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Answers to questions you may have been afraid to ask!

An opportunity to explore the spiritual in a manner that all may come together and share.

 

Jan 6, 2007

Gauthama Buddha (known to some as "the Buddha," although there have been several) taught that all we had to look forward to in this life are sickness, old age, and death.  Did he really mean that, or did he teach that as a way to spur us on to something more, something greater?

Most Christians have a teaching which is similar in its implications.  They teach that we are miserable, terrible creatures who would never "make the grade" without a savior.  Some of them take it further and make lists of demands of what we must do in order to be chosen for salvation, lest we find ourselves going to that "hell" which some of them love to tell us about.  Add to that their common teaching of "one chance in this life is all you get," and there's a wonderful opportunity for spiritual blackmail.

But even if there is a savior available for those who would not otherwise pass muster and those who insist on having only one chance, is this teaching all there is, or might it be that there is something more, something greater, that can be reached for.

In every spiritual path, teachings can be found that say that if you seek, you will find something worth seeking.  And they all teach that we have it within ourselves to do jsut that!  The Buddhists teach that there is a Buddha within each of us.  In Wicca, I learned that there is the spark of the Divine within every creature.  And so many, many more.  How many teachings of how many paths teach that we can claim what is already ours, waiting for us to claim?

Is there something waiting that transcends our artifical boundaries of sect and denomination?  If so, will we see something that we must preach from the rooftops and impose on each other, perhaps with baseball bats if necessary?  Or will we see something that is highly personal and individual, that each of us can take into our hearts and nurture?

There might not be much that's new, but there can be quite a lot that's next!