My Thoughts on Religion

A lot of people do not really understand the meaning when I say personal development, but everyone seems to understand personality development and they're one and the same.

The purpose of this article is to stimulate your mind. I really want you to think for yourself and not allow me or anyone else to influence your beliefs. What comes up for you when I make the statement religion was created by man? When I talk about religion everyone has and is entitled to their own belief. My belief about religion is just that, mine. When it comes to religion or any other subject “I can’t show you my truth until you’re willing to relinquish yours” and I’m certainly not here to convince you one way or the other. The dictionary definition of religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods”. Before you read the rest of this you should go to a previous post of mine on the Bible Origination http://blog.prosperyourmind.com/?p=316

The church tends to interpret the Bible in a way that would give the church more power over the masses. What has always bothered me about religion is this. If God is all loving how could he/she also punish anyone.

The church talks about the wrath of God and our sins to instill fear in the masses. (It’s much easier to control people who are fearful than those who trust themselves.) The sacred texts therefore appear to be oppressing and cruel.

The Bible was actually written when the church did not exist, therefore it’s not directed at the teachings of the church.

There is a widely known but highly misinterpreted Bible quote. The meek shall inherit the earth. He explains that the meek does not mean poor or disadvantaged in some way. The meek simply means those people who are quiet in nature and showing mildness. The Church came up with the interpretation that the meek means poor to exploit people and use them with the sweet promise that when they die they will have all they want.

I would suggest that the Church halts the progress of the humanity and causes wars. The teaching of Jesus was never actually intended to become a religion that would suppress people rather than let them develop. The words of the great masters are meant to show the way and not be made into institutionalized religions. The great masters are not meant to be worshiped but listened to and understood.

Many societies and individuals throughout ages tried to reveal the meanings of the sacred texts, however mass tortures and other cruel ways were used against them to leave the secret hidden. Religious institutions did not want people to know their real power because they wanted people to believe that religious institutions are more powerful than people. But despite the efforts of such institutions to never let the truth see the light, the secret is becoming more and more available for those who seek.

I'm amazed at how long religious institutions have able to convince the masses that it’s only the religious institutions that hold the key to the meaning of the sacred texts. However because we entered into the Information Age, it has become almost impossible to stop the instant communication between people, therefore the church is losing the power it once had over the masses.

Because of certain movies (like The Secret), Youtube videos and TV channels, religious institutions are under daily attack and therefore become gradually weaker. More and more people understand that the teachings of the church are false, fear-based and are meant to make people obey the church instead of achieving enlightenment.

Many religious institutions were able to convince the masses of the false meanings of the Bible quotes because they quoted the words of the Bible without the context. This made it easy for them to interpret the quotes in any way they liked. For correct interpretation of sacred texts it’s important to follow the stream of thought instead of just picking any quote and interpreting it subjectively.

There are three levels of interpretation of sacred texts. The first level is an objective analysis. These are the literal conclusions that result from reading the text. The second level is subjective. This is a deeper analysis which answers the question -What does this passage mean to me?.

The third level is the spiritual meaning. Not many get that far in interpreting sacred texts because it is left up to the churches to interpret the texts on this level. To interpret sacred texts on this level requires getting detached from your conditioning and beliefs. It requires you to open your mind to receive a deeper understanding. Such level of interpretation can result in personal revelation.

Material wealth quotes. The Church likes to interpret such quotes in a way that suggests that wealth is bad. However religious institutions are extremely wealthy which makes their interpretations questionable.

Bible quotes about wealth, do not indicate that wealth is bad. They simply say that wealth should not be your final destination because if you choose wealth as your final goal you will be unhappy. There is much more to life than wealth. Wealth can be used to achieve something higher, like happiness or freedom, but wealth itself does not make people happy or free.

That’s why Jesus said that "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” It’s not because being rich is bad, but when you see wealth as the be all and end all, you become selfish and lose your own sense of conscience. So that makes it very hard for you to find the heaven inside, because you got attached to the illusion that all material things are.

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

This quote proves that we are deserving everything this life has to offer. We don’t have to work hard to get what we want. We don’t even have to worry about our survival (because worry itself creates the things we worry about). Everything is abundantly provided to us but our negative thinking restricts us from becoming aware of the abundance we are entitled to.

However with so many people believing that there is lack in this world, is hard to block out this influence. Even if you think that you understand that there is enough of everything for all, you probably still have some kind of belief in limitation. Your parents passed it on to you and this belief in lack has been instilled in many generations before you. So it’s not easy to break out of this mass illusion and experience the abundance that this universe has to offer.
Neale Donald WalschNeale Donald Walsch

I read the books “Conversations with God” by Neale Donald Walsch some years ago and it was a revelation for me. For the first time in my life it all made sense to me. There is an all loving God that accepts you exactly as you are and does not judge you. There is no right or wrong, it just is. This is the part that always confused me about religion. If God is all loving then how could God punish people? Fear of punishment is just a man created way of keeping you in the flock. Another thing I learned is that there is no such thing as time. I have to admit this is hard for me as well as any human to understand, but I believe it none the less. It is all happening NOW. We do not have to understand everything to believe it. We were created by God so therefore we are God.

I do believe that religion may have a purpose in this moment on planet Earth. Maybe we are too young as a society to live without it and there could be total chaos without it and maybe not. What I do believe is that all religion was created by well intending men to keep you in their herd by beliefs they have created and thus creating a culture of we’re right and your wrong mentality. And in some cases it’s been men interpreting what another man has said into their own beliefs about what that man was saying. In any case It’s just their opinion.

I’ve been holding back on writing this for some time because I knew what a controversy it may be. But frankly I don’t care. And I may get comments back like “you’re going to hell”, and if you choose to write such things it’s OK with me. But be careful now. What do most religions say about judging people? I will not argue any points as such and treat them as just your opinion. I spent most of my life thinking I was a sinner (man created) and it did not serve me at all. I’m now happier than I’ve ever been before and living life as I believe God would want me to live it, full out and no holding back, including writing this article.

Michael Berry
http://blog.prosperyourmind.com