Blessings Darlings!
I'm a bit confused today. I mean - aren't ALL religions we know about 'Earth Religions'? It's not like they are Alpha Centauri religions. They are being practiced here on Earth ... or at farthest they were practiced on the Moon, but still from Earth by Earthlings/humans.
"Oh, but Fern," I've been told, "Other religions seek to TRANSCEND Earth."
You mean the folks who keep telling me that we are NOT humans, but 'spirits having an Earthly experience'? You mean the folks who are after Enlightenment as opposed to Gnosis?
"No, I mean Christians because they deny folks Earthy Pleasures." Actually, that could better be said of the Buddhists, who could see walking out on your Wife and newborn child as "the path to enlightenment' and see the entire Universe as illusion/Maya keeping you from enlightenment. And to whom attachment to pleasure leads inevitably to suffering.
And, darlings, it's not like Christians are one uniform group. Sure, some of them see Earth as corrupt and evil. Most don't. OTOH, most Pagan religions have a 'golden age' as part of their mythos, so it could very well be argued that 'we' see the Earth/Humans/the whole shebang as 'fallen' and 'corrupt' and 'entropic' and dammit what is the word I'm looking for? I'll think of it eventually .... might even put it in here.
"We" are not significantly different from 'them'. We have more in common than most of us like to admit. Because all religions on Earth arise from [the Gods] filling human needs and the experiences of living on this planet in these bodies.
Frondly, Fern
But gee whilikers, that might deflate a few ego balloons or be counter intuitive to my/our favorite 'Baskin-Robbins Flavor of the Day' CAn't be having none dat dar...
ReplyDeleteI might actually have to engage that bothersome lump of dangling ganglia and synaptic gaps wedged between my earlobes (or at least the bits above the brain stem), consider/accept things I'd rather remain oblivious towards or in denial of facts and beliefs that 'others' find meaningful down here in Earth School.
I think I'll just go channel Adam Sandler ("I reject your reality and substitute my own") again over a nice frothy mocha-choco-latte frappa-chino something with a tasty fruity danish on the side.
"Fruitcakes"
http://youtu.be/wneCa_yIuzg
lol, it's the illusion of enlightenment that keeps folks from it. enlightenment is gnosis.
ReplyDeletethe seeking of liberation from samsara is really no different than the promise of an eternal reward in heaven. What one of my old teachers called 'The Buddhist Error'.
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ReplyDeleteOr, to quote a source that I respect ... and quote from regularly... From the book "Casting Sacred Space: The Core of All Magickal Work" by Ivo Dominguez, Jr., published by our friends at Weiser:
ReplyDelete"The variations and similarities between magickal systems and Traditions may be thought of as cultural or linguistic differences. These differences can appear to be radical, but there is an ultimate limit to how far then can range because they are still anchored within the bounds of human temperament and biology."
Oh, this is another book I won from Weiser, tho' I BOUGHT the previous edition when Ivo self-published it. Yes, I will review the new edition which has more info in it.
And, to bring synchronicity into it - I wrote and scheduled the 'main post' two days ago. Yesterday, as I waited for the Spawn to get off work (car sharing!) I pulled Ivo's book out of my bag to read as I waited and found this quote. Then left the book in the car, which is now at my son's job, when I wanted to share the quote. Had to look up the intro on Amazon to quote it. Where I couldn't cut and paste it. But I SOMEHOW managed without cut and paste.
in regards to the Ivo quote:
ReplyDeletethis is similar to what I've always maintained. The craft is organic. It originates in a basic animism, as really do all religious or magical fundamentals. That is the unbroken 'tradition'. That everything has a spirit, or is ensouled, or has life force, or consciousness or intelligence or whatever one wishes to call it. And we learn our craft from those spirits, and they learned, just as we, by being ensouled in "earth" or matter.
Which is part of why I adore you, Che.
ReplyDelete