The man who was born blind

[davidmartin]

Originally Posted by sky123

Jots and tittles is indeed Poetic

So is Jots and זitties

Originally Posted by ketzer

I do not see Karma as crime or debt but more as error or misunderstanding. Life is a process of exploring our karmas (misunderstandings) and growing in knowledge, wisdom, and spirit. At human birth there is only the Id, as life goes on the Ego and Superego develop through the cycle of observation, evaluation, and judgement (of both the world and self). When we look at the world, we see it as we have created it within, based on the experiences and teachings we have known throughout our life (or lives). Before we can see truth as Jesus tries to teach it we must first clear out (or at least put to the side) the version of truth that life has created and stored within the mind. The metaphorically “blind from birth” cannot see the ego and human mind created truth and so can be more easily taught to see the truth that Jesus brings. Those who have “sight” already, must have it taken away before they can be taught to see again. When we are “born again”, we start fresh in spirit without all of our prior “knowledge” getting in the way of what Jesus is trying to show us. Our block is un-carved. We see Jesus making this point throughout the Gospels. One must learn to see past the “knowledge” one has already acquired in order to see and grasp his teachings clearly. Our “knowledge” often distorts or blocks how we see anything that does not conform to our present moment “truth” as we understand it. It becomes a beam in our eye that we don’t recognize as put there by ourselves and we scream at others about that beam out there not realizing it is not out there but within us.

ketzer,

I thought this an excellent post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I especially could resonate with your recognition that knowledge and/or mind can be such a hindrance to being able to see that which is new. In that respect, the mind can enslave us to strongly held beliefs and constitute a serious roadblock to our spiritual advancement/realization.

My only problem with your post was the very first sentence mentioning karma.....not a problem because I disagree,,,,but a problem because I am going thru mental gymnastics to reconcile to a Christian framework. One of the problems that I have with karma is the belief, as I understand it, that it passes thru to the next reincarnation. This presents a problem because most of the religions that believe in reincarnation believe that, based on one's moral quality, that one can reincarnate into something other than human....i.e. animals, etc. I find it hard to understand if an animal has the means to escape karma. Maybe someone with a fully developed understanding can shed some light on this.

Originally Posted by Molearner

ketzer,

I thought this an excellent post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I especially could resonate with your recognition that knowledge and/or mind can be such a hindrance to being able to see that which is new. In that respect, the mind can enslave us to strongly held beliefs and constitute a serious roadblock to our spiritual advancement/realization.

My only problem with your post was the very first sentence mentioning karma.....not a problem because I disagree,,,,but a problem because I am going thru mental gymnastics to reconcile to a Christian framework. One of the problems that I have with karma is the belief, as I understand it, that it passes thru to the next reincarnation. This presents a problem because most of the religions that believe in reincarnation believe that, based on one's moral quality, that one can reincarnate into something other than human....i.e. animals, etc. I find it hard to understand if an animal has the means to escape karma. Maybe someone with a fully developed understanding can shed some light on this.

I can see how trying to reconcile with certain Christian frameworks might be difficult. Personally, I am more a follower/student of Jesus and not so much a "Christian" as it is generally known so its not really an issue for me. Karma for me might be thought of as "weak-spots" in the growth and development of the soul as it moves toward realizing its potential as divinity. So the soul, in whatever experience/form in enters into seeks out situations that help it to grow in understanding in these areas. By understanding I don't necessarily mean the kind of understanding we gain through acquiring knowledge (although that does play a part), but also a deeper understanding that comes through the experiences of life. Perhaps for an animal, that knowledge of the mind acquired by humans as they go through life (that I talked about getting in the way in the previous post) is not such a barrier for experiencing things more directly. Free from the analysis and judgment of the human brain, a soul living as a dog, cat, or some other animal may be able to gain perspective and growth from experiences that we human's never could. I suppose its not really the traditional eastern view of the concept of reincarnation and karma, but it makes more sense to me.