Comments on The Peaceful Self.com: 'God' is a Warm, Cuddly Platitude

Barbara, "...the grace nature counts on.&quo...

2010-02-18T21:01:59.569-05:00

Barbara,

"...the grace nature counts on."

Good point. What outcome does nature expect?

Nada...

Maybe that is all grace is...surrendering all expectations and allowing a natural unfolding.

Thanks,
mikeS

Dr Sha, "It's not really that small of a...

2010-02-18T20:57:11.545-05:00

Dr Sha,

"It's not really that small of an error in one's psyche when you look at the whole picture."

Indeed. It may in fact be the whole psyche.

Thanks,
mikeS

Exactly.

2010-02-18T06:32:25.476-05:00

Exactly.

Hi Mike I think how you ended this article is oft...

2010-02-16T13:22:32.438-05:00

Hi Mike

I think how you ended this article is often the experience I find myself. Certainly, I'm not going to claim I haven't gone into relationship expecting x,y or z as an outcome. Conversely, the moments or interactions proving to be the most satisfying, maybe even at times profound, are the unstructured, uncontrolled, unexpected. Like you said, the grace nature counts on. If only I could remain in grace, what a lovely, way-out-there kind of dream that appears to be. Then sometimes exactly the opposite, maybe what's meant to be?

In the meantime, the time when dreams are only dreams, I count on the moments when they occur.

Barbara

Some people tend to go into their shells because o...

2010-02-16T12:13:05.607-05:00

Some people tend to go into their shells because of their lack of trust in society as a whole. This stems from as simple as the person who greets you when you go to the local grocer to the mail you receive from businesses when you arrive home. It's not really that small of an error in one's psyche when you look at the whole picture.

What??? Define "define"!

2010-02-15T13:03:55.820-05:00

What???

Define "define"!

Define serious!

2010-02-15T08:32:34.828-05:00

Define serious!

"Whatever you say Dude. Define "you"...

2010-02-15T06:58:15.701-05:00

"Whatever you say Dude. Define "you"!"

C'mon, you know!...a Dude.

Good grief, don't be gettin' all righteous on me, Suzanne.

Righteousness makes the game serious...

Are you a serious player?
mikeS

Whatever you say Dude. Define "you"!

2010-02-15T04:04:23.383-05:00

Whatever you say Dude. Define "you"!

"That control, as well, is out of "our&q...

2010-02-14T10:57:32.005-05:00

"That control, as well, is out of "our" control. There is no control, not even controlled controlling of control!"

Indeed! Which, culminates in demonstrating that you have always been in control (just in ways "you" may not be aware of)

Thanks!
mikeS

That control, as well, is out of "our" c...

2010-02-14T10:12:02.323-05:00

That control, as well, is out of "our" control. There is no control, not even controlled controlling of control!

Dearest No One, Please be assured, I would NEVER ...

2010-02-14T07:57:46.330-05:00

Dearest No One,

Please be assured, I would NEVER delete anything you post, so it must have been a glitch of some sort. Your brilliance is always appropriate....

"It seems to me that any idea of control is a complete illusion...on so, so many levels. The letting go, however, is not nearly as scary as people seem to think."

yes, but attempting to engage in non-controlling thought is still a form of control. Controlling the mind so as not to cling is a form of clinging in itself...
"Letting-go" demands a particular form of holding-on.

No?
mikeS

Hey Christine, "but rather to give it away a...

2010-02-14T07:50:59.584-05:00

Hey Christine,

"but rather to give it away as an act of relatedness - to make it an act of generosity... an attempt to use words to convey something that words describe... a pointer to experience...."

Indeed. No doubt I've used platitudes before and so this whole post makes me a hypocrite.
However, the pointers no longer seem valid and most are stripped of meaning.
In this post I attempted to suggest a new diction with the dialogue of relationship as the new "pointers."
Not sure what it would consist of, so that's why I merely suggest. However, I do believe, as you probably have guessed, that 'God' is found in the depth of relationship (and not any place else).

Thanks!
mikeS

"Is the infinite player who stands before all...

2010-02-14T07:43:58.037-05:00

"Is the infinite player who stands before all possibilities, essentially a breaker of the rule of inflicted barriers, then?"

Could be....I think the infinite player may simply increase awareness of the rules which act as barrier. Since most tend to play as if the rules were sacrosanct and unchangeable. I suppose the infinite player just demonstrates that the rules are not as impermeable as we might think.

Thanks,
mikeS

Hi Mike, I tried to post a comment earlier, either...

2010-02-14T04:56:53.825-05:00

Hi Mike, I tried to post a comment earlier, either it didn't "take" or you decided it was inappropriate! Assuming the former...

I thought "energy" and "oneness" WERE postmodern! ANYTHING but "lovingkindness".

I don't think Gaia has anything to worry about. She will survive, whether humanity does or not...and somehow, that is a comforting thought.

I love the whole premise of this post. It goes well with your one about honesty between people. We're afraid to offend anyone...which might mean rejection (of the ego)...which the ego hates! It needs that validation from the outside to comfort itself, which is all the surface interaction you talk about.

It seems to me that any idea of control is a complete illusion...on so, so many levels. The letting go, however, is not nearly as scary as people seem to think.

or perhaps something called God - is the naming of...

2010-02-12T21:00:21.967-05:00

or perhaps something called God - is the naming of that sense of depth - that cannot be explained at all well.... you know - the groans of the longing... and that are those who, when searching for words to describe experience will reluctantly use "oneness" or "universal" or "divine" (reluctantly because words do not contain experience and words are interpretted according to conditioned experience)... not because they are attempting to impress - but rather because there is a longing to share some heart felt experience - to make it NOT a testament to personal identity and importance or hidden personal agenda - but rather to give it away as an act of relatedness - to make it an act of generosity... an attempt to use words to convey something that words describe... a pointer to experience....

The thing with platitudes is that they reflect eit...

2010-02-12T13:32:44.444-05:00

The thing with platitudes is that they reflect either what is desired or projected from what already exists in the story. Fear is taken from what already exists (rewards and punishment)and given to the platitudes about God. Obviously, this comes from our earliest relationships...parental on up the ladder and how the script is replayed through their eyes and eventually through our own. This has been the destructiveness of reward and punishment theosophy throughout the ages and even though a collective may think (or strives)to free itself from hope and hell in a theosophical respect, it still plays out the story in daily existence. It almost becomes part of the genetic pool. We want the great eternal to tuck us in a night and pray it takes us home should we die in our very sleep. We want so badly to matter to something, but only on our own terms, dreams and wishes.

All that Nature is, is relationship, so yes, I would agree that it waits on the saving grace of humankind to deeply understand that. The New Age adherents speak of connectedness as only another platitude, yes, rather than an actual relationship (and all its terrible beauty of wilderness)in the deepest sense of the reality, or so I have witnessed the growing lackluster of saying it without seeming to comprehend that very reality or attempting to live/act/relate more fully in the actual relationship. Then again, what do I know.

Is the infinite player who stands before all possibilities, essentially a breaker of the rule of inflicted barriers, then? I don't know, but it would seem so.

Thoughtful post, Mike.