Comments on A wayfarer’s notes: Getting unblocked

Siegfried, Charles, Jim: thank you--and all reader...

2008-05-17T11:28:00.000+01:00

Siegfried, Charles, Jim: thank you--and all readers--so much for enhancing this space with your comments. They add so much. they speak for themselves.

Vincent, as usual, much to discuss and a good disc...

2008-05-17T07:33:00.000+01:00

Vincent, as usual, much to discuss and a good discussion going on. I read and wrote the following comment offline, here it is, then I want to add a few words in light of these comments, hope no one minds....

Vincent, given the help of your thoughts, seems to me that all religion is Oriental, and amounts to the systemization of that Nature you love to walk and be in freely without

I have been absent from blogs, forums and such for...

2008-05-13T22:51:00.000+01:00

I have been absent from blogs, forums and such for a little while as I have been occupied with the business of family and making ends meet.

But just finished reading through this and I thought I'd offer some thoughts.

I find words like "religion" and "spirituality" have been harnessed, and broken by those that would have you adopt their beliefs.

Your piece attempts to

I trust myself very much. Eventho I can be very un...

2008-05-13T21:20:00.000+01:00

I trust myself very much. Eventho I can be very unpredictable. I'm quite safe and non-violent. Well, fear can sometimes make us lose control. Especially fear of losing control. Or fear of judgement, social, religious, and spiritual.
I treat her as a daughter since I'm too old for her. We pretend to be lovers anyway. Just to satisfy our neediness from time to time. Online that is.
I found

Aren't these two things more or less the same? Moc...

2008-05-13T14:46:00.000+01:00

Aren't these two things more or less the same? Mocking God and mocking the way people view God. After all the higher power is beyond the reach of being mocked, surely.

I'm not so sure that he mocked God so much as he m...

2008-05-13T13:52:00.000+01:00

I'm not so sure that he mocked God so much as he mocked the sophomoric way in which many people tend to view, cling to, or proclaim God. Regardless, you have a new front-page post, so I'll move on with you.

Tim, well, I brought up another title from the sam...

2008-05-13T06:15:00.000+01:00

Tim, well, I brought up another title from the same author, Douglas Adams (for the benefit of other readers who might not have made the connection).

Yes, Douglas had no religion and mocked God a bit, but that hasn't dampened the affection in which is readers held him, regardless of their beliefs.

Siegfried, thanks for your input. I just noticed y...

2008-05-13T06:12:00.000+01:00

Siegfried, thanks for your input. I just noticed your blogs - had got out of touch with them. I notice you are not opening them to comments!

I wouldn't use shock and awe to wake people up in any sense, or pretend to be a Zen Master. I would basically do what comes naturally at the time. I see there is a contradiction in that, for I cannot predict what I might do!

Your young

Completely unrelated, but you brought it up, Vince...

2008-05-13T06:02:00.000+01:00

Completely unrelated, but you brought it up, Vincent:

I love that old show (and the book better). "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

Paul, yes, religion must surely be broad enough to...

2008-05-13T05:58:00.000+01:00

Paul, yes, religion must surely be broad enough to include everything, if it is not to be a hobby. In fact I would say that a religion which is not everything to its adherent is an abomination that stinks in the nostrils of the Lord.

As I was remarking to Scot above, I considered that the only way to write about religion was to write about "my religion"; in which case it would be

Scot, indeed! I like to think that thanking comes ...

2008-05-13T05:54:00.000+01:00

Scot, indeed! I like to think that thanking comes before God. I can thank you, and if not i can thank God. Thank god for Scot!

God is often the x in an algebra of understanding Life, The Universe, and Everything; with Dawkins saying "You don't need the x, and others saying "You do need it."

Brad4d, I wanted to write about religion only in a...

2008-05-13T05:51:00.000+01:00

Brad4d, I wanted to write about religion only in a totally positive way - as I recalled it being respected in my childhood. The only way to do that was to take a personal positive view - and make a principle of that!

Also I have not here made the common distinction between religion and spirituality. In fact I have not referred to Spirit at all, as if it were merely a "belief". I know it

William Blake made me aware of paradox to apprecia...

2008-05-12T18:44:00.000+01:00

William Blake made me aware of paradox to appreciate more. "Religions are supplements for those who don't get enough spirituality in their everyday diet, but don't get me wrong, I've had many supplements already today!" That "bradism" came from dad saying, "don't let religion get in the way of spirituality."
Your three rules show that religion can be a personal belief, but the ability for

thank God for religion... :)

2008-05-12T11:30:00.000+01:00

thank God for religion... :)

As your post suggests, "religion" covers such a br...

2008-05-11T22:51:00.000+01:00

As your post suggests, "religion" covers such a broad territory that as I read I found myself wondering what ties it all together.

My first reaction is to think: not much! The word "religion" includes reference to things as contradictory as responding to nature with tremendous peace and tranquility and launching crusades.

I am a product of dogmatic and strict religious Ch...

2008-05-11T08:51:00.000+01:00

I am a product of dogmatic and strict religious Christian upbringing thru British and American missionaries. I was a member of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship that teaches and preaches John Stott's Basic Christianity and C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity. And that practices excommunication of worldly Christians. The indoctrination and experience led me to seek higher and deeper superspirituality.

My young protegee don't suffer from this thing cal...

2008-05-11T06:09:00.000+01:00

My young protegee don't suffer from this thing called writer's block. She can write short but excellent pieces everyday. It amazes me. She writes for AD, a local newspaper from time to time. And she writes in English. She's 17.
Perhaps my advice not to jabber won't do her any good.

Sometimes you have to use "shock and awe" to wake ...

2008-05-11T06:05:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you have to use "shock and awe" to wake people up. But you shouldn't overdo it. You could end up pretending you are a zenmaster. And end up beating people up.
To do this you have to have faith. In what you are doing.

"Well-pondered" was Ghetufool's expression initial...

2008-05-10T20:15:00.000+01:00

"Well-pondered" was Ghetufool's expression initially. I found it possible to agree with him in that the content was the result of many decades. Also I have spent the last few weeks trying to write something that would unblock my writing.

But I said it was crude. It was a set of notes put together somehow, spontaneously, for I'm not trying to make it rational or conform to any direction.

It's interesting that you describe this as well po...

2008-05-10T19:05:00.000+01:00

It's interesting that you describe this as well pondered over because when I read this, I felt as though you were all over the place - with no real direction. Then, it could be, from your description, that you feel your religious nature is this way: scattered, and without particulars.

Not to say this is incorrect or unhealthy - I feel much the same way about my own spirituality. It has

It was certainly well pondered over. In fact when ...

2008-05-09T21:02:00.000+01:00

It was certainly well pondered over. In fact when you came and read it, I was still pondering it, and editing the text!

I have learned not to take the sacred literatures too seriously. They are clumsy attempts to tell us to follow a certain path.

I respect the literatures in a ritualistic way, for example the Bible. I feel it is sacred not for its content but for the devotion of

it's not crude. instead, i found it pretty balance...

2008-05-09T20:54:00.000+01:00

it's not crude. instead, i found it pretty balanced and well pondered over writing.

i love to consider myself a religious man but when Gods, through the sacred literatures, demands that i should not love anything and anybody except Him, for He is the creator, a certain sense of revolt engulfs me.

at one hand my religion preaches me to be free as a bird, on the other it tells