Posts by JamesThomas

12

Signs of Spring

by poppers in

jw
friends

this morning i saw my first robin of spring - always a nice sight here in northern wisconsin.

there were also lots of newly arrived redwing blackbirds singing happily - after their winter absence the sounds of their calls was so refreshing to hear.

one of my favorite signs of spring, believe it or not, is a faint scent of skunk smell in the air.

JamesThomas

alt I love the call of red winged blackbirds, and heard my first this year a couple weeks ago.

We raise canaries here, and the little bastards sing all year long which puts a little spring in every time of the year.

Skunks are beautiful little creatures and frequent our place year around. They squabble with the possums to get at the remainder of the cat food.

I have often awoke at night with skunks just outside my tipi door (which is kept open year around except when it rains). Funny thing when I shine a light at them, rather than scamper off, they want to come in. Go into the light. Go into the light. I have to tell them firmly not to come in, or i swear I'd find them curling up next to me and the damn cats which think the bed is theirs.

I found a little possum sitting next to one of the cats on my bed one night, acting as if this was a normal thing.

Skunks, cats and possums. Where are the Thai girls I keep praying for?

j

49

God shunned all, but Jews and christians with the correct understanding?

by Star Moore in

the bible says that the jews were god's chosen people.

yes, but does that mean that all other people were nothing to him, unless they were associated with the nation of isreal?

a thought: what if god just chose the nation of isreal for the purpose of bringing the messiah to earth and was still with the good people in all the other religions?

JamesThomas

James Thomas...But I like my holy book......

I understand. Why eat the food when we can read the menu. Why experience God as the true Source, Sustenance and reality of our own being and all existence, when we can give our selves to a story book instead. Why experience reality when we can live in the abstract world of words and beliefs in our mind. Makes sense to me.

j

17

The Law (Old) Testament & The True Christian (New) Covenant - Part I(a)

by AGuest in

jw
friends

to the household of god that is .

his love and faith in god, however, were very different from what most us understand: he loved god and he had faith in god because he knew god.

here it is, the man's beloved son, and god was asking for a sacrifice of that son.

JamesThomas

Most probably they "sound… more and more like a "law student" to you, dear James, because I am a law student.

That's what I meant, Shelby.

So, I will not deride you in your belief, nor will I attempt to discredit you, even with subtlely, hidden in words of kindness

The warmth felt towards you is genuine; and as far as my "beliefs", I harbor no mental stories about a God. Why I "discredit" you, follows.

I think we disagree... as to what… or rather who… it is that sets us free.

Exactly!

We may agree on a lot Shelby, but our disagreement is a paramount one.

When we allow the mind to reduce divinity to a "who", a specific entity, an object with a name, what we have done is drastically limit and place distant our foundational reality and wholeness (which can be difficult to awaken to at the best of times).

No matter how loving and honorable the words at first appear, language decrying circumscribed and nameable gods breaks (in our mental created world) the actual united wholeness of the universe into a nightmare of broken little shards; which supports and sustains a very real sense of being a wounded individual, separate and apart from all else. Belief in personal little gods greatly assists in dividing us into those special chosen ones and those less deserving. It is the belief in gods separate which disunites us and feeds enmity between tribes and so supports mans inhumanity to man. Embracing a circumscribed and nameable god allows many to see others who do not embrace our chosen deity as godless savages who can be enslaved and killed with little, if any, regard. (Please understand I am not saying you, Shelby, would do this; but rather that similar beliefs can and have been a big step in that direction).

What's important is not the visions and gods which divide us, but rather what unites us one and all. In what un-nameable and un-ending actuality and reality do we all share right now? What is there at every-ones center that has been missed, in part due to focus and beliefs in gods and a self which are separate? Are we really broken shards that need fixing and healing? Or is there a Reality so endlessly grand and wondrous as to include everyone and everything in it's purity and freedom right now; so close, intimate and boundless as to be our true identity?

I had some interesting experiences in my meditations as well, Shelby, but the significance was not given to what was being seen or experienced, but rather on what was closer, what was seeing. It was only when focus and attention on objective and limited gods ended, that consciousness began to realize the nameless reality and wholeness which is always here, within everyone, just beneath the grand illusory drama of a shattered self and universe.

j

49

God shunned all, but Jews and christians with the correct understanding?

by Star Moore in

the bible says that the jews were god's chosen people.

yes, but does that mean that all other people were nothing to him, unless they were associated with the nation of isreal?

a thought: what if god just chose the nation of isreal for the purpose of bringing the messiah to earth and was still with the good people in all the other religions?

JamesThomas

Star Moore:

Do you really think the God of all the Jews, christians and even muslims, is a tiny tribal god.?

Yes. The Christian and Muslim concept of a god is taken directly from the ancient Jewish tribal traditions and teachings. However, it doesn't matter what I think or say.

There needs to come a time when we desire truth so strongly that we are willing to examine everything the mind tells us. It's important to be empty of all thought and beliefs which in any way separates us from nature or reduce us to an individual isolated thing, so that there may be a deep and clear sense of the unbroken wholeness of being and existing. It's important to intimately feel the seamless and infinite vastness of conscious being.

Really tasting the wonder and beauty of the actuality of life, leaves no question that the little moronic man-god expressed within the pages of the Bible is far, far too diminutive and foolish to ever have anything to do with the existence of such a grand expression of life and reality.

It seems the mind has an innate desire to know it's Source; but what is infinite can not be grasp or known by the finite limited mind. So the mind creates little gods in it's own image that it can cherish, embrace and own. Ironically, love for little gods and deities often blinds the heart to what is present and real.

The only limits or distance to what the word G-O-D points to, are beliefs and imaginings within the mind. So, the world would be a far better place if rather than filling our minds with "sacred" ramblings of ignorance, we threw away our "holy" books and sat in stillness allowing consciousness to delve deep into it's most close and intimate being.

j

49

God shunned all, but Jews and christians with the correct understanding?

by Star Moore in

the bible says that the jews were god's chosen people.

yes, but does that mean that all other people were nothing to him, unless they were associated with the nation of isreal?

a thought: what if god just chose the nation of isreal for the purpose of bringing the messiah to earth and was still with the good people in all the other religions?

JamesThomas

Few ultimately care knowing what oranges do.

49

God shunned all, but Jews and christians with the correct understanding?

by Star Moore in

the bible says that the jews were god's chosen people.

yes, but does that mean that all other people were nothing to him, unless they were associated with the nation of isreal?

a thought: what if god just chose the nation of isreal for the purpose of bringing the messiah to earth and was still with the good people in all the other religions?

JamesThomas

Any comments?

Jehovah, is a deity created by the ancient tribal Jews; and it is only fitting that they placed themselves in the position of his only "chosen ones".

Great problems arise when we unquestionably attribute the infinite expression of life and universe to a tiny tribal god who exists only within the confusing concepts and confines of some peoples minds.

Our true Source is endlessly vast and always present. However, when we focus conscious awareness on beliefs-of-what-is-real, rather than on what is REAL, we are blind.

j

17

The Law (Old) Testament & The True Christian (New) Covenant - Part I(a)

by AGuest in

jw
friends

to the household of god that is .

his love and faith in god, however, were very different from what most us understand: he loved god and he had faith in god because he knew god.

here it is, the man's beloved son, and god was asking for a sacrifice of that son.

JamesThomas

Shelby,

The meeting with our true Source results in awakening to being boundless Freedom itself. What blinds us to this freedom, what encloses and "enslaves" us, is the mind; which is probably why the words you hear your JAHESHUA MISCHAJAH giving you are -- not surprisingly -- sounding more and more like those of a law student.

You are a dear, Shelby; and many here feel the warmth and genuine caring of your presence. I know I do.

I suggest the next time your Lord comes visiting that you sit in deep silence together; that you both may discover what is infinitely beyond words and thoughts, and so endlessly vast as to never be named or spoken.

j

146

The Trinity... is it a false teaching as the WTBTS claims?

by Honesty in

in the old testament god revealed himself to his chosen people, the israelites as i am:.

ex 3:14-15 - god replied to moses, i am who i am.

this is what you are to say to the israelites: i am .

JamesThomas

Generally, when it comes to what the word G-O-D points to, the more scriptures a person parrots the less they actually know.

Our true Source and Sustenance is that which all time, space and phenomena exists in. It is that which is the Life of all life; the Existence of all existence. It has no beginning and no end; and so is the foundational reality of all things.

Only in the carnal-mind and it's unbelievably foolish ideas, beliefs and made-up scriptures is there little gods too tiny to be present; too circumscribed and separate to be what we ultimately are.

Christians, generally, don't want to here of an INFINITE GOD, which can not be reduced and diminished into a fragmented personal deity of one, two, or three. They are too busy filling themselves with ancient tribal ignorance which belittles and minimizes God to a tiny anthropomorphic image.

j

31

Just checking in: Life is GREAT and I'm SO HAPPY

by berylblue in

jw
friends

as an ex-jw.. for those of you who are wondering if there is life beyond the wtbts -.

yes, there is.. a very fulfilling, exciting, satisfying life.. i am now a store manager candidate for a national pharmacy chain - will have my own store within 6 months - .

my grandson is beautiful and both my children are in constant contact.. i will be getting married to a wonderful man in a few months - and.

JamesThomas

Hello dear Rosemarie. I have been wondering about you... and here you are.

Glad to hear of your blooming and success. Hope it gets only better and better.

j

8

What a Hummingbird Taught Me About God

by metatron in

last year, i put out a bird feeder and filled it with seed.

i would frequently watch birds come and go while making breakfast.. during early summer, i passed by the window and spotted a hummingbird hovering near the seed filled feeder, looking around.

as if to say, "where's mine?"..

JamesThomas

You're certainly not alone on this Metatron. It's quite amazing isn't it, what the universe has to share when we are present and open to see.

Perhaps all distance and separation from what the word G-O-D points to, are simply misjudgments of the mind. Which begs the question: just under all the drama and story I believe myself to be, what am I, really?

j