You really are. Thanks for all your posts and answers. Like Susan says, maybe you would pop in here sometimes in the future [sorry eternal now! :) ] ?

GG.

Darryl Sloan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> drrayeye Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How does Pantheism help you grow Spiritually,
> day
> > by day? What are the guidelines, milestones?
> How
> > do you feel and assess that growth?
>
> Very stimulating question!
>
> First and foremost, the central problem that I
> identify in (most) religion is that it is based on
> the premise that man is a metaphysically broken
> creature that requires
> salvation/redemption/liberation. That is the
> central error upon which the "sales pitch"
> relies.
>
> Realising that I am not fundamentally broken, I do
> however realise that I am flawed and that my
> beliefs have a huge impact on my behaviour.
>
> With pantheism and non-duality there is a state of
> mind where you look at other people (and all life)
> and view them as God playing "let's pretend" as a
> human - or God dreaming the human dream. Loving
> others comes more easily, as does letting go of
> resentments. Life has a playfulness about it, so
> our personal dramas become less important. Instead
> of seeing myself as a detached ego with a fierce
> will to survive beyond death, I'm able to hold my
> personal identity more lightly, recognising that
> fundamentally I'm God/Universe, and God/Universe
> is playing all the parts. So I, as God, am playing
> all the parts, only each part doesn't experience
> what the other parts are experiencing - that's the
> nature of the aperture we call consciousness.
>
> The worst thing in my life is that I'm striving to
> overcome half a lifetime of bad habits that have
> accumulated as a result of bad thinking and poor
> decision-making. I care a great deal about being a
> moral person, not because of future reward, but
> because bad morals poison my life right now and
> cause me misery. And right now is all anyone has -
> an eternal now (in that detached sense of playing
> all the parts).
>
> Now, I have to add a paradox here. I'm still
> something of a misanthrope. I have great love for
> some people, but for the larger morass of
> humanity, I experience plenty of suspicion and
> contempt. But this is tempered by pity, as I view
> them as God getting completely lost in the game.
> And I recognise that life is naturally tribal.
>
> Regardless of the fundamental nature of reality,
> the lion belongs in a particular pride. He chases
> the gazelle, while the gazelle runs from the lion.
> I have to destroy life (eating), so that I can
> live. There may even come a time when I have to
> kill a person to save another person's life. So
> I'm highly critical of spiritual teachers who are
> into universal love, pacifism, freedom from
> suffering, transcending fear, etc. All unrealistic
> nonsense. My spirituality is deeply grounded in
> facing the harsh realities of life.
>
> Then there is the ecological side of pantheism.
> There is no separation between organism and
> environment, so it makes no sense to poison your
> wider body (the world).
>
> Darryl