A Priori

Haha, that is a fancy term used by scholars.

I am studying a long complicated book about Q, one of the sources of the New Testament Gospels. Mathew and Luke are derived from Mark and Q. Q and Mark are separate. I\’m up to page 94 of the analysis and maybe only  1/10th through the book.

I had to stop and ponder. About 8 years ago, when I last did serious scripture study, I had to decide that only about 20% of the Gospels have any source in Jesus; the rest being the agenda of the male priestly portion of humanity. This morning, I am again amazed about the volume of arguments from numerous scholars; and how impossible it is to discern what Jesus actually said and did or who he was.

More startling is that reading the analysis, I realized that mankind is based on some common suppositions (my synopsis):

• Mankind believes in God.
• Mankind believes it is bad/ sinful.
• Mankind believes in a Messiah/ Savior.

In these beliefs there is a tremendous amount of dogma. There is a mostly frightening rendition of an angry God. The beliefs plus dogma seem hopeless. It can\’t be that joining the Roman Catholic Church is your only out. Or even saying \”Jesus is Lord\” is your only out.

My interest in spirituality is for today, this life; not after I die or some other life. My interest is in spirituality today, conscious contact now. Evolution requires that humanity transcend these beliefs.

I think I need to return to the hermitage and just listen.

It is yet another hot humid day in Houston. I guess I\’ll go walk around Brummerhop Park, practicing to keep my mind silent.

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Re-wiring the Brain

It seems so incredibly easy, I don\’t know why I didn\’t think of it earlier (or read it in someone\’s book). I did this on a body worn out from running 5 hours on hills in the current 90+F heat. I think exhaustion is what made my body so comfortable on the operating table (haha, my bed).

First, I took a nap. Waking up from the nap, I didn\’t feel my body as I moved not a muscle, just started meditating. I was meditating as per usual saying, \”my soul….my soul.\” Then I thought, \”Want to rewire your brain? Just use your mouse.\” And so I imagined using a mouse to pick up one end of a synapse and drop it somewhere else.\” It was cool.

I have beliefs which I know are not true; yet they still affect me emotionally. Being a mindful person, I see when these wrong beliefs are active, but I can\’t help myself feeling their emotions of fear and self denigration. So, I can now re-connect the synapse on-the-spot (don\’t need a special environment, just do it).