His Holiness the Dalai Lama Expresses Joy at the Sanctification of Mother Teresa

Dharamsala, HP, India, 5 August 2016 - Writing to the Mother Superior of the Missionaries of Charity, the Order founder by Mother Teresa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama expressed delight that His Holiness the Pope yesterday proclaimed Mother Teresa a Saint. He wrote:

“I rejoice at this recognition as an admirer of her dedicated service to humanity, particularly the way she cared for the poorest of the poor. I join you in celebrating her extraordinary life.

“Meeting Mother Teresa it was clear she was an exemplary person. I was reminded of this when I made a special visit to the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata last year to pay tribute to her and the Sisters’ work. She revealed the true practice of love in her charitable activities. Although she is no longer physically with us, her spirit lives on in the work you all do.”

In conclusion he took the opportunity also to express his abiding respect for the humanitarian service of the Missionaries of Charity, praying that it may continue as long as there are poor among us who need help.

original link and photo: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1446-his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-expresses-joy-at-the-sanctification-of-mother-teresa

Will the Real Carl Jung Please Stand Up?

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

Last time we looked at the two competing worldviews of today, and throughout human history—Oneism (monism) and Twoism (biblical theism). How did Christianity (Twoism) begin to lose its influence? There are different ways of answering that question depending on how far back one wishes to go. I want to focus on recent developments.

There is a flow to human history, and cultures like ours don’t just emerge from nowhere, nor do they remain static. During the 20th century secular humanism was seen as the arch-enemy of biblical Christianity. However, recently even non-Christian scholars are saying (even celebrating) that we now live in a post-secular culture, as well as the rebirth of ancient paganism. Indeed there is a wedding of the ‘New” science with spirituality (Eastern). In order to understand the changing direction of our society we need to meet Swiss psychologist, Carl Gustov  Jung, the creator of transpersonal  psychology.  He and his followers have had, and continue to have, a huge influence in the reshaping of Western Civilization. Many see Jung as the father of the New Age movement, which may come as a shock to some of you, but it is why I am focusing on him.
Carl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who foundedanalytical psychology. His work has been influential not only in psychiatry but also in philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, literature, and religious studies. He was a prolific writer, though many of his works were not published until after his death.

The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development. [37]

Individuation is a process of transformation whereby the personal and collective unconscious is brought into consciousness (by means of dreams, active imagination or free associationto take some examples) to be assimilated into the whole personality.

Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and extraversion and introversion.(Wikpedia).

It was Jung who coined the terms “introvert’ and ‘extrovert’, and the Meyers-Briggs personality type indicator was developed from his theories. As we’ll see, Jung’s introduction to Indian religion profoundly affected him, and in turn, his views trickled down to have an all pervasive impact on pop culture, across the board. Jung was an associate of Freud, but early on, they had a parting of the ways. Freud had no use for spirituality, but Jung saw it as the key to psychological healing. But his spirituality was not Christianity. For example, the integrating of opposites (individuation) is occultic, as we shall see.

For many people their early years are truly formative, and Jung was no exception. Though his father was a Lutheran pastor, it seems it was liberal formalism, and it was a turn off to Jung. His paternal grandfather was Grand Master of the Swiss Order of Freemasons, and his maternal grandfather was an occultist and spiritualist. His maternal grandmother was a seer who communicated with the spirits of the dead (demons) and gave prophecies. Carl’s mother was a medium who spent long periods enraptured with the spirits that visited her at night. For many years Jung attended séances with his mother and two cousins. Demonic influence came early and heavy.

Will the real Carl Jung please stand up? As we shall see there was much more to Jung than scientific theories and personality types.  Richard Noll, a psychologist and history of science professor at Harvard, dropped a bombshell on the academic community. The Jung Cult: Origins of a Charismatic Movement and The Aryan Christ: the Secret Life of Carl Jung stated thus: “This 20th century mask (of scientific research) was constructed deliberately, and somewhat deceptively, by Jung to make his own magical, polytheist, pagan worldview more palatable to a secularized world conditioned to respect only those ideas that seem to have a scientific air to them.” Makes sense given his background.

Noll was vindicated with the publication of the Red Book fifty years after Jung’s death. In this volume Jung explains what he went through after his spit with Freud. During this time he experienced ‘psychotic fantasies’ and ‘numerous paranormal phenomena’. He became immersed in the world of the dead. In the Red Book, Jung gives details of what he called ‘numinous experiences’, which included his relationship with a spirit-guide named Philemon, whom he described as a pagan old man with the horns of a bull and the wings of a bird. As Jung began to have many paranormal experiences, Philemon introduced him to Abraxas, the devil-god of Gnosticism. Philemon referred to Jung as Christ. The demonic nature of Jung’s life and work is sadly indisputable. For a long time I thought Abraxas was simply the name of one of Carlos Santana’s albums!! lol

He further admits the significance of his paranormal experiences with the spirit world from 1914-1930 when he “..pursued…with the help of alchemy….the inner images…that threatened to break me.”

Everything he wrote after these experiences was , as he put it, the ‘outer classification’ of them. In other words, all of Jung’s complex theories and voluminous writings, were a series of ‘footnotes’ to his early and direct experiences with the spirit realm (the demonic).Near the end of his life Jung said, “We can no longer practice any psychology that ignores the existence of parapsychology (paranormal phenomena).” (pg 58, The Undiscovered Self).

Jung was involved with what has been called “depth psychology”. As Christians, we must realize that there is a deep depth to human nature. So, in this sense Jung was helpful.

As Dr Peter Jones says, “For Jung, the future of psychology lay in the development of paranormal spiritualism. This becomes evident in the Red Book…” (The Other Worldview, pg. 33) Transpersonal psychology was based on Jung’s own experience of the paranormal and on newly rediscovered pagan  traditions and symbolism/myths. His original doctoral dissertation was titled, “On the Psychology and Pathology of So-Called Occult Phenomena”.

Last time we noted that at the heart of the occult/Oneist worldview is the blurring or combining of creational distinctions. Oneist gives it away does it not? All is ONE….monism, dressed in western garb. Individuation, or the blurring of creational distinctions, was at the heart of Jung’s thought and he learned this concept from studying Eastern religions. We see that this modern mania to mock/erase God’s distinctions within His good creation, got its impetus from Jung. I saw the TV premier of Bruce Jenner’s outing, which was followed by a short-lived series. It saddens me to see how influential this man is becoming in further popularizing this notion of ‘individuation’.

The Collective Unconscious…. "there does seem to be a basic ambiguity in Jung's various descriptions of the Collective Unconscious. Sometimes he seems to regard the predisposition to experience certain images as understandable in terms of some genetic model" [75] – as with the collective arm. However, Jung was "also at pains to stress the numinous quality of these experiences, and there can be no doubt that he was attracted to the idea that the archetypes afford evidence of some communion with some divine or world mind' (accent added), and perhaps 'his popularity as a thinker derives precisely from this" The collective unconscious included the psychic memories of individuals of the past…leading way back. “ (Wikipedia)  The statement regarding his popularity due to this concept is an understatement!

It is difficult to exaggerate how significant this notion of accessing or communing with the collective unconscious --universe/divine/world mind has become in New Age circles today. The Star War series resonates with this notion of ‘the force’, as do many other movies , TV shows, games, ect  It has become deeply ensconced in our culture.

STOP…and REFLECT---the modern view of psychological health is based in large part on a pagan worldview on how the world and humans work!  The individuation he spoke of was clearly a Oneist worldview, which we spoke of last week. Jung was a prophet of a Oneist  worldview, where all is god, and god is all. All creational distinctions (good/bad, male/female, etc.) were joined together in his system, in order to achieve maximum psychic health.

What is the legacy of Jung? His ideas have infiltrated every aspect of culture. His psychological model described healthy human behavior as connection with one’s subconscious and with archetypes. Sexual and spiritual liberation were essential for the therapeutic health of the subconscious and being re-united with the divine. His psycho-spiritual model of healing had enormous influence, inside and outside the church. Many mainline denominations saw Jung as therapeutic ‘savior’ from the atheistic Freud. Pastoral care givers were affected and there was a flood of pastors becoming Jungian analysts.

Wealthy families like the Rockefellers, the McCormick’s, and the Mellon’s financially supported Jung’s vision, and were clients themselves. This helped to popularize Jung’s theories. Speaking of his theories, this is a blog, and not an academic paper, on Jung. I didn’t have time to elaborate on his all his major theories. However, all that is said in this blog comes from sources well documented (e.g. P. Jone’s book).

Jung provided a spiritual and therapeutic mechanism for the individual’s subconscious to be liberated from the ethical demands of holy living and the pain of guilt. Ethics were relativized and personal desire became the basis for psychological healing and human maturity. In a justification of an extra-marital affair with a young student, Jung wrote, “Nothing matters but the completion of the self.” Jung died in 1961 but his verbiage became the motto for the sexual revolution of the 1960’s—‘If it feels good, then do it.”

Jung’s therapy caught on, and today, the subconscious trumps every other authority or truth, including (and especially) the bible. Discovery of the inner self has become a national passion, leading to unprecedented narcissism. Being in tune with the Universe as well as consciousness raising has become ubiquitous in a thousand different New Age flavors….all tracing back to Jung….who was inspired by the ancient ‘perennial philosophy” or pagan/occult worldview.

Take a moment to think of several New Age theories or practices—everything from ascension to yoga-and one can hear the terms and categories Jung introduced into Western culture. I can think of no modern thinker who did more to derail our cultural train off its biblical tracks than Carl Jung. His influence is found virtually everywhere….even in the church.

Lest I be misunderstood, I affirm the value of much psychology/psychiatry. We need Christians in these fields to ‘bring every thought captive to Christ.”  Christians can bring a true/realistic view of human nature to the discussion, as well as a full-orbed approach to psychological healing based on the finished work of Christ on the cross, plus nothing. And we bring a knowledge of the Fall, which brought in its wake (among other disconnects) man’s separation from himself…beginning of psychological problems. The bible is not an exhaustive handbook on psychology, so there are many useful things we can learn from this field.

The New Age has matured and wears many, many different masks. However, if you look at the common motifs in each, one will see the categories and methodology of Carl Jung—and the Oneist worldview he championed. Much more could be said regarding perhaps the most influential thinker from the 20th century up till today. However, for anyone who wants to understand how we got to the horrible place we are currently at, and how to sensitively speak the unchanging truth with courage and effectiveness to our generation, then one needs to let the real Carl Jung to stand up….and be challenged.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.  

Dalai Lama on the Importance of Education

From his speech in Dharamsala to a large gathering of followers from Tibet on Mar 27, 2006, the Dalai Lama warns of extreme dangers facing the survival of the Tibetan identity while emphasizing that modern education is indispensable for sustaining the Tibetan Buddhist culture and ethnicity in these most difficult circumstances in Tibet's history.

I always keep saying that the broad masses of the Tibetans in Tibet are the real masters of the Tibetan destiny, and that the about one and half hundred-thousand Tibetans in exile here only represent them for accomplishing the truth of the Tibetan cause, acting as their free spokespersons and symbolic representatives.

So far the broad masses of the public in Tibet have remained in a distressed state as a result of the deprivation of their freedoms. Nevertheless, even when faced with dangers to their lives, they have, in every respect, remained steadfast in upholding the higher cause of their ethnicity and the common faith in their future prospects, keeping in mind their rights as a people. It is for these reasons that we have an audience on the world stage to whom we can speak about the tragedy and well being of Tibet, and what we say are received with respect as true. The principal asset for our credibility on the world stage is the people back in Tibet, their dedication to the common cause, indefatigable courage, and steadfast stand. It is because of these that the truth of our position stands proven. We therefore owe gratitude to the people in Tibet for their genuine dedication to the common cause and unassailable commitment to the common faith that binds them with us. I regularly say thank you to the broad masses of the people in Tibet through those who come here and I felt an urge to say it again today.

In future, too, the question whether in this world a unique people called the inhabitants of the Snowland of Tibet, and the profound culture and religion connected with them, would survive and thrive depends mainly on the people living in Tibet. Thinking from the opposite end, it is not impossible that the situation of the Tibetan people in Tibet will take such a tragic turn that they will become a minority in their own land. In such a situation, if those in Tibet fail to uphold the common aspiration of the Tibetan race, it will be extremely difficult for us in exile to be able to maintain the Tibetan ethnic identity and to carry out things like keeping, defending and spreading the Tibetan religion and culture beyond some generations. Things will be just all right during my generation in exile. After that, there will be another generation. It is possible that the situation will be fairly all right during their time. But it is impossible to say whether beyond that generation the situation will be good or bad. Extreme dangers lurk us in our future. The essential point is that the people living in Tibet are extremely important. In view of this, what is most important is that everyone should act with diligence, without any loss of determination.

One of the main ways of being diligent is to pay particular attention to the pursuit of knowledge. The world is undergoing an enormous transformation today. Even in the communist ruled countries, knowledge is considered important. Previously, during the Cultural Revolution, it was as if knowledge had lost all respect and value. But today, in the case of China, the situation is nothing like in the 1960s. Reports have also been emerging that even North Korea has, for example, been compelled to give importance to the value of modern knowledge. So, when I say that we should make efforts without loss of courage, the essence of it is that we must bring emphasis particularly on education.

Our freedom campaign is based on non-violence. Following the path of non-violence is the business capital and pride of our campaign. If we do not have truth on our side, we will have no alternative but to keep suffering. Having truth on one's side gives one the pride to be transparent about everything and to speak reason in a face-to-face exchange. It is on the basis of knowledge that truth must be vindicated by non-violent means. There is no way this task can be accomplished by just an act of taking a solemn oath.

In the area of modern knowledge, Tibetans have lagged extremely behind. Not only was the imperative for it not felt from the very beginning, there has also been no deliberately established system for pursuing it. His Holiness the 13th Dalai Lama visited China in 1907, 1908, etc., and India during the period of 1910-1911 and witnessed many things about the outside world. As a result, from 1915 to 1920, he made such sound beginnings as sending some Tibetan students to countries like England with plans to have them study English and to acquire related modern mechanical skills and knowledge. However, he did not succeed in continuing these. These are matters of extreme regret. Anyway, although the 13th Dalai Lama had a broad vision for reforms, there were many internal and external elements and obstacles that rendered his efforts fruitless.

In 1960, the year after we arrived in exile in India in April 1959, we were able to speedily set up our first school in Mussoorie. Considerable effort was made to set up schools to give opportunities for modern education to the Tibetans in exile. In particular, in the early 1960s, many initiatives were taken to give more importance to setting up schools than monasteries in the Tibetan community in exile. The main reason why we especially devoted more attention to setting up schools was because it was extremely obvious that one cause of the miserable situation in which the Tibetan race found itself in was attributable to our major failure of being up to the standard in the field of modern knowledge. This resulted in our inability to set out strategies as a people at par with the rest of the world; it exposed us as too backward to be able to meet the challenges of modern times. It was in view of this that we considered setting up schools to be more important than building religious centres.

The public back in Tibet too should draw lessons from this and consider paying attention to the pursuit of modern knowledge as extremely important. In Tibet today there is a big problem in this area, including the fact that one has to pay high fees for educating one's children. Nevertheless, undaunted by both the internal and external hardships, they continue to send their children to schools, whether they are being run by the Chinese government or by private Tibetans. Everywhere in Dotoe, Domey and U-Tsang, Tibetans in large numbers are emerging, putting in their best efforts and bringing out whatever capabilities they have in the field of learning. To them all I express rejoice and offer praise for efforts well made. Whatever be the case, making efforts in the field of education is highly important.

In the case of schools in Tibet set up by the Chinese, it would be extremely narrow-minded to show disdain for them by such actions as not sending one's children to study there. Schools, even if set up by the Chinese government, are good. In order to ensure good standard of the teaching of Tibetan and other subjects in them, it should be possible to discuss the matter with concerned persons and entities. Whatever be the case, all Tibetans should make efforts in every possible way.

There are many aspects of modern education. They include science, law, economics, environment, etc. Nevertheless, the Tibetan language has not progressed in these numerous subjects. In India, efforts are being made to teach the Tibetan children all the subjects in Tibetan language from Grade I onwards. But, leave alone Tibetans, even the Indians find it most difficult to gain expertise in specialised modern subjects without pursuing it in English. In Tibet too, one has no choice but to rely on Chinese language to gain expertise in a specialised field of modern knowledge. Whether for becoming a professional or an expert researcher, in the different fields of modern knowledge in Tibet today, it is extremely important to use the Chinese language to achieve the required specialisations.

We are today struggling for a meaningful autonomy for Tibet. But in order to achieve an appropriate standard of it, our own people should be able to fully take responsibility in every possible area of undertaking related to it and to be able to produce results. There is no way merely engaging in debates will be sufficient. We ourselves must be able to argue for and administer the autonomy. The essence of this is that we must be able to do our own work by ourselves. In order to achieve both internal and external progresses appropriate for modern times, having modern education is extremely important. The reality of the situation in Tibet today is such that one has no choice but to rely on Chinese language if one is to become modern educated.

One thing that comes to my mind is this: Suppose there are a hundred Tibetan students. Seventy or eighty such students could study Tibetan language as their main subject and achieve excellence in projecting one's national identity and in preserving our cultural heritage. Twenty or thirty such students could study Chinese language as their main subject and make efforts to achieve professional qualifications in modern specialised subjects. I feel this to be important, do you understand?

orriginal link: http://www.dalailama.com/messages/tibet/importance-of-education

The Dangers of Automatic Writing

These activities are very dangerous even if you have people with you so please don't misunderstand me. They are outright dangerous whether you have five or one hundred thousand people participating in these types of activities with you. I'm just simply writing about the hidden dangers of partaking in these activities on your own/alone. It is highly dangerous and almost guaranteed to gain you unwelcome friends and attachments.  Automatic writing seems to be a activity people are becoming more and more interested in. I say this due to the amount of emails I'm receiving on this subject by people seeking guidance and advice.

In my opinion these things are controlled by demons. The source doesn't come from God. The symbols on ouija boards are symbols straight from the occult. All this stuff has Satanic origins, and Satan fools people into thinking it's not coming from him. He is the father of lies. You simply can't believe one word these evil spirits have to say. It is very dangerous to be communicating with them to begin with. It now knows you. And God only knows how many other demons have picked up on your frequency as well.

I found the following information as a explanation of Automatic Writing. " it is the ability (which can be easily learned) to let entities from other planes of existence, send messages by possessing people and making there hands write/or type whatever they choose in order to get there message across to the living. Usually a skilled medium is recommended to be automatic writers rather than amateurs. The automatic writer may or may not know what spirit is using there body, and the spirit may or may not write in a language that the medium can understand. They are not known to draw things, only write. The handwriting from the spirit is completely different from the person been possessed by the spirit, and usually there are no punctuation marks or capitalization of letters."

I found another post/information doing online research on a random website. I don't agree with it but that is neither here nor there. I thought I'd add this so you have an idea of what people are being taught about this....."It has been known that some people who are automatic writers might not even know it, if these people sleep with a pen an paper at a desk etc. They may wake up with messages on there papers that they didn't even write. Some say that Jesus was a automatic writer but there are no texts found to claim this. Even though some may think automatic writing is good, it can be scary and dangerous because some entities are not always good. But on the other hand it could be cool, if you use these ability to help others make contact with loves ones. I am not a automatic writer but I have found some text from other sites about how you could learn to do it."

I found another post by somebody on a random websites seeking guidance from others who might understand her unique gift. I don't know if I would call it a gift but this is what the person posted:

Mirror
by Forrest » Sun May 18, 2014 10:23 am

"It's not something that happens all the time. But if I'm alone too long, or have too much time to think to myself, I tend to have full conversations with myself in the mirror, but only when people aren't watching. I've always kept in on the down low. Since I figured it was really abnormal. When I was younger, I gave the person talking a name, since she was different than me.

I also babble to myself like when I was a kid and spoke in tongues when I get thoughts in my head I want to have gone... when I'm on a bad tangent.

I also practice automatic writing, something that's completely separate from my logical self, I can go for hours, writing about nothing in particular, and it all comes naturally as if its from another person. When I was younger I would write in symbols, in an entire code I designed myself. When I read over it later, it really doesn't feel like me.

So I'm just wondering what people here have to say about that. I tend to come off as very normal to people on the outside, it's something I just do on once and awhile... I also depersonalize and disassociate when faced with stressful situations or topics I'd rather not discuss.

Just curious. It doesn't effect my overall life too badly, I'm just looking for opinions, whether right or wrong from people who have some experience with mental stuff . "

The following is an answer one of the other posters gave to her:
by Graveyard76 » Sun May 18, 2014 11:37 am

"I know people who experiment with this sort of thing regularly in the belief that they're in contact with spirits. It seems to be fairly harmless, and these people aren't obviously insane, but I can't help thinking they're getting towards dangerous territory.

What happens if you get 'orders' to do something harmful, and you take this stuff seriously?"

This activity is just like using a ouija board.  The following article I found very interesting.....     “The Ouija board is a vehicle which makes it easy for negative spirits and demonic forces to enter this plane of existence.” The Merrillville, Indiana clairvoyant cautioned that evil spirits or demonic forces often gain the trust of people experimenting with Ouija boards by answering several questions truthfully and providing predictions. “Once they have gained the trust of their victims, it is easy for the entity to move in and take over either by strongly influencing that person, or by outright possession,” she said. People who are untrained and unsophisticated in the field of the paranormal and supernatural should never play with devices such as the Ouija board, according to the clairvoyant.>>> http://www.ghostresearch.org/articles/ouija.html


Written By Jennjfer L Auld

Two Conflicting Worldviews—Oneism vs. Twoism

By Reverend Mark Hunnemann

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)….biblical worldview

“In the beginning was the universe/energy/consciousness…”    “In the beginning the universe created the universe.” The OTHER worldview…….the pagan worldview.

 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.(Romans 1:20-23)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)

Many people don’t realize that America has experienced a Second Revolution, beginning in the 1960’s. It was similar to the French Revolution it that its goal was to bring radical change to the forms, structures, values, and ethics of the status quo. It had to destroy before ushering in utopia. It is seeking to bring in a New Age with the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. However, the dawn of the New Age is now at its high noon. Though this revolution, in its inception, was relatively bloodless, its consequences have been brutally bloody. 60 million unborn children have died in this ‘enlightened’ age…and this is just the USA. And for the New Age worldview to succeed, Christianity has to be neutralized.

Neo-paganism has led to neo-barbarianism. We stand at the graveside of western civilization and we must weep and wake up! In order to speak the timeless truth of the gospel in a meaningful way in our changing culture, we need to understand what the underlying assumptions or worldview is of those around us.

 One of the reasons people seem to talk past each other when debating issues like: earthbound spirits, poltergeists, residual energy, abortion etc. Is that the underlying worldview is rarely addressed. Every person has a worldview which acts like spectacles through which they view all of reality. It affects how we think, how we act, and how we feel.If that is not discussed then we will unlikely persuade people on any deep level.

I want to begin a series which contrasts the two conflicting worldviews of today. Though it may appear reductionistic, this is a simple but accurate way of summarizing the only two worldviews that have existed since the dawn of time.(in my book I mention several worldviews, but they all can be boiled down to two, and just two).

Why is there something rather than nothing? And what is the nature of that something? Where did we come from? Colin Gunyon stated, “There are, probably, ultimately only two possible answers to the question of origins, and they recur at different places in all ages: (either) that the universe is the result of creation by a free personal agency, or that in some way or other it created itself. The two answers are not finally compatible, and require a choice, either between them or an attitude of agnostic refusal to decide.”

I want to gently ask—how can you live with yourself if you have not taken the time to understand why you are here? How can you expect to experience a meaningful life if you don’t care what the meaning of life is—its origin and its explanation?

For the sake of simplicity, Dr Peter Jones says that there are only two ultimate worldview explanations of origins—what he calls Oneism and Twoism. These are two mutually-contradictory ways to think about the world. Let me let Jones explain what these terms mean. I highly recommend this book by Dr Jones, a brilliant scholar who is an astute observer of what is happening in our culture. (see below)

Oneism—“sees the world as self-creating (or perpetually existing) and self-explanatory. Everything is made up of the same stuff, whether matter, spirit, or a mixture. There’s one kind of existence, which, in one way or another, we worship as divine (or of ultimate importance), even if that means worshipping ourselves. Though there is apparent differentiation and even hierarchy, all distinctions are, in principle, eliminated, and everything has the same worth. This is ‘homocosmology’, a worldview based on sameness. The classic term for this is ‘paganism’, worship of nature.” (pg. 12 The Other Worldview, Peter Jones)

In other words, there is ultimately only ONE reality…..creator and creation are compressed. Hence, Oneism. This false worldview takes on many different faces, but the bottom line is the same—ultimately, there is only one kind of ultimate reality.

Twoism—“The only other option is a world that is the free work of a personal, transcendent God, who creates ex nihilo (from nothing). In creating, God was not constrained by or dependent on any pre-existing conditions. There is nothing exactly like this in our human experience of creating; our creative acts are analogous to God’s. There is God, and there is everything that is not God—everything created and sustained by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This worldview celebrates otherness, distinctiveness. We only worship as divine the distinct, personal, triune Creator, who placed essential distinctions within creation. This is a ‘heterocosmology’, a worldview based on otherness and difference. This is often called ‘theism’. (pg.13) (Islam and Judaism are deficient attempts at Twoism, but ultimately are Oneist due to lack of Trinity)
 In other words, there are ultimately only two kinds of reality—The infinite/personal Creator, and His creation (visible and invisible)…..Twoism
 Phrases you may have heard that express Oneism
 I’m not religious, but spiritual (this has different meanings but I suggest that Christians not use this verbiage)
 Breaking or denying boundaries
 Breaking taboos
 Abolishing ‘either/or’ thinking
‘As above, so below’ (no distinction between divine and human)
Non-duality
Oneness—all is one
Enlightenment, chakra, it’s all relative, synchronicity with the Universe, raising energy/consciousness levels, affirming/afforming changes in reality, sending positive thoughts, innate human psychic powers etc, etc.

Whether implicitly or explicitly embraced, these two world views are antithetical….mutually exclusive. One is true and the other is false.  In the moral worldview of the bible knowledge is never ‘neutral’. That is why Paul calls one of these worldviews ‘the truth’ and the other worldview ‘the lie’ (Romans 1:25)

Oneism is the lie, and Twoism is the truth.

From the opening line in Genesis to Revelation (see above texts), the bible insists that there are two, and only two, kinds of reality…..the Creator, and everything else…the creation. But paganism merges the two into an idolatrous one.

 From time of gestation (mid sixties) to full birth (mid-nineties), a pagan Oneist worldview has virtually overrun and taken over our culture.  Pop culture (movies, TV shows, books/novels, spirituality, sexuality, ect.) has been both a cause and symptom of this Oneist juggernaut. For those who are sensitive, the amount of change that has occurred in the last 30 years has been staggering and heart-wrenching—nothing short of a second American Revolution…that has spread worldwide.

Secular humanism and pagan spirituality are both Oneist worldviews. For quite a while secular humanism was the dominant enemy of Christianity, but it is sputtering due to its lack of explanatory power and its consequences (two world wars). Ironically, our culture is not becoming less spiritual, but MORE spiritual…..but this spirituality is from hell. It denies the Creator (see Romans 1:18 ff) and deifies the creation.

We shall look at this in more detail in the coming weeks. But we must ask: is it over? Is it too late? The answer is not a nostalgic return to the 1950’s. We need a generation of spiritual warriors who are valiant for truth and are aware of this worldview shift…to bring the biblical worldview back and pray for revival/reformation.

 For now, my main goal was to make folks aware of the two competing worldviews.

 Next week we shall look at Carl Jung’s  massive contribution to this paradigm shift.

Mark Hunnemann is the author of Seeing Ghosts Through God's Eyes: A Worldview Analysis of Earthbound Spirits. It's also available in eBook format.  

A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life’

Leh, Ladakh, J&K, India, 18 & 19 August 2016 (from news reports) - Almost thirty thousand devotees thronged the Shiwatsel ground to attend teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama here today. Four days of teachings, with sessions in the mornings only, have been organized by the Ladakh Buddhist Association of Leh in collaboration with various volunteer organizations.

As a prelude to His Holiness’s teachings, monks and scholars from various monasteries participated in formal debates with each other, employing dialectical methods to explore the niceties of the doctrine.

Beginning his explanation of the 8th century CE Nalanda master Shantideva's ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life’ (Bodhicharyavatara; spyod-jug), His Holiness addressed the congregation on the importance of learning and understanding what the Buddhist scriptures actually teach. “Faith without understanding the essence of what the Buddha taught is merely maintaining tradition as a kind of social custom,” he advised.

“We are not gathered here to witness some sort of performance nor even just to hold a meeting together. We are here to explore the teachings of the Buddha. Therefore, if our endeavours are to be fruitful, both teacher and students must generate a pure motivation. Otherwise we’ll just be wasting our time.”

Under the harsh Ladakhi sun, the crowd, consisting of Ladakhis, Tibetans, Western devotees and tourists, listened to His Holiness call for harmony between all religious traditions. In discussing the benefits of the awakening mind of bodhichitta, he said it is this spirit of awakening, the aspiration to attain enlightenment to benefit all sentient being that motivates the Bodhisattva's way of life. The text he is teaching explains how to cultivate and sustain this altruistic aspiration. There are two aspects to the awakening mind—the aspiration, the wish to awaken and actually engaging in practices that lead to that awakening. These bodhisattva practices are commonly known as the Six Perfections and first among them is the perfection of generosity.

“Every sentient being, including animals, seeks happiness,” His Holiness remarked. “Therefore, showing others respect and trying to understand and help them solve their problems is a source of happiness."

“We have two enemies, the self-cherishing or self-centred mind and the misconception of self. Crucial to Buddhism in general, but especially the Nalanda tradition, is the need to use our intelligence and transform our emotions. This will be a far more effective source of happiness than resorting to the short term pleasures of drinking alcohol or taking recreational drugs.”

His Holiness highlighted the verse in the first chapter of ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ that describes sentient beings’ predicament:

Although seeking to avoid pain,

They run headlong into suffering.

They long for happiness, but foolishly

Destroy it, as if it were their enemy

The teachings will conclude on 20 August. The following day, 21 August, His Holiness will confer the empowerment of Avalokiteshvara—the Bodhisattva embodying compassion.

Continuing to teach Shantideva’s ‘A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ His Holiness the Dalai Lama today suggested:

“The more we practice altruism and help others, the more we will benefit ourselves. The resultant peace of mind helps us live longer, able to serve humanity longer.”

He recommended that devotees pray with a good motivation to live longer in order to have greater opportunity to practise the Buddhadharma, cultivate bodhichitta, and attain Buddhahood. He added:

“Right from childhood we are under the influence of destructive emotions. We have an instinct to harm others, to kill insects and so forth, due to our past karma and being habitually driven by negative attitudes.

“From the beginning, we are accustomed to being ignorant about reality and adopt a self-cherishing attitude. Now, due to encountering the teaching of the Buddha, we are awakening from the slumber of ignorance. Therefore, we should try to generate the awakening mind of bodhichitta. In the immediate short term it will bring us peace of mind and better health, while in the longer term it will ensure that we take a higher rebirth.”

As His Holiness came to the end of his explanation, hundreds of monks and members of the public, led by Ganden Tri Rinpoche and Ladakh Buddhist Association President Tsewang Thinles, performed ceremonial prayers for His Holiness’s long life and good health. On behalf of the entire people of Ladakh, Tsewang Thinles expressed thanks to His Holiness for coming and showering his blessings on them. He further requested His Holiness to visit Ladakh again and again in the future.

In his response His Holiness said,

“These prayers made with great faith and devotion will help me live longer, giving me the opportunity to work for the welfare of all sentient beings.”

On 21st August, the last day of the four days of public teachings, His Holiness conferred an Avalokiteshvara empowerment. In the preamble he encouraged Buddhists among his listeners to adopt a vegetarian diet and curtail their use of alcohol. He urged everyone to be more compassionate and sincere and to recognise that we are all brothers and sisters belonging to one human family.

original links with photos: http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1439-a-guide-to-the-bodhisattvas-way-of-life

http://www.dalailama.com/news/post/1440-guide-to-the-bodhisattvas-way-of-life-concluded

Kalamazoo Shooter Blames Satan For His Crimes

Hello everyone. I hope you had a great weekend and everyone you love is healthy. Here in Florida it's still very rainy been nothing but bad storms. Still knocking out power and Internet. !! Lol. But I'm thankful for no hurricanes so far. I'll take thunderstorms over a hurricane any day of the week. I hope everyone else didn't have to much trouble and no one was hurt. I know Louisiana unfortunately was hit with a bad storm of some kind and that can't be good after Hurricane Katrina. I think so far there have been seven fatalities. I'm still foggy on the details so this might be different. I'm just asking for prayers and good thoughts to be sent to the victims and families.

This is a example of a possible possession. No one knows for sure. The following information I found during research. A link to this will be attached at the end for people to read for themselves. The following information:

"The shooter went by the name Dalton. He also told investigators about the things he said to her on the day of the shootings. The police report adds that Dalton, on the day of the incident, had told his wife "he wouldn’t be able to return to work and that their children couldn’t go back to school. He also told her to watch the evening news, after which she would “understand everything." That is sick! This makes me sick. This man needs to see a psychiatrist for possible treatment and get assessed.Then go from there. They (the demonic) can mimic our loved ones and friends etc...Even can sound like anyone they want. But it could be legit mental illness.

According to Dalton, when he opened up the Uber app on Saturday, Feb 20, which he believed was the Eastern Star, popped up on the phone screen. He claimed that the symbol resembled the devil’s head and that he wasn’t in control of his body since that moment. An excerpt from the report provided more details.

“Dalton described the devil figure as a horned cow head or something like that and then it would give you an assignment and it would literally take over your whole body.”

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.com/2889630/jason-dalton-kalamazoo-shooter-uber-app-satanic-symbol/#mpMsbkRGR6xVV7y4.99

According to the associated press Dalton "said that since the minute he logged on tonight, he doesn't remember anything." He said the app "starts out that you have to follow the navigation, but it gets to the point where you don't have to drive at all, the car just goes."  He is saying that the devil possesses him, drives the car, and takes him to the destination on the log.  He said when the star turned black, it meant he could go as fast as he wanted.  Passengers in the car described a terrifying ride in which Dalton drove 80 mph, blew through traffic lights, passed into oncoming traffic, cut across the median, and sideswiped other cars. The black German Shepherd dog riding in the back was so frightened she cowered down in the floor. One passenger jumped out before reaching his destination in fear.

This is more of what I feared. We need God. We're living in the last days in my humble opinion. Satan is taking souls as many as possible. Now I'm not saying this man was possessed. I don't know I wasn't there so I can't begin to even speculate. He was probably just so doped up and over did it and hallucinations can happen. It could be legit mental illness of some kind. I just felt this needed to be shared. This is what's happening out there. Please pray and keep yourself spiritually protected. It's so important. We have a spiritual battle going on but we know how it ends. Nothing can overthrow God. Remember that.

 The enemy wants every body to turn on each other instead of everybody working together. And this is something I know from way too much experience dealing with it. At certain times these demons feed off chaos, anger, sadness, bitterness etc.... They just love that people are constantly opening doors without realizing it. Coming in and out of these graveyards and cemeteries doing EVP's and God knows what else. Some cemeteries due to some residual feelings of sadness, depression and just plain heart broken. But there are places everywhere people sneak into. They want to do what they see on tv. Halloween is coming soon and I beg people to stay away from these places. Plus spiders!! Yikes!!

Written By Jennifer L Auld