I’d like to discuss the streams a little more, Les….
That’s good because I’d like you to, also. It seems like those rivers were a metaphor for the values we spoke of and so are rather like the values which various religions promote.
So that brought me to want to get a lot clearer in my head about the role and value of all those religions…..
For most people their religion is the ‘ready-made’ package of values that can guide their behaviour in life.
You say “can guide……”?
I say “can” because these days the values and behaviours promoted by many religions gets put in the “options” box for many people.
So do you believe they should be in the “Must Obey” box instead?
Not at all….those codes of conduct were developed – sometimes over many centuries – and by many people.
The were changed, refined, adapted and configured according to the needs of their followers.
Can you give me a couple of examples?
Easily. In ancient Judaism you could be killed by stoning, strangulation, burning or beheading simply for blasphemy, kidnapping or even just abusing a parent. That was their religious law. For the past 60 years the death penalty has been banned in that Jewish country. The code of conduct has changed considerably.
And to think I was Jewish in a past life…..
Well, probably not a long past life by their old standards!
Another example would be Hindu laws that were stretched to allow a man to freely purchase and sell people as slaves.
One Sikh owned over 500 slaves. And Moslem slave-owners could enjoy sex with any slave girl, free of any restraint or obligation. Once again, the codes of conduct have changed very considerably.
A third example could be Christian. The Catholic church banned the owning or reading of the Bible by anyone other than a priest (and then, only in latin) for over 1,500 years.
Bibles in any other language had to be burned.
William Tyndale, 500 years ago translated the Bible into
English…..and was strangled and burned at the stake for it!
Ordinary people were declared ‘heretics’ and killed for simply reading the Bible in their own language…Yet, today the Bible has been translated into over 700 languages.
So most religions have nothing to do with the meaning of life, the afterlife or anything in between….
No, no, Les! They have everything to do with it….
They just share it from their particular perspective.
And that changes all the time…..
Yes! And that is why I told you that every river is different in endless ways! No one particular river is ‘right’ or ‘correct’…..they are each simply different channels for sharing the Oneness…
So I can pick which one best suits me for the moment…..?
No, no! You choose the one that resonates in your heart!
And if none do?
Follow your heart…….create your own religion!
I don’t mind! I don’t want anyone to follow any code of behaviour or belief mindlessly. Or just because lots of other people do. Or because an older or titled person says it’s the right thing to do. Or because its book of beliefs has been around since the year Dot……..
I read once that there are over 30,000 different versions of religion.
Be authentic! Make it 30,001…..but ensure that the beliefs of Version Number 30,001 truly reflect your deepest understandings regarding life, consciousness, Spirit and the pursuit of Oneness through Love, Compassion, Peace, Wisdom, Joy, Abundance and Fearless Existence…..
And if no-one joins me….?.
Who cares, Les? I don’t! And you shouldn’t either.
I just want you to come from your innermost Heart.
From the Love I placed there.
From the Spirit of Life I breathed into you aeons ago…..
Let that be your religion!!
To be continued……
Namaste!
Les