Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, [ and ] to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27 ( NKJV )
I've a conundrum for my readers, one that has quite possibly been asked before. To lead into this query, I would ask you to remember that the genesis of this great 'Melting Pot', this illustrious nation in which we live, was a search, a yearning for religious freedom. All around the world, from time immemorial, really, wars have been fought & may be fought yet, for this very reason! In relation to what has transpired in our own country, though, here's the conundrum: so, if our ancestors came, mostly from British shores, but really from that whole region ( Europe ), so that they could find religious freedom, then why, on 'God's green earth', could we not extend the same consideration, for example, to that noble savage, the American Indian? Now, before you say something like, "DUH", I must remind my readers that, when I pose questions like this, I usually HAVE a ready answer. So here goes: it's probably no great surprise to most, if not all of you, but I'm pretty sure they believed that their religion was the only true religion, so since the British religion was too Catholic for their good, they simply wanted to escape the persecution that was rampant. Don't get me wrong though; I was brought up Christian as well, not Catholic, so I fully empathize with the position they were in & indeed, I'm grateful for the freedom they did win! In other words & to put it concisely, their concern was not so much freedom of religion as it was the freedom to practice THEIR religion!
Spirituality, according to Google, is defined as "the quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things". As opposed to, say, Merriam-Webster's definition, which seems to go in circles, this definition is fairly satisfying! Spirituality is generally known to be in opposition to religion. Religion seems to come with a set of rules. For instance, in Christianity, the Ten Commandments are universally accepted as the ground rules. All religions have their 'holy books' which are usually studied, to whatever extent, to learn what we should or should not do. There ARE religions which focus more on the spiritual aspect of life ( strangely enough, mainly from the Far East ), but for the most part, the major religions of the world are focused on controlling the masses. Spirituality, on the other hand, which even I used to scoff at, has more of a focus on the inner being, which is often interchangeably call the spirit, or soul. The outer actions are of course of great importance, but it must recognized that it is the inner being which drives the outer. As has been mentioned before, in other posts; this is not to say necessarily that just because a person manifests in a way that is not good for all, they have an evil spirit, but that this person is operating almost solely from their Ego, or lower self, having forgotten Who they are, that they are More than the Person: indeed, they are a spiritual being having a human experience!
Contrary to most popular opinion, Jesus did not come to establish a new religion! Apparently, the religious leaders of His day thought so, because they had Him killed, but Jesus came to show us how we could become like Him. In fact, He told His disciples ( not just the Twelve ), "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater [ works ] than these he will do, because I go to My Father" ( John 14:12 ). Believe what you want, but Jesus didn't say, follow the Ten Commandments ( or the other 613 laws of the Jews ) & you will be like Me; He simply told them to believe that He was Who He said He was & in other words, they would become like Him, Sons of God!
Though we've undoubtedly been down this road before; I should explain that Jesus was the Messiah to the Jews, or Hebrews. As such, He did not die for your sins or mine. The 'God' of which He was the Son was the God of the Hebrews, an aspect, yes, of the Divine Source of All, but the 'God' of the Bible is simply the Hebrew's perception of that Source. That said, Jesus was actually 'God' in a human suit, as We all are in Reality; it's just that We have forgotten Who We are & Where We came from. Spirituality helps us to remember that; at least, if we can get past our Ego. Religion, on the other hand, can only tell us what to do or what not to do.
The Ego is undoubtedly the greatest hurdle when it comes to realizing our own godhood. Particularly if we were brought up in any of the world's three major religions, we learned that God is out there somewhere, telling us, usually through a prophet/book, what we should or should not do. Spirituality, true spirituality helps us to remember that, in Essence, We are One with that same Entity we have been told is "somewhere out there"; in other words, that we must look outside of ourselves for our own salvation! Before anyone has a hissy-fit, I'm not speaking of biblical 'salvation' here ( that was for the Jews ); I'm referring to our own ability ( responsibility ) to make choices to either damn us or save us, humanly speaking of course ( our Spirit needs no salvation ). The Redemption of the Individual Soul might be another matter, though at the same time, it may be just what we've been talking about!
"What is the difference", one might well ask, "between the Spirit & the Individual Soul?" Well, I'm no expert, but right off the top of my head; I would say that here is where many of us get into trouble, by confusing the two. We are all Individuals ( that's where Humanity & the Ego come in ); that's what I refer to as the Soul. The Spirit, however is that part of us that is Divine, the Divinity, for example, that Jesus manifested as the Christ. The Soul is our link, humanly speaking, with Divinity, but our Spirit is Divinity. Like Jesus, then, once we realize the true nature of our Soul, we begin to communicate, through that Link, with the Universal Spirit, which IS One. Once that that Link is restored/redeemed, our choices will become increasingly better & easier, as we will be well on the way toward quieting the Ego!
I say. "quieting the Ego", because even though, as I said, "the Ego is our greatest hurdle", it is not, in itself the Enemy of the Spirit, or even of the Individual Soul. It is not even something that needs to be conquered, or brought under our control, though at times you may feel the need to control It. Here, in fact, is where we run into problems ( I speak from personal experience ); just as in much of Life, the harder we strive, the harder It fights back! Whereas, if we simply let It be, we tend to quiet ourselves along with our Ego. Humanly speaking, the Ego will always be with us, but once we learn to quiet It's nagging voice, that still small Voice known as Spirit comes through, clear as a bell!
Jesus WAS the Christ! He, a Man, discovered the Spirit Within & through that Spirit ( God ) became the Messiah of the Jews. In the sense that, through the biblical record, we can learn from His experiences how to recognize our own innate godhood, Jesus could well be hailed as our salvation as well, though much the same could be said of other Teachers/Masters who spread the same Message through other lands. Just as Jesus was the Christ to the Hebrews & Greeks, so others became the Buddha to those of the Far East. Even the Ancient Americans had their medicine men & shamans. The more modern Native American worships The Great Spirit. The point is, while we were taught, as Christians, Jews & Muslims that our 'God', our religion was the only Truth, every culture around the world had their own version, or perception of the Source of All Creation. Who are we to say that ours is right & theirs is wrong? "Faith", you say? Even the demons have faith...................
Namaste' & Blessed Be,
Sage Charles
No comments:
Post a Comment