SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION - ECKHART TOLLE
What is the role of the established religions in the arising of the
new consciousness?
Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality
and religion.
They realize that having a belief system a set of thoughts that you
regard as the absolute truth – does not make you spiritual no matter
what the nature of those beliefs is.
In fact, the more you make your thoughts (beliefs) into your identity,
the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself.
Many “religious” people are stuck at that level. They equate truth
with thought, and as they are completely identified with thought
(their mind), they claim to be in sole possession of the truth in an
unconscious attempt to protect their identity.
They don’t realize the limitations of thought. Unless you believe
(think) exactly as they do, you are wrong in their eyes, and in the
not too distant past, they would
have felt justified in killing you for that. And some still do, even now.
The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising
to a large extent outside of the structures of the existing
institutionalized religions.
There were always pockets of spirituality even in mind dominated
religions, although the institutionalized hierarchies felt threatened
by them and often tried to suppress them.
A largescale opening of spirituality outside of the religious
structures is an entirely new development.
In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the
West, the most
mind dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual
franchise on spirituality.
You couldn’t just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a
spiritual book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you
were not, they would quickly silence you. But now, even within certain
churches and religions, there are signs of change. It is heartwarming,
and one is grateful for even the slightest signs of openness, such as
Pope John Paul II visiting a mosque as well as a synagogue.
Partly as a result of the spiritual teachings that have arisen outside
the established religions, but also due to an influx of the ancient
Eastern wisdom teachings, a growing number of followers of traditional
religions are able to let go of identification with form, dogma, and
rigid belief systems and discover the original depth that is hidden
within their own spiritual tradition at the same time as they discover
the depth within themselves.
They realize that how “spiritual” you are has nothing to do with what
you believe but
everything to do with your state of consciousness. This, in turn, determines
how you act in the world and interact with others.
--
Thanks and best regards
J.Suresh
New No.3, Old No.7,
Chamiers road - 1st Lane,
Alwarpet,
Chennai - 600018
Ph: 044 42030947
Mobile: 91 9884071738
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