From: radams@cerritos.edu
Subject: Re: Rebirth / Reincarnation
Organization: Cerritos College, Norwalk CA
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 01:56:42 GMT

In article <1992Jul19.230059.17310@qiclab.scn.rain.com>, 
gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us (Gary S. Trujillo) writes:

> Roger Adams (radams@cerritos.edu) responded in article
> 	<1992Jul15.190043.15543@cco.caltech.edu>:
> 
>> I think the reference here is to masters that have universal consciousness,
>> ie. their consciousness is omnipresent, and they are able to help this
>> world and influence people who are receptive to manifest more spiritual
>> qualities such as love...
> 
> Can we say any more about how this process works?  Is it merely by being
> in the world that these people perform this service, or is it necessary for
> them to have contact with others for this benefit to be realized, either by
> their setting an example of the spiritual life, or of the teaching they
> perform more explicitly, or is it just a matter of some essence ("darshan,"
> it was called in something I read recently, probably in SRE) being trans-
> mitted?  Or is any contact necessary - is it merely by being alive in the
> world and doing what they do, without any contact that these services for
> humanity and for the world are rendered?

I think all of the above can apply.

> Aren't there situations in the world today that cry out for a more direct
> and immediate kind of action, and wouldn't people who are working on
> attaining, or who have achieved, a special kind of consciousness in which
> the relationship between self and other and self and the world is more
> directly apparent be more naturally inclined to spend some considerable
> energy doing what is possible to alleviate such things as the many cases
> of torture and abuse, wrongful imprisonment, organized violence, etc.,
> that one can read about in the daily newspaper or in soc.rights.human?

Ignorance seems to underlie the awful things that go on in the world. We must
work on banishing ignorance of who we are in the highest spiritual sense in
order to get at the underlying cause of these problems. If we still have
ignorance and then prioritize our life so that righting all the wrongs is
first in importance, we may succeed in exacerbating some of the problems.
I personally feel that the spiritual path can be a nice balance between
meditation and activity but that as long as I am dreaming this dream of
limitation and confinement in a separate entity called ego, then my most
important task is to seek realization of my oneness with Spirit and then other
tasks such as righting wrongs will be guided by the wisdom gained from the
spiritual path I'm on. The master, one who is free and fully realized, will
help uplift others who are ready and have had enough of the suffering of this
world and do much to help those who are not ready, to become ready. 

> What is prayer, and how does
> it work?  What do others feel about this subject?  It should be noted
> that I assume here we're not talking about conventional prayers of sup-
> plication, in which one asks an anthropomorphic God for things one wants:
> "Give me this, and let me have that, and take this burden from me, and..."
> I assume the kind of prayer being referred to here is more in the nature
> of an alignment with some part of oneself - but, even so, I'm curious as
> to what others might feel about the nature and efficacy of "prayer."
> 
We are all connected to each other and to God like waves of the ocean are
related to other waves and to the ocean itself. With this idea, we can see
how our thoughts can affect not only ourselves but others. A prayer for
others can be powerful when done with concentration of the mind on the
physical, mental, and spiritual healing of others, visualizing light being
in and around those being prayed for. I'm not talking about parrot prayers
or begging prayers, but using the unlimited power available to us by
concentration of the mind for the purpose of helping others, feeling that
it is God's healing power that is being used. Asking for guidance is also
good: "I will think, I will will, I will act, but guide my thinking, will,
and activity to do Your will".

>> IMO, this world will survive. The "end times" have been predicted for
>> 2,000 years at least. We may have crises but I have a feeling that the
>> planet will survive, including humanity. Mother nature may rebel against
>> the destruction humans have done to this planet, and a self-cleansing
>> process may be needed in a major way but I do think more peaceful times
>> will come.

The power of prayer can be used for helping to bring world peace also. We do 
not have to be passive observers. As for the earth itself, the kind of healing
it needs is beyond just planting another tree in your back yard or using
lemon juice to clean tape drives - although these actions are to be encouraged
because we need to prevent further destruction and develop better habits.
Prayer can help the healing of the earth at the same time we do everything we 
can to clean up and stop adding to the destruction. This may seem naive, but 
I know prayer works on all levels and is a vital part of my spiritual practice.


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	Roger Adams
	radams@cerritos.edu               To those in whom love dwells,
	Cerritos College                  the whole world is one family.
	11110 Alondra Blvd                             A Hindu Proverb
        Norwalk, California 90650
	USA        		          292 Dwapara :-)
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