musings about I AM....

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Honza

What do you mean? The earth doesn't just vanish and come back again.

You believe there is but one earth, and only one earth dimension? That time and human history is singular and linear? If so, that's why you're puzzled by the ideas I'm attempting to impart. You first have to be willing to expand your belief-horizons beyond mainstream Christian thought. Start by studying up on yugas, would be my advice.

[Honza]

I keep telling you that I'm not Christian.

I'm actually fairly open minded. But the idea that earth comes and goes is a new one to me.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Honza

I keep telling you that I'm not Christian.

I'm actually fairly open minded. But the idea that earth comes and goes is a new one to me.

Multiple planes of existence... that one you must have come across. But yes, creation operates in the same way we breath: in and out, contraction and expansion. "In the beginning" is not the initial creation story, it is merely outlining this particular chapter.

[Baile]

Here's another way to look at it... time doesn't exist; and past, present and future are woven together. Couple that with the idea of multiple levels of existence... which is simply pointing out the reality that creation is energy, and operates on varying levels of energetic frequency.

Someone on the forum the other day posted how they were worried about the state of the world, and about reincarnating in 150 years. Well if past, present and future are woven together, who is to say we reincarnate in this century-specific linear progression? Also, given we raise our vibration as we evolve, who is to say we return to this particular energetic plane, and not an alternate version of it; a different, higher-vibration version of it?

[Baile]

The I AM principle question... already asked, and undertaken, and experienced, and completed many times over, by many beings, and many civilizations, over countless millennia. Hindu philosophy is not a decayed or dead philosophy. To believe that, is to embrace a linear-belief outlook. Rather, Hindu philosophy is nothing less than historical documentation, outlining the spiritual-material history -- the very realities and truths -- of creation and existence.

[Honza]

Interesting. Or 'Fascinating' as Spock would say.

[Baile]

Originally Posted by Honza

Interesting. Or 'Fascinating' as Spock would say.

Thanks. The spiritual mind is inclusive; it embraces all philosophy, sees all human religious thought as building upon itself. Hinduism is no better or worse than Buddhism, which no better or worse than Christianity, which is no better or worse than Islam. These various philosophies simply speak to the consciousness of collective humanity, at that particular time in human history. For our consciousness is evolving, and continues to evolve. New understandings will always be born as a result. Spiritual-religious understanding is not static or permanent. It falls away and moves aside as humanity advances in their understanding.

My own understanding is we are evolving from insular and parochial "God the creator" thinking (understanding of God; religion, essentially), to independent, liberal-minded "I AM" consciousness and understanding (understanding of the soul). This is our collective wisdom path as a species, the very reason we incarnate: so as to both experience and bring about this understanding into human spiritual history. But it does not mean that God the creator is now an irrelevant idea. This is not an adversarial happening. It is an inclusive one. It is simply the other end of the understanding spectrum, coming into the light now in this new age.

[Seawolf]

Originally Posted by Honza

I don't really believe that I understand the Eastern concept of God.....but do they understand our concept of God?

I doubt it, it's probably as foriegn to them as their concept is to us. When I hear them talk about God it's confusing because they'll seem to contradict themselves alot, whereas we'll speak as if something is just one way, black and white. To me it seems like they have more of a right brain way of thinking, it's very flexible and the ideas can change depending on the current context.

Originally Posted by Honza

The west has a social network which the east seems to lack. People talk about the divisions between the rich and the poor - but in the east it is far worse. There is no such think as the welfare state in India. The west has worked hard to get where it is today. Now it feels threatened. Just consider that Britain and America swung politically to the right out of fear. "America first" "Britain first"......people are protecting their own interests.

That's why I think a lot of the threat we feel from the unfamiliar is about safety, which is a basic human need. It seems to be based on misunderstanding.

When the Christians invaded the Americas, the indigenous cultures were so different that they either had to be converted or wiped of the earth. This seems like a lack of understanding which leads to fear and wanting to protect themselves from that fear.

[Shivani Devi]

Why can't you just say "God is" and even extend it to saying "God is Love"? tis what I do.

Other people may say I AM, but other people are not you.

I have wasted finger muscles before telling you my whole rejection of the 'I AM' concept, because God IS.

We even have a whole philosophy in Hinduism which says; "I AM Shiva/God" but I love God way too much to BE God! There's no way I subscribe to the whole I AM myself, but I am very comfortable in believing/knowing what I do about it.

You don't subscribe to the theory and that's good for you. It's good for me too, but you'll never get the "I AM'ers" to agree with you, so let them be whatever they ARE (or think they are) and just carry on.

It sounds reasonable, does it not?

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Honza

The first I AM probably started in India with early Hinduism. Once some people start practicing I AM the word starts to spread.....

Yes, it started with the Vedas in India @ 5000 years ago.