DICTIONARY & ANECDOTES
CHOICE VS. DECISION:
Choice is the enforcement, or affirmation, of a decision. All choices
one makes are based on an underlying decision one has made. When one makes
a choice one is carrying out a decision, so if ones decision is aberrant
then so is ones choice to act upon it, and therefore so is ones behavior.
One cannot make a choice until one makes a decision. In other words, even
to choose to make a decision is really to choose to enforce the decision
to make a decision. Choosing not to decide is really enforcing the decision
not to decide, or to do nothing.
CHOSEN PEOPLE? The concept of God and the idea of
a chosen people may seem incompatible. However, if the first family of
man fell in sin and was scattered across the Earth forming tribes, then
whatever tribe rediscovered the true God first and repented of their sinful
ways might be considered the "chosen" people. For it may well
be that there is a tribe for every transgression, and no tribe without
transgression. The concept of a chosen people is similar to the idea of
divine election. It is a sort of Catch- 22 idea.
Though the Jews could be said to have first rediscovered and found favor
with the one true God, no one really finds God unless God wants them too.
After all, God is ultimately in control of everything. God's favor goes
with those who love God. No one is chosen until he or she chooses God.
In other words, the Jews were not "chosen" by random. If one
does not choose God, one is not God's chosen. The Jews, who were slaves
in Egypt, and who found their way out of captivity by God's grace, had
already been chosen to suffer. God gave them the law so that this tribe,
which has been so despised even to this day, might set themselves apart
from the other tribes of mankind and become an example to all tribes,
having a higher standard.
Thus it is, that God's plan from the beginning, was for Jesus to be Jewish
in his flesh, and yet, ironically today and also by God's design, most
Jews do not follow Jesus. Could the Jews have fallen out of favor because
of this? After all, the Jewish race today might even be considered the
most persecuted race on the Earth. Could this be a result of claiming
to know the father but not recognizing his son? SEE SPIRITUAL
SOAP
CHURCH, SHOULD ONE GO TO? God is not a business.
Despite the appearances of many churches, many are not churches of God,
but of men. There are people practicing "church-ianity" rather
than Christianity. Beware, lest you enter a fold of wolves dressed in
sheep's clothing. The physical temples of God one may read about in the
Old Testament have been fulfilled in Christ who was the living temple
of God which was destroyed and resurrected in three days. Christ has sent
us the Holy Spirit so that we might each become temples of God as Christ
was.
When one finds that God is everywhere, then one finds God in oneself and
is aware that one may become oneself a temple of God. In other words,
you are always in church. You are a living church of God and your temple
goes with you wherever you are. Therefore you can worship the goodness
of God wherever you are, as God is with those that have accepted God.
In fact, it is the sum total of believers in Jesus Christ that is his
Church, not the buildings one may worship in. The word "church"
itself means "people of the end times."
Many a "church" today seems a congregation of ignorant hypocrites.
They want for others what they do not want for themselves. They want a
chaste minister, but few are willing to become so illuminated as to be
chaste themselves. Their minister should say "What will my chastity
do for you?" Rather than finding enlightenment themselves, it is
as if many of the congregation are rooting on the enlightenment of their
preacher! Many churches today contain programs of seemingly pointless
ritual devotions, and other misinterpretations of the teachings of God.
Much of the ritual seen in churches today looks suspiciously like that
which Jesus found and condemned in the synagogues. Many seem a business,
and businesses survive by maximizing profit and minimizing expenditures.
But wait! Are not the people who attend church the same people who are
pursuing enlightenment? It's easy for people to see the hypocrisy happening
in many churches and point out the shortcomings, but what are they themselves
doing about it? Church is what one makes of it and is only as good as
its congregation. It is good to be in fellowship with like believers.
Venture to the other side of that stained glass and make it a better place!
CIRCUMCISION: Many practices in the Old Testament
are precursors to the coming of Christ and have spiritual significance
and meaning and should be examined in this way. Abraham circumcised, or
cut back the foreskin of the male children of his tribe to show that they
were circumcised, or cut away and set apart from the rest of the tribes,
and thus, marked as God's own. It was first called the "bridegroom
of blood". With the coming of Christ and the Kingdom of God in Christ,
one finds the physical practice no longer necessary and in fact fulfilled
in the coming of Christ. In Christ, we are to figuratively circumcise
our hearts and ears unto the Lord. In circumcising our ears and hearts
unto God, we effectively circumcise ourselves from the rest of mankind
and set ourselves apart from the rest of mankind by being ushered into
the Kingdom of Truth as revealed in Christ.
CLEAN LIVING, WHAT IS? One who knows his or her body
is a temple of God will take care of it and respect it, for the temple
of God is a holy place. One is living clean when one thinks clearly, exercises,
stops smoking and drinking, stops eating foods which one knows are bad
for ones health, and finds God. In exchange for giving up the evil in
ones life, one receives health, peace, joy, and life fulfillment. This
is the way of living right. One continues to do self-destructive behaviors
because one has not made the decision to stop them. By failing to get
control over these things, one becomes a slave to them. God is ones only
master, do not let anything else become ones master. A person who knows
God knows the right way to see is clearly. However, a clean body does
not mean a clean spirit. Likewise, an unclean body does not mean an unclean
spirit. As Jesus said, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the spirit is spirit."-John 3:6
CLINGING: Clinging is attachment, and therefore
it is a cause of pain. Clinging is the inability to let go. Clinging keeps
one from seeing the truth and causes suffering. One clings to things that
perpetuate ones delusions. One may cling to the past, but if one is living
in the past how can one live in the present and how can one prepare for
ones future? One may cling to life. One may cling to fear of death. One
may cling to pain and pleasure. One may cling to power, youth, and wealth.
One may cling to all of the pleasures of this world out of ones ignorance.
Why does one cling? One clings because one is scared of the truth. It
is a truth hidden by excuses, fear, ignorance, and delusion. One is scared
of the truth hidden by the thing one clings to. Why is one so scared of
the truth even though the truth is exactly what will set one free? It
is the clinging to what is not true that is causing the pain! What is
this truth? The truth is that what one clings to is not lasting and only
temporary. What one clings to one cannot take with one because it is not
of spirit. One clings to things of this world and of the flesh. The past
is gone, the future does not yet exist and the present passes instantly.
COHESION: The degree of unanimity between components
of a system. When likeness increases, cohesion increases. A high degree
of unanimity equals high cohesion and a low degree of unanimity equals
low cohesion.
COMMANDMENTS, THE TEN: According to the Bible,
the ten commandments, or Decalogue, are the ten "words", or
commandments, written "with the finger of God" given to Moses.
God's will is for us to live according to these ten commandments. They
sum up God's law in the Old Testament of the Bible. If one examines each
of the ten commandments and thinks about the consequences of breaking
any one of them, one can see how it certainly does appear as though it
is the will of God to for us to keep each one of them. It is also clear
to see that if one could keep all ten commandments all of the time, that
ones life would be free of the slavery of sin. By becoming the law made
flesh, Jesus reveals the true meaning of the law and our position in relation
to the law.
COMMUNION: Many people do not understand the word
communion. The "commun" in "communion" is the same
"commun" as in "communication". Many people look at
communion and think that they are eating bread and wine that have changed
into flesh and blood. The bread and wine have not been transformed literally.
It's still just regular old bread and wine atomically even when consecrated.
The bread and wine are not actually the flesh and blood of Christ, but
are symbolic of such. After all, Jesus was there himself when he gave
communion for the first time to his apostles.
Communion is largely symbolic of the Passover in Egypt in which those
who would save their firstborn sons put lamb's blood on their doorframes
as a sign that they were God's people and so that the angel of Death might
"passover" and spare them. As it took the death of his own firstborn
son to change the heart of Pharoah and set the Jews free from bondage,
God has allowed the death of God's own son Jesus to be the lamb of God
to change our hearts and be our substitute. Our bodies are the temples
of God and taking communion is in a way similar to "putting the blood
on our doorframes" so to speak, so that the angel of death might
pass us by.
The meaning of communion is to eat, drink, and digest the message of Christ.
Get your identity in the consecrated Eucharist, which is the sacrifice
of the mass. The point is that you are to be transformed by taking his
message into yourself. "Eat", or take in his message regarding,
the "bread", which is a symbol of how one should be in the flesh.
And "Drink", or take into yourself the medicine of his message
regarding, the "wine", which is a symbol of blood, or spiritual
life. Communion is a symbolic demonstration of one's belief in Christ
as paying the price that could not be paid for the sin of mankind by dying
innocently on a cross as a sacrifice and being resurrected. It is a remembrance
ceremony in which one reaffirms ones identity in Christ.
A disciple asked his priest what type of wine to use for communion. His
priest responded, "Genuine." Do not forget that wine is the
juice of fruit, and bearing good fruit by grafting oneself to the vine
of truth is ones spiritual goal.
COMPONENT: An individual member of a system.
COMPROMISE: Compromise is making concessions
for a greater purpose. Do not make concessions regarding truth. To settle
for less than 100% satisfaction is to never be 100% satisfied. On the
other hand, there is room for compromise on "non- essentials".
As St. Augustine said, "On essentials, unity; On non-essentials,
liberty; and in all things, charity." Take a stand against threats
to essentials leading to true faith, but on many spiritual things, allow
a certain degree of liberty.
How is one ever to be content when one does not achieve ones goals in
their entirety? "Selling out" is the term one finds most associated
with compromise which implies that one has a price on ones head. Do not
have a price on your head or it will be paid! There is no room for compromise
in truth, which is the Kingdom of Heaven. How can you ever become enlightened
if you walk with one foot on the clear path of righteousness and the other
in the weeds?
Likewise, how can you get to your destination if you only walk half way
there? Why settle for half a crown? Half a crown will fall from your head.
One may not stand in the doorway and yet still enter the kingdom because
the door will eventually be shut at a time one does not expect. When all
have been given the opportunity to enter, the door to the Kingdom of Heaven
shall close and it will be too late for those standing half- hearted in
the doorway. They will be shut out.
CONCENTRATION, WHAT IS? Concentration is more
than the usual amount of conscious discrimination and focus on a particular
sensory reception or memory. It's purpose is either to remember or expose
the truth about some knowledge or reality itself. Concentration helps
one find truth in noise and noise in what is mistaken for truth.
CONCEPTS: Concepts are the names given to associations
of observations. Concepts are used to communicate ones observations. Even
to say that nothing can be said about God is to say something. Words are
concepts. The word "ball" for example, is a concept of the actual
thing. The word "ball" is not the ball, it is the name given
to ones idea of a ball. In fact, many languages have different words for
the same thing!
Concepts are actually traumas. For example, when someone points to a round
object and says "ball", he or she is in fact forcing one to
make an association between the word "ball" and the thing itself.
This is why people have mistaken ideas about themselves, God, and the
world. They have been forced to make erroneous concepts. Open oneself
to the percept and let go of the concept.
Ones concepts have meaning according to ones own individual concept dictionaries.
For each concept one has, one may have many of their own unique observations
regarding that concept. Alphabets themselves, are agreed upon sets of
conceptualized symbols. Ones "self" is actually a complex concept
built upon all of ones observations and beliefs.
Communication can be difficult when people's concepts do not agree. In
a person's attempts to communicate, a person may use words that have different
meanings to different people. This is the problem of equivocation. Also,
when one hears a word that is not in ones own personal internal dictionary,
one cannot translate the concept into observation and communication quality
is compromised. Likewise, when one hears a word that has many possible
meanings one cannot be sure if one is translating the concept into the
intended observation. Further, each language contains many unwritten concepts
which can best be discribed as usage because concepts themselves have
a pecking order and are strung together and used in a certain procedure.
The more that people are in agreement on the meaning of concepts, the
better people will be able to communicate with each other.
Since concepts are in fact traumas, direct perception is far superior
to communication using concepts. Seeing is believing. Concepts can be
stumbling blocks to truth. Overcome concepts and live in truth.
CONCEPTUALIZATION: Conceptualization is
associating observations with a concept. It is "giving meaning"
to something. Art is conceptualization. The creation of new words and
languages is conceptualization.
CONCLUSIONS, WHAT ARE? Conclusions are decisions
which become beliefs. When one collects enough observations about something
to form a valid logical argument, the reasoning portion of ones mind infers
conclusions regarding such observations. The conclusion automatically
becomes a belief the first time it is affirmed. Another word used for
belief is "conviction."
CONFESSION: Confession is the disclosure of ones
transgressions. Confession serves many purposes. For starters, it exposes
what cannot be hidden from God and from oneself to begin with. Confession
frees oneself of the guilt one holds inside oneself regarding ones transgressions.
It facilitates reconciliation with God when one accepts responsibility,
makes amends for what one has done, and lays ones sin at the "foot
of the cross". One must admit that one is oneself sick before one
takes the medicine that is Christ's sacrifice on the cross to atone for
the sins of the world.
CONFIDENCE, WHAT IS? Confidence is a faith belief
that one will act right, and exhibit appropriate behavior when a choice
is made to act upon a particular belief. It is actually a measure of the
amount of doubt, or error, in any given belief. If ones beliefs are free
from doubt, ones behavior will also be free from doubt. If one knows one
can do something well, but does not believe it, then one is doomed to
fail. Doubt causes one to fail, despite ones talents. Success is built
on confidence. Confidence is a belief free from pain. A confident belief
is a clean belief that when executed results in successful behavior.
Doubt is like a decision which has not been made one way or the other.
Illuminate beliefs which contain doubt and increase confidence. Remove
doubt in beliefs and become successful.
CONSCIOUS: Aware that one is aware. Knowingly
receiving information from the external environment through the senses
and discriminating this information. If one is alive and awake, one is
conscious. The conscious mind discriminates the data which enters the
senses dividing it into two groups: observation and noise. The conscious
mind is the visible portion of an iceberg which exists above the water.
It is the fiery plasma of life that is "awake".
