Before I explain the additions I want to make based on my own insights, I will sketch out the framework1) of my talks for this year. Their theme is that our world religions need to be added to, in our day and age. One aspect is that across religious boundary tolerance is necessary. That was my start, but for the Spring and Summer talks I set out to be specific about such additions. The Spring presentation was devoted to addition for Christianity, while the upcoming Summer talk is to address additions for Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam.
… it became clear to me - that on my eightieth birthday and fortieth talk - I would have to add something of my own as well.
Additions to the latter three I outlined in my daily entry writings of 2016-06-28, but got no further. I encountered an actual block which kept me from further elaborations on those concisely worded statements of addition. It was not until last Sunday, yesterday, that it became clear to me - that on my eightieth birthday and fortieth talk - I would have to add something of my own as well.
This I have always been shy to do. I know I can be quite critical and express that, but to proclaim my own message is quite something else. In doing so, I expose myself to criticism and that makes me feel vulnerable, hence my reluctance.
But last summer, when staying with Thomas and Gabriella in Dutch Creek BC, I spotted and bought a book titled “The Courage to Teach” in Invermere, written by P.J Palmer. I read this book right away from cover to cover and then left it until now. It spoke to me then and still does now! Have the courage, is its message!
Rather than say that we humans should free ourselves, escape from or avoid our existence in the body and in this physical world, I say we should celebrate it, …
Now here is the addition I want to make. Rather than say that we humans should free ourselves, escape from or avoid our existence in the body and in this physical world, I say we should celebrate it, explore it for all its worth, so making our unique contribution to existence, which I have called ‘Existence Divine which includes all there is, a mystery, yet knowable’.
That is the kernel of my insight, but this will need elaboration and clarification, I realise. This I intend to do in preparing for my talk and subsequently will write on this more in the coming days in this place.
[The last load is in the washer and due @ 11:15am.]
Beside the above statement, which I composed more or less like that last night, I also had a new insight this morning on awaking, which I do want to mention as well. It concerns my conviction that though existence in the body for a human is a temporary affair, we also exist in a continues way which I call existence in the spirit and view the soul as the go-between these two states.
The experience in the physical human body is passed on via the soul to the spirit, enriching the latter. The spirit can know of the experience in the body, but cannot experience it directly, since it is not bound in time and place, like the body is. The body cannot escape its experiences and must go through it, which results in a process of becoming more conscious about existence.
Lunch time, laundry time and now 11:38am.
Consciousness arises out of the tension from the separation between spirit and body, while the soul is it the depository until the death of the body. Now, if we assume that the bodily experience has the general purpose of experience, we can also infer that in some cases the purpose of this existence in the body can be known to the experiencer.
This purpose can be discerned from one’s life experience as we grow older. This is my experience and even when in my late teens, I felt that to know your life’s purpose would make for a much more efficient experience. However, this might lead to experience avoidance when you learn that purpose too early on in life. However, when older, say past the age of seventy, you have enough pieces of the puzzle to put a picture together.
Next life you say?! Yes, because though each bodily experience, be it as an ant or the sun is temporary, existence and consciousness are continuous.
The relating aspect that I was thinking about this morning is that pain, misfortune and set backs in our societal setting, may actually be mid life urgings to change course aimed at changing your conduct in order to align more closely with the purpose of this life. This even though it was not would you would pursue in order to be called ‘successful’!
To be open or even conscious of such urgings to change your life from what you intend, makes for a more efficient process. This is where being conscious can prevent you having to suffer through experiences that are difficult to accept and make sense of.
My medical doctor told me once: ‘Your body is telling you to stop doing what ever it is you are doing’. It was a piece of advice that I always kept within reach when my back, in my case, started to hurt.
11:58 laundry time. And done at 12:06pm.
So, you may have an affliction which cannot be cured or a set back and experience that still hurts and affects you or myself. If so, you can always examine its effect and affect past or present and ask what you can learn from it. Doing so makes you more conscious of your life and who you are and it is this consciousness awareness that has to be learned here in this physical existence. Once that is done, it can be passed on to a next life time and be available to you.
Next life you say?! Yes, because though each bodily experience, be it as an ant or the sun is temporary, existence and consciousness are continuous.
This is it for my insight of the day.
<12:14pm~
1) 1. Acknowledge other teachings; 2. Incorporate modern science; 3. Change towards accommodation in each religion.
