I read a very simple general book on Buddhism and was affected by the overall emphasis on awareness. To be honest, I always assumed meditation was a way to kind of break away from what binds us in reality. My ignorance was broken when I realized that enlightenment deals with seeing, really seeing.

Transition to Christianity--here it goes.

So I was at work one day smoking outside with a co-worker when a few birds flew overhead. I noticed them, and noticed that my co-worker noticed them too. I brought up the whole awareness, Buddha Dharma thing where some people are seeing with their ideas instead of seeing what is actually there. To my surprize, he told me that he once lived in a Catholic monestary. He then proceeded to tell me of a time when he was standing outside with an elder monk who pointed to the stars and asked "What do you see?" So my co-worker friend, at that time very young, replied with the intention of being wise said, ???"God's infinate wisdom." The monk then said, "That is God's gift as a reflection of your inner self. If you look at the sky, you will see that the heavens are vast and unexplored with an infinite amount of potential. If you look inside yourself, you will find that too." My co-worker then explained that the monks also had a very close relationship with nature and that there too was an emphasis on awareness--much like there is in far eastern religions.



In the Bible there is a transgression from an actual formality of God, to an incarnation, to the Holy Spirit, which we can find within ourselves. The theme of the Bible suggests that the purpose in general, was to get us to know God. Since supposedly, we can find the spirit within ourselves, one can assume that perhaps honing awareness can be a path to God.

Also concerning the Bible, there are prophecies and messages that are from God through people. Some people believe in what is called Astral projection, or Remote viewing. These people believe that a person can get messages or learn about things much the same way the people of the Bible did. The thing about it is that the person can only interpret the messages by using whatever mental platform on which they exist. A person can relay messages, but they may not relate directly to a time when things are very different--outside of personal understanding.

There is a lot to consider, but I believe in short, to each his own.

[quote author=devrinator link=board=7;threadid=2975;start=0#msg14729 date=1066399303]That is God's gift as a reflection of your inner self. If you look at the sky, you will see that the heavens are vast and unexplored with an infinite amount of potential. If you look inside yourself, you will find that too
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that's very beautiful, perhaps even somewhat trite to some, but it's an idea that everyone should be made aware of..... that by looking up into the infinitely vast night sky, you're really looking into yourself, and that it's but a reflection of the infinite depths within you and of an infinite, untapped potential. We realize that potential, and we realize God. God is not so much something to be talked about, as It is something to be experienced directly.

To assert the truth of a thing without questioning and examining it is folly.