--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote:
> Or rather than "weeding them out," one could > understand them differently. Thanks, that is pretty much my point. In fact in some cases you 'must' understand them differently to still remain in that Religion, but then the question arises are you 'really' still in that Religion. Contemporary Religions are full of misunderstandings and downright nonsense, we all know that! > "Repent," for example, is the term used in English > translations of the Gospels for the Greek word > "metanoia." But going back to the Greek, it turns > out that "metanoia" can also be understood to mean > "transcend" (beyond-mind). > > So John the Baptist may have been crying in the > wilderness, "Transcend! For the kingdom of heaven > is at hand." > > Jesus is recorded as having said, in the Sermon > on the Mount, "Be perfect, as your Father in > heaven is perfect." We think of this as an > impossible demand. Jesus must have meant that we > should *strive* to be perfect, knowing that we > could never achieve perfection. > > But again, the Greek word translated "perfect" can > also mean "whole," "complete." > > In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, "Be > without the three gunas, freed from duality, ever > firm in purity, independent of possessions, > possessed of the Self" (MMY's translation). > > MMY has interpreted "Be without the three gunas" > to mean, "Transcend!" > > Could that also be the meaning of "Be complete, as > your Father in heaven is complete"? Freed from > duality, possessed of the Self? Was Jesus telling > us to transcend? > > In an interview with PBS's Bill Moyers, scholar > of religion (and winner of the 2008 TED Prize) > Karen Armstrong had this to say about > interpreting scripture: > > "In the pre-modern world, what you see are the > early Christian and Jewish commentators saying > you must find new meaning in the Bible. And the > rabbis would change the words of scripture to > make a point to their pupils. Origen, the great > second or third century Greek commentator on the > Bible, said that it is absolutely impossible to > take these texts literally. You simply cannot do > so. And he said, 'God has put these sort of > conundrums and paradoxes in so that we are forced > to seek a deeper meaning.' > > "And the Koran is the same. The Koran says every > single one of its verses is an ayah, a symbol or > a parable. Because you can only talk about God > analogically, in terms of signs and symbols.... > > "The three monotheisms, Judaism, Christianity, > and Islam, they have besetting problem, a > besetting tendency. That is idolatry. Taking a > human idea, a human idea of God, a human doctrine > and making it absolute. Putting it in the place > of God." > > http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/03132009/watch.html > > http://tinyurl.com/az3ue7 > > The whole interview is worth watching; there's > also a transcript. >
