A Perfect Paradox

October 21, 2014 at 8:32 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen

“I am already perfect … I need do nothing to become perfect … it is only my actions that are imperfect.”

That is a very different mantra than what I grew up with!  For those who do not know, I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian missionary family.  There were good sides and bad sides to this, as there is to all things … Dualiity.  The wonderful side is that this upbringing is what introduced me to the concept of having a literal relationship with God … it doesn’t get any better than that!  One of the many down sides is that I was imprinted with certain mindsets which I have now come to see are false … not only are they false, but they are harmful.

The specific mindset I am referencing here is the mindset that “We all are born sinners!” … horrible, awful sinners who must bemoan their woeful state and flagellate themselves constantly with the lashes of shame and penitence.

This is false.

We all truly are beautiful creations … at our core we are the unique, sparkling beauty of a soul that God created us to be.  We have LEARNED to do evil things … but we are not evil at our core.  We have taken upon ourselves the structures of the world around us: how we were raised, who we find to love, where we go for acceptance and validation, what we choose to believe, who we choose to follow, and the list goes on.  These all are the structures we have built upon the fabric and foundation of our souls … and we will do ANYTHING to maintain the solidity and surety of those structures … even if it means doing things that are harmful to others.

It is in letting these structures dissolve we find the freedom to become the perfect and beautiful creatures that we were created to be.  The more we adhere to these structures, the more we keep that perfect creation buried deep, SO DEEP, within the sealed up wells of our inner psyche.  We do this thinking that we are protecting ourselves … if that True Self gets hurt it can be devastating.  So we submerge it, and hide it, we bury it, and bind it … so that we won’t be hurt in such a way again.

In doing so, however, we are denying the perfection that already IS.  We already ARE perfection … the perfection that God created us to be.  It is only our ACTIONS that are imperfect … and those actions are based on what we have learned, taken on, or been brainwashed to believe.

Will my actions ever be perfect? No, probably not. That still doesn’t mean that I am a horrible, awful person at my core … and neither are you.

When you were born and those innocent newborn eyes looked out into the world … do you really believe you were evil??  No … you were perfect … and you still are perfect … your actions simply do not reflect that perfection.  You have lost touch with the perfection that IS the LOVE of God. Love that is there for all of us, and LIVES in all of us already.  All we can do is strive to reflect that Perfection into the world around us … strive to embrace the fact that we are all beings with Duality and to embody the perfect Love that is already there at our core.

Doing this means LETTING GO of the structures that are learned or imposed … not clinging to them more desperately.

THAT is a HUGE difference … at least for me.

You are perfect … JUST AS YOU ARE.  God loves you … JUST AS YOU ARE.

Peace and Love.

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via A Perfect Paradox.

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What is SIN?

October 8, 2014 at 8:43 am · Filed under Christianity, Faith, Healing, Health, Hope, Inspiration, Life, Living, Meditation, Meditative Writings, Philosophy, Quotations, Quotes, Religion, Spirituality, Zen

Okay, since this is such a big topic to cover there, I dedicated more than one meditation session to it … they are: “The Absence of Sin“, “Dorian Gray – On Sin“, and “Meditation“.

So what is “sin”, anyway?  I grew up in an extremely fundamentalist Christian background where sins were absolute (even if the execution of these judgments tended to the extreme of hypocrisy).  In my mid-twenties I went through a period of spiritual conflict … I knew that the way I had been raised was not God’s will.  I could feel God’s prompting, and hear God’s voice (when I took the time to listen back then) telling me that the entirety of these views were not God’s views.  There is truth mixed in with un-truth being spread about by man.

Because I was so conflicted, and SO dis-enchanted, I actually went through a period described in the “Dorian Gray” quote … where you sort of try everything in order to overcome it.  Those were VERY troubled times.  Not only did I do a lot of things that I shouldn’t have been doing, but I encountered spiritual things that were not of God.  Very few are able to untangle themselves from those nightmares once they dabble … it’s like a spiritual “tar-baby” that just keeps sucking you in the more you try to break free.  Fortunately, I never abandoned my relationship with God.  I continued praying, and meditating, asking forgiveness, and seeking God’s guidance throughout that entire period … and THAT was my salvation in the long run.  Otherwise, if not for God’s grace and help, I would probably still be there.

So, no … the views expressed in that quote from Dorian Gray do NOT express my views on sin.  It was a part of my past though … and I am forever grateful for God’s grace and compassion.  I came from one extreme (extreme fundamentalist Christianity) and when I rejected that extreme I then, for a while, went to the other end of the spectrum … the opposite equal.  Some people just HAVE to get their hand burnt … I, it seems, am just that stubborn (or at least I was).

Fortunately, I was freed from that by God.  I was able to devote years to meditating and nurturing my relationship with God.  Many breakthroughs, and spiritual blockages cleared, later I have come to a place where I feel that I understand God’s will.  The chains that people try to use to bind us down using the word “sin” is largely a way to control … control people’s minds, and their actions, and ultimately their faith.  We are constantly being assaulted by forces that do not want us to have a relationship with God.

“Sin” is what happens when we allow ourselves to be closed off from God.  That’s it.  If you have an open heart, with ears to hear and eyes to see what God has in store for you, you will be led by God.  If you keep your heart open, always maintaining a spiritual connection to God … then you WON’T be sinning.  It really is that simple.  If you do fail, and “sin”, then all you need to do is take the time to open your heart and connect to God again … no penance, no rite of purification.  As with any relationship, if you do something to hurt the other party, you ask for their forgiveness.  It’s that simple … just maintain an open relationship with God, at all times.

However, it takes a HUGE amount of discipline to maintain this “open-heart” connection at all times.  Sometimes it feels SO natural, like you could just stay there forever … those moments are blessings.  What is difficult is to keep your heart open no matter what.  No matter what happens in your life (depression, physical ailment, death, heartbreak, abuse, etc).  NEVER close your heart to God.  Keep yourself wide open, and allow God to inhabit this new space … in fact, a new opportunity to grow.

As you do this, you will see that God really DOES comfort and nurture you … protect and guide you.

When you close yourself to God, you are simply stumbling about … flailing about like someone who doesn’t know how to swim … someone who will drown.  That is when we sin.  When you are open hearted and connected to God … you will not be sinning.  God is a God of LOVE … if you are based in LOVE in everything that you do … you won’t be sinning.

During one of these meditation sessions for this posting on SIN, I began it by asking for forgiveness of my sins … just out of routine, really.  I heard God’s voice ask me,

“Why are you asking for forgiveness of your sins?  Have you sinned today?”

I thought that was a strange question because I have been such a PROFOUND sinner at times in my life, that I just naturally assume there is some sin that I have committed, without even knowing perhaps.  I thought about it, and I then realized that (at that moment in time) I had spent the entire day connected to God.  I never once shut my heart down.  I had just been blissfully going on throughout the day, constantly connected to God.  It COMPLETELY blew my mind to actually be able to say back to God,

“No … I guess I haven’t.”

My whole body warmed, and my 6th chakra tingled electrically … God’s Happiness flowed through me at this new awareness achieved.

* Note – for any reading this who do not understand what I mean when I talk about having an “open heart” … a good place to find some understanding on this can be found in the book, “The Untethered Soul“.  I’m sure there are many other resources as well that others can provide by leaving a comment.

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Religion4All is an idea: that every human being (no matter their race, religion, sexuality, social status, lifestyle, or any other possible factor) is LOVED by God; just … as … they are.

We all are loved by God, and NO religion or person has a monopoly on it. Every single person on this planet is loved equally by God … SO many are cut off from God because they are told they don’t belong. God loves everyone … we ALL are beautiful creations … we don’t need to cringe when we hear the words “God”, or “religion”, or their judgments … God LOVES us all!

There is no requirement to change in order to be LOVED by God, or to LOVE God. God is LOVE, and LOVE is God … period. There is no one who God loves more than anyone else … there are only those who choose to LOVE more … to love God more, and consequently then to love each other more. In doing so, we grow closer to God … and know God.

By opening our hearts, and minds to God (free of boundaries like religion, or social trends); by LOVING God … we are exactly where we are meant to be. If we maintain that openness, never allowing any person or event to make us close our hearts, we will be guided by God to be who we are meant to be.

In that space of openness we can then live a life of LOVE, and be guided to where we are meant to be … forever in LOVE.

Southern California, Northern California,Mission Viejo, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Marin, San Jose, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Palm Springs, Long Beach

re-blogged from What is SIN?.

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