Got Rapture?... Me Neither

Hello Readers and welcome back... I am using Pages 09 for my processor before post for the first time... and I am excited about it... yeah... This is one of those impulsive post topics, but some of those are the best... I hope you enjoy as much reading it as I will writing it... This ended up being a 2 day post because I fell asleep writing it early this morning... 3 AM maybe... I never read what I write again after the final proof which I did accomplish last night so we will see if this even gets to the Blog... 

One of the first teachings as a Christian back at the age of... well... a few seconds around my birth. Really, I was “Spirit Filled” at the age of 5, and was a fond moment until I realized Truth, I cannot explain that in any other way. Anyway, back to the early Christian teaching I received. This involved the idea of The Rapture... This event right before the world turns to 7 years of bad luck (peace for 3.5 and hell on earth the last 3.5, see the last book of the Christian Bible for more info (Reevaluation))... Tribulation... yeah that thing. Where all the good Christian get beamed to Heaven and well... there you are in Eternal Bliss, forever. As an early Christian... probably until I was 10-12 years old I thought this to be a fact. There are hundreds of millions of people that believe this event is going to take place still, to this day. 

My view on The Rapture were changed even before I found Truth while I was a “Spirit Filled Judeo-Christian”. I took it as a misleading and exploited verse(s) in The Bible that Protestant Preachers learned would keep their followers, make them do their bidding of sorts, and hopefully get more follows... This went on for hundreds of years people!!! Google it... This was, and is, a great form of control and tool for manipulation. I think it was in my late teens, maybe I was even 20 when that fact become known to me, personally... I think the fact that there were so many failed prophecies popping up, like Y2K, that ended up being a 4 month project for a lot of people in my business field (IT) and that was it? This generation will not pass? You Diehard Christians know what I am referring to... I was made to think the world was going to end the year I was going to graduate High School, Y2K (2000)... How crappy would have that been??? Yeah, I know right??? No you don’t! Not unless you lived it. I lived my life up until I was 18 years old thinking that due to being influenced by a family member, one I had to listen to until that very age at least to a degree... I took it as Gospel... Now it is 2011 and I got 3 degrees finishing with an MBA in Project Management in 2008... However, it still took me until about a year ago to officially walk away from a faith I held especially dear for 23 years... Why because of the Truth I mention all over this Blog and post. This Truth that I got that seemed like a wake up.

 
Now lets back up a second, the family member I mentioned above was just following what The Bible said to do, spread it teaching and raise children according. All she was doing was following her Faith. I cannot fault her for that but now I would think the Truth would be showing itself to her in some manner. I hate that she lacks religious tolerance and is extremely close minded, it really killed our relationship and put some real dings into besides that even. In hindsight... it saddens me 

Anyway, I hope that Christians will accept The Rapture is not going to happen in any way, no matter what perspective you have on it... pretribultation, midtribultation, etc... Take it from the Catholics and Orthodox for once it is not going to happen Christians. I really do not think it will, but you can believe anything you want, I want you to, it is your right. Seriously...

                                                                                                               I was planning on writing more on this topic but after the paragraph before the previous has killed my desire to write at the moment... Just promise that you will do two things for yourselves... Make sure you are following the Faith that is right for you, not anyone else, and that you challenge your teachers if you feel the need to, no matter if you are a Buddhist or a Muslim...

This is now the second day of writing this post... as mentioned in the Reader Preface (italicized part at the start)...

I think this is one of the few post that I have saved and after I have revisited it will still see the light of day.

Don't be a follower, be a leader that challenges his teacher, no matter who they might be.

-automachi

A Jewel in The Backyard

Hello Readers and welcome back! Did that sound enthusiastic? Be careful answering that because people will think you are crazy... This is an impulse post so hopefully it will be a good one. Enjoy!

You know I can say now I am a truly open-minded person, and even though I have a belief structure that is unique to some to say the least, I still think that there is wisdom in things that are ancient. True... superstitions can live for very long... well really until science can prove it wrong right? However, some things are just right or seem right. This line of thinking made me go to a place called The Mountaintop. It is a store that offers spiritual aids (Books, statues (of all kinds of faiths), all types of items) to everyone and does not tell you that you beliefs are garbage and that they understanding of the spiritual aspect in our universe. Plus they hold events all the time in things that I did not know existed… and some things that I did... We need more places like this in this country. I am shocked that it is in Clayton, OH of all places. 

I only stumbled upon them because I was looking for local bookstore to possibly get a good book on GWT (Google it, that's ironic, wanna find out why? Google it, seriously) and realized that the likelihood of finding one around me was going to be impossible so I found a decent one I could rip from the net for free, well sort of decent, anyway I noticed that there was a bookstore that was located off of Salem Ave (SR 49) which is relatively close and that I have passed hundreds of times, maybe thousands now that I really think about it… Anyway my curiosity lead me to go check this place out… Now it gets to the cool part... I think...

I get to the bookstore except it was a parking lot attached to a house, however I could tell that the house was in the equation somehow… so I walk this sidewalk up to a porch and see an "Open" sign and I walk in and say "Hello... Hello..." , I felt like I was walking into a person's house because well that is what it was at a time, it was built for such… and then I was greeted by what I would guess was an 70ish year old lady comes around the corner and greets me. She was so nice. We talked back and forth for probably 15-20 minutes at most as I was headed to class in Downtown Dayton at Sinclair and felt like death. She was thee most open-minded 70ish woman I had ever met, seen, read about, heard about, whatever she believed a lot in what I had to say and vice versa. I was presently surprised as this was a brand new experience to me. most 70ish women I have met were either super Catholic, Christian, or Jewish, so this was super new.

I walked the store while talking with this lady and she has a lot of cool items, there was beautiful Buddha and Ganesh statues, great stuff on Chakras too. She even had some books on UFOs, but I was looking for something specific… I have been itching for a new set of male beads (108) and she did have a Red Lapis mala bracelet, which surprised me once in the store as it was not too big, but had tons of stuff. If you like just gemstones go there. AND! she did have 2 sets of male beads (108) but they were Sandalwood and I have one of those already as well as bone, but that is neither here nor there. That was my official store plug, if your open-minded spirituality go to The Mountainview in Clayton, OH, if you live close, or just swinging through.

Adding to that cool part, at the very last part of my conversation with the 70ish lady that I think is at least co-owner, if not the owner of The Mountaintop. She said "can I ask you when your birthday is?" I said, "December 10th" and before I could say "Sagittarius if you are looking for my sign." she stated, "Oh, a Sag are you, okay…" and proceeded to tell me everything I do, strive for, what I hold dear, etc. Just based on our earlier conversation and my sign. I found that pretty amazing... This was not something you would never read in a newspaper horoscope or a book on the same topic, I mean she read me, entirely. I was stunned and replied as I always do, "I might see you soon". In hindsight I think the might may become a will. Some of there events are a little out there for even me but who cares, I think I will go to one and see what happens, maybe I will learn something… I might run like hell because they are a cult (KIDDING!). Whichever I am sure I will walk away learning something. Right? Plus there are some that are my speed...

Religious tolerance is so important to human kind and more people need to realize it, if they do not harm themselves or someone else let them be...

I found a jewel in my backyard.

-automachi

The Be Better Thought...

Hello Readers, welcome to another post. I have thought of numerous topics to write about since my last post but something always prevented that from happening… sometimes it was just that I was to tired… but in hindsight I wish I would have wrote because now I feel like I have a writer's block of sorts… So this could really be a piece of sure genius or something else that starts with an s.

I have had the mindset as an adult of always believing you can be better at whatever you are doing, even if you are the best… there is still some room for improvement. 

This is a "thought" that most religions drive home with different scenarios within their sacred texts. In the Bible… weird… I have been away from my former faith too long to quote scriptures, good, but anyway, I do remembering hear countless preachers say, "You can do anything through him [Jesus Christ]. There are other passages that drive this home with passages, again that I cannot quote, planting the thought "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." In the Christian scenario Christ is your motivation...

Buddhism entire theology is center around self improvement and personal evolution, per se. Always striving to be better in one form or another (samsara). Most, if not all, Indian born theology/religions drive the thought that we can always be better at whatever we do, no matter how amazing it may be.

Islam I cannot say for sure as I have only reads pieces and skimmed most of the Qur'an (however, I do own one), but I am sure given that it is an Abrahamic Faith there are passages that drive the "Be Better" thought into your mind… and yes there is a possibility that this thought comes into play with suicide bombers, do not think like that as I am not including the radical portions of any religions and am only pointing this out because in truth Islam can be good for some, they just need to be more open-minded, even more so than other very large religions. There radicals in all religions that is just a matter of fact.

I could point out something in every religion that drive home the "Be Better" thought as all do in some manner, but I think you get the idea. 

So the above proves the "Be Better" thought is ingrained into most of us through the religions we follow. Then again, there are some Atheist that are pretty good at a lot of things requiring said thought ("Be Better"). So how did they get that thought ingrained in them? Our education institutions teach this as well… that's how.

So when you think you cannot do something call on the "Be Better" thought and do it. This worlds needs more people that are passionate about being better, won't you join us?

It could have been better, and it will be if you want it to...

-automachi

My Afterlife as I See it Today... Could be Different Tomorrow...

Hello readers, since we have a long weekend w/ Labor Day I figured I could get a post in... hopefully one that is good... and I think this just may fit the bill. Lets take the journey and see how it goes. Enjoy...

I have a unique outlook on the afterlife since I switched from a Judeo-Christian religion(s) of 23 years to an Indian (w/ a lot of Buddhist Thought) Philosophy/Religion, but I do not subscribe directly to those afterlife scenarios of the "religion(s)" I follow. I believe in a combination of the Hindu/Buddhists afterlife(s).

The older I get and the more I study, both religion and other unrelated subjects, I have arrived at a place where science and religion cannot contradict each other for me believe in it wholeheartedly. Western religion as it has been taught cannot meets that criteria, meaning science has disproved major components of creation for starters... the only ones that I personally think can coexist in both science and religion is Eastern religions, the one I believe fits in science (as it cannot be disproved, and some of it is proven through science) and religion matrix the best is Buddhism which is my Foundation Faith (see the Foundation Faith post for more details). This is the main reason I subscribe to it, but I do believe aspects of Hinduism as well, and I do believe that most moral religions will take to you to a different "better" place... just in my mind I do not believe it will be quite what your expecting but you will not know it at that time.

The Afterlife as I see it through my eyes today goes like this, if you are a good person and have been good to others and lived a true good life, in every aspect you can control you are going to a better place... a different plain with less suffering than that of the human condition. At that time you will be born, or enter a new realm... that realm depending on your level of "enlightenment" achieved in the life you just had as well as Karma being a factor.

When you die in the "human" realm you energy and mindstream leave when your brain dies and you then hit that bright light, where it goes from there until you become "conscious" in another real I do not know yet... or how long it takes before you enter that new realm or become "conscious", as mentioned in the previous sentence, in "our time" (i.e. seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years), as time could be in those different realms. Once this quasi state just mentioned is over you enter this new "consciousness"on this new realm. Do you remember the past life being on a higher plain, I think you might be able to depending on how "high" your new realm is. I think the samsara nature is not completely know but I think there is something to say about the 31 plains of existence, it may be spot on, it may not be, but I do think there is something there, something accurate. Google that if you like to learn more... So that is if you were "good".

Now, if you were a piece of garbage in the "human" plain you do not go to a better place at the end of that quasi state mentioned above... You go to one of the less desirable plains, one may call them Hell. Your level of suffering increases rather than decreasing. This is not what you want to happen... Do you?

However, all these plains are in constant flux, including the "human" realm, but not including a plain called Nirvana (We will get to that in a minute). So you always will get the chance to go up and down on this plain "ladder", depending on your Enlightenment and Karma, being "born" into new or realms you have already been in many times, however, suffering will follow you no matter what realm you are on, but will lessen when getting to higher realms, until reaching that plain called Nirvana, which some may call Heaven.

Nirvana is a place you enter when you have eradicated all suffering and attachment giving pure bliss and a good "emptiness".

That is a short summary of what I think the afterlife is, more lives just in a different sense, and sometimes not. You may agree you may not, it makes no difference to me in any way, as long as I made you think...

It is mathematically probably that there are alternative universes, it this those other plains?... Sometimes I often think so... but who knows I could be full of it and so may be everyone else... Either way you have to decide, not someone else...

-automachi

Religious Labels and Rants... or something...

Hello Readers and welcome... I hope all is well with you. I truly hope so... I hope you enjoy this post, I hope to get a few extra posts in while I have a 2 week break from classes I am taking, time will have to be the judge of that. Enjoy...

I used to identify well with labels of people in regard to spiritual beliefs and that you had to fall into 1 of those "categories". If you didn't you did not have a true belief structure because it had not already been introduced by someone else, I guess was my think at the time... and... Well... not so much anymore and am so happy to follow a faith that YOU get to design. I stick to Indian Philosophy and have my own personal (some may think wacky) beliefs, and then being newer to anything other than a Judeo-Christian path and strict beliefs structures I stuck a label to it. HA! A little ironic at this point with annoyance of labels regarding spirituality.

However, this (logical spirituality), my, Faith is defined by those who chose to identify with or not. A little like Buddhism, but even there there are different traditions and schools they are just peaceful about it, but there is still a degree of labels. So... I think that makes it a little less annoying that I had to label it but then again you have to call something something right?... I think I just went cross-eyed.

Anyway, why label what you are regarding your spiritual status? I used to understand it or thought I did but in hindsight I cannot figure out why or how I ever accepted being labeled... then it hit me,,, it was cause by what a lot of faiths call a sin or misconduct and that is PRIDE. When you have no issue with spiritual labels you are proud to be what that label is associated with (i.e. Cross to Christ). Pride is a bad thing I do not care how you try to justify it or an instance of it. Sorry just does not work for me and shouldn't for anyone else, take achievement in your work or life not pride, if you do not get it you should probably do some soul searching (that statement is very ironic if Buddhist).

Just disregard the labels... wait... a lot of religious constructs cannot be supported without this "labelism" If you are not Catholic anymore and just a follower of Christ who do you tithe to?... What happens to the Pope. Oh my God(s)! Are we starting to realize why Atheists know the most about religion? That 4th branching of the Abrahamic Faiths better happen soon with the amount of people saying "I cannot stand organized religion", but you know some of those people are still going, you naughty hypocrites you, By the way... you are sinning... =) and the fact that these labels cannot be remove cause yet another hypocrisy with some Faiths =(

So by my own brilliant deduction above I now have proof that I will have to continue to be annoyed by spiritual labels because they are not going anywhere soon... they might transform in some way at best, at the very best, but organized religion would fall, just over labels too, sad... So I guess this post served reason for me... one less annoyance... dissolve the dislike or the notation of spiritual labels within myself... problem solved. See what following a Faith that works for you does? It make good solution for you or others in some way... As I have said many times before... You pick the Faith that is right of you and not the faith that you have been told was right for you by anyone.

Hopefully my next post will be of more substance and not just a realization that spiritual labels will live just short of roaches...

til the next time...

-automachi