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Alan Watts and his writings

Way back I read a few books by Alan Watts. Not totally impressed, and I left the guy behind with thoughts that he was maybe a bit superficial and new agey. But a few years ago after a long journey of my own - call it an inner journey but maybe that...

Interfaith Dialogue

I wish there was a section here for interfaith dialogue. Obviously many are not in favour of dialogue. On a Buddhist forum I was told where to put my "inter-religious bullshit", and obviously a certain kind of Christian will say that there can be no...

I was reading a book about modern art and came across a few words about James Ensor, who often drew absurd looking images which represented not only his own struggles but also about the ludicrousness and suffering that we all experience in life, and...

D.T.Suzuki and Pure Land Buddhism

D.T. Suzuki is more known in the West as an exponent of zen buddhism, but he also wrote much on Shin (i.e. Pure Land) Buddhism. His mum was a devote Pure Lander and you don't argue with mums......😀 Anyway, it is always good to learn just how other...

Plotting a course

I don't really believe in plotting a course. I actually think that most will be "saved" (call it what you will, imagine it how you like) in spite of their beliefs rather than because of them. No-calculation. Let reality surprise me. But...

Meister Eckhart

Eckhart was a Christian mystic around the 13th century. Some people seem to think a mystic pulls rabbits out of a hat (😀) but in this context it simply means a human being who seeks to experience the divine rather than just write/create theology. To...

The proper place

Methinks a lot of OP's here should be placed in the Hinduism section. Perhaps Swami would consider this. Thank you

We are all "one"

Whatever we think of, wherever we are, no matter our allegiances, at base we are all "one". Thinking of just the latest disasters - Morocco and Libya - or the various Religions and Creeds, even our various shades of colour. At base, first thought,...

A shout in the street

I have often spoken of the Pure Land way of "no-calculation" where "thing are made to become so of themselves". This has affinities with my own favorite Bible verse:- "For the earth brings forth fruits of herself." At one time I had some sort of...

The insistence of hate

It seems that certain Christians will insist that they are "hated". I think this is possibly to do with the 8th Beatitude as recorded in St Matthew's gospel:- "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the...

Life giving myths

Life giving myths. The early OT stories can act as the Jewish people gaining Faith in the guidance and protection of an ultimately ineffable Reality. But when Jews take their story literally it can have disastrous consequences. To recognise it as...

Saw this guy this morning

I saw this guy this morning, must have been about 70 or so, maybe older, who lives in Libya. Scene of the latest natural disaster. When he should perhaps be enjoying the fruits of a long life, surrounded by family, instead he was weeping at the loss...

Anyone else familiar with this guy?

I'm asking about Fernando Pessoa (1888 - 1935) He left behind a whole lot of writings in a giant trunk. A lot still unpublished. He was the man with no core - he wrote under the names of many others, people created by his own imagination -...

The secular way

Whatever impression might have been gained from my often rambling posts full of quotes from the various religions, I am totally secular in my life and in how I relate to others "in the flesh" (so to speak....😀) It is basically an accident of...

The Christian mystic Meister Eckhart (13th century) once said:- They do Him wrong who know and worship God in only one particular way - they end with the way rather than God. When quoting this before, some have responded by quoting the New...

A few posts recently on the subject of proselytizing. Obviously a touchy subject. Live and let live is the cry, yet if we feel we have found something truly valuable it seems right in some ways to wish to share it. "The Tao can be shared but not...

Revelations of Divine Love

The words of Julian of Norwich, from her "Revelations of Divine Love":- ‘I saw truly that our Lord was never angry, and never will be. Because he is God, he is good, he is truth, he is love, he is peace; and his power, his wisdom, his charity and...

The value of heresy

Read this today:- Although not by any means every heresy has been an advance in Christian understanding, almost every advance in Christian understanding has been heretical or heterodox – until, that is, it was eventually adopted by the church....

A community in Ireland

A small congregation of Catholics in a village in Ireland were told that their priest must take six months absence owing to health reasons. On leaving he told his flock that should they need any counselling during his absence that they should...

A guy loves betting and likes the races, particularly watching the horses being paraded around the ring prior to their race. One day he is watching this parade and notices a Catholic priest stretch out in front of one of the horses and gesticulate...

The difference between Godhead and God

The difference between Godhead and God occupies my mind at the moment. The subject follows from the idea of the plurality of our World's religious faiths, and in seeking to reconcile them, or find a common core. The subject seeks to draw a...

Hello again, it's TelegramSam

Well, I believe in myself, I can hardly doubt my own existence. After a little thought I decided to rejoin SW (not by popular demand I might add......😀) after closing my original account. After much soul searching (please allow for my rather...

As good a place as any

Fun and games - Random. As good a place as any. After trawling through about 200 groups that I might or might not be interested in, it was a vast relief to hit bottom. My virgin post. Here mainly to look and read the thoughts and views and ideas of...