JamesThomas

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Posts by JamesThomas

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  19

  Why I must be Agnostic and not Atheist.

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wts has this nice little explanation for everything.

  how can man be .

  only six thousand years old, how could a global flood have actually taken.

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  JamesThomas

  I believe in the strength of knowledge and understanding.

  Not a problem. However, without knowing yourself first, without differentiating between what is REAL and what is not, within you, how can there be any genuine knowledge and understanding?

  j
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  51

  Prayer to the Holy Spirit

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a touchy topic for some because of strong beliefs about god's nature.

  many believe that the nt bible is a law book, designed to give us exacting instructions and formula on what to do and not to do.

  on prayer to the holy ghost (holy spirit), the new advent says:.

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  JamesThomas

  The Gospel of Thomas seems to indicate the same concept.

  Bernadette, I suggest that if you sincerely feel a sense of agreement that our true Source is genuinely limitless and boundless, that you then not be satisfied with it being a "concept". Rather, earnestly seek within your most immediate and intimate sense of being and existing. Look past the mind and all it's words, beliefs and concepts, and discover what is wondrously and undeniably Real.

  Realize what you really are.

  j
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  19

  Why I must be Agnostic and not Atheist.

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wts has this nice little explanation for everything.

  how can man be .

  only six thousand years old, how could a global flood have actually taken.

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  JamesThomas

  WHAT IF I AM WRONG AGAIN?

  It's garanteed you'll be wrong, unless you step out of the minds conjecture and concepts.

  You can not get the reality you seek out of a book, or from other peoples thoughts and beliefs, or from your own thoughts and beliefs.

  Learn to differentiate between what is thought, and what is real. Still the mind and venture deep into the actuality and reality of silent existence at the core of your being.

  You can not know living Truth, as the changing world of things are conceptually known. The truth you seek is silently lived -- as your own unfathomable Being.

  j
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  51

  Prayer to the Holy Spirit

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a touchy topic for some because of strong beliefs about god's nature.

  many believe that the nt bible is a law book, designed to give us exacting instructions and formula on what to do and not to do.

  on prayer to the holy ghost (holy spirit), the new advent says:.

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  JamesThomas

  This is a touchy topic for some because of strong beliefs about God's nature.

  Ah yes -- beliefs about God's nature.

  Beliefs are thought. Unreal pictures and words playing upon the invisible screen of the mind. Practical in many ways, but when it comes to the Reality which the word G-O-D points to, the mind's thoughts and beliefs can only diminish and break apart what is truly unbreakable. The Bible is a grand display of thought fragmenting and minimizing the Divine. A small god, expressed by small minds, for our small minds. Fiction.

  What is it that all gods, all seemingly separate and isolated things and phenomena exist within? What truly has no beginning and no end? What is it which unites everything and everyone -- no matter what little shard of existence our minds create to which we pray?

  j
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  23

  Using only the bible, how many people were killed by Satan?

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was able to find a list of people killed by god, but not satan.

  did satan actually kill anyone?.

  sab, brick testamentnumber killedcumulative totallot's wife for looking backgen.19:26, bt11er who was "wicked in the sight of the lord"gen.38:7, bt12onan for spilling his seedgen.38:10,. bt13for dancing naked around aaron's golden calfex.32:27-28, 35, bt30003003aaron's sons for offering strange fire before the lordlev.10:1-3,. num.3:4, 26:61, bt23005a blasphemerlev.24:10-23, bt13006a man who picked up sticks on the sabbathnum.15:32-36, bt13007korah, dathan, and abiram (and their families)num.16:27, bt12+3019+burned to death for offering incensenum.16:35,.

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  JamesThomas

  Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned

  Who was the cause of that sin??

  Good thing us humans have morals higher than the ruthless bible god, or we would be killing the children and grandchildren of those people who committed a capital offense.

  j
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  24

  I feel bad about being a part of this...

  by sibboleth in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  several years ago, approx 1995, i was a newbie elder - age 29 and was just doing the "yes man" duties around the hall.

  there was the overbearing po who was the "king" of the congo and whatever he said was gospel... if he didn't like you - you were history... needless to say - i kissed his butt and moved up the ladder quite easily.

  we had another newbie elder - in his late 40's - and he was a smart man.

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  JamesThomas

  Welcome, Sibboleth.

  it is obvious to me that this organization is not God's chosen people.

  I find this paradoxical, for certainly the god found within the pages of the Bible can be very unforgiving to the point of murder. This sets a precedence and pattern for those who admire and follow him, does it not? How can people who worship ruthlessness, not be adversely affected? In an early time this liberal elder could have been stoned to death, and so you for going against the other elders.

  Why is it you seem to have higher morals than the god you worship?

  j
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  7

  Law of gravity?

  by the sage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if jehovah's rule of law works like the law of gravity, which it apparently does until the millennial rule of christ, the past 6000 years of sin (error) inherited from adam has permitted mankind to exist even though imperfect.

  this has allows death and distruction.

  the historical scriptural record of death and distruction of those that go contrary to god's rule of law by failing to follow his direction and guidance (since not perfect impossible), as a people or nation it proved to be the case.

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  JamesThomas

  Hello, Gerald.

  Sorry, I do not understand how a tribal war deity can have anything to do with the laws of nature, gravity or otherwise.

  The fool!
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  31

  Religious Experience/Being Saved

  by choosing life in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have read on this board that several posters have had a religious experience or were saved.

  i am curious about such experiences.

  how did you know it was from god?.

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  JamesThomas

  I have not been saved, or been made wiser, or holier, or bettered, or added to in any way. Rather quite the opposite: it has been seen this individual self, does not even exist. There is simply the wholeness and allness of what IS. Trully, of myself -- I am nothing.

  Perhaps I should have remained religious and worshipped something, and so then been "saved", or got'n at least something out of the deal. Oh well. Shit happens.

  j
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  91

  If Jehovah isn't the true God then who is?

  by unbaptized in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if jehovah isn't the true god then who is?

  if the jehovah's witnesses aren't god's people then who is?.

  please let me know and i need current information, not outdated information regarding the origin of the organization.

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  JamesThomas

  your christianity lays in your heart

  Actually, I agree that what the word C-h-r-i-s-t actually points to, is found within our own consciousness. Not as a person or thing, or any limited circumscribable object or entity, but rather as That which unites us all. It is the very same Conscious-awareness which looks out every eye, breathes through the leaves of every tree, shines brightly from every star, and spins in every atom.

  That I define self by some religion or greed, only separates and distills me, and seemingly fragments the wholeness which can in truth, never be broken.

  j
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  91

  If Jehovah isn't the true God then who is?

  by unbaptized in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  if jehovah isn't the true god then who is?

  if the jehovah's witnesses aren't god's people then who is?.

  please let me know and i need current information, not outdated information regarding the origin of the organization.

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  JamesThomas

  Perhaps you are simply asking: What is true?

  This is a far easier question to answer than many would expect; yet, it can not be genuinely answered in words. It must be lived.

  First be very present and acutely aware of the present moment of existence. Silently and nonjudgmentally watch the mind as it presents its thoughts and pictures. Notice that all this before you is interpretive and conceptual abstracts, and so clearly not the TRUTH you seek. Now notice what is seeing. Notice what is most immediate, intimate and REAL. Here is truth. You, are actuality, reality and truth. Not what your mind presents, but rather what the mind exists within: the conscious-presence of BEING.

  Look deeper here, into the depths of your own silent and pristine pool of being. Look for truth in what can be clearly seen as true already. Seek for truth in truth.

  You will discover the ultimate and most wondrous truth as your own being, or it won't be found at all.

  Don't need a Bible, or religion, or a some god, or anything other than your own conscious awarness to look deep into what is looking.

  j