Category Archives: Religion

BIBLE: MATTHEW (Chapter 1)

January 27, 2020 – 1:16 PM

Reference: Religion

[NOTE: I present here my interpretation and understanding of some of the religious texts.  I apologize ahead of time if my presentation does not quite agree with the traditional interpretation. I welcome any discussion and consequent correction.]

.

BIBLE: MATTHEW (Chapter 1)

Verses 1 to 17 of this chapter trace the genealogy of Jesus from Abraham.

Abraham is the common patriarch of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. In Judaism, importance of Abraham comes from a narrative in which God revealed himself to Abraham and made a covenant with him. In Christianity, Abraham is the prototype of all believers, Jewish or Gentile. In Islam Abraham is seen as a link in the chain of prophets that begins with Adam and culminates in Muhammad.

From wisdom point of view, the importance of Abraham comes for his spiritual insights from God. As remarked in BIBLE: GENESIS (Part 1):

1. Heaven and earth are an extension of God because creator and creation cannot be separated from each other.

2. God is not a human like beingness. It is rather a deep abstract principle describing order precipitating from chaos.

Therefore, we shall simply say that the importance of Abraham comes from certain spiritual insights. There is nothing more mysterious about it.

Verse 18 talks about mother of Jesus, Mary, being pregnant through Holy Spirit. The word HOLY comes from the idea of being whole. The word SPIRIT originally referred to breathing or to life. Therefore, “Holy Spirit” refers to the very essence of life. The process of becoming pregnant and producing a baby is the very essence of life. It is looked upon as a miracle even today. This is indeed sacred. The Church gives it a special significance with regards to the birth of Jesus and makes it a matter of faith peculiar to Christianity.

Verse 20 talks about angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph. This is essentially Joseph having a realization about the ethical thing to do, but the Church again adds mystery to it.

We see in this chapter mystery and belief being entered into a human narrative to give it a special significance. The believers in this mystery may argue, but there is no more significance to it from the point of view of wisdom. Wisdom is what we need to apply in our daily lives to advance spiritually.

.

By vinaire | Comments (0)

Christianity Today

January 13, 2020 – 11:40 AM

The following is my view on the Christianity of today.

Christianity is a wonderful religion only when it is practiced correctly.

Christianity of Dark Ages was a perversion. It was not real Christianity. Specious arguments were made that it was Christianity, but it was evil under the cloak of “Christianity”. Christianity is not just some mental system. It needs to be practiced in the real world.

It is called Christianity because a Christian is supposed to follow the example of Christ without hesitation.

If he is not following the example of Christ, then he has not really accepted Christ in his heart. He is still as sinful as he was before.

The heart of Christianity is expressed, as closely as Christ would have said it himself, in the Sermon on the Mount. If there is disagreement with it elsewhere in the Bible, then it is an inconsistency that needs to be sorted out.

Those who are trying to force Christianity on others should be judged in their understanding of Christianity by their actual behavior. Those who cannot practice Christianity have no right to preach it to others.

Again, I see true Christianity as a practical religion expressed in one’s practice of it, and not as a mental religion based on quotations from the Bible.

There is no need to deflect what I have said above by talking about other religions. I hold other religions also to the same high standard.

.

By vinaire | Comments (0)

GRACE

January 13, 2020 – 8:06 AM

In Theology, grace is defined as the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. It is the influence or spirit of God operating in humans to regenerate or strengthen them. It is a virtue or excellence of divine origin, such as, the Christian graces.

Grace is basically a manifestation of favor by God. It is a phenomenon that is beyond human effort. It cannot be brought about by mere human thinking and doing.

If we look at God as the principle that has continually brought order from chaos since the beginning of the universe, we may understand the concept of grace as follows.

Grace is the phenomenon of cosmic evolution.

Grace does not depend on a single human being. It depends on how the whole universe is evolving on a cosmic scale. It is this grace that has evolved energy into matter, matter into animation, animation into life, and life into the beauty of humanity. Now it is grace that is evolving human thinking into a higher level of the universal viewpoint.

.

By vinaire | Comments (3)

RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS

January 4, 2020 – 7:19 AM

Let me start all over again in making sense out of beliefs. There have been four main systems employed for the uplift of humanity.

(1) Knowledge-based systems
(2) Meditation-based systems
(3) Action-based systems, and
(4) Devotion (prayer)-based systems

All of these systems lead, ultimately, to the uplifting of the person in the sense that he can rise above the confusions of this existence. Neither system can be said to be better than another system in its effectiveness because none of the system by itself can suit all the people.

These system, together, suit all type of temperaments. Therefore, all four systems are necessary. Together they benefit all humanity.

Christianity falls under the Devotion (prayer)-based systems. It is a wonderful system when practiced correctly. It has also been abused like any other system.

A system is abused when it is insisted that it is the only workable system, and, therefore, it is forced on everybody around. People who do so may mean well, but they harm others by forcing their ideas on others.

A belief-based system can spring from any of the four systems above. It insists that it is right and others systems are wrong. Right there it has deviated from its true path of supporting a person to uplift himself.

Christianity has been abused in this manner, and so has been Islam. I am not so sure about Judaism, but Judaism was abused when some Jews tried to suppress Christianity.

Every religion that is being practiced correctly has a right to exist but its abuse should be prevented. One of the major abuse is the followers of a religion forcing their ideas on others.

.

By vinaire | Comments (0)

Exercises from Buddha

October 20, 2018 – 11:11 AM

These exercises are derived directly from Satipatthana Sutta.

.

Exercise 1: Buddha on Body (Set 1)

Exercise 2: Buddha on Body (Set 2)

Exercise 3: Buddha on Mind (Set 1)

Exercise 4: Buddha on Mind (Set 2)

Exercise 5: Buddha on Mind (Set 3)

Exercise 6: Buddha on Mind (Set 4)

Exercise 7: Buddha on Mind (Set 5)

Exercise 8: Buddha on Mind (Final Set)

.

By vinaire | Also posted in Buddhism, Self-Improvement | Comments (0)