Life is NOT about ....

Some know what LIFE is about. Many think they know. As for me - Life is NOT :

*A Business,

*A Job

*A contest

*A race

*A trial 

*A task with compulsory modules 

*About getting even

In plain speak the precious commodity given to each of us … LIFE, is an opportunity, a one time offer with an expiry date, to experience what it is to be a human person!

Living is not about getting somewhere before others do as in a race or contest. Eg. If one's friend has 3 sons who are world renowned physicians, should one feel any less if the only daughter one has is happily working at mothering one's grandchildren? Or should one feel lousy if one has to yet have a child?

It is NOT a business where the beautiful experiences to be had only once during one's prescribed years are abandoned in the pursuits of profits! There are no balance sheets to add up at the end of days; living is not to acquire gains & stave off losses. Even if one should amass an impossible amount of earthly riches, the question that one should next be able to answer should be "What do I actually own"?

Life isn't about how fast, how high or how strong one is.

It is not a performance sport for entertaining others or affirming personal prowess.

It is not about who gets more of whatever or who gets to wherever first.

There are no tests to pass - (contrary to religious beliefs) No one does better or worse in life.

It is not a journey where the destination has to be arrived at in the shortest possible time, with the most possessions before everyone else; especially those one feels are the competition.

Life is about all those happenings also know as experiences, that are going to take place from the first instance one becomes sentient; till the day the 'offer' reaches expiry date.

The experiences one endure, the emotions, the agonies, the ecstasies, the passions that incinerate, consume the soul, that elevate the spirit above that of the animal. It is about the sensations; sensual, spiritual and intellectual that envelop and immerse one as one lives life.

It would be a fruitless, wasteful, ineffective spilling of the precious cup of life if one were to use up the the years given, fulfilling mainly carnal purposes, intent on achieving  what one thinks is successful living.

More wasteful and 'criminal' if the life one lived destroyed more than built, hurt more than healed, inflicted more anger then peace. If one lived indulging all urges (mayhem & anarchy) to the detriment of everyone else; that might not be 'wrong' (right & wrong being subjective); but one would have wasted a precious commodity.

Has one in spending of the privileged years allotted brought about anything 'good', 'worthwhile','true', beautiful', 'noble', 'right', 'honest', 'admirable'?

Or did one do everything with every fiber of one's gifts & abilities, to affirm one's 'ego', to ensure one's transient presence in this life was etched indelibly onto some self satisfying template? Or was one's existence all about fulfilling/achieving a list of immature glamor seeking goals, destinations or tasks? 

Most definitely Life is not about GETTING EVEN, apportioning Blame, recriminating missed opportunities.

SH*T is it so hard to live right?

Pearls before swines..

No one of correct mind with proper consideration, respect, etiquette, & decorum dresses like a whore (unless IS one) in a place of worship, though many do; perhaps perceiving it to be fashionable, glamorous, liberal broad-mindedness.At a private orgy it is 'correct & respectful' to other orgy participants to dress like a whore and no one with proper consideration, respect, etiquette, & decorum  would dress like a religious person at an orgy. Notice absence of "correct mind" If one wishes to affirm one's superiority of; acute intellect, vastness of knowledge, holy spirituality, strength, openness of attitude, infinite experience in life (at 35 or 53, or even 99), been-there–done-that-ness in every human, cultural, historical, visual, geographical  and whatever qualities one imagines one possesses; which one feels would benefit others, it is best if one does that through a platform or avenue where one is 'invited/welcomed' or appropriate. Try preach the Gospel @ a sex Orgy uninvited!Or go to Church and display extreme sexual licence without imprimatur!Sufficient unto the sittuation the evil thereof.Similarly, & as relevant sufficient unto the situation the Good thereof.Evil as Good, are counter beneficial when imbibed/consumed to excess.Heroin as with other mood altering chemicals used with prudence, proper considerations, understanding & intent has great "good'The same substance is abused when used otherwise. We are neither saints (always DEAD people) nor devils (mostly alive)BUT neither excesses Evil Good is appropriately beneficial in all and every situation.In a war or combative enviro, aggression tinged with some evil is appropriate as intent is destruction of the other. God decrees we battle Satan - to covert Satan into Love ? No! To Destroy Evil.  It is not called a bad name i.e not an act of Evil. Thus which side you come from would determine your intention  - Good Evil. Besides Satan (Evil) is not an Entity outside of human's biological, mental, physical, spiritual, intellectual 'body'. More on that ...

In an atmosphere of harmonious peace-filled reaffirmation of human good - Evil has to be subdued, suppressed & disallowed to rear its head.

When one casts pearls before 'swines', 'swines' know better cos one's 'pearls' may be just a load of complete BS. Similarly a swine sitting in the Universal Library of Complete Knowledge is as stupid/uninformed as it would be in the sty, i.e. in the Knowledge contained therein.A wise man(wisdom Hahaha )would be just as stupid/uninformed as to the Knowledge housed in the Universal Library of Complete Porcine Knowledge.

Cast not any pearls to Swines or Men (both pronouns getting scaringly synonymous) Shove them all down one's throat & eat one's pearls by oneself; by example, conduct, utterances, intentions, one's pearls might bear fruit. God Willing.It might just reappear @ one's other end, as so much BS (the possibilities are infinite :)

ONLY to His Glory.

It's your call .....

   


    Belief in a CREATOR called God in the English language is an individual undertaking, a personal commitment to an ideal/concept of a divine supernatural MAKER.
Belonging to a religious group be it Catholic, Protestant, Bahai, Islam, (even a cult group) only provides opportunity for spiritually like-minded believers to worship, pay homage, & express devotions of love &  other divine inspired emotions of holiness as a cohesive group.
     A believer  is at complete liberty to pay homage or worship the CREATOR any time, place or with whomever, as long as the motivation is homage to & acknowledgement of the SUPREMACY of the MAKER.
Religious organizations not withstanding however, whenever, or by whomever's authority established, & supposedly representing a divine God; has zero personal relevance to any individual believer of the Creator, in the paying of homage, love, devotion, submission to Him unless one choses to allow it that privilege. Thus unless one  choses to belong to & adhere to an organisation administered and  functionalized by other humans claiming to be somehow knowledgeable of what our Maker wishes that we should conduct our entire living experience, then it should be perfectly permissible for one to pay homage to Him in one's respective duly respectful way.  And most certainly if one's innermost intent is to do entirely only that - pay Him homage, acknowledge His supremacy  as well as our entire dependance on Him, bringing glory & honor to His name by our live, would an omnipotent Creator be displeased?
     Many individuals both past & contemporary, who though not affiliated spiritually to any organized religious groups, through their acts of (the universally accepted understanding of) good, put many of organized religious groups' combined (claimed) acts of glorious 'achievements'  to the uttermost insignificance, in as far as values of holiness, charity, generosity, as well as love, & sacrifice for God & man are concerned.
    Thus if one decides to stand by oneself, or as a group; outside of the known human 'CHURCH' (as now understood by believers)YET holding steadfastly in every way humanly possible with one's understanding of GOD's Will for one; would one be denied Kingdom when He comes into His Glory? 
    He came that the blind have sight. Yet how many are yet still blind?? Or do some not wish to be awake since basking in the (seeming) warmth of the Church's 'benevolence', has lulled us into spiritual stupor? Have we become unable to exercise any discernment, like lost sheep, losing even the little god-given clarity of thought when matters pertaining to correctness of Church affairs/conduct, are subconsciously given blanket 'imprimatur' !


Yes give to Caesar what is rightfully Caesar's & to God what is God's.
Most certainly we cannot give to Caesar what rightfully should only be for God?

Each one of us has to thus make up our own mind (& heart & spirit) to whose authority shall we bow!
Or should one just take the easy way & follow the path of least resistance & most fashionable?
Be an atheist ?


Oh well.....

Confucius says...

Confucius the veritable sage.

"Until a man lies in his coffin & the final nail is in, no one can be called good or evil"                         

The depth of Evil & Perversity a man can descend to, is as deep & dark, as the Fire of his Love & intensity of his Sacrifice is glorious & inspiring. Both being expressions of similar overpowering passions - only diametrically directed.

One is thus as capable of supreme sacrifice & limitless love as is one of depraved perversion & dastardly acts of supreme Evil. 

No one other than creatures (or beings) of non-human origin would be ordained with  complete purity (or total pervasion).

Man is inherently possessed of a dual nature of good & evil. 

Whichever passion predominates in one's conscious and subconscious psyche,  would determine if darkness or glory is manifested through one's acts whilst alive.

Thus till the day a person is completely disabled (as in death); no one should be predetermined as completely good or totally evil. As a man is capable of extreme evil, equally capable is he of attaining unimaginable heights of glorious nobleness.

Thus it would be prudent that one refrain from pre-concluding on any living person's status - if he be good or evil. That advice from the Chinese wise man Confucius, often quoted when wisdom is referenced.

Thus is not Judgement rightly reserved for the Creator, since one's integrity or infamy could only be determined posthumously?

To live or actuate an agenda which is counter to or entirely different as professed to be is called lying. How many of us are guilty of such?

It is not of much consequence if we only are ordinary men & women, where even if we have evil agendas we end up doing the devil's work, ultimately harming only ourselves.

If one were however in a position whereby one's conduct, acts, and speech would influence, incite, motivate, encourage others who look to one as a leader, a shepherd, a parent, a teacher; & if one were then to adopt & propagate agendas contrary to what one has sworn to uphold i.e. values of benevolence, honesty, fairness & of universally accepted truths; would it not then be fair to say one is acting evilly? 

And even before one is disabled permanently by Death is it not fair then to call one EVIL?

Be wise thus when deciding whose ideals one imitates

Peter Pan will grow up...

From the time of childhood when drifting through the ocean of life, like the vulnerably exposed and unprotected larva of the crab, the need was only to live simply, to find a measure of "happiness", holding onto a sense of purpose that meets simple goals. 

      As childhood innocence gradually gave way to "adulthood"  - Avarice, 

Selfishness, Envy, Competitiveness, Greed, Pride, etc., etc. … & the 7 (& more than) deadly sins deemed crucial ingredients for a "successful"  life became unthinking reflex actions. 

That - is "growing" ? ...

Or the acquiring of a harder, nastier, pricklier, crabbier external shell?

                   Simple goals for living a simple life are all abandoned & forsaken.

Generation after generation, the transformation of childlike innocents  into  grabby self-centered asses imbued with distinctive traits so recognizable, so despicable in almost  all grown ups in most major cities, sadly but surely & un-relentlessly continues.

If every child were able to retain that innocence; that wonderment at life, that generous charity & acceptance of others' differences & shortcomings, that naivete towards other beings; right onto adulthood & beyond; what glory would our world not be filled with  ?

Unfortunately most of us are so unable to hang on to that childlikeness. The god-given qualities critically central to securing a simple, yet rich; uncluttered, happy life, are compromised & traded off so quickly.
In their place - meaningless peer status, delusionary grandeur, all cheap, transient, trivial treasures are claimed and held as crucial to success.
All values which would ensure happiness, heaven on earth are discarded, thrown away to acquire fleeting satisfaction & gratification like everyone else; living a successful life …. (a very short temporary life of seeming opulence).

Sadly, being fallen in nature very few "children" are able to withstand predatory instincts that turn them into "adults". 

Thus would  His call to "Let the little children come unto me ...." find any?

Needle in the Haystack...

                 Countless people visit the Great Wonders of the world;  the Great wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, Niagara falls, among many. 

After having  been to & seen first hand, these wonders it does make one wonder if these Wonders are so wonderful anymore.

Familiarity does breed (maybe not) contempt, but a loss of the feeling of "overwhelmingness" a diluting of the "awesomeness" a "waking up to reality" that the WONDER was just another "thing"

If one knows who, what, how, when,  and every in-&-out of a friend, or someone revered as iconic idols, pretty soon that personality becomes no more a "Wonder", but a mundane (perhaps), uninteresting, 'un-awesome', not at all overwhelming persona. He becomes like an everyday 'thing", our car or that familiar item we use, see, touch, interface with - our battered soon to be upgraded PC or Mac or mobile phone?

One may develop an intimacy with the Maker - as some have been able to attain, (AND many maintain living in the same tent with Him or has His personal home #).  

              God is never & not meant to be understood, explained, put under the Scanning Electron Microscope. 

He definitely is not in the same league or the same crew & is not one of us. Not just because of our defilement or spiritual impurity. Neither is He an artifact, a concept any human person can comprehend or figure out. If He were would it not make Him similarly perceived as those so-called Wonders of our earthly world which had lost their luster ?(perhaps not on the first visit)
He definitely is not a "wonder " or a "thing" of the human world!

That though does not detract from our choice of turning to Him for spiritual sustenance, strength, consolation, inspiration, love; or for a greater, more meaningful purpose in life than plain existence as any other creature/organism.

If one's god is a sub-way ride away, a call away, on a block downtown; he would not be the God one should pay homage to.

If one has a god with whom one finds happiness & fulfillment only when in feel good moments, perhaps that god isn't what one should "go for"?

If our god is only for the asking and granting of needs we humans can't obtain, then again a re-look is necessary.

         
                  He so loved the world He made (& seemingly lost) that He went to great lengths to re-associate with us.
Why then can't we ever find Him, or experience, make contact with Him & have Him as our personal god in the context of a feeling, palpable, personality with whom REAL life experiences can be shared & lived!!?? 

His inaccessibility, non-tangibility, remoteness, & seeming "non-existence" is:

                  *Not because He is invisible.

                  *Not because He has no form (as we understand form to be)

                  *Not because He is unapproachably Pure & Spotless

                  *Not because His time is not yet

                  *Not because it would destroy us physically...

It possibly could be because we are looking for the NEEDLE  in a haystack... when the needle is the haystack.

Perhaps the oft repeated perception of Him being everywhere gains clarity & relevance...?

HE is already here, with us, in us.

Live & die TWICE ...

      

Just like little kids in the play yard, some grown men (who should know better) in their vain attempts to raise their self esteem & sense of pomposity in the eyes of those who do not know better, act like the fast guns in westerns we know so well, shooting down the fastest gun alive so to establish themselves as the fastest & greatest.
With minds filled with the same warped psychology as that of political assassins throughout the ages, who bring down icons, leaders of societies or nations in order to establish themselves as greats in the halls of infamy they go round tearing down established icons of human greats.
 

Which icon among human perception is the greatest if not GOD himself?
 

Thus a host of (so-called) intellectual, philosophical, analytical thinkers;  using their understanding of logical reasoning powers supposedly centered on Socratic evidence based scientific deductions conclude and proclaim as "ridiculous and unproven gibberish & superstition" the faith many have in GOD.  
What greater infamy than to tear down  an ICON so great as that of GOD himself. 

How much esteem would that not bring one!

However if one were to slow down a little to realize the insignificance of oneself when held up against the vastness of even just the known universe, would not one quiver when held up in comparison against the yet unknown, yet immeasurable greatness of the Maker of all that is seen and unseen ?
Would not any logically intelligent mind (imbued with or without scientifically tuned Socratic analytical abilities) be of the opinion that it is NOT important whether we the insignificant creatures known as human beings believe in the Maker God; RATHER whether the Maker gives a hoot at all about us ?!

Thus the story ends here; not in some grandiose verbose loaded pseudo scientific philosophical ranting to huge audiences & pod/broadcasted to every known electronic receptors, filling libraries of denouncements about the non-existence or the un-provenness of GOD. Nothing ever is decided or ever concluded at these displays of semantic prowess and exercises in intellectual arrogance. HUMILITY is never acquired, it has to be administered via a hard fall.

Living only once is insufficient for some - these should die twice… once in ignorant arrogance and then again in utter humility.

Please never grow old...

The confusion, dissension & debate about "unbelief", "disbelief" or "non-belief" is not about God.

Neither is it about the existence or not of God.

Not also if He can or cannot be proven.

It is not about lack of faith or the need for God.

Nor is it whether God is relevant in daily living.




It all came to pass (how biblical that phrase) because those entrusted with initiating, fostering, encouraging, making relevant & effective as well as edifying & strengthening, belief in God (ORGANIZED RELIGIONS & their minions i.e. pastors, priests & religious), messed up BIG TIME … giving God a "dirty image", in the eyes of ordinary folks who desperately want to trust in & believe a good benevolent God.




It does not help too with the many so-called highly educated (by human standards only) great & sundry, fringe philosophers espousing the folly of inflicting an unproven, false, illogical, unreliable personal faith in Religion.




It would be enlightening if these so called logical analytical great minds who are so well equipped with their elusive mysterious gifts of fathoming everything with no help from anyone other than their own abilities; could truthfully answer this question:

"If a loved one eg. a child of one of these gifted philosophers is dying very soon, of an unknown cause which no one in this world or any where else has the ability or technology or means to prevent, who would he call to for help, consolation or solace? Socrates? Einstein? Richard Dawkins? Some other philosophers or would he use his superior analytical mental abilities to work out an answer"?




Would appreciate if answers can be forthcoming as a truthful answer might help many in their direction in life.




There are many who do not ever imagine the day will come when they will grow old weak, senile & lose their many superior (so they imagine) abilities of body & mind.

If all they rely on is in the abilities of mind and body whilst in the spirit department they have set little store…their "awakening" in their twilight years is not going to be 'luminous' or 'illustrious' it would probably be 'disastrous'!

Good luck in their human pursuit of spiritual arrogance, independence & superior analytical thought processes.