I Believe in a God Unlike the Christian, Jewish and Muslim God

I believe in a God devoid of anthropomorphic qualities that is called the Absolute.

If we have souls, then after death no soul is turned away from return to the Godhead.

For the universe has infinite capacity for these souls because they pass on to another dimension where no soul is limited physically.

Though no soul can have sex because souls can not get pregnant. There is also no need to eat because you are never hungry for physical sustenance.

However, you have to listen to a sermon until God calls to you, "Time to be reborn, pilgrim!"

This dimension is known as a Pure Land but is separate from the many other Buddha worlds called Pure Land of Bliss and their respective Buddhas.

On death, everything will be explained to you: the fallacy of good and evil is merely a tool to separate the monotheistic people who practice dualism from the believers in the Absolute who strive for the non-duality called Shunyata.

Indeed, the Christian Heaven is the closest monotheistic equivalent of the Absolute. For all Buddhists, the Absolute is the closest to God that the faithful attain.

Though Amida Buddha would urge the bodhisattvas reborn in the Pure Land in his sermon to return to the earthly plane to help other lost souls find their way to his Pure Land.

Note too that all souls are finite aspects of the Godhead which itself is almost infinite.

YMMV

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Originally posted: October 26, 2012 1256H PDT

The wise man strives to no goals

If you wish to move in the One Way
do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to accept them fully
is identical with true Enlightenment.
The wise man strives to no goals
but the foolish man fetters himself.
There is one Dharma, not many;
distinctions arise
from the clinging needs of the ignorant.
To seek Mind with the [discriminating] mind
is the greatest of all mistakes.

-Seng-tsan, "Verses on the Faith Mind"

To seek Mind with the Faith Mind, one accepts fully the world of senses and ideas.

Yet the diligent Buddhist detaches herself from the five senses and does not cling mindlessly to ideas due to mindful practice.

Regarding goals, only a fool would be fettered to many goals, lest the goal that leads to the One Way be lost. For the wise man who strives to no goals knows that samsara is Nirvana. Because his life is not determined by goals, he follows the One Way.

Although it seems that there are many paths to Enlightenment as there are grains of sand on the beach, there is only the One Way, the Dharma Path to Enlightenment.

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Originally published: November 18, 2005 at 1158H
Edited February 6, 2013 at 2117H

We All are One

Oneness is of love
That transcends human kindness —
When one of us hurts,
All of us feel sympathy
And will help that person out.

Once she is well, her pain gone,
We all will rejoice.
For Loving-kindness moves us
Towards becoming One —
With thanks, she says:

"Let us not forget
The good that our friends have done,
And forgive strangers
For they know not what they do —
Remember: we all are One."

God is Both Creator and All Creation (Poem)

Without the transcendent One,
the immanent many would
not exist - for God is both
Creator and all Creation.

Nembutsu Meditations (poem)

Within my room, friendliness
towards my true self
results in serenity
of the heart-mind - Oh!
How precious is solitude!

Quiet and serene in the home,
happiness comes near
to celebrate the oneness
within the heart-mind,
a smile as its only trace.

Life is a celebration
precious and dear to all --
with yesterday's memories,
tomorrows awaits
as the Buddha calls us now.

No-thought, just breathing...
No-mind, no-self - only thanks
with sincerity.
Namu Amida Butsu!
Namu Amida Butsu!

Being, Emptiness and Oneness

Oneness encompasses everything, and transcends self and other.

Emptiness is a quality shared by everything, for all things, being impermanent, are empty of substance.

Beingness has to do with existence, in the here-and-now. Being impermanent, it too is empty of substance.

But what of nothingness (nihilism)? If one denies of the existence of nihilism, does that not confirm nothing exists? No, for that is a fallacy, as the denial of nihilism proves that everything exists due to dependent arising.

Thus, nothingness is a ridiculous delusion, much like the non-existence of self. All the concept of non-self demonstrates is that emptiness of self is an important truth of life.

Because everything exists due to dependent arising, all of this (being, emptiness and onesness) is in flux.

The One (poem)

All of us, as phantasms in a dream,
had best not awaken the Dreamer,
lest the light resulting help us see
we are each reflections of the One.

Sincere Gratitude (poem)

out of gratitude
i read your poem,
and look past regret
to see how grateful you are.

spiritual blindness
leads to death of spirit,
yet an oasis can
be found in the desert.

thank you for reminding me
to be grateful with sincerity,
even though we each worship
different gods, we are One.

this Oneness applies to all faiths,
for when two or more of us worship,
it is as though the gods protect us.
so thank you once again.

thank you for being just as you are.

Thoughts on Coherence Theory of Truth

Introduction

In this note, I define the individual concept of the whole truth, and distinguish between it and the most complete truth. Furthermore, the cosmos is defined as a unique coherent system, and the whole truth about the cosmos as consisting of the known and the unknown is a property of that system.

Then knowledge of the whole truth about the cosmos is defined in terms of comprehension level which is based on the individual capabilities. Finally I state that knowing our place in the cosmos is dependent on comprehension levels, and about what they know about themselves, the cosmos and their place in it.

This note is incomplete, so I apologize for any inconsistencies and lack of clarity in text.

Individual Concept of The Whole Truth

Each person is free to call what what they really know is "the whole truth". What they really mean is that what they really know is true to them.

This individual concept of the whole truth is also known as "truth as they know it", and specifically "the whole truth about themselves".

The Whole Truth as Property of the Cosmos

Since "the most complete truth is a property solely of a unique coherent system", the whole truth is actually the most complete truth. Within context of reality, the whole truth refers to "the whole truth about the cosmos". Thus, the unique coherent system is the cosmos.

If we consider what people really know about themselves and the universe to be the known, and what they don't really know to be the unknown, then the whole truth about the cosmos consists of the known and the unknown, which is a property of the cosmos. Both the known and unknown parts of the cosmos are interdependent on each other.

However, the most complete truth cannot be fully known by the average person; it can only be indirectly referred.

Knowing The Whole Truth Dependent on Level of Comprehension

When that truth which is indirectly referred is known by the average person, only parts of it may become knowable to them, according to their level of comprehension.

With a shallow level of comprehension, a person will only know a small part of the most complete truth. Most of what one knows of that truth is unknown.

Likewise, with a deeper level of comprehension, a person will know a larger part of that truth. Rare is a person with the deepest level of comprehension who knows the most complete truth.

For such comprehension depends on the capabilities of the person.

Coming to Know Our Place in the Cosmos

Depending on our level of comprehension, we may come to know our place in the cosmos. Hence, each person's concept of the whole truth may be limited to what they really know about themselves, the cosmos, and their place in the cosmos.

What we do know is that the cosmos is vast, while most of humanity is limited to one small part of the cosmos called Earth, or colloquially, the world.

For it is through our interactions with the world that we may get a sense of synchronicity, and perhaps briefly achieve a sense of oneness with the cosmos.


References:
Varieties of Coherence Theories: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherence_theory_of_truth#Varieties_of_coherence_theories

Coherentism: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coherentism

Theory of Justification: http://en.wikipedia.org
/wiki/Theory_of_justification#Theories_of_justification

Being at One with God

Being at one with God is the state of mind where one is at one with God.

Thus, this state of mind is recursive.

In this state of mind, one is happy and feels lovingkindness towards others, everyone, friend or foe. One is always at peace and uses non-violent confrontation in all social relationships.

One also feels that God is working through him or her. Forgiveness and thanksgiving is also on his or her mind.

Thus, an anti-abortion assassin of doctors is not at one with God, nor is a deranged person who claims to be moved by God, but displays behavior and actions which are unpeaceable and violent.

As well, this state of mind may be the closest a person comes to being sane, so much so that were he to reveal it to another person who is not at one with God, that person would think him a harmless nut.

Whatever method a person seeks to be at one with God, when it involves asceticism, intoxicants, or sex, the old adage "Less is more" should be the guide. Lost is she who, becoming intoxicated, loses that Oneness.

Thus, if a drug or ritual does not induce happiness, peace and lovingkindness in moderate amounts, then it will not help the seeker become at one with God.

Furthermore, moderation is always the key to achievement of that state of mind.

Thou and God art One

The only time Christianity has one bit of Buddhism in it is the minority view that God is in your heart, and if God is there, so too is Jesus. That a Christian can maintain this belief is proof of religious tolerance. Any Christian who claims God and Jesus exist apart from man is the closest one can get to idol worship. The belief that man and God are one is the most ancient of worship.

All is one

All is in One – One is in All.
All things are present in Oneness,
Oneness is present in all things.
My ego-ness is present in the Absolute,
The Absolute is present in my ego-ness.
All beings are present in the Buddha,
The Buddha is present in all beings.
Nirvana is present in samsara,
Samsara is present in Nirvana.
The cosmos is present in each separate thing,
Each separate thing is present in the cosmos.


Commentary:
All things in this universe are a dynamic part of the Absolute (Godhead).

All is one means Buddha Nature is in all things.

As an individual it means that I am not separate from the people I know, have known and will come to know, be it my parents, my brother and sister, my friends, and even complete strangers.

I owe my birth to my parents, how I conduct myself with others to them and my siblings, as well as my friends.

Thus we are all part of the Absolute. Indeed the Oneness is all, even for you and I.

A Deistic Critique of Eschatology

Eschatology is useful for the study of how human cultures have envisioned life after death.

When it involves judgment, eschatology violates the principle that only God may judge us.

Thus, depictions of heaven and hell are sacrilege used to control, influence and motivate people who may be led to believe their lives are more worth living when they follow the doctrines of cultures whose religions make strong use of such motifs.

If a person's life is worth more because the fear of hell and the desire for heaven after death motivates her to choose God, then such a person's motivation is based on spiritual ignorance about the purpose of heaven and hell.

However, if the fear of hell and desire for heaven leads her to become one with God, and let Him into her heart, so that she realizes how worthy to God she is from her birth until this moment in time, then her motivation is based on spiritual awareness.

The purpose of heaven and hell is to instruct us about how cultural beliefs about life after death reflect our fears about what we have done in life, and whether that would affect our spiritual life after death.

This forms much of what eschatology is.

How close a person has gotten to God that he knows Him to be in his heart, from birth to death, helps by using eschatology in a manner that respects God's role in life after death.

For eschatology only depicts the spiritual life after death, not the corporeal life before death.

If God created me from birth, and my soul, then the cruelties depicted in the various hells are sacrilege because I cannot see why God would require what he has made to be harmed repeatedly as punishment for not believing in Him.

Why should God harm a piece of Himself?

Likewise, if God should give me a new body and put me in a place where I live forever when originally I was a part of Him, I do not see why I must remain separate from Him when He is always as close to me as my heart.

Would it not just be easier for me to let my soul become one with God through meditation and be done with it?

Thus heaven and hell are merely states of mind created by careful examination of eschatological works of various religions.

They distract us from the spiritual truth that each of us is created by God, that the soul is "God in the heart", and that we return to God at death.

Think of God as the ocean. Each soul, a drop of water. Many drops become a trickle, a stream, a river. And to the ocean all rivers flow. Likewise, all life flows on that endless cycle of birth, living and death.

Are not then heaven and hell metaphors to describe that journey?

Perhaps each drop of water returning to the ocean is heaven. The mind boggles at the possibilities of ascribing different points of life's journey as hell.

In any case, eschatology only works in religions with a strong sense of good versus evil.

Yet it fails to work when the spiritual truth about man's existence and the soul as the creation of God is revealed.