The Colloid Base

The fundamental aim of spiritual study is to get facts and principles into the Heart’s fertile ground. Ideas must get through habitual and familiar filters; otherwise, the information is diverted from having its full power. It’s not how much you read or hear that counts, but how much you take in and make your own.

How can you receive knowledge deep in your core so the principles work for you in far higher ways? Here are eight proven methods that work wonders:

1. Write your own book of development. Gather pearls of wisdom as you read, listen to audio programs or attend talks. More importantly, when YOU have an insight, get it down! You’ll find as years go by that the notebook you’ve created is filled with wisdom that has special resonance for YOU.

2. Contemplate. Picture yourself flying a glider. The tow plane lifts you. Now it’s your time to soar. You pull the connection and you’re on your own. The winds lift you higher and higher.

The glider is a perfect parallel to the art of contemplation. Focus on a single word, sentence, illustration or experience that matters to you. Put the spotlight of your attention on it. What’s in this idea that isn’t presently seen? What does the experience REALLY mean?

Then, let go of the thought. Soar in the silence. It is the silence following the focus that reveals the core. The silence takes you beyond what you already understand. Transcend the word, concept or experience and move from theory to revelation. Soar to a higher level of deep and rich understanding.

3. Read aloud. Read enthusiastically and with conviction. You may even wish to stand and gesture freely. You can imagine that you are addressing a large and attentive audience, like your own thoughts that now wish to change. Reading silently exercises your intellect, while reading aloud combines both your intellect and your power of speech.

4. Read with repetition. Take four or five pages from a good book, and read these same pages every day for a week before going on to the next four or five pages. Read them more than once, if you have the time, but at least once a day. Just before going to sleep at night is an ideal time. Something marvelous happens when you do this. Information seeps through old patterns.

I first learned of this method from Og Mandino in his classic book, “The Greatest Salesman in the World. “The benefits are enormous.

5. Be a metaphor hunter. This is wonderful fun. Simply be alert to daily life experiences, historical examples or encounters with nature that have a resemblance or connection to a spiritual principle. For example, let’s say you’re on a hike. You observe an old tree that has fallen into a stream. The tree is lodged but the flowing water gradually breaks it away and takes it downstream. You think with delight how the flow of Truth clears away old thinking that no longer serves your Heart.

Again, it all comes down to what you plant in your Heart. The same experience happens to two people. One seizes the experience and plants the lesson deep within, the other let’s it just bounce off the old and familiar mental patterns.

6. Express the knowledge you gather. See yourself as a conduit of information, like a lake that stays pure by taking in fresh water on one side and releasing it on the other. Refuse to be a stagnant pond! Find ways in harmony with your talents and interests to live and express what you learn, even though you may sometimes be criticized. Write, speak, paint, dance, start businesses, raise healthy children. These are all ways to express spiritual knowledge in action.

7. Transform your automobile into a rolling cosmic university. So much good information is now available on audio CD. Drive time on the less crowded open roads is a great place to absorb these treasures. It doesn’t all have to be spiritually focused material. Helpful ideas can be found in programs on efficiency and vocabulary, for example. In all your listening, however, don’t forget the enlightening value of a quiet drive as well.

8. Make the most of group meeting opportunities. A group where sincere men and women meet to delve deeply into life’s great questions can be a powerful venue for collecting more knowledge. Just be aware that not all spiritual and wisdom groups are true and healthy, and some take dreadful wrong turns. More than a few foster dependency to support the endless insecurities of the “leaders.”

For example, they pry into people’s affairs. Never forget that your privacy is your sacred right and must never be sacrificed. Just because you participate in a group activity does not mean that you owe them any explanations concerning your private affairs. This prying is a sure sign of a false group.

With self-reliance, what is best and true for you has an amazing way of finding you. Groups are temporary vehicles that can be valuable, but only if there is genuine value in the group.

Use these eight methods and watch your secret garden start to bloom in your Heart. You’ll feel joy and cheerfulness reach you at unexpected moments, and more frequently.

About the Author

Tom Russell is the host of www.SuperWisdom.com and the editor of the SuperWisdom E-zine, read biweekly by more than 20,000 people in 42 countries. He assists professional salespeople, entrepreneurs and home based business owners live with greater energy, creativity and spiritual insight. He has been interviewed on more than 200 radio and TV talk shows.

To the Christian, the subject of sin should be one of interest - not for the benefits or pleasures of it, but rather what it can do to hinder the Christian walk. Every church “worth its salt” should be preaching against sin and teaching its members to avoid the pitfalls that result in one wallowing in the mire created by sin. But is it enough to just be taught to avoid sin? I don’t think so! We, as Christians, must also understand sin and what it can do to us.

So, what is sin? I have heard it preached that sin is “missing the mark.” In other words, “the mark” being that kind of behavior which we might describe as perfection. Therefore, when we fail to reach perfection, we have sinned. If that is the case then we sin a multitude of times each day. The analogy used here is one of a marksman (perhaps with a bow & arrow) aiming for the bulls eye or “the mark.” When he shoots and does not hit the bulls eye he misses “the mark.” So therefore (the analogy), when one does not hit what he aims at (perfection), he is sinning. I think that the assumption made here is that all Christians aim for perfection.

I personally do not like the above analogy of sin being simply “missing the mark.” There is some truth to the analogy however, if we are really aiming for perfection - as we should be. But I also feel that the analogy fails to take into consideration that most “sin” is far from merely “missing the mark.” Sin is terrible and we must continuously strive to avoid it.

So, again, what is sin? Well, first of all, sin is the breaking of God’s law. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 John 3:4) Anytime we do not abide by the law of God or the commands of Christ we are sinning. Please don’t get confused by the teaching that we (Christians) do not come under the law. The “law” (or our obeying of it) will not be used to determine the state of our salvation. Christ died for our sins, and as such we have been given forgiveness for them. However, we are still expected to obey the laws and commands which are applicable under the New Testament. When we fail to obey the laws and commands, we sin. These failures can be intentional or unintentional, but nonetheless they are sin.

Sin is also a failure to do the good that we know we should. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) Is there a single one of us who have devoted our lives to following Christ that could not find “good” to be done all around us? How about supporting those in the missions field? How about feeding the hungry and clothing the needy? How about reaching out to the multitude of lost in our communities? How about reaching out a loving hand to a brother or sister in Christ who is having a problem or tragedy in their life? The list goes on and on. There is much good that can be done and we should be about our Father’s business and doing it.

Sin is the attitude of desiring to do evil and the inclination or intention of carrying it out. “He who plots to do evil will be called a schemer. The devising of foolishness is sin, and the scoffer is an abomination to men.” (Proverbs 24:8,9) In our society today we hear about various people who are extremely evil in their nature, the serial killer for example. This is evil to the very bone. Is this sin? Yes! I know that no person who claims Jesus as their Lord and Savior would be guilty of plotting such lawlessness. However, when we talk about sin, this too fits the definition.

Rather than plotting to do evil, Christians may be more likely to fall into the trap of inappropriate attitudes. Being arrogant, selfrighteous, proud and so forth is also a sin. “Haughty eyes, and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!” (Proverbs 21:4 NIV) These kinds of attitudes are also sin. It may indeed be true that someone may really not want to have these attitudes and may be striving to overcome them. If this is so, then when they fall back into those attitudes occasionally, they could be said to have “missed the mark.” However, if we are a person who has these attitudes and don’t take steps to correct our behavior, then we are intentionally sinning; not just merely “missing the mark.”

To sum it all up in our short discussion of what sin is, we can just say that anytime we do not do the right thing for all concerned, it is sin. “All unrighteousness is sin. . .” (1 John 5:17)

Who is there among us - either Christian or non-Christian - that has not sinned? We all know the answer to that question. No one! I have known many dear people in my life that seem to be good Christian people and I have admired them for their faith in Christ. However, if we were to take the most righteous person we know, that person has sinned! Just look at what the Bible has to say concerning those of us who have sinned: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23); “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10); “But the Scripture has confirmed all under sin” (Galatians 3:22); “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).

As hard as I try, I cannot overcome the human tendency to sin. It is impossible for us to live a life free of sin, perhaps even a day without some form of sin in our lives. However, as Christians we have two important items to consider: (1) Jesus died for our sins, and therefore, we have been forgiven of our past sins and our future sins (the shortcomings or “missing the mark” so to speak); and (2) we must do everything in our power to control the human tendency to sin. In other words, we must strive to identify sin in our lives and then get rid of it. I know that this is a difficult matter in relation to some sin. For example, there are those of us who have what we might call a “private sin.” A “private sin” is that which we as an individual deal with each day to overcome but it still plagues us, it seems continuously. This “private sin” could be any number of things: lust, desire for money, pleasure, hatred for someone, a drinking problem and so forth. The key here is that we must always be on the look out for it, and guard against it having an effect on our lives and relationships with friends, family and especially God.

How can a Christian overcome sin in his or her life? Have you ever really stopped to consider this question? Have you tried to overcome sin and been forced to conclude that you just can’t? Have you perhaps given up even trying?

I really have two thoughts on this subject. First, I don’t think that a Christian can overcome sin. If that were possible, we would not need the sacrifice that Jesus made for us as it relates to our future sin. (Remember that before we became a Christian we were sinners and as such needed the sacrifice of Jesus’ dying on the cross for us to receive remission of sin. That is not what I am talking about here.) When Jesus died on the cross, He took ALL our sin to the cross (not just the sins we committed before we became Christians). If we were capable of overcoming sin, we would have just been forgiven of our past sins.

The second thought I have is, even though we as an individual cannot overcome sin, we can through Jesus realize a victory over sin. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13) In other words, we (by ourselves) cannot overcome sin; but we (through Jesus Christ and His strength) can realize a victory over sin. Is sin still going to be in our lives from time to time? Yes! Do we have to let sin control our lives? No! Can we control sin - through Jesus Christ? Yes!

Now even though I have said that it is through Jesus that we are able to control sin, I need to make one thing perfectly clear. It is still up to us as to the degree to which sin is controlled! We must take action!

How does one go about controlling sin? Or better yet, how does one call upon the strength of Jesus Christ to help us in this effort? The answer is really quite simple. The degree to which you are able to control sin in your life is in relation to the degree to which you allow God’s Word to work in your life. Allow me to explain.

Perhaps you are a Christian, and go to church every Sunday morning and that’s it. Are you allowing God’s Word to strengthen you to overcome the battles you will have to fight for the coming week in relation to sin. Probably not! On the other hand, if you are faithful to the worship services to the fullest extent possible, spend daily time in prayer and Bible study, faithful in your giving, faithful to the Lord’s Supper and so forth, you will find the strength necessary to overcome the temptations of sin.

When you spend quality time in prayer and Bible study you receive the strength that is in God’s word to know what is right and the strength to do it. How does it happen? I don’t know. I just know that it does. I know because I have experienced it. When I am faithful in those areas mentioned above, I am happier and it is much easier for me to overcome the temptations which come along each day. One of my favorite Scriptures is found in the book of Joshua when he was giving a speech to the Israelites just before they enter the promised land. He is telling them that they are to choose which god they are going to follow. Joshua says. “… choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,. . . But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) We too in America today need to choose this day (and every day) whom (or what) we will serve. Are we to serve the Lord - or will we serve sin?

All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

About the Author

Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of The Home Bible Study Institute.

Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org

Permission to use is granted if attributed to author and his website.

Knowledge of the old astrological beliefs and modern computer-based planetary tables may yet offer new insights into the scientific phenomenon of the Christmas Star. Astronomically, was the Star of Bethlehem really a star? There is wide disagreement on this. But before going back in time to explore the potential answers, one needs to understand the many problems behind the questions.

Matthew is the only of the Biblical books which cites either the Star of Bethlehem or the magi. The Gospel of Mark, interpreted by contemporary text scholars to be the earliest of the Gospels, does not include a nativity narrative or any touch that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The author of the Gospel of John also appears to be unsuspecting of the Bethlehem nativity narratives. The Gospels often described Jesus as “of Nazareth,” but never as “of Bethlehem”. Many scholars have concluded that Jesus was in all likelihood born in Nazareth and that the nativity narratives are influenced by the desire of the Gospel writers to depict his birth as a fulfillment a prophecy in the Book of Micah concerning a Bethlehem birth.

Matthew’s description of the miracles and portents attending the birth of Jesus can be compared to stories alluding the birth of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Relating a birth to the first appearance of a star was pursuant with the general belief each person’s life was tied to a particular star. Magi and astronomical events were contiguous in the communal mind by the visit to Rome of a delegation of magi at the time of a impressive appearance of Halley’s Comet in AD 66.

There are legion other components that impart to the puzzle, including the uncertainty in the sure date of Christ’s birth and the terminology used to describe celestial events during the Stars appearance some 20 centuries ago. For example, any heavenly object bright enough to attract attention was likely to be called a “star.” Meteors, for instance, were called “shooting” or “falling ” stars; comets were “hairy” stars; novae were “new” stars and planets were thought to be “wandering” stars.

The questions that arise and the responses to them are pure magic. They come from Spirit, they come from Infinite Possibility. That becomes clear to me, over and over again. They come from our Divine Heritage. It’s so magnificent. It’s not something outside of us, it is the Spirit of God radiating from the Heart of our Being. I think what’s so wonderful about the promise of this is that, as I deepen in my practice and others join me. The world becomes more compassionate, and characterizes my interactions with other people, and the world changes.

Value judgment becomes discernment. And discernment is just being aware of where somebody’s hand is. Discernment is just being aware of the wind blowing differently through each branch of the tree. That’s discernment, and that’s beautifulit’s not just anything. It’s really magnificent.

Because I’m not placing a value on it, I’m open to experience more and more and more of ita greater diversity. Swami Vivekananda loved the phrase, “Unity within Diversity.” It’s really important to understand that all of these aspects of self that we’ve been talking about can end up becoming the Wrathful Deities and Peaceful Deities in our after-death state. They are really diverse aspects of ourself. What we’re really working to do is integrate those diverse aspects, so that we have Unity within Diversity. We are not trying to erase them, nor to run away from them, but to help them become part of our voice so that we can sing our Soul’s Song. Unity within Diversity. I hope all of our listeners realize that the promise of singing their Soul’s Song is very real and palpable. I’m certainly doing it. With the gentle wisdom of The Everyday Sanyasin, and with the practices and insights that we’re learning here in The Living Bardo series, I feel like we can do it. I feel confident.

Yogi Sean is the student of Swami Ramananda and a principle officer of the Sadhana Society.

One of the things that we do to not feel uncertain is, we create consistency in our lives, and we hold tenaciously to our pattern of consistency. And that could be anything, from when we have our meals, when we go to sleep, when we watch television, when we read, when we take a bath, all those kinds of things. Or how I hold a fork or how I kiss someone. It’s really interesting because we’ve got all these strategies that basically are supposed to bring a sought-after result, and all the strategies are layered, one upon the other in our lives. We do this so that our lives are predictable, and we’re not confronted by massive uncertainty. And for most of us, we’re not confronted with that until we’re breathing our last breaths, and we suddenly realize, “Oh my God, I’m dying.”

Now another aspect of this wildness, and I’ve been heading us this way, is change. Now we’re going to go to the Vedas, and in the Vedas we have ‘Shiva’. Shiva’s action has been translated by our wonderful British translators as ‘the destroyer. It’s more than that. It is ‘Shiva is change.’ And again, if you look at Shiva, Shiva is kind of wrathful.

Shiva’s not a particularly friendly looking deity.

Shiva is change without propriety. It’s change, it is wild change. And so we have the picture, or the stature of Shiva dancing, with the fire around him, which is the fire of the end of the Universe. It is the all-consuming fire in which we all turn into ash. And Shiva is dancing in it.

And the key of this image is that change is happening. The fire is the transformational aspect of physical manifestation of change. So what we’re dealing with is that the Wrathful Deity, first of all, is wild, that it has no propriety, that it’s not going to make adjustments for us because we’re really a nice guy, or we wear the right clothes, or we say the right prayers.