WHAT'S ON TODAY'S SHOW
Here are links to some of the articles we will be discussing on this afternoon's radio show:
Topic I - Is homosexuality a civil rights issue? Is it a sin?
From mental disorder to civil rights cause - Marvin Olasky, World Magazine
Marriage in the march of time - Colbert I. King, Washington Post
Holmes stands behind Bible-verse quest - Montgomery Advertiser
The Bible and Heterosexual Marriage - David Limbaugh
Topic II - Do all religions lead to God? Are conservative Christians arrogant and intolerant if they think they have the only way?
A Delicate, Daring Bid to Deepen Interfaith Harmony - LA Times
Do Any Religions Other Than Your Own Offer a Path to God? - Washington Post
Basic Training in Religious Tolerance - NY Times
Living without God - Summit Daily News
Dear Don,
While driving home on the Freeway last night, your radio show was being heard. If there had been a cellphone available, you would have received a call -- responding to many of the questions that were posed.
Yes, there is only ONE TRUTH. And, there is only ONE GOD. However, if one is still caught in the "many," it is because words, thoughts & concepts are getting in the way. And "beliefs" are thoughts, too! Jesus said: "You have forgotten the ONE here-present; and do not know how to examine THIS moment."
Jesus was "one-with God," for he had discovered that ONLY GOD IS. It is due to the false belief that we are separated from the Source of Being that we miss seeing that. It is the "I am the body" belief, which sustains that separation. For, "dying to Christ" means to let go of the form as our identity and to discover and surrender to Christ-within -- the spiritual Essence which transcends all forms.
When one becomes a Christian, there is a partial surrender to God. However, unless the surrender is TOTAL, one continues to live in a divided state of consciousness. It is from this divided ego-consciousness that beliefs arise. For like a baby's pacifier (which is a substitute for the real thing) beliefs are a substitute for God-Realization.
"Son-of God" is an ancient Hindu term which refers to one who has realized the Divinity within. Jesus was an Enlightened Master. His term for Enlightenment was "The Kingdom of Heaven." That is why, when he was asked where one could find the "Kingdom" which he spoke of, he told them: "You won't find it here or there (in time or space), for the Kingdom of Heaven is within you."
The Bible was written not by Jesus, but by his followers, who had not reached the same Unitary Consciousness. Therefore, when they tried to explain what He was about, they imposed division on his Unitary Teaching. The division between "right & wrong," "God & the Devil," "man & God," are conceptual divisions, only. Therefore, if one tries to understand Jesus with the mind, they will fail. For, until the chattering, ego-mind is totally STILL, and receptive to the ONE here-present, one will remain in a "fallen" and divided state -- separated from God. As it says in the scriptures, "Be still and KNOW that I AM God." It is the "I AM" within which is the Universal SELF and our Divine, Eternal Reality.
Once this is recognized, then all the misunderstanding regarding other religions and paths to God become quite clear. For, the division between them is imposed by man, not by God. God is not an old man in a beard, sitting in the sky; but Formless Consciousness, and our own Innermost BEING. The differences between the traditions are coming from getting caught in the terms. But all terms are no more than pointers to the same Reality -- which is unnameable. When this is realized, then one sees that spiritual "arrogance" applies to those who have only one way of defining the TRUTH. For, all Spiritual Paths lead to God . . . since, ONLY GOD IS! Where else could they go? And, Heaven is NOT in the future, for it is Eternally Present. Otherwise, it would not be eternal! So, if one is still looking for Heaven in the future, they have not yet discovered the TRUTH. For, discovering that "Heaven is at hand" means it is already HERE-NOW in THIS moment! One who has Awakened to this Ultimate Truth sees it everywhere he looks.
"His disciples said:
Show us the place where you are,
for it is necessary for us to seek it.
He said to them:
He who has ears, let him hear!
There is light within an Enightened man
and it illuminates the whole world;
if it does not illuminate it, it is darkness."
Love & Truth
from One Here-Present
Posted by: Audrey | February 21, 2005 at 11:54 AM
I respond to this email during the February 22nd radio show, and you can see my argument and Audrey's reply to that program in the February 22nd blog post "Today Over The Air".
Posted by: Don | February 21, 2005 at 11:58 AM