soma

Good question...................... Our original consciousness is pure consciousness, but it is covered with so much waste we can’t see it. Christ with the not easy to find love for everything reopens the gate that was closed, when Adam left the Garden of Eden with the experimental knowledge of good and evil. Adam ate from a tree that divided the mind with moral evil and, which God said not to eat. Jesus tells us in simple language, “He who loves me (Christ consciousness) will be loved by my Father,” which can be summed up in the commandment, “Love your brother as yourself.” Our knowledge and perception are both limited, so how can we understand a pure consciousness that is unlimited? We have to purify our minds so we can become aware of Christ consciousness and to do this, we must love God and one another. Love and unity will set us free and show us the way, not moral condemnation so if a church teaches condemnation and not love it could be the bearer of the sword.

Because their heads tip to the right when they lie.

Well put the gradually unwrapped gift, better than the Jesus molded in plastic to put on the dashboard for the bobble heads.

Jerry thanks in some Catholic churches they even have to tell the congregation when to stand up and sit down. I am a Christian and sad to say that the world knows us as one big fool because it seems all the fundamentalist do is talk. For this vocal minority which the world thinks represents us all, everything is just words. You are right with a disciplined mind the way of the cross is clear and we reap a good harvest from our spiritual practice.

You are doing a great service because these people are not happy, and the cause is simply lost hope, confidence and the power of the ego to dominate their mind. It doesn't help that they are manipulated by ignorant ministers. We are not able to enjoy the feelings that come straight from the heart without tolerance and spiritual consciousness because it helps us to let go of the ego, to be ourselves and to live in the present moment. The young, the old, the sick and the weak can progress, if they constantly practice living in the present and not in the past or future. This takes tolerance, and an open mind to be successful. Success follows those that have tolerance and recognition of the circumstances surrounding them, not distracted looking too far back or forward. Manipulation of the mind has people looking back at negativity or forward to a narrow view of heaven. God is in the present guiding us away from the manipulators. http://thinkunity.com

It can work, but both parties have to compromise and love each other deeply. I am a vegetarian, progressive Christian, meditate twice a day and do yoga twice a day. My wife is more fundamental or was, she is not vegetarian, and does non of the spiritual practises that I do. We are also of two different cultures, but we love each other and don't think that one of us is more right than the other. We don't try to change each other either we love, grow and the change comes from within each of us. We are learning, respecting and growing in the Lord on two different paths. My children are the benefactors who seem to be successful on many fronts.

Thank you the article was inspirational and acurate. To follow in the steps of Jesus Christ does not mean that we worship Jesus as an idol, but that we follow him as our divine example, a consciousness embodying the deepest meaning of life. I don't think this is taught in the churches in America. To follow Christ we need to make real our own inner meaning of life as Christ did as an example for humanity to love. To do this we need to make an effort with sincerity and devotion equal to Christ's, to live our own life in a perfect way. http://thinkunity.com

I like music, philosophy, chess ect, but I love playing basketball. I play 2 to 3 times a week with young, middle and older guys. I love the mix. The young guys enjoy playing with us as we older gentlemen with them. They can dunk and move so fast, but the older guys can pass and enjoy a good move no matter on what team it is made. Spiritual topics come up and are approached from many different angles just like the game. I really think in our society we need to find more opportunities for the young and the old to compete, intermingle and share ideas together because if we don't we are all missing out. I am going to be 58, but have learned tons from the twenty and thirty year olds.

There are a lot of topics and they all seem very interesting. I like them all, but the Christian right is making the words New Age similar to liberal. They are trying to make those two words bad as they don't understand the New Age so they fear it with a passion. They call me and my ideas New Age so the ideas can be dismissed and disregarded without debate or discussion so my advice would be to think who your audience is going to be, if middle or to the right or to progressive Christians ect. Good luck I know it is a lot of work.

Yes, I like what you guys wrote. Especially falling into the soul. It is beyond the mind so we read, good books, mediatate, go to ceremonies and yes, dance to point our subconsciousness in the right direction and then I think Jung says we fall into the collective unconsciousness. Thanks it is all becoming clear now, ready for take off.

Genesis 2:7 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul" (soul = nephesh in Hebrew). The soul is life to the body. "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (ruwach - Breath of Life) shall return unto God who gave it" (Ecclesiastes 12:7). When God "taketh away their breath (ruwach), they (men) die, and return to their dust" (Psalm 104:29). James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead..." John 3:6, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." God is spirit so to walk with God and communicate with God one must walk in his spirit. The soul that gives life to the body; and spirit to communicate with God.

I like the term Christian Enlightenment as a movement to bridge the gap that exists between Christians and Fundamentalist. Enlightenment is a concept which means being illuminated by acquiring new wisdom or understanding. While Fundamentalist go on the path of Inquisition, Christian Enlightenment will take the road of silent contemplation. I see it as a spiritual journey through the mountains, valleys, jungles and deserts of our minds. A journey to Christ consciousness beyond time, space and words so it can't be described with words or what Fundamentalist see as facts from scriptures so we will have to hint at the different levels of consciousness that can be reached spiritually. Looking into the meanings of scripture I think we can form a new concept of life, which helps form a new humanity on the individual, Christian and community level. http://thinkunity.com

I wish you were on the West Coast. If you want to set up your own retreat, I can help you with a schedule or ideas. I offer to give free workshops on Christian Mysticism, Christian Enlightenment on the West Coast, but most are conservative like you said. http://thinkunity.com

Thank you for the link and all the work you have done on your web page. You are working to counter the negative baggage Christianity has accumulated. People are saying I am not Christian, but New Age as if New Age is bad. I think a better term that is more positive is Christian Enlightenment or something to that effect. Let's work on a progressive category. As Christians we have chosen the powerful image of Jesus Christ to represent the expression of the tangential point between the spiritual and the physical. He embodies the cosmic mind as seen through the universal man. It is not that the material world will one day dissolve into Jesus Christ, but that the ego's extroverted tendencies will disappear in order that the second coming of Christ might be perceived in consciousness. http://thinkunity.com

I would say, We may believe or not believe in God, but if we break His divine law we’ll be punished. This is the law of nature because we are all connected so we just can’t do what ever we want. This is not a question of religion, but a question of science. We are all spiritual beings, but because of our materially conditioned minds we are under the laws of nature. We can observe this in evolution, species flourishing, suffering and going extinct. The laws of nature are applicable to everything whether we believe in God or not, it doesn’t matter. We are all under nature’s law because there is only one law controlling us, and we are all under God’s law because there is only one God. http://thinkunity.com

It is the only book I have published at this time so I have read it so many times it feels like the only book I have read.

Yes, I like that the infinite is unqualified consciousness and we are qualified consicousness. We have qualities while pure consciousness doesn't. I will have to remember that thanks.

On infinite and finite, I see the infinite in the finite (in-finite). I think the personal story of Adam and Eve explains the tendency within the universe to disperse. A centrifugal motion radiating from the nucleus is what causes the worldly consciousness to appear to separate from God. The world in itself is a temporary reality because it is in perpetual change without much meaning or consistency. The objects and things existing in it are separated in time and space and are changing from one moment to the next. Therefore, the microcosm apart from the macrocosm is nothing but when it knows the macrocosm, it is reality itself, constant and full of being. The feeling that we fell from pure consciousness and loss bliss is due to the separation from our internal existence. This has caused the present era of confusion where everything is divided, not centered, and separated from the whole or pure consciousness. This can be related to the story of Adam and Eve leaving the Garden of Eden or the unit consciousness separating from pure consciousness. No need to worry though because everyone will be delivered from this separation. As the inner light unfolds, it delivers the outer life from bondage. Everything comes from within so when the inner consciousness knows freedom, the outer life knows freedom also, and will reflect it through health, happiness and success. Evolution is working for our good and will bring about this knowledge that everything starts from within and works its way outward. All things even that which we call evil is paying tribute to pure consciousness, showing us the way. Suffering teaches us a lesson that causes us to resist making more mistakes. We just need to learn how to gain knowledge from our experiences, to go inward and to experience everything. Since Adam was created in the image and likeness of God, the principles of consciousness are contained within man/woman in ideal equilibrium. The tree of knowledge of good and evil puzzled Adam, and he lost the spiritual connection with the whole. Adam saw everything through the veil of his individual ego so he saw things menacing him and separate from God because the balance of the universe became blurred. After leaving the Garden of Eden and the state of pure consciousness, Adam tried to regain his original state by creating his own balance. This creation of individual consciousness is not reality because it is a state of isolation on the physical level, not a working together in harmony with the whole. The unit consciousness focused outwardly on the physical level, turns out to be the first phase of evolution while the second phase can be called involution. Involution would be directing our thoughts to happiness rather than unhappiness by looking at the whole picture. The solution then is not to condemn one negative over another because each is necessary and a vital force for all the possibilities of the macrocosm to become actualized. In the absence of these opposites, the positive and negative, the universe could not hold together and would cease to exist. To go beyond these polarities is to realize what I like to call Christ consciousness that help us to rise above the disconnected, the dissociated and become unified with the whole. For example, sexual relations is uniting two individual consciousnesses into one giving us a taste of uniting our individual consciusness with the pure consciousness that Jung called the collective unconscious or I like to call God the Father. http://thinkunity.com

The principle is now beholding to you. He owes you so it looks like you have worked yourself into a job. That prinicple can also give suggestions and recommend you to another school if there is not an opening at his. To tackle the God control, I feel we have free will, but with a limitation. It is like a dog tied to a stake because the dog is free to do whatever it pleases, but it cannot go further than the length of the leash without experiencing pain. Jesus said, "Whatever you sow you shall reap." Therefore, the evil person will have no greater enemy than himself because everything that strikes the evil person will just be that person's own evil actions coming back. Pain has this function of teaching us the right path. This reaping what one sows is nothing but the scientific law of cause and effect. Our present life is ruled by our past just as our future is affected by our present actions; we are therefore, punished only by our own actions. These actions form our destiny so it seems that the ego has not been created by nature to follow its own arbitrary impulses to an unlimited extent, but to help make real God's purpose, which is self-realization. This realization comes into play when the ego starts to get rid of its desires, its fears and tries to get to a deeper more basic form of existence. The ego must be able to listen attentively and give itself without further purpose to mental expansion, spiritual growth and self-realization. I feel God is in evolution working and that we are evolving biologically and we evolve to a place where we evolve spiritually. http://thinkunity.com

Interesting Veteran's Day list --- * Richard Gephardt: Air National Guard, 1965-71. * David Bonior: Staff Sgt., Air Force 1968-72. * Tom Daschle: 1st Lt., Air Force SAC 1969-72. * Al Gore: enlisted Aug. 1969; sent to Vietnam Jan. 1971 as an army journalist in 20th Engineer Brigade. * Bob Kerrey: Lt. j.g. Navy 1966-69; Medal of Honor, Vietnam. * Daniel Inouye: Army 1943-47; Medal of Honor, WWII. * John Kerry: Lt., Navy 1966-70; Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, Purple Hearts. * Charles Rangel: Staff Sgt., Army 1948-52; Bronze Star, Korea. * Max Cleland: Captain, Army 1965-68; Silver Star & Bronze Star, Vietnam. > Paraplegic from war injuries. Served in Congress. * Ted Kennedy: Army, 1951-53. * Tom Harkin: Lt., Navy, 1962-67; Naval Reserve, 1968-74. * Jack Reed: Army Ranger, 1971-1979; Captain, Army Reserve 1979-91. * Fritz Hollings: Army officer in WWII; Bronze Star and seven campaign ribbons. * Leonard Boswell: Lt. Col., Army 1956-76; Vietnam, DFCs, Bronze Stars,and Soldier's Medal. * Pete Peterson: Air Force Captain, POW. Purple Heart, Silver Star and Legion of Merit. * Mike Thompson: Staff sergeant, 173rd Airborne, Purple Heart. * Bill McBride: Candidate for Fla. Governor. Marine in Vietnam; Bronze, Star with Combat V. * Gray Davis: Army Captain in Vietnam, Bronze Star. * Pete Stark: Air Force 1955-57 * Howell Heflin: Silver Star * George McGovern: Silver Star & DFC during WWII. * Bill Clinton: Did not serve. Student deferments. ------- received #311.------ * Jimmy Carter: Seven years in the Navy. * Walter Mondale: Army 1951-1953 * John Glenn: WWII and Korea; six DFCs and AirMedal with 18 Clusters. * Tom Lantos: Served in Hungarian underground in WWII. Saved by Raoul Wallenberg. * Dick Cheney: did not serve. Had "other obligations." * Dennis Hastert: did not serve. * Tom Delay: did not serve. * Roy Blunt: did not serve. * Bill Frist: did not serve. * Mitch McConnell: did not serve. * Rick Santorum: did not serve. * Trent Lott: did not serve. * John Ashcroft: did not serve. * Jeb Bush: did not serve. * Karl Rove: did not serve. * Saxby Chambliss: did not serve. "Bad knee." The man who attacked Max Cleland's patriotism. * Paul Wolfowitz: did not serve. Neocon warhawk * Vin Weber: did not serve. * Richard Perle: did not serve. Neocon warhawk * Douglas Feith: did not serve. * Eliot Abrams: did not serve. * Richard Shelby: did not serve. * Jon Kyl: did not serve. * Tim Hutchison: did not serve. * Christopher Cox: did not serve. * Newt Gingrich: did not serve. * Don Rumsfeld: served in Navy (1954-57) as flight "instructor"? * George W. Bush: failed to complete his six-year National Guard; got assigned to Alabama so he could campaign for family friend running for U.S. Senate; failed to show up for required medical exam, disappeared from duty. * Ronald Reagan: due to poor eyesight, served in a non- combat role making training movies. * B-1 Bob Dornan: Consciously enlisted LONG AFTER the fighting was over in Korea. * Phil Gramm: did not serve. * John McCain: Vietnam POW, Silver Star, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit,,Purple Heart and Distinguished Flying Cross. * Dana Rohrabacher: did not serve. * John M. McHugh: did not serve. * JC Watts: did not serve. * Jack Kemp: did not serve. "Knee problem, " although he continued in NFL for 8 years as quarterback. * Dan Quayle: Journalism unit of the Indiana National Guard. * Rudy Giuliani: did not serve. * George Pataki: did not serve. * Spencer Abraham: did not serve. * John Engler: did not serve. * Lindsey Graham: National Guard lawyer. PUNDITS & PREACHERS * Sean Hannity: did not serve. * Rush Limbaugh: did not serve * Bill O'Reilly: did not serve. * Michael Savage: did not serve. * George Will: did not serve. * Chris Matthews: did not serve. * Paul Gigot: did not serve. * Bill Bennett: did not serve. (Too OBESE to pass a physical?) * Pat Buchanan: did not serve. * Bill Kristol: did not serve. * Kenneth Starr: did not serve. * Antonin Scalia: did not serve. * Clarence Thomas: did not serve. * Ralph Reed: did not serve. * Michael Medved: did not serve. * Charlie Daniels: did not serve. Please keep this information circulating! This list was compiled by Illinois State Senator Howard W. Carroll.

God is definitely smiling on us today in your post or is that a wink? Maybe just one hand clapping?

In the human phase of evolution man is endowed with the attributes of free will and free choice. The 'doer I' or ego can choose to serve either the mind and body or the pure consciousness of that particular individual. Man is not a mechanical individual, but is left alone to discover his 'pure I' or connection with the whole (God). Man cannot be forced to love God or his higher self because to love one has to be free so to love God one has to love God with his own volition. The element of freedom in love is due to the fact that the love we feel is from God. It is His love that we love Him with not our ego’s love to give. We have no love because God created everything; it all comes from pure consciousness so the love that we love God with is similar to shining a mirror at the sun because the light that we reflect on the mirror of our minds comes from the sun. The point I am trying to make is so long as man feels himself to be the ego; he is depriving himself of love and freedom. This very sense of freedom in the ego is what ultimately leads the ego to the discovery that there is more to life. Evolution waits for man to discover the natural laws that guide him to pure consciousness and our relationship to the whole. So we tetor tator between the individual and collective consciousness. I guess it is all fun.

An unothodox view of the Trinity is my way to make Christianity inclusive and not exclusive. God the Father is an undivided and indivisible Whole, a pure consciousness that fills all time and permeates all space. This makes our purpose not to find God, but to realize God's presence and to understand that this all pervading consciousness is always with us. Life flows up from the inside where the Divine Presence is springing up from within us. When we realize this, we recognize that this all-pervading consciousness is responding to us from every person, thing or event that transpires. The Divine Presence is everywhere so let us awaken to the realization of this Presence. One God is revealed in three aspects in the Holy Trinity, which is an expansion of the rudimentary idea of God. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are the Generator, the Operator, and the Destroyer, God. The generator is the Father that creates the universe and the operator is the Holy Ghost, which is the energy that maintains creation. The destroyer is The Son who regains the all-pervading consciousness by sacrificing the physical life for the spiritual life. There is still oneness in the all-pervading consciousness, but it becomes lost in the individual awareness of the parts. Jesus says, "I and The Father are one," so after productive experiences in evolution the individual parts again become aware of the affinity of all things. Eventually, the individual again merges in the ocean of pure consciousness to sit at the right hand of The Father in equilibrium. "I and The Father are one." The Holy Trinity represents God from which nature comes, maintains it's growth, and into which it dies and merges in the end; thus, this triangle is the strongest form in nature. The Father is all encompassing and is both in the world and beyond it so everything is within His Body and nothing is outside of Him. As all ice comes from water (pure consciousness) so also all forms of this creation come from the Father or pure consciousness.

I got this off the site you posted Fred. Thanks for the posting. The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene The Savior said There is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin. ... www.gnosis.org/library/marygosp.htm This is my take on all this As we perceive pure consciousness (God the Father) pervading all things, we understand more clearly that God has absolute control over all creation, and that each individual is already one with God, inseparable from Him. People are not aware of this because they are immersed in creation and the idea of materiality. They are deceived into thinking that disease (not being at ease, dis-ease) is real, and that the devil and sin are everywhere. Until a higher view is cultivated through prayer and purification of thought it will certainly appear that the devil can control our lives, but this is a false and temporary view because under God there can’t be a broken harmony in creation. I like this philosophy because When we know the truth that God is omnipresent and that there is nothing else but pure consciousness (God) , we feel at ease and yield to His divine consciousness. When our souls are enlightened with pure consciousness, we don’t attempt to control others by condemning them or manipulating them with the devil because we understand that it is through love that God governs everybody and all of creation. The personal desire to control others comes by mistakenly believing that man is evil and indicates a distrust of God’s ability to govern His own creation. If we worship God by basing our thoughts and our actions on Him who is the strongest force, then the devil has no power. When we see God as one, it will have a beneficial influence upon our minds, our bodies and all of creation because we will be moved to great clarity and good actions. We will become a clear-seeing soul, when we refuse to tolerate evil. http://thinkunity.com

Spiritual harmony may be hidden from us for a while, but it cannot be taken away because sooner or later we will have the ability to see through this illusion of duality and materiality. We only need to acknowledge God’s presence and our spiritual sense will awaken our original, eternal self to God’s rhythm and the harmony that is operating undisturbed. Turning from material beliefs to spiritual beliefs changes our perspective and reveals the ever-present divine Love that I like to call pure consciousness. Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity and others point the way. For pure consciousness one may substitute, Tao or God the Father. God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. He is in the history and science of the world and in every aspect of the universe on all levels of existence from the simplest life forms to the most advanced. To discover God in everything our minds must play a vital part. We need to use the wealth of our scientific discoveries, be conscious of their limitations and attempt to bring an outlook to society that stands up to the problems of life. God is in the world in these problems and differences, He just wants us to be tested and transform these problems into good. We must face up to and make conscious the ills of society so we can solve them and see pure consciousness, the inner source of life moving through and around obstacles from the inorganic to the organic, from the organic to the mind and forward from the mind to the soul. The pure consciousness within will show us that God is not far removed from us, but with us in the here and now. Jesus also said this when he gave us the saying; The Kingdom of God is within. All that exists in this world from the vast universe down to the minutest atom exists in God so only the form changes. God the Father is the eternal witness seeing everything inwardly, and in reference to us he sees everything internally and externally through our eyes. Pure consciousness pervades everything and is the linking force of all that is. Therefore, our duty is to expand our minds and make contact with this force that maintains our life. The force that maintains our life is the same consciousness that controls the stars and the planets in the universe. This happens through the law's of nature and as we know the pull of gravity. Man's true knowledge of himself; therefore, includes the external knowledge of everything or the universe. With this knowledge that we are part of something larger than ourselves, we form a silent partnership with God so His pure consciousness guides us in every way. Divine Intelligence flows, inspires, guides and enables us to take and put more back into life. All we have to do is to recognize that pure consciousness exists and accept its action in our lives. I hope I didn't bore you, but I love this stuff. http://thinkunity.com