:the mind, and the beliefs:
as janice and mojo are quietly snuggled up next to me in a wonderous afternoon nap, i'm sitting on my sofa contemplating the human mind, society as an evolved entity and what place religion has in it.
i think it would be safe to say that as soon as humans developed language beyond grunts and snorts, they must have asked the question "what happens after we die..." and then someone looked up from their meal and countered, "but where did we come from...?"
over the weekend i was sitting through a series of talks by a guest speaker from india who gave some great talks about the promise and deception of Yoga. i wasn't really looking forward to this, but after the first 15 minutes, i realised that i was hearing more about the impact of Hinduism than of yoga.
if you couple my weekend with my other recent week of an introduction to Theology, it's been a mind bender. i've loved the extent of the teaching, because it's stretched my mind beyond where i have been before. it's an entirely welcomed change from the more run of the mill stuff, a lah hillsong.
what simple conclusions i've come to is that the human mind is amazing. with the ability to think, comes an ability to imagine. and that ability to imagine gives us a chance to consider things that our logic can't explain. the secular argument is that religion is just the overactive imagination to provide a dream for people to live for.
you see, in a world study of those who actually declared an answer, 87% of the worlds population said they believe in some sort of religion... and it's roughly believed that around 35% of that 87 believes in God, and Jesus as Lord and savior.
i've lived in a type of bubble. meaning that i've not really done due diligence in understanding what the other religions are teaching and believe. not the best approach, but my argument is that i'm still trying to wrap my head around my own beliefs, there's no more room in the inn for anything else.
what this doctor was teaching was that Hinduism goes down a path that i can try to sum up as self actualisation.... what is actualised is that we are all one... we are all God.
i've known some incredibly strong new age practitioners, and free-mind types... like my own mother for one. they all share a particular type of smugness... it's the... "i'm SO advanced in my beliefs that it just shows Christianity as a dated, insignificant boring set of rules." then discussion becomes difficult as i'm always face to face with someone who seems to know everything about anything and then they humor because i've such a simple belief system.
i guess what i'm saying is that when people are so into yoga, or new age, or reiki or whatever.. it's the ultimate goal that they can manipulate energy. in yoga, you can achieve inner peace, while being very healthy. with reiki, you manipulate energy to heal with your own hands. with new age, you channel energy and spirits for your own benefit.
i've noticed such a huge focus on the self. like the ultimate goal is to have power. the doctor also taught that this is exactly like what the serpent was tempting adam and eve with... eat this and you be like God....
"to be like God..."
if this is the ultimate teaching of Hinduism, or the end goal of new age... isn't that amazing that God outlined this lie in the first book of the bible?
yet at the heart of a relationship with Jesus, it's about love. sacrificial love that says i can not sit back and be quiet if injustice or inequality is rampant. i can not be comfortable if there are people around suffering. and i dont do this because i need to atone for my bad karma or because i need to. i do it because i have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and i desire to see that freedom and forgiveness spread through this whole world.
yet if that's truly what i believe... or what WE believe... why dont we do it?
i think it would be safe to say that as soon as humans developed language beyond grunts and snorts, they must have asked the question "what happens after we die..." and then someone looked up from their meal and countered, "but where did we come from...?"
over the weekend i was sitting through a series of talks by a guest speaker from india who gave some great talks about the promise and deception of Yoga. i wasn't really looking forward to this, but after the first 15 minutes, i realised that i was hearing more about the impact of Hinduism than of yoga.
if you couple my weekend with my other recent week of an introduction to Theology, it's been a mind bender. i've loved the extent of the teaching, because it's stretched my mind beyond where i have been before. it's an entirely welcomed change from the more run of the mill stuff, a lah hillsong.
what simple conclusions i've come to is that the human mind is amazing. with the ability to think, comes an ability to imagine. and that ability to imagine gives us a chance to consider things that our logic can't explain. the secular argument is that religion is just the overactive imagination to provide a dream for people to live for.
you see, in a world study of those who actually declared an answer, 87% of the worlds population said they believe in some sort of religion... and it's roughly believed that around 35% of that 87 believes in God, and Jesus as Lord and savior.
i've lived in a type of bubble. meaning that i've not really done due diligence in understanding what the other religions are teaching and believe. not the best approach, but my argument is that i'm still trying to wrap my head around my own beliefs, there's no more room in the inn for anything else.
what this doctor was teaching was that Hinduism goes down a path that i can try to sum up as self actualisation.... what is actualised is that we are all one... we are all God.
i've known some incredibly strong new age practitioners, and free-mind types... like my own mother for one. they all share a particular type of smugness... it's the... "i'm SO advanced in my beliefs that it just shows Christianity as a dated, insignificant boring set of rules." then discussion becomes difficult as i'm always face to face with someone who seems to know everything about anything and then they humor because i've such a simple belief system.
i guess what i'm saying is that when people are so into yoga, or new age, or reiki or whatever.. it's the ultimate goal that they can manipulate energy. in yoga, you can achieve inner peace, while being very healthy. with reiki, you manipulate energy to heal with your own hands. with new age, you channel energy and spirits for your own benefit.
i've noticed such a huge focus on the self. like the ultimate goal is to have power. the doctor also taught that this is exactly like what the serpent was tempting adam and eve with... eat this and you be like God....
"to be like God..."
if this is the ultimate teaching of Hinduism, or the end goal of new age... isn't that amazing that God outlined this lie in the first book of the bible?
yet at the heart of a relationship with Jesus, it's about love. sacrificial love that says i can not sit back and be quiet if injustice or inequality is rampant. i can not be comfortable if there are people around suffering. and i dont do this because i need to atone for my bad karma or because i need to. i do it because i have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and i desire to see that freedom and forgiveness spread through this whole world.
yet if that's truly what i believe... or what WE believe... why dont we do it?
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