old3bob

well it can get complicated...

well, the time to be a human child is limited, and the time to be a soul child is also limited...thus there is evolution related to both. (into an old soul in a human body that has reclaimed innocence that is also wise through purity)

"there but for the grace of God go I" (which is not a method)

we can recognize, appreciate and to some degree benefit from different religions or ways but to try and cross-mix them into something they are not is beyond what is really limited to their basic and common ground principles, principles that are found in mostly all spiritual teachings, thus going further than that is greatly risking stepping on one or both and is at least problematic to harmful to peoples. For example: American Indians having their ways forcefully mixed up with or destroyed by Christian beliefs that don't jive with or are destructive to theirs. Study some history if you haven't already and you may be shocked to read how various Christian groups, with some of them being violent fanatics following "manifest destiny" spent hundreds (and thousands) of years committing self-justified genocide against American Indians and dozens of other native groups in the world!! Anyway good luck to you, and I suggest not expecting to find more than doable common ground, beyond that water and oil don't mix.

never mind,

why are you making assumptions or jumping to conclusions again Stirling,

ok, then from what you are quoting such can be said to be the mark of the true master on that level. (mind to mind or soul to soul communication and more)

understood in that way, but you say no actual telepathic energetic wisdom/knowledge "transmission" according to what you know...Btw. I do know about what you said along the lines of gaining and losing which is not what I'm getting at...which could be called pointers, tools and more shared and revealed mind to mind or soul to soul depending on one's definition of those terms.

how many types and levels of transmission are there is Zen schools...how many of them are an energetic transfer of wisdom/ knowledge through direct telepathic transmission?

"Although actualized immediately, the inconceivable may not be apparent." (Genjo Koan, tr Kazuaki Tanahashi) ...and conversely could we not also say, although the inconceivable is apparent it may not be immediately actualized?

some people are frozen like stone in their opinions, and won't budge an inch. 2129.webp

maybe Luke found such in one of his living room corners during a transcendent mystical vision... but considering his find was of a smaller dimension along with its tiny and vulnerable inhabitants beseeching him not to reveal their existence, and with him being the good Samaritan that he is he went along with their request to remain hidden from the giant people with big feet. (Just as Rod Sterling had done for them decades before, alas they still tried to go for walks outside with mostly fatal results)

well history sucks in many cases but again I would definitely not say in all cases. As for the "Tao being Destroyed" in the human world I hear that as sounding like an absolute which would be like saying the Kali Yuga is absolute and the end, yet we know the cycles keep taking place and a Sat Yuga will return. So if said that Tao in human world is totally destroyed then there would be no humans left along with incredible destruction to other realms and an end to the great cycles, but that is not so is it, since we could say human Tao even if largely buried and not in much effect still rises and comes back after an x amount of time in the next phase of the cycles. (because of the Great Tao)

...and does anyone know how "God" could break the law of karma with Job since Job had done nothing to get the incredible tormenting that came his way, and which he did not volunteer for or knowingly make a deal about for what took place? So if "God" could break universal karmic law as described in the Book of Job then everything falls apart in the universe does it not? Breaking karmic law is not possible as it is known, which is different than satisfying karma in a lawful way that supersedes it with higher law such as with miraculous healing which would otherwise remain under basic karma so to speak.

okay, so would you make a deal for all that valuable clutter?

Eureka...here is the most powerful of amulets, just beware of the smiling face which may not be what it appears...

I don't know the accurate numbers but there has been a couple of thousand years of various degrees of genocide against various native people, along with however many non-native peoples caught the wrath of inquisitions and such...

(maybe some did but some have the skeletons of 100 million people in their closets...)

“That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined. Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones? And is it not a dream which none of you re member having dreamt, that built your city and fashioned all there is in it? Could you but see the tides of that breath you would cease to see all else, And if you could hear the whispering of the dream you would hear no other sound. But you do not see, nor do you hear, and it is well.” ― Kahlil Gibran

I sure don't agree with a "God" that would use Job as cannon fodder for an x amount of time...even with any hidden or greater meanings in doing so.

"I always maintained that at the core of all genuine religions, the same metaphysical truths can be found -- although sometimes with a different emphasis, and complementing each other when we look at different systems." Michael S. I partially agree with this although religions are normally founded by human beings with their particular take put at the core of same...so depending upon how evolved their founders are has a great deal to do with what is genuine in regards to being aligned with the "metaphysical" or Spiritual Source that is not limited to human or earthly sensibilities... so goes the quandary and conundrum of mankind, I also think the idea of dividing mankind into the advanced and the masses is at least problematic and in many cases counter to us working out our human problems. Apparently many other creatures of the earth are feeling the mountains of dark anti-dharmic weight that we are bringing upon ourselves and them, with some of them checking out from it, for example whales beaching themselves en masse!

we could also largely leave God out of our mess and recognize that mankind tends to create God in the image we want...

I love the actual ping pong game, more so when my ego wins over guys 30+ years younger than me.

Thanks for that great deal of information Daniel. Starting with your first sentence, "It's all the same deity being considered from different perspectives" well that sounds plausible on the surface but to me is irreconcilable at the core...We have God in Islam which has scripture ordering the murder of those that don't convert to it, we have scripture in Christianity that says those that don't convert to it in end will burn in eternal hell, what exactly we have in Hebrew scripture along those lines I don't know because I have not studied it except for some parts given in the Old Testament, for instance their God favors the "chosen people" above all the rest of mankind with orders given in the Old testament to go out and murder this and that tribe of other peoples. So it is very easy to see why millions have had good reason to have turned away from the Abrahamic religions. More examples: Moses taught an eye for an eye, Muhammad taught that he was the very last go-to prophet with a Koran that is frozen in the dark ages being that all other teachings are lesser or false thus resulting in millions being slaughtered in his name, thankfully to me Jesus himself rose far above most of that and had the best spiritual teachings of the Abrahamic religions when they were not corrupted by priests hell bent on co-opting him and the Bible to wield near absolute control and power over the common man, for instance Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount yet even that still did not completely reconcile the dichotomy between Man and God being that much of mankind still had to and would burn in hell according to scripture (per what is in the Bible as the fate of millions of native or pagan peoples) Anyhow there are mystical aspects to all the Abrahamic religions like the Sufi's, the Kabbala, and esoteric Christianity yet those are not in effect, practice or known to most of us and so millions or billions of us are left living as "strangers in a strange land" to say the least! For me the Upanishads and teachings very similar to them are the only ones where spiritual reconciliation is found and known 100% at its core. (and again with some other eastern teachings pointing to or having similarities to them) That's my spiel for the day, see you around and thanks again for taking the time for your post. PS. of course there are some exceptions to some of the bleak history I've pointed out above...