Tag Archives: Mohandas Gandhi

Scientology and Obsessive Causation

But for the first and last paragraphs, provided here only for context, the following is a newly included passage to venture seven of a course in graduating from Scientology:

How did the 14th Dalai Lama, Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King attain such world-transforming power? Certainly, not by coveting it. They more likely manifested the following passage from the Tao:

The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.

The ordinary man keeps reaching for power; thus he never has enough.

By their philosophies and actions their extraordinary pacifist powers were consistent with James Allen’s universe view as articulated in As A Man Thinketh:

A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.  And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.

Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe; justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life; and righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force in the spiritual governance of the world.  This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right he will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.

In contrast, given its emphasis on – even obsession with – power and causation attainment, is it any wonder that all the most ‘powerful’ in Scientology, including Hubbard himself, wound up so powerless and miserable?

What Jesus Means

Here are some thoughts that may make Christmas more meaningful.

by Mohandas K. Gandhi:

My Christian friends have told me on a few occasions that because I do not accept Christ as the only son of God, it is impossible for me to understand the profound significance of his teachings.  I believe that this is an erroneous point of view, and that such an estimate is incompatible with the message that Jesus gave to the world.  For he was certainly the highest example of one who wished to give everything, asking nothing in return, and not caring what creed might happen to be professed by the recipient.  I am sure that if he were living here now among men, he would bless the lives of many who perhaps have never even heard his name, if only their lives embodied the virtues of which he was a living example on earth: the virtues of loving one’s neighbor as oneself and of doing good and charitable works among one’s fellow men.

What then does Jesus mean to me?  To me  he was one of the greatest teachers humanity has ever had.  To his believers he was God’s only-begotten Son. Could the fact that I do or do not accept this belief make Jesus have any more or less influence in my life?   Is all the grandeur of his teaching and of his doctrine to be forbidden to me?  I cannot believe so.

To me it implies a spiritual birth. My interpretation, in other words, is that in Jesus’ own life is the key to his nearness to God; that he expressed, as no other could, the spirit and will of God.  It is in this sense that I see him and recognize him as the son of God.   

Christmas

 

Christmas marks the postulated birthday of Jesus Christ.  While some say the holiday can be traced back to a day of worship of the Sun at the outset of its return from its shortest day of the year, the Christ birth narrative is the story that has stood the test of time and garnered the most widespread acceptance.  You can choose whatever story you like best, and so it will be with God according to a wonderful movie now in theaters, Life of Pi.  Incidentally, I highly recommend you go out and see Pi if you haven’t already.  A perfect holiday entertainment.

Another movie I watched recently inspired this post.  That is The Quantum Activist featuring quantum theorist Amit Goswami.  In the film, Goswami explains how quantum theory relates to consciousness.  In doing so he touches on the advice of Christ to love one’s enemies.  While I have heard the advice so many times before, including in L. Ron Hubbard’s What Is Greatness?, I have generally found it difficult to apply.  I suppose it was a combination of other recent reading, particularly Ken Wilber’s work on integral spirituality and others on quantum mechanics and its relationship to consciousness, combined with life experiences that set the stage for Goswami to reach home to me.

Per the King James Bible, book of Matthew, Jesus Christ is reported as saying:

But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

Goswami put Christ’s love advice in the context of recognizing the non-duality of reality, something quantum theory is tending to corroborate as the truest description of existence.  He did so by also noting the tangible, unprecedented 20th Century accomplishments of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King in following Christ’s words.

I think in Scientology we are all educated in a way to justify and even accept the destructive emotions in the anger band, including ‘hate.’   I think to indulge in anger and hate might have an effect similar to that covered by Rene Brown in her interesting lecture earlier posted on this blog.  Brown noted that when one desensitizes oneself to any emotion one numbs oneself to emotion generally.   And so it might be with such things as anger and hate.  If you let them into your heart and nourish them you lose the capacity or ability to love or experience higher toned emotions.

Since recognizing and accepting the wisdom above imputed to Christ, I haven’t harbored any animosity toward anyone in a few days in spite of the fact certain folks are concurrently doing all they can to fracture and upset our family during the holidays.  While I cannot attest to it making one lick of difference in those who have declared me to be their enemy, I can say I am feeling a great degree of equanimity and peace.