If you're new here, tell us about yourself, and then post this with a new title that includes your name: THE NEWBIE QUESTION LIST: <your name here>
1. In which religion were you raised? Lutheran 2. In which other religious movements have you been a true believer? List them in chronological order. Lutheranism, Agnosticism, Hippyism, Transcendental Meditation, Advaita as espoused by Ramana. 3. Do you believe in reincarnation? No. Not ultimately, but yes maybe if what is called the astral and causal worlds turn out to be subtle realms that science can eventually show to be "places" where dynamic patterns of radiance can persist and evolve without a human brain. 4. Do you believe in an omniscient, omnipotent, God Who is running the universe down to the least aspect? Only if the astral and causal realms can be proven to exist. Otherwise, one's soul is that which is contacted when one prays. 5. How do you define soul? The mind without thought is pure soul. AKA atma, amness, pure being. 6. How do you define enlightenment? Clarity that one's identity is not a soul. 7. Nature or nurture? Mostly nature. Nurturing skews by giving a child a limited set of choices, but as the child ages, then nurturing comes from everything and everywhere, and a child can be expected to routinely indulge in dynamics the parents never introduced. 8. List the gurus in who's physical presence you've been. My soul. My Lutheran minister. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. 9. What country do you live in now? USA 10. How many children have you parented? Four 11. How many times married? Once 12. Years spent in the TMO? 29 13. Years spent living in Fairfield, Iowa? 18 14. Vegetarian? What rules? Eggs, fish, dairy, chicken allowed as exceptions? Everything: red meat, artificial preservatives, industrial pollutants, yummy! 15. Do you watch entertainment that portrays raw and graphic violence? Yes. 16. Can drugs be spiritually useful to the ordinary person on the street such that regular use could be supported? No. 17. In which places of the world have you lived a year or more? Michigan, Florida, New York, California, Georgia, Iowa, Europe, Asia, Wisconsin 18. On a 1 - 10 scale, rate how much of your spiritual journey you've accomplished so far. 10 would be "all the way." 8 -- a sheer guess. 19. How much time do you spend per day in formal spiritual practices that are not common-everyday human activities? None 20. List the recreational activities, hobbies, passions that get more than 10 hours per week of your time. Trikking, Films, writing, reading. 21. What do you expect to get out of posting here at FairfieldLife? To bounce my mind against others to see what sticks and what gets stuck on me from theirs.
