I’m not a Christian really… I’m a confused truth seeker.
I did spend a long time this morning in sleepy prayer to “God” and “Jesus” and it was pretty good…
but you know. I don’t want to jump through hoops. If Jesus, God, Allah, Satan, Yahweh, Vishnu, Shiva, and every other deity under the sun, can be simplified to simply TAO… then tao is what I’m looking for.
but if the deities are all real, including Jesus, then I would probably gravitate toward being a Christian and professing faith in him, because I really like the idea of him being so full of unconditional universal love, that he would die for the whole planet, feeding everyone his Christ-energy so that they can transform and be complete.
but if it’s just a dogmatic way of control… then it isn’t for me at all.
In terms of Christianity I really just stick with what I agree with… I lean towards a gnostic approach with Jesus as an enlightened being, who spoke in ways which his culture could understand. Coming from a Jewish background himself this means that he spoke in terms of “God” (although his speakings were not in English so this is confusing to think about) and he kept it simple… then his disciples simplified it even more so that they could spread it easily.
Somewhere along the way, probably, things were corrupted by evil authority figures… the notion of hell and the devil were probably overemphasized and exagerated, and the true path to gnosis (union with God/Christ) such as forms of meditation and the application of Heaven being on Earth, and inherently a state of mind, were probably suppressed and labeled as “heresy”.
Because really. What mainline Christianity is, is a set of rules and dogmas to follow. I do think that you can “liberate” yourself that way, and borrowing from Buddhism, following scriptures is one way to be free. But a much more direct route is to simply go the journey yourself, and all sorts of practices involving meditation are designed soley for that.
So I lean toward belief systems that are less allegorical, less story-like, less superstitious, and more down to Earth for the guy who actually wants to do what he hears abuot. Buddhism, Taoism, gnostic Christianity.
Really, if you truely want truth, it’s a long road to walk, and it generally requires a lot of deviation from norms, a lot of hard journeying… I think the Christian religion is more just something to point you in how to live your life correctly, and to help you not be afraid of dying. Now if Jesus existed as the way they claim, that complicates it a lot, and then I would question… does this mean the other figures did not exist, and are not valid?
It’s a lot to think of. So really, I seek to condense it down to where if it prodcues results, I could eventually be a “mystic” Christian, and follow Jesus… it’s just that… the Jesus in my mind is so condensed and simplified in the Bible… and there is so much useless stuff in there… why do I care about what nation conquered what nation with God’s “favor” ?
I care about freeing myself, lol.
Love your enemy as yourself. That is a deep teaching.
Turn the other cheek. That is even deeper.
but if you look at the gnostic gospels, such as Thomas (the only one I’ve read) it really is a lot more applicable to the mystical life, to the seeker of truth. and in it Jesus says this “do not stop seeking until you find” he also heavily advocates that Heaven is here, and we just don’t know how to look for it.
if a mod sees this as overtly off topic I would appreciate it if they would copy and paste the entire thing and PM it to me so I don’t lose it, so I can discuss it elsewhere, or ask me to edit it out myself.
It’s a bit of a stretch, but, its very very applicable to how “mystic” practices such as lucid dreaming can cross into Christianity through interpreting the scripture with a different lense and looking more toward the gnostic side of things. My journey may be of help to the topic starter.
I just recently overcame tremendous fear of “Satan” and hell not more than a few months ago…