The Essentials
Sep. 30th, 2007 10:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosI am blessed by the friendship of ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lovetakesyouin, whose posts are a continual reminder to me about the fundamental values of spiritual life, and whose life and teaching challenge me to find and act upon ever deeper levels of compassion.
His post this morning is a wonderful example of his writing, and highlights some of what I'm trying to express in my posts about the fruits of spiritual practice being more important to me than what I believe about the beings I work with.
There are very few things I hold as "beliefs," but perhaps the most important is this: that when we die, we are not quizzed about what doctrine we professed or what rituals we performed, or the gender or numbers of the people with whom we shared our bodies. If we are judged on anything, it will be about the amount of love, generosity, compassion, charity, understanding, justice, and mercy we brought into the world.
No one path -- religious or otherwise -- has a monopoly on those qualities.
Emanuel Swedenborg taught that God is what brings us closer to God, whether one believes in God or not, and that growing in love and wisdom is the path to God, no matter what name is at the trailhead. God doesn't care which path we take, as long we're on a path that results in the growth and deepening of love, and the will to act on that love.
lovetakesyouin, whose posts are a continual reminder to me about the fundamental values of spiritual life, and whose life and teaching challenge me to find and act upon ever deeper levels of compassion. His post this morning is a wonderful example of his writing, and highlights some of what I'm trying to express in my posts about the fruits of spiritual practice being more important to me than what I believe about the beings I work with.
There are very few things I hold as "beliefs," but perhaps the most important is this: that when we die, we are not quizzed about what doctrine we professed or what rituals we performed, or the gender or numbers of the people with whom we shared our bodies. If we are judged on anything, it will be about the amount of love, generosity, compassion, charity, understanding, justice, and mercy we brought into the world.
No one path -- religious or otherwise -- has a monopoly on those qualities.
Emanuel Swedenborg taught that God is what brings us closer to God, whether one believes in God or not, and that growing in love and wisdom is the path to God, no matter what name is at the trailhead. God doesn't care which path we take, as long we're on a path that results in the growth and deepening of love, and the will to act on that love.
