Perceptions of God

by White Feather


I prefer the term All That Is, but I'll stick with God for now. To me, God is the source of all the unconditional love, joy, and beauty that created this, and other, realities. We were created--or sourced--from this unconditional energy called God, so therefore we are all part of that God. When we place God outside of ourselves then we are denying our own divinity and cutting ourselves off from that source of unconditional energy.

God is ONEness. Gender is a function of duality, so to assign gender to God is to deny the Godness of God. I just can't buy the Christian concept of God as an aging white guy with a long flowing beard who sits on a throne on some cloud looking down at us ready to send a thunderbolt down at anyONE who does something naughty. That kind of a God is one of fear; one used by some to control others. God is not about fear or judgment or wrath. These are human attributes.

God is unconditional. God is pure love. God is what we were before we split ourselves up into a whole bunch of people. God is the source of our life and our power, and to put God outside of ourselves is to cut ourselves off from that life and power and love. God is within each and every ONE of us. We cannot know what God is until we realize and reclaim our own divinity. That is where God is, and God is also in everything else: All That Is. The prevailing concepts of God are concepts of separation. God is out there, and we are here. If God is All That Is then God is everywhere, not just out there. There is no separation. This notion of separation is what cut us off from God. When these psychological veils of separation dissipate, then we can see that God is All That Is, and we can then realize our own divinity.

All the images we hold of God are really self-images. We are the ones that are judgmental and vengeful and angry (and male oriented). We are God. We volunteered to undergo the separation so that we could go through an individuation process, creating many Gods out of ONE. Until we discover the God within us, God will always be a concept of separation.

Yes, God just is. ( All That Is) The words, I AM are extremely powerful words, for they are a proclamation of one's divinity, which is a valuable step in realizing that divinity. God is everywhere: In a rock, in a flower, in the animals, in our computers, in the sky, in the oceans, in our nuclear warheads, in our automobiles, in the food we eat, in the air we breathe, and yes, in the mirror. If we can't see God in the mirror, then we can't really see God, so we create a God "out there" to lord over us as some supreme authority, and we then give that image of God all the human attributes that we do see in the mirror. We can't see a God of unconditional love until we see the unconditional love in the mirror.


* * * * *


If you put God in the middle of a large open field and then placed one thousand people in a huge circle around God, looking in at God, and if you were to ask each of those one thousand people what their perception of God was, you would get one thousand different answers; one thousand different perceptions. And each and every one of them would be valid. Yes, we do create our own realities, and we create them through our perceptions. However we perceive God, so God is to us, and that is our truth, and it is as valid as anyONE's else's perception. The reality we perceive is the reality we have created and the reality we have created is the one we experience.

The reality of a vengeful God with a long white beard sitting on a throne on a cloud is as valid and real to the one who believes it as the God who is loving and peaceful and omnipresent and unconditionally loving is to the one who believes that perception. If one perceives God as a loving father figure, then that is exactly how God will manifest to the one perceiving. God is exactly whatever we perceive it to be. That's how unconditional God is. That's one way how God can be All That Is. Just one way.

And if God is as we perceive it, then doesn't that put the nature of God in our control? And doesn't that make us a God, too?

Is that perhaps why God made us? Is that why god split itself into so many pieces; so that it could turn around and look at itself, and see itself from so many new and different perspectives? Are we God getting to know itself? Are we God's mirror? Or is God our mirror?



Copyright 2002, White Feather. All Rights Reserved.

Bravo, White Feather!!

My room has lost all its mirrors
I can now be who I truly am
if I no longer glance at the "reality" of myself.

I wrote that years ago.....
just wish it didn't take so long to fully absorb the meaning...
that the mirror lies within
and is always what you create and perceive it to reflect.

~Love, Lisa

Hi White Feather,

Always so nice to see you and hear the thoughts you're onto. I do have to offer my opinion on this part, though:

In reply to:

---

I just can't buy the Christian concept of God as an aging white guy with a long flowing beard who sits on a throne on some cloud looking down at us ready to send a thunderbolt down at anyONE who does something naughty. That kind of a God is one of fear; one used by some to control others. God is not about fear or judgment or wrath. These are human attributes.

---

That is ABSOLUTELY ***NOT*** a Christian concept of God!!! You have every right to disagree with the concepts of any faith, but that's just a misrepresentation in every word.

It's called a "straw-man argument." You set up something totally bogus that cannot stand and then knock it down, thereby attempting to "prove" that "they" are wrong and you are right, which is just another way of YOU separating yourself from others and the All.

...which I know is not what you want to do.

Love,
Maria

Point well taken Maria.

And White Feather's rejection of the simplistic notion of God as a patriarchal figure on a heavenly throne predominantly concerned with dispensing punishment to "sinners" is also well-taken.

Here once again we are faced with the problem of labeling people, beliefs, cultures, races, nationalities and other groupings, which to my mind is the major source of fallacy that results in "us and them" thinking ... which is itself the root of war, hatred, intolerance and most if not all of the other ills of humankind!

In fact there are folks who call themselves Christians who hold such dogmatic and narrow-minded views ... but that doesn't make them Christian views. Just as there are some folks who are Americans who cynically exploit third-world cultures and economies for their own selfish greed, but it is NOT the case that Americans are imperialistic exploiters ... or as there are some who profess belief in the Islamic faith who assert their right to murder and terrorize "white devils" in the name of God, but it is NOT the case that Muslims are terrorists. Etcetera ad nauseum.

When we label people and judge them according to whatever the label signifies to us, we ALWAYS do them violence. Maria is entirely correct in saying that there is nothing in the confessions of faith or doctrines of the Catholic Christian church that corresponds to the views that White Feather dismissed as "the Christian concept of God." And likewise White Feather is entirely correct in identifying, doubtless from his own experience, that there are many who call themselves Christians who DO hold such beliefs, and who apply them angrily and judgmentally toward those whose beliefs and behaviors differ from their own. But by calling those concepts and behaviors "Christian" he attacks and alienates millions of people who identify themselves as devout and faithful Christians who hold no such concepts whatsoever ... and thus perpetuates the very separation from others and the ALL that he intended to decry!

So what's the answer? In my opinion, it's a simple one: don't label people, ever. People are not labels. If a person is a member of a group, and expresses an idea or an action that seems wrong or harmful, it is the idea or action that should be debunked, not the group. Whenever we label and dismiss a group, we are creating separation and wittingly or unwittingly contributing to the "us and them" model of the world that has proved itself to be counterproductive as a model capable of promoting and sustaining world peace and unity.

There is no "them" ... there is only "us," and we are infinitely diverse in our ultimate unity!

Easier said than done.

Love,
Greg

Hello White feather, nice to see you will you please start a story on the Words forum where everybody writes a line?? I had much fun with it...it was amazing how it developed by itself.

I agree with Maria and Greg that we must not label anyone or a group, and I especially liked the part that there is no "them" only "us".

I am Catholic and I did grew up with the concept of an old white hair, bearded God, sitting on a cloud sending punishment to the sinners. That concept only made me feel separated and alone, I started feeling God near me and then in me until I started learning about Spirituality and Esoterism.

We are One and One is "All That Is"

Love
Tish

~~~~~This is in response to Terri's post about the newsletter and mission statment at this link
http://consciousevolution.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=122382&Forum=UBB1&Words=metamorphosis&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=2weeks&Main=122030&Search=true#Post122382

At the risk of being stoned to death for going against the mission statement I have to say something here.

Being one of the wisest and smartest men on the planet the mission statement is more in line with Greg combo Communist-Socialist view points than spiritual search for wisdom. Almost everything he preaches is derived from his intellectual-disciplinary personality and we have disagreed on the main issues of what makes the top of the pyramid in the overall scheme of the spiritual essence of life on this planet for mankind. We can't even agree as to what God is, or if we are all one making up God (which would be very limiting and non personal with no reason to cooperate with the Borg collective which is his main primess.) or God is separate from mankind.
(I think we are so close and are searching for the same thing but I can't understand why it can't be seen that the concept of the Cosmos God will not bring peace, or why it can't be understood that there is no purpose within such a structure other than might is right and the one with most toys at the end wins, which is the opposite of his goal. The collective group of the weak and ignorant middle humanity huddled together, being suppressed and used by the strong and self willed, can cry out for all the phooey standards, morals, and lets all get along pipedreams that they can imagine, from now until eternity, but the truth under such a system is that there are no rules and no authority to prevent a small percentage of the population from doing what ever they will. And there would be no foundation to judge them in any way, nor would there be a human condition on earth arising that would make it wrong. Mayhem, genocide, cannibalism, mass weapons of destruction, would have no moral bearing to be judged. A piece of something can not judge the whole or another piece of its self. I am not a piece of you. I am a whole.)

So the higher state is a figment of someone's imagination.
I can see the love of all life, as life sustains us and it is beauty, food, and procreation. I can see the tools such as Astrology and Numerology as we need to study our inter workings as well as our 3D space and matter. But other wisdom paths really needs to be defined, as I know of no such group of paths that are defined by anyone, nor are they authorized by anyone. Through communication? What determines communication, and who limits it and defines it other than Greg's ideals or Linda Goodman's ideas on this site, or in the world?

And what do you mean that "group" will edit a submission?
Why would you edit someone's writing and to what extent? And does the author get to see the edited result before publication?
(And this has nothing to do with the previous issue about editing.) I want to know how you can determine the real essence of spritualality of a given person that has the power to make broad sweeping choices about wisdom, God, sprite and conscious other than the fact he owns the web site and that's his opinion, which I don't agree with, because it's missing key elements that make up the very things he wants to accomplish, which I feel and think are not going to even happen as the main path to wisdom, through knowledge and logic will show that there is no force great enough or organized enough on earth to create change for long enough to make such a unified population before a natural disaster or war would would over ride the effort. It's a great ideal, not knowing the full truth, but lakes realistic scope.

We have here in this thread, A Jew (Anyone with an ounce of wisdom knows that you can't be a Jew and not be in Israel (as far as the faith goes. The heritage doesn't matter, just like the color of your skin.), we have a heather secular boy that thinks his friend can be both, when in fact becoming a Christian over rides being a Jew (In faith) as there is no reason to continue being a Jew (in faith). On the committee we have a Catholic, and heatheren girl, and several secular people and these are to determine what contributes to the paths of wisdom.

I'm sorry to sound offensive if I do, but damn people! You can't get from point A to point B using a faulty compass. Define what the hell you are talking about in plain simple sentences. I'm not being part of a cult just because Greg's a nice guy.

Love and 4 freakin' W's and an H,
Darwin

~~~~~~~~This is in response to Blasphemy's post at this link ~~~
http://consciousevolution.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3&Number=122317&Forum=UBB3&Words=rapture&Match=Entire%20Phrase&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Old=2weeks&Main=122317&Search=true#Post122317

As pointed out by Hal Linsey in several of his books, he referenced many theologians that had vested interests in having the event pre or post tribulation. He not only refers to many works covering the double identifying of prophecy but referrers to the experts of experts of experts as if he has collected a main index to people whom know various aspects of each area. By referencing these experts more carefully many, many myths about the Bible can be ignored.

Yes, there is language translation issue and it is a fact of life. But some of these experts have used the correct words in their teachings and documents.

No, there is not a big section missing and even if there were what would it be about?
We have the concept of the beginning and the end and the truth is beyond knowing.
We have the story of the people that God chose to represent his relationship, packs, treaties, and dispensations of time (contracts) with mankind (There are 7.).

We have proverbs and psalms for wisdom and intersession from the heart.
We have the Jesus story told by Mathew, Mark, Luke and John for each dominant culture on earth at the time.

We have the disciples and their example of faith, courage, convictions as well as betrayal, denial, fear, and failure.

We have the sincere preaching of Paul to show us the intricacies of understanding and the reasons why things were, had been, and have to play out.

In his teachings, and only in his teachings, is there a phase of what will happen when the tribulation time and events has reached critical mass, as to what will happen to those believers that are still alive under the dispensation of God grace. E.g. free for the asking.

It says, we shall not all sleep. (This refers to what really happens when you die but most people tell their kids their mommy went to heaven and is with the angels. Not so)
But we will be transformed, in the twinkling of the eye. (Meaning the believers under the dispensation of grace will be supernaturally changed into spiritual bodies.)
But first, all those that have died ...believing in Jesus under the time of Grace will be risen up to meet Jesus in the clouds. (Meaning that when Jesus comes back, he will not descend to earth right away but takes all the believers out that are under the promises made to them, not because of them, but because God is perfect and can not break promises.) This occurs 3 and ½ years into the 7 years time of tribulation and must be done then because all HELL breaks out on earth from then on.
Those left on earth can still become believers but it's no free lunch at that time. You must hold your convictions and faith with death staring you in the face, and you will be hunted and killed, locked out of the food chain, the right to buy and sell, and everyone around you will hate you and want you dead. Good luck on that one.
The word rapture is not in the Bible.

It can't happen until all the prophecies have been completed. Everyone that has been trying to guess the time will be wrong because it says, No one knows when except God, not even Jesus. (This is because it is variable depending on conditions on earth and mankind's thohts and actions. If someone is prepared to do a certain task that God needs done and then he fails, their needs to be another in line. This takes perfect times and perfect conditions.
Unfortunately, we are not perfect, so how would anyone or anybody know in advance. They couldn't.)

The post stuff is for the Old Testament people, before the dispensation of grace. They are under a different contract with God.
Their deal was a 1,000 years rein with the Messiah as their King. And that will happen also. But the New Testament believers will not be here on this earth while that is happening.

At the end of the 1,000 years there is yet a small group of diehards that need to be processed.

Next we are all in line for the great Judgment.
To judge us on what?
Well, to determine if we are part of God or NOT.
Pretty simple actually.

But I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the translation, just like you said; we need to be as if we were already part of God. Many think that just being born means that.
I think being born means you weren't.

If I were part of God I would be where God is, not on a rock covered with carbon slime.

What gets me is that I have yet to meet one person that gets the whole picture about this simple plan and I have a dozen churches around me. I really don't get why people resent this idea and reject it over some man made book of the month club scheme that is so convoluted with complexities that can not be proved and has no basis in mankind's historical context.

Logic and science will take you to the other end, where it becomes so obvious that we are an accident. A change occurrence of the biological conditions. And that there is no god, no reason to be any particular way, and even suggests that the prime specimens, in all regards, are those most deserving to claim the earth and its bounty, for there are no rules, only Karma. If you have got it use it or loose it. This of course creates many problems for the lesser specimens so they conjugate tribal rituals and forces to limit the GREAT people and make themselves, as best they can, the great ones, which the GREAT ones know, is a bunch of bunk and the prisons are full of them. This is how animals live and we are not animals.

So, you can't have it both ways. You are an accident or you were sent here.
You are what you are and all is good with no rules or you have been sent with a set of rules.

All the plans in between, as history has shown, are pure prejudices and self-serving Hippocrates.


No one has any better truth than this and to make up your own is pretty damn arrogant.

Hi Tish,

Good idea about a White Feather story opening, and while we're at it maybe we can get Spiritua to start a lyric or poem again. I thought that last one of those turned out glorious too.

I was really surprised at this:

In reply to:

---

I am Catholic and I did grew up with the concept of an old white hair, bearded God, sitting on a cloud sending punishment to the sinners.

---

...because, honest to Peter, that seems an entirely pre-Christian idea to me. Tell you the truth, it made me think of Zeus. And while I do happen to have a bust of Zeus gifted to me by a friend quite a while ago, I never had that sort of image of God.

Just to share from my life...The accent in my youth was always on God's immense loving kindness, mercy, God's constant reaching to us, wanting so much for us to know the heart of God. My family rarely uses a pronoun (a "he" or "she") for God. I'm comfortable with "Our Father," and I'm also comfortable with "Father/Mother God" as more accurate, but also more cumbersome. But Jesus explicitly refers to God in some very maternal ways, as well as addressing God as Abba, Papa. And the being Jesus describes is heartbreakingly full of love for us and wants very much to take care of us, not to jam lightning bolts down our throats!

The problem I ended up having with God for awhile is that s/he seemed so blasted ineffective, lol. The world is so cracked. However, I have since come to the conclusion that I do not know all as God knows all and so I'm willing to continue to seek to know and do as God provides me with situations in which to grow in the knowledge and activity of God.

I also believe that God is present within traditions other than the one in which I was raised. It has taken me so long to begin to understand my own religious heritage that I am well aware of my ignorance of others' ways, and also well aware of my interest in others' ways because I do love my neighbors. I believe God loves us all and wants us all to know God, and I don't presume to know how God is working that all out. But if people are actively seeking to know God -- in whatever sincere way -- I can't believe God wouldn't just zoom straight to that longing and seeking like a magnet. Jesus said the person who seeks will find God, and I believe it.

Love,
Maria

Hi Darwin,

Some of what I just wrote to Tish came up because of points you brought up. Other things, directly related to the newsletter, I went ahead and put my views about on the thread you linked us to, above, concerning Terri's mention of the mission statement.

Love,
Maria

Once again, I really liked what you wrote, White Feather.
Thank you for sharing your perception of God with us.

~Lisa

Sabra,

Shibboleth http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/english/newspaper/torah/ask-rabbi-5-Jun-02.htm

Summer Vacation in Israel
Question:
My wife and I are planning our summer vacation. I want to go to the Canary Islands, since we haven't been there before. My wife wants to go to Israel,
because she says that we should show solidarity with the Jews who
live there during these difficult times. Given the security situation in Israel, what is the right thing to do?

Answer:
First of all, before answering this question, we have to emphasize that the natural home for a Jew is in Israel.

Many times when I brought young students from America to meet Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, he would explain that the words Orayach (meaning guest) and
Ezrach (meaning citizen) share almost the same letters in Hebrew. A slight change of the letter vav to a zayin, and the visitor to Israel becomes a permanent resident, inferring that the home of every Jewish tourist is Israel.

This is in accordance with the Rambam's view found in the Laws of Kings and Their Wars in which he states: "Forever, a Jew should live in the Land of Israel, even in a city where the majority of inhabitants are idol worshippers, rather than live outside of the Land, even in a city where the majority of residents are Jews."[1]

The Rambam also states: "It is forbidden for a Jew to leave the land of Israel at all times, except to learn Torah, marry, or redeem Jewish lives from captivity, and then he must return to Israel. And he is permitted to leave the land temporarily to insure a livelihood, but to dwell outside of the land is forbidden, unless in times of dire famine."[2]

From this, we see clearly that a Jew in every generation should strive to make his home in Israel.

Regarding visits to Israel, for those who are not yet living there, the Mishna Berurah[3]says that while there is an opinion that the mitzvah of living in Israel is accomplished by actually dwelling there, and not just coming for a visit, he emphasizes the opinion that visiting Israel is a mitzvah itself, since just by walking four cubits in the Holy Land a person merits life in the World To Come.[4]

In the classic treatise of Jewish faith, known as the Kuzari, Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi explains that all of a Jew's yearning should be to live a life of Torah in the Land of Israel. This is the goal of Judaism not to remain in perpetual exile, but to return to the Land of our forefathers. "It is written how the Patriarchs strove to live in Israel while it was in the hands of the pagan, how they yearned for it, and had their bones carried to it, as did Jacob and Joseph. Moses prayed to see it, and when this was denied to him, he considered it a great misfortune... All peoples make pilgrimages to it, long for it, except for ourselves and therefore we remain punished and disgraced in exile," says HaLevi.[5]

Regarding the question of danger, even though a Jew is not allowed to place himself in danger, where his life is threatened, traveling to Israel is not considered dangerous as long as businessmen continue to travel there to do business.[6] Today, thousands of visitors and businessmen arrive in Israel every day. While it is true that several of the victims of terrorist attacks in Israel have been visitors, that number is so small that one who visits is not considered to be an immanent danger from which one has to guard his or her self.

Furthermore, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Beit-El, explains that a person should strive to overcome feelings of fear. His general orientation to life should be to trust in G-d. We have to be careful in situations where danger is imminent, but not to let unnecessary fear accompany our lives.[7]

Interestingly, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, one of the Torah authorities who wrote that a Jew needn't move to Israel in a time of danger[8], immigrated himself to Israel with his family two hundred years ago. In the introduction to his book, Paat HaShulchan, he describes undergoing an ordeal of Napoleonic wars, plagues, malaria, earthquakes, and imprisonment by the Turks on his journey, and still he came in his great love for the Holy Land.

Thus in deciding between a vacation in the Canary Islands or Israel, a person could ask himself, "What would G-d prefer me to do?" As King Solomon says
in the Book of Proverbs, "In all your ways know Him, and He will guide your paths."[9]

1. Rambam, there, 5:12.
2. Ibid, 5:9.
3. Mishna Berurah, 248:28.
4. Ketubot, 111A.
5. Kuzari, 2:20.
6. Pitchei T'shuva, Even Haezer, 75:6. See Kuzari, 5:23.
7. Yaish Shoalim, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, "On Fear" Pgs. 43-46.
8. Paat HaShulchan, Eretz Yisrael, 3.
9. Proverbs, 3:6.
___________________________________________________________________
Rabbi David Samson is one of the leading English-speaking Torah scholars in the Religious-Zionist movement in Israel. He has co-authored four books on the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook and Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook. Rabbi Samson learned for twelve years under the tutelage of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook. He served as Rabbi of the Kehillat Dati Leumi Synagogue in Har Nof, Jerusalem, and teaches Jewish Studies at Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva Institutions.
Tzvi Fishman was a successful Hollywood screenwriter before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984. He has co-authored several Torah works with Rabbi David Samson and written several books on Jewish/Israel topics. His two most recent books Days of Mashiach and Tuvia In the Promised Land are available on-line at: http://www.terrorvictims.com/book.htm

Dear Maria,

I laughed at your comparison with Zeus !!!!

Unfortunatly I studied in a Catholic School run by Marknoll nuns and they were OK, but our religiuos studies were left to Jesuit and Dominican Priests from Spain, who looked and behaved like they have arrived right from the Inquisition, and they taught us that we are all sinners and to be afraid of Gods wrath.

The good news is that I was never satisfied with these teachings and I started searching for the truth since very little, deep in my heart I knew that it was not right to fear God.

You are very lucky Maria, to have been brought with such a wonderful concept of God, it is amazing how guilt and fear can affect when growing up.

Tish

Proxy,

In reply to:

---

I'm sorry to sound offensive if I do, but damn people! You can't get from point A to point B using a faulty compass. Define what the hell you are talking about in plain simple sentences. I'm not being part of a cult just because Greg's a nice guy.

---

Well Darwin, I'm sorry you sound offensive too, but you do. You are certainly entitled to your opinions about all matters, including religion, but it is the height of narrow-mindedness to spout those opinions as some sort of "absolute truth" with which everyone else must agree or stand accused of fostering a "cult" or pursuing a "faulty compass."

No one is asking you to join a "cult," but if that harsh judgment of Linda Goodman's ideas about world peace and harmony and spiritual growth and tolerance is how you actually feel, then "what the hell" are you doing hanging out on a Linda Goodman website? You are here by your own choice, not because anyone is railroading you into a thought form for which you have such contempt.

In reply to:

---

No one has any better truth than this and to make up your own is pretty damn arrogant.

---

I would say that to assert that you alone have the truth ("What gets me is that I have yet to meet one person that gets the whole picture about this simple plan and I have a dozen churches around me") is pretty damn arrogant. All the other religions are wrong, even most of the people in your OWN religion are wrong ... but if they don't believe what Proxy believes, they are arrogant? Uh, yeah, right.

With all due respect, Darwin, I don't see a hill of beans worth of difference between that viewpoint and the viewpoint of militant terrorists who assert that THEY alone have the "truth." This is the cause of all the religious wars of history: some group of folks asserting that they alone are privy to God's will and that everyone else on the planet is wrong. There is a word for that stance, and it's not tolerance.


This site DOES have a mission and has had since the first day it opened as the official Linda Goodman site, and has retained through all the changes since then. You've been around for most of that time, so this should certainly be no surprise to you. The mission has nothing to do with "Greg's combo Communist-Socialist view points" (which is WAY off the mark, I'm about as far from a Communist-Socialist as anyone you'll ever meet, and so was Linda) ... it is the mission that Linda espoused in all her writings, when she talked about the Aquarian age we're entering as one where the world will be transformed by a great spiritual awakening that will turn us away from the ego-driven quest for power and control toward a new era where our hearts are filled with reverence and compassion, and our spiritual knowledge is used "to end the world's suffering ... to relieve the pain of individuals ... and to bring happiness to friends and strangers alike." As Linda wrote, "I've shared my personal discoveries of truth with you ... in the interest of hastening the sunrise of harmony on Earth, the ultimate Peace." Linda went to great lengths to make clear that there are many, many ways of understanding Truth, and that NO religion or teacher has a monopoly on Truth. These ideas and ideals are what this website has stood for all along, and still does.

In reply to:

---

Why would you edit someone's writing and to what extent? And does the author get to see the edited result before publication?

---

Like every other publication, electronic or print, Metamorphosis edits the content it publishes for clarity, readability, consistency and grammatical correctness. My own articles get edited, as do Maria's and Terri's and all of our other contributors. And yes, the editors work with the authors, no work is published under anyone's byline that the author hasn't approved. Don't confuse editing with censorship, editing is an essential part of the publication process for ALL publications.


Regarding your statement that "anyone with an ounce of wisdom knows that you can't be a Jew and not be in Israel," I can readily understand why Sabra was offended by that ... and this is a perfect example of why Maria wrote that it is important to attribute opinions to their source, rather than asserting them as "facts." Certainly there are some who would agree with this position, as evidenced by the sources you referred to in response to Sabra ... but there are also many who have quite different views on the subject. In fact, some religious Jews are vehemently opposed to the modern state of Israel because it is a secular rather than religious state. Nothing wrong with holding either viewpoint, but for you (a non-Jew) to assert categorically that "anyone with an ounce of wisdom knows ..." is patently ridiculous!

Tolerance and mutual respect for the wide range of different spiritual and religious viewpoints is one of the primary elements of Linda's vision, and is a central element of this website's focus as well. Certainly your beliefs are as welcome here as anyone's ... but stating them in such a way as to portray your own thoughts as absolute truth, while insulting or dismissing other ideas, does nothing to contribute to peace, harmony, tolerance or love. And like it or not, these values ARE what Linda's vision and this website are all about.

Love,
Greg

Tish,

In reply to:

---

Unfortunatly I studied in a Catholic School run by Marknoll nuns and they were OK, but our religiuos studies were left to Jesuit and Dominican Priests from Spain, who looked and behaved like they have arrived right from the Inquisition, and they taught us that we are all sinners and to be afraid of Gods wrath.

---

Yikes! Poor kid! I was always way more afraid of Mom and Dad than I was of God, and really my Mom and Dad were never very scary at all, heh. But there again, those Jesuit terrorizers from Spain sound completely different from the American Jesuits who taught my folks at the university. And then, too, my Dad spent three or four years of his childhood in a Japanese-run concentration camp in China during WWII when the Japanese invaded China, and there were priests imprisoned in the camp as well who were the ones who found ways to get the families there food and heating fuel enough to survive.

Even so, Dad says they never would have made it through another winter. If the war hadn't ended when it did...if the American pilots hadn't flown over the camp, dropping huge drums of food when they did...that would have been it.

Eric Liddell, the Scottish Olympic runner that the movie "Chariots of Fire" was about, was in that camp too. He was a missionary of a Calvinist denomination...not sure which. My Dad remembers him being referee for the kids' sports events. He died there of a brain tumor. (When I bought Linda Goodman's desk, the only other tape in there besides the Gooberz one I copied and posted here was a tape of the music from Chariots of Fire.)

Dad's family weren't missionaries, though. Dad's Dad was a Belgian businessman in China. Dad's Mom left Ukraine for China with her sister and mother when the Russian revolution started spreading to Ukraine and things started getting violent.

In October, my Dad and I went to California for a reunion of a bunch of the folks my Dad went to grade school with in China. It was really something.

Maria

Well first off, White Feather I surely understand where you are coming from, and I can truly relate with your line of thinking as I feel your vibe very strongly as it is close to what I know as well....I must congrtulate you on such a well said thought, as it is very inciteful....


Now as for you Proxymoon............LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

I barely know where to start with you...since you see it so fun to pick everyone and thing but yourself apart I shall enjoy this tremendously....

"Being one of the wisest and smartest men on the planet"

So I see you have met everyone on the planet to be able to make such a bold statement. If you are one of the "wisest and smartest men on the planet" than my god this world is in trouble. You are "intellectually" almost smart...I say almost because you do obviously have some intelligence...but you are blind to your own selfish thoughts and deeds...for anyone who is truly wise NEVER says they are WISE....You though my friend are a wannabe "wise" man....

Almost everything he preaches is derived from his intellectual-disciplinary personality and we have disagreed on the main issues of what makes the top of the pyramid in the overall scheme of the spiritual essence of life on this planet for mankind.

Can we say...Hypocrite??? Almost everything HE says??? Ok so than what you are saying is that your words are coming right from the heart of God, and NOT your "intellectual-disiplinary mode of thinking"? If you are so "wise" as you say you are than you would KNOW that Greg's thoughts are EQUAL IN POWER to yours. Not better, nor worse...that is right EQUAL...any REAL "WISE" man would KNOW that...

"We can't even agree as to what God is, or if we are all one making up God (which would be very limiting and non personal with no reason to cooperate with the Borg collective which is his main primess.) or God is separate from mankind."

You can't agree...well oh my...the world is about to end, because someone in this world disagrees with the omniscient proxymoon. NEWSFLASH....what you think about GOD, and what you KNOW about GOD, is not as close to GOD as you so badly want to believe...but don't take my word for it...God will show you...(I can already feel your anger...so whta you KNOW GOD now buddy...you are a hypocrite...LOL...my my proxy...settle down...don't want you getting yourself all worked up now....its ok...I too know that GOD will show me and correct me to...so don't feel like you are alone now...)

"I think we are so close and are searching for the same thing"

LOL...is that a rhetorical comment??? No really??

"but I can't understand why"

My oh my....what are we going to do now...PROXY can't understand something...I bet that's a recurring pattern in your life isn't it???

"I can't understand why it can't be seen that the concept of the Cosmos God will not bring peace"

Have you ever thought that maybe you can't understand that because you are not at peace with yourself???( oh but wait...I am just an arrogant thinks he knows it all punk...I mean you know yourself SO WELL...yep, you sure do..couldn't disagree more)

"why it can't be understood that there is no purpose within such a structure other than might is right and the one with most toys at the end wins, which is the opposite of his goal"

If this world is the OPPOSITE end of his goal, than doesn't that make it PART of his plan??? Therefore making this HIS goal??? For everything is connected...even you must agree "Wise One". So therefore, if everything is connected, than his plan is going along just the way he wants it to...

"The collective group of the weak and ignorant middle humanity huddled together, being suppressed and used by the strong and self willed, can cry out for all the phooey standards, morals, and lets all get along pipedreams that they can imagine, from now until eternity"

You speak as if you are "above" this weak and ignorant middle humanity. Well since you are so into the "truth" it is my duty to report to you, that you, yes YOU, are an EQUAL, part of this Weak and ignorant humanity. I am sure though that you are not suppressed at all eh Proxy...I mean you are about as free as...well as free as the crap that comes out your arse...I mean think about what I just said...since you are so "wise" you will get the analogy I just used...( But wait, I am now sounding like I am above this so called weak and ignorant humanity...well sorry to burst your bubble, I AM just like YOU, an EQUAL part of this Humanity...only unlike YOU, I am not so egotistical to consider myself "wiser" than them, for I realize I am them, and they are me...just as you are them, and they are you...just like you are me, and I am you...I mean you are all wise and all, so I guess I am only reiterating what you already KNOW though right proxy??)

"but the truth under such a system is that there are no rules and no authority to prevent a small percentage of the population from doing what ever they will"

My, maybe you REALLY ARE a "wise" one....noone can stop anyone from doing what they WILL....gee, I wonder if that is because God is kind enough and loving enough to have given us FREE WILL....you are obviously a man who knows your bible material...remember, we were made in the IMAE of god...that means we are LIKE GOD...in that we can CREATE what we WILL....surely don't need to be a genius to realize that...

"And there would be no foundation to judge them in any way"

Sure there is we judge ourselves, as well as all who we come into contact with. We with our WILLS create either positive, or negative energy...If we recognize our deeds, than we have judged ourselves...by recognizing that our deed was either positive or negative....

"nor would there be a human condition on earth arising that would make it wrong"

So I guess you have proclaimed yourself the mighty God now...for you say no human condition on earth would make it wrong...yet you will than say....

"You can't get from point A to point B using a faulty compass"

Is it not by saying using a "faulty" compass meaning that the compass they use wrong??? So than you consider yourself to not be human but some "higher being"??

"A piece of something can not judge the whole or another piece of its self. I am not a piece of you. I am a whole."

So than you are saying that everything is not connected...and that you are seperated from the energy that binds this world?? If you than are not a part of me, or anyone else, than HOW are YOU even here??? For such being one of the "wisest and smartest" men on this planet, you really are one blind old man....God has given you eyes, but apparently you have not learned to use them yet...but don't worry proxy, you will learn...we all WILL someday...

"So the higher state is a figment of someone's imagination"

So you do realize you just said that all your "wise and smart" thoughts about the world are all a figment of your imagination, and therefore are not real??? Luckily though Proxy, its ok to make mistakes...can't blame someone for not knowing and understanding something...

"I can see the love of all life, as life sustains us and it is beauty, food, and procreation"

You see, well you say you see, but you obviously DONT UNDERSTAND...for if you did see the love of all life, you would not make such a petty statement such as...

"I'm sorry to sound offensive if I do, but damn people! You can't get from point A to point B using a faulty compass. Define what the hell you are talking about in plain simple sentences"

Well, it looks like you have showed us how "wise and smart" you really are...for if you must ask people to speak in "plain and simple" sentences, you than say that, I am too stupid to understand what you mean, can you please lower your intellectual and spiritual level to my "wise" level, so that I can better understand...for you would realize the love that people have is given to us through their words, actions, and deeds...just because it is different, or "stupid" or "smart" or whatever the action is that you judge it to be, it is ALL a REFLECTION OF A PIECE OF YOU...whether your apparently small conscious mind realizes it or not, well that is a different story all together...


" can see the tools such as Astrology and Numerology as we need to study our inter workings as well as our 3D space and matter"

As I said earlier, you are almost wise...as at least you are trying...and that is half the battle....

"but other wisdom paths really needs to be defined, as I know of no such group of paths that are defined by anyone, nor are they authorized by anyone"

So than because these other paths that you are blind to at this moment in time, do not appear to be "authorized" (who needs to authorize them to begin with?) than they must not exist or be valid???

Through communication? What determines communication, and who limits it and defines it other than Greg's ideals or Linda Goodman's ideas on this site, or in the world?

Whoa buddy....who defines it other than Greg or Linda Goodman, or in the world??? Umm...DUDE....EVERYTHING DEFINES COMMUNICATION...WE ARE ALL COMMUNICATING WITH EACH OTHER....for example..when you breath you are communicating with all the trees and water and...etc....but again I am sure these questions of yours are just all in good humour because of course you are one of the "wisest and smartest" people on the Earth.

"I want to know how you can determine the real essence of spritualality of a given person that has the power to make broad sweeping choices about wisdom, God, sprite and conscious"

Open your eye(s) wide enough and you will SEE the answer you seek....but to do so requires you to step outside of yourself when you look...but that must be a hard thing for someone who is so selfish and conceited...

"other than the fact he owns the web site and that's his opinion, which I don't agree with"

WOW that is really great, no really Proxy...I mean...ugh....if what you are looking for is not here, than WHY ARE YOU HERE??? If you don't agree...fantastic...don't complain about it...on his site....create your OWN site so that you can show how much more "right" you are...but wait a minute....didn't you say...
"A piece of something can not judge the whole or another piece of its self. I am not a piece of you. I am a whole."

You don't agree...hmm...you just judged HIS THOUGHTS and OIPINIONS to be WRONG from yours...because YOU DISAGREE...

My, you seem to be able to point out others hypocrisies so well, all the while not realizing that all these "hypocrites" around you are actually just a shadow of your "imagination"....trying to help you...but instead of embracing the love of these "hypocrites" you choose to instead belittle them...which in turn is a sign of how you are obviously not content with yourself and all of your hypocrisies...but do not fret Proxy, it ok, WE all understand, cause we are all in the SAME boat...cause remember...we are all EQUAL??? As I am sure your "wise and smart" self knows....

"because it's missing key elements that make up the very things he wants to accomplish, which I feel and think are not going to even happen"

So because you "feel" and "think" that Greg is missing the "key" elements that he wants to accomplish (umm...I think you are a blind man who should put wipe that sleep out of your eyes) that what??? He should than contact the omiscient "wise and smart" AKA proxymoon...becaues this "wise and smart" being knows just exactly what HE(Greg) wants??? Hmm....notice the problem there friend???


"the main path to wisdom, through knowledge and logic will show that there is no force great enough or organized enough on earth to create change for long enough to make such a unified population before a natural disaster or war would would over ride the effort"

So than you are saying that this path in which you have chosen to follow, is than the "main" path??? NEWSFLASH...ALL PATHS ARE THE MAIN PATH TO WISDOM...
Now because you can't see a force stong enough to sustain this so called change you are looking for, means that it does not exist??? Or is the issue really, because you CANT create a force stong enough to sustain it???




"We have here in this thread, A Jew (Anyone with an ounce of wisdom knows that you can't be a Jew and not be in Israel (as far as the faith goes. The heritage doesn't matter, just like the color of your skin.), we have a heather secular boy that thinks his friend can be both, when in fact becoming a Christian over rides being a Jew (In faith) as there is no reason to continue being a Jew (in faith). On the committee we have a Catholic, and heatheren girl, and several secular people and these are to determine what contributes to the paths of wisdom"

Thankfully we have a "wise and smart" man such as yourself to show us our ways...for without dumba$$es like you we would be doomed to be inferior little self centered ego maniacs who would all think of ourselves as "wiser and smarter" than almost all on earth....so for that, I say thank you Proxymoon...you have taught us a lot....its why WE(I) love you....



Now with all that said and done....I hope Darwin you realize that I say all I have with respect and love towards you....as I am sure the KNOWFLAKES around here will understand, and KNOW where I am coming from....

Oh wise one...I have NO IDEA how or why you think that you were replying to a post by Blasphemy, when you click on your link that you posted, it CLEARLY shows that it is NONOCHE1981.....in fact, I have NO IDEA where you got the notion that it was Blasphemy who posted that....maybe you thought what she wrote was blasphemous??? that is about the only thing I can see that would make sense...other than the obvious you made a simple mistake....

Oh and hope you get better soon....as I understand the pains of surgery...I myself goto the doc tomorrow to schedule one for myself....

Hi Enigmatic Soul,

I know your very last message here, the get-well wishes, are for me...as we were kind of talking across a couple of strings the other day. Thank you! I'm doing much better now. And I hope your upcoming surgery goes smoothly and you recover quickly as well.

Maria

HAHAHAHA....oh my, what a stupid mistake I made, posted in the wrong thread...hmm...I suppose that mistakes happen when you have multiple windows open....ah well....someday I will become godlike and be perfect....till than...all I can do is laugh at myself, so feel free in joining in the laughter at this stupid mistake I made...

I always feel stupid when something ends up where I didn't mean to put it too. But hey, at least it wasn't your car keys!

Maria

"God is a Concept. By which we measure our Pain. "
J.Lennon