@NightHawk. Yes. At least for now.
And. . . I still would like to keep politics out of this thread. Just sayinā.
Perhaps if you want to talk politics, start another topic area?
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Iād like to keep it off the site entirely as it is more of a distraction, then of interest to the overall purview of the website. Just my two cents. But then,
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He knows nothing because heās a ānot see.ā 
I basically agree that political discussion doesnāt really fit the purpose of this site. Unless we want to talk about it as a collective dream, which is how my teacher Arnold Mindell looks at it.
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I am on board with this too 
!
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This is a thread on Spiritual teachings, I posted a conversation with some very deep and powerful spiritual teachings
I am not prejudiced on sources of Truth, I will take Truth wherever it is given freely
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Twas a very enlightening conversation.
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āAnd he said āno wayā
and I said 'way!ā 
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@NightHawk999
OK brother. Peace be upon you.
And just to be as āFair and Balanced as a Foxā I will post this as a spiritual teaching:
āDo you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You think this in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.ā
And hopefully this will be the last politician in the Sacred Teachings thread.
But āit is what it is.ā
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@mbready. Iām a dyslexic who totally believes in Dog!
You put your left wing in, you put your left wing out,
You put your right wing in and put your right wing out,
and then you shake it all about! Thatās what itās all about!
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Amen and also with you Dear Brother
"Police documents reveal new details on Walzās 1995 DUI arrest
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walzās congressional campaign of 2006 repeatedly made false statements about the details of his 1995 arrest for drunk and reckless driving. CNN KFile reporter Andrew Kaczynski reports."
Clean speech is very important , especially when you leaders are making decisions that kill people and send young people to war. You want to make sure the people driving the country, are not doing so recklessly. Doing so increases suffering, drug abuse, mental illness, crime, global catastrophic wars, corruption, etc, etc, etc.
No doubt when Kamala reads off the teleprompter its typically very impressive and inspiring
(there are exceptions):
But when rhetoric doesnāt match actions it is gold plated lead. 
All that glisters is not goldā
Mr. T is painful for me to listen to at times, no doubt. But as a Pacifist, and as a believer in the Military+ Industrial+ Congress+ [Social] Media Complex
I believe if Mr. T had been president, rather than Biden, Putin never would have attacked Ukraine, and there would be no war in Israel. Obviously we are dealing with Hypotheticals, but Trump fought hard to save soldiers lives, end wars, kill terrorists, and bring peace to the middle east, so I base my hypothesis on past actions.
I am also reminded of the stories of Buddhist Monasteries, that covered their golden buddha statues with clay or cement, and let birds crap all over them, in an attempt to protect the statues from war parties passing through. Trump is one of the few honest politicians I have ever encountered in my life time, where his actions align with his rhetoric at a much higher probability than the norm.
This is why I think the Genius Mr. Musk has endorsed him.
No doubt, I donāt make the rules, I just go with the flow. I too would rather Sacred teachings did not get derailed with idle chatter, and I think its a great idea to keep the politics in threads related to Lies or The Economy, or a Political thread. Great Idea!
Aug 4, 2023
āBidenomics is working,ā VP Kamala Harris says on jobs report
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Be empty of worrying
Think of who created thought
Why do you stay in prison
When the door is wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear thinking.
Live in silence.
Flow down and down in always
Widening rings of being.
by Rumi
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I did go to seminary after all. Pays off for something!
Exegesis is pretty fun. A good way to challenge your preconceived notions about the text.
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Loved this talks on Evagrius the desert mystic from Swami S. Watched this pretty soon after it was first posted. Evagrius was also mentioned extensively by Fracis Tiso is Rainbow Body and Resurrection as the founder of the mystical school of contemplation that the Church of the East brought into Central Asia. The school focuses on using contemplative practices to manifest the light of the resurrection or the light of Christās transfiguration in oneās own life. Tiso suggests that this school may have heavily influenced early dzogchen practioners and be behind the emergence of the rainbow body in dzogchen practice.
Evagrius also was a nondualist, which makes me very happy of course. I really want to read him, but the Greek originals were destroyed when he was anathemized by some council. Some Syriac translations remain, unfortunately I do not know that language.
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Oh, forgot to mention. Francis Tiso says Evagriusā favorite verse was Ephesians 3:10. He quotes it all the time. Iāll start with verse 8 for context:
- To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
- and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
- to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
- according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
- in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
Paul really does like his run-on sentences 
. I might look at the Greek later, just wanted to post this here for those who like to ponder on things.
=========================================================================
Another verse, translated this one from the Greek today with an exegesis group Iām part of. I was struck by the instruction to remain diligent in spiritual practice. Needed to hear this, Iāve been getting lazy with my spiritual practice lately.
ā11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.ā Hebrews 6-11-12
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OK that explains how you know so much about Hebrew and Greek and theology!
Iām curious, were you planning to be a minister? Did you change your mind?
I did go to a Christian college back in the early 70ās (Seattle Pacific University) and came out of an evangelical background. I did have one quarter of New Testament Greek, but then I got interested in dreams and Jung and the next thing I knew, I was throwing I Chings and doing Buddhist meditation. The rest is history. And Greek is mostly Greek to me.
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Yeah I wanted to be a theologian, Then I realized I didnāt know who God was myself so how could I talk to others about God? That started me on the spiritual path.
Good that your college taught Greek, So many evangelicals just ignore it. Think a translation is just good enough. And for most things it is. But if you are going to be a āBible-believingā, literal interpreting kind of Christian, it makes sense to me to know the original languages. Because God didnāt speak to the biblical authors in Modern English, no matter what some people may believe 
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Thought this might fit in this general discussion. Someone I know is enrolling in this program and perhaps a Night Clubber might be interested in it as well.
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@Bucket [quote=āBucket, post:437, topic:7812ā]
Because God didnāt speak to the biblical authors in Modern English, no matter what some people may believe
[/quote]
No he didnāt speak to them in modern English. He spoke to them in King James English!
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found this today and thought it might be of interest for this thread:
On the trail of Iblis
I dreamed I agreed to give a presentation on the Devil in Islamic tradition. I got on it when I woke at 4 in the morning boning up on rival versions of Iblis. In the Mathnawi, Rumi recounts a story of how the fallen angel awakens a Caliph so he wonāt be late for his morning prayers, telling him
""First I was an angelā¦
I was one of the lovers at Godās courtā¦
Many a caress have I received of God
as I walked in the rose garden of his pleasure."
In another version, Iblis was not an angel but a jinn who ascended to their ranks. According to the Quran he was thrown out of heaven because he refused to prostrate himself before Adam at Godās decree. As a jinn, he despised a being made of mud when he was made of smokeless fire. As a true monotheist among the angels (some Sufis say) he refused to worship anything except God."
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