My Dogma ran over your Karma

Copyright © 2006 by Roger LeBlanc 

Permission in writing must be obtained from the publisher before any part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system. 

Printed in the United States of America 

 

 

This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Claire Trudeau.  She was a saintly woman who set my feet upon the path of faith.  

 

About the cover: 

Is man a child of the Universe or a child of God?   

The falling man surrounded in light asks the question: ‘From where I have fallen?’ Is he leaving the Light of Grace as he falls into sin before God, or is he falling from a state of primal or primordial innocence; a place of enlightenment where there is no creator?   

Does the light within his breast indicate man is Divine in his own nature, or is his heart meant to be the throne of God where He dwells with those who love Him? 

Does the darkness of space represent the Karmic process that resulted from a breach in primordial innocence, or does it represent impenitence for sin against God? 

The streak of light touching the falling man asks if man is best understood in terms of enlightenment, or does it represent Lucifer, falling like a streak of lightning from heaven as he takes man with him? 

The red glow around his hands and feet asks the question: ‘Does man need redemption, or can he redeem himself in the Karmic process?’   

 

These questions, and more, need to be explored and answered if we wish to find happiness.  

Table of Contents 

Chapter 1:  Page 7 

Happiness, Love, and Suffering 

Chapter 2:  Page 31  

Cosmo or Christianity 

Chapter 3:  Page 39  

By the Light of the Moon 

Chapter 4:  Page 61 

Is the Man in the Moon Conscious?  

Chapter 5:  Page 75  

Virtue turned into Vice, Free will and Unity, Mistaken Notions 

Chapter 6:  Page 101  

My Dogma Ran Over Your Karma 

Chapter 7:  Page 153 

East meets the West 

Chapter 8:  Page 189 

In Summary 

Chapter 1 

Happiness, Love, and Suffering 

We are like explorers, hoping to discover a belief in something that will give us happiness no matter where we go and what we do, but it is not easily found.   

We look for happiness amid suffering, we look for it in fear of what the grave will bring, and we look for it as an end in itself.  There has never been a choice, or a decision made for anything in which happiness was not sought.  Even those who chose to do evil carry the hope their choices will bring them happiness, but it will evade them because happiness goes only to the good.    

Even though our need for happiness runs deep, we are conflicted creatures, and we need to look squarely at how this impacts our lives!  We fear those things that can take happiness away from us, but we give up happiness on a whim when we choose to do evil.  This is the way we are, like it or not!  

What does all this mean for our lives considering eternity? It means we are fools if we don’t consider how we choose to live our lives.  We are creatures endowed with a free will who choose our own eternal destiny, and the stakes are simply too high not to care! 

Five Views of Life 

Those who reject God will find themselves embracing one of five views of life, or any combination thereof.  They are: 

1) Some people don’t care to think about eternity.   They live as though death will never come for them, it’s something that comes for ‘other people.'  They push the thought of it far from their mind by keeping themselves busy with the mundane.  They limit their lives to what they ‘experience,' and because they have never experienced a final reckoning in death, they feel free to do whatever fancies them.  They accumulate evil upon evil with indifference that weds itself to impenitence, and they are content to live that way.   They don’t want their comfort zone disturbed. 

2) Others have been deeply hurt in life.  They have suffered from injustice and endured suffering they did not ask for, nor deserve.  They have no faith; they want everything to end with the grave where they believe and hope all suffering will end. Would these same people shed suffering if they could?  You bet they would!  Would they choose to live forever in happiness without suffering?  Of course!  No one really wants life to end; we only want sorrows and suffering to stop.  These people suffer intensely!  Their desire for happiness is very deep, but it is elusive because they don’t see God in their lives.  

3) There are also those who are hard of heart and hard of head.  They want oblivion when they leave this life.  Why?  Because they don’t want to account to anyone for how they lived! Their natural desire to live forever is at war with their conscience. They treat the thought of afterlife in the same manner they treated their conscience in life; they wish both would just go away.  They would rather have oblivion than repentance.  This is a sign of persistent impenitence.   

4) Some people are uncertain about the existence of God.  There are times they don’t know if He exists, but there are other times they will mock Him and blame Him for all that is wrong in life.  Sometimes they deny He even exists.  These people are very often ‘the tough guys’ in their own minds.  They figure they have nothing to lose by living as they do, and if they are wrong about oblivion, no problem!  They are going to hell to take over anyway.  They expect a party and good times ahead with all their ‘good buddies’ who are waiting for them in hell.  They fantasize hell to be a place of endless celebration of all that is vile in life throughout eternity, with free beer for everyone.   

To convince themselves the risk they take is worth it, they tell us no one has ever come back from the dead to prove their view of life is wrong.  This is the mind of an impenitent, unconvinced man’s attempt to assuage a troubled conscience.   

Look for a moment at the claim that no one has come back from the dead.  Is it possible for someone who does not exist to mock the existence of life beyond the grave? No! You must exist to do that. Those who mock existence beyond the grave should look in their rear-view mirror at the oblivion from which they came before they mock existence beyond the grave!   

Is it more difficult to create someone from oblivion, from out of nothing, and give them life, or is it more difficult to give them life beyond the grave after they have been given existence? Furthermore, the call into being is irrevocable.   

Those who mock existence beyond the grave fail to understand the soul will carry on once they depart this life, as will the material of which their body is made.   Death is merely an altered state; it is moving from life to judgment in eternity while the body is temporarily left behind.  The ‘deception of oblivion’ is pierced every time we ponder life beyond the grave.  Our last breath on earth will not kiss oblivion.  We will exhale and find ourselves in eternity where we will meet God face to face.  This is what we do not want to face.  What will be our eternal destiny as seen and judged by God?  The fear of the unknown is more properly understood as the fear of judgment.   

5) There are also those who know we live beyond the grave, but they want it on their own terms, just like they had it in life.  They invent methods and systems of belief according to ‘self-redemption’ because they don’t want to answer to anyone.  They are fascinated with themselves and the puerile, and they project their systems of impenitence into the afterlife.  They construct a twisted understanding of what it means to be ‘one’ with all things because they love their sin.  They pervert what it means to belong to a community of persons, and they wear garments of false humility, feigning to be divine.   

Explorers Cannot Close Their Eyes! 

The search for happiness must be answered because, whether we like it or not, we were born, and we are born to live forever!  Where we spend eternity is up to us. 

We are, however, ill prepared to set sail towards eternal shores until we muster the courage to acknowledge ‘truth’ must be our guide.  We must look for maps that will guide us, maps that will answer our questions about life’s journey.  From them, we will form conclusions and set our course, like a Mariner who uses the stars to course the bow of his ship. 

If we choose the wrong maps, or if we don’t know how to read them, we will encounter a shipwreck.  By virtue of the consequences for the choices we make, we ought to be willing and able to ask ourselves: ‘Do I have the courage to let truth, not ego, fill my sails and take me where I need to go’?   

If we should find that we don’t have the courage to ask that question, it means we have chosen to live superficially.  If we do not reflect on the views of life we choose to live by, and the consequences of our choices, happiness will elude us in the end.   

We are faced with the same consequences when it comes to matters of belief.  If we do not reflect on what we believe, we cannot claim our belief is anything more than superficial.  In fact, our belief would be nothing more than a projection of the ego which validates whatever views we wish to live by, regardless of what they are.  This is not ‘belief’ at all.  It is evidence that a person has no self-respect.   

Furthermore, all that is real does not wait for someone’s ego to validate its existence for it to exist.  True belief is grounded in what is real, and it respects all that is good and most noble within us.   

When we come to see the inherent nobility in the nature of every person, we will understand why there are a multitude of false beliefs presented to us; the enemy wishes to destroy us.  His presentations vary from the sublime to the absurd; the well-known to the less well known.  This is why we must be honest with ourselves and see if our belief is rooted in truth, myth, ignorance, or pride!   

Where do we begin to understand how to proceed?  Well, first things first!   

There is no ‘going’ anywhere unless we know ‘from where we have come.'  We must go back to the origin of suffering to understand the nature of our journey.   As we do so, we will need to compare Christianity to Eastern Religions which are predominantly Buddhism and Hinduism.  They are all well-known systems of belief, but do they lead to the same place in the end, regardless of which one we choose to live by?   

Do Christians, Buddhists, and Hindus differ in the way they see suffering, and do they all go back to the origin of suffering to validate the premise of their belief?   

If they do not all lead to the same place, which one should we embrace, and how do we know it is the right way to go in life?  Which one answers our questions about where happiness is to be found?  Which one can bring resolution to suffering?  Which one can restore and make reparation for violations that we experience and commit in life?  Can Christianity and non-Christian religions, and codes of ethics, found throughout the East mingle to form a single, valid system of belief? 

Let’s turn first to the predominant concepts in Eastern thought which are Karma, Rebirth, Reincarnation, Enlightenment, and Nirvana.   

Have we ever asked ourselves: ‘If Karma is real, why is there a need for Karma to begin with? What is it ‘really’ all about, anyway?   

What if Karma turns out to be nothing more than a device of Lucifer whereby, he ensnares the impenitent?  If this turns out to be the case, what becomes of reincarnation and rebirth? What if rebirth and reincarnation are nothing more than hope that has been placed in a distorted view of eternal life which takes the form of Enlightenment and Nirvana?  What if these concepts are nothing more than illusions that come from a ‘willful blindness’ by those who reject redemption in Jesus Christ, or those who know nothing about Him? 

We will explore these concepts and see if they are laden with contradictions that render them nothing more than false beliefs that are rooted in impenitence.   

It is important to note that discovery of truths show us where we need to change, and if we are of good heart, and good will, we will make the necessary changes. When truth presents itself to us, we are never losers for embracing it, but if we reject what is true, we are like masochists who bring suffering upon ourselves.  If we discover something to be false and do not turn away from it, we would be like the captain of a ship who sees an iceberg but does not change his course.  

The Foundation of Happiness 

Every day there are countless conversations about suffering and the need to be fulfilled from around the globe.  We see broken friendships, broken marriages, loss of loved ones, and we experience pain as we try to understand why suffering pierces every one of us like a lance that never misses the mark.  

Where does all this suffering come from? When did it start, and who started it?  What can restore us and give meaning to suffering and death?  Redemption is the only thing that can do this, and everyone stands in need of it.   

We are now faced with the ultimate question about redemption: ‘What is the foundation of redemption?’  It is Love!   

Is this a syrupy, fairy tale answer which knocks against hard realities?  If anyone thinks they are ‘above’ such an answer, let them look around and listen to what people talk about all day, every day, since man has been around!  It’s all about love.  Everyone wants to love and be loved.   Economies and markets depend upon love of this and love of that.  Songs speak to us about love no matter how young or old we are.  Let these people look inside themselves and see if the tears they’ve shed in their own lives, in private or in front of others, have nothing to do with love. 

Love is the only thing that can bring about redemption, and redemption is the only possible means to happiness.   

What kind of love can accomplish this, and what must we do to receive it?  Is love of self the answer, or do we have to die to self?  What does ‘dying to self’ mean, anyway?  Does dying to self-mean the ‘extinction’ of our ‘self-identity’ at death to reach Nirvana, as believed in Buddhism, or must we simply die to sin and ego as understood in Christianity? 

Redemption can only be found in three words: I love you.  Those three words are, in fact, the foundation of existence itself, and they need to be spoken by a Divine Person in Whom Love itself is a Person; a Divine Person who would need to become incarnate to bring about our salvation.    

We all recognize the tenderness in a mother who kisses the ‘Boo Boo’ of a crying child to make it feel better, even if the injury was a result of not listening!  Does it take away the injury? No, but it’s more bearable because of love until it gets better.    

Throughout history, warriors would return from battle and show their wounds and scars as proof of valor in defending what they loved in life.  Those who gave up their lives for others were honored for the supreme sacrifice they made in a selfless act of love.  Should we expect the resolution to all suffering and death to be unlike this kind of love? 

When any of us suffers a mere pinprick, we involuntarily recoil in pain.  What if Divine Love is willing to have a spike pounded through feet and wrists for our sake?  What if a Divine lover took suffering upon Himself to the point of being pierced by a lance unto death?  Would this not speak to our wounds and fear of the grave? Would it not make things more bearable until all is healed at the resurrection?   

Redemption can be found only in a sacrifice of supreme importance where we hear the words: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’ spoken amid the deepest agony.  They had to be spoken by the Divine Lover for victory over suffering and death to be accomplished.  

Do we have the integrity to respond to this kind of love, or do we fail to see the very thing by which we are redeemed?  Let’s look! 

Divine Love that is willing to go to such lengths is a frightening prospect for some people.  Why? Because of what it demands!  We fear it because we will be forced to look within our own hearts, and we are afraid of what we will find.  It means we will be forced to die to self.  Why do we fear dying to ourselves?  Because we love our sin!   

Furthermore, for this kind of love to have its way with us, we will need to dig deep to forgive offenses committed against us.  We will also have to ask forgiveness for the things we have done as well, and for some people this is just too much to ask.  We often don’t want to let go of hate because we love our hate.  It makes us feel alive, but it makes us its prisoner and always destroys the one who hates, not the one who is hated. 

The interesting thing is this: if we dig deep enough, we should be able to see we are not so unlike others, but there is something else.  If we can muster the courage to look inside our own heart we will recognize a basic goodness at our very core.  However, we find ourselves perplexed to discover this basic goodness is not enough to let us live our lives in peace.  There is something else at work.  We do the things we don’t want to do, and we don’t do the things we know we should do.  

There are times we don’t feel lovable, and there are times we don’t even feel capable of loving. We constantly find ourselves somewhere between rebellion and repentance, and we wonder why we are born into struggle we didn’t ask for; struggle that seems to have no meaning in it.  There are also times we feel completely isolated, so much so, we think no one can understand or even see our dilemma. 

What then, is this innate goodness we see in ourselves amid so much suffering and confusion?   What does it mean and what does it point to?  Is it the image of God in which we are made?  Or are we divine in our own nature?   

The answer to these questions is where we part ways in our search for happiness; the end of which can lead only to eternal joy or eternal suffering.   

Some people believe they can discover divinity in their own nature through methods, practices, meditations, and disciplines.  This is merely an attempt to have power over those things which would take away our happiness.  It is a self- defense mechanism for those who shut their eyes to the reality of their own sin because they do not want to face the unknown, and they don’t want accountability to God.   

The claim we are divine in our nature is a sign of pride and self-sufficiency that has its roots deep in impenitence.  Those who claim to be divine will accept only methods, or systems of self-redemption.  In short, it is a lust for, and a grasp at divinity, as we shall see.   

History itself shows that whenever and wherever the most fundamental tenets of right and wrong are violated, a debt must be paid for that violation. All cultures recognize this regardless of how they express it.  If the origin of all suffering is rooted in an original grasp at divinity, then there is a relationship between all debt, suffering, and death itself.  The obvious question then becomes, ‘Who, or what, caused all suffering and death to begin with’?   

Two Ultimate Views of Life 

We need to consider 2 views of life.  One of them will have its way with us while the other must move on.  They are: 

1) The recognition of a Creator of all that exists, and to whom all debt is owed; the Creator being the only one who can pay for that debt on His terms. This view of life would involve grace that removes sin and sanctifies us. For purposes of comparison let’s call those who embrace this view of life the sons and daughters, or the children of ADAM. 

2) There is no Divine Creator.  There is only one divinity which is nature itself.  He is in all things; He’s the wind, the sea, the earth, the trees, and the skies.  He is the sum total of all things in the cosmos, spiritual and otherwise.  All is ‘one’ and ‘divine’ in its nature, in its ‘absolute oneness.'   

It is not a theistic view of reality.  It regards all things to be an illusion, particularly evil, which must be stripped away before we can see the ‘divinity within us.’  We are all divine and we must pass through the Karmic process.   

Even ‘Self Identity’ is regarded as a temporary ‘illusion’ because it is regarded as imperfect and passing; it is in the way of reaching Nirvana, (The assertion that self-identity is an illusion reveals a grasp for a self-identity that is divine, with the power of self-redemption, rather than one that is human, and in need of redemption, grace, and repentance in order to be made perfect). 

Let’s call this second view, this ‘divine cosmos,’ COSMO.  He is the god of ‘self.'  He’s the ‘impersonal one.’  Those who embrace this view of reality we shall call the children of COSMO. 

It does not take long before something very interesting becomes apparent when we compare these 2 views of life.   

Those who embrace the 2nd view of life: the children of Cosmo are seen to be the pantheists that they are.  They are immediately faced with the first contradiction in their reasoning, and they need to be called on it because they get away with it far too often.  It needs to be debunked, and it is this: 

One the one hand you cannot say: 

A)        There is no creator of the cosmos who existed from all eternity because this would mean someone had to create God.  Therefore, there can be no God who existed from all eternity …,  

Then, on the other hand say: 

B)        Cosmo is absolute divinity who existed from all eternity because there is no creator who existed from all eternity.   

This reveals the children of Cosmo don’t really have any problem with something existing from all eternity.  After all, they claim Cosmo existed for all eternity.  They just don’t want God to have existed from all eternity.  

Their real problem is not whether something can exist from all eternity; their problem is a battle in their hearts over who is going to be God.  Is it going to be them, or God?  They don’t want a creator to exist because they don’t want to be accountable to anyone but themselves. 

Creation 

Furthermore, things don’t ‘will’ themselves into existence. The existence of everything is contingent upon the will of God not only to exist, but to remain in existence.   

Listen! Let’s cut the Baloney! No reasonable person says that something comes from nothing.  

In reason, we know it wasn’t ‘nothing’ that produced ‘something.'  

Out of ‘nothing’ comes ‘nothing,' but the existence of ‘something/anything’ means ‘something’ had to create it out of ‘nothing.' 

That which produced it cannot be ‘nothing,' it must be ‘something’ or ‘someone' and that something is God.   

It was He who called all things into being. It wasn’t any of us, and it wasn’t Cosmo. 

Let those who persist in claiming to be divine consider themselves invited to go to the ocean, stand on the shore and call out: ‘I command thee waters to turn into beer.’  Go and sip.  It looks like the supply of beer for the big party in hell won’t be showing up anytime soon.  It is not in Cosmo that we live, and move, and have our being.  It is in God alone.   Even cause and effect relationships point to this reality.  

Cause and Effect 

No reasonable person denies there had to be a cause that is uncaused, a cause that caused all cause-and-effect relationships to exist!   

Without uncaused cause, there could be no such thing as cause-and-effect relationships.  That uncaused cause is God.  

The children of Cosmo turn cause and effect relationships into moral predetermination in Karma, and they fail to acknowledge that cause and effect relationships really point to God who created all things.   

Consider for a moment, a golf ball on a tee.  Does anyone think the golf ball can launch itself for a hole in one 500 yards down line?  No reasonable person denies someone must hit the ball.  Furthermore, no one becomes divine if they step up to the tee and get a hole in one. 

Rather than being open to the true nature of things, the children of Cosmo prefer to go back in time through hypnosis and discover who they were (usually someone of royalty, hardly ever the baker or the candlestick maker), and from whence they have come to figure out what they did to deserve the sufferings in their present life. 

All their methods and systems of self-redemption are a misuse of things that God created, simply because they fail to acknowledge that God created whatever it is they use.  Their inability to see things for what they are is due to their own ignorance, folly, and pride.  Only God is divine, and without Him the children of Cosmo can’t define a single law that governs the universe.   

So then, why should there be a need for Karma? Why should there be a need for such things as Rebirth, Reincarnation, Enlightenment, or Nirvana?  As we examine these concepts it will become clear they are all bound to inherent contradictions within Cosmo, because the impenitent do not accept God as the Creator of all things. 

The children of Cosmo may not want to face questions about Karma, but questions need to be asked! 

Chapter 2 

Cosmo or Christianity 

Let’s be clear! No one gets a pass!  No one can act as though the origin of suffering does not matter, and no one is excused from facing the need to address it.  Anyone who is unwilling to face this cannot be taken seriously.  

The children of Cosmo look to past lives to hide the sins of their present life.   They appeal to ‘some other life’ as they try and swap the ‘known’ for the ‘unknown.'   

‘Past lives’ are a place to hide sin and accountability to God, just as Adam tried to hide when he sinned, but the children of Cosmo don’t want to go back ‘too far’ into past lives.  They don’t want to see what would come into focus 

They would be forced to look at the origin of all suffering, and they don’t want to do that because of what it would reveal about Karma, and all the rest of non-Christian, Eastern thought.  They would see Adam grasping at divinity, just as they do.  Karma is nothing more than sleight of hand because it is a necessary invention of the impenitent. 

When it comes right down to it, every one of us experiences suffering because of sin.  It does not matter if we are on the receiving end of sin, or the one sinning; all suffering had to have an origin that springs from an original misuse of free will.  It had to have an origin that does not make us morally predetermined, as is the case in Karma. There had to have been a genesis, a primal, or an original sin that did not take away the use of free will, and all the consequences that flowed from it.   

We still need to use our free will properly. Without free will, redemption would not be possible!  We must repent of our sin and accept the grace that is offered, and that requires the use of free will.  This is possible only for people who are not morally predetermined in Karma. 

At this point, we need to contrast some fundamental problems inherent in the Karmic Cosmo to some fundamentals of Christianity. 

In Christianity we see the origin of evil, suffering, and death is clearly addressed. It matches our own experience of reality whenever we sin or are sinned against. We see the consequences that come to us from original sin are identical with our personal experience of sin, and the consequences that flow from them.  This is not God’s fault, its man’s fault.  Adam sinned against his creator, and so do we. 

Christianity also tells us that Satan spoke to Adam saying: ‘You shall be as God.'  Some people regard this encounter between Adam and Satan as myth.  Do they become divine in doing so?  Have they removed suffering from life by regarding it as myth?  Have they accounted for the origin of all suffering and death in this world?  They still suffer, do they not? They will die one day, will they not?  Claiming to be a child of Cosmo does not exempt anyone from investigating why we suffer and die to begin with.   

To be Divine or not to be Divine 

In fact, by claiming to be divine in their own nature, and ‘one in being with all things in Cosmo,' the children of Cosmo have some explaining to do.  They must explain to the rest of us why they personally caused all the problems there are in life, and death itself.  Do they wish to deny they are the cause of all suffering and death?  

As we explore the contradictions inherent in Cosmo, we will see why they MUST be to blame for these things, for as long as they persist in claiming to be divine.   They will not be able to run and hide when blame is assigned, because, according to their own premise, there is nothing outside of Cosmo with whom they are ‘one.'   

These people need to know, if they meet eternity impenitent, grasping at divinity, what they will face is too horrible to consider.  Their lust for divinity will mirror the very thing that brought suffering and death into this world to begin with.  

Before we move on to consider the problems inherent in Cosmo, there is one more thing we need to consider, and it’s more significant than it may seem at first glance.  We must be mindful of our ‘need to belong.' What will we compromise to be ‘accepted and loved’?   

In the film, ‘Lord of the Rings’ we see a fantastic representation of the role that ‘vision’ plays in our life, and to the lives of future generations.  

Gollum, a reprobate, is leading Sam and Frodo through a forgotten marsh.  He says to them, ‘Don’t follow the lights or the hobbits will go down and make a light of their own.’  

There was a light, a flame next to each corpse that lay in the swamp in a long-forgotten place of battle. The flame represented the life of the individual that had died.  Frodo stopped and gazed at a corpse that was not unlike him in appearance.  He looked at the eyes of the dead one, and they began to glow as though they revealed the vision of life held by the one who had died. 

As Frodo gazed upon the glowing eyes, he was drawn down into the marsh where he landed on top of the corpse.  Frodo is seized with fear as the soul of the dead one, along with other departed souls, came to draw him down to the place of the damned.  If Frodo would follow the vision of life held by that corpse, he would have the same destiny of the damned.    

We need to think well on life because, in the end, we all go down to light a flame.  If the flame we light leads others to the myths of rebirth, reincarnation, enlightenment and Nirvana, we will be responsible for that.  We will all be responsible to the degree we reject what we should have embraced, and embraced what we should have rejected.  

We must not tire in the battle that rages for souls.  Perhaps we have abandoned the good fight because the struggles in life have been difficult. Maybe our vision of life has been dimmed.  Perhaps we feel it is too late for us to give ourselves back to God. We may find ourselves shaken, and tired from struggle and pain in our search for peace and happiness.   

We may feel alone in a crowd or at a party because we have lost our way in life.  Perhaps there is pressure from our peers that entices us to make choices not suited to what is most noble within us, but in all of us, one thing is constant; deep down in our guts, even though our very nature tells us we are worth something, we know we are not divine.   

Debtors we are, but the moon is not made of cheese, and our burden is not lifted by Cosmo.  It is lifted by God who is the creator of all that exists. God IS love!  What shape our gratitude will take depends on our response to His mercy, but in the end, we can be with Him in beatitude.  

We all possess the innate ability to SEE truth and recognize falsehood.  We can identify it, and we had better, because our immortal destiny is at stake.  We have only two choices; we must choose between Cosmo and God.  Better to be loved by God than to be a morsel on fire for someone who would devour us. 

Chapter 3 

By the Light of the Moon 

Two ultimate views of life were presented in the first chapter.  Let’s look at them considering something we are all familiar with:  The light of the moon.  By doing so, we can consider the origin of suffering, evil, and death. 

Consider the Case of Cosmo. 

Let a full moon represent divinity in all things where the divine Cosmo is all in all.  If Cosmo is divine, then at one time Cosmo was light without blemish.  It is a state of being and place of ineffable light without blemish.  The ‘sun’ is not the source of moonlight.  Moonlight glows from within the moon itself because the nature of the moon is divine.  There is no ‘creator,' and there is nothing outside of this ‘light’ in which all is ‘one.'   

If anyone claims to be divine in their nature, and one with all things, and that all things existed from all eternity, it means they had to be personally present within this light because nothing was created. The struggle to obtain enlightenment and Nirvana had not yet begun because there is only light and divinity.   

It is a state of being in which the fullness of light represents a state of primal or primordial innocence.  Those who claim to be divine had to be ‘one with Cosmo’ in this primal innocence.  There is no division, no breach within themselves or within Cosmo.  There is no need for Karma, no need for rebirth or reincarnation, no illusion, all is pure and clear.  

It must be the place and state of being that Buddhists, Hindus, and all other likeminded people seek because ‘they are returning to their true self.'  This must be the case, because, according to their belief, nothing exists outside of Cosmo.   

Does anyone dispute the children of Cosmo are trying to get back to ‘primal innocence’ which they seek in Enlightenment and Nirvana?  Hold on!  The Dalai Lama speaks of returning to a ‘natural state of innocence and peace.'  

Anyone familiar with his thoughts should know that, but is anyone willing to ask him why he is returning to some lost place, or state of being?  He is returning from where? When did you leave Dalai Lama?  Why did you leave? Who made you leave?  What were you when you left? What caused you to leave?  Who caused you to leave?  If all was peace, what caused you to lose your peace? If all was happiness, what happened to your happiness? If your natural state is innocence, what made you lose it?  If all that is good is our true and ‘natural state of being, why did you lose this natural state of being?  What happened to the full moon where all was light?  If you are divine, why then, did you create this mess for yourself and for everyone else, Dalai Lama? 

What does all this mean if you believe in Cosmo?  It means the original breach, the break with primordial innocence had to take place within Cosmo, and since nothing is outside of Cosmo, it means a breach is inherent in the very nature of Cosmo.   

The concept of Nirvana cannot be regarded as a distinct place, state of being, or entity, because that would go against the claim that ‘all is one.'  This means the concepts of Enlightenment and Nirvana are unattainable illusions that were constructed by the impenitent.  There can be no ultimate peace in that which has conflict inherent in its nature. 

Siddhartha Gautama is one such person who created these illusions.  He became known as ‘Buddha.’  He spoke of reality as ‘impermanent,' yet interconnected, and that we suffer because we desire transient things.   

He also taught we can be liberated from suffering by training our minds according to the laws of Karma, and with right action and proper choices, goodness will be our lot in the end.  They have become known as the ‘Four noble truths,' which are: 

1st Premise - Dukkha: that suffering is everywhere.  

Buddha’s default position does not look at the origin of how all suffering began.  He simply says suffering is everywhere.  Furthermore, life is not all about suffering.  It can have wonderful moments, and it can be filled with excitement.  The fact that Buddha focused on suffering was symptomatic of ignorance, and/or a guilty conscience.  He sees no other way to resolve suffering except by raising himself to the level of divinity that he may absolve himself for his own sins in Karma. 

2nd Premise - Samudaya: the cause of suffering is attachment to, or misplaced desires (tanha) that are rooted in ignorance.  

Buddha fails to explain how a misplaced desire can exist in a system of belief where ‘all is one.'  He fails to explain where that original misplaced desire came from. 

3rd Premise - Nirodha: We can escape suffering through Nirvana, the ultimate liberation.  

What is Buddha being liberated from? He can’t step outside of Cosmo to be liberated from suffering.   

We need to spend a moment on this.  The Apostle Paul told us the invisible God is known through His visible creation.  This applies to those who have not heard of Christ just as much as it does to the atheist.  No one is excused from acknowledging this reality.   Buddha will have none of this.  He turns to ‘transcendence’ within his ‘own divinity’ to absolve himself that he may be liberated from suffering. 

This is the equivalent of Adam trying to hide from God after he sinned.  At least Adam didn’t think he could redeem himself.   

Furthermore, the very notion of transcendence is impossible in Cosmo.  There can be no such thing as movement in something that is immutable, in something where ‘all is one.'   

Everyone has ‘transcendent’ moments in which we are elated by what we are experiencing.  To lose the sense of where we are in such moments, seemingly unaware of how much time has passed, does not make the experience ‘mystical,' nor does it make us divine.   

‘Experiences’ such as ‘Astral Travel’ do not reveal where someone is located (according to the laws of Karma) within the ‘Palace of Divine Justice’ in their quest to be liberated from suffering.  If a stray Pit Bull latched onto the derrieres of someone experiencing the wild blue yonder in Astral Travel, they would see how close they are to their body; they would be brought back to reality in a hurry.  Those who ‘experience’ such things as Astral Travel are being assisted with images and phantasms that are brought by demons.   

The children of Cosmo assume that when Christians speak of demons, it is because they cannot explain the phenomena of things like Astral Travel.  Do these people think they can travel beyond the contradictions inherent in Cosmo?  Never, and demons are real, and there is sufficient evidence for their existence and the power of the Cross over them! 

In addition, psychologists and neurologists have adequately explained how experiences such as Astral Travel are inappropriately considered mystical experiences.  They do not belong to the nature of the ‘miraculous.’  

There is no fleeing from God!  It is in Him we live and move and have our being.  We cannot flee the need to repent; we cannot flee our need for redemption.   

4th Premise - Maggo: The path, or way, that leads out of suffering is ‘The Noble Eightfold Path: right view, right thought, right speech, right conduct, right effort, right vocation, right attention and right concentration.'   

We see that Buddha fails once again to address the origin of all the problems we face.  He starts only where he finds himself in life.  His premise fails to point out there had to be an original ‘someone,' and that ‘someone’ had to have an original wrong conduct, with an original wrong view of things, based on an original thought about reality that was wrong, with speech that was originally wrong, by someone who originally put the wrong effort into a vocation or state of life (the attempt to be God), that originally concentrated on the wrong thing, and gave their original attention to something they shouldn’t have given it to.   Adam who? 

It can only mean that Cosmo is a false concept of divinity, and that man is not divine. It can only mean someone tried to be divine which brought suffering and death into the world.  What we are looking at here is the fall of man. 

Furthermore, Buddha regarded reality as impermanent.  If reality is impermanent there can be no such things as the ‘Four Noble Truths’ because the very nature of truth is that it’s unchanging, and therefore permanent.    

The children of Cosmo want us to allow contradictions in what they say for purposes of self-redemption.  How convenient is that?  They want to tell us: ‘There is no truth except the 4 Noble Truths, and nothing is permanent except these 4 permanent things.’  What they allow for themselves, they refuse for others, even when they are patently wrong in their system of belief. 

They take the absurdity even further when they fail to make the proper distinctions between body and soul, time and space, as well as energy and spirit. 

They enter esoteric syllogisms involving metaphysics where they try to explain virtue using material objects (which they say are not real) to give themselves the appearance of credibility and mystery.  They use ‘conceptual constructs’ which are normally ‘illusions’ except when ‘they’ are using them to teach. 

Theirs is a system of arguments and methods that have no basis in reality. They add failure on top of failure to blind themselves to the distinction between created reality and the reality of God.  They do this because they love their sin. 

Interconnectedness 

Imagine various countries on a joint venture building a space station.  The blueprints called for specific dimensions on the docking ports.  The space station is assembled only to find out the docking port on the space station was machined incorrectly, and no one can dock. The astronauts call down and say: ‘Houston, we have a problem. We have no interconnectedness.'  

‘Interconnectedness’ can never equal all things being ‘one in essence.'  Otherwise, there would have been no problem in docking in space.     

The attributes in any material, the shape of distinct essences, and the dimensions of them in terms of spatial extension, from non-being to being in their manifest form, demonstrates the fact that all dimensions and essences are not ‘one’ in being. All things simply exist simultaneously and the ‘inter’ in ‘connectedness’ can never make them ‘one.'  

Simultaneous existence of multiple things also cancels out the claim that all things are ‘one.'  Look at the claim itself: ‘ALL THINGS are one.'   

The children of Cosmo cannot even start to make their appeal that all things are one without first appealing to multiple things that simultaneously exist to make their claim to begin with.  Faced with this contradiction, they shut their eyes to reality and act as though it doesn’t matter.  They are going to make their case no matter what. 

Yes, it’s easy to go around with a flower in your hair and say, ‘all things are interconnected.’  This may have broad appeal in an age where a ‘group hug’ means everything to some people, but dancing under the moonlight will never make anyone divine.    

It comes down to this: There is no such thing as ‘interconnectedness’ in a single essence.  You must have two or more things existing at the same time for interconnectedness to be possible.    

The claim that ‘all things are one’ is just one example of a cheap, typical, metaphysical construct with an embedded contradiction inherent in it.  The claim that ‘all things are one’ has no basis in reality. 

Is there any surprise the children of Cosmo don’t want us to get that ‘technical’ about life?  Of course they don’t want us to, because they want us to allow the absurd.  They want us to embrace their contradictions so we can celebrate their impenitence with them.    

When the foolishness of their belief is exposed for what it is, they proceed to tell us we are missing the ‘spirit’ of what they are saying.   What spirit?  Whose spirit, the spirit of Cosmo? What is the evidence of the spirit of Cosmo?  Is the evidence a summary of the contradictions inherent in a concept that is not reality based?  Is the meaning of ‘spirit’ now to mean nothing more than someone’s emotional appeal that we accept something that is untrue?  How low do these people expect us to go? 

It is the failure to acknowledge that God created all things that ‘inspires’ people to come up with a twisted understanding of ‘One-ness.’ It is impenitence that drives them to make the claim that reality is impermanent and an illusion, as we shall see later. 

Jealousy 

The children of Cosmo prefer to call reality an ‘illusion’ because they are jealous of God.  They are jealous He can create things and hold them in existence, and they cannot.  They play marbles with reality to the point where they speak like people who lost their marbles. 

The thought of their own limitations and sins are so repugnant to their pride and ego, they end up fighting against a ‘self-identity’ that is not divine.  They simply cannot stand the thought of not being divine.  Rather than repent of their sin, they prefer to reduce the sight of this ‘imperfect self’ to a point where they call their own ‘self-identity’ an illusion. They cannot flee from their sins by doing this.  This does not give them absolution, but they will fight within themselves, and with others, in their demand to have redemption on their own terms. They aren’t God YET, but just give them time and they will be, just wait and see!   

Such is the mind of the deluded person who persists in grasping at divinity.  Pride, ignorance, and impenitence have become welded together in their heart and mind.  It is an unholy alliance, an unholy trinity as it were, that has blinded them.  What comes from their mouths is so foolish the word ‘absurd’ would be insulted if it were a person, but they don’t stop there.  If their ‘self-identity’ is an illusion because it is imperfect, then all reality must be an illusion because they regard it as imperfect, too.  This is the classic: ‘Misery loves company’ syndrome.  They don’t want ‘and illusory self-identity’ to be left alone amid reality.   

For the moment, it’s sufficient to say that everyone has their own self-identity, and it’s the same self-identity they will always have.   We will die one time only after which comes judgment, and there we will learn if we have received salvation or condemnation.  This is the reality we face and there is no illusion in it.  The only illusion worth mentioning is the Karmic process which is a vain attempt to avoid this reality. 

It’s embarrassing to watch people bow down to Cosmo.  They hail Karma as though it were the Word of Cosmo who became incarnate from the bosom of Nirvana.   

The lamentations about suffering that come from Cosmo’s kids have less to do with suffering than it does about grasping at divinity.  If they turn to Christ, reality will welcome them back, otherwise, good luck to these people.  Anyone who dies grasping at divinity will feel God’s ‘Smite Button,' and oh, by the way, it’s on His desk right next to His ‘Easy Button.' 

Who turned out the light? 

Buddhists, Hindus, and all other likeminded people are trying to get back to their ‘original state of innocence’ in Nirvana, or whatever else they want to call it.  They want to get back to the light that was lost!  Well, that poses lots of problems for these people because Nirvana would have to be tied to the loss of light in Cosmo.   

The loss of light would have to be the equivalent of the different phases of light found in Karma after the original fullness of light in Nirvana was lost.  It can only mean defects such as pain, suffering, sickness and death are connected to the loss of light.  

The different degrees of light within Karma stand as testimony against Nirvana because there should not be and cannot be gradation of light in anything where there is only the essence of ‘one.’  This means the concepts of Karma and Nirvana mutually cancel each other out. 

The children of Adam are expected to make a defense of Christianity every single day.  Well, if the worldlings expect the children of Adam to account for what we suffer, the children of Cosmo don’t get a pass.   

Consider first the Case of Adam  

The children of Adam more than adequately account for suffering and death.  Look at Adam in terms of light.  It’s a time before the fall of man when there was no evil, no division, no rebellion, and there was no sin. It is a time before sickness, suffering, and death began. These sorrows came into the world because of Adam’s rebellion against God.  After he sinned, all is not light, and because of him we all stand in need of redemption and grace.   

If God decided to let all things he created drop out of existence, God would still be God because God is ‘other’ than what he created.  This is why it is impossible for the sin of Adam to enter the nature of God. 

Consider the case of Cosmo 

The failure to acknowledge that man’s sin cannot enter the nature of God, and the claim that man himself is divine, are what give birth to the concept of Yin Yang.   If there is no creator, and if man is divine in his nature, then sin has nowhere to go.  This would mean sin is inherent in man’s nature, and therefore the nature of Cosmo, because in Cosmo, there is no distinction between the nature of man and the nature of divinity. 

Whatever is inherent in the nature of anything is identical with that very thing; it defines the thing.  This means redemption is not possible within Karma because sin, sickness, suffering and death are inherent in Cosmo.   

This produces a dilemma in man because he needs to be absolved.  He cannot rest, so he goes within himself and creates a system of self-redemption which gives birth to Karma.  This cancels out the concept of Karma.   

We need to look closer at what can only be called a ‘primordial breach.' 

The Primordial Breach and Suffering 

It is important to understand that Karma is a concept that comes into play AFTER something originally happened.  It’s a progression of events that can point only to a time when primal innocence, or the natural state of innocence, was lost in a primordial breach.  We will investigate this further, but no one can say ‘all is one’ before the breach and ‘all is not one’ after the breach.  Both positions cannot be equally true. 

A primordial breach means there had to be a point in time when this natural state was lost.  This points to the time of Adam’s original sin. 

If Cosmo were real, it would mean the loss of this natural state of being would be an eternal repetition within Cosmo, thereby rendering Nirvana to be an impossible concept. The moment anyone reached Nirvana they would be thrust back into the amnesia region of Cosmo which is Karma.   

The fact that Karma and Nirvana are both concepts that cancel each other out renders this inherent problem in Cosmo, if he were real, to be an eternal repetition of the same.   

This points to something else.  It points to Adam’s inability to redeem himself.  It speaks of the necessity of grace to be freed from eternal damnation, not eternal repetition in a false divinity. 

Adam’s original innocence was meant to be his natural state of being.  It would have remained so had he not sinned, but when he sinned, he did not lose his reality.  He walked away from grace and lost his peace and happiness.   

We can return to happiness and peace only if God makes it possible. That is why the only way to happiness is through redemption in Christ. 

When He takes on the consequences for our sin He obtains a victory over them for us.  We can have life in Him and share in His victory over these things because sin did not enter His divine nature.  It takes real divinity to crush sin and death.  He is the Lamb of God and the Light of the world. 

Satan, the ape, appears as an angel of light and offers light in enlightenment.  He holds open the door of darkness, which is enlightenment and Nirvana, for all who wish to enter.  This is why self-redemption in any method, any discipline, and any concept bound to Cosmo leads through a one-way door of suffering in eternity.   

The primordial breach, the fall of man, is the only time we see the ‘opening’ of someone’s eyes that resulted in a loss of vision.  Buddhists, and all other children of Cosmo, who claim to be divine embrace that lost vision and call it divine insight.  These people are the architects of impenitence posing as men of wisdom.    

The concept of Cosmo is the place where the impenitent dwell.  It is the land of masochism, and a masochist’s concept of divinity.  It is a place where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.   

It is impossible to speak of people who claw and grasp at divinity as people of ‘good will.'  They are not ‘good people’ who would tell others they are also divine in their own nature.  They are just trying to get others to join in on the rebellion. 

The difference between the repentant children of Adam and the children of Cosmo rests only in the fight over who is going to be God. 

Chapter 4 

Is the Man in the Moon Conscious? 

Innocent Consciousness 

When the wonder and beauty of creation unfolds before a child, we do not hear the child say: ‘I am God.'   A child would say: ‘Who made me? Who made the sun and the stars?  Who made the birds? Who made the earth’? 

These astute, innocent questions reveal an innate awareness that there must be a Creator. This is pure contact with reality that shuts nothing out. It is innocent reason and consciousness not yet touched by the perversion that anything of the universe could be self-made. It is innocent realization that creation could not have existed from all eternity, or that anything in existence is an illusion or divine in its nature. Furthermore, the child’s self-awareness is cognizant that it did not create itself, and the things the child is inquiring about. 

Twisted Understanding of Consciousness 

The children of Cosmo pervert what it means to be a ‘conscious’ being because they have lost their innocence.  When there is a shift from that childlike innocence to the perverted notion that man is himself divine, he has not only lost the common sense of a child, but he has also become confused in his own reasoning. When we look out upon the material universe, we see existing things that inform our senses of what they are.  Their existence does not depend upon our affirmation, or will, for them to exist. 

It is the same with consciousness. Our consciousness was created by God, and it does not depend on our affirmation, or will, to exist.  It is simply a gift from God.   

This means our consciousness cannot be divine.  Our consciousness is absolute fact, but we come to know things we did not know, one at a time.  This means our soul is not divine because if it were, it would have universal consciousness, and we would know all things simultaneously.   It also means that ‘knowing’ is a faculty and capacity in the soul. 

Simultaneous existence and simultaneous consciousness do not equal shared essence or consciousness. 

We are aware of ‘self’ and ‘other’ things, but we do not lose ‘self’ in the knowing of other things.  Consciousness of ‘other’ and ‘self’ is simply the nature of consciousness.  The awareness that all things exist simultaneously does not make all things, including consciousness, ‘one’ with all things.  That is why we can come to know other things, one at a time.  That is why the discovery of things is possible; and it makes mystery exciting. 

Furthermore, to be conscious of the universe does not mean the universe is conscious of YOU.  The man in the moon is not conscious of you because the man in the moon is not real.  It is a hunk of matter floating in space. 

We are conscious of each other, but we are ‘other.’  An ‘absolute, one, divine, infinite consciousness’ is possible only for God.  In Karma, man’s hope to be ‘one’ with ‘absolute’ consciousness is evidence that man is jealous of God.   

The concept of the ‘consciousness of Cosmo’ is a mere projection of man’s own self-consciousness onto all things.  It is his attempt to be God, and he fantasizes this makes him ‘one with all things.’  It is a fantasy world without a creator, and every time he suffers, it should be regarded as a wakeup call to shake himself from his stupor. 

Listen up children of Cosmo!  All things do not exist in your head.  Your own head can only be known in relation to things outside your head.  So, dust out the cobwebs and get real.  You are not going to bump into one of your thoughts and cut yourself any time soon! 

Those who claim to be divine in their consciousness have failed to recognize they have projected their own self-consciousness into things that are known and into the mystery of the unknown.  Well, if these people talk to Mr. Squirrel, Mr. Squirrel is not going to talk to them any time soon.  The squirrel’s instinct may regard such a person as the mother of all nuts and want to take them home to be their ‘dinner.'  

These people are vacillating between a failure to keep in mind that simultaneous existence never equals shared essence, and so it is with their own consciousness.   Individual consciousness never merges with other realities, it is simply aware of self and other things.    

If a person walks towards a cliff with their eyes closed, they will soon look like the famous Coyote in the ‘Road Runner’ who goes over the edge.  There would be a puff of dust when they hit, but the fact they were not aware of the cliff would not stop them from going over. 

Cosmo has Amnesia 

There are more problems that show up for those who seek Nirvana, or for those into Karma 

If there was such a thing as ‘Universal Consciousness’ in Cosmo, reincarnation would not be needed to access consciousness from past lives.  Why?  Because there would be no ‘amnesia’ in the universal consciousness of the ‘divine Cosmo’!  There would be no barriers to ultimate consciousness imposed by rebirths in time and space. There would be no ignorance of anything!  

Anyone who claims to be divine in their nature could only dwell in the amnesia region of Cosmo’s consciousness because they find themselves in a phase of Karma, and not Nirvana.  They would be doomed to perpetually dwell in eternal repetition of suffering and death. 

Furthermore, the mere fact that billions of people were created and given consciousness by God, never produces a convergence into ‘one’ ultimate consciousness in being. 

If you are someone who regards yourself as divine, why aren’t you absorbed into ‘ultimate Consciousness’ this very moment as YOU read this?   It is because you are not omniscient, and you are not omnipresent. You are finite in knowledge, and you are not divine.  You can’t even hold your own bowels beyond their limit.  Coffee smells good in the morning, folks, don’t miss it.  It’s time to wake up and smell the coffee. 

The State of Being is Immutable 

If you cut something in half, it does not half exist, and each half fully retains its wholeness.  This means the state of being itself is immutable.  You cannot cut the state of being in half.   It is impossible for something to exist and not exist at the same time no matter how much you dice it up.   

Spiritual entities are not mutable because they have no parts.  Their essence is a single essence. 

Unity 

The search for ‘unity’ in ‘plurality’ in Cosmo is impossible.   If all is ‘one’ there can be no such thing as plurality of essence.   We can never ‘bond’ with anyone in a quest to merge into some sense of fraternal ‘One-ness.' All obstacles to unity are rooted in sin.   

Anyone who believes they are divine in their own nature can never have a proper understanding of unity. 

Beauty 

Beauty in the hierarch of being is twisted by the children of Cosmo because the love letter of God’s creation is regarded as an illusion!   

Whenever reality is exchanged with delusion, mystery is turned into myth and beauty can never be appreciated for what it is.   

The consequences for regarding creation itself as an illusion are punishments in the form of mistrust and skepticism.  Reality will not bend to such people.  It is no wonder the search for meaning becomes rabid in the pitiful cult of self. 

What was Cosmo Thinking? 

We see the very opposite of ‘divine mind’ when the children of Cosmo speak of obtaining a ‘state of mind’ where they dwell upon nothing.   They seek to dwell upon nothing so the mind can dwell upon all things, simultaneously.  This is where the twist shows up. First, in their efforts to think of nothing they are aware that they are thinking of nothing, elsewise they would be dead. And when they come out of their “nothingness thinking” they are aware they came out of where their head was, namely, square on top of their shoulders.  

These people will never be able to dwell upon all things simultaneously.  However, this does show they are not ignorant of the fact that multiple things exist simultaneously.   

The very quest to dwell on nothing so they can dwell on all things says they are not dwelling on all things.  This means they are not divine.  If they were, there would be no quest.  They cannot say ‘all things are one’ when they are in the very act of attempting to dwell on ‘other things.'  

Has anyone asked the ‘divine consciousness of Cosmo’ what he was dwelling upon when he it caused a breach within himself?  One can almost see Bazooka Joe as the face of Cosmo, with a bubble gum bubble that popped all over his face, and it’s not the sound of a big bang. 

Conceptual Thinking and the Masochist 

Just as a person’s reflection in a mirror is not aware of the person looking into it, in the same manner, the mind of man does not reflect anything other than being made in the image and likeness of God.   

To regard conceptual thinking as something that is ‘lesser,' or illusory, because it is regarded as ‘less than being in the state of enlightenment’ is pitiful.  Why?  Because if Cosmo were real, it was ‘he’ who assigned us conceptual thinking when he sinned against himself. 

Anyone that regards conceptual thinking as ‘lesser’ knowing, and/or evil, cannot point to Cosmo as the solution.  If there is nothing outside of Cosmo, then conceptual thinking had to come from, and is contained within the ‘original mind’ they call Cosmo.  If these people really are one with Cosmo, why did they give themselves senses and limit themselves to conceptual thinking if they regard those senses as something to shed, or to rise above?  

It is on the children of Cosmo to explain why Cosmo brought conceptual thinking and Karma into being.  You may hear them trumpet a new slogan, ‘to being or not to being,' this BEING the position! Here again, we see Adam’s sin which resulted in a loss of vision at work in those who continue trying to be divine.   

Listen!  Cosmo has no face, and he has no mind or consciousness.  He is a phony and a usurper.  It is the children of Cosmo who are the usurpers because it is they who are at war with their own senses.  It is they who regard all things as an illusion and impermanent, and why?  It is because they are impenitent; and they turn reality into masochism because they refuse redemption in Christ!  These people are willing to do violence to reality because they love their sin!   

Cosmo is no more real and divine than the man in the moon is a man.  If you embrace Cosmo, it is YOU who are the masochist. 

The original Dirty Deed 

When we look at Adam, we clearly see he has a body that is not an illusion, and a soul that is not divine.  We, his children, are aware of our limitations, our defects, our insufficiencies, and sin at work in both body and soul.  We see this in ourselves, and we see it in others. 

For suffering and death to have a ‘beginning’ there had to be someone who made a ‘conscious decision,’ and it had to involve a choice between ‘right and wrong.'  This means someone’s ‘free will’ had to be involved, and it had to be a choice that was rooted in rebellion.  It can ONLY mean someone was answerable to someone else.   This means the choice had to be made by someone other than God, and the consequences of that choice had to have a relationship to the suffering and death that we all experience.  What does all this point to?  It points to Adam, not Cosmo. 

The concept of Cosmo is a punishing, masochistic, narcissistic, amnesiac, tortured, ego driven, jealous, and indeed satanic concept of divinity.  All of this began with Adam in his attempt to be God and it is alive in those who claim to be divine. 

Chapter 5 

Virtue turned into Vice 

Free will and Unity 

Mistaken Notions 

VIRTUE TURNED INTO VICE 

Christ told us the life within us is worth more than the clothing we wear.  Since the word ‘clothing’ was used by the Lord, let it be representative of all material things.  Let His words speak about ‘desire.' 

The children of Cosmo stand opposed to Christ because they want to talk about their own divinity, and not the life within them which He gave to them.   They think they are equal to Jesus Christ in all respects.  They think they are divine in their own nature, and they deny their existence comes from Him.   

Are these people, ‘good people,' on their way to the Father? No way! Christ said: ‘No one comes to the Father, except through ME,’ and: ‘I am THE WAY,' not, ‘A WAY’! 

If it is evil to covet another person’s spouse and goods, what is it to covet divinity under the guise of ‘practicing virtue’?  It is guile, and it is utter blasphemy! 

Virtue becomes vice whenever anyone opts for self-redemption, and those who do so wish to draw others into a labyrinth of sophisms to take their eyes off the only thing that matters.  They want us to take our eyes off Christ. 

Desire 

The ‘desire’ to accumulate things such as money, and crypto is the downfall of an unbridled person.  Such people can never have enough.  Does this mean anyone who sheds the desire to accumulate things is virtuous?  No! Not at all!   

Is a person who sheds the ‘desire for things’ virtuous if the goal is to see their own divinity?  Never!  These people are more destructive to themselves, and to others, than anyone who has the deepest desire to accumulate any number of things.   

Satan is on the sidelines cheering for those who claim to be divine because they can never have enough of their own divinity.  They are gluttons for punishment, and he is waiting for them. 

Happiness and Gratitude 

Happiness is indeed found in being grateful for things, and we are better persons for it, but gratitude must be rooted in reality if it is to bear fruit in eternity. 

Everyone knows what it feels like to be in awe of something.  In such moments, a sense of gratitude is evoked from deep within us, but why should the children of Cosmo be grateful for anything, or be in awe of anything?  They are the ones who tell us ‘All things are an illusion’!  Why should they be grateful for deception?  Is happiness to be found in that?  Never! 

Humility and Self-Centeredness 

Buddhists claim self-centeredness is the root of unhappiness; that it blocks the road to enlightenment, and that’s why the practice of self-denial is important.  No one can be more self-centered than those who claim they are divine in their own nature, thereby making themselves equal to God.   

Compassion, Mercy, and Kindness 

Being merciful, compassionate, and forgiving towards others will never bring us to a vision of our own divinity in Nirvana.  We are not divine!   

Patience 

Everyone develops ways to deal with struggles, but patience is never a test of our ‘divinity.'  Patience, for the sake of ‘better karma,' never makes anyone divine.  

Generosity 

Generosity will never make us divine.  The desire to hear the sound of one’s own generosity as their coin drops into a bucket labeled ‘field of merit,’ is like trying to buy divinity.  We are not the givers of all that is good. 

It’s always interesting to see how expedient it is for the children of Cosmo to speak of suffering as a ‘reality’ when they want us to see their generosity.  They conveniently forget to call it an ‘illusion’; they conveniently forget being ‘one with Cosmo’ makes them the cause of all suffering and inequality to begin with. 

Chastity and Abstinence 

Advocates of non-Christian, Eastern Religions have pounced on the failure of marriage in the western world as evidence their views of life are superior to western values.  

The decline in family life has nothing to do with a failure to see divinity within us.  It has everything to do with a society that has turned away from God.  So goes the family, so goes the nation. 

Marital bonds should exceed any level of intimacy this side of heaven.  A couple must seek to discover and live with God who wishes to dwell in them.  This kind of discovery, and love, makes marriage what it is supposed to be.   

There is a world of difference in saying that God dwells within us, and the claim that we are ‘divine in our own nature.'   

God comes to dwell within us, as He promised, but we never become divine in our own nature when He comes to us.  The blurring of this distinction is the work of Satan.  His goal is to destroy a proper understanding of love within a community of persons.   Marriage is supposed to reflect love found in the community of persons in the Most Holy Trinity.   

Our hearts were made by God as a place for Him to dwell within us.   Our hearts should not be like an ‘Inn' where there is no room for Him to live within us.  The claim that we are divine in our own nature slams the door on His face. 

The total destruction of the meaning of marriage would take place if husband and wife give themselves over to non-Christian religions found throughout the East.  If they seek to discover ‘their own divine nature’ in each other, and that of their children, they would be better off if they had a great millstone tied around their neck, and hurled into the sea, rather than leading the little ones astray.  Non-Christian religions, and codes of ethics throughout the East, are no measure of what marriage is supposed to be.  They may endure, but only for a time. 

Those who regard romance itself as something excessive have been deceived by Eastern ways that are not Christian.  A chaste love is required in marriage because it protects the couple from seeing each other as objects in romance, but that is very different from celibacy.  Celibacy is not for those who are married.   

Non-Christian religions undermine the balance and gift of total self-giving in marriage.  There have been Buddhas who left wife and children at home when they took off to discover their ‘divinity' leaving a trail of broken people behind them. 

Society 

Non-Christian religions undermine ‘the experience’ of relating to all people.  It renders meaningless the command of Christ to love one another in Him.  Nothing matches the delicacy of genuine intimacy that is made complete in Christ.   

To regard the society of persons as ‘divine’ in itself, rather than society made up of individuals, who are made in the Image of God is a device of Lucifer.  He has convinced many people to believe if we are ‘good people’ we are good members of society, and all is fine.  He has successfully inspired people to make them think the purpose of Christianity is secondary to the ‘higher calling' which is to be a ‘good person’ without ever defining what a ‘good person’ is.  No one in a politically correct society is ‘allowed’ to define just what that is, but many people no longer feel being saved by Christ is essential.   This is how Lucifer uses non-Christian religions to wage war against Christianity in society. 

Suppression of the Inordinate 

No matter how diligent or how successful anyone is in their attempts to suppress the inordinate, they will never obtain enlightenment, they will never reach Nirvana, and they will never be ‘divine.'   

To reach ‘enlightenment’ is to reach interior delusion and deception that has no connection to external reality.  Anyone who seeks divinity in their own nature needs to discover their true self with all its emptiness and poverty.  Most importantly, they need to see how deep the need for repentance is within their miserable souls.   

State of Mind 

It is useless to shut out reality in the name of virtue.  The children of Cosmo regard whatever we experience in life, and how we handle it, as a ‘state of mind.'  They are in for a big disappointment.  Happiness and redemption are not to be found in choosing a state of mind.  No matter how much you try to convince yourself that you are at peace, you will never be divine, and you will never be redeemed by it. 

Even an atheist who rejects any kind of divinity can live a ‘virtuous’ life according to the natural law, but they are not saved by doing so, and it doesn’t help anyone.  Imagine an atheist holding the hand of a dying person and saying ‘I hope it doesn’t hurt too much. You will feel better after you die.'  The atheist promises the dying person they will feel better after they die but does not believe this because he does not believe the person will feel anything after they die.  He ‘comforts’ the person, hoping to take away the misery of dying and fear of death.   

The children of Cosmo, however, are worse than the atheist.  They would bring us to eternal suffering by claiming we are divine.  They may not want to admit this, but anyone who tells us we are divine in our nature attempts to live out the lie once whispered by Lucifer to Adam when he said: ‘You will be divine, you will be as God.' 

Mystery 

Real mystery is meant to draw us in and fulfill us.  It excites our nature and moves us to be in awe of something greater than ourselves.  There is a sense of happiness bound up in it, and it supports virtue which makes us thrive.   

Happiness can never be found in claiming to be divine because there is no mystery in it.  It is evil, and the children of Cosmo see mystery where there is no mystery to hail their views of life as virtuous.  They do not see that we are fearfully and wonderfully made.   

Nobility 

Cosmo’s kids also talk about the nobility of our humanity when it suits their purposes.  They will say: ‘We are brothers. Let us be at peace with each other, and merge in our ultimate oneness in the absolute Cosmo.'  There can be no merging of anything if everything is already ‘one.' 

Furthermore, these are the same people who tell us our humanity is an illusion.   

They appeal to the ‘nobility of our soul’ as evidence of our ‘divine nature.'  Yes?  Let them turn the ocean into beer!  They tell us we bind at the deepest level in our own ‘souls’ and differences in creed should not be an obstacle to unity.  This is utopian relativism.   

Utopian 

Such utopian ideas are merely desires for peace without responsibility, choices without consequences, and accountability to self rather than to God.  It is much like it was for Adam when he tried to be God.   

No one can appeal to the complexity of life as an excuse to do whatever they want to do.  Those who attempt to do so are the ones who turn values upside down. No matter what problems there are in life, there are no solutions in Cosmo.  It’s a waste of time to develop methods to deal with suffering when those methods do not address the reality of where all suffering began.  

If we hope to get along with each other, if we hope to understand what it takes to see each other as fellow human beings in travail, we must first acknowledge that all our problems are rooted in Adam’s sin, and no one is exempt! 

Look at Gandhi.  He is hailed as a great world leader, yet he was confronted with the same contradictions as everyone else who claims to be divine in their own nature.  When he looked around at suffering, he too complained about the burden of reincarnation.  He had no answers to the fundamental contradictions in his belief.   

Neither Gandhi, nor any child of Cosmo are excused from taking a good hard look around them and account for suffering.   

Let all the ‘peace loving’ children of Cosmo turn their eyes from ‘their own divinity,' and take a good hard look at what a grasp for divinity has done.   

Let them look at all the filth and squalor in the world.  Look at the gangs, and the drugs, and the violence. Take a good look at the heartbreaks, the rapes, the confusion, the sorrows, the loneliness, and the emptiness in so many lives.  Look at the alcoholic on the park bench, or a person lying in the streets.  Look at all the wars, insurrections, and violence of all kinds throughout all of history.  

Look at the madness of suicide bombers, the victims, and unspeakable things done in the name of religion; streets filled with blood in war torn history.  Look at babies born with AIDS and diseases from crack addicted mothers. Look at the horrible suffering of abused children.  Look at the sorrows in divorce and broken relationships.  Look at the infirmities of the aged and all manner of affliction that people suffer.   

Let them look at all these things and put their head up high in their claim to be divine.  Let them be proud of it because they have caused all of this.  It is their doing because they are ‘one’ with Cosmo.  It is better to see their faces, so we know who the lunatics are.  

Do they really think calling suffering an ‘illusion’ allows them to turn their heads away from these evils as though they don’t exist, as though they don’t have to be accounted for?  

If they are divine, then divinity is the enemy.  Do not just say there is suffering in life Mr. Siddhartha Gautama.  Account for it! 

The bottom line is this: these people love their sin more than they love reality.   

Do they wonder why the children of Adam tap their fingers in boredom when they make their sales pitch for Cosmo?  There was a time fools would say ‘God is dead.'  That is no longer the claim.  In our day, everyone and their brother is a divinity.   

The politically correct might be tempted to say it’s mean spirited to blame the children of Cosmo for all the ills in the world, but since when does fantasy keep them from accounting for all we suffer?  Since when does fantasy keep Christ in check? 

Furthermore, the children of Cosmo are the first ones to blame the God of Adam for all the evils in the world; the very God who they deny exists!  Do they get a pass, or do they have to explain how they can point their finger at God and blame Him when they deny His very existence?  Pointing their finger at a God who they don’t believe exists leaves them with 3 fingers pointing back at them. This is why they are not excused from explaining the origin of all sorrows, and death itself. 

Pacifism 

The children of Cosmo are prone to being pacifists because they fall into a sort of quietism when they suffer an injustice.   

They believe any response to injury would only bring on more injustice and suffering that would not have occurred had they not responded.   

Consider two things about pacifism. 

First - We are not called to be pacifists. A response to injustice is appropriate, and in fact, in some cases it’s obligatory. 

Suppose a criminal enters someone’s home and tells the father of a family that he is going to rape the man’s wife, and after her, all their children.  Then he is going to kill them one by one; and after he is done, he is going to kill the father.   

What is the father of that family called to do?  Is he called to pacifism as the higher way to see enlightenment?  Would the husband not be within his rights, and indeed would it not be his obligation to stop the criminal, even if it required a death blow to the criminal to stop him?  If a man would do nothing to defend his wife, his children, and his own life, he is less than a man.   

Any man who does not wish to remain a bachelor better not reveal to a prospective spouse he would prefer to be a pacifist in such a situation.  That kind of man would be a bachelor for a very long time.   

Second – Turning away from any offence to progress towards enlightenment is self-deception.   

Do not look to Christ to justify pacifism.  Christ Himself said: ‘If a robber was coming to your house, and you knew it, would you not stop him?’  He is no pacifist. 

If we do not have a heart to love what Christ did for us, then we do not have a heart open to wisdom and understanding.  We would not understand the suffering of our brother, and we would not understand ourselves.  We would not understand self-inflicted suffering, and ultimately, our pride would lead us to self-inflicted suffering for all eternity.  

No Transformation 

It is impossible to argue for ontological transformation within Cosmo. Defect within Cosmo can never be removed by anything within Cosmo.   Any suggestion that suffering can be transformed through biochemical or neurological response misses the point entirely.  To argue for transformation is to argue against Cosmo because transformation is impossible if all is ‘truly one.'  

Furthermore, transformation and adaptation can never produce sanctification.  There is no merit, and there is no Grace in it.   

FREE WILL AND UNITY 

Unity is not possible in the essence of ‘one.' It is possible only between two or more things. Furthermore, when we speak about ‘unity’ it means we are talking about the use of ‘free will.'  There is no unity, or lack of unity, between two stones sitting on the ground.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out they don’t have free will. 

Free will brings the children of Cosmo to another dilemma.  If they are going to persist in claiming that all is ‘one’ then it can only mean, there is only one free will.   

All cannot be ‘one’ if there is more than ‘one’ free will.  If there is only ‘one’ free will, it can only mean the ‘one’ with ‘free will,' i.e., Cosmo, choose to inflict all suffering, and death.  

Furthermore, there can be no opposite wills if all is ‘one.'  The fact that we suffer and die because of someone’s use of free will means there had to be contrary wills that brought about suffering and death.  This means someone was answerable to someone else; otherwise, there would have been no consequences for a decision that was made.   

It also means the person who committed the violation was aware the decision they were about to make would have consequences.  This can only mean the one who committed the violation was not suffering, or subject to death ‘before’ they decided to go against an ultimate authority that would render consequences for the decision.  The consequences came about ‘after’ the ‘known’ violation and not ‘before.'   

This is what makes Karma laughable; there is no justice in consequences for things you did but cannot remember.  It turns suffering into dumb anguish and renders any corrective action meaningless.  

MISTAKEN NOTIONS 

Genetics and Physical Suffering 

Birth defects were considered a result of bad Karma before we understood genetic defects.  If Cosmo is your God, if you are divine, you are the cause of birth defects.  After all, there is nothing other than Cosmo. 

Prodigy 

In days gone by, extraordinary talents and wisdom were alleged to be proof of reincarnation and child prodigies were considered to be evidence of this.  With advances in modern medicine, we can now locate centers in the brain that account for prodigy. Furthermore, no prodigy is exempt from suffering and death in the concept of Cosmo. 

Spiritual Deception 

Satan knows the details of everyone’s life.  He can impress an image into someone’s mind about experiences, or something physical from the life of others who lived many centuries ago.  Convinced they’ve had former lives, those who give themselves over to things such as hypnosis, may hop on a plane and find the physical ‘evidence’ of what was revealed to them in their vision.  They turn and say: ‘Voila!  There is the proof they’ve had former lives.’ 

First, they were duped by a demon.  He tapped into their weakness that may have been a bad self-image, and by convincing them they’re from royalty he validates their ‘self-worth.'  Nevertheless, pride is still at work in these people, and it reveals their pride and quest of self-importance.  They do not want to see what it means to be a child of God, because they love their sin, and avoid repentance.   

Secondly, it does not do away with all the problems inherent in Cosmo. 

They Dance with the Demons 

The self-absorbed who wish to dance with entities also claim to have communications with them.  The spirits claim to be sages, and spirits of wisdom, that have gained wisdom over the ages which they wish to impart to mankind.  The willing dupes offer themselves to demons and become ‘channels of light.'   

Elitists 

There is also a pecking order in Karma, and the elitists let us know who they are.  Those in Scientology feign to have a proper and ‘mature’ understanding of reincarnation which does not include coming back in the form of bugs, and other such things.  They believe they are reborn into another body, and they believe this protects the ‘integrity’ of their doctrine.  They need to put down their E-Meters and get real. 

The Charlatans 

There is a fortune to be made in therapy by ‘solving problems’ related to ‘past lives.' Spiritualists, and those who attempt to communicate with the dead while in altered states of consciousness, have opened themselves up to demons. 

Conjecture and Satanic Inspiration 

The idea that someone can die and can inhabit the body of their own child before it is born, is fundamentally impossible. The child already has a soul which gives form to the body.  But worse, the notion itself is disgusting.  How do you spell GROSS?  It’s so perverse that it’s the equivalent of spiritual incest.   

Demons inspire such thoughts in their agents, and they get their willing dupes to desire the very thing which they desire, i.e., inhabit the bodies of people they want to possess.   

There are also those who believe the soul hangs around a while after the death of the body, looking for another body to inhabit.  The soul allegedly looks around for a pregnant woman and follows her, waiting for an opportunity to occupy her child.  The trick, of course, is to do so within several minutes after birth to cut out the competition.  These people are nothing more than ‘spiritual stalkers' and furthermore, they are kooks.  It’s as though they are being timed by an egg timer, and if they don’t find a body to inhabit, their self-identity expires with a ‘ding’ after death.   

In Buddhism, this is impossible because ‘self-identity’ was supposed to have been extinguished at death.  They should not even know ‘who they are’ or that they’ve even died. 

Furthermore, these people cannot appeal to the ‘spiritual world’ as proof of reincarnation.  All the problems in life are still contained in Karma, and all the rest, remains.  After all, they don’t want to insult Cosmo and say all is NOT one. 

Karma has Problems 

Where Karma is predominant in belief you still find disease, famine, and a caste system where all sense of charity and decency is lost.  The sense of obligation to help the less fortunate is lacking.  People are seen to walk over those who are suffering and dying with indifference; they regard them to be suffering because of bad Karma from previous lives 

Scripture 

There are many scriptural references opposed to reincarnation.  The Scriptures caution and admonishes those who would seek out people that are portals of the demonic, such as Tarot Card Readers, and the like.   

We read: ‘When you enter the land which the LORD God gave you, do not follow the abominations of those nations. There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all who do these things are an abomination before the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD God will drive them out’ (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). 

Those who embrace Karma would be better off contemplating what their navels are all about.  There is no time tunnel through their belly button to past lives.  It’s a closed path.  You either have an ‘Innie' an ‘Outie' or you are ‘Flush.'  It’s not a transporter through time to other lives. 

Rather than the good, the bad and the balance, Karma is really the good, the bad and the ugly.  It’s a twisted view of self-examination.   

Chapter 6 

My Dogma ran over your Karma 

KARMA 

From Columbia University Press we read the definition of Karma: 

“Karma = action, work, or ritual, basic concept common to Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.  The doctrine of karma states that one's state in this life is a result of actions (both physical and mental) in past incarnations, and action in this life can determine one's destiny in future incarnations. Karma is a natural, impersonal law of moral cause and effect and has no connection with the idea of a supreme power that decrees punishment or forgiveness of sins. Karmic law is universally applicable, and only those who have attained liberation from rebirth, called mukti (or moksha) or nirvana, can transcend it. Karma yoga (see yoga), the spiritual discipline of detachment from the results of action, is a famous teaching of the Bhagavad-Gita.” 

There you have it!  How convenient is that for those who love their sin?  No God and no judgment for sins!  Is there any wonder why Karma appeals to so many, and to those who love their sin?   

Karma is Useless 

What good is Karma if we are forced to forget all the lessons that we learned in life when we die, supposedly born into another life where we take those lessons and still be forced to learn it all over again? 

Reincarnation and Rebirth 

Most people believe Reincarnation is the same thing as Rebirth.  Although they both adhere to the concept of Karma, they are not the same thing.   

‘Reincarnation' also known as ‘transmigration' is the belief in a personal identity that is not destroyed as it moves from one life to the next.  Hindus call this self-identity ‘Atman’; Jainists refer to it as ‘Jiva' and Gnostic Christians called it the ‘soul.'  The premise is this: ‘self-identity’ which formerly occupied a body simply occupies another body in the next life. 

‘Rebirth’ is a belief held primarily by Buddhists.  In Buddhism, life is simply a flow of ‘moral cause and effect relationships’ that appear in Karma through a succession of lives.  Buddhists believe the personal self-identity does not survive death; that it is blown out like a candle.  

If you believe you lose yourself identity at death, why be concerned about building a better future life for yourself?  You won’t be aware of it when you get there because it won’t be ‘you’ who gets there.   Karma is a script taken directly from the Looney bin, as we shall see.  

Predetermination and Cause and Effect 

The fact is this: to believe in Karma is to be ‘predetermined’ in future lives because of what you’ve allegedly done in the present or past lives.   

To escape the dilemma of being ‘predetermined' the children of Cosmo claim Karma is ‘moral’ cause and effect, rather than ‘cosmic’ cause and effect. 

An example of cosmic cause and effect would be billiard balls that disperse after the break on a billiard table.  They have no free will, no self-awareness, and they roll around the table bouncing off cushions until they come to a new place of rest.   

Suppose you could endow any ball on the table with free will and self-awareness after it came to rest.  Would it have come to a different place of rest?  No! It had no say in how it got there, but the game must go on.  Before it is hit again, it must surrender its free will and consciousness and roll around the table bouncing off cushions until it comes to rest in another place in time. Cosmo is the big guy with the pool stick constantly sinking people. 

When we speak of ‘moral consequences’ it means someone made a moral decision, and it had to be made by someone with a ‘self-identity.'   

It means the person who made the decision was conscious of the decision.  It means the consequences for the decision must be known, and related directly to the awareness of the person, who has the same self-identity, that will suffer the consequences for the choices they made.   Otherwise, you’ve stripped justice from the use and purpose of free will, thereby rendering free will useless and without meaning.   

Therefore, the notion that ‘self-identity’ is extinguished at death, as held by Buddhists, is equal to saying we are without free will.  If self-awareness does not follow you into the next life, then justice cannot follow, either.   

Justice is tied to the awareness of the consequences of what you suffer for choices that you made.  This is why Karma is moral predetermination.  

The same applies for those who believe in Reincarnation.  It is essentially the same thing.  In both cases, whether you can’t remember who you were, even if you claim to be the same self-identity, or if you believe your previous self-identity is gone, you cannot recall who you ‘were' or what you did in past lives.  Karma, with all its problems and contradictions still kicks in. 

This means ‘moral’ cause and effect is the same as ‘cosmic’ cause and effect.   You are like a ball on a billiard table trying to figure out how you came into your new life.  What good is it to have free will and self-awareness if you arrive in a new life without knowledge of how you got there, or what you did, or who you were, that caused the suffering you are experiencing in your new life?  To be born into life paying for things you’ve allegedly done in some past life, but can’t remember, is cruel.  Karma is a cruel.  It is a meaningless, masochistic concept of reality.   

What are people really thirsting for in Karma?  It is a thirst to make things right without accountability to anyone but themselves.   

That is why they must retain the right to proclaim themselves divine.  They must retain the power of self-redemption, and they must have a system by which they can redeem themselves.  They do not hear the cry of Christ on the Cross when He said: “I thirst." 

Self-Identity, the Skandha Scoundrel, and the GAP! … and we are not talking about a nice Clothing Store. 

Skandha is the Buddhist understanding of ‘self.'  It is a concept of ‘self-identity’ that is spearheaded by Satan’s hatred of mankind. 

Before we examine Skandha, we need to look at 3 things present in all of eastern thought that is non-Christian. They are ‘illusion' ‘change' and ‘impermanence.' 

Illusion 

Those who believe in Karma think everything is one big illusion, as though reality itself is a deception.  

Buddhists believe self-identity is an illusion, all others into reincarnation believe suffering and the world around them is an illusion, as well.  The only thing that is not an illusion for them is ‘illusion itself’ (which is another way of saying reality does not bend for those who wish to call reality an illusion).  It’s time to look at the nature of illusion. 

If someone puts ‘fake’ flowers on a table to create an atmosphere of real flowers, the first impression is that of ‘real’ flowers.  Does this make the real plastic that was made to look like living flowers ‘unreal’?  No, not at all! The observer simply discovered they are ‘real plastic’ made to look like living flowers.  There would be no ‘illusion’ possible if the reality and permanence of the plastic flowers, the living flowers, and the observer did not exist.  

The misperception by the observer is also based in reality.   The observer has now encountered real plastic made to look like living flowers.  The observer recalls the encounter with living flowers and assumes the plastic flowers were the same as the real flowers.  The discovery of ‘real’ plastic made to look like living flowers is simply a new encounter with reality.  The knowledge base has been expanded. 

The reality (not illusion) of the plastic flowers speaks to the real observer who projected a real memory of an encounter with real living flowers onto the plastic made to look like living flowers.  This does not take away or add to the reality of ‘self’ or other existing things.  It is simply the same self-encountering, experiencing, and participating in reality that had to be there to be encountered.   

The assertion that ‘self-identity’ is illusory is a metaphysical impossibility.  It is the ‘same self’ which simply has more experience in life because it has encountered more reality.   

Those who embrace non-Christian thought want to take the reality of ‘self-identity’ away because they want a ‘reality’ that allows self-redemption, and that is the bottom line.   

They are like sniveling adolescents that taunt reality when it tells them they are not divine, and that they must repent of their sins.  They prefer to live in persistent impenitence, so they regard reality as a persistent illusion. 

For Pete’s sake, these people can’t even face the origin of evil, and here they are pretending to have a solution for all we suffer in life!   It is their pride, the very thing that brought evil into the world that blinds them from seeing reality as it is.  They prefer to dwell in illusion, deception, hallucinations, delusion, mistrust, and spiritual encounters with demons.  

Impermanence and Change 

The children of Cosmo speak of change as though it’s a dogma, and they tell us resistance to change is futile.   

First, ‘change’ does not remove sin, and the need for redemption does not go away.  No change is possible in the matter of sin without Christ.   

Look!  All things are alleged to have existed from all eternity in Cosmo.  Therefore ‘constant change’ is not possible without ‘constancy’ in existence.  The very claim that all things have existed from all eternity depends upon ‘permanence’ in being for all things to have been there from all eternity.   

‘Impermanence’ cannot exist unless there is ‘permanence’ in reality, and this means ‘impermanence and change’ are not properly understood by the children of Cosmo. 

The only kind of change that is possible between existing things is a relational change, or juxtaposition, and there is no ontological change in the state of being that results from this.   

Buddhists don’t want us to look at this because what it reveals exposes their hoax.  The children of Cosmo charge anyone that exposes their views as being small minded and limited to ‘conceptual thinking.'  Conceptual thinking just happens to be something which Buddhists allow themselves to do, as though they have exclusive rights to pontificate.  They are the ones that devised a labyrinth of concepts by which they amuse themselves, and they wish us to follow them into their web.   

Imagine a game of chess.  The players move the pieces around on the board.  ‘Impermanence’ is the movement of the pieces which ‘were’ in one place, but ‘now’ in another.  This does not take away the reality of the chess piece.  If the reality of the chess piece did not remain it would not be there to move, and it would not be there to come to a new place of rest on the chessboard.  There would be no ‘new’ position of strategy, and there could be no talk of impermanence.  The chess piece does not turn into an illusion of ‘impermanence’ when moved.   Someone simply moved the piece. 

The simultaneous existence of the pieces, the board, and the players, are all different realities that move and share simultaneous existence, but that never makes them ‘one essence.'  It never makes them one essence in ‘impermanence or illusion.'  The only thing that has changed is their position in relation to each other. 

The same applies all the way down to the periodic table of elements which is the arrangement of chemical elements according to electron structure. 

Juxtaposition is limitless, and contingent being is finite in that it depends upon God to remain in existence.  The potential that is inherent in creation which brings about change reveals what was present, but not seen until conditions were present that brought about the change.  It had to be there, or it could not be there, and there could be no change, otherwise. 

The use of the word ‘impermanence’ reveals the children of Cosmo know, in their heart and mind that all things depend upon God to exist and remain in existence.  They trade in that awareness to call their own sin an illusion.  They are therefore not innocent.  

The Gap 

If no one ever died there would be no discussion about past or future lives in rebirth or reincarnation.  There would be no claim that self-identity is imperfect, temporary, and illusory, only to be extinguished at death.  There would be no concepts such as Skandha, and Nirvana.  There would be no claims that reality is an illusion. 

This means death itself is at the root of the claim that self-identity is lost at death.  What can Buddhists know from death itself?  Nothing!  They apply their false understanding of illusion, change, and impermanence to ‘self-identity’ at the time of death. They have tediously constructed a massive system of self-redemption woven around impenitence, and their esoteric fantasy needs to be taken apart at the seams and exposed for what it is in its essentials, so let’s get to it. 

The assertion that self-identity is extinguished at death is without basis.  Such an assertion can only be made by a person who speaks from their own self-identity in the life they presently live.   This means they are not speaking from any vantage point where they could have any knowledge of any other lives that they’ve allegedly lived, or from any self-identity that is not their own.  They are who they are, and that is it. 

They cannot be like a military scout that goes over the hill to survey any obstacles in preparation for battle, and then comes back to report on what they have seen.  Why? Because they would have had to die to arrive in a future life to observe things before, they could come back and speak of it, and that is impossible!  If they died to get there, it would not be them who got there to observe it because, according to their own claim that self-identity is extinguished at death, they would have had to lose their self-identity to get there.   

This means they cannot know or have seen anything beyond the present life from which they speak, and then come back to report on what they saw or know.  It would not be the same person with the same self-identity who went, and then came back to report on what they saw!   

Furthermore, they would have forgotten their mission when they got there, because they would have a different self-identity that can’t remember, or even know the mission they were allegedly on!  It is the same thing we see in the concept of Karma.  The children of Cosmo ‘forgot’ who they were in past lives, and they don’t know what they did that caused them to have the Karma they are dealing with in their present life.  All is conjecture and esoteric fantasy.  If they had their illusion come true, for all they know, they could be Jeremiah the bullfrog in their next life; born into a place where frog legs are considered a delicacy.  

If a new self-identity was produced at death, it would be the same as talking about 2 different people.  Any assertion that self-identity is lost at death is impossible because Karma is alleged to be payback to a ‘specific’ individual, a specific ‘self-identity.'  This means there is no such thing as Karma.   

It also means that Karma is equal to atheism.  Why?  Because the claim that self-identity is blown out like a candle at death is the same thing as saying a person exists only for the duration of the life span which they have, and there is nothing more for individual self-identity once they die.  This is identical to atheism, and this means the attainment of enlightenment and Nirvana are impossible concepts because no one could get there. 

The claim that self-identity is lost at death is mere speculation.  In fact, it is not only an absurd speculation, but also impossible.  

Furthermore, to reach a new life, and therefore a new self-identity, there would have to be a time and state of being in which a change takes place between death and rebirth.  It would have to be within this time frame, and state of being, where the person allegedly loses their self-identity and emerges on the other side of death with a self-identity that’s no longer them!  Otherwise, it’s still the same person.   

This fabricated time, and state of being, in which the alleged ‘extinction’ of self-identity takes place, must be given a name.  Since it would have to represent a span of time, in which there is alleged activity between the present life and a new life, we can refer to it as the GAP, between lives.    

It is within this fabricated Gap that we find the children of Cosmo trying to dismiss all the inherent contradictions in their belief because it’s a place that no one can see.  It’s the place Adam wished he had when he tried to hide his sin.  It’s a place where the children of Cosmo try to absolve themselves of their sin.  It’s not a place at all, it’s sleight of hand, and no one can hide from God, not even in death.   

Since there can be no such thing as the extinction of self-identity at death, what else gives rise to the assertion we lose self-identity, or that there is any such thing as past or future lives? 

What is it about man that makes him different from a stone that neither lives nor dies, but continues to exist just like the material of the body continues to exist whether we live or die? 

First, things do not lose ‘identity’ of essence at death.  The body decomposes, but the soul which utilized the material of the body, and gave it form as an entity, has departed.  The soul does not lose its self-identity and existence any more than the material of the body which is left behind loses its existence.   

The soul is ‘other than’ the body and is immutable in its nature.  It is ‘created’ spiritual substance; it is not divine substance.   

The soul does not have ‘parts’ like a body does, and it is in our soul that we have self-consciousness and self-identity.  This ‘self-identity’ is not a part, or the result of the scoundrel, otherwise known as ‘skandha,' as we shall see. 

Bodily activity ceases in death.  There is no power within the body at death, there is no magic formula that can produce a new activity in ‘skandha’ because bodily activity has ceased.   

You cannot say the ‘outside’ world was the cause of a new self-identity, because exposure to the outside world has been cut off for the person who died; the soul has departed.  This means the soul, with the same self-identity continues, and no activity from the outside world, or within the body of the deceased, or death itself, can produce a new self-identity, a new arrangement of skandha.  Any speculation that it does is mere projection into death.   

To follow a departed soul to see if it loses its self-identity, the person following it would have to lose their self-identity.  They would also be like that military scout.  Therefore, no one can assert death brings about a ‘change’ in self-identity from exposure to death.   

Fantasy within the Gap! 

As stated, if people did not die there would be no talk about rebirth, and there would be no fabricated Gap!   

We need to look at what Buddhists have stuffed inside the fantasy of the Gap. 

When we look at a person who died, we, the observer looks at the stillness of the one who died.  We contrast the stillness in the body to our own life that continues.   

We see the silence and wonder what happened to the ‘self-identity’ in the person who died. This is where the speculation begins, but the speculation is about the survival of a specific individual.  There is nothing here that calls us to consider another self-identity in the person who died, or that self-identity is temporary or illusory.   

Furthermore, ‘wondering’ what became of the person who died occurs ‘within us,' not outside of us.  It is within our own ‘self-consciousness' and awareness of things outside of ourselves.    

This means any speculation that self-identity and suffering has ceased is derived from the stillness we observe, but the stillness denotes nothing more than what it is; it is simply stillness.   

An entire philosophy about what goes on in this ‘stillness’ is built around it, but the entire philosophy is NOTHING more than a projection INTO that stillness. 

The children of Cosmo project their own desire to shed suffering into the stillness of the person who died.  They project a hope for peace into that stillness, and when they stuff all of it into the fabricated Gap, they produce a false state of being, an imagination, a transition, and activity of mental processes that is merely a projection of what is known into the unknown, and out pops ‘Skandha’ the ultimate illusion.  It is nothing more than impenitence and ignorance at its very core. 

The silence continues to be observed.  The observer knows that one day this same kind of silence must come to them as well.  The natural desire to live forever is projected into that silence, and along with it, the desire to shed the consequences for their sin.  They transform the silence and stillness into something that is ‘suited’ to their ‘magnificent ego’ which ends up being their ‘venerable’ pathway to bliss.    

Conjecture in this Gap is an attempt to allay the fears about dying because none of us really wants to die.  This is the equivalent of saying we don’t want to lose our self-identity.    

At best, this is a way of trying to understand what comes after death if you are bereft of knowledge about Christ, but no one is ignorant of the fact that God is the creator, as the Apostle Paul reminds us.   

The Gap turns into Nirvana where the sniveling and the insidious will never get there when they get there.  It is a fantasy dumping ground where people who know they are not divine try and discard culpability for sin. When this mixes with the claim to be divine, impenitence sets in, and it becomes hazardous waste.  A need for self-redemption takes place and this is what gives birth to Karma.   

Karma is ego driven and rooted in worship of death to self.  It’s the 1st cousin to Satan’s hatred of man.  He is jealous of us, and he would annihilate us if he could, but he’ll settle to see man turn against his own self-identity.   

The Gap is a place of willful ignorance and a hoped-for oblivion that will never be.  There will be accountability, and no sin can ever be worked out, justified, or absolved within this Gap.  It is the gateway to the ultimate delusion which is Nirvana.   

The concept of ‘skandha’ proceeds, in its entirety, from the fabricated ‘Gap and it’s time to kick the tires of ‘Skandha’ to see if that baby will roll.   

The children of Cosmo may not want to do this, but we are going to do it for them.   

The Skandha Scoundrel 

In Buddhism, the five ‘Skandhas’ are regarded as the five ‘aggregates’ that make up all individual experiences which define the ‘self-identity’ within a person.   

They are: 

•           Form (rupa) – The four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind.  

•           Apperception or sensibility – Derived from sense perception: Sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.  The mind, being the sixth base, has 6 of its own powers.  When mind and body are combined you get the 12 bases of consciousness. 

•           Perception – Is the way a person processes the 12 bases to ‘sense’ or ‘feel’ what’s around them. 

•           Volition – is the reaction of the will to what is presented to the person that produces an aversion, or attraction so that ‘feeling’ is the reason for emotion. 

•           Consciousness (vijnana) – From the 12 is produced another set of 6 resulting in different forms of consciousness such as visual, audible, smell, etc., where you end up with mental consciousness. 

You end up with 6 + 6 + 6, or 18 elements referred to as ‘Dhatu.'   

Buddhists are hard at work, trying to produce a method of self-redemption.  They apply a false understanding of ‘change’ and ‘illusion’ within the Gap to produce the concept of Skandha.   

They believe ‘skandha,' or ‘self-identity,' breaks apart at death.  First of all, ‘breaking apart’ is not something that happens to spiritual entities, because they are immutable.  Breaking apart applies only to physical objects.   

This means their understanding of self-identity is not removed from physical reality because the elements of Skandha include physical realities.  This demonstrates a failure to make the distinction between body and soul.  This makes them materialists. (The ‘I’ within us is not inferior to circumstances; it is superior to them, as will be seen). 

They also regard physical reality to be an illusion, and this makes them twice removed from reality.   

All of this takes place within the Gap, and out comes a fabricated, mistaken understanding of self-identity.  They build on this fabrication by asserting we are conditioned by circumstances in life, circumstances which define our self-identity.  They conclude; therefore, we must have had a different self-identity in other lives because we were exposed to different conditions and circumstances in previous lives.   

Furthermore, they believe we are predetermined by what we are exposed to in life.   Let’s look closer at this. 

The ‘self-conscious person’ is conscious of ‘other things,' as we saw earlier.  This applies also in the matter of ‘Rupa’ where the alleged temporary, ‘illusory self-identity’ is aware of other things such as earth, water, wind and fire.    

The fact is this: ‘Self’ is ‘other’ than those things it is aware of, and furthermore, the earth, wind, water, and fire have no ‘I’ within them.  They are not conscious of themselves and the ‘self-conscious person’!   

The reason the children of Cosmo ‘allow’ such things as earth, wind, water and fire to be constants in life is because they need elements to construct a system of self-redemption.  It’s nice to have physical realities around, and not illusions, when it server self-interests Bubb, but it doesn’t work that way! 

Our bones, like anything else in the material universe, are listed in the table of elements, but the bone is not the ‘I’ within us, they are bones within us.  The ‘I’ within us is more than, is other than, and is outside the sum total of the parts of the body.  That is why we know of them, and that is why the ‘I’ is superior to them.  That is why the ‘I’ is superior to the elements and circumstances in Skandha which are alleged to make up the self-identity.  

This means the ‘I’ within us is not one of the elements that will decompose with the body at death, because it is superior to, and ‘other’ than the elements of the body that decompose. 

The entire fantasy of Skandha takes place within the Gap.  Self-identity is not a product of Skandha because it is impossible that consciousness and self-identity proceed from the inanimate and the unconscious.    

Imagine five marbles in a glass jar that is sitting on a table.  There is no self-consciousness, or self-identity in any of the marbles.  The five marbles are the five elements of ‘skandha’ rolling around at the bottom of the jar involved in a Yin Yang struggle.   You pick up the jar and shake it (the jar is the Gap, and shaking it is a simulation of death), re-arranging the marbles.  You have produced a new skandha that is rolling around at the bottom of the jar; a new self-identity has emerged and rolls around in a new Yin Yang struggle.   

If there is no observer outside of the jar, who do the children of Cosmo think is observing the marbles?  The observer is distinct from the jar with marbles inside, and the ‘I’ within the observer remains constant as ‘I’ while observing.  That is why the ‘I’ is able to continue observing change. The only thing changing is juxtaposition, otherwise, there could be no awareness that things are changing.  The same ‘I,' the same self-identity within each of us is aware of the same ‘I’ in relation to collective experiences and changes throughout a given life span. 

This means ‘self-identity’ is not defined by the span of life between birth and death.  In other words, the ‘I’ in each of us is present for the duration of our existence, and once called into being, its forever.   

Furthermore, the premise of Skandha is that ‘change itself’ brings about the loss of self-identity, and this means ‘change’ is the basis of ‘skandha.'  This understanding of self-identity is nothing more than imagination at work that has been projected into the Gap.  This cancels out the concept of Skandha.  Why? Because ‘exposure’ to ‘change’ is already present to everyone within the span of their present life!  Self-identity must pre-cede (be there) change to be exposed to change. Exposure to change would have produced a new ‘self-identity’ the moment change took place within that very span of life.  Impossible!  The ‘I’ knows itself in relation to collective experiences of change within a life span.  Exposure to change would have produced a new self-identity, a new ‘I,' that could not have known itself in relation to collective experience.  We would not be waiting for death to find out if change produces a new self-identity; the fact that we remember what we did yesterday cancels out the concept of Skandha.   

Death cannot be an instrument for change that results in a new arrangement of ‘Skandha.'  This means justice can apply only to the self-identity, which has to be the same self-identity, which must be present to, and aware of the consequences for the choices that person made.   

To allege self-identity expires at death is the same thing as saying Karma is for earth, wind, water and fire, and not for the self-conscious individual.  It is the same as saying justice is for a stone on the ground that never did, and never will have self-awareness, or free will, to do anything that brings about consequences for choices that it made.  This means Karma is a fraud. 

It would be interesting to see a person who believes self-identity is an illusion, tell the 10 million people who’ve had their identity stolen, to the tune of a $50 billion loss in a single year, not to fret!  Let them try and explain to these victims their self-identity is an illusion, and therefore irrelevant to the theft because they will have another self-identity in a new life. 

Let them tell the victims they are just being conditioned by the theft in order to become a mound of mold under a tree in some future life.  They might just get a punch in the nose.   

Let them take the next step and say: ‘Let the criminals go, because their self-identity is an illusion, too.' 

Tell the victims of theft it must be their own bad Karma that ‘caused’ the thieves to do their dirty deed. After all, the thieves were predetermined to steal because they were conditioned in a previous life, and had no free will; they were predetermined to steal.  Furthermore, maybe the ‘victims’ of the theft actually stole from someone in their past lives, and now it’s their turn to know what it feels like to have something stolen.   

The most pitiable thing about those who believe in rebirth is the violence they must have done to their own reasoning in order to accept such foolishness. They don’t want sin to be permanent, but they don’t want the necessity of grace to remove it.  Karma would swap ‘self-identity’ for ‘self-redemption.'    

It’s easier to make believe we are not who we are than to repent to God for what we’ve done.  We all know who we are in life, and we know in our hearts that we are not divine.  We have been given the tools to live life well, and we will never be divine for doing so.   

The children of Cosmo will never be content to co-exist with those who reject Karma.  They want us to celebrate it with them.  So, let’s celebrate, let’s go to a ‘Skandha’ birthday party! 

A Skandha Birthday Party 

Can anyone imagine going to a rebirth, birthday party in Nirvana?  The Master of Ceremonies opens by saying:  

‘Ladies and Gentlemen, as we all know, you are not the same person you were in your previous lives.  The person you are now is illusory as well, because it is temporary and imperfect, and you will not be you in your next life. So, everyone who is not here, please raise your hand when we call out your name for attendance.  We want to keep a record of how generous you were with your time and gifts so in your next life, Karma will be good for you, because it won’t be the YOU who is now who gets good Karma.    

Now, to the reason we have all gathered here today!  We want to be sure everyone is NOT here so when the birthday person arrives you will not know who to clap for, because it will NOT be the birthday person from a previous life whose birthday we are celebrating today.  It’s a one-shot deal, because it will not be the same person in THEIR next life, either.   

So, everyone put on a party hat; be sure to get your Gap balloons, and have a great time because you are a vapor.   

Ladies and gentlemen, and everyone else who is not here, the honored guest has just arrived, but we don’t know who it is, or where they came from.  No one seems to know who it is.  Is there a doctor in the house?  Just kidding, folks!  Take our word for it, because it is the honored guest.  Get ready now, take a deep breath and start blowing on your party noise makers because there is plenty of hot air in our heads to make the honored guest feel welcome.'   

The concept of Skandha was fabricated by the ignorant and the scoundrels who do not want to repent to God. It is a system of self-redemption and a grasp at divinity. 

Nirvana! Are we there yet Daddy Cosmo?  Kids, we’ll NEVER get there when we get there! 

We can see it would take a total break from reality to accept the concepts of Karma, Reincarnation, Rebirth, Enlightenment, and Nirvana.  These concepts reside in the amnesia region of Cosmo which is one and the same with the fabricated Gap.  We will never get there when we get there, Daddy Cosmo.  You lied to us! 

To all of Cosmo’s kids, listen up!  There is no bombastic, heathen dance to darkness that is twisted and centered about the ego that will ever ‘get you there.'  You will never reach Nirvana. 

Venerable Reality and Karma 

Imagine a judicial system based upon moral predetermination, the core of Karma.  

The court of Karma is in session: 

‘Your Honor, we have before us this day someone who must have murdered someone in one of his previous lives.  We readily admit, Your Honor, the defendant did not murder anyone in the present life that we know of, but that is not important. We know he must have done the deed, because someone he loved was murdered and now, he gets to know what it feels like.   

Your Honor, THERE is the evidence: he gets to know what it feels like.  He dares to violate the principles of Karma in his own defense.  The defendant claims he should be able to recall the deed if he is to be sentenced for the crime (so Karma really is about judging others). 

The accused stands before this Honorable and Venerable Court, Your Honor, and has the audacity to tell this Venerable Kangaroo court of Karma, named in honor of the venerable Edgar Cayce, that the concept of Karma is unfair. 

Do we need to hear anything more? The defendant is wasting this Court’s time. He wants the Jury to believe any justice you render when you pass judgment, Your Honor, should be associated only to what he was aware of doing.   

For the purposes of mercy, Your Honor, State’s Counsel will entertain the notion of reducing the charges to involuntary manslaughter.  If the defendant can cross the ‘Gap’ and find his ‘self-identity’ in one of his past lives, we would be willing to entertain the evidence.  However, if he does come back, we will not be able to discern if it’s really him; we won’t know if it’s someone else with another self-identity. 

This defendant, thisssss scoundrel, who sits before us this day, should not receive bail.  He should remain locked up in the Gap.  If you allow him out, he can explore and prove Karma is false.   

NEVER-THE-LESS, thissssssssss Caddddd violates everything we know about Karma.  He has the nerve, and THE AUDACITY to insult the divine and Venerable Cosmo, Bazooka Joe, hanging in the Portrait behind you, Your Honor. 

He claims that if he could go back to another life, all the contradictions inherent in our Lord and Master, Cosmo, would be evident.  He appeals to some venerable reality, a place we are supposed to know the deed we did, and why the punishment should fit the deed. 

We think this court has heard enough, your Honor.  State’s Counsel believes this Court, and these wonderful, kind, sweet, and venerable illusions in the Jury box, have heard enough.   

Therefore, Your Honor, we call for Truth, Justice, and the way of Karma!  Away with him, banish him to the land of reality where there is no illusion and predetermination, a place where free will has its way with him.  Guilty! Your Honor, Guilty I say’ 

In this satire we have an example of the lunacy found in the concept of Karma and Skandha. 

Other Ailments 

It is worth noting some additional reasons why people have been deceived, and mistaken, about rebirth, reincarnation, and Karma. 

Rebirth and the Ferris wheel 

Those who believe in ‘rebirth’ think we go forward in the Karmic progress by incarnations into various forms of life; sometimes forms that are less than human, say a bug, or any other life form, even an advanced form.  The soul will keep incarnating until it goes back to its eventual place in God, in its own fully realized divinity.   

In Hindu belief, one can also go backwards in time on a big wheel, like a Ferris wheel at a carnival, known as the ‘wheel of rebirth.'   

You find yourself on this wheel, but you do not know how, or why, you got there.  You just pop into a different life when it stops spinning at your death.   

You have to get off the Ferris wheel, and go down the exit stairs called the ‘Gap’ where you will pass between blue lights that will strip from you all the knowledge of your past life.  

When you pop into your next life, you’ve got to pay off your debts from your present, and past lives, but you will not be able to remember what you did to cause your debts.   

This means you will be forced back onto the Ferris wheel, once again, and when it's time to die, everything will begin all over again, and again, and …………………... again. 

Spiritual Regeneration and Metempsychosis 

There can be no regeneration of self without association to the same self-identity.  Otherwise, you cannot talk about ‘Re-anything.' 

It’s the same thing with Metempsychosis, which is regarded as the soul entering another body, be it animal, or human, after death.  There would still need to be a ‘self-identity’ that is independent of the bodily form to have continuity in rebirth. Otherwise, you are not talking about rebirth at all. 

The soul, or ‘self-identity,' which is considered divine, is alleged to take on life forms in the material universe for the sake of learning and progressing towards enlightenment. If needed, vast numbers of incarnations may take place, perhaps millions, before the soul can get back to its original state of being in Cosmo.  This, allegedly, is the only way to fully understand who we really are.  Well … if all is ‘one,' the very process of learning is impossible. 

Consciousness and the ‘GAP’ 

There should be no Gap in the consciousness of true divinity.  The Gap in knowledge between lives stands in testimony against the claim to be divine.  If all things are ‘one’ and ‘divine,' there should be nothing that is not known, simultaneously.  The Gap is equal to Karma, and Karma is equal to amnesia in Cosmo.    

Belief in Karma is a desire to be omniscient, and omnipotent.  In short, it is a desire to be equal to God, or rather, to kick out God and say there is no God other than ‘self.'  Interesting how self-identity is illusory until it can finally be considered Divine. 

Buddhism is not Benign 

Most people think of Buddhism as benign, gentle, and open to all people.  No one would regard them as politically incorrect, or judgmental, particularly in a world that rejects absolutes in matters of truth.  Let’s see if they are judgmental of others, and if their beliefs tell them to shun those who don’t agree with alleged ‘truths’ proposed in Buddhism. 

On the website for Zen Buddhists at the Shasta Abbey, CA, the monks have posted: “An Introduction to the Tradition of Serene Reflection."  On page 16 we read: 

“Avoid the company of those who are deluded and ignorant with regard to the Truth of karmic consequence, the three states of existence and good and evil …” 

Therefore, these Zen Buddhists claim to possess absolutes in matters of truth when it comes to Zen Buddhism, but they are relativists!  They are not only relativists; they are deluded in their claim to be divine.  Like all other ‘good people,' they advocate shunning those who disagree with them. 

There is no other way to say this.  Those who claim divinity for themselves are hell bent on going to hell.  That is one thing they all have in common.  They are united in rebellion. 

Continuing, we read how Buddhists make a perfect act of contrition: 

Here is the way in which to make an act of perfect contrition …  

“May all the Buddhas and Ancestors, who have become enlightened, have compassion upon us, free us from the obstacle of suffering which we have inherited from our past existence and lead us in such a way that we may share the merit that fills the universe for they, in the past, were as we are now, and we will be as they in the future. All the evil committed by me is caused by beginningless greed, hate and delusion: all the evil is committed by my body, in my speech and in my thoughts: I now confess everything wholeheartedly.” … 

 “By this act of recognition of our past behavior, and our contrition therefore, we open the way for the Buddhas and Ancestors to help us naturally. Bearing this in mind, we should sit up straight in the presence of the Buddha and repeat the above act of contrition, thereby cutting the roots of our evildoing” 

Let’s look more closely at this ‘perfect act of contrition.'   

It’s easy to beat one’s own breast in some anthropomorphic manner of being contrite.  The only thing that comes from this ‘perfect’ act of contrition is the profession that imperfection is inherent in the concept of Cosmo.   These people are mere human beings laying claim to divinity, and they attempt to repent unto themselves.  They become architects of myth, contradictions, and falsehoods. 

Beginningless 

They hijack words and assign new meaning to them, and like drunken robbers with stolen money, they try to buy people off, paying them to overlook contradictions in what they say.  They do this because they want company.  They want to be in the company of the Buddhas who were also sinners. These people are not at all interested in true repentance.   

Look at how they use the word ‘beginningless’ as they utter their Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa.  They say: ‘All the evil committed by me is caused by beginningless greed, hate and delusion.' 

Their ‘contrition’ says their (personal, and ‘one with Cosmo’) ‘greed, hate, and delusion’ is beginningless.   This means greed, hate, and delusion must be eternal in their nature and inherent in Cosmo.    

Furthermore, it is the same thing as saying their ‘self-identity’ is eternal in nature.  They take personal (self-identity) responsibility for greed, hate, and delusion, from all eternity because they assert its beginningless. The moment they realize this means they can never reach Nirvana, they are forced to look at Adam standing there, ashamed, and embarrassed for having grasped at divinity.  

They cannot be contrite in ‘beginningless sin’ because it is inherent in Cosmo, and this means sin can never be absolved in Cosmo.    

What these people are actually looking for, but refuse to admit it, is Jesus Christ, because without Him, there is no way out of sin.  They are tired of their sin, but they love their sin more than the need to repent. 

Their ‘perfect act of contrition,' and their hope to be with the Buddhas is an existential meltdown. 

The monks from Shasta also say: 

“The most important question for all Buddhists is to understand birth and death completely, for then, should they be able to find the Buddha within birth and death, they both vanish. All you have to do is realize that birth and death, as such, should not be avoided and they will cease to exist …” 

This kind of thinking is reminiscent of an Ostrich with its head in the hole denying the lion about to devour it. 

Continuing: “… for then, if you can understand that birth and death are Nirvana itself, (the Gap in both directions) there is not only no necessity to avoid them but also nothing to search for that is called Nirvana …” 

Interesting!  They tell us we don’t have to avoid something which doesn’t really exist, but they have to identify it before they can deny it.  They are going to have one heck of a problem with the IRS because the only thing many regards to be certain are death and taxes.  These people are going to have one humdinger of a tax bill for unpaid taxes in past lives, but then again, they don’t have to pay taxes because taxes are an illusion, too. 

We also read from the Shasta Abbey 

“It is obvious that the law of cause and effect is not answerable to my personal will for, without fail, evil is vanquished and good prevails; if it were not so, Buddhism would never have appeared and Bodhidharma would never have come from the west.”   

Consider what was just said in light of what we have looked at in ‘causal relationships.'  You will see people who hate their own self-identity because it is not divine self-identity. 

Self-Identity and Contradiction in Buddha and Guests 

Let’s look closer at the hypocrisy in Buddha, and invited guests.  

We’ve all heard the expression: ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.'  Considering this discussion about ‘self-identity’: ‘What’s good for the goose is good for the GOOSE.'  

One might say Buddha’s own words would represent Buddhism, would they not? Let’s look at the double speak within Buddha himself. 

In Majjhima-nikaya we see Buddha speak about his last birth, where existence would end for him.  If his ‘self-identity’ ended in his previous death(s), it would have been impossible for Buddha to speak of himself as having his last birth.  Why?  Because it could not have been HIM speaking about his previous deaths in the life span, he lived, when he set forth his teachings.   

There would have been no ‘self-identity in Buddha’ in any previous skandha, any present skandha, or any future skandha.  So, what’s good for Buddha is good for Buddha, and this means Buddha has a big problem in his concept of self-identity, and his assertion of self-extinction at death.  

We also see in the Jataka stories, as well as in Khuddaka-nikaya, references to past lives in which Buddha, and his pals, know each other as they gather round the campfire to discuss the good’ol days as cowboys.  This ‘gathering’ can only mean Buddha’s claim that self-identity is annihilated at death is nothing other than a bogus claim. 

The ‘self-identity’ in Buddha, and each of his buddies, had to survive death if there was to be any dialogue between them.  If not, they could not share stories and recollections from past lives.  

One can imagine them breaking out a can of good’ol Boston Baked beans as they sit around the campfire in the Digha Nikaya.  They shook the ‘Gap Jar’ filled with marbles and start talking about their past lives in skandha, and names they had in past skandha lives. 

There was discussion about vast numbers of past lives that survived nearly endless days.  He spoke of food types that he liked, and what joy and pain felt like for him in past lives.  At the ‘end of his lives’ he lived only to find himself reborn into a new place with a new appearance.   This means Buddha is an inconsistent hypocrite. 

This means the ‘self-identity’ from which he speaks is identified with the same ‘self-identity’ in past lives, or there could be no recollection, or collective memories of ‘self-identity’ in past lives.  It would have to be the same self-identity to have recollection of his ‘self-identity’ in past lives, and nothing in the universe can ever make it otherwise.  This fact cannot, and will not bend for anyone.   

The ‘masters’ in Buddhism turn away from this knowledge because they know the consequences, and what it means.  They know their system of impenitence falls apart. If Buddha has recollection of past lives, and he himself makes the claim, all those who follow him, and the Buddhas, live in fantasy land. 

We also see in Khuddaka-nikaya, the dead are judged by the god of death, Yama, where those who have been sinners go to hell to receive their torments for sinning.  If there was no continued ‘self-identity’ at death for the sinners to know why they are in hell, there is no judgment.  In fact, Yama can judge no one because Yama is a myth.  Jesus Christ is the judge; He is the Lord of history. 

In Dhammapada, we find there is reward and punishment in the afterlife.  Once again, this means the ‘self-identity’ of the person who entered the afterlife had to continue to exist as the same self-identity, or there could be no reward or punishment in Karma.   

Buddha, his good buddies, and all who embrace the concept of rebirth are like someone who bumped their head in an accident, only to show up on a TV news segment, hoping someone who sees them on TV will be able to identify them.  They ‘got’ a ‘Born Identity’ problem. 

Polytheism 

When man looks out and sees the laws governing the universe as independent wills proceeding from distinct divinities, it is because he has divinized those laws by projecting an understanding of his own person, and free will into those laws.  This is the birth of Polytheism.  

These divinities are no more a divinity than the reflection of a person in a mirror is the person looking into the mirror.  The projection of self into laws governing the universe is the reflection of the person in the mirror.   

Divinizing the laws we find at work in created reality is like trying to pass a wand over the mirror and expect the reflection to step out of the mirror as a real person.  It’s Pinocchio trying to become flesh and blood.  It is polytheism and pantheism. 

The law of gravity, for example, is not conscious of gravity, but is observable by a conscious individual.  The law implies there is a law giver, but the law giver is not created gravity; He created gravity.   

To call gravity a divinity is absurd.  It is man’s projection of his own consciousness and free will into the observation of gravity that does not have free will and consciousness.   

When polytheism is distilled it is pantheism at the core.  Polytheists are the children of Cosmo with all the same maladies. 

Polytheism is seen in the Greeks who projected an awareness of their own self-identity, and power of free, will into inanimate and unconscious realities.  In Greek mythology, Triton was a ‘god of water and the sea,' and of course, a god was regarded to have a free will and intelligence. 

Consider the Greek character of Achilles.  There is a scene where a battle takes place near a river.  The banks of the river overflow, and Achilles projects his own understanding of free will into the river.  He attributes to the water a free will of its own and believes the river was rising up against him in battle.  How did he respond to his own projection?  He takes out his sword and does battle with the water.  This would be like a person standing in front of a mirror trying to punch their own reflection in self-defense during a battle in the mirror.  The battle ‘in the mirror’ is the equivalent of the Gap. 

The reason for the rising water was not because it was conscious of itself, or Achilles, or that the water had its own ‘free will.'  It rose because the bodies of those killed while fighting in the water, collected and formed a dam in the river. 

When you strip the false divinities out of creation, you can see the laws governing the universe are the handiwork of God. 

There is no divinity in man’s free will, and there is no ‘free will’ in the laws themselves that are at work in the universe.  God is the one who put the laws in place.  There is no ‘free will’ in inanimate things any more than there is consciousness in the text that you are reading right now.  The consciousness is in you.  The text is only symbols that convey to you what someone wishes to say. 

Furthermore, polytheists show a fractured understanding of the free will.  This is evident when man projects choices between good and evil onto inanimate things, and the laws that govern the universe.  Choices between doing good and evil belong to man, as was the case with Adam, and at one time, angels.   

Christ, Himself, pointed out our limitations in these matters when He told us that we do not have the power to add a single cubit to our stature.   

The Occult 

Among the children of Cosmo who follow a code of ethics, or non-Christian religion, we find Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Shintoism, Taoism, as well as tribal religions in Africa. They were found among the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the ancient Greeks, the Norse people, and the Romans.  You also have them in the Occult such as Wicca.  Anyone who believes they are divine in their nature is a child of Cosmo. 

In Wicca there is often heard the phrase ‘Mother Earth.'  The idea that nature deserves respect because it is considered a sacred manifestation of ‘the goddess Gaia’ is blasphemy.   It is rooted in pantheism.  To be responsible stewards of creation is one thing, but to create a false understanding of our responsibility to ‘Mother Nature’ is ridiculous.  Mother Nature is as real as the tooth fairy.   

To worship Gaia is to worship self in pure self-centeredness.  Those into Wicca, and the like, are people who perform rituals and celebrations around different phases of the moon, hoping to discover moonlight really comes from within the moon itself as they carry their ‘Ark of the Coven’ while uttering incantations.  

Meditations, chants, and incantations, not unlike mantras in Buddhism, cannot alter ‘your reality.'  No matter what anyone does to elevate the experience of ritual for the purpose of making it more believable, or to receive ‘power,' these people are in error and heading the wrong way. Whatever influences they produce as a result of their evil, they will pay for it when they meet God, and they will be dealt with harshly. 

Chapter 7 

East Meets the West 

Proliferation 

We find a proliferation of non-Christian Eastern Religions and moral code throughout the western world.  They are showing up in all forms of media; in commercials, movies, magazines, television, radio, and books of all types.  It’s even found its way into ‘Christianity,' which renders it other than Christianity.   

This proliferation has been sold to the west under the guise that western thought has caused man to lose touch with his environment, his own nature, and an understanding of what makes man happy.   

Many people are convinced these non-Christian religions can, and should mingle with Christianity. They believe Christianity needs a face lift, and that Christians need to be more open minded in a politically correct world.   

This is nothing short of spiritual warfare, folks! It’s tactical.  You get the opponent to let down their guard and then you strike.  

Along with the arrival of so much non-Christian thought, comes the promise of liberation from the shackles of doctrine and dogma.  Christian ‘religion’ of the past is to be considered inferior to the ‘spirituality’ and ‘codes of ethics’ found in non-Christian religions.   

As man digresses towards evil, he undermines the basis of civilization.  When a civilization, formerly known to be Christian abandons its Christian roots, that nation becomes a vacuum where people are disposed to try something, and anything will absolve them.   

The ground work that brought this about has been done in a very quiet manner.  Day by day Christian societies have been, and are being chipped away by things like Silva mind control, Erhard Seminars, Christian Science, and Scientology.  We see it in Yoga, in TM, in every form of Martial Art, in relaxation therapies, and other such things.  They all have one thing in common: they promise to lead us to discover our ‘own divinity,' and the ability to tap into the ‘unlimited power and potential’ within us.   

Students and experienced practitioners are brought to a state of meditation through silence, breathing techniques, different sounds, mantras, relaxation methods, chants, postures, movement meditations, and the like.  An induced state brings the person to a receptive mode for spiritual inculcation.   

Practitioners are taught to be open and ready for whatever comes their way.  An attachment to an endorphin high, and the emotional state, becomes sought as an end in itself.  ‘Physical benefit’ is often the bait to swap Christianity for non-Christian thought.  Those slipping away from Christianity start believing they are experiencing a ‘growth experience’ that is perfectly compatible with Christianity, and that it’s being brought about by the Holy Spirit. 

Life becomes imbued with non-Christian thought, and those who do so are willing to dispose of anything that gets in the way of seeing their own divinity once a lust for divinity sets in.  

Interesting how these Systems promise to show us the ‘divinity’ in ‘self-identity’ when it comes to membership and taking money.  When it comes to repentance, however, they call our true selves an illusion. 

When societies are forged by such things to abandon Christianity, rebellion is upon us, and if you listen, you will hear the Kongo bells of Buddhism already ringing throughout the lands. 

There are now tens of millions of Americans who firmly believe in reincarnation, and a majority of people believe it is possible. 

The World Crowns its Own. 

Hollywood celebrities have played a big part in swaying people away from Christianity.  Celebrities are generally searching people, and many of them have become the advocates, and mouthpieces, for a searching nation that is falling more and more in love with its sin.   

They preach a new day is upon us, a new dogma according to non-Christian Eastern Religion. 

The Blender 

What does this mean for the future?  It means mankind will fall deeper in love with sin if they take the bait.  The slump into false divinities, and all that comes from such things, will produce lusts of all kinds.  If you can lust for divinity, you can lust for anything.  The blending of all religions into ‘one,' can never save us. 

The Unholy Trinity and the Trite 

Debates over who had something first are treated as though the one who had it first makes them the arbiter of truth, with the guarantee of infallibility in all things.  At least, that is what they want it to mean!   

Some people argue the Christian symbols of Cross is predated in Hinduism, and this means Christianity will be fulfilled only when it acknowledges Hinduism as the true religion. 

Do they think having a symbol of a ‘cross’ would make them divine?  Does it mean they understand it properly in light of where it came from?  Do they think a symbol can remove all the problems and contradictions inherent in Cosmo, and would it absolve them?   

Let’s go back to the days before Hinduism, and Buddhism.  Let’s go back to Cain and Abel.  Is that far enough back in time?  

If sacrifice denotes atonement, and suffering denotes the cross, Cain and Abel understood the meaning of the cross long before Buddhism and Hinduism, even if they didn’t know of the Cross as a symbol of redemption.  We simply don’t know if they knew of it, or not!  We do know they understood the shedding of blood was necessary for salvation; that is why they offered up their firstlings to God in atonement for sin. The cross is meaningless without Christ offering Himself on it for our salvation, so it doesn’t matter who had a symbol of the Cross, first. 

Anyone ever born from the same first parents we all have, has some vestige of that sacrifice of Cain and Abel through oral tradition, diminished though it may be.  It has shown up in various ways, but every civilization knows some sort of sacrifice and atonement is required for the forgiveness of sin.   

It is possible the vestige God would give to non-Christian religions that He would speak to them about Christ and rid them of their claim to be divine.  When their own nature is telling them they are not divine, and they know they need absolution (the reason for Karma), a symbol of the Cross should speak to these people about what they need.  

It’s interesting to note that Christians worship the Most Holy Trinity, three Divine Persons in one God, and Buddhists worship, and hold as sacred treasures, the ‘Three Pure, or Collective Precepts’?  Does someone inspire them to worship a substitute for the Most Holy Trinity?  Of course, his name is Satan. 

The Three Treasures in Buddhism are: 

•           The 1st Treasure - The Buddha - which is anyone who is enlightened. (Only God is Light and he has no need of being enlightened). 

•           The 2nd Treasure - The Dharma - which is the way of higher truths. (In the case of God Truth itself IS a person.  Christ said of Himself “I AM THE TRUTH,' not ‘A’ truth). 

•           The 3rd Treasure - The Sangha - which is to celebrate and honor Buddhist’s monasteries. (A reflection of the community of Persons within the Most Holy Trinity is stripped away in Sangha). 

You also have ‘The Three Pure Precepts.'  Each of them shows a need for sanctification, and each of them are unattainable because they can never be a substitute for grace and salvation. 

The Three Pure Precepts are: 

1.         Cease doing evil – (In Christ there is no evil deed. There can be no evil in God.  He does not have to cease doing evil). 

2.         Cultivate goodness – (God is good and his nature is pure goodness.  Therefore, all of his actions are good.  This is possible to God alone).   

3.         Do good for others – (God offers redemption to us. We cannot redeem ourselves. Claiming to have ‘divine generosity’ will do nothing but bring down the wrath of God on these people). 

Next, we’ll compare the Ten Commandments to the Ten Precepts in Buddhism.  

There are debates over which religion had the basic message of the 10 Commandments first.  This is a debate that has no legs.  What is missed in these debates is the nature of the 10 Commandments, not the similarity of precepts, or codes of ethics, in other religions. 

Buddhists follow the 10 precepts rather than the 10 Commandments.  The 10 precepts are derived from the Natural Law, which is the basic understanding of right and wrong that we all have.  The Natural Law, however, has nothing to do with the nature of Revealed Truth.  It is not a Divine Revelation.  The 10 Commandments, however, are revelation. They came from God during an intervention in time and space when He gave them to Moses.  The 10 Commandments are of the nature of Reveled Truth, whereas, the Natural Law is not. 

Just as man is made in the image of God, the Natural Law is made in the image of religion, and consistent with it, but not to be confused with religion. This is why the 10 Commandments must be removed from the debate over who had what first.   

The Natural Law is put forward as a substitute for Revelation and becomes the basis of ‘spirituality’ in non-Christian Religions and shows up in ‘codes of ethics.'  It feigns to be religion, but it’s not.  A ‘Codes of ethics’ can do nothing to save us, but they show up in the Ten Precepts. 

The 10 Commandments will be marked TC.  The 10 Precepts will be marked TP 

ONE 

TC - Thou shall have no other gods before Me  

TP - Not killing  

TWO 

TC - You shall not take the Name of the LORD your God in vain. 

TP - Not stealing  

THREE 

TC - Keep holy the Sabbath day. 

TP - Not being greedy  

FOUR 

TC - Honor thy Father and Mother 

TP - Not telling Lies  

FIVE 

TC - Thou shall not kill  

TP - Not being intoxicated  

SIX 

TC - Thou shall not commit adultery 

TP - Not talking about the faults and errors of others. (Interesting, but how can there be ‘others’ if all is ‘one’?)  

SEVEN 

TC - Thou shall not steal 

TP - Not elevating oneself and putting others down 

EIGHT 

TC – Thou shall not bear false witness  

TP - Not being stingy  

NINE 

TC – Thou shall not covet thy neighbor’s wife. 

TP - Not being angry  

TEN 

TC - Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods 

TP - Not slandering the Three Treasures 

 

The Bohdisattva Vows 

There are also the Bohdisattva vows which are made up of 18 foundational, or root vows, and 46 secondary vows which are all bound and contained within the 3 Pure Precepts, the Three Treasures, and the 10 precepts. 

From these, the impenitent form the conceptual labyrinth of mechanisms in their web of self-redemption. It is within this web they feign to be mystical, and as men of wisdom.  Here, they try to hide all the problems and contradictions inherent in Cosmo as they prey upon the innocent who are drawn into their web of deceit and rebellion.   

Within the Bohdisattva, everything is to be understood considering experimental methods which ‘open new paths’ towards spiritual enlightenment. This becomes a platform of relativism that is perfectly suited to the ego.   

Participants receive the promise they will appear wise, and broad minded, unlike ‘those limited by Christian doctrine and dogma.'  The blending that results from the experiment shows up every time someone ends up believing Reincarnation and Christianity are compatible. 

The fact is this: non-Christian Religions from the East are 100 percent ‘incompatible’ with Christianity.  When confronted with this fact, the blenders accuse Christians of being ‘intolerant,' and they appeal to the ‘Gnostic Christians’ to prove Christianity is indeed compatible with reincarnation. 

First, the Gnostics are considered a heretical sect by nearly all Major Christian denominations.  The Gnostics focused on a spiritual resurrection which they held to be a process of rebirths, until the soul achieved perfection, and a physical resurrection that takes place in the form of reincarnation until the final resurrection of the body at the last judgment.   

This position is totally incompatible with Christianity.  You cannot say God is the Creator of all things and then say salvation is wrought through the amnesia portion of ‘creation,' in a concept that rejects the reality of God.  You cannot claim to be divine and find compatibility with Christianity.   Salvation is not wrought through methods and mechanisms of self-redemption.  It would be to say that salvation can be had without Christ. 

The notion of blending non-Christian Eastern beliefs with Christianity is an abomination before God; it mocks redemption offered by Jesus Christ. 

The Advocates 

One of the more well-known advocates of synthesizing Christianity and non-Christian Eastern beliefs is Thomas Merton.  Anyone who wants an in-depth analysis of his life should refer to Alice Von Hildebrand, the wife of Dietrich Von Hildebrand, a famous Catholic philosopher.  She exposes Merton as a great threat to a proper understanding of Christianity. 

You also have Teilhard de Chardin, and other folk like Huxley, Isherwood, and Maugham.  Along with them you have the Vedanta groups, and propaganda that has become common place.  

Merton’s thinking made its way into Religious Orders and Secular Institutes around the world where it wreaked havoc. Dabbling with non-Christian religions has contributed to the decline in Religious Orders, and Religious Life, throughout the world.  

Merton even penned the introduction for a publication of the Hindu equivalent of Christian Scripture.  This Hindu text is the core of Hindu thought in Vedanta, and it is anti-Christ in its nature.  This is nothing other than an invitation to the demonic activity present in the mystical experiences of other religions that now have access to Christianity. The result is a synthesized version of mystical experience. 

What Merton wrote could have easily been written by Swami Vivekananda who said: ‘If one religion is true, then all religions are true.  This makes the Hindu faith belong to all religions. Hindus do not tolerate other religions; in fact, we unite to all religions.  We pray in the mosques, we worship in front of the fire of Zoroastrian, and we kneel at the cross of Christ.  We know that all religions are attempts of the human soul to grasp the infinite, so we gather all these flowers and bind them together with love to make them a beautiful bouquet of worship.’ 

This language from the Swami comes from a man wrapped in the quest to discover his own divinity.  We are not divine.  We will never be divine.  ‘Christians’ who embrace this kind of thinking contribute to undermining Christianity and claim to be equal to Jesus Christ. 

You also have the likes of Fr. Campbell, a Dominican priest who took swipes at traditional Catholicism.  At a Vedanta meeting in Chicago back in the 60’s he said:  

‘At my own university surveys have been taken that indicate a shift in attitudes of Catholic students, and the results show a tremendous swing towards liberal views within the last 5 years. I know the great Swami Vivekananda would be pleased with this direction of movement.’   

Well, good’ol Fr. Campbell is supposed to serve Christ, not a Swami.  His words were acclaimed in major media in the eastern world as a breakthrough for non-Christian Eastern religion making its way into the western psyche. 

Syncretism 

Good Fr. Campbell went on to proclaim five things directly opposed to Christianity. 

About doctrine he said: ‘Truth is relative.  Doctrine and Dogma are not fixed.  They can change.  We are coming to a time where we can deny things that had always been considered sacred truths.' 

About Original sin he said: ‘It is a very offensive concept that does not fit a liberal view of Christianity which accepts that man can be perfected with proper training and education’ 

About Ecumenism he said: ‘Let go of the old-fashioned things and the desire to make converts.  It’s better to develop better relations with other world religions.' 

About the role of the Christian: ‘We should build a humane world rather than a longing to go to heaven.'   

About Jesus Christ he said: ‘Jesus is divine, it is true, but we can all be divine.  Indeed, we share many areas that liberal Christians already see and are moving towards eastern philosophy in the acceptance of an impersonal God and in the belief that we are in fact, all divine.’ 

There is another ‘Catholic’ Priest who also advanced the cause of syncretism.  It was Fr. Teilhard de Chardin.  He is widely quoted among ‘Catholics’ who reject what is officially taught by Rome, yet they continue to call themselves Roman Catholic.   

The following are some of Teilhard de Chardin’s views which happen to blend rather nicely with Fr. Campbell, and the movement to merge non-Christian Religions with Christianity.  

He said: ‘I can be saved only by becoming ‘one’ with the universe.’ 

He saw a new form of Christianity coming: ‘The religion to come will be a form that no one could have imagined or described, for the lack of a universe large enough and organic enough to contain it is bursting in men’s hearts from a seed that was planted by the ‘idea’ of Catholicism’ 

He also said: ‘Religion will be formed in the same way as the old Christianity, but with a new life and vigor drawn from legitimate evolution of dogmas when they come into contact with new ideas.’ 

He said of Jesus Christ: ‘Christ is becoming more indispensable to me while at the same time the figure of the historical Christ is becoming less substantial and distinct to me.’ 

He said this about Original Sin: ‘Original sin binds us.  It drains the blood from us because it has been taught in such a way as to represent the survival of concepts that are static and an anachronism in our evolutionist’s system.'  

He also said: ‘Christianity to some extent remains a refuge, but it does not welcome and embrace, nor even satisfy and lead the ‘modern soul' any longer.’ 

Men such as Fr. Thomas Merton, Fr. Campbell, Fr. Teilhard de Chardin, are considered lighthouses among those who seek divinity within themselves. What these men taught accommodates all that is anti-Christ in non-Christian Eastern Religions.   

Christian Zen, Transcendental Meditation and Hinduism 

‘Christian Zen’ 

Jesus Christ spoke about the Most Holy Trinity who wished to dwell within His faithful at the Last Supper.  He said they: ‘Will come and make themselves known to us.'  This was all about the ‘indwelling of God’ in man.  

God is God, man is man, and never the two shall meet as ‘one’ in nature.  We are never God in our nature, and we never will be God in the mystery of the ‘indwelling.'  

Christian Zen tries to change all of that.  Advocates of this heretical sect would parrot the teaching of Thomas Merton and tell us Centering Prayer is traceable to early Christianity.  That is not true! 

Buddhists beliefs and techniques were not part of the colloquy of love that Christ spoke about at the Last Supper.  They have nothing to do with the indwelling of God as understood in Christianity.   

Centering prayer is not a ‘revival’ of anything that was lost over the centuries.  That would be the same as saying early Christians believed they were divine, and equal to Jesus Christ. 

What these people want to do is equate silence and meditation in early Christianity with silence and meditation in Christian Zen through ‘centering prayer.'  This is like saying an elephant is standing still, a car is not moving, a plane is parked, and because they are all at rest, they are all one and the same thing. 

There is no benefit whatsoever in shedding desires in ‘centering prayer.'  The desire to shed desires is itself a desire.  Only when desires are inordinate are we called to shed them.  It is better to show the proper use of desire, and the good use of things, rather than shun them. 

Dwelling on our ‘center’ will never unlock ‘all the potential’ in Christianity. There is no foundation in life that that can be found in ‘centering prayer,' or any number of accumulated thoughts, merits, dispositions, or methodologies that can open the way to a favorable rebirth into any future lives.  These things do not move you forward on the path towards enlightenment because they are forgeries, and Christian Zen is all about hijacking Christianity.  God is not welcome to dwell within the heart of anyone who thinks they are divine in their own nature. God Himself would be lucky to get a seat at the ‘table of the gods’ in a world that says we are all divine. 

A ‘divine smugness’ is seen in those who regard a ‘former’ understanding of Christianity as a necessary, but incomplete road that served to bring about the ‘Day of Enlightenment’ which completes Christianity. 

Centering prayer and all non-Christian concepts disregard or remove the necessity of grace for redemption.  Methods and techniques can never produce grace, and grace is necessary for sanctification.  

Furthermore, Christian Zen deceives ‘Christians’ by opening them up to phenomena and mystical experiences that are not from God.  In a politically correct world, mystical experience now gets a pass, and all must be considered equal and valid, therefore, all religions are equal and valid.   

This is an outright denial that grace is needed to discern spirits.  It comes from a belief that all things are divine in Cosmo, and therefore no deception is possible.   

It is a contradiction to regard Cosmo as divine and incapable of deception on the one hand, and that all reality is an illusion on the other hand 

Youth throughout the western world are highly susceptible to the proliferation of non-Christian thought, but there are many who feel they missed out in life due to a ‘repressive’ understanding of Christianity. They regard Christian history as ‘unenlightened,' and filled with abuse that was overseen by a ‘Patriarchal Structure.'  It was a time of enslavement to ritual and meaningless services.  They want a brand of Christianity that is ‘up with the times.’   

Like bees to honey, they fly to Christian Zen and find ‘liberty’ (enslavement) in it.  It becomes a totally ‘freeing’ experience as they tap into their body which sinks into the sensual and emotional pleasure, even if they won’t admit it.  Why?  Because many of these people were into the sexual revolution!  Many wanted to be participants in the sexual revolution but felt ‘too oppressed’ by Christianity because of the ‘stigma’ associated with the revolution. Their alleged frustration about the past is really frustration with the moral precepts in Christianity.  Christian Zen lets them go to places hitherto ‘forbidden’ in order to understand their body in light of sexuality (Interesting how the body is no illusion when it comes to this).  If they can indulge in mystical experiences that are all equally valid, they too can visit ‘past lives’ to justify their rebellion. 

Christian Zen is nothing more than a license to do as one wishes to do.  Everyone can become a ‘Buddha.'  Some of these people go so far as to believe that Jesus Christ Himself was made complete and fulfilled by Buddhist principles.  They want us to ‘join’ Christ and break the shackles of ‘traditional Christianity.'  They call us to join Him in the discovery of that ‘divinity’ within each of us.  He will help us find it like He did. They tell us we have yet to know and experience the ‘real Jesus.'  These poor, pitiful people have been deceived. 

In Christian Zen, no one really cares about denominational beliefs.  In fact, for them, no faith is required at all.  Even more, no labels are welcome because labels are ‘judgmental’ and cause division.  And so, it is in the land of Fantasy! 

Hinduism 

As is the case with all secret societies, Hinduism operates in a similar manner. Converts to Hinduism enter a formal relationship with a Guru. The Guru provides instruction and personal a Sanskrit, which is nothing more than a magical formula.  The convert must promise silence about his relationship to the Guru and is made to understand if the promise is broken, a hex of sorts will befall the would-be convert.   

The core of the instruction is rooted in ‘situational ethics,' where ethics do not dictate moral behavior in any given situation.  They are told the situation determines the ethic.  In other words, there are no absolutes in ethics (Except, of course, the absolute claim there are no absolutes.  Moral relativism is so convenient for the impenitent, but it is not reality based).  

If the convert is ‘good’ convert, and if they truly give themselves over to the guru, they will get to see and experience the mystical powers of the ‘Siddhis.'  They may be given the power to read minds, or the power to heal by touch, as is done with ‘Chi,' or they may be given the ability to predict the future, and other such things.  This is very appealing to the ego, and Satan is right there to help.   

He will jump at the opportunity to impress an image, or thought, into someone, and then go to the ‘mind reader’ and whisper to their soul what he impressed, and, Voila!  You are a mind reader.  The hallmark of Satan is to assuage the ego and ‘give great peace and meaning’ in such things (when he is putting the burner on high to cook them).  

The devoted student will receive visitations from spirits that will convince them they are just as much a deity as the spirit visiting them, and just as much a deity as Jesus Christ.  Christian discernment is allowed no part in this, but the convert to Hinduism receives a system of dogma they are to live by. 

The Guru even helps the convert pick the type of relationship they want with their deity, like you do at a burger joint.  Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce, certain divinities might upset us, and of course, there is no discrimination.  You can pick a male or female divinity.  It can have a body or have no body.  It can be a motherly, fatherly, childlike, or a friend, or spouse type of relationship you get to pick for your deity.  What counts most is how you identify the type of relationship that you want.  

The Guru puts together a list of spiritual exercises that must be done, and in all cases the Guru must be regarded as God himself, the redeemer of the new convert.  

The entrance into Hinduism must have some formality to it.  You must bring a candle and get some goodies, too.  The convert has to make an offering to their divinity which can be a painting or a statue, anything will do.  Why not pick a black Sabbath doll as an image of their divinity?  Ridiculous you say?  Look at what Swami Vivekananda says before you say that is taking it too far.  See if it’s okay to worship evil.  That mouthpiece of Satan says:  

‘I worship what is Terrible! It is a mistake to think that pleasure is what is sought by all men. Some are born to seek after pain.  Let us worship terror for its own sake. How few have dared to worship Death, or Kali! Let us worship Death!’ 

Someone forgets to tell Swami Vivekananda those who worship terror hope to get pleasure in the worshipping of it.  In seeking to worship anything, be it pain or otherwise, to seek is to desire, and to desire means it is wanted, and to want means without receiving the thing desired, there is incompletion and unhappiness until it is received.   

Those who seek terror and pain seek happiness in the pain they receive and the terror they give, but happiness will not be theirs.  Terror and pain are not ‘one’ with happiness.  There is a void in happiness within terror and pain; that is why they are ‘terror and pain.'   

People like Swami Vivekananda will be punished severely for this perversion. Theirs will be the place of wailing and gnashing of teeth where the worm consumes.   

Swami Vivekananda is like a punk, a schoolboy trying to take turf, throwing out challenges and fear in his attempt to be a tough guy in his own miserable, little, insecure self.  He is so desperate to establish self-worth that he welcomes Satan himself to the table of Hinduism.   

There are no limits.  Once you embrace non-Christian Eastern religions, there are no limits to the evil that is welcomed, or where it shows up.   

Swami Vivekananda goes on to say: ‘There are some people who scoff at the existence of the goddess Kali, yet she is out there amid the people.  They are filled with fear, and the army of death has received its marching orders to kill. Who says that God does not make himself known in evil as just as much as in good?  It is only Hindus who dare to worship him as evil.'   

Swami Vivekananda would be masochism incarnate if that were possible. 

To illustrate how birds of a feather flock together we also read from el Guru Rajneesh about his thoughts on murder: 

‘When someone is killed no one is murdered, and when someone kills and murders, fully conscious of what they are doing because all is one and in ‘one’ there is neither killing or murder.'  

There is no God for these people, and it’s because they feel accountable only to themselves, within their own version of self-redemption, that such lunacy appears in the world. 

Guru Rajneesh tried to absolve himself in a huge scandal.  Take note of how he sees Jesus, and how he tries to justify his teachings.   

From the Fort Worth Star Telegram, we read: 

Guru Rajneesh Dead at 58 

Controversial Indian Guru, Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, "who turned a central Oregon town into a tumultuous commune of free love, hedonism and murder plots before being deported," died on Jan. 19th of heart failure in Poona, India. (Ft. Worth Star Telegram, 1/20/90). 

Rajneesh captured the nation's attention in 1981 when he moved his ashram community and 93 Rolls-Royces to Antelope, Oregon and advocated "enlightenment" through sexual promiscuity. Oregonians were concerned when Rajneesh's followers, who outnumbered the permanent residents of Antelope, took over the small town changing its name to "City of Rajneesh." Critics charged that the Guru later tried to take over the county by bussing in street people gathered from the nation's inner cities to out-vote the regular citizens. 

Ma Anand Sheela, the Rajneesh's personal secretary, later pled guilty to a number of charges including, "plotting to kill Mr. Rajneesh's physician with a poison-filled syringe and orchestrating a food poisoning outbreak that sickened more than 750 people in The Dalles, the county seat, as part of a plot to take control of the county," (Ibid). 

Rajneesh's teachings included, "sex is fun, materialism is good, and Jesus was a madman," and the claim that he was "the world's greatest lover." His "Bible" called, The Orange Book described a typical yoga session, "Explode! Go totally mad.... Jump up and down shouting the mantra `Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!' ...Each time you land on the flats of your feet, let the sound hammer deep into the sex center," (Ibid). 

In 1988 thirty years after taking the title, "Bhagwan," (which means "the embodiment of God") Rajneesh admitted the title and his claim to be God were a "joke." "I hate the word... I don't want to be called Bhagwan (God) again. Enough is enough. The joke is over," stated Rajneesh saying he was really the reincarnation of Buddha and claiming for himself the new title of "Rajneesh Gautaman the Buddha," (Star Telegram, Dec. 29, 1988; Sec.1, p. 3). Later he took the title, "Osho Rajneesh," a Buddhist term meaning "on whom the heavens shower flowers." (Ibid, 1/20/90). 

Before anyone considers taking a Guru as God, a good book to read would be: ‘Stripping the Gurus’ by Geoffrey D. Falk.  Another book worth reading is: ‘Feet of Clay: Saints, Sinners, and Madmen’: by Anthony Storr.  From Storr we read:  

‘Gurus are above the law….They usurp the place of God….What distinguishes Gurus from more orthodox teachers is not their manic-depressive mood swings, not their thought disorders, not their delusional beliefs, not their hallucinatory visions, not their mystical states of ecstasy: What distinguishes them is their narcissism.’ 

Transcendental Meditation (TM)     

From the website TM.org we read: 

‘The Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple, natural procedure to gain deep rest — and contact that inner reservoir of creativity, energy and intelligence—to gain its support in all you do and to enrich your life day by day (This is an introduction to discover your own divinity with the lure of success). 

The website states: ‘Everyone can learn to practice the Transcendental Meditation technique successfully. It’s easy and enjoyable - just 20 minutes twice a day sitting comfortably with the eyes closed. It requires no effort or concentration, no special skills or change of lifestyle. You don’t even have to believe that it works! Meditate regularly twice a day and you’ll get results.  (This is a system that requires no faith, no specific belief, using posture to induce a state of meditation that will lead to the center of the person where they will discover their own divinity) 

The website continues: ‘The Transcendental Meditation technique is: 

Simple - The Transcendental Meditation technique is not difficult or complicated to learn or practice; it’s a simple procedure (It’s simple all right, because it is a structure of self-redemption.  That’s all they want). 

Natural - There is no manipulation of the mind, or suggestion. (Then why even mention this if non-Christian Eastern principles are not known for that very thing?  Why bring it up?) 

Effortless - The Transcendental Meditation technique is easy to practice and requires no ability to concentrate or control the mind. (The point of TM IS mind control, a calming of the mind through technique.) 

Easily and quickly learned - Anyone beginning from age 10 can learn the Transcendental Meditation technique easily in seven simple steps. (Sanctification is for everyone, in seven easy steps! Imagine that!) 

Practiced for 15 to 20 minutes twice daily - The Transcendental Meditation technique is practiced once in the morning and again in the afternoon or early evening. (This is a substitute for morning and evening prayer). 

Sitting comfortably - No awkward or uncomfortable positions are necessary to practice the Transcendental Meditation technique (Get the body which is supposed to be an illusion into it, and you’re all set).  

The Transcendental Meditation technique is not a religion, a philosophy, or a lifestyle. (Then it must be superior?  It is excused from all the contradictions and errors in Cosmo?) 

It’s not a religion - The Transcendental Meditation technique is a simple, natural technique practiced by millions of people of all religions, including clergy. Practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique does not require or involve faith or any particular set of beliefs.  (This claim can only be rooted in idea that it is superior to all belief.  It is rooted in ‘self-identity,' you know, that illusory thing, which becomes the arbiter of all that is.’ 

It’s not a philosophy - It’s an effortless, scientific technique that is universally applicable, repeatable and verifiable by anyone, anywhere. (Therefore, Christ is not needed) 

It’s not a lifestyle - It’s an enjoyable technique. You don’t have to change your lifestyle in order to start the Transcendental Meditation technique. Just learn it, practice it, and enjoy the benefits. (No, it's not a lifestyle.  It’s an eternity style because it’s a portal to hell).  

With the rise of the ego and self-centeredness, interest in TM dropped off.  It had trouble competing with other forms of non-Christian Eastern mysticism, and it came to be viewed as somewhat of a passing fad.  The sales pitch had to change, so they started offering ‘powers’ that were covered in newspaper articles, and investigative reports.   

Occasionally you would see news clips of TM practitioners who would be bouncing on rubber floors with legs crossed, ‘getting closer and closer to levitation with each bounce.'  They must have been hoping to earn their wings once they figured out the flight controls.  Enough said about TM.  In principle, it’s the same as all non-Christian Eastern beliefs and concepts.   

Chapter 8 

In Summary 

In the days when it was common to see Bumpers Stickers on cars, one bumper sticker stood out from among the rest that many people identify with, even to this day.  It read: ‘My Karma Ran over Your Dogma.'    

It was a back handed swipe at Christian Dogma which was regarded as something negative, oppressive, and antiquated thought with impossible demands. 

Karma, on the other hand, was supposed to be liberating.  There was no requirement to believe in God, and there were no moral absolutes.  You did not have to repent of personal sin; Karma would take care of that for you.  Whereas Christ was regarded as an unfair judge who was just waiting to throw a lightning bolt at you the first time you did anything wrong.   

Christ always seemed to be in the way of ‘desire’ and Cosmo seemed the ally.  An age dawned with Aquarius that ushered in the day of relativism which has now become a plague in the world, much to our demise.  

Well, there is a difference between persistent impenitence and ignorance about such things.  We can hope those who embrace Karma fall into the latter category.   We can also hope those who abandoned Christianity will discover they were never abandoned by Christ.   

The title of this book reverses the order of the bumper sticker and renders it: ‘My Dogma Ran over Your Karma.'  What’s the reason for doing this?  It speaks about God’s unchanging love, and Dogma is all about something that will never change.  God, who was once thought to be in the way of ‘desire,' was there to pick us up when indulgence left us flat.  Thank God for that!  We are all His prodigal children, and this Dogma sums up the Gospel in its entirety. 

To say ‘My Dogma Ran over Your Karma’ is to say God will go over anything that stands between Him and His children, and Karma is in the way.   The proof that He is willing to do this was seen on Calvary.  What more can Christ do to show His love?  If we bind His hands beyond what He has done for us, we are without hope.   

It’s a wonderful thing to realize that no matter what we have done, God loves us.  He is not an impersonal God like Cosmo, the fabrication. 

If Cosmo were Pinocchio and could be turned from wood into a real person, he would probably be the first person at the feet of Christ, begging for liberation from his misery.   He would be ‘enlightened,' and would turn to us and point at Adam, the real man who caused what ails us.  He would point to Christ as the solution. 

God the Father and Providential Care 

What holds us back from seeing God as a loving Father?  Satan, for one!  He is the father of lies.  Also, very often, people have not had a good relationship with their Father, and they find it difficult to see God as a loving Father.  There is an emotional impasse that makes it difficult to look at God this way.  All the unspoken pain that has been hidden and tucked away for years seems an obstacle.  Satan has a field day with this.  Many are left to see God as a Father intellectually, and by sheer force of will.   

Christ gave us the reality of Who God Is, and if we follow Him, He will lead us to the Father.  His life on earth was not just to save man; it was first and foremost to glorify His merciful Father.  Those who’ve had to weather the sorrows of a bad relationship with their Father, be it men or women, can appreciate what others may never see.  They thirst for resolution like someone who is parched that just found their way out of the desert. 

This, however, is a particularly troublesome area for men. When it comes to the pain, they experienced between them and their Fathers, many men can barely speak.  Pain thought to have been buried deep, and long ago, rises to the surface in an instant, gripping the emotions in such a way that lips quiver, and no words come out. 

It’s very unsettling, but these sorrows speak about real Fatherhood.  How?  Those who suffer this way know what Fatherhood should not be like.  They wish for the love they never had, and it does them no good to say they don’t.  It is in this recognition, and a willingness to admit it, that we can see what a father should be.  When Christ reveals the Heavenly Father, we meet God who is our perfect Father.  He cannot and will not fail us.  

We must learn we cannot judge God by those who failed us.  A man must look for a way to restore the innocence that was taken from him in his sorrows, but he does not want to lose his manliness in the process, and rightly so.  He should never be emasculated by being anything other than a real man, just as Christ was a manly man.  A group hug is not going to do it for him.   He needs Christ. 

If you were a very young boy sitting beneath a tree with your father and given the wisdom to ask questions beyond your years, you might timidly ask questions about how life will be for you and your father.  Knowing how the world can be, there may be trepidation and fear of what the answers would be. 

You’d want him to tell you about HIS father.  You’d want to know if he knew him well.  You’d want him to tell you stories about what they did together. 

You’d want to know if your dad’s father shared his experience and wisdom in life with him.  You’d want to know if his dad was there for him when he needed him to be.  You’d want to know if he was there for him when he ran and took a fall. 

You’d want to know if he sat with his dad beneath this same tree.  You’d want to know if his dad was happy, he was his son. 

You’d want to know if his dad hurt him or loved him, and you’d want to know if your dad learned from his pains. 

You’d feel the strength in his hands as he carried you, but you’d want to know if they will be guiding hands, or hands that would beat you mercilessly one day. 

You’d want to know if you’d flourish, and if your talents would be encouraged by your dad, or would his own pains hinder you.   

You’d feel your innocence, and vulnerability being so young, but willing to listen if you sense a deep pain in your dad that he is unable to speak about.   

There would be dread in such moments between fathers and sons.  For the father, he is fearful of passing on the pain, and for the child, fearful of what that will mean if it happens. 

You’d twist inside over whether you would have the chance to be happy with your father, or if you would tremble in fear because you could not run fast enough to get away from what might come. 

The surest form of flattery is imitation, and a child naturally wants to think best of its Father.  You’d want to try on your dad’s shoes and ask him if you should follow the same road he trod and see if what he passes to you is something you should pass on to your son.   

In a world where divorce is so prevalent with single parent families that have no father, you would wonder if your dad would leave you too.  With trembling heart, you fear the answer, and even more so the reality. 

You’d want to ask your father if he will stay with you, or if he would leave you beneath this tree, only to let someone else take care of you.   

You’d want to know, because you are so small compared to your dad, and if your relationship with him is shaken, life itself would seem shaken. 

If your father could not look at you, you’d know he was about to leave.  You’d rest your head on the grass with eyes closed and weep, looking up with one last glance as you heard his footsteps leaving.  You’d lay there and cry yourself to sleep, and dream dreams that someone would find you, and take care of you, someone that would love you.  You’d know your life will be hard, but you’d do your best.    

You’d know one thing that will not change.  You’d always be your dad’s son.  In the years that go by, you’d dream dreams of what life could have been, and that one day you’d come back to this place with your own child and be a true Father to your child.    

Those footsteps you heard leaving that day were as the footsteps of Cosmo.  Cosmo can never be a father to anyone.  In your sorrows, you would come to know what a real father should be.  You’d go back to that place and pray with your son, that one day; your real Father would meet you, and your own child, at the same tree under a setting sun.   

You would discover that Christ was with you all along.  You would know of His love and providential care for you and your child.   He is perfect God and perfect Man, and we are His children.  He would reveal His Father to you and would never abandon you.  His love would be constant and unyielding, no matter whom we are, or what we have done.  He would meet us at that tree.  In fact, we meet him on a Cross made from a tree.  This is how providential care is seen.  His suffering gives meaning to ours when we join it to His.   

Cosmo, on the other hand, is a cruel and masochistic concept of reality.  By contrast, we can see that Karma is a fabrication, and in matters of belief, it leads to a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth. 

Self-worth and self-identity 

In the age of relativism, and with it, the proliferation of non-Christian Eastern Religions and practices, more and more people are questioning their self-worth and wonder if their lives have any value.  More and more people are plunging into loneliness and emptiness, and feel their lives have no meaning. 

Christ spoke of the lilies of the field and said that not even King Solomon, in all his glory, was arrayed as one of these.  He then spoke about our value before the eyes of His Father.  Each of us, by ourselves, is worth more than all the physical beauty in the entire universe because we are made in the Image of God.  If there was not another person in this world, ever, Christ would have died for your sins.  That is how much He loves each of us, but many in the world will not hear his voice; they don’t want to know of his love for us because it is a world where many are in rebellion. 

We are worth more than the lilies, and each of us faces the heavens, the same as all the rest.  Each of us rises in the morning to the glory of a new day.   If God has given us our value, and has His eyes on us, are we really lost in a seemingly sea of humanity that doesn’t seem to care about us, and our troubles.   

In our day, many have been reduced in the understanding of their own self-worth, so, many try to live vicariously.  They wish to live through the fame of those who are made ‘national idols’ on some stage that is not knocking on heaven’s door.  Many are drawn into such fantasies, wishing it was ‘they’ who were discovered.   

We must push our way through the struggles, and compared to all the glitz, our lives don’t seem so notable.  It’s because we bought the lie that glitz is the measure of who we are.  We are more than this.  There is a reason we are here, a reason that God made us come to be. 

It doesn’t matter if you are short or tall, it doesn’t matter what color you are.  Everyone wants to be watered every day in providential care, and everyone wants to be loved the same as all the rest, whether you are on a stage or not.   The fact is; we are all on stage.  Heaven is watching the drama of salvation being played out in each soul.  There is tempest and struggle, but in all of it, there is victory in providential care.   

We are loved by the Father whom Christ reveals to us.  That is why He sent His Son!   Cosmo does not love us because Cosmo is not real.  There is no providence in Cosmo because there is no self-worth possible in a concept of reality that mocks our own self-identity as an illusion.  Cosmo is the voice of Satan in the world. 

We are creatures made for beauty 

Beauty speaks to us about God.  When we see it, it’s stunning.   The world revolves around beauty, even in the plastic world where the gift of beauty is cashed in for all the wrong reasons. 

Think of what beauty means in Cosmo! Or, better yet, think of what it does not mean!  There is no reason for beauty in Cosmo.  Why? What does it matter?  Those who believe their self-identity expires at death, like some credit card that expires, create a void in their lives for embracing the absurd.  It is their punishment.  In Cosmo, they must leave it when they die, never to see it again.  They are like atheists who believe when you are gone, you are gone.  Who do these people thank for beauty?  Who do they thank when they are inspired, Cosmo?  One can hear the laughter of Satan in the background for those who believe in Cosmo. 

Beauty really does hold us up.  It carries us like we are in quiet flight that takes us skyward.  It takes us from a place where sorrow dimmed our vision.   It helps us to see things as God sees them, and we discover beauty that had been there all along.   It’s vibrant, and life giving. 

We live, and move, and have our being in God, and when we see this, we see beauty is there, only waiting for us to see.   

If beauty seemed to be hiding, it wasn’t hiding after all; it was hiding because we could not see.  There are times we lose sight of things meant to be treasured in life.  We didn’t mean for it to happen that way, they just slipped away in strife.   

One moment with beauty does more to give us sight, than to grasp at things that hinder us, things that turn beauty into darkness. 

Beauty calls, it wants to grace each moment, and in it, everything finds meaning, each in its own place.  We want beauty to carry us because it stirs us from within, it makes us free.  We want to see life as it is.  

We are called to let the gifts of sight and sound speak to us and lead us to where beauty is found.  It’s in the heavens, it’s in colors; it’s in all things. 

When beauty is treasured in my life, others will want to see what we see. They will no longer hide; they will become adventurers. 

We are made for each other, beauty and us.  It guides us to its source.  It whispers to us in gentle ways; it does not take us by force. 

We can choose to be one who is set free, not only for a moment, but forever in eternity. 

Clouds and Mercy 

Why do we make clouds that cast shadows; stormy clouds that stand between us and blue sky?  They stretch from horizon to horizon, like signatures of our lives. They speak of what we should have been, and what we have done. 

When we live as we would clouds thicken and shut out heaven's light. When we live as we should clouds give way to grace and we can breathe once again. 

We are like beggars that stand below clouds we have made, hoping for light of day, clouds that have hidden heaven's blush at what has passed below. 

We must live as we are meant to live; we must see beauty as it is. We should use our free will, which is noble, and choose to begin and live anew. 

We can stand on clouds with angels and listen to them speak. We should want to live as one meant for glory and let them lead us to what we seek. 

We are made in the image of beauty, and out of love, not duty, we should follow Him because He is beauty Itself.   If we live apart from that beauty, we embrace only what is hollow. 

The wind of mercy opens the skies ahead of us and lifts us up to rest on clouds, clouds drenched in moonbeams and sunlight where life is once again bright. 

We want to be a light to others who live in shadows, so they may ride upon clouds, too. Under blue skies we shall find our way, the clouds will take us there. 

They wait for us now; clouds that take us to where grace is bestowed, clouds to whisk us off to a place we cannot get to on our own. 

We are made for Love!  

A person made in the image of God can turn to Cosmo, whose eyes are nothing more than the eyes on the man in the moon and say: 

‘I feel your gaze fixed upon me, but I am a child of God.  I live beneath the gaze of my Father who sees all things.  Your eyes are nothing but craters.’ 

What is love to you Cosmo that I should want to be with you?  What is heaven to you that I should want to be with you?  I want to keep what's in my heart and do with it what I know is best.  You would rob me of who I am, and what I am at death. 

To you, I am but a reflection on the surface of your eyes, never to touch your heart because you are heartless.  I am nothing more to you than a reflection below an image in water that keep us apart.  I am nothing more than a reflection of your own ego, and you would dispense of me at my death, so I am no more.  I know it is Satan who is lurking behind your eyes whose gaze is upon me. 

I have found beauty in Christ, and beauty is found in Love that does not fade.  It is a place where fleeting beauty cannot follow, and your thought of me as a fleeting, temporary self-identity, has no part in my life.  My life does not come from you, and you cannot follow me into eternity. 

Fleeting moments are for fleeting beauty, and in you, Cosmo, love can never be found, for love cannot be contained or held in the arms of a fleeting moment. 

What matters to me is what I see now, so don’t gaze upon me because you cannot cherish or have me.  I don’t want your selfish love.  Don’t try and take me from my place of rest; I will pray the Lord’s Prayer that I am not put to the test. 

I want to cherish what I have to give.  I want to hold it for God, and I know this cannot be you, so let me be in peace.  Do not turn my place of rest into a wishing well for fleeting moments where love can never be. 

Don’t try and take my breath away with a kiss of Judas that ‘means no harm.'  A kiss in such a moment is for fleeting moments that can only bring me pain. 

Don't speak to me, in terms of life, when your heart is set upon a fleeting life span for me.  I do not want what you have to offer because your heart is not true.  If your heart was true, you would not wish for me what would make me less noble. 

What matters is not just here and now, but tomorrow, and the days to come.   What really matters is to live in God, in each moment, where eternity begins here and now.   

It’s better for me to bask in Heaven’s glow than to take refuge with a false God.   

I will journey to God as one exploring on the rivers of life, coursing my way to Him.  I am an explorer, coming ashore, searching for light even in the dark of night. 

There is no light within you Cosmo, and I seek the Promised One of Life.  There are many mansions on the shore where there is rest, and tears are found no more. 

I can breathe in peace that fills the soul under heaven’s glow.  It is a place to touch God’s sky.  It’s a place to touch His face. 

His word is Light, He guides us all.  He waits for those who heard the call.   His Light, the Light of Christ, is like a lamp in a lighthouse that guides me to eternal shores. 

I will course the bow of my ship to eternal shores where He was waiting for me all along.