The reason I ask this question about loving oneself is that I can't help but notice how much anger, hostility, and even hatred people are exhibiting toward one another in the world today. Do people not realize that hatred is generated "Within" oneself? That is, to have hatred for another, one must have hatred "Within" oneself...which one then projects upon others almost as a "learned behavioral response"? Or like we have been taught to do by parents and others. I always thought that hate was due to fear of something. Something unknown or unfamiliar to us, in other words.
A second question I am prompted to ask is how many people realize that the Soul is immortal? That is, it does not die, along with one's physical body... at least this is what we are told by a great many people. So, what happens to one's Soul... if it does not die along with the physical body? In the East, they say that the Soul is reincarnated into a new life form, based on a person's Karma? Which brings up the question of what is Karma, or the Law of Karma? How is it so many in the East seem to know about Karma, but in the West, we know almost nothing?
Finally, one last question is this: I've been asking people since I was a little boy what the "Purpose of Life" is? And, I have yet to receive a good answer to this question? And... based on my previous question... if one is born again based on one's previous lifetime, how come we don't remember this taking place, and what are we supposed to do in this new lifetime?
All these questions, it seems to me, are answered by the term "Reincarnation," if one accepts the premise of Reincarnation, and the Law of Karma, which is, naturally based on the Law of Karma... which is largely ignored or discounted in the West, and yet, the rest of the world lives their lives based on the Law of Karma.
I hesitate to suggest a certain level of ignorance on the part of people in the West, but that seems to be present. In watching and listening to preachers, ministers, and others on television speak about religion, or the Bible, one cannot help but notice that the terms Karma, Reincarnation, and the Purpose of Life seem to be missing in what they are saying? And, if a person only needs to act nice, and ask for forgiveness just before one dies, then that person will go to heaven and live there forever seems to be the gist of what people are saying on television.
Somehow, this message has always seemed a bit simplistic to me; that is, the idea that what one needs to say is: "Jesus, forgive me my sins!", and one is fully forgiven by simply saying these words? And then what, one goes to Heaven instead of Hell? And one then stays there forever? If this is the case, how is it that we don't know a great deal more about what Heaven is? That is, as many people as have died in just my lifetime of 86 years, Heaven must be getting really crowded? And the same goes for Hell as well.
I personally tend to believe in what people from the East are saying, and that the Law of Karma applies to every Soul on Earth. And that the Law of Karma also controls who goes to heaven or to hell, and neither of these places are forever. In other words, I do not believe that God went to the trouble of creating "Life," and then would simply give Souls one choice for experiencing the entire Creation. That is, a Soul that became a criminal then spends eternity in some lake of fire at the time of death. With no chance for redemption? Seems most unlikely to me, given that Mystics tell us continually that God is a God of Peace, Forgiveness, Tolerance, and Love. One mistake equals eternity in Hell... sorry, don't buy it.
So, if you know someone who is filled with hate... have you noticed that he or she is a miserable person? Hate is an emotion "Within" oneself. It is not like a wrapper of a candy bar, and one gives that wrapper to someone... and in the wrapper you have put a substance called Hate. If you hate, the emotion of hate is coming from you, and that bit of hate is from "Within" your own I-MIND [your own emotional content], that you are projecting it at some person, place or thing outside of yourself. The origin of the Hate is from "Within" you, in other words. This is no doubt a difficult reality to accept... but it is the only reality that applies.
Otherwise, you are investing some person with the ability to mysteriously place a body of Hateful emotion inside of you. Sorry, that is not possible. If you hate someone or some thing, that "Hateful emotion" is entirely "Within" you. To be an honest person, a person really needs to "own" one's own emotions.
To blame one's own emotion on some other person... is to give that person an ability to mysteriously place that bit of Hate inside of you... and this is simply a denial of one's own emotions. It's a basic bit of dishonesty.
Therefore, if you want God to forgive you, you must ask God for forgiveness. And do not be a hypocrite about it. Honestly ask for forgiveness, from your heart, and be willing to "pay" a "price" for that forgiveness. The "price" is a bit of Karma, wherein you receive something of what you caused another to experience yourself. And that "price" is your "lesson" so that you resist doing the same thing again. And this is not only "fair," it is also just. It is also "educational" and also serves the Purpose of Life.
That is what I have learned from "Within" myself over the last 86 years.
Peace, 1 Brother James
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