Earlier writings from the Amitist blog.

November 30, 2008

The Beatitudes

Though raised a Christian, I am not a Christian theologian, so when I approach the Beatitudes found in the Bible, I do so very humbly. Go get your Bibles, and turn to the Gospel of Matthew 5:3-10.

My point is to shed some light on Amitism by showing what it shares with a more well-known religion many of you may participate in. Its been done many times by students of other religions, to show how their beliefs are shared with Christianity. Let me remind you, I am not interested in "converting" anyone to Amitism, but if you are interested in understanding it better, I hope this brief look at how Amitism is reflected in Jesus' sermon will help you.

What always fascinated me about the Beatitudes was each Beatitude seemed to be a contradiction. How can the poor is spirit obtain the kingdom of heaven? How can the meek inherit the earth? To get into the kingdom of heaven, must I be poor in spirit? To inherit the earth, must I do just the opposite and be meek? But remember that Jesus is not talking to one person, he is talking to a crowd and his group of disciples. Jesus is not telling a person how to act as a lone person, as one person seeking salvation, but how to act together. Jesus is talking about people in relationships, and in that context, there is no contradiction. It says the meek shall inherit the earth, not take the earth, or own the earth, or conquer the earth. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted, not that all will be better, or their misfortune be reversed by some miracle, but that they will be comforted. Look at the other Beatitudes this way, in that the needful condition in the first line invites compassion from another, so that the peacemaker will be called the children of God, the pure of heart will see God, those who are merciful will be given mercy. God has put us together in this training-ground for the compassionate. The needy are gifts from God to teach you, the one who has, how to give.

Have you ever been down, hurt, lost, and you had to reach out to another for help? I have, and I will be there again, inviting from another person real mercy and love and compassion. My emptiness can be filled, and in helping me, you are making yourself a better person too. You really help us both, and in that act of mercy you show to me, we both are blessed. The Beatitudes are about relationships, so go read the rest of that chapter in Matthew to see what else Jesus had to say about relationships.

October 7, 2008

Don't be afraid.

We are incredibly lucky and blessed to be living right now! I am well aware of the awful situation we find ourselves in our world, with financial disaster evolving, climate mayhem, political instability and paranoia, and natural disasters to boot, its all very frightening. But for a person learning and training in compassion, its also a great time to be alive in two important ways. For one, the instability and turmoil gives YOU the opportunity and environment to strengthen and temper your skills in compassion. Secondly, this deluge of disasters demands a change, and a response on the part of many people who, in quieter times, would never think about compassion. Tough times demand decisions and transformations to adapt to the changes in the environment, and people are going to have to decide if they want move forward or backwards. Do they want to give into the animalistic fears and react with warfare and walls, or do they want to react rationally with compassion, strength and vision?

On the television news, in the papers and magazines, on the internet, fear and distrust and disaster and calamity are presented as the inevitible, horrifying reality you live in. These media connections to the "world" are simply terrifying, anxiety inducing and too often present a picture of hopelessness. Do not let this fear get its hooks in you. Remember that the media's very existance depends on your fear. To keep you coming back for more (and to allow them to pay their salaries) it is necessary for you to not only want to know the news, you have to be afraid NOT to come back to their site. This doesn't mean that the news people are bad people, its just the very nature of their business. It is a business, built to take advantage of human nature and to make money from it.

But please know this, the terror they spew out and traffic in is not real. Yes, the events they report on have happened, even if not as sensationalist as they portray them, bad things do happen. Sometimes, in the whole world, lots of bad things happen at once. They always have and always probably will, that is the nature of our world. And yes, right now lots of turmoil and disaster reaches into our lives and can effect us in many ways. However, do this for me. Turn off the internet, the TV or put down the newspaper. Get yourself alone and quiet, and do a quick inventory of all the disasters effecting you right here and now. Notice that the real world, what is really there with you, where you really are here and now, is probably safe and secure. And despite all the troubles, the real effect of those tragedies on you, they will all happen in the here and now and will happen between you and another person. In the here and now, you have power. In the real world of right now, you have the ability to respond. What is really going to happen in your actual, factual, real world, is that you will be required (like you always are) to react personally to what is happening to you. Act with compassion, and just like always, your world, your real world right here where you are, will be a better place.

The news is for entertainment and education. But like a movie or a fiction book, it is not your real world. Do not make that mistake of fear, it is painful, it is a waste of time, and it is not real.

May 30, 2008

The Ego Mind's need for "the future"

The Eckard Tolle book "The Power of Now" really has been a blessing in exploring Amitism. Since reading it, and later his book "A New Earth" I have been practicing moving my attention to the present, to the here-and-now. In Amitism we say "God is here, God is Now", and it really does make a huge difference if you actually practice it instead of just think about it. I get thrilled when I read about the joyful experience of a compassionate relationship, but that pales in comparison to the direct experience of living it in the right now.

It appears that the future, that time yet to come when I gain insight, have read enough about enlightenment, have meditated enough, eaten enough fiber in my diet, voted for the right people, made the right number of donations, practiced enough... that future time when I will be whole and GOOD.... that future is a cruel lie. Its a lie because its just a ruse the worldly mind and ego give me to keep me from BEING, from relating and experiencing what is right here, right now. "The Future" is a mean trick your mind plays on you! Its that carrot on a stick that your mind holds out there to keep you from realizing you are chained up to a cart. It is keeping you enslaved and lost and wanting, and the beauty is, all you have to do..... is be here.

Your ego mind has its agenda, and the things it needs to sustain itself. The ego-mind is a development of the human animal that is very useful in planning and obtaining things for the individual organism. But Amitism reminds you that the animal being part of you is not the human-being part of you. A real relationship, a connecting, a reaching out and joining between two is more and different from the selfish agenda of the ego. Our planning, defining and quantifying ego can develop some "understanding" of relationships, it can keep scores and weigh the pros and cons and analyze that gift and that emotion, but a relationship exists and thrives beyond understanding. You know that is true, you have felt it, experienced it, even when you couldn't explain it. Your ego mind WANTS to explain it, needs to explain it, but to have a relationship, you don't HAVE to explain it. Thousands of poems, songs, paintings, movies and plays are based on the unquantifiable and mysterious thing we call love. That is because a relationship is MORE than what the ego can get its understanding around. Not that there is anything wrong with wanting to understand compassion and love, but it is not necessary and it too often is destructive to relationships.

While I like to keep in mind that a good and nurturing relationship can sometimes be more than my understanding mind can grasp, I also realize that the parts of my relationships I don't understand don't mean that they are loving and compassionate. Relationships should be compassionate and empowering. So don't let the ego mind put up selfish boundaries, or remove healthy limits in our relationships.

Bottom line is, the part of our selves that Amitism emphasizes is the relation part, its a part of your life that transcends and extends beyond the egoistic parts of your life, and reaches out beyong "you" to make you bigger, stronger and more capable in the here-and-now. God and God's manifestation in the ongoing Creation are immediate to you, are happening with you reading this right now, and are available and empowering every second of every day. God Here. God Now.

February 25, 2008

The Strength to Transcend

Eckart Tolle's book "The Power of Now" clobbered me. I have read dozens of books on mind training and spiritual topics and reading this book was an event. I usually have 2 or 3 books that I am reading, a few pages of this one and a few of that one, it can take me weeks or months to read one cover to cover. "The Power of Now" took a day or two, I read in it every available moment. Others have commented on the internet about how powerful it is. When you read it you will see how it fits in perfectly with Amitism. The mind-changing experience of the ideas Mr. Tolle presents stunned me. There is an effect it produces, if you accept his concepts of presence and ego-mind, where your ego strongly rejects acceptance of the ideas, so thinking about them and musing over them and integrating them into your worldview may take some time. I have found new ideas need to be left alone in my "mind" without me thinking about them or trying to make sense of them, before they will really be available to me for conjecture. So I have let it all stew in that crock-pot between my ears for about a week. I am now reading Tolle's "A New Earth" and working through the workbook for "The Power of Now".

I am not surprised that the online forum for the book on Oprah.com looks to be 2/3 about religious rejection of Tolle. Its not even about the ideas themselves, since the ideas do not reject or encourage rejection of any religion. His talk is about the mind, and our inner connection with Presence. But for many people, religion is more about attaching themselves to worldly objects and things, whether they are words in a book, words to say, a particular book, building, historical memory, or object like a rock, a wall or a piece of real estate. Mr. Tolle points out that those types of thoughts, identification with forms, is wrongheaded. Amitism says the same thing. I have found that good religious action is about loving and compassionate relationships. These relationships provide peaceful space for compassion, and are open to celebrating and enjoying God's creation in the present moment. God is found right here, right now. It is that direct experience of the ongoing creation that drew me to Amitism. Mr. Tolle's ideas and recommended practices are a wonderful and strengthening complement to the joyful practices of Amitism. Amitism isn't about the past or future, or about what is going on over there with them. Its about you and me right here and now, and about your relationship to God right here and now. As Mr. Tolle points out, the only reality is right here and now.

February 23, 2008

The Strength to Transcend

I thank you for reading this, I hope it is a benefit to you.

Strength is an essential component of Amitist practice. Our practice exists to lift us up, to change us, to nurture our own creation in this world and to do that requires strength. It would be easier to settle for the ego-driven, fearful and primitive nature of our human-animal selves, and to not reach toward a creative path in our lives. It takes little courage, little will and no dynamic resolve to accept our animal natures. That natural force of gravity is to stay down and dwell with the least common denominator, be content in our "human nature" that includes violence, fear, selfishness and ignorance. Though while there is no doubt an aspect of our human-animal nature that is ruled by beastly, fearful and hungry energies, the truly human part of our human nature is a creative and transcendent will. Enacting that will takes strength, because it pulls directly against the weight of our baser nature.

Let me add that there is nothing evil or bad about our primitive, ego-controlled, animal aspects, they really are natural. Likewise I don't think they should be portrayed as shameful, nor should the necessarily be repressed or covered over. Our animal natures are a real part of us, our egos and defensive sense of individuality are aspects of our humanness. The important part that Amitism stresses is that the hungry and worried animal is not the complete human being, the ego isn't the whole reality. The transcendent part of a person is equally valid, and amazingly noble in its courage and creativity. Strength is required to reach beyond.

So as an Amitist, I try to build up my strength. I work to strengthen my health, since I am not going to be much good in a relationship if I am worrying about my own infirmities. I want to be more able to respond to the challenges and confrontations I initiate in my life, to be more "response-able", and to do that I improve my strength. I exercise, eat right, and avoid bad health habits. I also work to improve my mind, by reading, listening, discussing and studying to sharpen my cognitive skills, and to increase my knowledge base. Again, I want to be able to respond to the needs and the challenges of my relationships with others, and I want to be able to direct my creative initiative in a knowledgeable way.

My interpersonal skills need strengthening too, so I learn to listen more, to communicate better. One area that I really need to work hard on is the ability to be quiet. I never seem to have trouble having something to say, but I need to know what NOT to say, and to be quiet and let the other folks in the situation express themselves. Along the same vein, I need to increase my ability to be wrong, to accept I may not always have the truth in my grasp. It requires courage and will to be able to hold fast or even step back, if that action will nurture the initiative and empowerment of another.

In whatever parts of my life where I am going to be interacting with others, wherever my will and initiative is creating something in this world, I need to strengthen my powers and skills. Its better for them, its better for me, and it shows a respect and a love for God's ongoing creation, to make it important enough that I fight a creative fight on behalf of this world. This life, this wonderful life and all the relationships in it, are worth the effort to apply all the strength I can give to them.

But one more little thing about strength.... I don't go full-bore fanatical strengthening every aspect of my life 24/7. I need a lot of work, and a lot of strengthening. But like other things, I have to have the strength to be patient, and to reach and stretch and improve, but not to over-reach and lose my connection of why I am strengthening myself in the first place. The strength, the vision for life, and the compassion, are all about living a full and wonderful life through strong, nurturing and fulfilling relationships.

February 9, 2008

This is personal. Its not about them.

I thank you for reading this, I hope it is a benefit to you.

One of my children asked me the other day, after hearing one of my political opinions, "Is that what Amitism says?" I think she was rightly trying to chastise me for my less than loving political solution to some of America's problems, and I deserved her harsh critique. But I didn't answer her question, because "Amitism" has no opinions or policies or official stand on political issues. Amitism isn't about politics, governments, movements, polls, societies, parties or organizations. Amitism is about you and me. Its about you and one other real person, in one-to-one relating. No more than you'd use a microscope to describe and study far away galaxies would you frame a political issue in the language of Amitism. Its that simple. Its that difficult to grasp.

My family and friends are a little incredulous that I am not marketing this blog and website more. In this great information age, you have to scream to be heard. They think that because I don't push it, don't advertise it on a billboard on the highway, don't prosthelytize on chat rooms, that I am either ashamed of my beliefs, or lazy in my approach. But those are not the reasons (though the laziness thing is argueable), and I will share with you why I have put together a website, practice this religion, blog on it, and don't put on some show to spread the word.

Well for one thing, unlike many other religions, there is no call to market it, they is no heavenly reward for evangelizing. Also, Amitism is a gift you give another person, it is not a marketing project. Amitism isn't a societal movement, a public display or announcement. It is something you share with someone, not something you share with "them". Its a personal, relationship thing. If you think Amitism would be a help and a nurturing part of another person's life, then I invite you to share it, friend to friend. Otherwise, don't even mention it. Thirdly, its MY personal belief, not necessarily an Amitism thing, that your own spiritual needs led you to this webpage, that God has guided you all your life, guides you now, will guide you in your efforts to build a closer relationship with the Creator. I have faith that each person who needs Amitism, who will be blessed by it, can find it without me buying a Superbowl ad or showing up in some mass-mailing. I have done what I felt was right, I trust that if its to be a blessing, and has some larger future, then God will make it happen. This practice was give to me, I am giving it to you.

Now I may do more in the future, or do thing differently. But I pray I do it humbly and continue to practice this Amistist faith face-to-face, heart-to-heart, compassionately. Amitism is a new and weird thing to me, its not like anything I ever knew as a religion, as a lifestyle, as a belief. Its a revolution in me. If you need a revolution in you, if you want the be the revolution you wish to see in the world, I offer it to you and I hope I hear from you. I think if I had the chance to talk it up in front of an audience, or advertise it in some way, I probably would because I think it could be a help to someone. But I am not going to let that desire and ambition overshadow the real, defining and essential relationships in my life, and I am not going to let Amitism become about me. Its not about me, its not about "them", its about compassionate, nurturing relations. No matter how big or little Amitism ever becomes, its is always about one-with-one. Thats because that is what a human being is about, that is what living is for, because that is what is real.

January 28, 2008

The Real World?

I was watching the dystopian action-movie "The Matrix" the other night and the premise was that we are living an illusion, our whole world and all the things we value are just mental constructs. The real world, in this movie, was a horrifying place, a prison, a tortured, vile existence, and waking up from the illusion we would have to face the terrible reality.

There is a lot of religious teaching that says our reality, the real world we are in, is a temporary land of woe and misery. The religious message is different from the dystopia film, but just as frightening since we still find ourselves in a world of confusion, pain and frustration. Many religions want to teach us how to reject and work through this torture, and some day transcend the misery. We have to get over this world, for its a world of pain, its a world we are just passing through and have to get behind us.

But what if there is a third possibility, a different reality than these two views provide us?

What if this world is the absolute PERFECT world for us to be in? What if we chose to come to this world, to come here and be alive and experience every facet of this fantastic universe because this is the best place to be?

That's right, we are in the right place. We are exactly where we need to be, and this world is perfect for us. That's because the real life, the real meaning, the real purpose of living is to relate to all the other hungry, frightened, searching souls who chose to come here to be with us. The reason we know need is to reach out and ask for help. The reason we have abundance is to lovingly help another person. Compassion is the language of all sentient life in this world, and its the central reason for us in this world.

The meaning of life is not material wealth, its not mansions, its not perfect bodies or perfect governments or any of the limited things some religions want you to aspire to. All those things that the materialist god is supposed to give you are limited things, failing things, things that either decompose before you, or are valueless if they are unlimited or eternal. What good are those things?

The real things are your relationships with other people, with life, with God. Those are the things that give all the other stuff value, and those are the things this world is absolutely designed to nurture.

Wake up. Throw off your chains. Reject those lies. You are here because this is the place where humans learn to be better humans. This is exactly where you need to be.

December 27, 2007

What if I am wrong?

In my mind I believe that the things I have to say on this blog, or on the website in general, or in conversation with others, are valid and correct. I think I have a firm grasp on these subjects, am well educated and rational in my understanding. I think I am right. I may be wrong. I may be incorrect.

I believe, and I structure my universe in my mind, in the idea that we live forever, and reincarnate over and over. I believe we are here in this world to learn to live together in compassion and joy. I believe that over the lifetimes, we all get to experience everything, and we do that to learn all the ways and reasons and methods of caring and interacting together. That's what I believe is real, that is how I think it all works. Yet I may be wrong. I might possibly be misunderstanding how things work.

I am convinced that a person needs to prioritize their actions so that they take most care of their interpersonal relationships first, before they worry about world politics or great social or cultural issues of the time. Individuals should judge their success according to how well they do one-on-one, before they look to measure their worth beside someone across town or across the world. I know politics and social news is important, but its not nearly as important as how you treat your family, friends, and co-workers who are really right there with you. Real, one-on-one relationships are the source of happiness and fulfillment of a person. But I may be deluding myself. I might be wrong.

Yes, I am just full of great ideas and important thoughts, but any of them could be wrong. That is why I choose to approach any situation I can with non-violence. Because I could be wrong, I cannot take the chance of harming others with my stupidity. In the search for what is true, we should first reject violence as an option. This works on an individual organism level, on the level of interaction, and on the world level. The removal of the threat of violence is the only way honesty and responsibility can exist, and its a precondition to finding truth. The use of violence, or the threat of violence, is the result of arrogance and irresponsibility. It occurs because the violent person believes they are infallible, and have run out of ways to respond to the struggle.

Here's to hoping you and I and everyone else on the planet makes a strong effort to keep violence out of our relationships. There is a lot of good to be done, and you are just the one to do it.

December 11, 2007

How we accept a religion.

I have not read any of the books on the biological or cultural predisposition of humans to religion, but I have read a few books by frustrated atheists eager to make their points. If you are reading this, I don't have to tell you the importance of religion to many people, nor do I need to point out the significance it has had on our world's history. For whatever reason, religion is important for human beings, and its probably important for you.

For the psychological or spiritual reasons you want to assign to it, I have a strong need to understand my own religious beliefs. Because religion is important, for most people it is essential that their religion be stabilizing and sure. Because we know that sharing a religion with others is reassuring, and we believe that if thousands of others believe it, it MUST be true and sure, then what in the world would drive a relatively sane person to adopt a new religion that offered NONE of those reassurances? I have no desire to cast any doubt, nor second-guess the religious views of others, but because I did change my religion, I need to explain it to myself, and if you are at this Amitist web site, you perhaps would benefit from some understanding of it as well. I may be wrong, I may be completely WRONG in my thinking and beliefs, but I take full responsibility for my decisions, and came to them for many very good reasons.

I am no theologian nor a Biblical scholar. What I am though is someone who does desire the stabilizing strength of my religion, and to be a firm foundation upon which I can balance my life, my religion must be true and good. Christianity can be true and good, and that is the part I embraced. The Bible is full of goodness and truth, and it is a holy book that has been the fulfillment of multitudes. But it also contains many disturbing things, contradictory things, and it requires the Christian to overlook them with a big dose of Faith. Likewise, many religious icons and sites and leaders have provided salvation and hope for millions, but again they have lead also to many awful things, and we can ONLY rationalize them by saying that God's will is beyond our understanding.

Well, if they ARE in some ways beyond us (and I think they are in some ways beyond us, of course), or demand blind Faith, then how can I not write off the parts I think I do understand as equally wrong and errant and beyond my understanding? Is it fair to only accept those parts I approve of? More than fair, is it even rational? Or are we to decide what in the Good Book we can accept by measuring it against our own moral standard? If we want to bring our own moral reasoning in, then what of Faith and what lies beyond our understanding? Are we incapable of grasping God's will because its too beyond us (as evidenced by the contradictory and morally incomprehensible text sometimes found in the holy book) and should NEVER question? Or do we question and depend on our minds for answers? Or do we choose and third middle way, accepting what we like and rejecting what we don't comprehend? You must choose ONE of these paths, they cover the full range of options and are mutually exclusive.

Well we can't choose the path of pure faith because, as we have seen. if we don't have a clue, or in this case reject any of our rational clues, then we don't know which contradictory rule to obey because they are all beyond us. We can't make decisions, because that is against faith, but which way can we turn? Since we cannot be sure, we must be totally submissive to those who do. I could not accept this.

Likewise I can't deal with a totally rational and selfmade morality, its not big enough for "more than me". Besides, one who is eternally vigilant in rationally reaching a moral decision on each action would never get much done and would be crippled from a human life.

The only way is to choose the third path, of holding on to a faith in the moral good of our being, and making decisions based on this moral compass. In reality, that is what we ALL do anyway. The danger to that action comes in when you rely on a holy book or holy people or holy objects for your moral compass. They all eventually demand you abandon your moral decision making and implore you to act in contradiction to it. That is why I became an Amitst.

I had to have a a religion that was predictably good and true, and my own weaknesses meant that I had to leave behind books, buildings, land, icons, and men who could appeal to those weaknesses. Most people can live holding to the wonderful good they find in their religion, and I think that is fantastic and should be encouraged. For myself though, I am very happy with finding Amitism, and in having faith in God's creation where we explore our humanness and our godliness in compassionate relationships.

December 1, 2007

A new religion and new eyes.

What an incredible, daily difference things are for me since I started looking at the world as an Amitian. Maybe it just took me longer to realize my current perspective, you may have been living this way for a while. But I used to value my religious, personal life by the standard of what I was doing for the world, and how my actions made the world a better place. It was a losing battle of course, my actions make little no difference in the whole wide world, I can't cure hunger or Aids or war. So I thought, as long as I cared about those things, maybe gave to charities, prayed to God to fix those worldly problems, voted for the best political candidate, that would make me a better person.

But eventually I realized that despite the importance of those things, they were not how I should define myself. My most pertinent definition of myself anyway was one of husband, father, child, co-worker, friend. And really, all those other things really came back to reflect on those few, real, close relationships. And what of my relationship to God? Was a good Christian because I cared about the world, worried about the whole planet, and then defined my level of religiosity by my approach and relationship to those big pictures? No, I was a good Christian to the extent I showed love and compassion to one other human being. God created me as one man to reach out to another.

So now I feel much better about myself, and gain strength and joy from my relationships with other individuals, because that is what being a human being is all about. That is what truly defines a "human being", her or his ability to compassionately reach out and share with another. Now, as an Amitian I go to be with another, and look forward to interaction with another, where in the past that might have seemed like a distraction from the big picture and the important worldly things I should be doing. It makes religion a joy.