The good thing about atheists is that they are able to stand up and declare that the prevelant understanding of spirituality is deeply flawed. The unfortunate thing is that they have thrown out the baby with the bath water.
“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” ― Carl Sagan
“It’s easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.” – Mark Twain
Though computer studies have clearly shown that Darwin was missing something, that evolution happened much to quickly for random chance to be a sufficient explanation, ‘scientists’ still cling to the old understanding.
Though galaxies have been identified to be older than the big bang, physicists still cling to the current understanding of the manifestation of existence.
The bamboozle permeates not only spirituality and science, but all realms of life. The Great Bamboozler is called conditioning, samskaras, identity with a paradigm. Discernment, the path of true spiritual growth, is indeed a rarity.
Discernment is the art of refining your current understanding. The latter refutes the former. Lord Shiva is sometimes referred to as The Destroyer, but in the most positive sense. He enables us to move forward – to release the past and open to a brighter future.
Lord Shiva has been very active in my life. Jai Guru Dev.
Thanks for this blog. There’s a book called “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” that deals with the resistance of the science community to let go of its paradigms even in the face of evidence refuting them. I read this 25 years ago and was struck with how it applies to all facets of our lives.
I appreciate your comments about not throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I’ve spent much time reading the new Testament, praying, meditating, and studying Jesus’ teachings. The greatest value came in quietness and listening to what resonated with my heart. The actual meaning of “Christian” is “Christ in you”. I understood through some early encounters with Christ, that God, the Kingdom of Heaven, is within and watering that seed is a way to spiritual growth, and that it was possible to learn to listen to that inner voice. A lot of things I “felt” in my journey didn’t jive with what the “church” was saying, but I’ve had so much of what I felt confirmed in your classes, Brahmarshi. The first class I attended, you made the comment you have no problem with Jesus. I wanted to speak up and say Jesus has no problem with you, either! But I felt presumptuous saying that. I know it’s true, though. There is no conflict. It’s a matter of understanding, discernment.
Simply put..What an amazing and wonderful time to be alive…explore..connect the dots..discover!
Thank you Brahmarshi
Bonnie,
Well said.
And for the record, Jesus and I are very good friends. I hope you, even in that moment, knew that I was well aware Jesus had no problem with me either! 🙂
The Christ is The Self. We are all one with God, if someone knows it or not does not change that. Or in scientific terms: everything is the Unified Field, if someone knows it or not does not change that. The more we understand science, the more we understand anything, then the more we understand God. It is all very simple really. But it is not simplistic.
The problem is not Christ… of course not. However, simplistic understandings of what he said, what he was, have created [as you are well aware] many problems. Wisdom is rooted in sweet simplicity. Arrogance is rooted in the simplistic.
In retrospect, that’s why I didn’t say anything in class. I didn’t question your awareness that Jesus had no problem with you! It was my own thinking I was addressing, and the voices of the “judges/authorities” from my past experience. There’s such deep conditioning from the indoctrination of the “church” that anything different from their interpretation of Jesus being the “One Way” is taboo.
The distinction between sweet simplicity and simplistic thinking is such great fodder for thought. It’s so subtle, like going through the eye of the needle and traversing the razor’s edge. Wisdom and humility as opposed to arrogance and black and white thinking.
Bonnie,
Very beautiful thoughts and very beautifully expressed.