sunnuntai, 9. joulukuu 2018

Christmas is coming

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Advent

 

Advent – the time of waiting,

external doors wide open, internal fast and closed.

Woe the bringers of light who find people asleep, intoxicated by the world,

shutting their doors of heart.

The greatest present, fettered by darkness,

delivered at Christmas – from the beginning,

the lack is only of receivers.

 

Your guesthouse and stable

 

Is there room in your guesthouse for the Child of Christmas?

Is he coming to the darkness of your stable, into the middle of your wild animals?

The pure in hearts will hear the call, notice the sacred birth

and the birth into the sacred.

Wasted is the celebration of Christmas unless your stable is clean.

Open your eyes, you child of the world, the magic of Christmas is soon over.

tiistai, 7. elokuu 2018

Are we hypocrites?

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A few people of today have time and will to seek for the purposes and aims of life in any other than in its most formal and natural form. People are interested in the welfare of their own and of their close relations, maybe of their possibilities of getting wealth and honor. They leave life after physical death – if they still believe in it – as a faraway headache.

As to “the endgames”, many people seem to rely on the idea that a Christian baptizing, confirmation and a socially decent lifestyle give shelter against the kind of condemnation or destruction about which the Christian belief is talking.

It is very likely that the ideas of both good and bad endings – heaven and hell – have been overemphasized by leaving out all possible places, spaces or locations between these two extremes.

In their minds, people have developed a fantastic image of heaven where they could live happily as separate persons (not connected with God). Hell is performed as an everlasting place of torture – in spite of the fact that Gospels are talking about destruction – in other words – fading of individual consciousness.

***

The Gospel of Thomas (99) says:

The disciples said to him, “Your brothers and your mother are standing outside.” He said to them. “Those here who do the will of my father are my brothers and my mother. It is they enter the kingdom of my father.”

It is quite clear that doing or filling the will of God requires full and direct knowledge of the will, which is eternal in nature – so that it contains no worldly distortions.

***

Matthew 23:25 states:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thomas (89) conforms the same:

Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not realize that he who made the inside is the same one who made the outside?

Both of these texts emphasize the idea that conquering or transcending the ordinary human nature requires a process of inner change. Of course, it is necessary to establish some outer discipline, so that the most unrefined sensuality and desires do no longer dominate in one’s mind.

However, one must remember that by forcing the mind into some mode does not usually lead to any deepening of understanding nor to inner peace. There is a warning in Matthew 5:39.

“But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil.”

This request is not meant to apply in every case. Probably it points at a state of mind in which hate or any other defensive behavior have room and power no more.

This advice fits well to inner processes – so that it is not wise to use excess force to oneself against one’s own nature. In fact, there is a danger that the mind does a nasty trick by bypassing the controlled gate of vices and using an unguarded one (as is the case in the celibacy of some catholic priests) instead.

***

The need to deal with one’s inner being comes up clearly in Matthew 7:5.

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

“Seeing” means here an understanding that has freed itself from its prejudices and ignorance. It is easier for a person to see the kind of vices in another people that he has in his own nature.

Matthew 15:7–8 emphasizes the need for understanding (heart) in writing:

Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Today some psychologists might interpret this as an emotional intelligence – a kind of balanced state between feelings and reasoning. However, the “heart” in this connection denotes to a much higher intelligence or wisdom than what common feelings and logical thinking represent.

The Gospel of Luke (12:56) also brings forth the conditional meaning of ordinary thinking and research:

Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?

By “this time”, Luke denotes to the inner significance and nature of the present moment. Many clever people are aiming their efforts at outer phenomenon or past events.

***

Matthew 6:5 and 6:16 warns about showing one’s religious acts to other people:

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces that they may appear unto men to fast.

To follow common manners in streets and churches is not, of course, any failure or sin, if a person does not think that by doing so he earns “heavenly credit points” to himself.

***

Luke 17:20–21 makes a seldom-used statement:

The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

The text might be understood to deal with the end of times but it is quite certain that it point to the idea that the Spirit and Divine Being are the inmost essence of all that there is in this universe – and that it is the ultimate task of a human being to dig and bring it forth (for himself and others).

John 3:3 denotes to the way of “bringing this forth”:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

We can find “evidence” to this statement also in the first letter of Peter (1:23):

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

In this letter “the word of God, living forever” does not mean only verbal expressions but rather a direct state of consciousness that opens the (freeing) truth in its ultimate essence.

***

Matthew 23:13 lashes with hard words the religious leaders of the time (or any time):

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

The Gospel claims that even the leaders were not very honest in their spiritual efforts and that they did not allow any nonprofessionals see and search the sources that they had in their possession (if they had not yet lost them).

***

The Gospel of Thomas (22) brings forth the need for a perfect co-operation and unity of one’s inner and outer being – so that it could work as a temple of the Holy Ghost:

Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom.” They said to him, “Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?” Jesus said to them, “When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom.”

The main point of this saying lies in likeness. The human (secular, temporal) and the divine (timeless, eternal) beings are so different in nature that they cannot be united unless one of them loses his former nature. Of course, this former being must be the human part, which has identified itself with temporal phenomenon in time and space (which is sometimes called as the original sin).

 

tiistai, 18. heinäkuu 2017

A mini-course on pronouncing Finnish for English-speaking people

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Kalervo Mielty and Richard Raven have developed a new way of teaching Finnish pronunciation to English-speaking people.

It is easy to separate small differences in the contexts that you are used to. That is why in this mini-course the pronunciation of some English words is replaced with correspondent Finnish sounds, so that you can hear the difference more clearly and practice the right Finnish way of producing the sounds.

This fifteen an a half minutes course is available in YouTube free of charge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06SRMb5MBQ&t=8s

 

 

keskiviikko, 1. maaliskuu 2017

A short lecture on sin!

The first things, which comes to mind when talking about sin, are the ten commands in Exodus. They are a list of affairs that people must avoid. The Old Testimony presents these commands as dictated by God Himself although they can easily be found in many older sources.

Such persons as Gregory the Great defined in 500th century the seven mortal sins. Thomas the Aquinas continued this work in 1200th century.

The lists of sins have focus on human activities, but no list can show us the actual basis for the idea of sin.

We can search roots of sins by studying the Genesis and comparing it to the basic ideas in The New Testimony.

The Christian idea of the original sin means in principle being separated from God, the absence of divine nature in human beings. The Genesis symbolizes this resulting from the fall of Adam via an apple picked by Eve from a wrong tree.

This story is but an allegory of a change in the consciousness of humanity from a direct inner to an indirect outer one. Time and space had emerged before that, forming all not-divine things with which a human being could later on identify himself. The first division from the divine unity had already happened in the creation of Eve.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil (not that of eternal life) symbolizes the birth or formation of conditional consciousness, which leans to the field of contrary ideas and polarities. This is the reason that people are no longer able to recognize anything in their original invariable essence.

In principle, we could define sin very easily: it means identifying with outer phenomenon and oneself (as a separate being). All concrete lists of sins come from human need to create order in their daily social life.

It is much more difficult to apply the idea of sin in human life. The New Testimony gives some ideas in encouraging searching the Kingdom of Heaven by forgetting oneself, bearing one’s cross, and following the giving instructions in one’s daily life.

To achieve “the master degree in humanity” one should be able to drop all one’s identifications with transient phenomenon of life in order that something eternal could turn out in one’s inner or inmost being.

The requirement for poverty in spirit in the Sermon on the Mount presupposes inner liberation out of all outer things and selfishness. Becoming like a child means a complete lack of all kinds of bonds to temporal things and affairs. That requires the kind of wisdom, which comes directly from above, where there is, according to James,”no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

The Sermon also gives the shortest possible definition of sin: “Be perfect!” Smith Hoeggman propably denotes to this kind of interpretation when saying to Paavo Ruotsalainen: “One thing is missing from you and in that thing all – the inner knowledge of Christ!” Apostle Paul said that the followers should put Christ on themselves.

If we try to define sin according to concrete actions, we will impinge on the fact that many wrong doings might in time cause good results. People may get the opportunity to face their faults and start correcting them.

The Creek term for sin is hamartia, which means an attempt to hit a target. Attempts are often failing, which need not to prevent from trying again, for “grace is new every morning.”

Master Eckhart stated that one should not even repent his mortal sins, if those were in some respect leading him to the birth of the Son of God in the inmost part of the soul – for this, means a complete liberation from sin and death.

maanantai, 27. helmikuu 2017

Prevention and the Bible

 

Prevention, which usually denotes to birth control, is in Finland no longer a topic of serious controversies. An abort does not really belong to means of prevention, for it merely shows the lack of control.

In Roman Catholic countries, both affairs are much bigger issues.

***

Where can we find the original ideas of the wickedness of birth control? Mostly on the Old Testimony.

In Genesis, God commands people to be fruitful, and multiply. It is understandable that thousands of years ago this might be necessary for keeping the community alive. Jeremiah gives a more detailed command: “That ye may be increased there, not diminished.” Jeremiah’s advice would be suitable in Finland as well as in many other western countries.

***

The only episode in the whole Bible, which we could interpret prohibiting birth control is found in Genesis 38:8. There Juda says to Onan:

Go in unto thy brother's wife, marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother. Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

It does not regard much thinking to see clearly, how far this episode stands from present affairs between men and women. This ancient Jewish idea was meant to protect the future of the widow in the community – nowadays the same is made through legislation.

***

Jewish leaders had a habit to defend the identity of the tribe by using God as a deterrent. This might be even necessary to control a wild tribe of nomads – especially such as the tribe of Binu-Jam (Benjamin).

***

The New Testimony does not tell anything about the birth control. Apostle Paul writes of sexual intercourse in the first Cor. in a rather positive way, but he allows the stopping that sort of intercourse, at least for a while, on mutual agreement. In the same chapter, Paul seems to recommend singleness (at least for spiritual ones), but allows marriage for those, who cannot contain, “let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”

***

Many Catholic priests may think that living in celibate helps them in being spiritually born again. Unfortunately, Celibacy is often practiced by human will force, which may cause the natural instinct to fade from conscious control and twist (towards for example kids) – unless the inner being is built on a solid ground.

It is obvious that a person must fully control his own mind before he may become a mediator for the enormous forces of the Holy Spirit.

***

The New Testimony does not give sufficient and exclusive guidelines for the question of birth control. The Gospels concentrate on assisting the growth of spiritual life. Issues of daily activities are mostly skipped, for people should find solutions for worldly affairs by themselves.

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More than a hundred years ago, families in Finland often had very many children. Children were essential to ensure the continuity of life and the security for old people. Of course, there were not very efficient and reliable means for prevention.

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In principle, increasing the population should in Finland be encouraged to prevent it from becoming too old. The problem could be solved by immigration, but that might also cause some friction if not managed properly.

***

We have a good reason to respect those families that bring about here as many children as they can. The affair becomes doubtful if it happens on basis of too outdated and suspicious ideas or under the pressure of a religious community or another person.