Religions

Last Saturday when I went to training I found a large group of people in the same parking structure who came to the same hotel for a completely different reason. The people seemed friendly and there were little kids they had with them. I was confused. Who are these people, what sort of event are they here for, and why are they dressed up? It turns out they were Jehova's Witnesses.

I kind of wanted to go over and talk to them to see what their religion was all about, but I chickened out. Last Saturday was not my day.

I talked to my friend Steph about the religion. I said, "I don;t know much about their religion. I know they're pretty much Christian. I know they're known for going door to door asking people to join their faith. It sort of makes sense that they would have their "church" at a hotel convention since I don't think they have an actual church."

Stephy just said, "Yah". I could tell she wasn't very into the topic, so I asked her, "What's your religion?" She said she was catholic, but she has been busy for a while so she hasn't gone to mass or church in several months. I don't remember what I said afterwords. I think I mentioned that my dad's side of the family was Presbyterian and we use to go to church for Easter out of respect for our grandma- and to visit with her. I got the vibe Stephy didn't really want to talk about religion. She kept glancing around the room in other directions. I hate when people do that. It's like they're looking around to jump ship. If you don't really want to talk to me, leave. Either that or take charge of the conversation and discuss something else you're interested in.

Erg. I don't know why people don't discuss religion more often. Everyone is hyper-sensitive. They want to appear to be open-minded so they don't bring up the topic because they don't want to "offend anyone" by having different views or saying something offensive on accident about another person's beliefs.

I think when you're not open, when you don't share, when you avoid things, when you block out... You're a wall. People are sponges. We have physical bodies that prevent certain things from getting in. Selectively permeable. But we also have spirits/souls/life forces that extend beyond ourselves and blend into everything around us. when you prevent thoughts and people from coming in, and you prevent your thoughts and beliefs from going out, You Become a Wall -like a sponge would become a concreted, dry brick.

My religion: I have a belief system based on various religions. Like a sponge, I acknowledge what each religion is about, I acknowledge the flaws or poor qualities each religion has, and I take in the Truths and Good Qualities I find. There's a religion called Jainism that believes no one religion holds all the truth, just like no one person has all the truth. We all have fragments of it and when we share the truth we come together with the Whole Truth.

Jainism: It's similar to Buddhism. They stress above all else to cause as little pain to yourself and others in this life as humanly possible. Like is common for all religions, some members are more die-hard-core than others. In it's most extreme, especially in the past, there are Jain's who were for lack of a better word, "anorexic". They see killing animals for food as a crime- a killing of the life force we all share. The same goes for plants. They will only eat fruit that has fallen from the tree. They don't flavor their vegetables 6 months out of the year they don't want to enjoy food (i.e. killing for food). In India they actually bring a cow -an animal they have great respect for- door to door so that people can get milk. They will let the cow's calf drink first and then take whatever is left over. The calf's well-being comes first. Some me,bers are also "Sky Clad", or nudists. Others avoid stepping on grass for fear of squishing tiny instects they deem just as relevant as human life. It's a beautiful religion. Not many would go to those extremes to stress the importance of all forms of life -not just human. They believe we are all connected spiritually and to kill an animal or a plant, in a way, is like killing yourself.

Buddhism: Buddhism is very similar. They stress the concepts of 1. Ending Suffering -your own and other's, 2. Karma, 3. Reaching Enlightenment/ Spiritual Freedom/ Serenity/ Compassionate Detachment

1. Everyone suffers. Buddhism says what makes people suffer most is attachment to things. Not Letting Go. You attach yourself to objects, people, outcomes, places, life... You get Loss. Everything is transient. Nothing lasts forever. Loss causes suffering. You want to end your pain, you need to let go. But don;t just detach yourself mentally and spiritually from life by avoiding it. Treat everything compassionately. Care. Love. Embrace. These things release your soul. They use a candle flame as an example. We are all made up of the same spiritual stuff- when we hold our souls to ourselves we are like a single flame. We we expand and let go and seep into the world around us and connect to everything, we are a United Fire.

2. Karma.This concept has been convoluted from its original context by the western culture. It does not mean if somebody cuts you off in traffic they will lose a $20 bill later that day. Karma means: when you hurt others and you do negative things you become a negative, hurtful individual. When you die, all that remains of you is your spirit. That negativity pollutes your soul and weighs you down. When you come back in the next life, you will be coming up from below. It will be sh*tty. You have less say in the hand you get dealt in life. You may be born homeless, grow to suffer from a disease, have a violent upbringing, die at a young age... And you will have no memory of your former life and the reasons why this one ends to be sucking so bad. This is Karma. The universe isn't punishing you, you are suffering by your own choices. You create your own suffering.

3. Reaching Enlightenment/ Spiritual Freedom/ Serenity/ Compassionate Detachment. You need to uplift yourself. When you radiate positivity and inspire others to do the same, your soul becomes lighter. When you die, your soul s not attached to anything and it can cross-over and go upward. If you get reincarnated again, you will have a good life. In this one, the challenges you face will be stones thrown into the ocean. You will not sink with them, you will engulf them into yourself and wait for the surface to become clear and calm again. They will pass right through you without altering you. To do this you need to act compassionately towards the world, while not attaching yourself to its trials and tribulations.

Buddhism also has a version of "sinning". This is an extension of their concept of Karma. Buddhism doesn't say, "If you do this, you will suffer for it when you die." Buddhism says, "Do what you want, whatever you want, but know that the consequences of your actions can corrupt you as a person and lead you down a dark road that has more struggles. Buddhism sees life as Samsara -a never ending cycle where people are swimming and drowning and swimming and drowning. Buddhism argues for you to reach the shore.

Christianity: It's a pretty broad category. Lots of different beliefs and branches. There's Catholic, Presbyterian, Agnostic (That was my grandpa. He got "overchurched" as a kid), Angelican, Lutheran, Calvinist, Quaker, Mormon... I like to lump them all in the same category: Christian. It's like Buddhism. They have the same core beliefs, but because no 2 people are alike, they have differing opinions on the way to live their life having taken those things into consideration. Get over it. Instead of holding our different beliefs against each other, why not connect to our shared beliefs -especially the primary one that There is a God, a one and only God, Who created us, Who loves us as his children and extensions of Himself, Who wants us to Unite and Love each other, Who wants us to find Pace in this Life and Peace within Ourselves, and Who wants us to come to Him of our own Volition.

I don't know why people have to make things so complicated. They get in heated debates over who Jesus was -Was he God in flesh?, Was he the Son of God?, Was he an Alien?, Was he the last Messiah?, Why did he like fish so much?...

Let it Go people. There was a man named Jesus who graced the Earth with his presence 2000 ago. Whether or not you believe was a Spiritual Leader or God Incarnate- He was a Being that only lived for one lifetime and yet is still talked about passionately to this day because of the things he did 2000 years ago. o one talks about Leonardo DiVinci the way they talk about Jesus. Nor Martin Luther King Jr. Nor Abraham Lincoln. Nor Gandhi. As much respect we have for those individuals, no one feels the same about them and no one is capable of being moved by them on the same level as the figure of Jesus Christ. A church speaker talked about Jesus once. He said, "Jesus lived in a time when Mercy was seen as a weakness. You never showed your enemies mercy, you killed them to show your strength. Jesus taught that Mercy had a greater Strength in it, than Vengeance." The impact he had on that culture, to not just argue against established views, but to Act against those views in a way that gave Light and Peace is something of a miracle in itself.

"Sin". This is where a lot of people lose site of the great messages Christianity has to offer. They argue for Compassionate Detachment as well. Jesus looked toward his people like a Shepard over his flock. He loved his followers, but was not attached to any one in particular. He had his close buddies, but he loved all equally and was attached to no one in particular equally. He knew everyone was One in God.  But people lose site of all that when you mention the word "sin". I think they fear being accused of the way they live their lives or fear others holding their actions against them. Here's how sin works in reality: God doesn't sit up there looking down saying, "You're saved, that person's saved, that person's cool, not that one- that one's damned, that ones damned, that one cut that guy off on the freeway yesterday- he's damned... We damn ourselves. Jesus Saves  by trying to show us a good path to follow to reach the Higher ground. And we drown ourselves. Don't do messed up things and you won't become a messed up individual. Sins distract us from that higher, spiritual place, and they mask our souls from ourselves and others.

Scientology: I don't know anything about Scientology. I know they mention "enrons"? "engramms"? They mentioned space aliens and ghosts of space alien, and our brains being lied to about "false stories" about Christianity... It sounds complicated. But in their defense I will say this, No one commits to a religion out of stupidity. I mean granted a few morons would, but Most people are rational. If a friend told you to become Jewish, ould you? Just because they asked and managed to drag you to temple a couple times? No. People choose religions for themselves based on the logical and spiritual connections they made to a particular religion. So, if there are That many people involved in Scientology, maybe there's something to it most people on the outside don't bother paying attention to. I would at least be open to hearing about it if someone honestly wanted to talk to me about it.

Islam: Given the context in which the religion of Islam was created, it was a good thing at the time. Muhammad advocated more than anything for Widows and Orphans. These were the people suffering most in their Hellscape of a society at the time. Islam also has that special Charity Tax, which is pretty amazing. Once a year people give 1/3 of everything they own to the less fortunate. Can you imagine the U.S. doing that? No one would be left wanting. I disagree with the Islamic concept of revenge being justified. especially when you consider the fact that it allows people to kill people who once had a relative that killed a their relative over 100 years ago. But I don't know how you can claim to Christian and burn a Koran. It mentions Jesus in there. It praises ad acknowledges Abraham, Moses, God/Allah/Yaweh, and all the other important religious figures. You're burning pages that have the name of your savior on it. Dumbasses...

Personal Experiences: I can vouch for certain things that aren't necessarily in religions or at least not mentioned or validated by them frequently. Ghosts exist. It's not a happy fact. It's not like I go "Yay ghosts exist". I don't enjoy talking about it. But it is truth. My mom's house is haunted. I moved into that house when I was 12. Lived there until I was 18. Occasionally go back to visit- never for longer than a week at a time. So yah, when people die there is a place I call "Limbo" where they no longer have their physical bodies, but they still have their spirit/soul in the present physical realm. They stay for various reasons. Imagine getting killed suddenly in a violent way? The death of a family member would be hard enough to deal with, let alone your own demise. Others stay because they afraid what's on the other side. Some fear Hell. The evil stay to torment. The good sometimes choose to stay to help -especially those who have living relatives they want to watch over and protect. Spiritual energy is powered by personal will, a concentrated amount of electricity, and focused energy. This is why it's important to learn to let go. You need to be spiritually uplifted and compassionately detached from this life.