Jim Palmer's Blog, page 26

Playing hardball with the religious lies in your head

There was that time when Jesus cleansed the temple – kicking over chairs, upturning tables, and driving out the money changers. You’re going to have to do this for yourself. Living inside your head are all those religious lies and deceptions that have enslaved you and are a power in your mind. They are constantly doing business in your head – controlling you, limiting you, sabotaging you, and stopping you. Kick them out! Upturn those tables! Toss those chairs! Drive them out of you!

People keep one foot in the religious way, and also try to embrace what is real. It’s not going to happen. You have to divest yourself of the religious way entirely. Jesus said you can’t pour new wine into old wineskins. But many people are afraid because the old way is all they know, and so they want to hold onto at least a little of it. But we all know what happens – a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough. That’s we need to step toward the real together with others, and then it’s not quite so scary.

The Spirit doesn’t need rules

Many of us who grew up in the Christian religion are accustomed to focusing on Jesus, the person who lived thousands of years ago. There is much to gain from this, especially the realization that our humanity does not separate us from God. However, Jesus himself challenged people to get in touch with the “Jesus Spirit,” if you will, that runs through us all. That Spirit does not need any rule books or man centered organizations. That Spirit can communicate with us anytime and anywhere and show us all things.

6 thoughts that might encourage you (or piss you off)

A new world will open if we will express our deeper feelings – the sensations the Spirit gives us – into words. We must turn these feelings into our own words, and speak them to one another. Trust these deep feelings and Spirit sensations inside you, and do not be afraid to express them in your own words. I can’t emphasize this enough. Do not latch onto or borrow the language and verbiage of others, express those deep feelings in your words. They don’t have to be profound, spiritual or sophisticated words, they only need to be your words. The more natural and down-to-earth words they are, the better. I think sometimes we encode our understandings and experiences in a lot of over-spiritualized mumbo-jumbo, which only serves to complicate and obscure what is otherwise quite natural, simple and beautiful.

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Religious Myth #32: The name of “Jesus” magically has authority and power.

It was put to me this way:

“The power in the name provides protection, covering for them that believe in it. When you call His name in time of danger, Jesus quickly shields you from any imminent harm. When you call His name for help, the answer is dispatched immediately. Most of the time you see instant manifestation.”



In my view, the idea that there is authority and power when one physically states the name/word “Jesus” is magical thinking.

Instead, I would express the true meaning of this “Jesus’ name” idea as follows:

“The Christ mind and nature that is in you and is you, supplies what is necessary to operate within the full and present spiritual reality of God’s Kingdom. Whenever you operate from that spirit inside, guess what? You’e already there!”

The trick with this is not get too wrapped up in all the terminology of “Christ mind and nature,” “spirit,” etc… Stay connected with whats real inside you. Be mindful of deep feelings and deep awareness that happens a bit deeper from your typical coming and going feelings. I think you know the difference when those deep feelings or that deeper awareness opens up inside you. We need to learn to speak to one another from that place.

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A characteristic of a wise spiritual teacher is that they steer you in the direction of connecting with what’s real inside you – your authentic self, deep feelings, and spirit awareness, as opposed to encouraging your attachment to their personality, teachings, and experiences.

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Sometimes when I come across people who are blurting out some Scripture verse, or some other external reference to support their stance, I want to say, “Hey! What do YOU truly feel? YOU tell me the truth!”

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Unlike religion, there is no hierarchy in the Kingdom.

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Jesus was not a religious person. He was considered a heretic and degenerate by his own religious tradition. Jesus is about the least religious person you’d ever meet. He felt more at home hanging out with the “sinners.” Jesus and religion don’t go together. Jesus would be horrified in knowing that people created a religious system around his personality, life and teachings. I think the true significance and impact of Jesus will not be grasped until we stop thinking of him as the product of proponent of religion.

Also, don’t make a religion out of a non-religious Jesus. Just embrace and live the spiritual truth he embodied and taught. That is enough.

Are we on the verge of another 60’s? (but better)

I mentioned previously that I’ve been studying the 60’s. I came a little too late to experience it for myself, but I’ve been compelled to investigate it.

The 60’s was a leaderless movement, which welled up from within the masses themselves. No one quite knew exactly what to do or where to go, let alone what was behind it. In fact that was never really solved. But because it didn’t appear to have an obvious purpose it became subject to all sorts of criticism and abuse. The establishments who were more organized and backed by traditionalists barricaded themselves against the onslaught of their time honored values and authority. “Get back to work!” They cried. “Become responsible citizens. We know what is good for you.”

Their fundamentalism finally prevailed. The movement fragmented in all its different flavors. In many cases these factions becoming cultist, and many people who were interested in building their own kingdoms gradually took over the fracturing sub-cultures. The Spirit was lost and many dropped out and turned to all sorts of stuff, and different beliefs and practices, trying to recapture that initial excitement and euphoria.

Initially, the change in disposition was revealed through the music of the time. But as the movement receded, it lost its soulfulness, and became more gritty, aggressive, frustrated… and stoned!

I have talked with people who spoke of experiencing a tremendous lift during that period, and wonder where it all went wrong. To them, the deterioration of the movement was tragic. They speak of an energy of love, authenticity, togetherness, and harmony that connected people together as never before. To them it showed the possibility that a whole new world could have opened up.

But many of the folks from the 60’s gradually and reluctantly worked themselves back into the system, became “successful,” but feel like they never really did what they really wanted to do, and express a sense of emptiness about life and shallow relationships.

I see a lot of similarities between the counter-cultural energy of our day and the conditions that gave rise to the 60’s. I wonder about the possibility of there being a tipping point where a large-scale movement of people become connected to what’s real inside themselves, and speak to one another from their deep feelings and Spirit awareness, bubbling up from inside them.

 

How the institutional church turned the good news into bad news (and how to get it back)

Misunderstanding what Jesus meant by “repent” is one of the most damaging errors of the Christian church, which has kept people looping around in empty religious concepts that prevent true life and freedom.

The central message of Jesus is translated as: “Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand.” However, the word Jesus used was not “repent.”

The word Jesus actually used was “metanoia.” “Meta” means beyond or outside, while “noia”, means understanding. Noia is derived from the Greek “nous,” which means our minds. So in practical terms metanoia means to “change the way we use our minds.” In other words, to think beyond the normal limits of the way we have been taught to reason. It implies that we haven’t been using our minds correctly. An example of this metanoia principle would be metaphysics. As mentioned, “meta” means outside or beyond, so metaphysics means outside the normal limits of physics.

True “metanoia” is referencing our higher mind – the Spirit. It is a Spirit awareness that is beyond the normal reasoning of the mind.

The original “metanoia” meaning was lost (changed to “repent” and “repentance”) when the early Bible manuscripts were translated into Latin and became the standard Biblical language for many centuries. That word “repentance” comes to English from the old French word “repentir” meaning “to feel regret for sins and crimes.” “Repentir” came from the Latin words “penitire” to regret, and “poenitire” to make sorry. It is the root source for our words penitentiary, penitent and penance and related to our word for “pain.”

Using this “repent” definition perverted the true “Gospel” (good news), and made Jesus’ central message to be something like: “Feel sorrow and regret and pain because the authority of heaven is at hand!” Seriously??? Does that sound like “good news” to you???

Capturing what Jesus meant by the word “metanoia,” his central message was: “The dimension and reality of God’s Kingdom is here now, but it’s going to require you to shift from the way you typically use your mind to the awareness of the Spirit inside you.”

9 thoughts on re-thinking God and Jesus, and what it means to know them

Jesus spoke of being “in” this world, but not “of” this world. When Jesus was relating to people, unless they received him open heartily they couldn’t “hear and see” into the dimension that he was explaining to them because it had to come from within them. They just related what he said to the world as they understood it, so what he said most times did not connect. They couldn’t see the “life” he was talking about. Jesus even tried to use parables in an attempt to break down people’s mechanistic and worldy-wise mindsets. Jesus was “in” the world but he was revealing a reality that is not “of” this world – a new dimension, a new nature, a new world.

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We have only a small amount of information about Jesus. With this information we visualize his life 2,000 years ago, and try to physically enact Jesus in our everyday actions when relating to the world and other people. What if we put aside all our teachings about the historical Jesus and how we believe he lived and our attempts of trying to imitate that, and instead connect with the spiritual reality of Jesus that he taught is in each of us?

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The reason why self-centeredness disappears as we go deeper is because we are beginning to connect with that universal “oneness” that is running through us all. The all encompassing “body of Christ” if you want it stated religiously.

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It seems what is otherwise a very natural reality or experience, religion makes unnatural. For example, the religious language associated with God, ultimate reality, or the divine seems to remove it from real life. Perhaps we can learn to relate to each other out of a more real and natural place, rather than some specialized place.

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Too often religion focuses us on externals. In this paradigm God, is located up there or out there somewhere. Our spiritual authority or guidance is located in a sacred book or religious teacher. The steps or actions we take in our spiritual journey is an imitation of what others have done or what they told us to do. The shift that will take us forward is turning inward – connecting with the divine reality, authority, and guidance within ourselves. This is also beings us together as one because when we connect to that inner reality we discover that it is a universal oneness that runs through all of us.

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That awkward moment when you realize that your “God” is a false concept. Even if you make the transition to turn inward, if you drag that “God” inside of you, you have the same (or worse) problem. What this calls for is to dethrone that “God” altogether.

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Jesus said he gave up his life for us. So if he did die, then where is his “life” that he gave over for us? The eternal “life giving” spirit is entombed in you – in us! There’s the teacher, and if we become bolder and start letting it out then we’ll begin to get “raised” up too.

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Jesus revealed truth. But rather than embracing the truth, we created a religion out of Jesus. It is not necessary to go here and there, talking incessantly about Jesus and the Christian verbiage associated with it. In my view, it would be better to say nothing at all about Jesus, and just be an expression of the truth Jesus revealed. It’s best that people learn, discover, and relate to the truth in very natural ways. The more we weigh it down with religious concepts and language, the more difficult it will be for people to connect with it. There’s a reason why Jesus spoke in parables, using language, illustrations, and metaphors that anyone could naturally relate to. Religion tends to be a dividing mechanism, but because of the universality of truth, truth has the capacity to unite people.

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I’ve been thinking about what it would mean to live from a more real and natural place. One definition of “natural” is “not having any extra substances or chemicals added: not containing anything artificial.” Sometimes it seems that religion and our heady stuff is the “extra substance,” “chemical added,” and the “artificial.” What if we weaned ourselves off of processed God, and just lived and expressed what was natural and whole from our spirit? What if we connected with our real self inside, and lived from our deepest feelings?

In what sense was Jesus an Atheist?

Theism is typically a monotheistic doctrine concerning the nature of God, and that God’s relationship to the universe. In other words, the “God” of institutional Christianity. Many people who come to a place of doubt about their beliefs, deconstruct their long unquestioned notions about God and can no longer in good conscious subscribe to them. Non-belief in the “God” of Christianity is not a complete rejection of the divine; it’s a divestment of belief in the traditional theistic God. Jesus himself did not subscribe to the notion of “God” that Christianity ultimately created. Many people’s view or understanding of God changes and evolves, especially those who have walked through the process of shedding religion. You should know you are not alone. There is a way that many of us resonate with atheism in the sense that we can no longer hold our previous views of God. It’s often the case that you have to let your old “God” die, in order to move forward with your spiritual liberation. Jesus said you can’t pour new wine into an old wineskin; it won’t work. You are not going to be able to fit your new live and liberation into your old concepts of God. This is part of the journey.

Compassion (and aiding the liberation of all human beings)

Eventually we come to a place where we walk tin this world with compassion.

It arises first when we see the difficulties and pain of others, and we feel from the depth of our heart that we want to alleviate their misery. We come to the aid of the individual in need who we encounter on the path of life, and we seek the transformation of the system that contributes to such misery.

In time, our compassion deepens and we discover that the mental anguish and suffering that plagues people’s lives is a result of their ignorance or a failure to see things as they truly are. We are mindful of how people become trapped in stories about themselves, God, others, and life itself, and suffer as a result.

As our compassion continues growing, it shifts from an occasional emotional response to a particular person’s plight, and becomes more of a way of being in the world. This way of being first involves turning into yourself and realizing that the entire narrative of the world that produces suffering is false. We see that it is not true that each of us are separate and individual beings, fighting, clawing and competing each day for love, peace, joy, freedom, well-being and happiness. We understand that things are not as they appear, and that the notion of being separate from God, each other, and well-being is a lie. We realize that the suffering of our world is simply what we have generated out of our own ignorance and falsehood.

As a result, we come to understand that one of the deepest expressions of compassion for all people and all things is to simply be and live the truth – to refuse the falsehood, shed our ignorance, and embrace the truth. We recognize that seeing things as they really are aids the liberation of all.

You can cultivate compassion in the smallest ways. Start with someone specifically that you know and care about, and wish for their happiness, well-being, and freedom. Be mindful of those ways you can express that compassion tangibly. Then think of a person you know only casually, someone who is neutral in your life, and wish these same things for them. Then work up to a someone you would consider an enemy, and have these thoughts for this person as well, wishing for their happiness, well-being, and freedom. Cultivate compassion by focusing your thoughts and wishes for one specific person at a time, and eventually you will see that your compassion will become indiscriminate and universal for all people.

True compassion is not just a knee-jerk emotional response, but springs from the recognition that every person is our brother and sister, that we are all inseparable, and all in this together.

Life is easy except for preferences

Life is easy except for preferences.

I’ve noticed that a lot of suffering in my life stems from resisting the way things are, and fighting life at every turn. The way through this for me is to be present in the moment and respond as each situation requires without resistance or attachment. I have many preferences, which are all the ways I want life to be. When life doesn’t line up with my preferences I get frustrated and resist it, which only leads to more suffering. When life is going as planned I become attached to the way it is, but then things change as they inevitably do, and I am frustrated once again.

Living life “without attachment” does not mean living without emotion or abandoning our humanity. Living “without attachment” is the recognition that peace and well-being are not the byproduct of or contingent upon what unfolds in any given set of circumstances. Life is a continuous undulation of ups and downs, but we are never separated from peace and well-being because they are the fundamental nature and essence of who we are. In other words, peace and well-being is not something you “have,” “achieve” or “attain;” they are who or what you are.

Consider it a profound spiritual practice to be fully present in each moment without preferences, and to respond as the situation requires without resistance or attachment.

For example, a couple weeks ago I went for a run, and strained my right calf. Not what I wanted! At first I was in a place of complete resistance, and all this did was cause suffering in the form of inner upset, frustration, and drama. I realized what I was doing, and decided instead to respond to the situation from a place of acceptance. I quickly determined what I needed to do to address the injury and began doing that. The inner resistance was gone, and the inner turmoil dissipated.

Can Christians believe in reincarnation?

The question of reincarnation comes up often. Reincarnation is the notion that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body. Though the belief is a central tenet of the Indian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, traditional Christian theology does not make room for the concept of reincarnation.

Some of the early church fathers held a belief in reincarnation such as Origen, but ecclesiastical powers outlawed the belief and persecuted those who held it. The idea was a threat to the power of the religious hierarchy – if we have unlimited opportunities to evolve spiritually, the church authorities could not threaten people with hellfire if they did not fulfill their demands in this single life.

As a result, most Christians believe that we are created at conception and when we die we become eternal. However, eternity cannot be eternal on one end and finite on the other. If something has a beginning, it must have an end. If we believe that we will live forever, it must follow that we have always existed, as Origen taught.

From a purely intuitive point of view, if many of our greatest life lessons are learned later in life, what sense does it make to learn them and acquire great wisdom, and then have very little or no life left to live and apply it? I think there’s a way that doesn’t really make a lot of sense if you think about it.

In my view, our original Self is one with God. Always has been, always is, and always will be. That Self assumed a human body, mind and personhood for the purpose of discovering and giving expression to its divine Self in the human dimension and reality. It’s quite a trick to get all that sorted out – being fully divine and fully human. This is one reason why Jesus is significant to us. He said, “I am the truth.” In other words, Jesus was saying, “Here’s the truth. The options are not divine OR human. What I am and what you are is divine AND human.”

I don’t see how the idea that one would assume more than one human life to evolve into the fullest expression of this truth is particularly a problem. It seems a bit unrealistic to think that a person could complete their full spiritual evolution in a single lifetime?

However, whatever one believes about reincarnation, it seems that we can only live one lifetime at a time. And so it might not be worth getting too obsessed with the notion of reincarnation if it distracts you from being mindful and fully engaged in the life you are living now. Having said that, I should mention that there are some who believe that it can be useful to know something of their past lives. “Past life regression therapy” is a technique that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations for the purpose of exploring the experiences that may have formed the roots of their current fears or phobias.

An Atheist may have a belief in reincarnation from a bit of a different perspective. From a scientific point of view, in terms of the Conservation of Energy and the First Law of Thermodynamics, energy cannot be created or destroyed, but rather transformed. In other words, energy can be stored, energy can move, energy can be transformed from one type of energy to another type of energy… but during all this moving and transforming the total amount of energy never changes. Energy changes form and moves from place to place but the total amount doesn’t change. So once the human body ceases to function and deteriorates, the energy field that held it all together transforms itself into a different form of energy.

Libraries could be filled with books about the subject of reincarnation. There’s only so much I can do in a few paragraphs in a blog post. Hopefully I touched on a few aspects of it in order to generate some worthwhile discussion about it. What do you think about reincarnation? What are your thoughts and experiences that relate to it? What have you found in your exploration of reincarnation? What questions and thoughts do you have?

My intent with this post is not to invite a debate about reincarnation with people fighting about their views. The point is to open up some honest, respectful, and worthwhile dialogue about a subject that many people are interested in exploring.