“… I was baptized Christian when I
was only two months old. I go to Sunday church often with my parents but I don’t
feel a real connection with Christianity, for me it is all about tradition… I have read the Bible, but the words felt so outdate, boring and even difficult to understand at times (though I consider myself well educated)… also I tried to find more information from the internt attempting to decifer what Christianity is all about, but failed. There are so much of 'mumble jumble' out there in the social media which have made me feel more confused than ever … Could you please give me some insight about this religion thing? Are there any real substances in the religious beliefs? Or is it all just a big fat lie? ...’
You told me that your parents are
devoted Christian, but it doesn’t necessarily make you a devotee by default too.
You shouldn’t feel guilty or shamed if
you are not a believer or a believer of something else. In my opinion, there is something pretty depressing with
our human society- Metaphorically speaking,
as if we were born eagles,
soaring sky should be our innate nature. But we are being gradually ‘nurtured’
into believing that we are just ordinary chickens who are bounded to the herds
and bounded to the ground helplessly, soaring sky is just somewhat silly dream…
So who has cut away our wings?! What has taken away our dreams?!...
We shall never forget, that we
are spiritual beings who are having physical experiences, instead we are
physical beings who are having spiritual experiences sometimes. Spirituality is
a divine gift bestowed upon every soul- the spiritual connection to the Most
High, to the Universe and to each other... It is coded in our soul remembrance
waiting to be activated. Spirituality does not originated from any religion but
originated directly from our soul. Religions are merely the materialized forms
of spirituality, as being said, souls’ expressions. As I see it, soul’s freedom
to express is primary, the forms in religion or other spiritual practices are
secondary. When human’s ego sets in, things can be turned upside down- Being a
free spirited soul incarnated on earth, yet does not have the freedom to express its
divine nature due to all forms of man-made suppressions and manipulations, how frustrating is that?! how tragic
is that?!
Thus in my opinion, religious
preferences should not be passed on from parents to children like some kind of inheritance.
Children at their younger ages should be encouraged to have an open mind
towards different religions and spiritual practices(which will probably help to
reduce the religion related prejudices and fanaticism), then the children should be given total
freedom to choose what to believe or not to believe, as long as it is resonated with their heart and harmonized with their own chosen path, it should be
accepted and respected by both the parents and the society. Otherwise, this
whole religion thing, without this fundamental freedom of choosing of its own soul expression, would be totally pointless and meaningless! Sometimes I don’t understand the rigidities in people,
why would it be so wrong that parents are Christian and their child Buddhist or
Muslim?! If God loves all His/Her creations, every human, every animal, every
leaf, every sun ray… and God brought us all together here so we souls in human
forms can experience both the richness of diversities of life given by Him/Her, and the greatness
of unity consciouness in all things bonded by Him/Her… but what is within us which make us
feel the need to separate ourselves from everyone and everything else, in
the excuses of different skin colors, in the excuses of different beliefs, even in
the excuses of God's name?!...
You expressed that there are so many contradictory information and theories
out there, you don’t know what to believe … I share your concern and frustration, because it is not easy any more to discern the truthfulness
of an information since many false and manipulated information in
the social media has already become one of today's new norms. I can share with you my view but you need to keep in mind:Truth is subjective term with human conditionings, what I
have accepted as my truth may not be your truth.
Just as an example, you were made Christian outwardly, but what does that mean to you inwardly? What would you like to believe?What is your inner voice? Old Testament
or New Testament? Are those four offically chosen Gospels in the Bible by the
Roman emperor Constantine’s council appealing to you ? Or, the esoteric Gospel of Thomas and other
early Christian Gnostic manuscripts discovered near Nag Hammadi in 1945 may be more satisfying to your soul's thirst? Which version of Jesus's teaching resonates more with your heart and soul? ... I know it is tricky, but your own soul is your best guiding light, so make friend with yourself, your innerest self! Don't you ever think as it is said in the Bible ' ...Ask and it will be given to you; Seek and you will find' without hard work! The path you choose will be yours, whatever you choose
to accept into you mind/heart will eventually become you, so do choose carefully and
wisely…
Have you heard about the ‘Killing
Buddha’ story? In the ninth century a fierce and uncompromising Zen master
Linji said to his disciples: ‘If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.’
What an insult to the great Buddha, many were angered! But I don’t think an enlightened
being like Gautam Buddha would mind being ‘killed’ by Linji, metaphorically
speaking of course, instead I think he would be happy that finally someone like Master Linji
understood the essence of his teaching instead of turning him into a religious
festish, just for the sake of worship… because Buddha taught his disciples the same thing:
‘Believe nothing, no matter where you read, or who has said, not even if I have
said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.’
You see, those are the great egoless masters, the real enlightened beings! Regardless whether they were from the East
or the West; Regardless whether they lived in the ancient times or in the new modern eras; Regardless how differently they may have appeared to people; they all are different yet the same, their
consciousness are vibrating on the same level- you may call it Christ
consciousness or Cosmic consciousness. Therefore despite of all
the differences from the outer looks, their core messages and their essential teachings
are identical- all about unity consciousness; all about self-mastery of body, mind
and spirit; all about self-healing and self empowerment; all about
transformation; all about freedom and unconditional love… because that is
universal truth, that is what I have accepted as my own truth as well-the only truth! Thus any religion
creates separation among people instead of unifying people can not be my religion; Any spiritual guru can’t inspire people to be freer and more empowered in themselves, and less depended on even his/her guruship can’t be my guru; Any holy man make people more fearful and sinful, more of 'chickens' instead of 'eagles' can not owe its holiness in my heart; … So this is my chosen version of truth, what is yours?... Good Luck with your seeking!
*(P.S. Question has been slightly edited for the protection of its privacy.)
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