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| Reaching The Source of All Creation | | |
|  mollybrogan | Jan 19, 11:46am | Most of us feel that there is a source or creator or God or ultimate order to life. Connecting to this for some of us, is fleeting, takes effort and may even be something we think very little about. How do YOU connect with the spirit within you? How often do you connect? How does this connection effect your life?
A Vietnamese spiritual leader, Ching Hai, touches on this by answering the following:
Q: What is the first step one must take toward reaching God?
A: We must pray that if God exists, please guide me, please help me. And stick to your religion and pray to that religious head that you believe in to help you. If you're Christian, pray to God, pray to Jesus, Santa Maria. If you're Buddhist, pray to Buddha, to Bodhisattvas, Quan Yin Bodhisattva, Amitabha Buddha, etc., to help you. That's the first step.
The second step is, we must lead a virtuous life as prescribed in the Bible and in the Buddhist scriptures or in any other religious scriptures. I haven't seen any major religion which teaches people to do bad things. So follow your own religious ethic, as the second step.
The third step is, we must find someone, and very importantly, who has known God, who has realized God, to show us something, to share with us the wealth that he or she has got. Just like if we want to speak English, what is the first step? Prepare the money for it, so that the teacher will accept you and then go and find a teacher -- one who can speak English. If you find one who speaks Spanish, then no good. It's very easy.
What do YOU think?
Molly Brogan
cblegacy.blogspot.com [cblegacy.blogspot.com] |
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|  invisableman | Jan 19, 8:20pm | | I think you've hit on something very important here. I agree totally on the three steps as they are described. |
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Sponsor |  seekerpat | Jan 25, 8:58am | Personally, I don't feel the question is "How do I find God?" But "How do I let myself be found by God?" Not "How do I know God?" but "How do I let myself be known by God?" What do I need to do to, how do I need to live in a way that lets God in? I don't believe God is hiding from us. I'm the one who's hiding behind my ego, shame, character defects, fears and wounds-for to be human is to be wounded.
So what to do? A good place to come out of hiding is by being kind. What the Buddhist tradition calls Metta. Start by being kind in thought & action to yourself, then others, the Earth, everything. It takes time & practice (some of what we hide behind can be pretty daunting). But if we keep it simple its doable:hold the door open for someone, say thank you to the bus driver, be really present to a friend. You never know what effect a simple act of kindness will have on someone, but it will put you in a place where its a lot easier for God to find you.
And I prefer spiritual guides to teachers. Guides can show me the way, maybe give some direction. But ultimately the decision as to which path to take is my own. Also I've found that the less I hide from God, the more guides get sent my way...but usually not in the aspect I was expecting ;-) |
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| | mollybrogan | Jan 25, 11:48am | | If, when you say, not hiding from God, means not being seperate from God, then I agree. When we are moving in spirit, it is reflected in the world around us - and the people around us. I love what you say about kindness. This is so essential. |
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Sponsor | | seekerpat | Jan 26, 9:41pm | Yup,the less hiding/separating from God the better. And with those spiritual guides that keep showing up now...I think they were always showing up, I just wasn't in a place where I could see them.
Something else I've been experiencing more of the less I "hide" is what I call God Moments. Its difficult to quantify, but essentially its when I become very aware of God's presence in surprising, unexpected, and sometimes difficult ways. For example:
A couple of weeks ago during a nasty New England winter storm(the wonderful mix of snow, sleet, rain and my favorite, freezing rain), I took refuge in the large doorway of an office building. Just to gather myself for a minute or two. This guy walked up with a tray of hot drinks from Dunkin Donuts. We commiserated about the weather like all New Englanders do. Then he said "I got an extra hot chocolate by mistake. Here, why don't you have it. It'll just go to waste up in the office". God Moment
While camping in the White Mountains of NH I remember watching a storm moving toward us. Lots of grumbling and flashing. It got louder and more dramatic-trees whipping back and forth, tent lines humming,hardly any time at all between the lightening and the following boom. And when it was almost right on top of us, it just dissipated.God moment.
I work with a division on the public transit system in Boston that provides transportation for people with disabilities(who for whatever reason can't ride the buses and trains) Some of the disabilities are physical, some emotional, some mental. There are they aren't at their best(nor am I) and they get all up in my face or act out from anger, fear, pain, frustration, loneliness-in short we're all being human. There is a split second in the interaction where I have to make a choice. Do I engage from a place of compassion and love? Or from a place of frustration and impatience? God Moment.
I believe God Moments happen to us all the time. We just aren't always available. Good thing God keeps trying, eh? :-) |
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| | royandroy | Feb 17, 11:45am | Mmmm.. some really good comment. The Sufi sage Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote:
"If you will go forward to find Us, We will come forward to receive you." |
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| | wordSword | Feb 22, 11:07pm | God is holy and He will not look on sin. It is our sin that separates us from God. We need to repent. Jesus paid our sin debt at the cross. There is nothing that man can ever do to earn salvation. It is a free gift by grace through faith and not through works lest any man should boast. Religion isn't the answer, either. That's man's attempt to get to God through works. God wants to have a personal relationship with us through the sacrifice of his Son. The life of the flesh is in the blood and the penalty for sin is death. That is why God requires a blood sacrifice and only the pure, sinless blood of Jesus will satisfy God for the sins of the world. We will all be judged one day that is why we need to be covered under the blood.
Also, God is the one that finds us when we are lost. We love Him because He first loved us.
Here are some scriptures to give you some insight:
Jhn 3:3
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.[fn1]"
Jhn 3:4
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
Jhn 3:5
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
Jhn 3:6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[fn2] gives birth to spirit.
Jhn 3:7
You should not be surprised at my saying, `You[fn3] must be born again.'
Jhn 3:8
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
Jhn 3:9
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
Jhn 3:10
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?
Jhn 3:11
I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
Jhn 3:12
I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
Jhn 3:13
No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-the Son of Man.[fn4]
Jhn 3:14
Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
Jhn 3:15
that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.[fn5]
Jhn 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[fn6] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Jhn 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jhn 3:18
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.[fn7]
Jhn 3:19
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
Jhn 3:20
Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.
Jhn 3:21
But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Rom 10:8
But what does it say? "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,"[fn4] that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
Rom 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Rom 10:10
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Rom 10:11
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. |
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| Reaching The Source of All Creation | | |
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