Spotting Spiritual Reality

Sadly, it's easier to spot fakes, charlatans and plain lame-o s than the real thing. Some people I know are hosting a spiritual type guy for a speaking/workshop thingy. I read the blurb about it, and it bothered me.

One big clue for me: He's charging significant $$$ per day. If any of that money goes to him, or to some 'charity' that is actually funding him, to support his lifestyle, that's a big warning bell.

There's an interesting connection between the few spiritual leaders I respect: Y'shua (Jesus), Gautama (called the Buddha), various lesser sages and leaders (Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Junior) etc:

They didn't charge money for helping people.

Consequently, some of them lived very frugal lives. Even Paul (an ex Jewish rabbi who wrote many of the letters in the Second Testament) insisted on working for his living wherever he went, even tho' he acknowledged he had a fair case to be hosted for free.

(Incidentally, Mohammed was always a businessman and later a warrior, and got rich off his first wife. No comment.)

So yeah. Having been around spiritual stuff for most of my life, I am thinking "X and Y, you are lovely people... how have you let yourselves become duped by this guy?"

As another friend pointed out, in practical terms it costs a bit to hire out the venue, but realistically, you can talk to people (which is essentially what he's doing) anywhere.

And that's my thought exactly. There are plenty of little halls and spaces that don't charge much at all. To be honest, why not host him in your living room? That's what the early christians did, they didn't have big, lush, pointless meeting places.

True spirituality doesn't require a beautiful, comfortable, catered conference centre to connect with g0d (or become enlightend, or whatever). Ironically, things like deserts, storms and poverty seem to do a better job. If one MUST have beauty, why not find a friendly farmer, hire a small marquee ($1000) and do it there?

An expensive workshop also means only true believers are likely to be there. This makes it safe for the speaker, because otherwise people like me might stand up and say "BULL****!" ;) But a spirituality that can't stand challenge maybe isn't worth the saffron robe it comes in.

I'm sure the guy is a nice guy. I just don't think he's really "got it". Just a gut feeling.


listenig to Mortal | MuJo (uncertainty mix)

Merry Crassmas / Canada The Warmonger

I've had a relaxing, lovely Christmas with my family which included exchanging presents (my son, of course getting the lion's share), playing cricket on the lawn, poker in the dining room, and much eating. Yum yum.

As usual, the adult presents were modest in line with our collective decision some years ago to avoid the hype and materialism of Crassmas. My personal favourite pressie was a Concise Oxford Dictionary (second hand) which I actually bought for myself. It feeds my writers' ego/lust. Cool word of the moment: pertinacious

Anyway, I thought after putting Lord of War in my top films for 2006 I would do some research to see if there's any investment in Hollywood studios by arms dealers. No results on that yet, but I did find some other fascinating - or disturbing - information.

Canada is a Warmonger

Now, I have several friends in Canada who i love dearly (hi guys), and I don't like pointing the finger at someone else's country. After all, there's enough wrong with my own to keep me busy ;-) Still, I was very surprised to discover that Canada - a country I perceived as 'nice' and 'peaceful' - is actually a major player in the global war industry.

This, from a much longer 2003 article by Paul Martin

CDIA [Canadian Defence Industries Association] figures show that Canadian 'defence' industry revenues grew 35% between 1998 and 2000, far outpacing growth of the rest of the economy, which grew at approximately 3%. Canada's 'defence' market grew from $3.7 billion in 1998 to $4.08 billion in 2000, up 22.6%. Exports to the USA grew by 17% from just under a billion to $1.25 billion. And our arms exports to the rest of the world grew a staggering 75% in the same period from $798 million to $1.5 billion.

Meet the Canada you never knew, the global arms dealer with a heart of gold.

Most Canadians don't know that much of the Canadian arms trade is guaranteed by the Canadian government through the Canadian Commercial Corporation (www.ccc.ca) and other government agencies. Our ignorance is the result of a total failure by the media to report basic facts about the Canadian arms economy.

The CCC, "Canada's export contracting agency" does more than $1.2 billion in business annually, approximately 70% of it weapons, weapons components and services to the Pentagon and NASA, just in case 'force must be used to resolve conflicts between states.' Making weapons is big business in this country. Canada's defence industry accounts for 650 firms, and 57,000 direct jobs, says the CCC, while the Canadian Defence Industries Association puts the figure at 1,559 firms. CDIA employment numbers roughly match those of the CCC. The Canadian defence industry sells about $5 billion dollars of goods and services per year, half of which are exported. Though weapons account for just over 1% of economic output, it is one of the most heavily subsidized and protected sectors of the Canadian economy. This reflects the political importance of arms, and their role as a bargaining chip in Canada US relations for the Canadian elite. It is also a reflection of the connection between militarism, imperialism and Canada's need to force weaker states to accept heavily subsidized Canadian exports.

It's worth reading the whole piece here http://paulmartintime.ca/mediacoverage/000008.html If you'd like another opinon, try this href="http://www.perc.ca/PEN/1995-10/s-bishop.html from 1995 about Canada's arms exports to Central America. And there's much more out there on the net just a few clicks of a search engine away.

According to this article in Wikipedia, Canada exported a greater value of arms in 2004 than either China or Israel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_trade#Top_Arms_Exporters

Not very Christmassy you might think? Think again. Y'shua of Nazareth, called the Christ, was born to a people oppressed in their own land which had been invaded by a global power some years before. This Middle Eastern province of an expanding empire harboured a lot of terrorist/resistance movements until long after Jesus' death some 33 years later. Shortly after his birth his parents were forced to flee with him after the government decided he was a political threat. He lived as a refugee in a neighbouring country for the first few years of his life. Less than forty years after his death the capital city would be razed to the ground in war and the diaspora begun.

So for all of us who wish for world peace at Christmas, perhaps we can start by calling our own goverments to account for their non-christlike war agendas. As the famous quote says, "Peace on earth to men and women on whom [God's] favour rests". (Luke 2:14 from the nude testament)

Shalom, peace to all, no matter what race, creed or religion.

xhile



listening to theme from The Phantom of the Opera ('cos the family are watching it on telly)