soma

This is a great thread. I see building the church starting with group contemplations at private homes with the practise created by the individuals. It could be a group meditation, starting with chant or song and ending with the same and/or discussion. One candle lighting another will create a storm that will shake foundations.

Gibran, said Children are the teachers. I think because they are fresh from the otherside. We are conditioned to the physical world and I guess we are conditioning our children too. Christ transforms us from being hostage to the world to being children of divine consciousness.

God is Omnipotent and Almighty. He created mankind and formed each idnividual and is guiding each one of us in a different way. I kneel in awe at His power how he teaches in Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, the Torah, and the Bible. I praise His workmanship. How wonderful it is to hear his word in all these ways and to slip our hand into his/hers in any culture or path we choose. I thank Jesus for being the wellspring of knowledge, health, wisdom, and mercy in my vessel so I can see him everywhere guiding all in an individual way. The sun is setting we all see a different path leading to it, but the sun is the same. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!

Special Ed students are our teachers. They do say what they want and their bodies are a collection of bad memories some good that they call home, but they can help us transform fear to joy and frustration to fulfillment either in ourselves or others. If they can show us our weakness so we can transform ourselves to see innocently a new way in a fresh world, they are our teachers. Are they the thorns in Jesus's crown?

Enjoyed this quote, Aletheia. I'm hoping that as the church moves out of the 20th century and into the 21st, it will be transformed into a church that desires, fosters, and encourages this awareness. We don't need more doctrines. We don't need more creeds. We need people who are aware -- to God, to each other, to the world, to ourselves. When we become truly aware, we become truly alive.

ebloomer you are right on Having considered that everything is pure consciousness, we are now ready to turn to the question of how this vision of life helps an individual with his or her own possibilities in life. Understanding the unity of the world amidst its many challenges and threats gives us insights into the growth and flow of all natural life. The more we understand God’s divine outlook, the more we will be delighted, successful and victorious in our new beginning because holding mentally to a positive attitude creates success in this victorious process called “living”. It gives us access to every good. When we are trying to bring balance in our lives, trying to solve problems, we can get positive results by thinking of Christ and his consciousness. He said, “Lord let thy will be done.” Let pure consciousness flow through my mind in the form of ideas, feelings and insights, and let the divine results appear. This attitude is healthy and much more relaxing than rushing about trying to force people, things and situations our way. God can only do for us what He can do through us, we our just a part of His divine plan. God’s intelligence will work out the details and work through us for our success, if we let Him. Unity is powerful because it gives us a positive attitude, the sense of peace in the midst of chaos and access to everything that is good. Respect

The child symbolizes the pure and instantaneous feelings of creative intelligence. This child is delivered out of the womb of pure consciousness through Mother Nature herself, located in the depths of our own human nature. Christ said, "Unless you become as a child you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." He didn't mean for us to become childish but pure, innocent and unrehearsed. The infant emerges threatened by the negative perspectives of the world in the lower layers, to the higher layers of the mind where the function is to comfort and give refuge to others. Jesus is also pictured as this divine child ready to redeem mankind from its ignorance and misery. This mystical child is the co-coordinating point in the mind because it is between the ower and the higher layers of the mind. In this layer the instinctive demands are given recognition, but the center of gravity of the total personality shifts its position. The position ceases to be in the ego that dominates the first two layers, but instead becomes located in a hypothetical place between the conscious and the unconscious mind. If this reorganization is effective, a personality develops that suffers only in the lower layers, but not in the upper layers of the mind where one is detached from pain and pleasure. The re-birth of this improved personality is the groundwork for the second coming of Christ in the higher realms. The people who achieve Christ Consciousness today are not crucified, but they are made fun of, nor are they appreciated or understood even though they are within the comprehension of a child.

I thought the Quakers were liberal in a good sense. I like the way they commune with the silence, but I have only visited their service a few times.

For me the soul is not to be realized by studying and taking instructions because it is not realized by the intellect or learning, but by the person who longs for the Truth and to such a person the soul reveals the true being. With help from above or God's pure consciousness I can get out of my mental situation, but this help can only come when it is requested or when I am open for it. Jesus said, "Knock and the door shall be opened", and the knock usually happens when I have arrived at the end of my self-destructive tendencies. If it wasn't asked for or accepted, it would interfere with my free will and a violation of free choice. This asking is called prayer, prayer is not just asking for certain actions or objects, soliciting God as if He were withholding, begging Him as if He were not willing. Prayer is just the simple organization of my thoughts so I can think about what I really desire, but it should be for what is good and does no harm to others. The real purpose of prayer is simply and solely to arrange my thoughts so that I will be open up for the realization from above. Everything moves from thought to action, some call this magic. It goes thought, idea and then it manifest so unless there is first an image the thought cannot move. Prayer, which is a mental act, accepts an image in the mind as an answer, then celestial energies act upon it so it can manifest. We should give thanks for everything good or bad because one has to believe that one has the answers to the prayers asked, this is the image that is to be manifest.

I feel the evil persons have not realized the differences between the concerns with true value and the affairs that are insignificant so they often invert their interest, giving the greatest value to the things that are worthless. A developed person will see the genuine value of his affairs and will know what is good and what is bad in his life. He or she will be charitable because he will see good and bad in all people and in all things. If a person has acted right, he has done well and will feel happy; misery lives after evil is finished. Corruption and temptation are in the lower layers of the mind where one misunderstands, fails and suffers for one's own stupidity. It is up to us to return to an honorable, happy, peaceful existence by correcting our human mistakes and entering the higher layers of our minds through a consciousness of unity. As Christians this consciousness of unity is Christ consciousness or the way of the cross.

Reason does not destroy faith, but fulfills it so we can use our intelligence as a path to spiritual awareness and when our intellect can say no more, our instinctive spiritual view of life takes over. This provides us with a kind of intuitive perception of God as He is reflected in creation. It is so nice when night falls, but then sunrise is great too. Trying to figure things out spaces me out so again I try to understand what happened.

Fatherman, You write what I am thinking also. I like the word Christ Consciousness because it communicates to me everyday, teaching me the way of the cross, leading me to God the Father or the all encompassing pure consciousness of God.

A quote that comes to mind is "Don't cast your pearls before the swine." They don't know the value of the spiritual gems you are throwing out there so they will just run it into the ground. Your being a spiritual Christian communicating with Christ consciousness is enough to move anyone without saying a word. I really like the post about forming a new vocabulary. I relate to it and can not add anything it was said perfectly.

Einstein said that no scientific law is discovered without intuition so of course, we submit the data to the rational mind, but we see the whole picture in the higher layers. They sees thoughts in an expanded, brighter light, which enables us to see and piece different ideas, philosophies and data together. Great ideas don't come from small-minded men; they first come from the higher deeper layers of the mind before they are established in the lower layers. When we reflect on unity in the higher layers, we get acquainted with different spiritual aspirations and endeavors realizing that there are different upward paths in a variety of religions. As we climb and scale the mind from the lower layers to the higher layers the differences in traditional religions diminish because all paths that ascend lead to God's pure consciousness. Evolution of knowledge comes from inside and then is built into the life outside in a life of love and unity. Present lives are mostly dominated by reason; this is a great and devastating misconception because the layers of the mind that deal with everyday activities do not embrace the totality of man. The contents of these layers consist of only a small part of the whole, but the higher layers form the greater part that has an enormous expanse with no designated limits. The climb is hard, but the view is fantastic. We start climbing at different heights and with different guides, may that guide be a scientist, philosopher, Jesus or Buddha doesn't matter as long as one is heading towards the north star which guides everyone. People change guides and paths all the time, but let us chear them on. Onward Christian soldiers.

I have found that sanctuaries carry out a constructive responsibility by providing a teacher, a place, a service or a book to help people find the kingdom of God within their own consciousness. The main function being to bring people into actual contact with the presence and power of God or pure consciousness. The dispatching of truth intellectually builds a solid foundation for people to move through the layers of the mind in order to build the consciousness of God. In a sense, sanctity is given for prayer and divine worship for us whose consciousness is not fully developed because the goal is not to merely amass information, but to bring about spiritual transformation in the mind. The letter of truth is doled out to serve and enlighten others, not to condemn or harm anyone or anything. A place of worship is a place where the acquisition of money or converts is of little importance because the realization must be truth, a sense of wholeness and a unity of consciousness where we do not envy or bicker in religious capitalism. A sanctuary is significant because it substantiates our existence so every religion, philosophy and culture has an individuality that is worthy of respect and high regard if it leads to truth. What makes it sacred is if it expands the mind into a consciousness where the world is large enough to hold all men, women, ideas and different natures together. The sanctuary communicates ideas through the mind using a material process and different mediums, but the message from to the mind is something that is ultimately directed from the spirit. In the same respect, a sancturary is not a static center but an arrow pointing to a greater being in God's pure consciousness.

So many ways to alter our consciousness, we are so blessed. The words our only to quiet the intellect so we can listen to the quiet ones. So many questions, so many answers, too much noise, but it is all necessary. I like the Sufi saying "Trust in God, but tie up you camel." Have faith in God, but answer all the questions. The questions come from guess who and guess who answers them?

As we acquire unity, we see that nothing exist in isolation so the nature of our being is unity, a unity of body, mind and spirit. Wholeness or holiness can be achieved with a watchful mind and the knowledge that everything is united in God, if old fears, doubts and prejudices wear away to make room for new ideas and understanding. The yin and yang. With the development of love and the enfoldment of our spiritual consciousness, it becomes necessary for us to see ourselves not as body parts, but in a state of consciousness, appearing to others as a body. We cannot see love or consciousness, but we must understand that we exist as consciousness and become aware of this reality. Christ is demonstrating the union between our soul and God because our soul is nearer to God than it is to our body. We have higher and lower powers just like Jesus because we enjoy the bliss of eternity while, at the same time, suffering and struggling here on earth. Isn't it fun to go back and forth.

We are in the sky so it is all around us, not just above us. I like the idea that there are no lines or boundaries. Jesus did say, "I and the Father are one." We make the lines and the boundaries, but this means that all paths lead no where because we are already there so why do we take up a path? I must remind myself that the path is only to make oneself more aware. If it is not making me more conscious or stronger than it is making me weaker. A divine path makes me more human and a human path should make me more divine. I am going no where fast.

Yes, we are immigrants traveling to and in the pure consciousness. Our sense of self being the border that separates us from the divine, giving us qualities that define and separates us from our home. Now, we are trying to cross our own border, the obstacles and fences we have erected because we are tired of living as refugees in a borderless wonderland. Good luck learning how to love............see you on the other side.

We become aware of love, when we are conscious of our unity with everything and make a conscious effort not to harm others. Love is an uncontrollable murmuring, a whispering of our spirit that plays such a tremendous part in our spiritual life that it influences even the smallest detail. As we observe the presence and power of love everywhere around us, we begin to experience a deep connection with what I like to call Christ consciousness, other faiths I am sure have other terms to describe the same thing. This consciousness reaches into the nature of others and draws them unassumingly to us and draws us to them, restoring the unity of everyone together in one consciousness. We begin to feel that we are a part of the living God, when we believe what Jesus said, “I and the Lord are one.” I think this could also be called living in the present. In the spirit of love there is unity with room for diversity without elimination. Christ consciousness is ready to reveal itself to the sincere soul that makes an intense effort to search for love. What is needed is not submission to an external authority, a flawless book, or a rigid church that divides and eliminates, but an inward realization of a God that unites similar to what Wayfarer was suggesting. We need to test our realization with reason, witness it at work and perceive the unity of everything in pure consciousness. In every race, in every country and in every stage of history and culture people talk about God so we must admit that our minds are being qualified and supported with God’s love to reach within our selves and others to experience this pure consciousness that permeates everything. Maybe that is spirit?

Nice, when I was reading your post I could see individuals tuning themselves spiritually similar to tuning a musical instrument that is out of ture. It rings of truth so keep playing.

When we read the Bible with an open mind, we see the ideas are true for all times and for all places, even though these ideas are clothed in modern and ancient terms, use English and other language phrases, and is represented in different cultures. The ideas are universal, when Christ said, "Why has thou forsaken me," this statement represents the tremendous tension in the human mind. It also signifies the dark aspect still present in the lower layers of the mind with doubts just waiting for a chance to jump up. I feel this is the cross Jesus wants us to take up. All these doubts and accounts have to be settled in the mind where they must be relinquished before proceeding into the future beyond the mind. When faced with such disagreement when we take up the cross, I think it is good to look back at former states of mind and see how our life and our attitudes have evolved, arriving at the present realization of God's purpose. This strategy helps one to be sympathetic with one's present situation, the people who oppose it, the natural flow of things, and also to understand and have compassion for those that obstruct these developments. When Jesus was being nailed on the cross he said, "Forgive them for they know not what they are doing." We have so much to learn and so little time.

I think we know it is of the spirit because the highest point of the soul is similar to a mountain peak that has been hidden in the clouds, but when the sun melts the clouds away, the mountaintop receives the full light of the sun. Love is expressed and burns away ignorance and illuminates the mind with unity and the presence of a pure consciousness that comes from Christ. It gives rise to a mind that is capable of seeing a totally new dimension. On the mountain peak of the soul one then can see a new horizon in the clear, upper, rarefied air of the pure consciousness of Christ where one is able to guide the mind’s activities in a new direction that one has never before known. In this way God gives the spiritual mind new instincts to prepare it to move in a new spiritual consciousness. What do you guys think?

I see your point where the body and the soul are one. When I am in body awareness I feel separate, but when I am in soul awareness I feel al----one even if I am alone. In this state I feel one with soul, body, universe. Both the scientist and the theologian have discovered layers, emotions and states in the mind where the functional systems of the body are perceived as substance. Carbon, oxygen and other elements found in the body and brain are also found in the external world so many people become attracted to a material existence and are ruled by a material representation of who they are. I have been in this state where I have been attracted to a sensual material concept of life where I see myself as a body and a mind alone in the world, not as a soul connected to God’s creation where the elements and all living things are an integral part of a whole. It doesn't matter if I go from the outside in or the inside out, we are all connected and we are all one, body and soul. This is what I want to remember, but sometimes body awareness gets in the way.

I hope I don't make things worse, but here goes. When the first vibration occurred, the sound of everything together could be experienced. This one sound of everything vibrating together is the Word. In the beginning of the Gospel of St. John it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not." The Word is the offspring of God from which everything is born. It is qualified consciousness where pure consciousness takes on more and more vibrations or qualities. When the first vibration is allowed to impose on the pure consciousness, it gets quality and becomes aware of itself. This is where cosmic mind gets the feeling of existence and the universal ‘pure I' feeling is experienced. This ‘pure I' feeling is composed of all the individual ‘pure I' feelings in the universe because they came from the Word. It is the collective ‘pure I' or the feeling of existence because it is in every cell, in every heart and in the subtle as well as the gross forms. Everything is saturated with this feeling of existence, but few are aware of it. The Word is the seed in which all vibrations are contained because it is the source of everything in creation and is spoken in the silence of pure consciousness. It is God the Father revealing himself as the ‘pure I' feeling. From this Word or vibration all things are born and without ‘pure I' feeling nothing can exist without this feeling of existence. Each one of us is also a Word within the One Word. We are children of God and are the sons of God. There is one collective ‘pure I' feeling and there are individual ‘pure I' feelings in each one of us. The collective ‘pure I' feeling is the personal concept of God that we usually call the Father. The ‘individual I' feelings are our own intimate relationship with that Father. This Word within a Word can be referred to as the microcosm within the macrocosm each containing all the qualities of the other. That is why we can say we are made in the image and likeness of God. We being in our egos thinking we are doing everything, I would say we are in the doer I with little awareness of the pure I . Jesus dieing showed us that he was doing, aware and one with the Father. "I and the Father are one" His great act of sacrifice inspirors me to sacrifice my doer I for awareness of the pure I. In doing this I realize that I am a soul with a body and not a doer I with a soul.