From: pcollac@pyrnova.mis.pyramid.com (Paul Collacchi)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage
Subject: Re: Sexuality & Religion
Date: 9 Oct 92 19:53:25 GMT
Reply-To: pcollac@pyrnova.mis.pyramid.com (Paul Collacchi)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Pyramid Technologies, Mt. View, California.

In article <Oct.9.09.18.18.1992.12325@ruhets.rutgers.edu>,
farris@ruhets.rutgers.edu (Lorenzo Farris) writes:
|> In article <Uep_EU600WBKM5pmMW@andrew.cmu.edu>, ws1q+@andrew.cmu.edu
(William Perrin Slease) writes:

|> > consider themselves both Christian and New Age.  What is your perception
|> > of the teaching of New Age:  Is "Do what thou will shall be the whole of
|> > the law" compatible with obediance to God?
  
|> Do what thou wilt... is a constantly misinterpreted injunction.  It's
|> deeper implication is to get past all the programmatic responses and 
|> ideas placed in your head by parents and society, to discover what 
|> your True Will is. The idea is that before you can hear, feel,
|> whatever, what your true will is, you have to get rid of all the
|> interference. But after all, isn't that the case for giving obedience
|> to God.

In its deepest sense, if one is lucky or pure enough, it is believed
that "God's will" is at the very heart of us and we have done little
more than clean away obstacles to its expression.

However, I would point out that a distinction between "religion" and
"spirituality" is that "religion" is a belief (mind) based system in
which one may find that the "obedience" to "God's will" eventually runs
contrary to the established views of the belief system.  So we have
examples of an illumined St. Francis, intoxicated with the Spirit of the
Lord, mocking the falsely pious nuns.  Most practictioners of "religion"
don't, like Francis, let go or "surrender" completely.  They're much too
attached to their images of holiness.

My understanding of "spirituality" is that it is "dharma" based and is
less insistent on strict conformance to any established "path." 
Surrender is a distinct part of the path.  This often means that we must
sacrifice our own pretty little pious images to the flame of love's dictates.

The "open" road -- walking a Spiritual path in a modern, Western society
without benefit of sometimes punifying ritual -- is not as easy as you
might think.  To manage it with grounding and surrender takes tremendous
discipline.
It is so much easier to get caught up with the costuming and appearance
of things.  What is a fundamentalist but someone who wants to do "right"
but doesn't want to risk getting it wrong? No courage.   So what do you
do?  Create an infallible external authority and obey the hell out of
it.  Until....?  Until the wisdom of life's experience rips you from the
false image and points you within.  Then the full burden of determining
true righteousness falls on your shoulders -- where it belongs.

Krishnamurti would say, "If you can't find it within you, where do you
expect to go to get it?"  If the Priest really does have it, what makes
you think he can simply give it to you?  Maybe its not transferable.  

|>  I hope you don't take listening to your clergy the same as
|> giving obedience to God.  I may call it true will, you may call it
|> God, but it is all the same.  As Jung said, free will is doing gladly
|> that which we must do.

Ditto.  Krishnamurti is quoted as saying, "The freedom in life lies in
knowing that there are no alternatives." 

Paul Collacchi              
Newsgroups: talk.religion.newage