Dear George,

Thank you for your kind remarks.

As there are so many ways to slice a melon, and as no words can describe the Reality of God, then perhaps rather than asking which description is the most accurate one, we should be asking which of the multitude of descriptions will benefit the listener most.

In classical/primitive/wild materialistic societies (or with people who still operate on this level), I would find it most beneficial from a religious point of view, to stress our common ground, our inter-relatedness, the need to care for each other, etc.

But in today's disempowered and spiritually-subdued western society, I find it best to stress our individuality, our personal responsibility for our welfare - materially and spiritually, independently of what others do around us.

Western society, for example, is poisoned by the idea of equality. Of course we are equal in essence: since there is nothing but God then we all equal Him, and of course we should be compassionate towards each other once we understand that the Other is like me, God!
As humans, however, we are in every aspect anything but equal, so the false idea of equality promotes a bland society based on the lowest common denominator, where the spiritually-advanced struggle to survive and the rest are left without guidance.

Again, should the scales ever tip and society becomes arrogant/machoist/physically-cruel yet again, then yet again I would speak of equality and oneness.

Dear Poirot,

"If we "are" God, why do we have to work as individuals on our spiritual progress?"

We don't have to!

Eventually, we tend to suffer enough and become sick and tired of our sufferings, so we want to progress. Knowing in theory that we are God is not comforting enough, we want the actual direct experience.

"If it's all beyond the material plane or rationalisation, why do we employ logic or read scriptures or take note of our experiences to form a conclusion? (as you say you do)"

To encourage us on our path!

"Progress to what or where?"

From darkness to light,
from ignorance to awareness,
from falsehood to truth,
from unconsciousness to consciousness,
from the unreal to the real,
from death to immortality,
from fear to trust,
from suspicion to love,
from suffering to non-suffering.

And why do you imagine that you "know"?

I don't.

Dear Squeers,

Perhaps I didn't explain the point about the Mexican villages properly. When people don't have material things - religion is often
what they turn to. I was looking at things as a
"Westerner" from the material point of view. To the villagers - they were proud of what they had achieved with the churches. That was more important to them then irrigating their villages. They felt that without their religion they had nothing at all - in this way they were able to point at something they believed in and had achieved. You may not agree with it - I didn't at that time - but as I said - I wasn't looking at things from their perspective. I was judging the people from my set of values - not theirs.

Lexi

Looking at the issue on a global basis, human culture has managed to destroy our environment as a result of the disassociation between human beings and the natural environment.

A self-sustaining system of irrigation ensuring water for crops and animals is something to be prouder of than a church. Our relationship with the material world has been disrupted by religion, Mexico is no different than many other countries in this respect.

cont'd ...

As one of the villagers tried to explain to me - "fill your mind with the meaningless stimuli of a world pre-occupied with meaningless things, and it will not be easy to feel peace in your heart."

It was only much later in life that I understood what he meant.

Many of us become seekres over the period of our lives. To be a seeker
implies that there is a road to be found. After several years of searching, many people find their roads, some kind of spiritual path.
At a ceretain point, the seeker becomes a pilgrim. We're no longer looking for the road, we're on the road. The pilgrimage is a process by which we change what we think and transform who we are. Prayer is the pilgrim's walking stick. I pray for the capacity to see the innocence and good in people. I pray to be a better person. I pray that the purpose of my life is to cause a better world . But I won't go on - because I don't want to make anyone cringe. It's a private matter - and I suppose should remain that way. I'm not trying to convert anyone - It simply works for me

Dear Ammonite,

The material world wasn't what concerned these people.
Rightly or wrongly - I didn't feel that I was in any
position to judge them. I was merely a visitor to their
world - and whatever judgements I made at that time
were extremely superficial ones. I would have had to
"walk in their shoes," for quite some time before I
could even begin to comprehend anything at all.