The 95 Theses.

[Pete]

I find many inspiring things within this document:- Matthew Fox was prevented from preaching and eventually removed from the Catholic Church. He then joined the Episcopalian Church. He stuck with his faith despite his beliefs being refuted by the Pope.

95 Theses or Articles of Faith for a

Christianity for the Third Millennium

by Matthew Fox. (Published in Yes Magazine. 2006)

Like Luther, I present 95 theses or in my case, 95 faith observations drawn from my 64 years of living and practicing religion and spirituality. I trust I am not alone in recognizing these truths. For me they represent a return to our origins, a return to the spirit and the teaching of Jesus and his prophetic ancestors, and of the Christ which was a spirit that Jesus’ presence and teaching unleashed.

1. God is both Mother and Father.

2. At this time in history, God is more Mother than Father because the feminine is most missing and it is important to bring gender balance back.

3. God is always new, always young and always “in the beginning.”

4. God the Punitive Father is not a God worth honoring but a false god and an idol that serves empire-builders. The notion of a punitive, all-male God, is contrary to the full nature of the Godhead who is as much female and motherly as it is masculine and fatherly.

5. “All the names we give to God come from an understanding of ourselves.” (Eckhart) Thus people who worship a punitive father are themselves punitive.

6. Theism (the idea that God is ‘out there’ or above and beyond the universe) is false. All things are in God and God is in all things (panentheism).

7. Everyone is born a mystic and a lover who experiences the unity of things and all are called to keep this mystic or lover of life alive.

8. All are called to be prophets which is to interfere with injustice.

9. Wisdom is Love of Life (See the Book of Wisdom: “This is wisdom: to love life” and Christ in John’s Gospel: “I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance.”)

10. God loves all of creation and science can help us more deeply penetrate and appreciate the mysteries and wisdom of God in creation. Science is no enemy of true religion.

11. Religion is not necessary but spirituality is.

12. “Jesus does not call us to a new religion but to life.” (Bonhoeffer) Spirituality is living life at a depth of newness and gratitude, courage and creativity, trust and letting go, compassion and justice.

13. Spirituality and religion are not the same thing any more than education and learning, law and justice, or commerce and stewardship are the same thing.

14. Christians must distinguish between God (masculine and history, liberation and salvation) and Godhead (feminine and mystery, being and non-action).

15. Christians must distinguish between Jesus (an historical figure) and Christ (the experience of God-in-all-things).

16. Christians must distinguish between Jesus and Paul.

17. Jesus, not unlike many spiritual teachers, taught us that we are sons and daughters of God and are to act accordingly by becoming instruments of divine compassion.

18. Ecojustice is a necessity for planetary survival and human ethics and without it we are crucifying the Christ all over again in the form of destruction of forests, waters,

species, air and soil.

19. Sustainability is another word for justice, for what is just is sustainable and what is unjust is not.

20. A preferential option for the poor, as found in the base community movement, is far closer to the teaching and spirit of Jesus than is a preferential option for the rich and powerful as found in, for example, Opus Dei.

21. Economic Justice requires the work of creativity to birth a system of economics that is global, respectful of the health and wealth of the earth systems and that works for all.

22. Celebration and worship are key to human community and survival and such reminders of joy deserve new forms that speak in the language of the twenty-first century.

23. Sexuality is a sacred act and a spiritual experience, a theophany (revelation of the Divine), a mystical experience. It is holy and deserves to be honored as such.

24. Creativity is both humanity’s greatest gift and its most powerful weapon for evil and so it ought to be both encouraged and steered to humanity’s most God-like activity which all religions agree is: Compassion.

25. There is a priesthood of all workers (all who are doing good work are midwives of grace and therefore priests) and this priesthood ought to be honored as sacred and workers should be instructed in spirituality in order to carry on their ministry effectively.

26. Empire-building is incompatible with Jesus’ life and teaching and with Paul’s life and teaching and with the teaching of holy religions.

27. Ideology is not theology and ideology endangers the faith because it replaces thinking with obedience, and distracts from the responsibility of theology to adapt the wisdom of the past to today’s needs. Instead of theology it demands loyalty oaths to the past.

28. Loyalty is not a sufficient criterion for ecclesial office—intelligence and proven conscience is.

29. No matter how much the television media fawn over the pope and papacy because it makes good theater, the pope is not the church but has a ministry within the church. Papalolotry is a contemporary form of idolatry and must be resisted by all believers.

30. Creating a church of Sycophants is not a holy thing. Sycophants (Webster’s dictionary defines them as “servile self-seeking flatterers”) are not spiritual people for their only virtue is obedience. A Society of Sycophants — sycophant clergy, sycophant seminarians, sycophant bishops, sycophant cardinals, sycophant religious orders of Opus Dei, Legioneers of Christ and Communion and Liberation, and the sycophant press--do not represent in any way the teachings or the person of the historical Jesus who chose to stand up to power rather than amassing it.

31. Vows of pontifical secrecy are a certain way to corruption and cover-up in the church as in any human organization.

32. Original sin is an ultimate expression of a punitive father God and is not a Biblical teaching. But original blessing (goodness and grace) is biblical.

33. The term “original wound” better describes the separation humans experience on leaving the womb and entering the world, a world that is often unjust and unwelcoming than does the term “original sin.”

34. Fascism and the compulsion to control is not the path of peace or compassion and those who practice fascism are not fitting models for sainthood. The seizing of the apparatus of canonization to canonize fascists is a stain on the church.

35. The Spirit of Jesus and other prophets calls people to simple life styles in order that “the people may live.”

36. Dancing, whose root meaning in many indigenous cultures is the same as breath or spirit, is a very ancient and appropriate form in which to pray.

37. To honor the ancestors and celebrate the communion of saints does not mean putting heroes on pedestals but rather honoring them by living out lives of

imagination, courage and compassion in our own time, culture and historical moment as they did in theirs.

38. A diversity of interpretation of the Jesus event and the Christ experience is altogether expected and welcomed as it was in the earliest days of the church.

39. Therefore unity of church does not mean conformity. There is unity in diversity. Coerced unity is not unity.

40. The Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of working through participatory democracy in church structures and hierarchical modes of being can indeed interfere with the work of the Spirit.

41. The body is an awe-filled sacred Temple of God and this does not mean it is untouchable but rather that all its dimensions, well named by the seven charkas, are as holy as the others.

42. Thus our connection with the earth (first chakra) is holy; and our sexuality (second chakra) is holy; and our moral outrage (third chakra) is holy; and our love that stands up to fear (fourth chakra) is holy; and our prophetic voice that speaks out is holy (fifth chakra); and our intuition and intelligence (sixth chakra) are holy; and our gifts we extend to the community of light beings and ancestors (seventh chakra) are holy.

43. The prejudice of rationalism and left-brain located in the head must be balanced by attention to the lower charkas as equal places for wisdom and truth and Spirit to act.

44. The central chakra, compassion, is the test of the health of all the others which are meant to serve it for “by their fruits you will know them” (Jesus).

45. “Joy is the human’s noblest act.” (Aquinas) Is our culture and its professions, education and religion, promoting joy?

46. The human psyche is made for the cosmos and will not be satisfied until the two are re-united and awe, the beginning of wisdom, results from this reunion.

47. The four paths named in the creation spiritual tradition more fully name the mystical/prophetic spiritual journey of Jesus and the Jewish tradition than do the three paths of purgation, illumination and union which do not derive from the Jewish and Biblical tradition.

48. Thus it can be said that God is experienced in experiences of ecstasy, joy, wonder and delight (via positiva).

49. God is experienced in darkness, chaos, nothingness, suffering, silence and in learning to let go and let be (via negativa).

50. God is experienced in acts of creativity and co-creation (via creativa).

51. All people are born creative. It is spirituality’s task to encourage holy imagination for all are born in the “image and likeness” of the Creative One and “the fierce power of imagination is a gift from God.” (Kaballah)

52. If you can talk you can sing; if you can walk you can dance; if you can talk you are an artist. (African proverb and Native American saying)

53. God is experienced in our struggle for justice, healing, compassion and celebration (via transformativa).

54. The Holy Spirit works through all cultures and all spiritual traditions and blows “where it wills” and is not the exclusive domain of any one tradition and

never has been.

55. God speaks today as in the past through all religions and all cultures and all faith traditions none of which is perfect and an exclusive avenue to truth but all of which can learn from each other.

56. Therefore Interfaith or Deep Ecumenism are a necessary part of spiritual praxis and awareness in our time.

57. Since the “number one obstacle to interfaith is a bad relationship with one’s own faith,” (the Dalai Lama) it is important that Christians know their own mystical and prophetic tradition, one that is larger than a religion of empire and its punitive father images of God.

58. The cosmos is God’s holy Temple and our holy home.

59. Fourteen billion years of evolution and unfolding of the universe bespeak the intimate sacredness of all that is.

60. All that is is holy and all that is is related for all being in our universe began as one being just before the fireball erupted.

61. Interconnectivity is not only a law of physics and of nature but also forms the basis of community and of compassion. Compassion is the working out of our shared interconnectivity both as to our shared joy and our shared suffering and struggle for justice.

62. The universe does not suffer from a shortage of grace and no religious institution is to see its task as rationing grace. Grace is abundant in God’s universe.

63. Creation, Incarnation and Resurrection are continuously happening on a cosmic as well as a personal scale. So too are Life, Death and Resurrection (regeneration and reincarnation) happening on a cosmic scale as well as a personal one.

64.

Biophilia or Love of Life is everyone’s daily task.

65.

Necrophilia or love of death is to be opposed in self and society in all its forms.

66.

Evil can happen through every people, every nation, every tribe, and every individual human and so vigilance and self-criticism and institutional criticism are always called for.

67. Not all who call themselves “Christian” deserve that name just as “not all who say ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Jesus).

68. Pedophilia is a terrible wrong but its cover-up by hierarchy is even more despicable.

69. Loyalty and obedience are never a greater virtue than conscience and justice.

70.

Jesus said nothing about condoms, birth control or homosexuality.

71. A church that is more preoccupied with sexual wrongs than with wrongs of injustice is itself sick.

72. Since homosexuality is found among 464 species and in 8 percent of any given human population, it is altogether natural for those who are born that way and is a gift from God and nature to the greater community.

73. Homophobia in any form is a serious sin against love of neighbor, a sin of ignorance of the richness and diversity of God’s creation as well as a sin of exclusion.

74. Racism, Sexism and militarism are also serious sins.

75. Poverty for the many and luxury for the few is not right or sustainable.

76. Consumerism is today’s version of gluttony and needs to be confronted by creating an economic system that works for all peoples and all earth’s creatures.

77. Seminaries as we know them, with their excessive emphasis on left-brain work, often kill and corrupt the mystical soul of the young instead of encouraging the mysticism and prophetic consciousness that is there. They should be replaced by wisdom schools.

78. Inner work is required of us all. Therefore spiritual practices of meditation should be available to all and this helps in calming the reptilian brain. Silence or contemplation and learning to be still can and ought to be taught to all children and adults.

79. Outer work needs to flow from our inner work just as action flows from non-action and true action from being.

80. A wise test of right action is this: What is the effect of this action on people seven generations from today?

81. Another test of right action is this: Is what I am doing, is what we are doing, beautiful or not?

82. Eros, the passion for living, is a virtue that combats acedia or the lack of energy to begin new things and is also expressed as depression, cynicism or sloth (also known as “couchpotatoitis”).

83. The Dark Night of the Soul descends on us all and the proper response is not addiction such as shopping, alcohol, drugs, TV, sex or religion but rather to be with the darkness and learn from it.

84. The Dark Night of the Soul is a learning place of great depth. Stillness is required.

85. Not only is there a Dark Night of the Soul but also a Dark Night of Society and a Dark Night of our Species.

86. Chaos is a friend and a teacher and an integral part or prelude to new birth. Therefore it is not to be feared or compulsively controlled.

87. Authentic science can and must be one of humanity’s sources of wisdom for it is a source of sacred awe, of childlike wonder, and of truth.

88. When science teaches that matter is “frozen light” (physicist David Bohm) it is freeing human thought from scapegoating flesh as something evil and instead reassuring us that all things are light. This same teaching is found in the Christian Gospels (Christ is the light in all things) and in Buddhist teaching (the Buddha nature is in all things). Therefore, flesh does not sin; it is our choices that are sometimes off center.

89. The proper objects of the human heart are truth and justice (Aquinas) and all people have a right to these through healthy education and healthy government.

90. "God” is only one name for the Divine One and there are an infinite number of names for God and Godhead and still God “has no name and will never be given a name.” (Eckhart)

91. Three highways into the heart are silence and love and grief.

92. The grief in the human heart needs to be attended to by rituals and practices that, when practiced, will lessen anger and allow creativity to flow anew.

93. Two highways out of the heart are creativity and acts of justice and compassion.

94. Since angels learn exclusively by intuition, when we develop our powers of intuition we can expect to meet angels along the way.

95. True intelligence includes feeling, sensitivity, beauty, the gift of nourishment and humor which is a gift of the Spirit, paradox, being its sister.

[Brother Michael Sky]

thats good stuff Pete... thanks !

[emalpaiz]

I have gone through the 95 thesis of Matthew Fox. They are a wonderful source of meditation. But they trascend Christianity, it is my belief that they have a value for all the religions of Mankind. Of course, one has to have a very open mind and a loving heart.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

[Pete]

I have gone through the 95 thesis of Matthew Fox. They are a wonderful source of meditation. But they trascend Christianity, it is my belief that they have a value for all the religions of Mankind. Of course, one has to have a very open mind and a loving heart.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

It is one thing I have become aware of in liberal views and that is how close all the major faiths can become.

[emalpaiz]

The first thesis says, "God is both Mother and Father."

The Sanatana Veda Dharma (a.k.a. Hinduism) was proclaiming this truth even before Jesus Christ was born. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, God -- manifested in Sri Bhagavan Krishna -- says, "I am the Father and Mother of this universe, and its Grandfather too" (Srimad Bhagavad Gita 9:17).

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), a Hindu missionary who came to the United States back in 1920, would always talk of God as being Divine Mother and Heavenly Father.

In the New Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church paragraph #370 states, "In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective 'perfections' of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband."

Paragraph 239 of the New Cathchism of the Roman Catholic Church also states the following, "By calling God 'Father', the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man."

In Isaiah we find God saying, "As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you" (Isaiah 66:13).

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

[Pete]

The first thesis says, "God is both Mother and Father."

The Sanatana Veda Dharma (a.k.a. Hinduism) was proclaiming this truth even before Jesus Christ was born. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, God -- manifested in Sri Bhagavan Krishna -- says, "I am the Father and Mother of this universe, and its Grandfather too" (Srimad Bhagavad Gita 9:17).

Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952), a Hindu missionary who came to the United States back in 1920, would always talk of God as being Divine Mother and Heavenly Father.

In the New Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church paragraph #370 states, "In no way is God in man's image. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit in which there is no place for the difference between the sexes. But the respective 'perfections' of man and woman reflect something of the infinite perfection of God: those of a mother and those of a father and husband."

Paragraph 239 of the New Cathchism of the Roman Catholic Church also states the following, "By calling God 'Father', the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God's parental tenderness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood, which emphasizes God's immanence, the intimacy between Creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents, who are in a way the first representatives of God for man."

In Isaiah we find God saying, "As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you" (Isaiah 66:13).

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

The other issue with the Catholic Church despite saying God is neither man nor woman they have in a latest report on bad behaviour of Priests ranked the ordaining of women among that of crimes like child abuse.

http://news.aol.co.u...506580698256377

The quote was it was a "grave crime" to ordain women.

Its an odd world.

Edited July 25, 2010 by Pete

[emalpaiz]

"2. At this time in history, God is more Mother than Father because the feminine is most missing and it is important to bring gender balance back."

I do not believe that "at this time in history, God is more Mother than Father" for I believe that God at all moments is Mother-Father. Nevertheless, I do believe that the femenine side of God is strongly lacking in our theistic religions.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886) was a Hindu priest dedicated to God as the Divine Femenine. By worshipping the Divine Mother this humble priest also found God as the transpersonal Ocean of Life (Brahman). So he taught that God could be worshipped in many ways, and that if we offered God our sincere devotion, the true nature of God would manifest in our lives as Ever-New-Joy (Ananda).

One of my favorite names for God is Beloved One. In the idea of the Beloved One I find both the Divine Mother and Heavenly Father nature of God.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

[Pete]

"2. At this time in history, God is more Mother than Father because the feminine is most missing and it is important to bring gender balance back."

I do not believe that "at this time in history, God is more Mother than Father" for I believe that God at all moments is Mother-Father. Nevertheless, I do believe that the femenine side of God is strongly lacking in our theistic religions.

Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1836-1886) was a Hindu priest dedicated to God as the Divine Femenine. By worshipping the Divine Mother this humble priest also found God as the transpersonal Ocean of Life (Brahman). So he taught that God could be worshipped in many ways, and that if we offered God our sincere devotion, the true nature of God would manifest in our lives as Ever-New-Joy (Ananda).

One of my favorite names for God is Beloved One. In the idea of the Beloved One I find both the Divine Mother and Heavenly Father nature of God.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

I personally agree. For me God is both female and male and neither and I like you do not think that ever changes. I guess the thesis emphasizes the female because it seems so sadly lacking in the perception of God both today and in the past (IMO). The Beloved One is a nice title. I like that.

[Fawzo]

I personally agree. For me God is both female and male and neither and I like you do not think that ever changes. I guess the thesis emphasizes the female because it seems so sadly lacking in the perception of God both today and in the past (IMO). The Beloved One is a nice title. I like that.

No matter what I call God whenever I meditate first thing in the morning with praise on my lips and love in my heart and devotion on my mind and get so calm and peacefull I promise that not even armageddon would get me upset, I actually have the worst days imaginable like today.

It actually seems like forces mount up to fiercly attack and come against me whenever I do so.

[Pete]

No matter what I call God whenever I meditate first thing in the morning with praise on my lips and love in my heart and devotion on my mind and get so calm and peacefull I promise that not even armageddon would get me upset, I actually have the worst days imaginable like today.

It actually seems like forces mount up to fiercly attack and come against me whenever I do so.

I am sorry your having a rough time friend. Life can be very hard sometimes. I have had a few experiences I would not want again recently but I am sure I will.I agree it is not easy friend. I guess faith is not believing when all goes well but persevering when things are not so.

Maybe the tip is if you feel good in the morning, stay in bed and take the day off, but even that is not so easy sometimes.

If you want to talk in private, I am here.

[Fawzo]

I am sorry your having a rough time friend. Life can be very hard sometimes. I have had a few experiences I would not want again recently but I am sure I will.I agree it is not easy friend. I guess faith is not believing when all goes well but persevering when things are not so.

Maybe the tip is if you feel good in the morning, stay in bed and take the day off, but even that is not so easy sometimes.

If you want to talk in private, I am here.

Thanks Pete. I'll be fine though, my faith helps me through everything.

It is odd but I have learned to let so many things just simply slide down my back now, that once would get me to fly in a rage, quit my job, get depressed and get drunk when I was younger.

I guess the Universe decides since I let the little things often slide now its time to ramp things up from time to time. It's not the things that happen to us, but how we react to them. Judging from my reactions today I have evolved some and while stressed I am quite pleased with the way I behaved today.

[Pete]

Thanks Pete. I'll be fine though, my faith helps me through everything.

It is odd but I have learned to let so many things just simply slide down my back now, that once would get me to fly in a rage, quit my job, get depressed and get drunk when I was younger.

I guess the Universe decides since I let the little things often slide now its time to ramp things up from time to time. It's not the things that happen to us, but how we react to them. Judging from my reactions today I have evolved some and while stressed I am quite pleased with the way I behaved today.

We all change. I too used to tell people I worked for exactly what I thought of them when I was younger. I remember telling one employer that their knowledge was so out of date that they had cobwebs on it and I could not wait till they left so we could get on with the job properly. I think the only thing that saved my job that day was that I was the shop steward for the union and I think they thought it would cause them more trouble than it was worth to sack me. However, they looked furious.

I am more respectful today and would try my utmost not to resort to such outbursts. I also avoid being a shop steward. Things are so much better if I remain on talking terms with people.

[emalpaiz]

3. "God is always new, always young and always 'in the beginning'.”

I consider this third thesis to be very revealing, for in many ways to those of us who follow the contemplative side of the Sanatana Veda Dharma God is alway new.

The great Rishis of antiquity understood that God could never be defined. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita Arjuna tells Sri Krishna (God), "Indeed, you alone know yourelf, O Supreme Spirit" (Gita 10:15). Nevertheless the great spiritual ideal of the Sanatana Veda Dharma (Hinduism) is finding God. The sages of India have said that God can be found in our lives, but never defined.

Even though God can not be defined these great sages insist that there are certain things that can be said about God. God -- they say -- is the Essence of existence; so God is called SAT, Pure Existence. God is the essence of consciousness; so God is called CHIT, Pure Consciousness. God -- the great sages insist -- is the source of all ss or Joy; so God is called ANANDA, Pure Happiness or Joy or Bliss. Based on this fact, many Hindu traditions call God SAT-CHIT-ANANDA, Pure Existence-Consciousness-Joy.

Hindu mystics tell us that the greatest manifestation of God in our lives is ANANDA. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) called ANANDA Ever-New-Joy. God is ever new, for God is infinite. We can never exhaust God. As we submerge ourselves in the love of God, it is as we are always finding God for the first time. In Hindu iconography, God is always presented with a youthful face. God is always new.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

[Pete]

3. "God is always new, always young and always 'in the beginning'."

I consider this third thesis to be very revealing, for in many ways to those of us who follow the contemplative side of the Sanatana Veda Dharma God is alway new.

The great Rishis of antiquity understood that God could never be defined. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita Arjuna tells Sri Krishna (God), "Indeed, you alone know yourelf, O Supreme Spirit" (Gita 10:15). Nevertheless the great spiritual ideal of the Sanatana Veda Dharma (Hinduism) is finding God. The sages of India have said that God can be found in our lives, but never defined.

Even though God can not be defined these great sages insist that there are certain things that can be said about God. God -- they say -- is the Essence of existence; so God is called SAT, Pure Existence. God is the essence of consciousness; so God is called CHIT, Pure Consciousness. God -- the great sages insist -- is the source of all ss or Joy; so God is called ANANDA, Pure Happiness or Joy or Bliss. Based on this fact, many Hindu traditions call God SAT-CHIT-ANANDA, Pure Existence-Consciousness-Joy.

Hindu mystics tell us that the greatest manifestation of God in our lives is ANANDA. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) called ANANDA Ever-New-Joy. God is ever new, for God is infinite. We can never exhaust God. As we submerge ourselves in the love of God, it is as we are always finding God for the first time. In Hindu iconography, God is always presented with a youthful face. God is always new.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

Thanks Hermano. I believe there is much wisdom in what you say.

"As we submerge ourselves in the love of God, it is as we are always finding God for the first time".

[Fawzo]

3. "God is always new, always young and always 'in the beginning'."

I consider this third thesis to be very revealing, for in many ways to those of us who follow the contemplative side of the Sanatana Veda Dharma God is alway new.

The great Rishis of antiquity understood that God could never be defined. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita Arjuna tells Sri Krishna (God), "Indeed, you alone know yourelf, O Supreme Spirit" (Gita 10:15). Nevertheless the great spiritual ideal of the Sanatana Veda Dharma (Hinduism) is finding God. The sages of India have said that God can be found in our lives, but never defined.

Even though God can not be defined these great sages insist that there are certain things that can be said about God. God -- they say -- is the Essence of existence; so God is called SAT, Pure Existence. God is the essence of consciousness; so God is called CHIT, Pure Consciousness. God -- the great sages insist -- is the source of all ss or Joy; so God is called ANANDA, Pure Happiness or Joy or Bliss. Based on this fact, many Hindu traditions call God SAT-CHIT-ANANDA, Pure Existence-Consciousness-Joy.

Hindu mystics tell us that the greatest manifestation of God in our lives is ANANDA. Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) called ANANDA Ever-New-Joy. God is ever new, for God is infinite. We can never exhaust God. As we submerge ourselves in the love of God, it is as we are always finding God for the first time. In Hindu iconography, God is always presented with a youthful face. God is always new.

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

Your post reinforces the belief that CHIT HAPPENS!!

[Bro. Hex]

Your post reinforces the belief that CHIT HAPPENS!!

GROANNNNNNN...

Alpaca you luggage,

You afeta leavin town

afta dat one!

[emalpaiz]

Your post reinforces the belief that CHIT HAPPENS!!

I loved that!

Hermano Luis

[emalpaiz]

It is odd but I have learned to let so many things just simply slide down my back now, that once would get me to fly in a rage, quit my job, get depressed and get drunk when I was younger.

I guess the Universe decides since I let the little things often slide now its time to ramp things up from time to time. It's not the things that happen to us, but how we react to them. Judging from my reactions today I have evolved some and while stressed I am quite pleased with the way I behaved today.

That is called spiritual maturity. It happens to all of us.

Hermano Luis

[emalpaiz]

4. "God the Punitive Father is not a God worth honoring but a false god and an idol that serves empire-builders. The notion of a punitive, all-male God, is contrary to the full nature of the Godhead who is as much female and motherly as it is masculine and fatherly."

5. “'All the names we give to God come from an understanding of ourselves.'” (Eckhart) Thus people who worship a punitive father are themselves punitive."

Look at what the Charter For Compassion has to say. This Charter was prepared by Karen Armstrong, author of spiritual books and a former Roman Catholic nun, and presented in the last Parliament For The World's Religioins:

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

"The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

"It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

"We therefore call upon all men and women

*to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion;

*to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate;

*to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures;

*to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity;

*to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

"We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community."

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

[Pete]

4. "God the Punitive Father is not a God worth honoring but a false god and an idol that serves empire-builders. The notion of a punitive, all-male God, is contrary to the full nature of the Godhead who is as much female and motherly as it is masculine and fatherly."

5. "'All the names we give to God come from an understanding of ourselves.'" (Eckhart) Thus people who worship a punitive father are themselves punitive."

Look at what the Charter For Compassion has to say. This Charter was prepared by Karen Armstrong, author of spiritual books and a former Roman Catholic nun, and presented in the last Parliament For The World's Religioins:

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION

"The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.

"It is also necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

"We therefore call upon all men and women

*to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion;

*to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate;

*to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures;

*to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity;

*to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

"We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensible to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community."

Hermano Luis

Moriviví Hermitage

Wow! what a post. Thanks Hermano.