Of all the many harrowing obstacles and scary situations for folks to have to relearn / redefine, or simply set aside for a while, along the "yellow brick road" to Enlightenment, religion is one of the most difficult, if not *the* most difficult of all, for folks to traverse, and for many it is the most frightening of all personal confrontations to have to master from a Consciousness perspective. If ever there was a game chute dropping the scarecrow, tin man and lion back to start, this mountainous task would be it.
There's a reason more than 99% of the entire world's population is unconscious!
It is here that "most folks run away...
...SCREEEEEAAAAAMMMMMIIIIINNNNNGGGGG" (NES), angry and terrified, worrying they are being led astray by something evil that's out to do nasty deeds to the world, or bring society down, especially if their religious exposure has been based upon fear, warnings of retribution for questioning it, along with threats of social and legal promise of conventional doom! Billions of folks over the ages have been severely punished, tortured, imprisoned and murdered for questioning religions of their era, and thousands of years of holy wars have culturally taught folks to be afraid, be verrrry afraid, so it is easy to see why so many would have religion and fear synonymously paired. While some religions SCREAM holy war at the world at the slightest imposition, others quietly do the same, not even realizing just how similar they really are! Many folks have been driven "underground" as a result of social and political threat, in their efforts to have a place to freely act upon their perceiving differently, without retribution, inadvertently prompting suggestions of "secret societies" intentionally keeping "special* (and even "alien") knowledge from everybody else, adding to the suspicion.
"Imagine no religion," John Lennon once sang. People were furious with him, so furious, in fact, they never were able to hear what he was actually saying! Imagine what would happen, he was offering, coming from a place of *realization,* (having studied the 3000 year old Bhagavad Gita with his spiritual guru / Sanskrit teacher), if folks would lay down their weapons of faith, ~ just long enough ~ to *realize* what they are ~ really ~ doing, when they pick them back up again! That's all! A peeling away at the onion of *change!* Folks still react with fear and insult at his brilliant lyric...all the while enjoying the sounds of silence *quietly* suggesting the same. Confrontation...it's a lonely place to be! Are you up for it?
Consciousness / Enlightenment is NOT about religion, and not a religion in itself, although there ARE very *highly realized* (and nearly *realizing*) religions around which folks have established those all important social and personal meaningfulnesses. But, in itself, it has nothing whatsoever to do with religion. So, then, why would one have to have the courage to seek beyond, or at least temporarily set aside, their religious exposure, to move toward Consciousness?
Enlightenment (same thing as Universal Consciousness), differs from religion in that, while most religions are born outside oneself, and within structured conventional establishments, many quite literally (churches, temples and such), with conventionally placed leaders telling folks what and who to believe, that they are "less than" a forever "More Than," unworthy of ever being on an equal par with that "More Than," etc., with Enlightenment, it all is discovered *within* oneself, every step along the way/Way, all the Answers, very real and genuine Answers, clear to the Ultimate Confrontation with Universal Physics Truth. A teacher of Consciousness can only "play tour guide," as I like to call it! =) You are the one who projected all the obstacles that keep you from your own Awakening! You are the ONLY one who can UNproject those obstacles, to clear away all the clutter, all the distraction, to right the wrong turns, to *balance* yourself back to your own inherent origins, to *access* that beautiful *Library of Universal Truths* you have been entrusted by *Existence* itself to *Ultimately Access* from *within!*
Religion is a subjective journey, among many, many others, toward the restoration of oneself with the Universal *Core,* that dot *in the middle* of the circle. Religion is never the Answer! It is only a journey among many! It is the fluid and constantly changing (however unconscious, unrealizing) expression of the *state of the art of one's heart,* as one goes through life in search of that extraordinary *gift* of *Worthiness* he or she was inherently born to become *Aware* of! The truth is inescapable, eventually. It's our own physics of Existence! We, as sentient (*experiencing*) beings, are not what we conventionally think we are! We are soooo much more!! Religion can be such a beautiful place, filled with sharing and caring, companionship and comfort, but it is never the Ultimate Answer. It is only a subjective journey, among other subjective journeys, toward Universal Truth.
A VERY Important Note:
It is here that I often try to help folks who rush around the internet in desperate, insecure attack of all things religious to step back and realize that it is THEMSELVES who are on their journey toward Awakening, and that countless millions of folks are NEVER going to be at least intentionally *doing the work* toward that Awakening! At least, in this lifetime! So, why take away from people who find such beautiful meaningfulnesses, such intense comfort and guidance, and feel such love, from their religious rituals and traditions? It's selfish, and cruel, quite frankly! As the Dalai Lama loves to say, *realizing* fully well that, complex as it is, the vast majority are not going to become Enlightened in their lifetime... What is MOST important is that they at least have "a good heart!" =) So, there's no need to feel threatened by folks going about their beautiful meaningfulnesses! Respect and protect that for them, having compassion and empathy for them! The alternative is a world running rampant with far more chaos and war than it already has! If YOU are choosing a more highly evolved Universal Truth / Consciousness / Enlightenment for yourself, respect that others are NOT yet in a position to make that choice! Yes, they have it within themselves, their own inherent origins, to become Enlightened. But they are not yet *ready!* And that's okay...for now!
You'd be surprised just how many genuinely Enlightened Ones are sitting among the believers, sharing the joy, all the while fully *realized* and *processing* the same, but with an *Inner Light* ~ quietly ~ shining! This is not about alienating yourself from your loved ones, friends and colleagues!
Consciousness is not about hurting people, but about responsibly loving them from a place of *higher realization,* with compassion, empathy and... patience! You'll have plenty enough responsibilities with your *awarenesses* without ever feeling the need to "pull the rug out from under people!" In times of genuine immediate world / emergent crises, yes, you may need to assert the need for more *balanced* processing! But just don't create those crises as an excuse to break people's hearts! =/
The Ultimate Challenge of Universal Awakening comes from mustering up enough personal courage and trust and innermost resolve, to selfLESSly rise above external dependency, to go deeply within, clearing away all the clutter of distraction, to follow one's heart back to its soulful beginning...that *SHARED SOUL* at the *Core* of it All/Awe, where Faith-Resolving Empathy and Enlightenment become *One.*
