When it comes to forming a fantasy relationship: it's not hard! I remember practicing puja in my hotel room -- bottom half naked. I was rounding, and I would get up and do a puja and wouldn't bother getting dressed. Then, at some point, I just couldn't be naked in front of Guru Dev any more. My symbol got too real for me to ignore.
This seems to be a very common phenomenon in humans. Ask any 13 year old girl what she'd do if she met her favorite rock star -- squealing would be in order at the least, but truth be told, if she was at a pajama party with her friends and one of them talked about "meeting that rock star on a beach," the same squeals of delight will be sung at even the idea of the possibility of the notion of the perhapsness of it. Fantasies can be so instantly real. Right now, I'd squeal for a vast number of things. Anticipatory glee -- even if eventually unrequited -- packs a very nice punch. Tell me that I'm going to be a test driver for a Tesla http://tinyurl.com/n7ofw and watch me pogosticking around my room for half an hour. Take the keys from me later and say that you punked me, but one thing's for sure, I will have gotten 30 minutes of happiness out of the deal. (Happiness in this case is merely titillation, a brain buzz, not eternal happiness of course.) Here's a concept: if I were in deep financial doo doo, if I had a ton of creditors pounding on my door, and if many members of my family needed money for serious stuff like operations, bail, education, tools for life, etc., If all the above were true, what could INSTANTLY take away all my depression and anxiety? Yes, instantly. Well, first, all my bills would have to be paid, and my family's needs would have to be met, right? But, no, that's not the case!!!! If I win the lottery and have the yet-unredeemed-ticket in my hand, all my problems may still be there, but now they're solvable, and so the time needed to write out the checks, get the creditors off my back, finagle with my family about who needs how much when, all that can take its sweet time in manifesting, and I won't be embroiled in angst. I'm happy instantly and stay that way even though my problems still might take months to completely solve. This is why I thought Maharishi had the right to giggle when the world was so dark -- he had a winning ticket and could stand the thought that it would take decades to cash it in and get all the bills paid. Like this, it's not hard to accept Jesus into one's troubled heart -- and use that lottery ticket for instant happiness. Who can throw a stone at any person who dreams anything? Who can say another's dream is suspect when most of us are decades into trying to get our "karmic bills paid" with various spiritual relationships with devas, avatars, and prophets? My sister loves Jesus, bugs me all the time to love Jesus too, but no matter what I think of Jesus, I would never take Jesus from my sister. I just don't see any other lottery ticket for her to hold on to at 65 years old. And, if she thinks Jesus is real, not just an inspirational historical model, then that makes the modeling all that much more real to her and deepens her inspiration. Consciousness itself is our model here. There's a reason consciousness is equated with love. Consciousness does not judge; like a movie screen it will accept anything -- monsters and masters. This is love -- being the basis of all of creation -- not only the good parts. I want to love Christians just like the screen loves Hannibal Lecter. When Jesus is used by hundreds of millions, and when each and every use is idiosyncratic, who would take Jesus from them without first having "something better" to put into the hole it would leave in their lives? Where is the basis for being against the using of Jesus as a dream, a crutch, an inspiration or anything? To them it's like having the key to that Tesla in their hands, and I for one am not going to ask them to stop looking for the car to insert the key into and just, you know, love that broken, rusty Ford of theirs in the driveway -- you know, that truthmobile that goes nowhere fast. Who can fault anyone for anything when times are so hard? Desperation reigns in most minds on the planet, right? Who wouldn't steal a loaf of bread if their child was starving? Answer: most won't because of Jesus or Allah or Buddha or Yaweh. Most will do the right thing and harmonize with their fantasies. So, if you see me running my hand over the fender of a Tesla, or a Christian holding rosary beads like an infant, or an eleven year old voting for Sanjaya, what's the difference? Well, the Christian would be saturating her nervous system with beatific visions, promises of right action, worship, resonance with sacredness, etc. etc. I seem to be in a tie with an eleven year old when it comes to having proper fantasies. Aaarrrgh! Oh, yeah, religion is the opiate, I forgot. Well, that drug is keeping the lid on a ton of rage and angst that we see on the edge of explosion in our headlines. You tell me what kind of culture and lifestyle you'd have to have in order to become a suicide bomber. Now tell me that it's any different for the ones who do make that decision. I'm all for having fantasy relationships with dead people if it keeps these wretch types from strapping on a bomb. And just to be sure I've not softsoaped this concept: I would take the blue pill if I could get rid of the karma that unerringly finds me. I'm tired of it all. I'd accept Jesus -- if only the pill wasn't so much bigger than what I can presently swallow! Like I said, show me someone who's hovering, and I'm back in the illusion fulltime. But that would be a $200,000,000 lottery ticket, and geeze, I wish it would take that much, but I can be had by almost anything still -- a mere ten million dollar ticket will do ever so nicely. Millions of desires still could have me at hello, and I've got six decades of burning out desire after desire. It's all good. Hey, I don't eat Sterzing's Potato Chips anymore! Pretty good, eh? Edg