₦airaland Forum

Kay 17:
The Egyptians were not even black.

This is a topic I am interested in. Can you please oblige me with how you came to know this for certain?

@OP
How does the fact that someone went out of her body and saw darkness translate to the fact that Jesus is God? Simple. After her experience she concluded that the Witnesses had deceived her since they know nothing about the dual nature of man. She then assumed that the popular Christian churches must be right since they know about a soul that is capable of being separated from the body. Since the churches are right about that they must also be about Jesus being God! Poor woman.

If she had taken time to compare her OBE with those of others she would have there were people from other Christian denominations who also experienced darkness in their OBE. Being in a state of darkness has nothing to do with your religion. It is the kind of life you live.

rabzy:
OP,

i think you should do more research about OBEs and you will realise that its got nothing with JW beliefs, on whether they are right or wrong about the soul.

How can you be sure that if he does more research he will reach same conclusion as you have? When you were doing your own research I bet you wore your coloured lenses and so saw only what you wanted to see - those reproduced in the labs, but not those which are not and which contain objectively verifiable events and situations.

Deep Sight:


Garlic and Onions are absolutely critical and indeed fabulous for dealing with cardiac conditions, and make for a strong healthy heart.

I should know, I suffered a heart condition for six years . . .that's what got me to quit smoking, and eating those supposedly negative pranic foods really helped.

True, Deep Sight, but it is, or can be, a little more complicated. I have not the energy to go into it right now, but a doctor of Ayuverdic medicine will tell you that garlic and onions may be good for you but bad for someone else. I don't go near garlic and onions, for instance, because I have GI and duodenal complications. The Ayuverdic doctor will assume we require different stuff to balance our humours. But that is not given. So the doctor would advice us both to take a test to determine what is good for us to eat. It's called dosha.

But some schools of thought, Yoga, for instance, will tell us that such things as onions and garlic are not good for anyone since they can damage your body. Here, it is believed that since it is physically harsh on your body it is also not spiritually healthy. Issue of heart or GI problems will not even come up because these problems would not have arisen in the first place if the individual lives in harmony with nature. What, for instance, the guru would ask, would anyone be doing with tobacco or alcohol? He will ask us both if we don't realise that eating animal corpses (meat) means ingesting some of the uric acid and bad energies that remain in their bodies when they die, leading to various diseases.

I don't know a great deal about this pranic stuff. Just want to highlight that the fact something is good for you does not mean it is universally beneficial. I can't find the post you got that quote from, though. Is it in this thread or from another?

According to Cayce, “an eye for an eye” is in operation. It is not the law of God or of humanity, but simply the Earth’s natural law! Therefore, whatever you do there is recompense either in this life or in your next incarnation. Interesting!

I slowed down and read thoroughly where he takes on reincarnation, karma, predestination and freewill. How are these related? Do we freely choose the conditions we are born into or are these imposed? Are people born with missions? He tackles these head-on. I bet you paid particular attention to that last phrase, “the hierarchy of consciousness.” I did. Cayce makes a very interesting read. I intend to read the book once I can find the time. I am a schoolboy once again.

The problem with acceptance in these matters is that once you say it is from God no further questions are asked. Otherwise anyone should have seen through the deceit of the “Aryan” priests who called themselves Brahmins and placed themselves at the top of a pyramid they created, while robbing the Dravidians, the indigenous people of the “land”, of their humanity by labeling then Untouchables. I am almost certain those priests reincarnated as “Untouchables”!

[quote author=Mad_Max]Which modern religion endorses the caste system and racial superiority? We're having a discussion here, you and I. There are no 'people' to offend. If you don't say a thing, you'd still think it. There really isn't a difference. Please say your mind freely.Your thread is a haven of free speech; it's why I prefer it.[/quote]You are right. But like I did say, this is something I came across. I am still researching into what the actual tenets are to find a link, if any, between what is written and what faithfuls say. Then I will be in a better position to be more fluent.

I don’t believe Gandhi rose above such inclinations. Here is a link to something I said on that matter: Inesqor On The Salvation Of The Non-christian.

Hi distinguished Moderators!

How do you add a poll to a thread?

InesQor:
20 Here's how a pr0stitute operates:
   she has sex with her client,
Takes a bath,
   then asks, "Who's next?"

I just love The Message!

The basic argument you make above is not in doubt. Mohandas Gandhi did campaign PUBLICLY against the caste system. There is no question about that. Of course, there were fasts unto death at a time he had perfected fasting into an art. But some of his statements and body language do not convince me that he rose above base sentiments, either in the matter or caste or race, especially the latter. I, too, don’t want to go into all that right now, having addressed the matter fairly exhaustively. And, of course, like I did say, I understand these things are ingrained and extremely difficult, impossible for most, to get complete rid of. We had a client, a Nigerian CEO of an oil servicing company, who I noticed treated his European staff better than the Indians and the Africans. Pay scale was the same but you could sense certain courtesies extended to the Caucasians. These things are too deeply rooted in us and I suspect God will justify anyone who makes a GENUINE EFFORT to conquer them. My argument in the case of Gandhi is that he was just like the rest of us in this matter. His views were similar to those held by the majority in his time. That does not make him a monster anymore than an Average Joe of his time. It just means that the commonly held hallowed view of him is almost entirely misguided.

The second quote you provided above was written by a Gandhi fan. It was a bit overdone. You see, they just love to hype Gandhi. “The advancement of equality in the caste system is largely due to Gandhi.” Nope. Go study the pioneering works of Sri Narayana Guru and the others and start giving credit where it is due.

Oh, Gandhi did do some positive work which helped to create unity. My objections are against the workshopped idea of Gandhi. That is what I wrote up there.

When I say that, I am talking purely in terms of perceptions.

^^^ Who's the cheeky moderator banning my most excellent Missy? Just give me their name(s). 

nuclearboy:
You didn't answer me - where does your information come from?

Have you considered that she is some holy prophetess disguising here? 

[quote author=Mad_Max link=topic=436863.msg6882576#msg6882576 date=1286312367]I don't get personal religious beliefs from books. ALL religious books are written by people and lack of proof.[/quote]Certainly, since books are written by men. We only learn a thing or two or find something new, or presented differently, to chew over.

Discredited is a strong word. The Jadczyk couple and their message have been quite controversial but that hardly cuts any ice with me, since one would expect just that. I mean, just about every religion or movement goes through it at some point. I try to focus on content. And “occult” is a word I often avoid since it is, I think, hard to find its objective meaning nowadays. I do not believe anything they say, to say the least. But I find it interesting literature, especially the bit about time. I was attracted to their work by the talk about that subject. While I find talks about time travel and related stuff fascinating, “dismissive” would be a fairly accurate description of my level of acceptance of them. At least, before now. Nowadays I often sound politically correct in the scientific sense by saying “improbable” rather than “impossible”. I think “we are you in the future”, the basic Cassiopaean idea, is improbable. But it helps explain what I think of time travel, where “time travel” means MyJoe, today, the 6th of October 2010 taking a trip to, say, 2811 AD. If now and 2811 are happening at the same time a trip would be a cinch once I figure out the alchemical formula. But, of course, now and 2811 can’t be happening at the same time!

[quote author=Mad_Max link=topic=436863.msg6882576#msg6882576 date=1286312367] But when the spirit departs the physial body, it is no longer bound by the physical laws here. It can hang in the air, soar to the skies, fly across vast distances, walk through walls; nothing here bounds it, because it is not a physical thing. Hard as it is to imagine a place where time isn't a factor, that is eternity, that's the realm of the spirit. There is no time, because time is a 'physical' substance, a measure of the physical universe. There are other things in eternity to which the spirit takes to, being its natural environment, and there are quite possibly, laws there as well. But time as we know it doesn't exist there. It's a realm different from all that we know in our dual nature. This universe is a construct, and time is just an ingredient used in its manufacture.[/quote]Excellent. I was making the same point when I talked earlier about Odysseus and what we will achieve if we travel at light speed and bend time as we know it.

If human beings ever got revelations from God, it appears the messages ALWAYS get contaminated, even poisoned, by human input. The biggest problem with Hinduism is that classification and separateness, obviously introduced by a bunch of priests at their most carnal moments, got accepted because those who instituted them said they came from God. Enter the Untouchables. I noticed that Ramacharaka described the caste system “the curse of India”. To say I was impressed by that coming from an Indian writing around 1900 would be an understatement. Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi at about the same time and even long after could not rise above these wretched sentiments he was born with, a matter I have had cause to elaborate on in another thread in this section not too long ago, yet the world worships the sound of his name as though he were some blend of Jesus and Vishnu.

According the Vedic scriptures, when you are born into a caste you remain in it for life. Meanwhile, a member of a higher caste fraternising with you can lose his own caste. A marriage alliance with someone of another race or religion is a no no. In fact, there is some kind of grading here. The worst thing a Hindu can do in the whole world is to marry a Muslim. Next to that is to marry a black man. Then a white man. The only good marriage is with a fellow Hindu. I believe you are aware that you don’t convert to Hinduism.

I was shocked, though, when I read another supposedly more modern religion endorsing the caste system and the idea of racial superiority. I don’t want to go into that since it will offend some people in a particularly bad way and I am still enquiring to get the whole picture.

Note that Hindus see this as respect for pluralism and multiple paths. I think that is a nice way of putting things since Hinduism takes “pluralism” to absurd heights.

There are other things, but fortunately many of them have been reformed or are being reformed. An example is the old practice which forbade a widow to remarry. That is saying nothing about suti, also now almost extinct. Note, though, that many of the unsavoury practices you will find in Hinduism are regional.

Pastor AIO:
And the only reason he is doing so is because they are about to deprive him of the one thing he seems to crave most.  That is endless banter going to and fro without head or tail.  If people start to ignore him, I cannot imagine any worse punishment for the man.

Lol.

OLAADEGBU:
According to Bukhari, Vol.4. Bk.55, No.543:

Mo. said Adam was 90ft. tall.   I wonder how he got that revelation and from whom? 

nopuqeater:
Was Adam going to be a punie little man when he and his wife are the two on earth, among  giant dinosaurs and giant this and giant that? Sometimes the western education is a waste on some people.

Sorry, but that ^^^ should win an award. If you listen hard enough you will hear the ring of my laughter.

obi1o1:
Nairaland   nawa.I was just thinking the Grail message adherents were piecing everything together(wanted to get there book),now Mad Max has spin everything Inside out & Upside down.I really appreciate how everybody has elaborated on this topic,you all made my day splendid.Everything is so complicated,still everybody bring plausible explanations(esp Mad Max).Now i know we will never know until we leave this earth,so am sticking to my bible.[/b]All the miracles,blessings & personal relationship with Christ is enough.[b]Just wanted to know more but i guess nobody knows,& i ain't failing or repeating no class either.

LOL.
I feel you, brother. I really do. I don't hold the view for one moment that being "open minded" and questioning like some of us is necessarily superior to "just believing", just so long as the believer retains some common sense so as to guide against the wolves. There are many believers who are able to do this. As for Mad Max, she is highly gifted and vastly read, so you will always learn something from reading her whether you share her views or not.

As usual, an exceptionally brilliant composition.

[quote author=Mad_Max link=topic=436863.msg6872384#msg6872384 date=1286194849]Your belief system teaches automatic earthly rebirths. I sort of took it as a given that it's what you must subscribe to. We meant different things by reincarnation. I knew what you meant. I was clarifying what I meant. There is discussion. There is no intent to convert or convince. It would be lovely to look through the evidence for automatic earthly rebirths though. 
[/quote]What I said I was keeping an open mind on as a view out there was non-linear rebirth, not the earthly rebirth commonly held to be true in Eastern and African thoughts. I see I should have made sentence 3 sentence 2 in that paragraph so it’s clear what I meant. I don’t have a personal experience of reincarnation, tellurian or interstellar. As someone who is not basking in spiritual experiences and is not wired to read a book and start by accepting its contents with the absolute certainty of the true believer, I feel my way through and discard or accept or defer judgement based on certain factors, none of which would be because a “belief system” teaches it.

You have made an impressive case for this other view of reincarnation up there. It is really good you have taken time to explain this perspective as reincarnation remains a subject of keen interest for me. I don’t think it’s a perfect theory, but it’s certainly worth a serious consideration. I believe the Storm book and some others have some perspectives on this and hope to get them soon.

I should observe, however, that I do not see why continuous earthly rebirth would be superfluous. And whether it is retrogressive or not would depend on what is absolutely true with respect to the original intention, that is, whether we are MEANT to be reborn here or not. Even then, it would  still be possible that the entire human race has retrogressed for eons and need to keep repeating the class for now. The superfluity argument would be valid if the vast majority of human beings come here, live a good life that improves humanity and the environment and then die satisfied, with only a minority falling short and requiring rebirth or a session with the drill sergeant of hell or both. While there are relatively few very wicked people around, we find relatively few very good people, as well. Using the school analogy, I doubt anyone scores A around here. Most people score E & F. A few score D and those who score C or B come around once in a while. Humanity has made steady progress on earth. One million years ago we were living in caves with hardly any civilized rules of engagement. Today we have realised the need to come together and give up some of our individual rights to form a society to make laws to guide us. Five thousand years ago they were carrying out human sacrifices in Scandinavia. Today that is barbaric. I would SPECULATE that continuous rebirth is what has improved us. Each time we come we do better than the past, hence the noticeable improvement with TIME. If the earth were a class, say primary three, we would have a fixed stage of development – at least, mentally and spiritually, even if not socio-environmentally. After all I did LCM in primary three quite long ago. That is what they still do there now. Just my observations on the non-necessity argument for this other view of reincarnation. It could be well be true.

If I recall things correctly, I have come across versions of “non-linear reincarnation” talking about dying and reincarnating back in time, say, 1st century BC, or further, say, 40th century AD. To state my views on time travel, I deem them improbable, but I could be wrong, of course, as I believe I must be on many things. In the movie, The Odyssey, the goddess Athena told the wanderer that time did not exist in the spiritual realm. But when Odysseus returned to his world everything had moved on. He may spend 10 years in that dimension, thinking he had only spent days. That would be because he brings telluric thought forms to bear on a different dimension. Time, AS WE KNOW IT, may not exist in the spiritual. But I suspect that here, in this dimension, situations, places, people and events are fixed in time. Immutably. Even if the super-light locomotion researchers get their way I think they would only be repeating the Odysseus experience, not actually manipulating time.

Nevertheless, I do find discussions about time travel interesting and am glad you brought it up. I find the Cassiopaeans really fascinating. They say there is no time at all, that now is the past and the future. That is, it is all happening at the same time! I know we can't fully comprehend it while here, but when you say "eternity is the complete ABSENCE of time," is this similar to what you have in mind? Now if time travel or non-linear time rebirth is a possibility, this is the only explanation that comes close to rationality for me when I think about it. But, then, I can probably think of a thousand reasons to dismiss the Cassiopaean idea.

On hell, while hellfire makes no sense to me, I do not dismiss the possibility of a form of punishment for the wicked after death. Just about every belief system teaches punishment for evil and I believe it is more than likely.

Just as Kaballah is from Judaism, and hence “an eye for an eye” is woven into it, Yoga is from Hindu philosophy and Hinduism has its dark side. I personally find strong reservations about certain things and you highlight a very important matter. The differences-among-peoples thing you mentioned is something enshrined in scripture. Hindus see the world through a prizm of differences and classifications, all caste in granite. If you are born into Hinduism or get involved with any of its philosophies, you get used to it and take it either way: accept because that is what was revealed and is written in the scriptures or sense a most ungodly transmission and reject and ignore it in your doings. The authors of most of the Hindu texts obviously did not transcend this very human view of things. Ramacharaka obviously did, but not, it appears, entirely. But the level to which he transcended it was extremely rare for an Indian born into Hinduism in his day. I have also come across this very idea outside Hinduism, though.

In terms of spiritual worth, I think the principles of Yoga are a mother lode of pure gold to he who can. That is why I find limbs 1 and 2 of Yoga philosophy most important and limbs 3 and 4 equally relevant. These universal principles for life contained in limbs 1 and 2 are hinged on love and godlikeness. 5-8 are stuff you should do in order to commune with God. I think for that sort of thing to be worthwhile you have to share the beliefs being taught in the philosophy and when that happens you might just reach God of a truth, with God of the truth possibly being still far away. These things turn in my head sometimes, even though I know they are not what really matters. Bertrand Russell remains one of my most admired men of all time, even though he believed in nothing. The Lord help us to remember to do that which matters most. He can take care of the rest. He will take care of the rest.

knotty:
i cant seem to get any top of the range amala place in Apapa.
Any idea, anyone, please?

I recall. Ask anyone for "Iya Awe" somewhere around post office. That's was the quintessential amala place in Apapa.

No, Don jesus. These are not what you think. From the Hebrew letters on one of the pictures, you can tell it is someone in Israel who hurriedly clipped those pictures from the web, labelled them and starting sending out mass emails.

stillwater:
I eat my amala with gbegiri ati ewedu and stew.   I love it but it doesn't go down well in my tummy. I don't know why.

Eliminate the gbegiri and reduce the stew. It tastes just as nice and that should solve the problem. Also make sure the ewedu was not left over from the previous day (some sell that) but is as fresh as possible. I doubt there is a way amala with fresh ewedu and a little amount of fresh stew will trouble your tummy.

[quote author=Mad_Max link=topic=436863.msg6802940#msg6802940 date=1285182322]
Why shouldn't you be a guru? A Yogi. Don't you want to? That's the point, isn't it? From what you say, Yoga seems to demand awesome self-discipline, though. Not everyone has that. I certainly don't. Honestly, it sounds fantastically interesting.[/quote]Not necessarily. There are people who do just the physical stuff. I could do stages 1-4 before having to make up my mind whether I want to take on 5-8, the real mystical stuff. I am sufficiently motivated but a lot else is needed.

Yoga is fascinating. But it’s much more. I think it’s also special. It does not make specific promises beyond “communion with God”, but different people report different results at various stages of practice. People are cured of “incurable” illnesses. Some start experiencing OBEs and other “supernatural” phenomena naturally.

This non-linear reincarnation sounds interesting. But all the circumstantial evidence one has supports earthly rebirth. I guess I will treat it as one of the beliefs out there, for now, and keep an open mind on it.

Deep Sight:
Lol; believe me i rather need to slow down on the crazee stuff.

Em, the great philosopher wasn't talking about quantity, Deep Sight! 

Pastor’s post above brings other valuable perspectives to that matter and should help us to understand the gunas better as tendencies, rather than traits.

Tamas: Inertia, Heaviness; Resolves by means of ignorance and obstruction

Rajas: Activity; Energy; Resolves by passion born of craving and attachment

Sattva: Truth and Goodness; Spiritual Essence; Resolves by means of attachment to knowledge and joy

These are tendencies ingrained in the unconscious, so, no, they do not manifest as “progressive qualities”. And it is fair to argue that we don't change. But we can. The scriptures enjoin it. It is recommended that tamas and rajas are to be weeded out to obtain a sattvic frame of mind. And people in whom the sattvo-guna frame of mind predominate are to work to transcend the three gunas. This is what Yoga teaches.

In terms of whether or not one is better than the other, we have to ask “better” in relation to what? Let me look at it in terms of our day to day life. Is it better to be thin or to be fat? It is better to be thin if you wish to become an athlete. It may be better to be thin if you wish to have good health. It is better to be fat if you wish to be a sumo wrestler. Many would say it is better to be thin on the whole. But some will vehemently disagree with that. Now, that is a grossly inadequate example, as the differences between the gunas are much more profound. They can determine your choices which can profoundly affect the course of your life.

If my driving life ambition is to become a billionaire (if you read some of these self-help books, you’d think that is all there is to life) then one guna may not be better than the other – depending, of course, on how I intend to make my billions. If all I want to be is a Nobel Prize winning writer or an Olympic medal winning swimmer, one may often not be better than the other. Even in my family life, it is possible to have a wonderful relationship with my spouse and kids whatever my guna if I happen to be on the boat with people I gel with. And in your world nobody may care if you eat milk and vegetables (sattvic in Yoga), fish and chocolate (rajasic), or meat and onions (tamasic).

However, gunas influence your thoughts, actions are relationships. It takes a man of certain tendencies to be able to relate with everybody than a man of other tendencies. It takes a woman of certain tendencies to quarrel with everyone in the neighbourhood. Someone may enter a room and the whole place is lit up. That is to do with his tendencies. People may be caught up in the rain and all run past the only house in the vicinity rather than seek shelter, because of certain tendencies of the landlord.

In the ordinary business of life, the different tendencies may serve you in different situations (expediency), but the thoughts and actions most closely associated with tamas and rajas are those you are most likely to identify as bad traits and work hard to overcome. That is why you often hear, “I can’t control myself once I’m angry,” “I worry too much,” “I have been trying to stop smoking for three years.” The example Pastor gave bears this out when you look at the big picture. Still, maybe there are times it is better to go robotic than to be creative – there could be, but I’m not sure of that.

The three gunas are present in everyone, with the predominating one often asserting itself in your thoughts and actions, tamas tending towards the coarse, and sattva towards the fine. Thus, in Yoga there is no equivocation – tamas and rajas are to be rooted out completely, for the gunas are like gravity, they drag you down when you desire to go up.

Are the three gunas inherent in God? I will sit back and enjoy Deep Sight philosophise on that one. 

@Mad Max
LOL. It is quite complicated. There are different ancient scripts dealing with specific aspects. But it is a system that has developed over millennia with various sages and gurus making their inputs.

Anybody can be a Sadhaka, but not everyone can become a supreme seeker. Being good looking is a function of natural endowments and healthy living. A man who grew up physically well endowed who allowed himself to grow a protruding belly would not be considered good looking in this sense. To be a supreme seeker, one must be appreciably physically attractive, spiritually minded, intellectually gifted, morally upright, and emotionally sound. Bear in mind that for this fourth and last category it is unrealistic to expect up to 2% of seekers to qualify.

Yoga is one of the six classic schools of Hindu philosophy. You often find an interconnection between all the schools. For examples guna comes from Samkhya. The short path? That would be Kundalini Yoga, although I will hardly call it short since the disciple is supposed to wait for the master to watch him and then pronounce him ready before he can commence studies. But, again, all that is changing now you can purchase Yoga across the counter like paracetamol to be taken three times daily. And yes, the “short path” can be a dangerous state of affairs.

Some Tenets of Yoga
Ahimsa: Non violence. It has a negative meaning not to kill, and a positive meaning to abide in love for every creature, for the same Universal Spirit pervades them all. To kill a living thing is to insult its Creator. You are not to kill for sport, food or anything. A vegetarian diet is necessary to advance in this path. You would not carry weapons, for instance, on your person for your own protection since a Yogi fears no evil and relies on God for protection. A Yogi lives in opposition to evil, but not the wrong-doer. Connoted in Ahimsa are abhaya (freedom from fear) and akhroda (freedom from anger). Freedom from fear comes from purity and knowing. Note there are two types of anger: one which is spiritually up-building and one which is debasing. It is the latter the Yogi avoids. Thus he is stern with himself whenever he stoops low but gentle with others when they fail.

Satya: Truth. This is the highest moral standard, without which you cannot become fit for union with infinity. Truthfulness is in thought, words and deed. This principle encompasses the control of the tongue, that is, the avoidance of the four sins of speech listed as: (i) abuse and obscenity, (ii) lying, (iii) tale bearing, (iv) ridiculing what others hold as sacred. A truthful person needs not run after anything, for when she prays with a pure heart, everything she needs comes to her.

Asteya: Non stealing. Stealing to a Yogi includes taking what belongs to another without permission, taking it with permission but using it for a purpose other than that for which it is requested, holding on to it for more than the time requested from the owner. It also includes acquiring or gathering to himself things he does not need.

Brahmacharya: Celibacy or self-restraint. The retention of semen means the retention of life, its loss means the reverse. What Yoga really emphasizes, though, is the continence of the body, speech and mind. Brahmacharya should not be interpreted literally as the prohibition of marriage. In fact, marriage is encouraged for the Sadhaka, since without experiencing human love it is difficult to recognise divine love. And one of the scriptures say the Yogi should not renounce family, profession, or society. But he is to put the Lord first and foremost. He can keep his work, but his mind should not lie there

Aparigraha: Non-hoarding. This is an extension of asteya (non-stealing). This one goes further to say you should not take anything from anyone as a favour without having worked for it, for that is poverty of the spirit. A Yogi does not hoard because he has faith in the abilities of God and himself to provide for the future. Whenever he faces poverty he remembers the moon. During the latter half of the month, it rises late in night when no one is awake to appreciate its splendor. But it keeps proudly in the sky knowing that in a short while it will be full again and men will croon its praises. Aparigraha makes life simple. It takes the Sadhaka out of illusion and misery.

Niyama: Personal rules of conduct. The five niyamas deal with rules of conduct for the individual, as opposed to the universal rules. They are listed by Patanjali as: (i) saucha (purity), (ii) santosa (contentment), (iii) tapas (austerity), (iv) savdyaya (Self study), (v) Isvara pranidhana (dedication to the Lord). There is no vagueness here, either. Each of the rules has specific connotations in Yoga. For example, dedication to the Lord does not mean going to a temple, but absolute submission to God in will and action. Thus a Sadhaka surrenders every sense of “I” or “me” and never prays for personal gratifications. His prayer is: “I do not know what is good for me. Let your will be done, Lord.” He knows that all creation truly belong to God and so cannot possibly be vain about any abilities or possessions.

The breath or life force of every individual is connected to the cosmic breath, that is, the breath of the Universal Spirit, Brahma. Yoga, the Enlightened state, is the stage where there is Oneness between the individual’s breath that of the Universal Spirit. Pranayama helps bring this about. It is the bridge, the link. That is the belief.

When you reach the state of Yoga, you will have no doubt because you will go into a state of super consciousness. I cannot fully comprehend that, much less explain it, since I am quite obviously not in that state! But think of someone who is in a state of absolute peace. Not the peace of the dead, but a living, knowing peace. You cannot threaten to kill him, for instance, because death is not significant. You cannot take his house away because he doesn’t have a need for shelter. You cannot throw him in prison because his soul is liberated and no man can touch the soul. He feels no pain. Now that is another thing I do not fully grasp. There are claims that enlightened ones do not feel the physical effect of heat. There are no recorded objective cases of this – not that enlightened ones would be interested in having their cases objectively exhibited or recorded. But there is hardly any doubt that enlightened ones have come out of being buried alive for days. Think of someone who knows everything – all his past lives and where he has ever been, doesn’t have to wonder if there are people in other universes because he can simply go out there and get the knowledge he craves.

What you wrote about reincarnation up there makes for interesting reading. I am obviously far less familiar with what Jesus taught on the matter than you are. Perhaps you can shed more light. I think it’s perfectly fine for the Yogi to call Jesus master. I am deeply skeptical about the claims of Jesus’ Essenic links, but I have nothing to refute them. My personal views on reincarnation are nothing set in stone. It is a topic I take every opportunity to explore. From what I have explored, I am inclined to the continuous rebirth theory. But perhaps you can shed more light on your perspectives. Where did Jesus teach reincarnation?

And who says fish-consuming MyJoe will become a guru or even has such aspirations? 

[quote author=Akaraoku$ link=topic=505782.msg6792893#msg6792893 date=1285071226]Please i need Admin to remove my profile picture, any help ? [/quote] Now why would you want to do that?

Even the angels of God would stand
As they fly past Nairaland
To admire your skin bathed in warm milk!

Maid of feline grace
With georgeous feminine face
And cheeks full with youth and sweet berry strands.

 

^^^ Thanks for writing something more befitting of Philosopher Vescucci (SAW)!

Gamine:
Hmm. . .profound.

Was this user ID hijacked??

Now, why would anyone say this of Philosopher Vescucci, Ph.D., OON, OBE, Master of the Rolls, Viceroy of India, Doctor of Letters?