Dark Waters wrote:Mahala wrote:
That also reminds me. I heard something about Satan in the Bible. (Satan/Lucifer was the snake.) Satan, as a snake, showed Eve the apples of knowledge, which God had forbidden her to eat, thus forbidding her to become enlightened. Now, if God is so gracious, why did he not just give her the apples? Oooh, and let me see... does anyone remember some of the stuff in the thread from Graver? Bully and the anthill. And it will always go in circles as to who is right/wrong.
What I thought odd was that after eating the apple Adam and eve hid themselves and when questioned by "God" they said they were ashamed because they were naked. They "knew" it was wrong to be naked after eating from the tree, but before that God was letting them walk around naked and he knew it was wrong. "God" ... a voyeur?
The tree held the fruit of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eating from it gave them the knowledge that they were naked (which, apparently, is evil?). God wasn't upset that they now knew they were naked. He was upset because the fact that they knew they were naked meant they ate from the tree, which was a sin because "Man would be as Us." AKA Adam and Eve would be as gods. The Christian Deity named "God" apparently doesn't like company. The second forbidden food was from the Tree of Immortality, and God kicked Adam and Eve out asap before they could eat from that. It wasn't that God was a voyeur, or wasn't gracious. He just wanted to be supreme overlord and master over everyone, in the latest version of the story.
At least, that is how the story has been seen to mean, twisted, and then passed down as. I am a firm believer that there is SOME truth in the Christian and Jewish teachings, because it of course originated in Shamanism, as all spiritualities did. Also, something doesn't touch THAT many people for so long and take foothold without some grain of truth. People aren't moved by lies for very long. They follow TRUTH. If there's something true in there, they will follow. If it's all lies, it gets overthrown pretty quick. Yes, there is a LOT of falsehood in the churches today, but there's some form of truth, if only that we WERE cast out of the "Garden," even by ourselves. (We left Nature and left our divine essence. We were not overlords or captees of the "Garden." We are caretakers! Just another version of the story, to tell a tale to our psyche.)
I look for consistencies in spirituality. I am excited by experiences that span space and time, like the phenomenon of Samadhi, or Shamanism. To me, if something is being experienced in all corners of the world, that means it is not adulterated by the confines or filters of one's society. That to me reflects Truth. The fact that many Christians describe aspects of Samadhi during worship to me says that something there is reflecting Truth. The fact that their prayers GET THINGS DONE says tonnes. "When two or more gather (in my name)." You cannot get things done in the world without touching Truth. You cannot actively manifest in the world without touching the power of creation, which is Source, which is Truth, no matter how you see that to be. Even if you are creating something so outside of that Truth (take Hitler's reign, for example), if you touch upon your own godliness, which is part of Truth, it WILL manifest. Things WILL happen, because you are accessing the power of Creation or Source. Hitler most certainly believed in his own divinity, if he did not see it in those terms. His view was distorted, but he was clear on his own power. His hara was right straight and he was manifesting like crazy.
Woooo kay I got a little carried away there.
What I am trying to say is that although it's a LOT of fun to delve into the lower self and take joy in making fun of the bible (because let's face it, who doesn't have woundings from Christians or Christianity these days?), I think one really has to keep their eyes open and actually look at the heart of what is being said. If you can look beyond the binds of time and the political massacre and molestation of the original scripts and stories of the bibles, then you are far more free in the world. It takes a strong heart to do that, a strong sense of identity without "Identity." You have to be able to look inside yourself - beyond the wounds, beyond the distortions of Ego - and say, "This resonates with me. This does not," or "This is Truth. This is not."
I'm not interested in Paganism. I'm not interested in Christianity. Damn it, I'm interested in TRUTH. I'm not defending any "side." I'm just opening up the window a little bit so people can see the sunshine. I believe in gods, I believe in goddesses. I believe in wide empty space. I believe in monsters and demons and angels and guides and all that is. I believe in everything and nothing at the same time. And I believe that whatever you believe is truth for YOU. However, if there is a wounding there, I am going to do my job as a servant of the Universe, when called, and show it to you. By you, I mean anyone who is reading this and getting angsty or upset.