So much is lost when we throw the baby out with the bathwater of religion

In our so called ‘secular age’ it is popular and even part of our collective consciousness it seems to just throw out religion in one fell swoop saying ‘Religion is the cause of so much bloodshed, hypocrisy and violence in this world.  I don’t want anything to do with it’  I can understand this reaction and see that many intelligent people really do turn away from the whole thing and nevertheless, find love in their life, do a tremendous amount of good, be of service to humanity and the world without the aid of religion at all.  Religion can seem like a crutch, a ticket to a better world that many simply do not believe exists at all.  So what to do?  Is there a baby in the bath water of religion to save?  Is there a deeper essence in the heart of religion that perhaps mostly the mystics discover that is uncorrupted, beneficial, life giving and good?

I feel the heart of all the spiritual traditions, the wisdom found in so many of the sacred scriptures, the pointers of the prophets of God across the ages are all as powerful today as they have ever been.  But much of what they said and did is tampered with, interpreted in ways that covers over the true meaning, and added onto by the minds of men and institutions that are perhaps not always absolutely reliable, and perhaps not always in harmony with the divine source?  I know that the authenticity of scripture is very important, and this is a very delicate area.  I am not a biblical scholar but let us look briefly towards the inclusion of scripture in the bible, for instance.

The gospel of Thomas was left out and this has many mystical sayings of Jesus eg  “When you make the two into one, and when you make the inner as the outer, and the upper as the lower, and when you make male and female into a single one, so that the male shall not be male, and the female shall not be female: . . . then you will enter [the kingdom].”  This is a wonderful example of seeing with the eyes of non – dual truth.

‘The gospel of Thomas is not included in the Canon of the New Testament for the following reasons.

1. The gospel of Thomas fails the test of Apostolic authority.  The gospel of Thomas fails to conform to the rule of faith.  But Thomas claims that Jesus said, “Split wood; I am there. Lift up a stone, and you will find me there.” That concept is pantheistic.’  (wikipedia)

So the gospel of Thomas is not included in the bible and of course there is much evidence to explain why and perhaps this is indeed valid but many people today are reading this gospel and realising it also holds a key perhaps to much of the mystical heart of Jesus.   Perhaps the quote about Jesus saying he is under a stone or in wood is simply saying that the spirit of God permeates everything.

Is the original living vibrational field, non phenomenal spirit of Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha, Krishna alive today?  I sense that it is and that it comes through life in so many rich and varied ways, within and outside of religious spiritual ‘practise’ or doctrine.  This living spirit comes through minds and hearts of beings today who radiate and speak words of truth into our world.  If something is true – it is always true!  Perhaps it is actually good to have a beginners mind, to empty oneself a new, to surrender all beliefs and doctrines in order to really be open and receptive to what the divine may be communicating right now in life itself, through people, through you perhaps.  It is important to be discerning and check inside to see if what is being presented to you feels right deep in your heart of course – feels in resonance with love, goodness, peace, grace.  In this way we can be our own barometer to what feels good and life giving.

But what I am suggesting here is that perhaps we can lose what the prophets pointed to originally in ‘religion’ as it is today.  Tribal groups tend to defend their group against other groups and reinforce a kind of group identity which unfortunately divides and separates humanity and can cause much condemnation and misunderstanding and even violence towards each other.  This goes so vehemently against the original teachings of Buddha for instance who speaks of ‘metta bhavana’ loving kindness to all beings.  Also the message of Jesus ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Mark 12:31 and to ‘love your enemy’  What feels true here in my heart is that we are indeed one human family, all religions come from the source, from God.  At different times and in different ages people are ‘sent’ to aid humanity, to uncover our true unitive consciousness, reconcile all of our human family in love and truth and life – or ‘reality’.  Of course in different places and in different cultures religions will look very different and each can become corrupted and impure because of ignorance, simple misunderstanding, but the essence is pure, is one, is divine.  For ‘Christians’ this doesn’t diminish the power and significance of Christ (for instance) at all – it IS the power of Christ light shining through every ‘thing’ but called perhaps by a different name in a different land.  But it is the same universal truth and life in essence.

Perhaps each pathway or pointing is like a different facet of the same one beautiful divine infinite immortal diamond.