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Transformation
By
smcswain
Want to Be Free…Truly Free? Here’s How!
By
smcswain
The Buddha used the word “anata” to refer to “no self.” What did he mean? The same thing Jesus meant when he said, “Deny thyself” (Matt. 16:24). Then, what did these two spiritual teachers mean? Detachment is the word, my friend. Or, to put it another way, “Let go.” “But let go of what?” you…
How Do You Grow in Christ?
By
smcswain
“Be no longer children,” wrote the Apostle Paul, “but grow up in Christ” (Eph. 4:15). All my spiritual life…for as long as I can remember…religious people have sincerely, but mistakenly, exhorted me to “grow up in Christ.” It sounded reasonable. And, they were quoting Saint Paul. But what did most of these religious people really…
Want to Be Free to Be You? Here’s how…
By
smcswain
Over the years, I have learned to keep some of myself hidden from others. Do you ever do this? I’ve been like a “Lazy Susan,” as Mark Nepo describes it, “offering only what others wanted or needed or felt most comfortable with.” (The Book of Awakening, Sept. 17). Here’s how Nepo puts it: “What I…
Is There Really a Heaven or Hell?…
By
smcswain
I suppose. If you need them. But here’s another consideration. In Falling Upward, Father Richard Rohr writes… “When you do not know who you are, you push all enlightenment off into a possible future reward and punishment system, within which hardly anyone wins. Only the True Self knows that heaven is now and that its…
What Is Salvation? Enlightenment? Awakening? Learning to Let Go…
By
smcswain
Fr. Thomas Keating, the Trappist monk, said “Discernment is a process of letting go of what we are not. “Discernment” is yet another word, similar in meaning to enlightenment, awakening, salvation. All of these words point to the process of “letting go,” as Keating puts it, “of what we are not.” What are we not?…
Sinner’s in the Hands of an Angry God!
By
smcswain
“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God!” Yes, that WAS the title of a sermon given by Jonathan Edwards in the 18th century. The title has changed over the years; the message has remained the same. You are a sinner. To be a sinner is bad. Jesus suffered God’s anger so your sins could…
Seeing the Most Obvious…or, the Measure of Enlightenment
By
smcswain
Two little fish are swimming along in the ocean one morning when they meet with an older fish who casually asks them, “Hello fella’s, how’s the water today?” They responded with equal casualness, “Fine, sir” and then, they continued to swim on. After a moment passed, one of the younger fish turns to the other…
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