The Arising of New SPIRITUALITY in All Religions
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Exerpt from A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, page 13 to 19
THE ARISING NEW CONSCIOUSNESS
Most ancient religions and spiritual traditions share the same common insight – that our “normal” state of mind is marred by a fundamental defect. However, out of this insight into the nature of the human condition – we may call it the bad news – arise a second insight: the good news of the possibility of a radical transformation of human consciousness. In Hindu teachings (and sometimes in Buddhism also), this transformation is called enlightenment. In the teachings of Jesus, it is salvation, and in Buddhism, it is the end of sufferings. Liberation and awakening are other terms used to describe this transformation.
The greatest achievement of humanity is not the works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness. In the distant past, this recognition already came to a few individuals. A man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2,600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw it with absolute clarity. Later, the title Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means “the awakened one.” At about the same time, another of humanity’s early awakened teachers emerged in China. His name was Lao Tzu. He left a record of his teaching in the form of one of the most profound spiritual books ever written, the Tao Te Ching.
To recognise one’s own insanity is, of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence. A new dimension of consciousness had begun to emerge on the planet, a first tentative flowering. Those rare individuals then spoke to their contemporaries. They spoke of sin, of suffering, of delusion. They said, “Look how you live. See what you are doing, the suffering you create.” They then pointed to the possibility of awakening from the collective nightmare of “normal” human existence. They showed the way.
The world was not yet ready for them, and yet they were a vital and necessary part of human awakening. Inevitably they were mostly misunderstood by their contemporaries as well as by subsequent generations. Their teachings, though both simple and powerful, became distorted and misinterpreted, in some cases even as they were recorded in writing by their disciples. Over the centuries, many things were added that had nothing to do with the original teachings, but were reflections of a fundamental misunderstanding. Some of the teachers were ridiculed, reviled, or killed; others came to be worshiped as gods. Teachings that pointed the way beyond the dysfunction of the human mind, the way out of the collective insanity, were distorted and became themselves part of the insanity.
And so religions, to a large extent, became divisive rather than unifying forces. Instead of bringing about an end of violence and hatred through a realisation of the fundamental oneness of all life, they brought more violence and hatred, more divisions between people as well as between different religions and even within the same religion. They became ideologies; belief systems people could identify with and so use them to enhance their false sense of self. Through them, they could make themselves “right” and others “wrong” and thus define their identity through their enemies, the “others,” the “nonbelievers” or “wrong believers” who not infrequently they saw themselves justified in killing. Man made “God” in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, and unnameable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as “my god” or “our god.”
And yetÂ…. And yetÂ… in spite of all the insane deeds perpetrated in the name of religion, the Truth to which they point still shines at their core. It still shines, however dimly, through layers upon layers of distortion and misinterpretation. It is unlikely; however, that you will be able to perceive it there unless you have at least already had glimpses of that Truth within yourself. Throughout history, there have always been rare individuals who experienced a shift in consciousness and so realised within themselves that toward which all religions point. To describe that nonconceptual Truth, they then used the conceptual framework of their own religions.
Through some of those men and women, “schools” or movements developed within all major religions that represented not only a rediscovery, but in some cases an intensification of the light of the original teaching. This is how Gnosticism and mysticism came into existence in early and medieval Christianity, Sufism in the Islamic religion, Hasidism and Kabala in Judaism, Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism, Zen and Dzogchen in Buddhism. Most of these schools were iconoclastic. They did away with layers upon layers of deadening conceptualisation and mental belief structures, and for this reason most of them were viewed with suspicion and often hostility by the established religious hierarchies. Unlike mainstream religion, their teachings emphasised realisation and inner transformation. It is through these esoteric schools or movements that the major religions regained the transformative power of the original teachings, although in most cases, only a small minority of people had access to them. Their numbers were never large enough to have any significant impact on the deep collective unconsciousness of the majority. Over time, some of those schools themselves became too rigidly formal or conceptualised to remain effective. -
SPIRITUALITY AND RELIGION
What is the role of the established religions in the arising of the new consciousness? Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality and religion. They realise that having a belief system – a set of thoughts that you regard as the absolute truth – does not make you spiritual no matter what the nature of those beliefs is. In fact, the more you make your thoughts (beliefs) into your identity, the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself. Many “religious” people are stuck at that level. They equate truth with thought, and as they are completely identified with thought (their mind), they claim to be in sole possession of the truth in an unconscious attempt to protect their identity. They don’t realise the limitations of thought. Unless you believe (think)( exactly as they do, you are wrong in their eyes, and in the not-too-distant past, they would have justified in killing you for that. And some still do, even now.
The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside the structures of the existing institutionalised religions. They were always pockets of spirituality even in mind-dominated religions, although the institutionalised hierarchies felt threatened by them and often tried to suppress them. A large-scale opening of spirituality outside of religious structures is an entirely new development. In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the West, the most mind-dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual franchise on spirituality. You couldnÂ’t just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you were not, they would quickly silence you. But now, even within certain churches and religions, there are signs of change. It is heartwarming, and one is grateful for even the slightest signs of openness, such as Pope John Paul II visiting a mosque as well as a synagogue.
Partly as a result of the spiritual teachings that have arisen outside the established religions, but also due to an influx of the ancient Eastern wisdom teachings, a growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to let go of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual tradition at the same ime as they discover the depth within themselves. They realise that how “spiritual” you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness. This in turn, determines how you act in the world and interact with others.
Those unable to look beyond form become even more deeply entrenched in their beliefs, that is to say, in their mind. We are witnessing not only an unprecedented influx of consciousness at this time but also an entrenchment and intensification of the ego. Some religious institutions will be open to the new consciousness; others will harden their doctrinal positions and become part of all the other man-made structures through which the collective ego will defend itself and “fight back.” Some churches, sects, cults, or religious movements are basically collective egoic entities, as rigidly identified with their mental positions as the followers of any political ideology that is closed to any alternative interpretation of reality.
But the ego is destined to dissolve, and all its ossified structures,, whether they be religious or other institutions, corporations, or governments, will disintegrate from within, no matter how deeply entrenched they appear to be. The most rigid structures, the most impervious to change, will collapse first. This has already happened in the case of Soviet Communism. How deeply entrenched, how solid and monolithic it appeared, and yet within a few years, it disintegrated from within. No one foresaw this. All were taken by surprise. There are many more such surprises in store for us. -
Even gnostics are divided......and think again if gnostic theologies are to be accepted in the mainstream......will be disastrous becoz they teach the body is evil and the soul should leave the body A.S.A.P....
sound cultish to me.... -
I have bought this book a few days ago and started reading today and I must say it is a wonderful book, along with The Power of Now by the same author.
I would like to invite everyone, whether from Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Taoists, or any other religions or NONE, to all to read this wonderful book, that is not biased towards any religions but speaks of the essence of spirituality and excludes none, with open-mindedness. This is NOT to be misunderstood as a new age book, the author has no links with New Age spirituality. He is simply not aligned to any particular traditions, but excludes none. For more information pls see ECKHART TOLLE – the topic discussed in my forum.
And as Ajahn Brahmamvaso said before, and I have reiterated, only all these contemplative traditions have a history lack of religious violence, and those academic-inclined people are always the ones that are attached to ego and dogmas and create and perpetrate the violence.
However I would like to state something Eckhart Tolle has missed, that all mainstream traditions including the Theravada, not only Zen and Dzogchen, within Buddhism also emphasised on realisation and inner transformation rather than on beliefs.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:No fanaticism
Of Buddhism alone can it be affirmed it is free from all fanaticism. Its aim being to produce in every man a thorough internal transforming by self-conquest, how can it have recourse to might or money or even persuasion for effecting conversion? The Buddha has only shown the way to salvation, and it is left to each individual to decide for himself if he would follow it.
- Prof. Lakshmi Narasu, "The Essence of Buddhism"[/quote]
But this time, this statement applies to all of the contemplative traditions as mentioned above.
Also posted in the ISLAM FORUM in sgforums, the Sufi teachings (Sufism is the 'PATH OF LOVE')
[quote]Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
The true Jihad, is the Jihad against the Self.
http://www.uga.edu/islam/sufismstruggle.html
In this regard, the struggle with one's own nafs has been called the greater struggle or greater "holy war" (al-jihad al-akbar) in contrast to the lesser struggle (al-jihad al-asghar), which is against injustice and oppressors in this world. The concept derives from the popular hadith of the Prophet, in which he said to Muslims returning from a battle, "You have returned from the lesser struggle to the greater struggle." And he was asked, "What is the greater struggle?" He answered, "The struggle against one's self (nafs), which is between the two sides of your body." Needless to say, in Sufism these two struggles are mutually reinforcing and occur simultaneously. In particular, the practice of "engaged surrender" in the "greater" struggle with one's own nafs diminishes certain obstacles in the consciousness of the Sufi, obstacles that--if not stuggled against--will hinder the Sufi's capacity to engage in the "lesser" struggle in their life in the world.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:...the greater Jihad is the inner struggle against the inner enemies, the Seven Deadly Sins ( lust, greed, anger, jealousy, sloth, covetousness & gluttony)... -
I have read that different gnostic gospels seems to put importance on different disciples. Like Mary, Thomas, Judas, etc. Personally I love all these three gospels and I believe Jesus has unconditional love for all of them without bias.Originally posted by laoda99:Even gnostics are divided......and think again if gnostic theologies are to be accepted in the mainstream......will be disastrous becoz they teach the body is evil and the soul should leave the body A.S.A.P....
sound cultish to me....
Irregardless, mysticism in Christianity isn't just about gnosticism. Even in the times where gnostic gospels were lost, mysticism is still very much alive within Christianity.
I believe this order is interesting: White Robed Monks of St. Benedict -
AEN>
if someone take ur buddhist scriptures.......cut it into half.......distort it by saying something else rather than wat buddha has taught.....do u still think it is rising spirituality or dun recognise it like the falugong and tien dao? -
like i said, even gnostics are divided, if Judas is the chosen one, then obviously mary magdalene is not....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I have read that different gnostic gospels seems to put importance on different disciples. Like Mary, Thomas, Judas, etc. Personally I love all these three gospels and I believe Jesus has unconditional love for all of them without bias.
the gnostics can claim that and this and say jesus is their inspiration (as a enlightened teacher, a mere mortal), they can even say theirs is for advanced learning but bear in mind....not anyone who claim to be inspired by jesus are christians....u should know that..... -
As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.Originally posted by laoda99:AEN>
if someone take ur buddhist scriptures.......cut it into half.......distort it by saying something else rather than wat buddha has taught.....do u still think it is rising spirituality or dun recognise it like the falugong and tien dao?
Anyway, it is my personal belief for years that there are many distortions created by the Romans on the bible. -
since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.
Anyway, it is my personal belief for years that there are many distortions created by the Romans on the bible.
Ur second para is as good as saying the bible we have is false....haizzz.....open mind? -
Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
As much as u say open mind, but do u know what gnostics teach do not conform with christianity?
[b]
As long as it conforms with the dharma seals, we may not call them cults. Whats more, we can never know with absolute certainty whether it is true or not. We must keep an open mind.
[b]
And I have to say this, u do not know how much gnosticism does not go inline with Christianity.....u only see their scriptures have the name "jesus"...and u deem them as Christians.... -
Falungong has nothing to do with Buddhism, and neither does it claim to be Buddhism. Its teachings do not conform with the dharma seals either, so it has nothing to do with Buddhism.Originally posted by laoda99:since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....
Ur second para is as good as saying the bible we have is false....haizzz.....open mind?
Tien Dao also does not call itself Buddhism, and is merely a combination of many religions altogether, many of the teachings also does not conform at all to the dharma seals of buddhism.
Second para: my opinion after reading up on history. Not just 'I don't like this bible so I think its distorted'. But of course it still contains very valuable truths. But it can never be perfect under the hands of man's manipulation. -
I am not asserting anything here, I am merely asking people to be open minded.Originally posted by laoda99:As much as u say open mind, but do u know what gnostics teach do not conform with christianity?
And I have to say this, u do not know how much gnosticism does not go inline with Christianity.....u only see their scriptures have the name "jesus"...and u deem them as Christians....The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside the structures of the existing institutionalised religions. They were always pockets of spirituality even in mind-dominated religions, although the institutionalised hierarchies felt threatened by them and often tried to suppress them. A large-scale opening of spirituality outside of religious structures is an entirely new development. In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the West, the most mind-dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual franchise on spirituality. You couldnÂ’t just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you were not, they would quickly silence you. But now, even within certain churches and religions, there are signs of change. It is heartwarming, and one is grateful for even the slightest signs of openness, such as Pope John Paul II visiting a mosque as well as a synagogue.
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how abt sokka, nichiren chousu etc...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Falungong has nothing to do with Buddhism, and neither does it claim to be Buddhism. Its teachings do not conform with the dharma seals either, so it has nothing to do with Buddhism.
Tien Dao also does not call itself Buddhism, and is merely a combination of many religions altogether, many of the teachings also does not conform at all to the dharma seals of buddhism.
Second para: my opinion after reading up on history. Not just 'I don't like this bible so I think its distorted'. But of course it still contains very valuable truths. But it can never be perfect under the hands of man's manipulation.
and how abt this?
In fact...there are many sects which buddhism do not recognise becoz they go against Buddhist teachings. Is it a double standard when Buddhism can dun recognise unorthodox sects/cults but Christianity can't?Originally posted by bohiruci:The teachings of Chinese Gelugpa Society is not recognised by Wisdom Bliss and Compassionate Affinity
as this rinpoche is not a welcome visitor of HH Dalai Lama Office and H H Ganden Dripa in Dharamsala
Rinpoche Quan Xi is different from Ven Chuan Xi
Ven Chuan Xi is under Ven HaiTao practised Esoteric Buddhism in Chinese Mahayana Buddhism
Quan Xi Rinpoche is under Tibetan Gelugpa Tradition (the yellow hat)
the Dolgyal master have used magic to subdue their opponents in the past
a thing that is not allowed in Buddhist teachings .
may i know which part of history u read abt that makes u doubt the authencity of the bible? how would u feel if pple doubt the authencity of buddha and his teachings/scriptures? -
open-minded abt learning from each other's faith i agree....like buddhism/christianity, but if u are saying we should tread more into "Christian Mysticism" then I would say most probably u do not know what u are reading.....becoz they are not really compatiable with "orthodox" christianity.....Originally posted by An Eternal Now:
And as far as I know, esoteric buddhism like tibetian buddhism always look a bit "evil" to me......I prefer the Buddhism practiced in China/Taiwan.......more Zheng4 Pai4.... -
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” quoted by budda.
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how abt sokka, nichiren chousu etc...
Discussed before. Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu doesnt even recognise the Shakyamuni Buddha as our original teacher
For more info pls read the topic in my forum in regards to that.
I honestly do not know about Gnostic gospels well enough to comment, but I'm sure mysticism is not against mainstream Christianity as has been discussed.
Anyway, this is way off-topic. I will not discuss Christianity into details here, I just merely wanted to share this wonderful book and those open-minded may wish to read it. Eckhart Tolle is the author of the international, ny times best-seller The Power of Now. A New Earth, the latest book, is published in October 2005. -
I do not practise Tibetan Buddhism, but the mythical feeling in Tibetan Buddhism is partly inherited from the old Bon religion in Tibet although the teachings remained the same. It has nothing 'evil' whatsoever. Very often there are misunderstandings - for example why are there wrathful figures in Tibetan Buddhism? It symbolises the wrathfulness towards ignorance and ego... but the underlying essence of it is Compassion.Originally posted by laoda99:And as far as I know, esoteric buddhism like tibetian buddhism always look a bit "evil" to me......I prefer the Buddhism practiced in China/Taiwan.......more Zheng4 Pai4....
For more details you may want to ask in my forum although I am not an expert in Tibetan Buddhism. -
I know u just want to share....i just want to point out something which i read the last paragraphs which is not very correct....it seems to put mysticism at a very high level....it is as good as saying it is superior to orthodox teachings...Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Discussed before. Soka Gakkai and Nichiren Shoshu doesnt even recognise the Shakyamuni Buddha as our original teacher For more info pls read the topic in my forum in regards to that.
I honestly do not know about Gnostic gospels well enough to comment, but I'm sure mysticism is not against mainstream Christianity as has been discussed.
Anyway, this is way off-topic. I will not discuss Christianity into details here, I just merely wanted to share this wonderful book and those open-minded may wish to read it. Eckhart Tolle is the author of the international, ny times best-seller The Power of Now. A New Earth, the latest book, is published in October 2005.
it is good for u to love to read...i love to read too.... -
hmmm.....but I think it is the same for burma buddhism as well....the king can't stop the pple from folk spirits practice that's why he incorporate into burma buddhism......Originally posted by An Eternal Now:I do not practise Tibetan Buddhism, but the mythical feeling in Tibetan Buddhism is partly inherited from the old Bon religion in Tibet although the teachings remained the same. It has nothing 'evil' whatsoever. Very often there are misunderstandings - for example why are there wrathful figures in Tibetan Buddhism? It symbolises the wrathfulness towards ignorance and ego... but the underlying essence of it is Compassion.
For more details you may want to ask in my forum although I am not an expert in Tibetan Buddhism.
syncretism takes place everywhere..... -
I am not sure about Burma Buddhism, but I believe it will be the same case as Thai Buddhism.Originally posted by laoda99:hmmm.....but I think it is the same for burma buddhism as well....the king can't stop the pple from folk spirits practice that's why he incorporate into burma buddhism......
syncretism takes place everywhere.....
In Thai Buddhism there is also some elements of Brahmanism incorporated into Buddhism. And those forest monks who focus on dharma usually avoid such elements and stay true to the pure dharma without the extra elements which is deemed as 'useless' to spirituality.
But anyway Tibetan Buddhism is also a contemplative tradition and isnt 'folk spirit practise'. It contains very profound Buddhist teachings. -
This is why your own intuition is so important. Use your discernment to discriminate fact from fiction.Originally posted by laoda99:AEN>
if someone take ur buddhist scriptures.......cut it into half.......distort it by saying something else rather than wat buddha has taught.....do u still think it is rising spirituality or dun recognise it like the falugong and tien dao? -
if intuition can be trusted to descriminate fact from fiction than there would be world peace!Originally posted by shade343:This is why your own intuition is so important. Use your discernment to discriminate fact from fiction. -
Anyway I would like to clarify something since Ito brought it up in my forum.
The book 'A New Earth' is NOT about religions.... that part about religion is only a small chapter of the entire book, and as I said eckhart tolle is more like a spiritual counsellor than a religious figure, and I have only chosen certain parts to post in here bcos I thought that topic would interest some people, and secondly, I have only read the Introduction part since I only started reading today. -
let me share with you the tien dao teachings: they believe that tien dao is the origin of all religions, ie buddhism, islam, christianity etc all originated from tien dao, tats y u will see all sorts of deities on a typical tien dao altar.Originally posted by laoda99:since u say we should keep an open mind, then buddhists should also accept falungong and tiendao etc as buddhists.....since they also have buddha in their philosophies....
Ur second para is as good as saying the bible we have is false....haizzz.....open mind? -
wow... this topic in two forums...
this would never happen if the topic was started by Christians....
There are some similarities in all religions, I must admit. Yet all are not the same...all are not the same...