Jesus Was a Great Role Model

[Andrew Brunelle]

Jesus was a great role model for subjective reality as Steve pointed out in his blog. So was Buddha. So were a lot of other religious people. But I find that their messages are now tainted with money and bloodshed in most religious wars, mainly the Crusades, so how can we really be devoted to some religions who often forced their beliefs on others or killed those who didn't believe in theirs? It's better,in my opinion, to follow the teachings of these mystics and nothing else. Don't organize it. Don't allow money to become part of it. Just learn it. And live it. SStrive to be like the enlightened ones, but don't fall into the low-awareness religion part of it. Just live in a peaceful and loving way and respect others as yourself, as Jesus points out, as they are indeed a part of you.

[TechnoGuyRob]

I'm fairly sure only religions originating from prophets that quipped "spread the good news" (e.g., Muhammad, Jesus, etc.) engaged fervently in such behavior (presumably because of a misconstruency of the phrase). I don't believe Confucianists or Buddhists have particularly been usurpers.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

It's better,in my opinion, to follow the teachings of these mystics and nothing else.

I'd go one step further ; try to be like these mystics rather than follow their teachings.

To quite Eckhart Tolle "Although all spiritual teachings originate from the same source, once they become verbalised and written down they are obviously no more than collections of words - and a word is nothing but a signpost".

Rather than trying to follow the words of these masters - or even following the masters themselves, I would try to go where the signpost is pointing.

There's an old Zen saying "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him." No matter how enlightened, a master can be a crutch that prevents you from following your own path to the Source.

BTW, I agree with TechnoGuyRob - the violence and the bloodshed do tend to centre around proselytising religions with "one true way" beliefs.

[AndyMartin]

Ken Wilber makes the point that there is a difference between levels of awareness where you take belief as something that is true and where you take belief as if it were true. It seems like a subtle difference, but the outcome is very different.

If we believe that a given story tells an absolute truth upon which every man's salvation depends, then it makes sense that power and resources should be structured around that belief. It makes sense that it should be spread, even if by bloodshed, because the time of the non-believer's death is irrelevant when damnation is endles, and the time of a believer's death is irrelevant because salvation is eternal. And where there is conflict in the interpretation of the story it just gets worse...

But if we live as though the story were true, we don't need to derive a prescription from it. We can instead look at the symbols and patterns it provides that lead us to a joyful and peaceful existence and live according to that. And we can ignore what doesn't. We realize that it is the principles of the story that matter, not the particulars.

But religion serves an important purpose for a lot of people. We can't castigate the whole believing populace because of those who have misused it as an excuse for inexcusable behavior. The only enlightenment we can experience is the enlightenment of now; and the enlightenment of one does not judge the enlightenment of another.

[Nelson]

Yes I agree that orginzation is religion can cause some terrible problems, especially when things get taken out of context and misconstrued. However, this is a minor problem in the face of the benfits of a godd church.

The benefits of a good church are wonderful, esspecially for people who are living at a lower conciousness level

1) It gives you a chance to further connect with people, people who possibly have great values and ethics

2) It's a wonderful support structure if a problem should arise in your life, free emotinal counseling, churches will usually help those in great need, etc.

3) It presents an oppurtunity for great service and helps you connect with others who are also dedicated to service

4) Mass worship can magnify the emotional high of worship and praise for the creator.

While I do believe that some churches have become too stuffy and too money grubbing, there are many churches that have all these benefits and more, you just have to search a little harder to find them

[Keith]

Note that 1-4 aren't particularly limited to Christianity (for a sufficiently broad definition of "praise for the creator"). There are lots of other religions (and some non-religions) that meet these goals.
- Buddhism
- Neo-paganism/Wicca
- Taoism
come immediately to mind.

I personally have a preference for the religions without a "one true way" dogma. I find them more empowering.

I would certainly agree that the communal aspects are a big reason that religion is still so popular in this scientific age...

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by Andrew Brunelle

Jesus was a great role model

Jesus, the "I bring not peace, but a sword" guy? Jesus, the "Get out of my Father's temple!" guy?

Just devil's advocating. (Oh, what a turn of phrase.) I can counter my own point quite succinctly anyways.

[Andrew Brunelle]

Chimeric idols are great, especially if you have all your lands tapped...I hope you get the reference...if not, I feel that I can't follow a religion that doesn't accept other religions as a possibility because saying you're the one true religion is soomething of a limitation and a low-consciousness way of thinking.