[thoughts from ~burning woman~ by Sha’Tara]
The people of earth live in a permanent state of assumption. They have systems they live by, or under, all of which were concocted from the sayings and dictates of individuals in times past who are believed to have known what they were on about. What no one seems to be able to do is take a good hard look at all those systems and wonder why all of them, bar none, are totally dysfunctional. Oh, some will blame this or that part of the system for the failures of all, but from the safety of the sanctuary of another. Blame religion, and hide in the halls of materialistic science. Blame government and hide in money. Blame secularism and materialism and hide in religion.
Over the ages there have been those who felt that blame was childish so they ran back over history to find old teachings, old sayings, old concepts that had never truly got to first base as far as impacting society as a whole but which remained in the books, like archaic laws found in legal libraries. These they dusted off, gave them some cursory study, then concocted synopsized versions of same and claimed their “new and improved” version was the way to go. I’ve run across quite a bit of that in recent years: it’s mostly what made the New Age “movement” possible. Seems it actually began with those suddenly rich rock n’ roll nobodies with money to burn running off to India and Tibet and who knows where else, looking for famous gurus to give them easy directions to a more fulfilling life. Well, the gurus certainly knew how to give these ‘nouveau riches’ direction to their money in any case.
We’ve experienced a few decades of this wonderful new thing now and it’s touched a few millions but I haven’t seen much improvement in the overall social conditions because of it. I do know of quite a few individuals though who would remain quite penniless today had this condition not existed among a bored consumer society. They sold their self-help books, their seminars, their recipes and calendars, their divinely inspired channeled messages and whatever else, including hubcap cleaners and made millions. As P. T. Barnum used to say, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
So much for the sarcasm. The point is, of all those previous rulers, leaders, teachers, gurus, mahatmas, gods and goddesses and other divinities and saviours, take all of them, no exceptions, and say: what if all of them were wrong?
Based on historical research and personal memories, I think that’s a fair question. After all, which of their systems, or teachings, has changed to world definitely and certainly, for the better? Which one has really worked? A true teaching must be incontrovertible and incorruptible.
To repeat: A true teaching must be incontrovertible and incorruptible.
Let’s do that Earthian thing and assume. Assume that it is not possible to speak or write a teaching that cannot subsequently be corrupted. That the fault lies not with the teaching, but in the weakness of language; in the corrupt Earthian nature that handles these teachings. We must allow that all of these old teachings have been corrupted through translation, transliteration and simple greed, either for money or power. For example, what if Jesus never did any miracles but the writers threw that in there to make his presence more powerful, more divine, more legitimate, and then built a massive religious establishment, enterprise, on those lies? I’m not saying that’s what happened, but though I know little, I suspect much.
What about those Sai Baba’s who claimed to be able to turn lead and other ordinary metals into gold? Once you get people into a certain state through mind manipulation, how difficult is it to make them believe practically anything? I have attended Pentecostal church meetings where people would break out into what they call “speaking in tongues.” How easy it was to go along and make myself “speak in tongues” too! And no one was any the wiser because there were no interpreters, and even if there had been, the claim was that the “speaker” did not know what was being uttered, only an interpreter could, so you see, the interpreter could say anything she/he wanted. Another claim was that the “tongue” was divine, a soul’s communion with God through the Holy Spirit and not meant to be interpreted. I had fun with that silliness for a while and it taught me some valuable lessons.
How much is known about the great teachers of non-western style religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism? Perhaps we know a bit about the ethos of such cultures, but what about the actual, true teachings? And frankly, what matters most, the teaching or the resultant culture? Are the eastern worlds, subject to their religious teachings far longer than, say, the Christianized worlds, any better? Do they demonstrate a higher sense of morality, of justice? Are those people more compassionate? And wouldn’t that be the whole point?
There are always those who argue that the old teachings are legitimate, that they can change the world, if taken seriously. But what aspect do you take seriously? The construction of giant Buddha statues, each new one rivaling the other, or the vaunted compassion of the Buddha – which would result in the money wasted on statues being used to alleviate poverty and famine, perhaps?
The question I ask is, “What if all of them were wrong?” Perhaps it wasn’t what they taught exactly, that was wrong, but how it was done, and with whom and to whom. Perhaps it’s a question of understanding. Or better put, misunderstanding.
A man (rarely a woman in this man’s world) comes up with an uplifting idea in a time of trouble and tribulation. As luck would have it, some other men (sometimes even women, when permitted) would hear this man and follow him around for a while in hopes that his words would carry the power to bring about a change in their world. So this man would be speaking to the oppressed, as a rule. What do the oppressed desire above all? Release from their slavery, bondage, exploitation by the rich and powerful. They want basic needs met; they want their children to grow up healthy and safe, and who wouldn’t? So these people hear the preacher from their condition. What they usually do not hear is the implied teaching about self-empowerment.
Oh yes, they are willing to look at their condition and they can accept the concept of self-empowerment, but they are not willing to leave it at that, because self-empowerment, if it does not lead to overt rebellion and eventually, revolution; to the overthrow of the oppressor; remains just that: personal self-empowerment. A mind-effect which does not alter the conditions suffered by the body. Self-empowerment leads to compassion and compassion (some would erroneously call it unconditional love) is an uncomfortable thing because it demands that one expresses compassion to friends and foes alike. That is not an Earthian trait at all. Definitely goes against the grain and in fact, it is not a viable position to take on a world governed by a predator-prey balance of evil. For where does it lead?
There is a story of a missionary unwisely walking through the bush late in the afternoon on the edge of some African jungle who encounters a famished lion. The missionary prays to God to give the lion a sense of divine power. Immediately the lion falls to its knees in prayer. The missionary is relieved and thanks God for his His timely intervention. But what the lion is saying is, “Thank you God for providing this food for my starving family.” Should the missionary’s compassion stretch so far as to give his body as food for the starving lions? Should he be thankful for this opportunity? How far do you take this?
Yesterday a dark theme played in my head. A lucid dream, if you will. I encountered a gang of men who were raping and torturing a woman. I had a loaded rifle in my hands. I had two choices: to try to reason with the men, which would have accomplished only one thing: to be taken also and equally brutalized and killed – or to shoot the men without any introduction. I had the clear scene, the common sense, and the loaded gun. I shot them without qualm or equivocation. Was I sorry afterwards, surveying the results in my mind? No. Was I being compassionate? Within the given parameters, I did what had to be done. Was I wrong?
What if all of us, (not our Teachers) are wrong, all of the time, because we fail to comprehend the forces that undergird this system we live in and under? But if we are wrong, that means we are also right. And that’s the thing about living in duality because it forces us to deal with both, evil and good. It forces us to choose but does not give us strict guidelines on how we do this. There is no escape from that damning concept of personal choice unless we turn turtle; unless we give up, quit and stop living. I for one choose life, always life. Eventually it will no longer be a choice but my incontrovertible and incorruptible reality.
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“When none of it matters it will all be yours.” [the Teacher YLea]
“...morally speaking, there is no limit to the concern one must feel for the suffering of human beings, that indifference to evil is worse than evil itself, that in a free society, some are guilty, but all are responsible.”
[Abraham Joshua Heschel]
Ron
Back in the 50's or so, in Baltimore, there existed a competitor newspaper to The Baltimore Sun - it was The Baltimore News-American.
Every day, under the Big Banner Headline, there was a quote from Wm. Shakespeare's Fairy, PUCK, from 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'...
"WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE!"
Guess this kind of Sums it All Up... eh, WOT ?
Peace ... Tom.
Or, is it because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge? Are we to carry that original sin?
As you can see, your words have provoked much thinking on my part...and that's all it is.....thinking on my part but thank you for this interesting read!!!
Love ya!
Jane
You Are Missing Your Own Point
Entirety,i.e,They Are All:
$ Voyeurs Of Their Own Cause $!
Etal: Stop N Think If I (You) Had
ONE MILLION$ What You We Could
Do Accomplish With It,i.e. Instead
Of Blowing $ It Like Illiterates Who
Always Win It...
TRASK...
Well, Regis, you took the words right out of space for me when you said, what if all of them were wrong. It turns out we usually are wrong, except every now and then, a beam of light illuminates our ghostly minds with a rainbow of truth, to confound us even more.
Hugs
Love and Light
Lily