Are there any legit Gurus on ATS?

Originally posted by Itisnowagain
He told me i should open my own church, ha, ha.

amazing lol !

i want to hear you speak !

reply to post by Th0r

Thank you.
You can read my writings if you read my posts and if you live near me we could get together.
Speaking about this is pure love.
I come to ATS to speak about this because not many are receptive because the mind is strong it will not let what is being spoken be heard. Not many get it on ATS and i am not here to prove anything, what is in me has to come out so it comes out on ATS.
ATS is a great place to find that what i know should not be talked about. It is like fight club, the first rule is; do not speak about it and the second rule is; do not speak about it. I know what i speak is not understood by many and most will attack and they do. It is the mind that attacks because it is in fear because when the truth is known, the mind loses it's place as the boss. You should be the boss of the mind but humans have put the mind in charge and it is running their lives. It is running their lives and they are slaves to it.

Originally posted by MassOccurs
reply to post by Dragonfly79

 

I really liked your post. I think people who reach high success lend to overcome significant challenges. Do we really want the world to be better/easier? So we want to do away with suffering? There was an earlier post that talked about how a second path to enlightenment was a mental response to extreme fear. My personal experience has had me face a lot of hurdles, an I think maybe I have a higher potential to jump because of it.

Just because the change is swift do not mean there is not suffering before the change. I even think that road can be harder that the road where a soul is somewhat on the right track. Is it wrong to make it easier for people to evolve when they come after you even if they understand everything to the same degree? Do they have to suffer because other people have done it before to make it easier for them/ous. I thank every soul before me that have influenced the knowledge of spiritual growth on this planet and have helped me/ous in growing by their sacrifice/work. I would not be what I am and others would not be either without their help and the whole would not be the same.

reply to post by Itisnowagain


One more soul home. You made my day happier and his day also. Thank you.

Originally posted by MassOccurs
reply to post by BlueMule

 

Well, I think psychic ability is a decent litmus test because of it's rarity in earnest. What brought me to it was the guru being referred to as omniscient.

Then I'm sure you've read much of the parapsychological literature, as I have for years. Which books have you read?

deanradin.blogspot.com...

Can you tell me about any enhanced ability as a result of your enlightenment? Anything that is practical?

I can sometimes tell the future in visions and dreams and divination, I can sometimes share dreams with people and animals, interpret them. I can sometimes use empathy, telepathy, clairaudience. And other little things here and there. When it happens it happens. When it doesn't it doesn't. I don't worry about it. I trust Divine Wisdom to make it happen when it needs to happen.

Why don't you make a bunch of money? There's nothing wrong with that, you could donate most of it.

Because I don't need a bunch of money, and there will always be poor people whether I donate a bunch of money or not. If Divine Wisdom wants me to make a bunch of money and donate most of it then that would happen. I would be led to it by dreams of the future which come true as I go, as it happened with my 3 month pilgrimage.

No, thinking in terms of using psychic power to make a bunch of money smells too much like greed to me. It smells like a temptation. Like a trap. The human race doesn't need money to be enlightened. We could do without money, technology, science, industrialized society... if we were wise enough to work together to reach our psychic potential. Our collective potential is unlimited.

Psychic ability isn't like how its portrayed in the movies or comics. Everyone is psychic and everyones psychic ability is connected like a web. It forms the stuff of reality. We are all ONE. The psychic ability of a guru is not an island unto itself... separated from the currents of the psychic background. A lone guru in a culture of disbelievers can't do much miracle-working. In such a culture the current of the psychic background fights the guru. A guru is part of the collective unconscious and the collective unconscious has currents and patterns. A guru can't use psychic ability outside of it. It's all profoundly interconnected.

I think your expectations do not reflect this reality.

"All the Buddhas and all sentient beings are nothing but the One Mind, beside which nothing exists."

-Huang Po

It takes a villiage. A guru is part of the whole and must be in accord with the flow of the collective unconscious. Otherwise, that's where the trickster archetype comes in.

Trying to sieze conscious control of psi for 'good intentions', as opposed to leaving it in the hands of Divine Wisdom, is a trap that many fall into.

THE CAPRICIOUS, ACTIVELY EVASIVE, UNSUSTAINABLE NATURE OF PSI: A SUMMARY AND HYPOTHESES

ABSTRACT

Many parapsychological writers have suggested that psi may be capricious or actively evasive. The evidence for this includes the unpredictable, significant reversal of direction for psi effects, the loss of intended psi effects while unintended secondary or internal effects occur, and the pervasive declines in effect for participants, experimenters, and lines of research. Also, attempts to apply psi typically result in a few very impressive cases among a much larger number of unsuccessful results.

The term unsustainable is applicable because psi is sometimes impressive and reliable, but then becomes actively evasive. One of the most testable models for this property is that psi effects occur against a background of supporting and opposing motivation and psi influence due to the extreme polarization of attitudes toward psi in the population. These attitudes may have genetic and gender associated components. Another possible explanation is that the primary function of psi is to induce a sense of mystery and wonder. Other possible functions of psi also need to be investigated. For example, psi could contribute to evolution by briefly influencing random processes to enhance diversity, without specifically guiding evolution or having sustained effects. Some type of higher consciousness may influence or control psi effects.

Originally posted by MassOccurs
reply to post by 0mage

 

Thanks, a lot. I wasn't familiar with the term kundalini, although I've pondered similar concepts. Did some reading on that today...

I try and study multiple fields and take the universal approach that you're promoting. I'm 21 and it takes a great deal of focus for me just to observe the conditioned aspects of my mentality that jam potential. Trying to break out of bad habits. Do you think media expansion has made the path to enlightenment more difficult for people born in more recent years? I guess it helps in the way of information access, but it hurts if one doesn't use it to actively gather knowledge and prioritizes (consciously or not) entertainment at the base emotion levels. The latter seems to be the approach in majority.


I also would like to hear what you say about the process of spiritual development. I was reading a Kaballah book and a point it made was that reading spiritual literature is not really required...anything that can be learned can be done so by simply observing nature. A part of me thought this may even be a superior approach and thought maybe I should discontinue philosophic study in the academic sense and instead allow my mind to take form more naturally...I don't know, I guess there is no proven superior method for all individuals. The different schools of yoga illustrate this well.

edit on 18-8-2012 by MassOccurs because: (no reason given)

observing nature is very important. most of the past great minds obtained unique forms of mathematics from observing nature and applied it to their inventions. it shows u truth.. it brings you closer to universal laws which assist you in creating whatever is the specialty on your mind (your career or field of study). it's a quest, a riddle, a puzzle to solve your way out of the box.

but really.. neither are necessary once u meet the brain development requirements. one can discover it through simple introspection. u understand it does require your intelligence to be developed to a certain point. this is why those who are achieved see beyond the dogma of duality and see exactly why society is so heavily flawed and apathetic. that the african continent can supply the entire world with riches through precious gems and gold.. yet be the poorest country on the planet where ppl die of starvation every minute. under capitalism this should not be. but it takes u further.. into understanding y basically.. the whole system is f!cked!

we judge others more harshly than we judge our selves. we criticize them and can see and comment on ALL their flaws.. but apparently cannot see our own. thus it is introspection that allows you to now focus on yourself more.. criticize yourself, see your own disgusting flaws in the psychology of yourself etc. Judge yourself!

intelligence however is not a moot point. it is not something u gather from reading texbooks. it is something you gather from unrestricting yourself. by allowing more spiritual energy to flow into you. expanding the mind allows this.

so basically expanding the mind.. allows a fatter channel of spiritual energy to flow into your brain giving you more access to intuitive intelligence. expanding this intelligence channel u are able to compound knowledge just based on knowledge u already have and discover new things.. without reading anything. invent it in the mind and create it in reality.

it is this reason, and the obvious reason that your intelligence has grown is why you couldnt be evil. also the requirement of the heart and compassion which comes with intelligence.. growing ur channels towards attainment shows u why violence is stupid. why all the violence we perpetrate against eachother is foolish and none other than primitive behaviour.

so when evil or wicked hearted ppl give up because they believe it's all a farce. they are fooling noone but themselves. they may not have eyes to see. but if u can get them to read a book which teaches the path to enlightenment, they will see that they need to try to be more compassionate, empathic and understanding towards their fellow man.. and all the animals as well for that matter. but before u get clever let me just say, that does not mean that you feel compassion for a lion and just let it eat you LOL.

but the point is.. you can find the path in a multitude of ways.. but when you find it.. it is the same path that everyone has to take. in the end the final goal is deep introspection and exploration of the inner self with thought. if u do not have the right keys or coins u cannot pass. reading the right books can help ensure that you know what u need to get to cross the river of death and live.

use everything at your disposal to learn. whichever is your strongest method of deciphering can only be boosted by other methods.

reply to post by BlueMule


Ehh, I'm somewhat acquainted with thought and literature about psychic stuff. Got started when I had a few dreams that came true...read a lot of stuff on Ingo Swann's website www.biomindsuperpowers.com.... Swann was a remote viewer who worked with the CIA..

Still learning...

And in general agreement with the things you say. Gonna read that article when I have the chance, thanks.


And for Omage, a quote from Confucius that I was reminded of when reading your post:

"When you see a good person, look at them and take note of the qualities you like, When you see a bad person, look at yourself." Confucius, not an exact quote but it's something like that.

Gonna read that article when I have the chance, thanks

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
reply to post by BlueMule

 

Knowing that Christ and His followers are responsible for the deaths of thousands of mystics and their mystical traditions, and for the corruption of a host of metaphysical concepts and constructs... doesn't it fall on you, the mystic in contact with Christ, to "assimilate, transcend, consecrate, and repair" this?

~ Wandering Scribe

That guy isn't a mystic in contact with anyone. Hell, I can get him to go off his nut and get downright carnal in less than 3 posts, and you've seen it done by others to that "enlightened" character.

"By their fruits you shall know them." Right?

What's with the spiritual competition anyway? Competition is the anti-spiritual imperative that only the most devolved indulge. Seriously. Who cares what anyone thinks is spiritual enlightenment. When each of us crosses to the next world it'll be nothing like what we expected it to be, and who knows what "spiritual" means to anyone over there that didn't originate on this planet. I seriously doubt that any Earth humans are in charge on that side, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the most "spiritually advanced" Earthlings are just the most groomed among us.

Hell, if I was in charge over there, I'd never let you people know what's true. Not with such obvious hunger for competitive dominance as is on display within every "spiritual" organization that exists on this planet. No way in hell would I ever allow anyone to have a clue about what awaits them.

I plan on keeping really loose concerning "spiritual enlightenment". I see no value in becoming too rigidly channeled regardless of who declares what to be the ultimate whatever.

The below is just my opinion...

I have had a quick look at the site mentioned in the OP and I am skeptical as how anyone, or any organisation can give numbers to the amount of 'Gurus' or 'Saints' there are around and living among us. How could they know?

I am also skeptical to the 'spiritual level' they use to measure a persons spiritual growth. According to them, someone who has reached 100% on their scale 'which is Self-Realisation or being one with God' has reached the 'highest attainment'. Someone who has 'reached 70% is known as a Saint'?

Who decided this? These levels, ranks, titles were worked out by who? Under whose authority? What is the measurement system to measure this spiritual growth or level?

Someone who has reached 100% spiritual growth has nothing else to learn? Nothing else to master? No more study of the self, universe, or nature needed? Has reached the very top? Has all the knowledge of the above and below?

Well, by defintion of 100%, if someone has reached the very top (100%) then the only way left is down, to fall?

Would you say the Christ or the Buddha had reached 100% before they left this physical existance, or that they continued they search for knowledge and understanding into the next world/sphere/level/existance?

It's my opinion that there is no limit to knowledge, no limit on learning or spiritual growth and even the Gods are gaining knowledge all the time.

It is also my opinion that one of the most dangerous egos or psychological aggregates (they have many names) is the spiritual ego, this defect in man (along with untold others) is the cause of the corruption of religions and many other crimes.

What does it mean when someone says that they are enlightened? Enlightened to what? Are there not many levels of enlightenment, some we may understand and some we can not comprehend?

Anyway, these are just my thoughts/opinions and my last thought is that a 'Guru' should not be followed or want to be followed, a 'Guru' is just a messenger, a sign post or a SatNav to help you along your own path and help you find your way.

Gnobody

reply to post by NorEaster


I've never approached the spiritual with a sense of competition.

Mainly because I know I'm right. ← that was sarcasm to anyone else reading.

I look at the spiritual through the lens of historical information. A lot of people seem to overlook that our ancestors were extremely spiritual. They seem to have this preconceived notion that Jesus was the first "divine" or "spiritual" figure on Earth. The way I see it, from studying the history of the world, is that Christ—His Church, and His Father, God—were just about the worst spiritual thing to happen to our world.

There were hundreds of spiritual avenues present when the Hebrews began wandering around the ancient Near East. Sumer had a unique system, as did Egypt, and Mesopotamia at large, another existed in Canaan and other Northern territories, yet another was found in Anatolia, which opened the door for the Greek mystery schools. There were ample opportunities for people to find a spiritual current which suited their personal beliefs concerning universal structure.

In fact, as a little research will enlighten anyone to, the spiritual figures of Sumer, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Canaan, Anatolia, and Greece coexisted throughout the whole of the ancient Near East. You find the Sumerian god Enki in Sumer, Mesopotamia, Canaan, and Anatolia. You find the Canaanite god Baal in Canaan, Egypt, and the Hebrew Old Testament. The Sumerian goddess Inanna is in Sumer, Mesopotamia, Canaan, Anatolia, and the Hebrew Old Testament. The Anatolian god Tešub-Sutekh is in Anatolia and Egypt. Anatolian gods like Attis and Kybele show up in Greece as Adonis and Cybele.

The entirety of the land was developing a universally receptive system. Neither time, nor distance was impeding the unification.

Then Abraham, Yahweh, and the Hebrew people began declaring war on everyone and everything. They invaded Babylon, tried to invade Egypt, succeeded in seizing the lands of Canaan, and pulled in Persian Zoroastrian beliefs to help squelch opposing spiritual systems. Systems which had coexisted, borrowed and flourished together for nearly 4000 years.

Once the Hebrews did their dirty work Christ arrived in Rome. God, His Son, and their Church then proceeded to wholesale slaughter anyone who had escaped and still believed differently. There's an entire website dedicated to the massive extermination the Christians embarked upon to fuel their spiritual tyranny. And it only covers their actions post legalization, and the making of Christianity as the state-religion.

Not only is their spiritual system built off of slaughter and bloodshed, their myths, rituals, figures, and mystical beliefs were plagiarized. The Hebrew Old Testament is filled with myths from Sumer and Mesopotamia. Jesus Christ is an amalgamation of multiple pagan deities and archetypes. Figures like Noah, Moses, and Joseph have direct parallels in Sumer, Egypt, and even India. Often times, their plagiarisms were not even good, but often missed the point of the originals. After doing all of that, they killed the original participants of the system, claimed it as their own, and began a war against all "heathen" and "pagan" faiths.

Historically, spiritually, religiously... Christianity, Judaism, and now their love-child Islam, are really about the most spiritually bankrupt, and divinely corrupt avenues which one can take.

But it's not a competition to me; it's about the simple facts. Christ, whether mystical or not, is both attached to, and the leader of, a spiritual system responsible for so much evil and negativity that I cannot endorse it, openly, without labeling myself a hypocrite for not trying to at least present a more holistic, and less bloodthirsty, spiritual route.

And yes, I am aware that not all Christians are evil, or bad, or endorse all of the history of the Church, or the Bible, or the Old Testament, etc. All I can say to those people is this: if you don't support the Church which spread Christ's message, if you don't support the whole of Christ's message, and if you don't think the Old Testament which Christ came to fulfill applies to you... then why do you call yourself a Christian, or even follow Christ? The world is full of other avenues. Try one. You just might like it.

And that is my two cents.

Sorry for the off-topic nature of the post, OP.

~ Wandering Scribe

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe
reply to post by NorEaster

 

I've never approached the spiritual with a sense of competition.

Mainly because I know I'm right. ← that was sarcasm to anyone else reading.

~ Wandering Scribe

I guess I was more commenting on the competition with you than suggesting that you were competing.

As far as the Christian issue, the religion was invented by the Roman Empire, by taking what they wanted from the Hebrew merchants' cobbled together version of the Mediterranean region Mystery Religion narrative, as it had - by the 3rd century - been redeveloped by the Gnostics and reinterpreted as historical fact by uneducated Literalists within the western reaches of the faltering empire. They needed a religion to unite the empire that was left, and since the Hebrews were long gone (with an available god-man that no one - by that time - would associate with Joshua - Jesus is Greek for Joshua - the Hebrews' original nation founder if you read up on Moses and the crossing into the promised land story) they had an open road with whatever they wanted to do with that narrative, along with a backstory (the Torah) that they could manipulate once they got rid of the libraries of Alexandria - which they did burn to eliminate any contradictory histories that might exist.

The brilliance of the whole thing really emerged when the Roman ruling class simply migrated their positions from the state offices to the church hierarchy, with the Emperor ultimately becoming the Pope, the Senate becoming the College of Cardinals, the regional governors becoming Archbishops, and the Roman Army being replaced by the threat of excommunication. Hell, that was good for another 1,000 years of nearly omnipotent western rule for the Romans, and without any budget requirements. Just pure profit. That leg of the Roman Empire is still one of the most powerful and influential states on the planet.

Yeah, the Xtian thing isn't spiritual at all, but then what is spiritual? If one man's spiritual ascendance can reasonably be presented as being another man's heretical abomination, then that suggest that it's all subjective at the very least. And this means that spirituality itself is the product of the human mind, since nothing else in existence is subjective but the perceptions of the sentient mind. Only the mind - regardless of how primitive or sophisticated - is capable of subjectivity, but the rub is that subjectivity is all the mind is capable of. Spirituality mirrors the nature of the mind, and nothing that is objective does. This suggests that spirituality is actually (and only) the product of a mind that, for whatever reason, sees a benefit in actively configuring its own unique version of what spirituality is and will become for that mind. It's a reality narrative. Like any other interpretation of reality that the mind has embraced as real.

reply to post by NorEaster


It is all spirit.
Atoms are 'made' of 99.99999% empty space.
Really it is 100% empty space.
Emptiness is form, form is emptiness.

Originally posted by Itisnowagain
reply to post by NorEaster

 

It is all spirit.
Atoms are 'made' of 99.99999% empty space.
Really it is 100% empty space.
Emptiness is form, form is emptiness.

Actually, it's all information. That empty space is contextual precedent in the form of established association between unique holons within an entangled holon arrangement. You can call it spirit if you wish, but don't try bestowing sentience on any of it. It's all default response to the nature of action and how action creates the fact of that action to emerge as information unit clusters.

Then it's rinse, repeat what works and don't repeat what doesn't work. The elaborations begin to resemble intelligence after a while, but only if you don't understand the primordial structure that provides the open avenues of progressive development potential. It's as symmetrical and dependable as "divine geometry" but only because it's as "dumb" as "sacred geometry". Just "yeses" and "nos", and that's all. Only the sentient mind holds any surprises.

Originally posted by NorEaster

Originally posted by Itisnowagain
reply to post by NorEaster

 

It is all spirit.
Atoms are 'made' of 99.99999% empty space.
Really it is 100% empty space.
Emptiness is form, form is emptiness.

Actually, it's all information. That empty space is contextual precedent in the form of established association between unique holons within an entangled holon arrangement. You can call it spirit if you wish, but don't try bestowing sentience on any of it. It's all default response to the nature of action and how action creates the fact of that action to emerge as information unit clusters.

Then it's rinse, repeat what works and don't repeat what doesn't work. The elaborations begin to resemble intelligence after a while, but only if you don't understand the primordial structure that provides the open avenues of progressive development potential. It's as symmetrical and dependable as "divine geometry" but only because it's as "dumb" as "sacred geometry". Just "yeses" and "nos", and that's all. Only the sentient mind holds any surprises.

In 'form' ation is the form that forms from the emptiness.
The no form is like the page the information appears on.
Look at the page and not the words that appear on it.

Originally posted by Wandering Scribe

But it's not a competition to me; it's about the simple facts.

Oh I think it is very much a competition to you - a competition to be a follower of the least evil tradition.

Christ, whether mystical or not, is both attached to, and the leader of, a spiritual system responsible for so much evil and negativity that I cannot endorse it, openly, without labeling myself a hypocrite for not trying to at least present a more holistic, and less bloodthirsty, spiritual route.

'Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing,
there is a field.
I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase
each other
doesn't make any sense.'

-Rumi

And yes, I am aware that not all Christians are evil, or bad, or endorse all of the history of the Church, or the Bible, or the Old Testament, etc. All I can say to those people is this: if you don't support the Church which spread Christ's message, if you don't support the whole of Christ's message, and if you don't think the Old Testament which Christ came to fulfill applies to you... then why do you call yourself a Christian, or even follow Christ? The world is full of other avenues. Try one. You just might like it.

The avenue of Christ and other avenues are not in conflict. Just as the north pole and the south pole are not in conflict. They are in a dance. They are polarities like yin and yang. All spiritual paths are part of a whole - all are part of a yin / yang symphony of polarities manifesting as 'avenues'.

What you are saying here is like saying, "forget yin. It's evil. Try yang. It's good"

But in yin is a dot of yang, and in yang is a dot of yin. Both are in the circle of the Tao, both are constantly changing. Yin becomes so yin it changes to yang. Yang becomes so yang it changes to yin.

Inside the yin of exoteric fundamentalist orthodox Christianity is a dot of esoteric mystical yang. That dot weaves throughout world religion and myth....like a thread tieing them all together into the fabric of the Tao.

To fully grok the presence of the esoteric mystical 'dot' in a religion is to grok that in them all. You are not yet in a position to fully grok the mystic esoteric thread in Christianity, and are therefore not in a position to fully grok it in any path. You are still thinking in terms of pairs of opposites such as good and evil... you have yet to transcend pairs of opposites.

But hey, that is ok. Where you are is where you're supposed to be right now. Eventually you'll get there.

Originally posted by Itisnowagain

Originally posted by NorEaster

Originally posted by Itisnowagain
reply to post by NorEaster

 

It is all spirit.
Atoms are 'made' of 99.99999% empty space.
Really it is 100% empty space.
Emptiness is form, form is emptiness.

Actually, it's all information. That empty space is contextual precedent in the form of established association between unique holons within an entangled holon arrangement. You can call it spirit if you wish, but don't try bestowing sentience on any of it. It's all default response to the nature of action and how action creates the fact of that action to emerge as information unit clusters.

Then it's rinse, repeat what works and don't repeat what doesn't work. The elaborations begin to resemble intelligence after a while, but only if you don't understand the primordial structure that provides the open avenues of progressive development potential. It's as symmetrical and dependable as "divine geometry" but only because it's as "dumb" as "sacred geometry". Just "yeses" and "nos", and that's all. Only the sentient mind holds any surprises.

In 'form' ation is the form that forms from the emptiness.
The no form is like the page the information appears on.
Look at the page and not the words that appear on it.

edit on 20-8-2012 by Itisnowagain because: (no reason given)

I have no idea what you're trying to say here. Information is not written on a page. Communication is written and/or spoken, but information is primordial. It has no material form whatsoever.

He who seeks enlightenment must answer one question honestly....

Could Jesus microwave a burrito so hot that he himself could not eat it?

Answer that question and find spiritual enlightenment....

I am a guru no doubt, all gurus come from my country, we give all the light to the world, our country is Portugal, Lusitânia, it means country of light, lux - citânia, lux city, light city, lisbon is its capital, lis means light in danish and other languages.

So yeah i am a guru, we here in Portugal are very advanced beings, incarnated to help humanity evolve, just like Obama...

reply to post by Itisnowagain

"He who keeps his life will lose it but he who loses his life for my sake (truth) will find it."
~ JC, authentic Guru, spiritual master, son of the living God, and Lamb of God.

reply to post by NorEaster


I have no problems with your overview of the Roman movement of Christianity. Had I another 5000 characters of available space per post, I'd have probably discussed much of what you did. I, personally, tend to focus on Judaism when discussing the mystical avenues of Christ, as so many Christians try to remove themselves from the Hebrew people, never realizing that Jesus was not only a Jew, probably a rabbi, but also came to be the messiah to the Jewish people. The two faiths are intimately tied together.

Moving away from monotheism and it's faults though, and on to spirituality. Here we are most likely have a few disagreements. Yes, many, many spiritual and mystical paths are constructs of the mind. The Tao, for example, which Bluemule continually falls back on, is a conscious-construct. Likewise, the archetypal and mystical nature of Christ as a unifying character is also a construct of the mind. Enlightenment itself, most often, can be pared down to one individual believing their conscious opinions about the nature and reality of the world are more advanced than those of another.

That does not mean that all spiritual and mystical systems are this way. My own avenue follows more acutely along the routes of naturally observable phenomenon. The passing of seasons; the annual rise and fall of vegetation; the coming and leaving of storms; the ascent and descent of the sun: daily, seasonally, and annually; the cycle of the moon: from dark, to waxing, to full, to waning; the personal patterns of individuals emotionally and mentally; and much, much more.

All of which can be grounded in observable reality. People, like nature, and the cosmos at large, have patterns. Their activities, their moods, their desires; all of it moves in and out like tides. There is a spiritual and mystical current underlying such a system; one which does not need a consciousness construct, or some belief in a "higher self," or the discarding of an ego. It only requires you to pay attention to yourself, and your surroundings, to notice the overlap in function and form.

I did experiment in the realms of consciousness enlightenment for a while, studying the Tao, and heavily exploring Theravada Buddhism for several years, and Zen for a much less significant time. I found them extremely fitting for meditation, and mental play, but sorely lacking in real-world application. Their lessons were certainly enlightening, but not entirely befitting of either our modern world, or our current country... my current country, depending on where you hail from.

Where the Tao saw good and evil as a part of the same, greater whole, I could not see standing by while evil men did evil things. I understood the message, that within everything there is both good and evil, and this is true. Life is entirely composed of shades of grey. But to write off evil things as necessary, I cannot do. I cannot forgive the atrocities of the Hebrew and Christian people, just as I cannot pretend the Nazi regime was justified in their slaughters. I cannot accept that African genocide is needed in our world. Where some, like Bluemule, would say that these things can all be forgiven, I say that they cannot. Some evil must never be allowed to be wiped away. Our species becomes fundamentally insane when we have no Great Evil against which to measure our own actions. The Tao is beautiful, but flawed. As are all things in life.

Likewise, in Buddhism, I could not see the willful release of all connection to anything in life as a viable road to true bliss. While loving someone is not the be-all and end-all of spiritual epiphany in life, I certainly could not go through life never making connections and developing a tight-knit bond of dependence and dependability with those whom I dearly loved. The idea of clinging and craving, to me, was OK in moderation. If you never develop a clinging for community, love, family, and friendship then you go through life alone. I could not see the point of an empty, lonely life, without attachment to anyone, or anything.

All-in-all, at the end, I saw mental enlightenment for the child's play that it was. I moved on and looked for spirituality and a mystical nature, over enlightenment. It has served me well.

~ Scribe