Imagination precedes creation. I imagine that I can write an article. Then I use will to sit and write it. As I write, more ideas come to me. That is the evolution of the creative process.

I had an experience during meditation. I was in a fog. There was nothing to sense. Just the fog. It was very peaceful. Soon I was bored.

Is that how creation started? Was the Creator bored?

If you were bored, what would you do? We know that humans create games.

Think of football. You imagine a field with goals. You imagine a ball and players. Teams are formed and the ball is kicked toward a goal. As you play you imagine that the game would be better with more rules. You create lines around the field and boundary rules. One day someone pickups up the ball and throws it to another player. That is fun. So, you change the rule. Then you realize that a pointed ball would pass better than a round ball. American football evolved from European football (soccer).

Alan Watts talked about being the Creator. His imagination went along the following lines. He imagined creating a world. He would have delicious meals. He would have wonderful romantic encounters. He imagined that after a while he would be bored. He imagined danger. He imagined battles. He imagined having his life at risk. That would be fun too.

You and I are living a game. We can choose to take control. Or we can allow our neural programming to run out of control. Many people run out of control. They replay the day’s events. They think of how they have been insulted. They allow their imagination to create fears and possibilities. They become trapped in a game of their own making.

They often want to expand the trap to include others. Be afraid. Join me in my game of fear. Remember the saying, misery loves company.

Are you in a mental trap? You can leave. You can decide to think differently. Instead of seeing the bars, look for a way out. Look for evidence that you can escape.

My wife and I are watching the TV series, The Count of Monte Cristo. A prisoner is tunneling to escape and finds another prisoner. They tunnel together. They have imagined a plan. The night before escape, one prisoner dies. The other imagines a different plan and escapes.

Often that is the case. We press forward with a strategy and find that we must change course to reach our goals. Some will continue without changing. A few will succeed. Many will fail.

We must go around the storm. We must imagine a new route.

I find that to be fun. As I sit writing this, I start a sentence then think of something else. I backspace or delete a paragraph. I allow creation to work through me.

A few people might see this as boring foolishness. Many won’t be interested. A few will see genius. A few will take steps to free themselves. This is for you.

Free yourself. Create your game. Live your life. Don’t let others take control of you.

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I enjoy watching my grandchildren.

It is even more fun than watching my children was.

I’ve learned a lot more about myself and about how the brain develops. I’ve also learned a lot from philosophy - especially informal fallacies. In addition, I’ve had spiritual experiences that help me see the world differently.

One of the things I see is how we are programmed from an early age.

When we are little, we have no experience. We have no filters. Our brains take in information and form synapses that create programs or patterns. For example, that is a dog. Can you say dog? What is that? No, that is a cat. That is a dog over there. Soon you have the pattern recognition and know a dog from a cat.

Pattern recognition is a primary way the brain works. We don’t question it. We just accept what we are learning and use the patterns. We also don’t question our teachers.

The key point I want you to consider is taking something in without thinking. We are all guilty of it. We read or hear something, and we really don’t take time to consider it. We don’t think about evidence. Or perhaps we see a little bit of evidence and that convinces us. Then we don’t think about it again. That becomes who we are.

A great example is a conversation I had with a professor in business school. We were just chatting after class. He made a comment that houses were a poor investment. He said that even if a house goes up in price, when you sell it, you have to buy another house. That house has also gone up in price. So, you are never ahead. Although I was in my 20’s, I accepted that just like a two-year-old. It was the worst financial advice I was ever given. Imagine! The worst financial advice of my life came from a professor in business school.

Which leads to a logical fallacy - appeal to authority. The fallacy is most easily detected using the example of an actor making political commentary. Why should we believe an actor about politics? We shouldn’t. However, shouldn’t I have been able to believe a professor in business school about finance? No!! He might have been more likely to be right about finance than someone with no business training, but he was still wrong. Appeal to authority is most convincing when a doctor or some expert gives their opinion on their field of expertise. It is still a fallacy to accept the opinion without evidence.

I was just reading an article about persuasion. One way to persuade someone is to give them information that is true but leave out the parts that don’t fit what you want them to believe. This is especially true if we are just reinforcing what people already want to believe.

An interesting example is the New York Times trying to convince us that the Iran war is bad. I don’t read the New York Times. You can find Bill Maher’s criticism here. Maher gave an example of selective information. Imagine an editor of the New York Times, “‘I’ve got a great picture of people dancing in the streets’… ‘Yeah. we’re going to go with the 10% who are sorry the Ayatollah is dead because that’s going to funnel the thought of our readers toward ‘oh this is a bad war to get into’.” Can we believe the New York Times? Is the New York Times an authority? Many people think so. Notice I have just given you selective information.

Once we are aware of the fallacy of the appeal to authority, we might still fall victim to the fallacy of genetics. That is when we believe or fail to believe anything coming from a certain person or group. It is a fallacy because we fail to look at the argument and evaluate it with evidence. This has become very popular in politics. People accept whatever one side or one person says and reject whatever the other side says.

Another fallacy is the ad hominem attack. It goes along with what I’ve already discussed. The person making the argument is attacked rather than the argument itself. Trump is terrible about attacking individuals rather than the merits of the arguments. His detractors are no better. A problem is that many people fall for the ad hominem attack. I have seen people calling Trump names and their friends all pile on. I’m sure all of them feel an exciting hormone rush and think they’ve actually done something. I doubt that they realize that the people who follow Trump are getting the same hormone rush. The problem is that issues are not being discussed. It is stupidity vs. stupidity. It is dumbing down our nation.

To rise above the level of a two-year-old, we must use evidence and actually think about issues. We must question our programming. Why do we believe what we do?

I have placed this article in the spiritual category. I believe it is our spirit that allows us to question what we believe. Many people never do. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24. Many Christians take that to mean that we must give up wealth. However, the kingdom of God is within you. The peace that exists in that kingdom is beyond your programming. People can be extremely poor financially, yet be rich with many ideas, opinions and judgements that they cannot give up. Ironically, many of those were installed by well-meaning pastors.

If you consider yourself a follower of Jesus, I encourage you to read the Bible looking at the passages where Jesus talked about forgiveness and judgement. Stop judging and forgive - not for the sake of anyone else. So that you can experience the kingdom for yourself. You will be happier and healthier. You can also help lead the world intellectually by questioning fallacies.

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Have you considered how AI is challenging what it means to think? AI is just the current version of programming that seems to show that we may be nothing more than a body controlled by neural programs. There is an alternative. Start with spirituality. Let me explain.

I had an idea over 20 years ago. I read Schrodinger’s Cat by John Gribbin. According to Gribbin, the question physicists have been ducking since Newton is - Is the universe determined.

To be determined means there are no choices. Newton proposed three laws of motion. 1) An object remains at rest or in motion is a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. 2) Force equals mass times acceleration. 3) For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

If it were possible to know the position and velocity of all of all particles of matter, it would be possible to predict the position and velocity in the future. I took that a step further and applied physics to biology.

If evolutionary theory is correct, life is the result of changes in particles of matter. If those changes could be predicted, then we could predict the evolution of life.

Then I went even further, if our mind is the result of brain activity, then our thoughts would be predictable. There is no free will.

Now we’re getting somewhere.

Some will want to point out that quantum mechanics shows that Newtonian mechanics is incomplete and the universe is not determined. However, that argument does not help get us out of the predicament that we have no choices in life. It goes back to Newton’s first law. Where does the force come from that causes a change in your brain, resulting in a change in thought?

If the force comes from the environment, then the environment is controlling your brain. Or the programming of your brain is reacting to environmental forces. There is no “you” to be in control.

In order for you to have free will, you must somehow generate force to control your brain. What are you? How do you generate that force?

When Alexa and Safari became available, I pointed to them and argued that perhaps they function like our brains. You ask a question, and they come up with an answer. If your brain is just programming, then it is one program asking another. There is no you to intervene.

AI is taking things up another notch. It seems more and more human-like. Are we just bio-programming?

Imagine the societal implications. Without free will, murders and rapists have no choice. Rich are rich just because. Poor are poor just because. Whatever can be done about either will either be done or not. We will not choose an outcome.

Does that mean we can all get along once we have that understanding? No! It means nothing. Our conflicts are both pointless and inevitable.

There is a way out. Instead of starting with energy. Start with spirit or mind. I prefer spirit which I define as something that controls the body.

Thoughts are produced by my brain. My mind is those thoughts. I have learned that I can either allow my thoughts to flow, I can stop the flow, or I can change the thoughts. I can do that because I am a spirit. If I fail to do that, I might be a spirit that is having a robot experience.

Back to the original question. AI can do amazing things. Perhaps we are just advanced AI. Perhaps someday we will arrive at our pre-determined destination. Or perhaps all is random.

Or perhaps more and more of us will make the spiritual decision to take control of our brains. We will use AI to make our lives better. We can find meaning in our lives. We can choose love. We can choose peace. I remain hopeful.

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Faith can be powerful. It can also be an enemy of truth.

A Facebook friend shared a rather well-done post. The author started with someone’s moral belief based on an old-testament Biblical passage. The author then went through a number of other old-testament Biblical passages and questioned whether they should be enforced. It was rather humorous. Most of society has moved on.

However, let’s not be too hard on those who choose to believe. Illusions can make us happier. I find many people of faith have a more positive outlook and are happier. They are not interested in learning what I consider to be truth.

I don’t remember the subject. I was talking with a woman, and she made a comment that I thought could easily be disproven. She said, “I just have to have faith.” She helped me realize the power of faith. It helps us keep on keeping on, despite appearances. Often what seems to be truth is illusion.

We live in a world of illusion. Can you believe what you see? How do you know you are not hallucinating? Your brain creates illusions. Let me give you an example.

When I was a child, my eyes were tested at school. There was a machine that I looked into. There was a place for left and right eyes. The scene was an apple tree with a picnic table under it. The apple tree had a red light that was the apple. I was asked if the apple fell on the picnic table. It did not. The test was repeated several times. During one test I closed one eye. The apple tree was in the left eye, and the picnic table was in the right. My brain was not putting the two images together.

Because of that, I did not have three-dimensional (3-D) vision. That made it more difficult for me to catch a ball and other activities that are based on depth perception.

What was the truth? What I saw was the truth. The picnic table was not under the apple tree. However, I was not benefitting from the truth. I would benefit from the illusion.

Those who saw the apple fall on the picnic table saw an illusion. They had less difficulty in life. They had faith in the illusion. They had no reason to question it. I knew it was wrong. I suffered because I did not have the illusion.

Around 30 years later, I wanted to see x-rays in 3-D. One of my mentors used a stereopticon. The stereopticon was made by mounting mirrors at 90 degrees to each other and placing them between two view boxes. Two x-rays were taken with the x-ray tube positioned to the left for one film and to the right for the other. The separation created a distortion similar to the separation of our eyes. The films were then placed in the view boxes. The mirrors were positioned so that I placed my nose where they came together, and my right eye saw the right film and my left eye saw the left film. Eventually, I saw the illusion.

I’ll never forget walking home and realizing I was seeing 3-D. I was at the top of a hill and looking down on the city of Bellingham. I realized I was seeing depth. It was amazing. I was benefiting from the illusion.

Few people really study the Bible. Few look for contradictions. Few look for truth. Most find the illusion that they are prepared to see.

If you are benefiting from your faith, good for you. However, if you attempt to force your ideas on others, expect resistance. Does your illusion protect individual rights? Does your illusion harm others or protect them?

Although ignorance is bliss and truth may set you free, I enjoy knowing the truth - all is illusion. I like to think of it like watching a magician. What a great trick!!

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Have I not given you enough? The power of the universe is at your command.
How blessed are you? So blessed, that I myself must come to find only you.
How cared for are you? So cared for, that every star, and every stone, and every leaf of every tree I have created for only you.
How fortunate are you? Fortunate enough to be alive.

The Spirit of Reiki
Carolyn Jackson

Can you believe that every leaf of every tree has been created especially for you?

I immediately saw the reality of that statement. I see a tree in the distance. From what I’ve been taught about science, I know that light is reflected off of the leaves. The reflected light enters my eye. My retinae convert the light to signals that are sent to the brain via the optic nerve. I become conscious of a tree in the distance. That image was created for me. It might appear to be different to someone else. There is no way we can tell what is really happening in someone else’s consciousness.

Few people recognize the reality of that paragraph. A patient liked to represent himself in court. He wanted to show me how there are some things that we all can agree on. He pointed to a wall. “What color is that wall?” I told him the wall didn’t have a color. I explained how color is created. His reply was, “Most people would say white.”

Indeed, we must agree on some things. I believe the consciousness that is created for me. While driving, I swerve or brake to avoid hitting someone or something. I have also had the experience of double vision when reality appeared pretty scary.

People who hallucinate see things that are not real. Yet the hallucination seems real to them. Hallucinations can be explained by failure of the body. Drugs or other alterations of body chemistry can make us hallucinate.

What about when we agree with others on what we see but disagree on the interpretation?

That can be explained by our programming. A friend posted a meme on Facebook. I will give you the gist, altered to make it politically neutral.

I want to make a couple of points. Many people don’t change their minds based on facts. That is the point that my friend wanted to make by posting the meme. However, if a person makes a statement without first doing research, then the person is among those being criticized. The person just accepted the statement without facts. Going just a little deeper, isn’t that what the person who created the meme was advocating? Don’t look for facts. Just repost the propaganda I give you.

That is much of what is causing our political division. People accept opinion without facts.

I try to research my statements while I write. That is the beauty of writing. I can take my time and make sure I have the facts. This article is a great example. It started from quite a different angle. I looked up a reference for my statement and found I was wrong.

How can we live a better life? Search for truth.

Realize that your consciousness is somehow created for you. What you perceive as reality might not be the same as someone else’s. Science still cannot explain how consciousness is created. As spirit, you can question your reality and compare to others. We can share our experiences.

You might find something really weird happens. You might find that as you change what you are looking at also changes. Become more giving and loving. Be grateful. Be kind. See if that is reflected back to you.

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A patient was excited about a preacher. She shared the message with me. I said, “That doesn’t make any sense.” She said, “Does it have to make sense?” I replied, “Maybe not. But if it can, why not let it?”

We spent the next 15 minutes or so talking about my version of Christianity. I saw her again about a week later. “Remember our conversation last time?” I nodded. She continued, “I went home and told David I just had the most beautiful conversation with Dr. Bob. He said, I can tell. You are just glowing.”

Our conversation was based on my experience. The first question I ask, Is there a spiritual realm?

I found my answer while reading In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat, by John Gribbin. The book is an attempt to explain quantum mechanics. Gribbin gave the question physicists have been ducking since Newton: Is the universe determined?

To be determined means that the universe could be predicted. If we knew the position and velocity of all particles in the universe, the future position could be predicted by Newton’s Laws.

I reviewed Newton’s Laws of Motion. The first law is inertia - a body remains at rest or in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force.

I have a body. Where does the force come from to cause it to move? There are two choices. If the force comes from the environment, then the environment controls my body. If I have free will, meaning I can choose my actions, then I must be able to generate a force to cause my body to move. There must be a spiritual realm.

Of course, I could be wrong. If I am wrong, we have no free will, and all of our arguments are both futile and inevitable.

Some will quickly point out that the universe is not determined. It is random. That is the point of quantum mechanics. However, randomness doesn’t give us free will either. My argument remains.

If there is a spiritual realm, that could lead us to accept some form of God. The next question is - Why were we created?

The answer to that question came during a group meditation. Several people had come to my office for a spiritual discussion. During a silent meditation, I was conscious of being in a place like a fog. There was no sound. Nothing to see or feel. No senses at all. It was very relaxing and peaceful. Soon, I was bored.

Imagine a creator with no creation. How boring! The universe was created to relieve boredom.

The next revelation came while playing the card game solitaire on my computer. My son was playing Super Mario behind me. I could see his image as he was Mario. He seemed to be unaware of being Matt. He was in the monitor, jumping and running to play the game. Matt was playing a game. I was playing a game. God is playing a game. The Game of Life.

With that as a starting point, we look for rules of The Game. Every religion should be teaching rules to help us live a better life. That is what I’m looking for.

You may be wondering what I told the patient. The life of Jesus was a demonstration of what we could do. You could feed thousands of people with a few fish. Want to see it? Jesus showed us. You could walk on water. You could heal the sick. You could kill a tree with a few words. How can you do all of those things? Because you and Jesus have the same father.

My patient then asked, “Why did Jesus die?” I told her that he did not die for our sins. It was the final demonstration. He came back from death to show that death is not the end. There really is a spiritual realm.

That is an introduction to what I think about life. As I look at different religions, I’m looking to compare what they teach to what I just said.

How about you?

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This is the fifth post to help you understand world events and our neighbors.

I am taking Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, by Professor Mark Berkson of Hamine University. It is one of The Great Courses. I’m going to give you my take on what I’m learning in a series of posts. I will continue to look for how our spirituality or lack thereof improves our lives.

A Buddhist told me that Buddhism is not a religion. I replied that sitting in meditation, hoping to achieve enlightenment, seems like religion to me.

Professor Berkson starts the lesson on Buddhism by stating “When most of us think of religion, we think of a God or gods, a divinely revealed text, and the concept of an eternal soul. Buddhism explicitly rejects these elements. For this reason, Buddhism challenges our very notion of what a religion is. Learning about Buddhism, therefore, expands our understanding of religion and the forms it can take.”

As with many religions, Buddhism has many different varieties. What do they have in common?

They start with the story of Siddhartha Gautama. He was born a prince. At the age of 29, he left the palace and witnessed suffering for the first time. He saw an old person, a sick person, and a corpse.

You are born. You suffer. You die. You are reborn. The cycle is called samsara. The cycle is maintained by the law of karma - the law of cause and effect. The goal is to become liberated from samsara.

On his journey from the palace, in addition to the three encounters mentioned, he saw a renunciate - a person seeking liberation from samsara. Siddhartha decided to become a renunciate and seek liberation from samsara. Eventually, he finds a way out. He is “awakened” and achieves enlightenment. Buddhist teachings help you find a way out of samsara.

There are Four Noble Truths. Here they are from ChatGPT:

• Life has suffering (Dukkha):
  Everyone experiences pain, sadness, or dissatisfaction in life — things like getting sick, losing loved ones, or feeling unfulfilled.

• Suffering comes from craving (Samudaya):
  The cause of suffering is our desire for things to be different — wanting pleasure, avoiding pain, or clinging to things we like.

• There is a way to end suffering (Nirodha):
  If we let go of craving and attachment, we can stop suffering and find peace.

• The way to end suffering is the Eightfold Path (Magga):
  By living wisely, ethically, and mindfully through the Eightfold Path, we can overcome suffering and reach enlightenment.

Here is the Eightfold Path from ChatGPT:

• Right View – Understand the Four Noble Truths and see life clearly.

• Right Intention – Think with kindness and let go of harmful desires.

• Right Speech – Speak truthfully and kindly; avoid lying or hurting others with words.

• Right Action – Act in ways that don’t harm others (like not killing or stealing).

• Right Livelihood – Choose a job that doesn't hurt people or animals.

• Right Effort – Work to develop good qualities and let go of bad ones.

• Right Mindfulness – Be aware of your thoughts, feelings, and actions in the present moment.

• Right Concentration – Practice meditation to calm the mind and gain insight.

My Thoughts

I believe you will find contradictions in nearly every religion. If there is no soul or self, there is nothing to be reborn. It would seem to me that the entire religion is based on a misconception.

Can you experience an ultimate reality? I think you can. Buddhism has that in common with Hinduism.

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This is the fourth post to help understand world events and our neighbors.

I am taking Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, by Professor Mark Berkson of Hamine University. It is one of The Great Courses. I’m going to give you my take on what I’m learning in a series of posts. I will continue to look for how our spirituality or lack thereof improves our lives.

In the fifth lecture, Professor Berkson begins by covering The Bhagavad Gita. It is probably the best known among Hindu scriptures. A patient gave me the book many years ago. According to Berkson, the book was valued by Mahatma Ghandi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Aldous Huxley. The scripture is a conversation between the warrior-prince Arjuna and Krishna, his charioteer. Remember, Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu, the all-pervading Lord of the Universe and protector of humanity.

Krishna tells Arjuna that he must act in accordance with his dharma (duty). He should be unattached to the outcome. He should act as though life is an offering to the Lord.

Arjuna is ultimately given the divine eye so that he can see God in all its many forms. Arjuna is overwhelmed and wants to go back to only seeing Krishna. Can you imagine seeing God everywhere you look? It is much simpler to imagine God as finite rather than infinite. Yet, we should remember that God is infinite. I like that aspect of Hinduism.

Yogo - paths to liberation. According to Berkson:

While there are many forms of yoga, four are featured most prominently in the Gita. The first is Karma Yoga, the yoga of action. The second form is Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion. The third is Jnana Yoga, the yoga of knowledge. And the fourth is Raja Yoga, or “royal yoga,” the yoga of meditation.

The Gita focus is on Karma Yoga. Thon (third person gender neutral pronoun) realizes that thon’s action is part of the action of the whole universe. Thon gives up attachment to outcome. Thon acts according to dharma (thon’s duty).

Berkson summed it up:

To the Gita’s synthesis of action and renunciation is added yet another element: devotion. The renouncing of the fruits of action to the deity brings action, renunciation, and devotion together. The element of devotion to the gods, bhakti, becomes one of the primary features of Hindu religion.

Jana Yoga is the yoga of knowledge. Berkson said that Vedanta examines the nature of soul and ultimate reality. Vedanta has had the most influence on modern Indian and Western thought. He also mentioned Advaita Vedanta. It is non-dualistic, seeing the individual Atman as being part of ultimate reality, Brahman.

We will cover Christianity later. However, it seems appropriate to point out Jesus’ teaching that the father and I are one. He also said that I am in you, and you are in me. In my opinion, that is clearly the Hindu concept. You (as soul or Atman) are part of God, (ultimate reality or Brahman). Jesus (Atman) was also one with the father (Brahman). We are all part of ultimate reality.

Raja Yoga is the yoga of meditation. The seeker is taken through a series of meditations to quiet the mind. Berkson said:

The essence of this path is summed up as “yogas citta vritti nirodha.” This means, “Yoga is the cessation of mental fluctuations” or “mental activity.”

I believe that to be one of the most important things I have learned. The ability to quiet the mind and just be aware is quite liberating. I find there is no emotion. I get beyond it. Compare to the Christian idea expressed by Paul’s “peace that passes all understanding” Philippians 4:7.

It isn’t clear to me from Berkson, whether Ashtanga is mentioned in the Gita or not. I’ll just give you what he said in the notes.

Patanjali set up a system known as Ashtanga Yoga, which means eight-limbed yoga. The eight limbs are: (1) moral principles; (2) observances (including external and internal bodily purifi cation); (3) posture; (4) breath control; (5) withdrawal of senses; (6) concentration; (7) meditation; and finally, (8) samadhi, or pure contemplation/absorption. This is the state of resting completely in the spirit, with the total quieting of mental fluctuations.

Later, Hatha Yoga emerged. The first writing of Hatha Yoga is Hatha Yoga Pradipika written in the 15th century. Although the emphasis is on poses and breathing, the goal is to prepare for Raja Yoga and quiet the mind.

The idea of energy centers known as chakras comes from the Hindu understanding of anatomy. Berkson:

In the Indian system of anatomy, we have a subtle body of energy flow, in which our life force, or prana, flows along channels. These channels intersect at certain places in the body to create powerful centers, called chakras (circles/wheels). There is a chakra at the base of the spine, the genitals, the solar plexus, the heart, the throat and between the eyes.

Berkson goes through the chakras in more detail. I will refer you to his course for more information. It would be interesting to compare the subtle energy fields of Hinduism to the ideas of acupuncture.

Berkson ends the lecture by looking at modern changes in Hinduism around the world. Part of our focus is understanding world events. We will briefly look at those changes.

Hinduism became more reason based in the 18th and 19th centuries. Things like child marriage, the caste system (along with untouchables), widow burnings, and icon worship were given up, by members of the reform movement.

Berkson cites Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi among Indians who wanted India to have a secular government, allowing all religions. Gandhi was assassinated by a member of a Hindu group that felt Gandhi was too accommodating to Muslims. However, Hindus mostly get along with Muslims and Sikhs often attending each other’s shrines.

Most Hindus live in India or South Asia. There are no large communities of Hindus in the West. Hindus tend to worship in their homes. The temples that exist in the West will show many deities, because they cater to a wide range of people.

Berkson finished by mentioning the Hare Krishnas. Beatle, George Harrison, was attracted to their message. You can hear the chant in the background of the song My Sweet Lord.

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This is the third post to help understand world events and our neighbors.

I am taking Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, by Professor Mark Berkson of Hamine University. It is one of The Great Courses. I’m going to give you my take on what I’m learning in a series of posts. I will continue to look for how our spirituality or lack thereof improves our lives.

A Buddhist friend told me that he was teaching his sons about a lot of gods. Having been raised in the Christian faith, I found that odd. Now I can reconcile the two.

Professor Berkson notes that Judaism and Islam are the most popular religions in India. Both Judaism and Islam prohibit making any images of God. Their rationale is that God is infinite. Therefore, if any image is made of God, the follower is limiting the concept of God. The follower is worshiping the image rather than God.

Hinduism agrees in the infinity of ultimate reality, which is called Brahman. However, Hindus believe it is important to see and be seen by the ultimate reality. So, they represent Brahman by many gods. The more the better. I rather like the approach.

Hinduism teaches that the soul is Atman, part of Brahman. Professor Berkson stated, “So now we know that we each have a soul (Atman) and we know about ultimate reality (Brahman). The Chandogya Upanishad reveals “that art thou”—tat tvam asi. Your soul, your Atman, is identical with ultimate reality, Brahman. When we recognize our identity with the ultimate reality, we achieve liberation.”

Later, when we cover Christianity, I will compare that to what Jesus actually taught. The similarities are striking.

In spite of the multiplicity, Hindus see everything as being part of the one ultimate reality. When I see everything as part of the whole, I can honor the multiple forms. All are created by God.

Some Hindus only worship one God. Others worship many gods. Professor Berkson discussed three categories. Male gods often have female consorts who have the female power (Shakti) necessary to release the male spiritual power. “Vishnu is seen as the all-pervading Lord of the Universe and protector of humanity.” His female consort is known as Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Vishnu can appear in ten avatars to help mankind. Krishna and Rama are the most widely worshiped. Krishna is seen as a child or lover. Rama is a warrior.

The second category is Shiva the god of opposites and Lord of Yoga. Images of Shiva can seem contradictory. Shiva may be seen with his wife Parvati and two sons. One son, Ganesha is the “remover of obstacles and the guardian of entryways. Praying to him is said to bring good luck and success, so many people worship him before embarking on a trip or a new venture.”

Berkson’s last category is Devi, the goddess. Male deities would be powerless without female power. He gave two examples of female deities. “Durga is portrayed with numerous arms, many holding weapons, Ganesha, a popular Hindu deity, is the god of beginnings and new ventures. riding a lion and ready for battle. Kali is usually portrayed as dark with a long red tongue, blood dripping from her mouth, and wearing a necklace of skulls. She is considered a great protector.”

Hindus see destruction and death as part of the divine creation. They face those realities with their depictions of gods.

Worship services (pungas) can include chanting, music and festivals. Hindus value sound, in particular “Om”.

Many Hindus are vegetarian. All refuse to eat beef.

In the next lesson, we will learn about the Bhagavad Gita.

This is the second post to help understand world events and our neighbors.

I am taking Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, by Professor Mark Berkson of Hamine University. It is one of The Great Courses. I’m going to give you my take on what I’m learning in a series of posts. I will continue to look for how our spirituality or lack thereof improves our lives.

Lesson 3 is titled Hinduism - Foundational Texts and Teachings.

Please keep in mind that I am not covering everything in the course. I’m covering what I find most interesting.

The word Hindu was used by others to refer to people beyond the Indus River. Most Hindus are found in South Asia. There is no central authority and no orthodox creed.

Two traditions came together to form the Hindu religion. The Indus River Valley Civilization goes back to at least 4500 years. Goddesses, bathing and use of water in rituals, animals, yoga and meditation might all be traced to this civilization.

Aryans moved into India from the north around 2000 B.C.E. The Vedas (scriptures written in Sanskrit), numerous gods, rituals conducted by brahmins (priests), and social classes came from the Aryans.

There were four social classes. Brahmins (priests) and Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers) were the top two classes. Vaishyas (farmers, traders, merchants) were the third class. Shudras (servants) were the lowest class. The four classes (Varnas) became the caste system. Only the top three Varnas were “twice-born” and could have access to the Vedic texts. It is unclear how one became twice-born.

Veda is the word for knowledge. Sanscrit is in the same Indo-European language family as English. Although written down in 500 B.C.E., the Vedic texts go back to 1000 years earlier.

Two concepts I find interesting. First, there is a cosmic order to the world that must be upheld. Second, the entire universe is seen as a vast organism. Compare that to what we are learning about quantum physics.

Liberation from Suffering

Early Vedic teaching was about how to live a better life. The Upanishads believed that if we became attached to things of the world, we would experience suffering and rebirth. Samsara was the cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

The Indian traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all see life as suffering (sickness, aging and death) and rebirth as something to be avoided. Liberation from the cycle is the goal of religion.

What is liberated? The body goes back to the earth. The Atman (soul) is reborn.

Karma

Karma means action and explains the law of cause and effect that leads to rebirth. Our previous actions determine who we are today. Our present actions determine who we will become when reborn.

According to the Upanishads, if we knew our true identity as Atman (pure consciousness, which is changeless and eternal) we would not suffer.

Quoting Professor Berkson, “We now see one of the most fundamental tensions within Hinduism: the importance of preserving cosmic and social order by finding one’s place within it and the quest to find liberation from the world through renunciation, asceticism, and nonattachment. Some of the most powerful ideas in Hinduism have come from attempts to reconcile this tension.”

The Four Goals of Humanity

Dharma (performing one’s duty) is the first goal. Artha (gaining material wealth) is the second goal. Kama (pleasure) is the third goal. Kama can be sexual, music, dance, art, and food. Moksha (liberation from samsara) is the fourth goal.

One’s dharma will depend on caste and stage of life (ashrama). If there is an order to the universe, then one must find the right action to maintain the order, while acting to improve karma and lead to liberation.

Stages of Life

Stage one is the student.

Householder is stage two. During stage two one gets married (arranged), becomes a parent, gets a job, etc.

Stage three is the forest dweller or hermit. We would call them retirees. It is when we withdraw from life and take care of grandkids, etc.

The last stage is the renunciate. During this stage, the most committed give up their attachments to things to commit to a spiritual life.

The next lesson will focus on Hindu Gods and Devotional Practices.

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Three reasons for learning more about world religions: 1. To better understand world events. 2. To understand our own country and neighbors. 3. Attain greater self-understanding. Whether you are an atheist, or deeply committed to a particular faith, knowing about world religions will help you understand world events, and your neighbors of differing beliefs.

I am taking Cultural Literacy for Religion: Everything the Well-Educated Person Should Know, by Professor Mark Berkson of Hamine University. It is one of The Great Courses. I’m going to give you my take on what I’m learning in a series of posts. I will continue to look for how our spirituality or lack thereof improves our lives.

How do we define religion? Professor Berkson goes through three different methods and gives strengths and weaknesses of each method. Rather than go through all three methods, I would like you to consider that it does no good to argue whether or not something is a religion. I once came up with a definition that was any belief held to with ardor and faith. A Buddhist wanted to argue that Buddhism was not a religion because they do not believe in God. I pointed to their rituals and said it looked like a religion to me.

Members of a religion may be more committed to traditions than agreements. Professor Berkson ends the first lecture by saying, “In fact, it makes more sense to think of traditions as ongoing conversations—often debates and arguments—about things to which all members are committed. Rather than think about agreements, think about those things that the members of the traditions care about and what matters to them.”

In the second lecture, Professor Berkson begins by covering three definitions: theists (those who believe in God or Gods), atheists (those who do not believe in Gods) and agnostics (those who are uncertain). I learned not to ask the yes or no question: Do you believe in God? It is too simplistic. Richard Dawkins has a seven-point scale ranging from 1) absolute certainty that God exists to 7) absolute certainty that God does not exist. The question is where are you on that scale?

Many Gods or One God?

It is interesting to look at what people believe about God. Some people are polytheists. They believe in many Gods. Each God may have a particular realm and may work together with other Gods or alone.

About 55% of the world’s population are monotheists. They believe in one God.

Pantheism is the belief that God is the same as the natural universe. God is everywhere and the universe itself is divine.

What does God look like?

Some give God human characteristics, a process called anthropomorphism. Some see God as a parent, often calling God father. Some see God as a ruler, judge or lord. Still others think of God as a child, with qualities of innocence and playfulness. Then there is the bloodthirsty or wrathful God. Some religions think of Gods as having animal or human/animal bodies. Finally, some see the sun, moon, etc. as Gods.

What about scripture?

What books are important for the religion? How are the books used? Who can interpret the meaning?

What about ritual?

Professor Berkson says, “In a religious context, rituals can be understood as the formalized movements and language that are given to us by our traditions and are carried out in contexts that are understood as sacred.”

Rituals can be categorized. Life cycle rituals mark life transitions from one stage to the next. Two examples are marriage and funerals.

Another category is based on nature. Passing of seasons are celebrated and a sense of gratitude and awe for a God sustaining the process is enhanced through ritual.

Historically based rituals commemorate important events in the religious tradition.

There are also daily rituals such as prayer before meals or before bed. Think of the rituals of how we meet strangers.

What about Good and Evil?

All religions have in common a belief that there is order in the cosmos.

Professor Berkson poses a problem for monotheists. “If God is omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful), and omnibenevolent (all good), why is there evil in the world?” Attempts to solve the problem use theodicy (the justice of God). Free will is theodicy that we were given free will and can choose to do good or to harm others. Another theodicy is that we grow through struggle. The last theodicy to solve the problem is that what appears to be evil is part of God’s plan and humans receive reward or punishment after death.

Some theologians settle the problem by believing God is not omnipotent. God may be a source of power that humans can use. Think of that explanation while reading some of my posts (for example).

Asian religions that are not theistic have problems with good and evil. The theodicy used is karma. Our good or bad actions affect this life or in a later life.

Virtue ethics is another aspect of religious traditions that we will compare. What is a good life? The religious tradition teaches one to be a good person and good actions will follow.

Lastly, Professor Berkson Mentions Soteriology

Soteriology is the doctrine of salvation. Every religious tradition believes that humans are in some initial state of dissatisfaction and can move to a state of experiencing ultimate reality. The differences between religious traditions are teaching how to achieve the final state.

With that as background, we can begin learning about religious traditions around the world.

The most important question we face is do we have free will. Can we choose what we will do? If we can choose, should we choose differently? If we cannot choose, what is the point of life? If we have free will, do we use it?

Dualism is out of favor among academics. Dualism is the idea that a spiritual realm exists separate from the physical realm. Monism is the idea that there is only one realm.

Karl Popper pointed out that science is the pursuit of falsification. We can never know that something is true. We believe the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. Based on our experience, it always has. If the sun rose in the west, that would falsify the idea that the sun rises in the east and we could discard it.

Religion, on the other hand, cannot be falsified. No matter how much evidence is presented, the religious follower will deny the evidence and hold to the belief. Faith is necessary. Falsification is impossible and therefore religion is not science.

I didn’t know about Popper and falsification until about twenty years ago. I immediately recognized the idea. In healthcare we set up two groups. Nothing is done to the control group. The experimental group gets a treatment. What we try to do is falsify the null hypothesis - there is no difference between the two groups. We use statistics to perform the falsification. If the null hypothesis is falsified, that is used as proof that the treatment is beneficial. The treatment doesn’t have to work for every patient. It just has to be statistically better than no treatment.

Science is science because we can use falsification. Religion is not science because we can never prove anything false.

In his book, In Search of Schrodinger’s Cat, John Gribbin gave the question physicists have been ducking since the time of Newton - is the universe determined? By determined it is meant that we could predict the future.

Newton discovered three laws of motion. 1. Inertia - an object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. 2. Force equals mass times acceleration. 3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. According to Newton’s laws, if we knew the position and velocity of every particle in the universe, we could predict where the particles would be in the future.

The theory of evolution starts with the physical realm. Particles interact and one day life materializes. Life continues to change based on physical forces.

Now combine evolution with Newton’s laws and we arrive at no free will. You and I may think that we make choices, but the scientific explanation is that we do not. Where does the force come from to cause a change in the brain? If we say spirit, we are not being scientific because we cannot falsify the spiritual realm. We are left with changes in the brain happen because of environmental forces.

We see, hear, feel, smell, and taste because of forces acting on us. Those forces cause the changes in the brain. The forces are in control.

Neuroscience supports the idea that we are not in control. Donald Hoffman says that, based on a brain scan, a neuroscientist can predict a subject’s choices up to seven seconds before it is made. I encourage you to watch his video.

Hoffman points out that dualism is not in favor among academics. Then he says that reality is consciousness. He starts with a conscious agent - free will. He says that nothing exists until it is created by a conscious agent.

I prefer dualism. Can we be bold enough to say that I (spirit) change my brain in preparation for making the choice? Can scientists accept free will as falsification for at least one aspect of science?

The idea of free will is fundamental to society. Near the end of the video, Hoffman quotes the Supreme Court, “To deny free will is ‘inconsistent with the underlying principles of our criminal justice system’.”

I go a step further. I believe we can also fail to use our will. We can just allow our neural programming to run. We can lead determined lives. Those who have lost their spiz (spizzerinctum) do just that.

Do you believe you have free will? If so, prove it by changing your mind about something.

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Truth is like a gold thread woven through a brilliant tapestry of color. Each of us points to our favorite tapestry and argues that it is most beautiful. Few ever see the gold thread.

There is a common thread woven within all religions, even those who say they are not religions. They all believe we can change ourselves for the better. The alternative is to believe we have no choices in life. We are doomed from our beginning. We are either winners or victims of our evolution.

I’ve met few people who have thought about that. I didn’t think much of it. It became important to me when John Gribbin pointed out the question physicists have been ducking since the time of Newton: Is the universe determined? Determined means the future could be predicted.

Newton proposed three laws of motion. 1. Inertia - a body remains at rest or in motion in a straight line unless acted upon by an outside force. 2. Force equals mass times acceleration. 3. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Based on those laws, if we knew the position and velocity of every particle in the universe, we could predict the future. If evolution is based on the interaction of particles of matter, we could predict how life would form. If our minds are the product of our brains, we could predict our thoughts.

Imagine that!! What I am writing, and you are thinking was set at the time of the Big Bang.

Let me give an example. Imagine your brain has evolved to be a biocomputer. It comes with some basic programming (an operating system). It adds programs by experience, life. You are the result of the programs you inherited and your life experiences.

To get back to Newton’s laws. What causes a change in your brain? Your senses. Remember that nothing moves without an outside force. Energy from outside your body is sensed and processed by your nervous system. You simply react.

The only way you can have control is if you are something other than your body. If you are a spirit and can somehow cause a change in your brain, you could do something else. You could stop the program. You could change the program. You could change your life for the better.

Decades ago, I talked with an older man who proudly proclaimed he was an atheist. If my reasoning is incorrect and there is no spiritual realm, then he is an atheist, and I am a theist because we have no choice. If we define intelligence as the ability to adapt to new and trying situations, there is no such thing. None of us are intelligent. We are merely programs responding to the environment.

I choose to believe that I have some control over my body. I also recognize that to a large extent I am leading a programmed life. I become more spiritual as I take more control over my life. That can be tricky. Am I taking control or am I just allowing my programming to run?

As you watch your thoughts meander around look for the thread of truth. If you look closely, you are likely to find it, even among those you disagree with. Focus on that thread of truth and we can grow together instead of apart.

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One of my anatomy teachers told a couple of stories about growing up in “the old country.” I believe he was from India. I will tell the stories as best I can. The memories that are well over 40 years old.

He was walking home one day and saw a crowd of people. He walked over to see what was happening. A man threw a rope into the air. It went up into a cloud and hung to the ground. A woman climbed the rope until she couldn’t be seen. The man put a large knife between his teeth and climbed the rope until he couldn’t be seen either. He heard the woman scream and saw blood dripping onto the ground. He ran home.

His other experience was sitting in a dark classroom. The teacher asked for a volunteer to go down the hall and get a light. Nobody volunteered. She asked again. One boy reached his hand out. His arm extended down the hall and brought the lamp back. As you might imagine, all the kids left the room screaming.

The professor had a PhD. He told the stories as unexplained experiences of his life. Most of us have difficulty accepting those accounts. We believe that what we see is reality.

I began working with Carolyn Jackson in the late 1990s. I loved her book, The Spirit of Reiki. One page said, “How cared for are you? So cared for that every star, and every stone, and every leaf of every tree I have created for only you.”

Some will read that and think that stars, stones, and leaves are not made for one person. I instantly recognized the truth. We believe we see stars, stones, and leaves because the light from the object goes to our eyes and impulses are sent from the retinae to the brain. The brain then converts the impulses into an image that we believe is out there. Each of us is unique. However, what we are conscious of is not what is out there. We are conscious of the image that was created “only for you.”

Professor Donald Hoffman makes the case that consciousness creates reality. He gives some great examples in his TED talk. He uses a computer monitor as an analogy to reality. He displayed a blue folder icon on a screen that when clicked would take him to a TED talk. He said the folder doesn’t represent what is in the computer. There isn’t a blue folder anywhere in the computer. It is just a way of handling the information. He makes the case that what we think of as reality is really no more reality than the icon on the computer. Reality is something other than what we sense.

With that in mind, think of the miracles in The Bible. People reported what they saw. They didn’t see reality then any better than we see reality now. Perhaps now we have the science to question our senses and understand that reality is not what we think it is.

A big separation between the high achievers and low achievers is faith. Faith is really spiritually based. It requires Will. We must have enough faith to try.

I will always remember my first patient when I started my practice. I had developed a specialty in adjusting the upper cervical area (top two bones in the neck). I had learned that subluxation there could cause lower back pain. My first patient had lower back pain. I had taken lumbopelvic and cervical x-rays. Based on the images, I knew there were misalignments in the neck and no pathologies in the lower back. As I went into the room to adjust her, I thought, “Well here we go. This either works or it doesn’t.”

Wasn’t that a sign of doubt? Didn’t I have a lack of faith? How much faith did I need? I needed enough faith to try. Many people don’t have that much faith. They sit back and watch because they are afraid to get out of a chair and try.

Faith grows. That first patient had trouble standing on both feet when she came into the office. It was difficult to get her to stand with her weight balanced on her feet long enough to take x-rays. She walked out 30 minutes later. She still had pain but could walk on both feet. She was soon better.

Faith grows. From that beginning, I saw many people whose lower back pain was due to subluxations of the upper cervical spine. A few did not improve. Eventually, I also began adjusting the lower back when needed.

I took over an upper cervical practice. My receptionist knocked on the exam door and said a patient wanted to talk on the phone. When I answered, the patient told me that she had lower back pain and didn’t know what to do. Last time she had low back pain, the previous doctor sent her to someone else. I said, “Come on in. I’ll know what to do.” She said, “I had a feeling you would.”

The previous doctor had five years of experience and apparently did not have enough faith to try. I had over 20 years of experience and lots of success. I’m sure there was confidence in my voice.

What about when we try and fail? Failure can shake our faith. The few patients who did not respond to upper cervical adjustments caused me to look for another subluxation. I never lost my faith in the patient’s ability to heal. I just assumed I hadn’t found the problem yet. My results improved.

Want to up your game? Have enough faith to start. If you fail, learn from it. Change a little. Try again. Those who reach the top have a lot of faith. They accumulated that faith from experience. The experience often includes a lot of failure. Have enough faith to keep on keeping on. Learn from failure. Keep trying.

Lost your faith? Get help from someone who has lots. Learn, try, grow. No matter what the field, that process will help you succeed.

A couple of years ago, I began using a tarp to cover my salt-water boat. The tarp fills up with water and I must take a ladder and bucket to dip the water out. This year I’m using two tarps. Works better but I still have the water problem.

Last week the view from the house was quite discouraging. The edges of the tarps were nearly to the top of the boat, indicating that the boat was full of water. So far, I hadn’t minded dipping, but now I was entertaining the idea of an automated process.

I remembered the 12-volt water pump in my garage. I had replaced the pump in our camper before realizing the pump was not the problem. What else would I need?

I have a 12-volt battery for the freshwater boat in the carport. I just needed wires and hoses.

A hardware store is about five minutes from my house. I took the pump with me to make sure I got the right hoses. Yes, I had learned from experience. I was glad I had. I needed two fittings in addition to the hoses. I also bought ten feet of wire.

Back to the house. I decided I didn’t want to carry the battery to the boat. So, I put it in my wife’s garden wagon. The tires were flat, but it worked good enough for a test.

I connected the hose to the pump and put the other end in the boat. I connected the wires to the pump. Then I held the wires to the battery. The pump worked and water was coming out. Proof of concept was established!!

However, I had to hold the wires against the battery. The hose kept coming out of the water. For just a second, I thought about having my wife hold the wires. No, that’s no good. What if I bought alligator clips and clamped the wires to the battery? Should have thought of that before I made the trip. I had a new vision. I imagined the clamps working and me just standing there holding the hose and sucking the water out.

Back to the store. Got the clips. Back home. Clips attached. Holding hose.

Hmmm. That pump is a lot slower than I imagined. I held the hose for a few minutes. I was getting bored. I put the hose in the bottom of the boat. It just curled out. I tried straightening it. Didn’t work. How could I get the hose to stay in the bottom of the boat?

I’ll tie it to a rock. I walked around the house and found a concrete brick that wasn’t doing anything. I tied it to the hose and put the combination in the boat.

It worked very well.

A couple of lessons to be learned. I was fine with dipping the water out until it became overwhelming. Necessity really is the mother of invention. For me anyway, creation is an evolutionary process. I get started and change things as I go. Evolution is the father of creation.

Now you know why I have no problem with God’s evolutionary process of creation.

Yesterday was Christmas. In my continuing effort to question my beliefs and search for truth, I decided to look at Christmas. I began with looking at the Bible. I received the above quote in an email from The University of Science and Philosophy. I thought it was quite fitting.

My family celebrated in the usual secular fashion. We had the Christmas tree. We ate too much, and the children received gifts. We watched a Christmas movie, the Red One. Santa was captured by someone out to destroy Christmas and had to be rescued. While rescuing Santa, a man becomes a better father and committed to his son.

Some of my Christian friends posted on Facebook about the true meaning of Christmas. Of course they were talking about the birth of Jesus. In one of my Bibles, the book of Matthew goes from page 717 to 743. The birth of Jesus to a virgin is mentioned on pages 717-718. It also mentioned the Magi following a star to a house and bringing gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. The book of Mark goes from pages 743 to 760 and does not mention the birth of Jesus at all. The book of Luke goes from pages 760 to 788. The birth of Jesus to the virgin Mary is told from pages 761 to 762. Luke does not mention the Magi but does mention angels appearing to shepherds in a field. The angels told the shepherds, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” The book of John makes no mention of a virgin birth.

For my readers who are not familiar with the Bible. The four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are called the gospels. They are the only books of the Bible focused on the life and teaching of Jesus. Of the four books two do not mention the virgin birth at all. The virgin birth is a small portion of the books that do mention it.

Why is a virgin birth important? It means that Jesus was different than you and me. Because of that difference, what Jesus actually taught – that God is father to us all – is not true. Hmmm. What is the true meaning of Christmas?

All Christmas stories have the following in common: Love, belief, something beyond mere physicality. Whether the story is virgin birth or Santa Clause, the story is beyond what science can confirm. When I watch Christmas movies, I find love winning over insurmountable odds.

I believe that is the true meaning of Christmas. Rather than fight about commercialization of Christmas or argue that the virgin birth of Jesus is a fallacy, remember Lao Russell’s quote and see God in everything you do and everywhere you go. Look for love everywhere - even where it seems impossible. Perhaps you will find something beyond mere physicality - beyond science - YOU!

I attended a meeting of Christians focused on prayer Saturday morning. I have been attending this group to see if my current stance on Christianity would be reinforced or reversed. It has been reinforced.

Jesus is a person, according to the teaching. You can talk with him. He will comfort you. He will guide you.

During an individual session, I told the leader of the local group that I had talked with “spirit guides” through a medium. I also once had a telepathic person tell me that Jesus was right behind me. The leader very briefly winced. I called him on it. He had some doubts because delusional people on the streets could make such a claim. I agreed and reminded him that indeed he was making such a claim from the front of the group.

I continued. If we believe in immortal spirits, how do you know which spirit you are talking to? He hadn’t considered it. Well, I’ve been in that position. I had to consider it.

It wasn’t until later that I remembered the difference. My “spirit guides” (I continue to use the quotes in recognition of the raised eyebrows you may be experiencing) had egos. They had names and each was proud of their accomplishments while alive. They also had a sense of what I would be or should be doing and how important they are in my process. They said things about me that I found to be quite emotional. I went through several tissues during the thirty minutes or so. Contrast that to a different “spirit”.

Another experience with a “spirit” was also quite emotional. It had no ego. It had no judgement and refused to give a name. I can only describe the experience as one of pure love. I was usually in uncontrollable tears.

I asked about behavior of people that I certainly had some judgements about and was told I had no idea what the people were going through. The spirit seemed to understand and loved the people. It appreciated them for what they were doing.

Doesn’t it make sense that your Creator understands you and knows what is going through your head and your heart? Can you imagine that your Creator looks at you with compassion and love, not judgment and hate?

After many sessions conversing with that spirit, we asked if it was God. The reply was, “Based on your experience, would it matter if I said yes, or no?”

It would not matter. My life was changed. I no longer believe in a judgmental God who needs sacrifice to forgive our sins. I believe in a God of love that is having an experience through us. If it turns out that I am wrong, I will be very disappointed.

The session today included Luke 11:11-13, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion. If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

As for me, I feel blessed. I only wish the same for you. It doesn’t have to be a matter of faith. It is okay to think it through.