by stupid unenlightened men that is the problem. If Israel and Palestine could really experience God (Divine) in their lives, they would see how much in common they had and come to a quick resolution of differences.

Even though we have all been weaned on Darwin's theory of evolution saying basically that humans began as a mineral, then emerged into plant life, after into an animal state and finally into being human, we don't really seem to grasp the full meaning of this. In Africa there appeared an animal that stood erect,used tools with care and began to speak. A new kind of species had evolved with a brain greater than any before it and a capacity for self-transformation. 

The Climate Crisis on earth now has made us realize this fact  again and suddenly we are jostled out of our delusional reality  that humans are a walking  machine-like brain, akin to God who can make human life comfortable by exploiting the earth and its resources.  Comfortable for only the few lucky ones who got rich. We stopped being aware of how we evolved and where we are headed, namely back to the beginning gestalt of creation. We stopped the self-transformative process. We ripped ourselves away from the evolving life process and disconnected our brains from our bodies. We suddenly thought we were the kings of the universe, the creators of life and we are still trying to prove that by manipulating our DNA to design the next generation according to our limited understanding. And working our bodies in the gyms to look like the Hulk so we live longer. Because the brain as it turns out is very limited in the way we have been utilizing it, namely in self service and competition with each other and the Universe. The body is in fact our doorway to our connection with Spirit, but we are not interested, preferring to remain on the treadmill of our present false security of existence.

Now that the demise of the earth is a possibility, we suddenly realize how much more connected to life animals are than us, how we have veered off course in our evolution somewhere along the line. So we turn to worshipping animals and plants. Caring for them is great and important but worshipping them by buying ballet tutus for your dogs, all the while that we ignore dying and hungry children in our world and other continents is not going to save us. 

We need to get back on the evolutionary train and restart our motors and think about what is the next possible step to take in our growth, what does Life require from us at this point? ​

We first ask ourselves these questions, then begin to realize we are not the end of the road for evolving no matter what brilliant technology we have invented to date. The next step in our evolution is to expand our brain sufficiently away from just information and data input to understanding our spiritual selves. I realize this is very inconvenient for Capitalism, but too bloody bad, that is where the evolution process is headed. So either you are on board developing compassion in this life or you are run over by the train.

is I am always in awe how The New Agers can distort even spiritual issues and make them about getting money and stuff, like happiness and every little thing ones heart desires.
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And of course they also believe that if you are seriously ill or poor or have a tragedy in your life it is due to not believing and manifesting hard enough!
 
No wonder Nature wants to get rid of us.

New Agers have totally distorted Buddhist Teachings with their "positivity" jargon that does not allow for the expression of emotions, especially tears, anger or even joy...and where do these emotions go, straight into their sublimating unconscious where they fester and distort reality. The more you want to control life the more out of touch with it you will be, living in a delusional la la land. The justification for this is, so I have heard from some Millenials is that we have only one life so we should just enjoy it. So get your toxic self away from them, they do not want to see reality or hear about it or even basically think about anything remotely critical because they are prefect and don't need to change a thing about themselves.

Well it is true the Buddhist have said that our Buddha nature is perfect...but are we? Hardly! According to Buddhism we have many lives and each one is for the purpose of becoming a BETTER human being, not a wealthier one with a more comfortable lifestyle. We come back to work on ourselves so we can be closer to our buddha nature in our everyday actions. Because that is our authentic self. This requires focus, discipline, practicing compassion, being of service to others and above all acknowledging the reality and truth of every moment of life. Being present to whatever is there be it uncomfortable, ugly, hurtful, or plain smelly. Being kind, generous and tolerant and above all, loving. If you are having a gay old time and think the homeless deserve to be there in the street, then you are out of touch with the purpose of our existence.

​We will all die and whether we return many times or not all you need to be assured of is that once your body is gone it not the end...somewhere and who knows where, you will reap what you sow. By leading a positive selfish life, while ignoring the suffering of others will cost you down the road...

Life would have to be pretty stupid to make such a complex entity as a human...only to finish him off after 80 years...with sole purpose of watching him make himself a wealthy comfortable existence.
 
Even if you abhor religion and profess to being a spiritual person there are guidelines to developing your spirituality and from all my readings and experiences I can assure you it has nothing to do with manifesting what you want by believing in it and making affirmations. It takes work on yourself, deep humility, faith in something bigger than your own ego and a flawless character.