DocM,
"[...]As such, unfortunately it is Kool-Aid New Age drivel[...] But please, if you insist on trying to argue that JC is only a myth, you are doing so on no factual data, and in the process are offending a great many people."

Unfortunately, dubbing something as offensive has become a poor-me way to zip mouths/thoughts and to pass on the status quo. The word wank may still cause controversy, more so when the friction was said to cause illnesses. Combine the hands-on approach, the powerful sexual urges in a body, and the notion that sex is only for the married. As deceptive as making somebody think about a religious figure everytime they fling a sneeze. Another example of being offended, different names for the colour of the skin. Very body oriented, and says much about who somebody really think they are. Or gender - I'm a man, not at all more than the physical body. Not forgetting political correctness. Can't say this, can't think that, as somebody might not like it. Religious correctness, non-religious must be respectful (silent) towards beliefs, and the religious must be free to spout their drivel on the non-religious.

I'd like to end with a joke. The difference between jesus and a christian woman? He's a bleedin' myth allright, but as the story goes, he sure as hell ain't something made from adam's rib bone.

Volu wrote on Feb 14^th, 2010 at 8:56am:



Tone down your loveless rhetoric

The Fourth Man:

I am posting this because most of you who have done BM’s AKG, Robert Bruce’s – energy work, or TMI work will have experienced The Crown of Thorns and didn’t make the association… I made the association but until recently did not put it all together.

I first encountered The Crown of Thorns when I did RB’s energy work… when I was doing one of the exercises, I felt this intense pressure in my cranial area, that began to differentiate into a series of gripping sensations around my forehead and I remember thinking… wow!! This is The Crown of Thorns… but, until I stumbled upon some material on the unfoldment of the Crown Chakra I didn’t put it all together… therefore, this posting is a meeting of the minds of several other researchers and writers.

Why is this relevant to this particular thread? Well, Berserk has made an issue of my assertion that the Biblical Jesus is not a real person but an allegory with far deeper meaning than just a roll model for Christianity.

So it would be disingenuous of me not to clarify my position as not just some arbitrary, contrarian exercise, to upset true believers.

But this goes further than just the Jesus myth… I content the whole of the Bible is an allegory and when you figure it out you have the whole path to Self-Realization.

Take the Book of Daniel for example:

Daniel 3:25
25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods."

Read the story to find out why this was said. Essentially meshac, Shedrach and Abedigo are condemned by Nebuchadnezzar to a fiery death… but in the furnace a Fourth Man appears and

Daniel 3:28
28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Well this fourth man is the Spiritual Body that we are all trying to develop in our practices, because what happens is this…
When through our work of experiencing the non-physical we have the grace of a spiritual transformation… The Crown Chakra creates a vortex that descends into the pineal gland and fills your brain with Spiritual Light and if it is successful in creating the Spiritual Light Body… the Chakra turns inside out and one becomes a radiating Spiritual Entity… and a new being… The Fourth Man.

The Crucifixion is an updated version of the Book of Daniel’s story.

Christ is crucified on a cross with Two Other Men… The Thief repents and Christ tells him the three of them will be ascended into Heaven… then on the morning after the crucifixion, the body of Jesus is missing…

Mary Magdalene comes upon The Fourth Man… the Spiritual Light Body… 

S.

p.s.: It is not an accident that Mary Magdalene is the one who encounters The Fourth Man... but, I will let you figure that out for yourselves. 

Whether one's belief is based on Christ/biblical views or new age tenets, how is it that the enlightened people on this board have so little tolerance for opposing opinions?  It is one thing to discuss one's point of view, but quite another to let the conversation degenerate to name calling because of a difference of opinion.  How is this justifiable within either line of thought?  Especially since it is unlikely that any of us will have definitive answers while incarnate...jeez...

Usetawuz-

I agree. We are all entitled to believe what we want to believe and should be able to express those beliefs without fear of denigration. If those beliefs/views resonate with others thats great, if they don't that's fine as well - we all come from different places and have different values. A conversation board is a bit like a marketplace of ideas; the choice to 'buy into' those ideas are up to the individual 'consumer'.

An aggressive 'scorched earth' policy to differing views is usually counterproductive as the 'attacked' is forced into an extreme defensive position they may not actually hold and opinion becomes artificially polarised.

Dave

Express away....

Berserk2 wrote on Feb 15^th, 2010 at 11:37pm:


Don, I understand you have put your academic efforts into discussing the known and proveable aspects of religious and divinical topics.  The structure involved with advanced academia does provide a framework within which to categorize and evaluate any form of theory or postulate.  However, ancient religious history is based on data that are so steeped in attempts at control and power, to say nothing of the bloody enforcement of beliefs, that it carries no credibility with many of us.  And while you may catalog and ascertain the finer aspects of the written record, it is still reliant on interpretation...from that time and this.  Further, if current written and spoken historical accuracy is any indication, we can be assured that the ancient historical records on which religious research is based, will be just as flawed.   

As for the "whackadoodle" references to those who find formal religion doesn't do it for them...do not be surprised if your harvard education and academically accurate research means nothing more than whackadoodle to them.  And the  approval of the "big bad world of academic research" means nothing to alot of us...they may know their topic, but they don't know me, or what resonates with me, and from such resonance, my thoughts, feelings and beliefs.  There is no doubt you know your topic extremely well, but as you denigrate those with differing beliefs, you abrogate the possibility someone can see things differently...is it possible that others can know what they know with equal certainty?  Where is the love?  The acceptance?  The allowance for another opinion, even if it disagrees with yours?  Wasn't that the Christ's true message?  I am sure you are a believer, as your passion is evident. 

Seraphis and his uncritical hallucinations have yet to tell me I am wrong and ignorant, while you imply it with every response.  I have no problem learning and obtaining insight from other sources and beliefs that differ from mine...I have a problem with characterizing other's points as whackadoodle and couching spiritual/theoretical matters in quantitative and measureable form on the basis of historical interpretation as truth when the truth cannot be found from last year, much less two thousand years ago and beyond.

With love...
Scott    

For some people religion comes from a book and/or from texts...not from their heart and from love, or for that matter.. from God.
I personally dont need a cookbook in order to make dinner. In fact, even when using a book, some continue to put out the same old slop that has been going on the table for thousands of years. I have no intention of eating from that trough. Still others stand down on the street corners, tring to sell theirs to unsuspecting passer-buys. I will stick to making my own meals. At least that way, I know what I am eating.