DICTIONARY & ANECDOTES
BELIEFS, WHAT ARE?
Beliefs are ones deepest convictions in all things in life. A belief is
a conclusion one accepts to be the truth, regardless of whether or not
it is. Everybody has beliefs regarding what they think about God, the
world, and themselves.
All of ones behaviors are based on ones beliefs. Eccentric beliefs beget
eccentric behavior. Aligned beliefs beget truthful behavior. If one doesn't
know why one believes the things one believes, how can one be sure that
anything one is doing is right?
What one believes about the world might seem to be reality, but it is
really just ones own perception of reality. If one aligns ones beliefs
in truth, one finds ones observations of the true objective reality to
be more contented. Things do not always appear the way they really are,
but the way one expects them to be. If one believes the world is a depressing
place, then for one it will appear to be that way. If one believes that
the world is full of love, then one finds real love in the world.
Aberrant beliefs are what separate one from God. To reach enlightenment
bring ones beliefs into alignment with the One True Core Belief in God.
People share identity in their common beliefs. When two or more people
believe in the same thing, then they have something in common which ties
their identity together. For example, if you and your friend love swimming,
then this common belief ties you together in that you both have the identity
of being "swimmers". If swimming was a crime, you would both
be considered criminals. If, however, everyone is put in a pool, and only
"swimmers" could avoid drowning, you would both be saved not
because you swim well, but that you can. Identity in being a "swimmer"
could save your life regardless of how good a "swimmer" you
are. So too, until one has identity in truth, or spiritual life, one is
spiritually dead. Aligning ones beliefs with God corrects ones identity.
If one believes in truth, one has identity in truth. One need not be truth
in order to believe in truth and have identity in truth.
BIG BANG, THE: The "Big Bang" is the theory
that science in general holds regarding the creation of the Universe.
There are many unanswered questions regarding this theory. For example:
What caused this creation? How can something come from nothing? Whose
intelligent design makes it function? How can a Universe be created without
something existing before this creation so that it might cause it?
"Science" itself holds that nothing in the Universe is lasting,
everything is aflame in entropy, and therefore the Universe itself is
not lasting. Even the stars will eventually cease to be unless God decides
otherwise. It is as if everything in the Universe is fuel waiting to be
consumed.
This Universe did not always exist, for if it had, it would have burned
out an eternity ago. Even the "scientific" idea that the Universe
sprang from nothing goes against the scientific law that matter can neither
be created nor destroyed. The Big Bang theory states that the total of
all energy and matter, in the form of hydrogen, the entire Universe, came
into existence instantaneously all compressed in a single point. Why?
No one knows!
The other viable alternatives to the Big Bang theory are that the Universe
doesn't exist, that the Universe comes and goes without violating any
scientific laws, or that it was indeed created by God. Since the Universe
obviously exists, it follows that at least one more idea can be ruled
out.
Whatever the truth is, one may surely say that God is either what is going
on, or what is causing what is going on. Although some scientists like
to say "it is happening without God," this "it" that
is "happening" is God. God is what is happening. God is the
truth.
The word "Universe" is made up of the words "uni"
meaning "one" and "verse" meaning "song".
One song.
BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER: An ostrich had
pulled his head out of the sand long enough to come upon a group of eagles
resting beside a cliff. The ostrich gathered amongst them and proclaimed,
"Look at me! I am an eagle too!" However, when the eagles soared
off of the cliff, the ostrich followed and fell to its death. So too,
the spiritual aspirant should not proclaim his or her enlightenment before
he or she learns to fly right.
If you want to fly with the eagles, stop hanging out with the ostriches.
So too, the spiritual aspirant will never learn to fly with his or her
head in the sand. If you have grown wings of truth, use them or loose
them. Lethargy begets atrophy. God takes back an unused gift. If you have
grown the wings of an eagle, but you continue to hang out with ostriches,
then your wings will stop growing and will waste away. Even if you were
to become king of the ostriches, you would be less than the lowliest eagle.
Beware, lest you become like the skeleton of a bird that waited too long
to try and fly. The "a" in "atrophy" is so lazy that
it will not move and become "a trophy".
Be careful of the flock one chooses, for even vultures soar, and vultures
are also gathered at the body of truth where only eagles nest. After all,
there are those who learn to fly into darkness instead of light. These
vultures, despise the living body of truth, call it a carcass, and feed
off any wounds and weaknesses the body may have. One may not be able to
prevent a vulture from flying over ones head, but, one may prevent a vulture
from nesting on ones head.
Truth is like the children's story of the ugly duckling. A baby swan was
inadvertently hatched and raised amongst ducklings. They taunted and teased
him and called him ugly. However, one day when he grew older he saw his
reflection in the water and realized he was a beautiful swan.
So too, amongst the ignorant, the Children of Truth are despised. Realize
ones true identity and leave the ignorant flock in which one was raised.
After all, what does it benefit a swan to live amongst ducks? Do not kid
oneself that one could stay amongst the ducks in order to teach them how
to be a swan. How does one teach a duck how to be a swan while living
as a duck? It is only living as a swan which teaches, by example, how
to be a swan. It reminds me of the popular song that goes, "They
will know we are Christians by our love, by our love. Yes, they will know
we are Christians by our love." After all, in a garden of weeds,
all agree that the orchid amongst them is the only weed.
A goose was sitting on its nest of newborn goslings. A hungry fox approached
the nest to eat a gosling, but the goose loved its goslings, and was very
protective of them. After all, the goose was the gosling's sole provider.
The goose attacked the fox whenever it came near and each time, the goose
drove it away. The fox tried to entice the goose to leave the nest to
no avail. Finally, the fox concluded that it could not get the goose to
leave the nest, so the fox decided to entice the goslings out of the nest
at which time the fox could consume them. The fox made goose sounds and
hid in the tall grass and every once in awhile, a gosling that wasn't
listening carefully would leave the nest and stray over to the tall grass
where it was eaten by the fox.
God is the goose and the truth is the nest of God. The Devil and those
who do evil are like foxes which lurk outside the nest. Goslings are provided
for by the goose, the fox has to provide for itself by consuming stray
goslings. There is no hope for a fox to enter the nest as the nest is
guarded. To enter the nest, give up ones foxy ways and allow only God
to be ones provider. In other words, become like a gosling.
A boy was watching the fox in the tall grass as it captured a stray gosling.
He felt pity for the gosling which was crying out for help from the fox's
mouth. The boy took the bread and wine from his pocket which his father
had given to him for supper and offered the bread and wine to the fox
in exchange for setting the gosling free. The fox agreed to the exchange,
released the gosling and ate the boy's supper. The boy walked away pleased
with himself for having saved the gosling, but no sooner did he get beyond
the tall grass then the fox approached the boy with two goslings in its
mouth.
Again, what seems foolish with God is greater wisdom than that of mankind.
Be careful how one interferes with the affairs of God, for one may end
up doing greater harm in addition to losing ones own communion. Regardless
of whether or not one is speaking of a fox and a gosling, or a wolf and
a sheep, keep in mind that Jesus is the lamb of God, fed to the big bad
wolf which figuratively choked on his virgin wool. If one covers oneself
with the virgin wool of Jesus, the devil cannot consume one.
BLANK SLATE: We are born blank slates, perhaps too
blank. The moment we enter the world, decisions are made for us and beliefs
are implanted in our minds. We are taught our language, culture, and learn
to take on the attitudes of those around us. If a person's parents live
in error, their error, or pain, will invariably rub off on that person.
One is indirectly affected by all of ones ancestors in this way. The world
itself is in such error, that one is invariably stereotyped and discriminated
against by the ignorant, based on ones genetic appearance itself. People
are always telling us what we can do and who we are, and sometimes we
believe them. This is why one illuminates oneself and rids oneself of
the ignorance one has accepted as truth. If one doesn't, one will never
be free of ignorance and may be perpetuating it. Do not allow oneself
to be victimized in this way. Sure, some people are born wealthier than
others, but it is only an excuse that makes one assume that people are
the way they are because they were born that way. We are all born predisposed
to do evil, none of us is born enlightened.
BODY, WHAT IS THE? How easy it is to confuse ones spirit
with ones body even though ones body is changing continuously. Through
ignorance, one becomes what one appears to be. However, one is more than
just ones flesh. Ones body may simply be a ladder to get to God. The body
is the host of the spirit, and both the body and spirit are creations
of God. Should one cling to ones youthful flesh, one may find the truth
that much more difficult to accept. The body is just the vessel of ones
life. It is not the life itself. The container of the information is not
the information itself. The body is the structure built from the genetic
blue-print contained in chromosomes one inherits from each of ones parents.
The bodies we now have are temporary, and will grow old, weak, and die.
One hides from God in the self-interest of ones flesh. As one ages, the
atoms in ones body are replaced. One cell dies and another is created
to take its place. Thus, the body one has now, is not the same body one
had a year ago. Ones body, like all things, is mostly space, space between
atoms. And most of these atoms are molecules of water. In a way, one is
"living water" when one is alive. One is a body mostly of water
which calls itself "I" and is aflame with the light of life,
burning and evaporating away with entropy. Remember, however, that the
flame is not the fuel.
The health of ones consciousness is manifested in ones body. An unhealthy
mind will invariably create an unhealthy body. It's not what you're eating,
it's what's eating at you. When one finds God and sees that God dwells
inside oneself, it follows that one would stop abusing one's body by overeating
and smoking, for example. The truth one is revealed improves the health
of ones body. In other words, health is what remains when the mind has
been illuminated. Selfishness is limited by the body, spirituality is
not. The final state of enlightenment is the loss of the body through
death, but the spirit does not die with the death of the flesh.
There is much truth to the expression, "you are as old as you want
to be." Believe it or not, one may not really want to be twenty-one
forever, and as ones mind matures it may well be sending signals to mature
the body. Nevertheless, while one may prolong ones youth, death is inherently
inevitable.
