Posted inWu Project

Real and false faith

"Faith" is one of those words that people use a lot, but sloppily. That is, the meaning is assumed rather than being clearly defined. So I enjoyed reading a message ("why argue faith?") over on the Church of the Churchless Google Groups discussion forum, which is rarely used – except by spammers. Jptxs (probably not a real name) has some interesting things to say about faith. So you can take the definition of faith and now use some substitution and come up with this: Faith is an opinion or conviction not based on proof. If that is true, then one…
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Posted inPolitics

Obama outshines McCain in faith forum

I doubt that Barack Obama will be using a Church of the Churchless endorsement in his presidential campaign, but I'll offer it anyway: he got more kudos from me than John McCain did as I watched yesterdays' "Civil Forum" sponsored by Rick Warren's Camelback Church. Still, neither candidate impressed me from a churchless perspective. No big surprise. Heck, they were speaking in a church. And trying to appeal to evangelical voters. Both Obama and McCain struck me as sincere. Each has deeply felt religious convictions, so far as I could tell. I expected McCain to be less comfortable in the…
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Posted inWu Project

Really empty your spiritual cup

The "empty your cup" story is a favorite in spiritual circles. Most commonly, it's told from a Zen perspective. A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup." I'm attracted to emptiness.…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Spirituality is as simple as 1, 2, 3

It might not be apparent from my wordiness, but I really do like to keep things simple. And the basics of spirituality, philosophy, religion, the meaning of life – whatever you want to call it – can be as simple as 1, 2, 3. There's no magic in a trinity, of course. Plus, there's any number of different 1, 2, 3's. That's one of the principles of my 1, 2, 3, which yesterday I described in a comment addressed to Brad. My questions, of course, could be directed to anybody. Including myself. Here they are. (1) Brad, do you believe…
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Posted inBuddhism

Life is just what it is

How's this for a sign of how close I'm coming to Buddha-hood? This afternoon Laurel and I, plus another couple, visited the Wizard Falls Fish Hatchery in central Oregon. Feeling boundless compassion for all the small trout stuck in boring concrete tanks, I took out two quarters and bought some fish food. Tossing it into the tanks, I enjoyed watching all the thrashing about – the fish obviously much desiring the pellets, not recognizing that desire is the root of suffering (along with biting into a sharp hook). Then we walked past some decorative ponds that I hadn't noticed before.…
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Posted inDeath/Rebirth

Who has the best deal on death?

I'm not religious (obviously), but I still could sign up on the faith dotted line if I was assured of getting a good deal on death. Which would be, basically: living forever. That's the worst part about death for me, not existing. I can handle the dying part. It's the likelihood of an eternal non-afterlife that sort of bugs me. (Actually, quite a bit more than "sort of.") So I decided to read "How Different Religions View Death and Afterlife" to get a better idea of what sorts of salvation bargains are out there. I've only read five chapters so…
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Posted inGod

Why God loves the churchless so much

When I'm not being grandiose and am feeling my normal humble self, I like to imagine how God sees things. This isn't difficult for me to do – it's easy really – because after almost forty years of daily meditation my ego loss is so nearly complete, I'm in touch with the highest realms of reality. (Just don't ask my wife to confirm this. Unfortunately, she still denies my divinity. But isn't there some sort of saying about a prophet not being recognized in his own land? Or…home?) Anyway, I've been pondering why God would love me and other churchless…
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Posted inReality

Ten undeniable metaphysical truths

OK. Before getting into the meat (or tofu) of this Moses-like blog post, let's break down the title. Ten. Just seems the right number. The Ten Commandments should be cast aside in favor of my revelation. Plus, I haven't come up with my truths yet, but intuitively I'm pretty sure that, given the amount of red wine I just poured and my sipping speed, I can come up with ten before the glass is empty. Undeniable. Yeah, I wish. None of the brilliant stuff I write on this blog has received the unquestioning acceptance that it deserves, so I've got…
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Posted inHumor

On knowing less than nothing

If one person knows nothing, is it possible for two people in the same state to know less than nothing? This marvelous philosophical question was resolved yesterday on PBS' Car Talk, which features the always entertaining Magliozzi brothers, Tom and Ray (a.k.a Click and Clack, or Clack and Click; I don't know what goes with each brother). They read a letter from listener Andy Reischman, who thanked them profusely for answering that question – which he said had deviled him for twenty years. Me too. I'd just never phrased it in such a clear fashion. After all, this really is…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Change is what it’s all about

Yesterday Jay left a comment that contained a question deserving a response. Brian, I cannot believe that you have been a follower of RSSB and written a book called 'life is fair' for RS, yet you have gone anti-RS. Whats that all about. I have been initiated for just under s decade by Babaji and okay its hard but what is easy.You think that you are too clever. Don't forget, you are an embassador of babaji and you will come back one the path. Is just a matter of time. Jay Even with the typos, and the lack of a…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Service without servitude

Doing some deck sweeping this afternoon at a cabin in central Oregon that we share with three other owners, I got to thinking about service. This used to be a big deal to me in my Eastern religion days. Seva is an Indian word for service. It really just means volunteering. But when seva is done for the guru, who devotees consider to be God in human form, the service takes on an aspect that's hard to describe if you haven't experienced it. I wrote about seva in my "When it isn't good to do good" post. One of my…
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Posted inHumor

OK, now I believe in Jesus

I've been waiting for the proof. Now I've found it. Nothing else to do but embrace Jesus. Praise the Lord! And a kitten's fur. Because there Jesus is, if you look really closely. (Actually, I couldn't make him out on this CNN video. But that's probably because my faith isn't at its maximum yet.) This shows that I need to pay closer attention to our dog's coat when I pat her. I can't believe that the Lord chose a cat to reveal the divinity of His Son, and not a canine – given that dog spelled backwards is you know…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Talking back to RSSB foolishness

Usually I read trash-talking comments on my blogs and then put them out of my mind. I enjoy responding to thoughtful people who have a different point of view. But I don't see much point in answering gibberish. Today, though, I'll make an exception. I'm in the mood to reply in kind to a guy who strongly challenged my churchlessness. I assume you won't mind me being (almost) equally blunt, Richard. You said it like you see it. Here's my own outlook on Radha Soami Satsang Beas, based on my thirty-eight years of experience with the organization. The content of…
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Posted inGod

No problem with God not being perfect

Perfection and God are two words that go hand in hand. Most people feel that an imperfect God would be no God at all. Some of the qualities usually associated with divinity are omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, omnibenevolence. Well, if a being was all-powerful, all-knowing, present everywhere, and had love for everyone and everything, I can see why this entity would be deserving of being called perfect. But why does "God," which I use as a synonym for ultimate reality, have to be perfect? What's perfect about perfection? I got thinking about this when I came to the first page (p.…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus

Jesus’ body found in the trash! For real!

What a beautiful sight for churchless eyes: here's a photo of Jesus lying in a trash bin, pierced with a rusty nail and in the company of some banana peels (plus coffee grounds and other assorted discards). If you're not a Catholic, you may not recognize the Son of God. But if you're a believer, there he is, in the form of a communion wafer – which the faithful consider to be transformed into the body of Christ at holy communion. In a fascinating blog post, "The Great Desecration," biology professor P.Z. Myers relates how his wafer trashing has caused…
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Posted inReality

With nature, no need for God

God is all there is. Nature is all there is.God is infinite. Nature is infinite.God works in mysterious ways. Nature works in mysterious ways.God is omnipresent. Nature is omnipresent. You get the idea. And that's the simple essence of Richard Carrier's "Sense and Goodness Without God," though he takes 424 pages to explicate it. I've read a bit over half of Carrier's book, which I was drawn to buy after reading (and writing about) his From Taoist to Infidel essay. I'm enjoying it. A lot. Probably because Carrier thinks much like me, aside from the fact that he's much more…
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Posted inReligions

Religion is all about me, me, me

Narcissism and religiosity go hand in hand. With rare exceptions, a religious believer considers that the cosmos centers around them. (Buddhism, for example, would be an exception – but I don't consider authentic Buddhism to be a religion.) I got to thinking about this today after noticing a New York Times story, "Here's looking at me, kid." It featured a great graphical encapsulation of a narcissist: Which reminded me of me in my true believing days. Looking at life as the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) theology had taught me to do, I considered that much of what happened to…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

How marvelous: to be alive!

Religion, spirituality, mysticism, philosophy, theology – all this stuff can be pretty damn complicated. So many beliefs, thoughts, concepts, dogmas, imaginings, speculations. I've enjoyed throwing myself into this complex stew, and have even contributed to thickening it through some books, my Church of the Churchless musings, and countless conversations. But more and more, the essence of my attitude toward the big questions of life is…less and less. By which I mean: one intuitive direct experience is coming to overshadow all of the other religio-spiritual contents of my psyche. It feels much more real and true than these other meanderings of…
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Posted inMorality

More religious craziness: a fertilized egg is a person?

Just when I thought Christian fundamentalists couldn't do anything stranger than they already have (like believing the Bible is the literal word of God), up pops a newspaper story about a bizarre ballot initiative in Colorado. Read all about it in the Washingon Post's "Colorado voters will be asked when 'personhood' begins." Yeah, that's just the sort of thing that should be decided in the voting booth: when someone becomes a human rather than merely a bunch of embryonic cells. Don't get me wrong: I'll all for philosophical and moral discussions on this (and any other) deep questions. The thing…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Meditation as a work out

I've been meditating every day for a long time. About thirty-eight years. It never gets old. There's always something fresh going on in my head, which is both a delight and a frustration. For most of my meditating life, I've approached it with a spirit of devotion. Or at least, semi-devotion. Meaning, I viewed meditation as a means of approaching what It's All About. I felt that maybe "It," "All," and "About" pointed to God. Maybe Nature. Maybe something else. Whatever, the act of opening myself up to it seemed deserving of a bit of reverence. So I got into…
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