on 8/11/05 8:40 PM, kjdruhl at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Dear friends, > > let me just answer to some of your points: > > On the issue of Christ being the only way: > > That is not my "true believer's" idea, but it is what Christ is > teaching. It is not matter of "my way" or "your way", it is a matter > of God's way or man's way. Man's way does not work, never, no matter > what it is. The gulf between God and man is so great that only God > can bridge it. And He did.
And so have many others. Some of whom are alive today. Some of whom may be on this chat, although obviously their role isn't as dramatic as Christ's was. > > Christ not only said that He is the way the truth and the life > (He "is", not He "knows"), So are we all, essentially. "Knowing" implies a subject/object duality. If the drop really wants to know the ocean, it has to merge with it, thus extinguishing itself. >He was also very outspoken about others > making such claims. He said they were thieves and robbers. They are if they haven't actually attained that level of experience. If they have, they're not. >He also > said that unless I partake of His nature, I have no life in myself, > that without Him I can do nothing, and so on. True. In fact, the perception that any of us do anything is erroneous. There is no individual doer. Those who assume the doership of action are thieves and robbers. The Gita says this too. >He said that He came > to save the world, not to condemn it. He implored people to come to > Him, and allow Him to carry their burdens. All saviors say this. If you surrender to God, in some cases by surrendering to a guru, you are relieved of your burdens. Again, you find that you are not the doer, and are thus not the bearer of any burden. >But He also said that in > the end He would judge everyone. Very clear words, they leave no > doubt about what He was talking about; that is if you care to read > them. Quote the exact verse please. I, for one, am not worried by this statement, even if he said it and even if it is something everyone ultimately faces. I think he'd say, hey dude, you done good. > > Now did He really say all this? This question actually came up > immediately after His resurrection and final ascent, as certain > people were trying to muddy the waters. Peter and John address it in > their apostolic letters to the churches, and make a strong point > that they were eye witnesses of all that happened, and of what He > said. They also fully support and authenticate the teachings of > Paul, who received direct revelation from Christ. Biblical scholars here may chime in, but it's well known that today's Bible is heavily edited and filtered. It's a subset of a much larger body of information, all of it reflecting varying degrees of truth, according to when and by whom it was written or edited. > > Now Peter and John certainly understood what Jesus was saying, and > they rendered it in Koine Greek, in the gospels and in their > letters. Koine Greek was the commonly shared language of the time, > very much as English is today, so the translation of these > scriptures is fairly well established. Recent discoveries of Greek > manuscripts from that period confirm that the Greek words in the > Bible were used in their commonly accepted meanings. I thought Jesus spoke Aramaic. > > Sparaig made the point how could a simple natural relaxation > technique prevent me from receiving from God. Well, obviously it > couldn't. But TM is not a simple natural relaxation technique, far > from it. The TM mantras are seed mantras (bhijas) which establish a > connection between the presiding spirit and the practitioner. That > is not superstition, but it is the spiritual reality. I agree, but I don't agree that this is a barrier to receiving God. > > TM is based on the release of spiritual power. If it would be just > matter of keeping the mind restful and alert, why the instruction to > come immediately back to the mantra, once there is awareness of no > mantra no thought? Why then is it so important to select the mantra > carefully? Why do these supposedly "meaningless" words have such > powerful influence? No, let us realize that what Maharishi is > bringing out now is much closer to the truth than what is taught in > the intro lecture. Don't we all know that the true content of the > teaching is spoonfed, one little bit after the other, until you have > embraced spiritual concepts and practices that you would have never > entered into before. True for most people. I already was comfortable with those concepts before beginning TM. > > If you want to embrace them, fine. Make your choice in freedom. But > don't deceive yourself into thinking that the ideas you are basing > your eternal destiny on are self-evident, or that they are > compatible with the teachings of Christ. I still think they are. You haven't convinced me otherwise. BTW, I don't practice TM, strictly speaking, since I'm using a mantra I got from Amma. But I'm sure you would say that the same arguments apply. You know I like you and I'm responding sincerely with no ill will or desire to dissuade you from your chosen path. I feel that you've benefitted greatly from what you're doing now. You seem much happier and more loving than you did at MUM. Sincerely, Rick > > Sincerely > > Kai > > > > > > > To subscribe, send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Or go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ > and click 'Join This Group!' > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > -- Rick Archer SearchSummit 1108 South B Street Fairfield, IA 52556 Phone: 641-472-9336 Fax: 815-572-5842 http://searchsummit.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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