I just read (well, listened to the audio version of) the Shack. I won't spoil the plot line for you, (too much info on back cover and web sites) but I am going to discuss the premise. It's a "guy talks to God" novel, as self-described by the author(s.) (Plot is the story line and specific events, whereas the premise is the overall "arching" concept.) OK, once again this is an effort to personify God. A new, different way, but still God as a person (or people, in this case.)
I thought last year when Oprah introduced the world to Eckart Tolle and millions participated, we were moving on, away from "God as people." I thought the New Age had finally arrived. That humanity was accepting the concept of God within, not as an external, separate being. So, are the 6 or 7 million people reading the Shack agreeing with the concept or questioning it? Have YOU read it? Thoughts??
Now that I've finished it (as of 02.28.09) parts are better than I thought,with some pretty challenging concepts of What Is. Other parts are so ridiculous it's hard to keep going. But, on the audio version you get a bonus. An updated afterword now that millions of copies have sold, and a radio interview. My final thought is that for people who think of God as a white-haired old white man, it will definitely expand your view, and might be a bridge toward even more expansive versions of "god."
The positive side, for me, is clearly it's not too late to get my GodForce concept out. My Beyond the GodForce (c)1991 (officially registered and protected) addressed the personification of God. AKS dabbles in that, quite a bit, too.
Whether you embrace Tolle, the Tao, meditate and know that God is within; or believe old man God wrote the bible himself and is still "out there" someplace waiting to punish or reward you, go ahead and try "the Shack." (samples and info on the right side bar.)
And, please, COMMENT!! We don't discuss religion on WOW, but it's fair game here in Crypto land. Jump in! And, I thank Brother Bob for chiming in. He did read it.
5 comments:
The emerging field of evolutionary spirituality is not exactly overcrowded. Although interest in the connections between evolution and enlightenment has grown in recent years, there are still very few who have explored both the eternal verities of the spirit and the ever-changing structures of nature's unfolding design. That is why we were thrilled last fall to come across the work of Dr. Beatrice Bruteau. For the past fifty-odd years, Dr. Bruteau has been charting a unique path through the worlds of science, philosophy, mathematics, evolutionary theory, and mysticism, East and West. "It all began," she explained to us one afternoon from her office in North Carolina, "when I found a book on Ramakrishna at the Carnegie Public Library in Pittsburgh."
a Song that Goes on Singing
-- compliments of Brother Bob
We are getting to a place in our development as a species where projecting images of the Divine (Father/Mother figure in the sky, the great rewarder/punisher, tribal god, etc.) is no longer productive (and may never have been). But it is also clear to me that as a species, we are still pretty primitive spiritually - we can be judgmental, lustful, jealous, envious, nationalistic, hateful, greedy - and occasionally loving! I believe that we are slowly coming to realize that there is no "us and them," and that, as Jesus apparently put it, "How can you claim to love God, Whom you cannot see, when you don't love your neighbor, whom you can see?" The spiritual journey is therefore evolving from "How can I please Someone up there?" to "How can I find the indwelling potential to love ALL people as my brother or sister, regardless of culture, gender, gender preference, or faith or other belief system, or political views? Only then can I be true to my identity as a Child of the Divine." This opens the door, however slowly, to a true religious awakening, I believe. And I think this is what Paul referred to when he said in one of his letters, "Let the mind that was in Christ be in you." Of course, it has been in us all along! Let us always seek that place of love, wonder and oneness within us.
god is the universe and it (read we) has barely reached adolescence. don't negate the kid, praise him/her in the challenging search for maturity. the kid has to fail 20 times to succeed 5. lend a hand and share something if you happen upon any new and promising epiphanies.
BTW... paradigm shift happened six months ago. did you notice?
after seeing what had to happen to make that occur, i no longer HATE the bush-cheney factor (read catalyst). i'm at the point in my life where i just enjoy watching...
...watching, ducking, adjusting sails, learning and laughing at the bales of booty being washed overboard, striving to stay in control of my personal ship and opening a beer at the same time -- i'm having a damn fun time maneuvering around the planet... living in young dog mind... loving every minute.
woof, woof, woof! everyone's a lobo... woof, woof, woof!
don't worry... be barky ...licky
...and tail-waggy.
see you at the fence tomorrow?
can i smell your butt?
-polvo
Polvs, you are a wacky dude! I think I did catch the Shift, but no you cannot smell my... I'm taking AKS LIVE on the Kindle with Bezos! How's that for stream of consciousness at 2 am???
RE: Song that goes on Singing
At least she didn't use phrases like "evolutionary spirituality", at least not in the passages I read. The interviewer did.
Discussions of consciousness are tricky enough without confusing the concepts with spirituality. Many people seem to think about expanding consciousness as being a quantitative matter, as if more reading or more facts will do the job. And none of it has to do with spirituality. It's not a left brain function (which is more like a computer) really, though obviously one must avail of all aspects of the brain. As a left brain culture, we don't have many tools by which we can assimilate and evaluate those random and fortuitous forays into right brain 'thinking' unfortunately.
It's like a two dimensional being who gets an accidental glimpse into the third dimension. He has no cultural background or frames of reference from which he can begin to comprehend what he is seeing, never mind that he cannot remain in such a universe without becoming unhinged entirely back home where he lives. His fellows will probably put him in a padded cell if he remains there long enough to even really have the time to scrutinize what he sees. He won't have any words for it and he won't be able to discuss it with his fellows. He won't be able to maintain the perspective most likely, when he returns for lunch. And even if he clumsily attempts to string together words to very crudely describe what he saw, his words will sound empty and foolish, never mind having a chance of a snowball in hell that he'll be any match for the sophists with which he lives. We of course could describe things to him very effectively, but he won't be able to understand a single concept we use. One ape might as well explain to another ape how photography works to get them all to take up a new hobby, never mind that the first ape himself won't have a clue what he's talking about. The only thing he'll be able to do, maybe, and ever so slightly, and if he's very self-possessed and together, is to modify how he lives ever so slightly. Even that much would require the gift of great faith, which is something he must simply have because he'll never be able to talk himself into it, in order to withstand the great lonliness. If he has the least bit of insecurity, he may try to grab very crudely as many of those memories as he can and fashion something practical from them, which will necessarily be quite corrupt from the outset and fit very badly into his two dimensional world. Mostly, the best he could hope for would be a very dangerous result.
And not one iota of it will have anything to do with spirituality, no matter how strange and enriching his experience might have been.
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