No More Why's

I once posted on Twitter "Like a scientific experiment karma can be put to practice purposefully to see if it's true or not. Change yourself & you'll see."

Between free will, karma and reincarnation, the "why" of absolutely everything is explained. The question "why did this happen" no longer exists in one's consciousness because it's fully recognized, as a result of personal experience, that everything is the result of one's own past actions, thoughts, opinions, beliefs, perceptions, views, emotions and attitudes (which are all a choice), either in this physical life, or in past ones.

There's never anything or anybody else to blame for anything because the way "others" act towards you is a mirror of yourself. "They" are you. It's all you, all the time. The Allness of life is Self.



Journey Between Lives - Hypnosis & Reincarnation
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A More Accurate Bible

The book "Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" takes a close academic look at the Bible by going back to the original writings, which were written in the ancient Aramaic language. By doing this, the author, Bart Ehrman, discovers an astounding amount of errors, flaws and discrepancies in the Greek and English translations that we have been reading, studying and practicing for centuries.

He then goes on to explain the many reasons why there are so many mistakes, but his book was written primarily to explain these "why's", and it's by no means a new translation of the entire Bible. Far from it.

Fortunately for us there was a man named George Lamsa.

But before we get to Lamsa's work, we should understand that the many books included in the Bible weren't written until several decades, or even a century or two after the fact, often by anonymous random people who never even witnessed the teachings firsthand. Thus, the recorded accuracy of what was originally taught is highly questionable, but despite this it's obvious that the Bible still has some very important teachings in it.

So, despite the many flaws and errors that are contained in the Bible, we still want to read it to improve our lives.

While it's pretty much impossible to know what the exact words and teachings of Jesus and the various Saints were, we have to work with what we have, and what we have is the "original" texts written in Aramaic.

Unbeknownst to most people, there was a man named George M. Lamsa that translated the entire Aramaic Bible directly into the English language! Naturally, it's far more accurate than the versions that have been translated into Greek, and then later into English, by people who sometimes had hidden intentions and agendas.

If you enjoyed the immensely popular "Misquoting Jesus", "The Holy Bible: From the Ancient Eastern Text" is a perfect compliment to it. You could say that Ehrman gave us step one by explaining that our Bible does indeed have flaws, and Lamsa gave us step two by giving us a proper translation, except Lamsa's Bible has been available since 1985 while Ehrman's book is only 2 years old.

Is the LOA Spiritual?

Practicing the "law of attraction" as taught by the movie The Secret basically breaks down into "my will be done."

Practicing the spiritual teachings as taught by Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Jesus, Krishna, and so on, breaks down into "Thy will be done."

That's a huge difference.

So, is practicing the LOA really a spiritual practice if it's constantly fueling the desires of the ego instead of surrendering the ego and its workings to God/Truth/Love?

When looked at in this light, the LOA is all about the me, mine and I, while true spiritual practices are all about losing the me, mine and I.

It's no wonder that it's said that "God laughs at our plans". We're all too eager to try to control every aspect of our life, but where does that leave the perfect infallible Will of God that always knows what's in the best interest of All? (That which is everything, knows everything.)

A Zen Master once said "Don’t try to win. Go out with nothing in your mind. Give up the thought, 'This is how I’m going to win.'"

Aurobindo taught that "None of us are here to 'do as we like', or to create a world in which we shall at last be able to do as we like; we are here to do what the Divine wills and to create a world in which the Divine Will can manifest its truth no longer deformed by human ignorance or perverted and mistranslated by vital desire."

It's important to remember that the word "spiritual" refers to the non-material and non-physical, so the practice of spirituality is the evolving beyond the material & materiality.

A Course in Miracles says "Those who perceive and acknowledge that they have everything have no need for driven behavior of any kind." Since this quote is taken out of the context of the whole I should make clear that by "have everything" it means "are everything". And that's what Oneness is; all of existence is Oneself. What's there to get, gain or obtain when you are already the Allness of Existence?

Spirituality & Buddhist Jokes

Practically every person who has ever looked into psychotherapy, spirituality or medicine understands the healing properties of smiling, laughter and humor. It's a well known scientific fact, and I don't feel it's necessary to explain the topic when it's already been done by countless others, so let's skip straight to the laughing part...

When asked what he wanted for his birthday the Yogi replied, "I wish for no gifts, only presence."

Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused novocaine during root canal work? He wanted to transcend dental medication.

What do you call a schizophrenic Buddhist? Someone who is at two with the universe.

How many psychotherapists does it take to change a light bulb? Just one, but only if the light bulb really wants to change.

How many Zen masters does is take to change a light bulb? None, there is no light bulb. http://bit.ly/HuangPo

The waffle company created a product for Buddhists. The slogan is "Leggo my ego."

The spiritual student walked up to a hotdog stand and said "Make me one with everything."

Heard about the new Buddhist vacuum cleaner? It comes with no attachments.

Nisargadatta Maharaj loved animals and even made a pet food product called "IAMS Cat". http://bit.ly/IAmThat

Nisargadatta Maharaj wrote a Broadway play called "Thats", but it had no story.

People thought there were 2 lake monsters, but actually there's only one-ness.

Sorry, I didn't mean for my karma to run over your dogma.

I just got lost in thought. It was unfamiliar territory.

What's the difference between Peace and Nirvana? Peace became popular in the 60's and Nirvana became popular in the 90's.

What's Krishna's favorite video game? Gita Hero. http://bit.ly/Gita

Meditation - It's better than sitting around and doing nothing.

I hear that the classic fable by Aesop is being rewritten with a religious twist. The new version is called "The Torahtoise and the Hare Krishna."

Feel free to comment and add your own! :)