If you have found a church you like, especially if attending that church is helping you on your spiritual journey, then, this article may not be for you.
However, if you’re uncomfortable with church because you find church lacking, then read on.
Perhaps you see through misperceptions in the teachings of the church. Maybe you just get the feeling they don’t really have the understanding necessary to help you.
Does it frighten you to think you are going to hell just for being human?
Are you depressed when contemplating the idea that God would create you as you are, and then condemn you for it?
When the church tells you to fear God, do you find that confusing?
Well, you are not alone. On some level we all resonate with truth. Consequently, on some level we don’t resonate with falsehood. Whether we realize it or not, deep within we know the truth.
Understand these truths:
Consider the following. As you read through them, pay attention to your reaction. Is it negative? Or is it positive? Do you get the sensation you know this to be true?
#1 God is Not Sadistic
Generally, all religions teach that there is God. God is all knowing. And God created everything that exists. So far, so good.
Now enter the idea of punishment. Not so good.
Some religions teach about a place of punishment after life such as Hades or Hell. Others teach about punishment during life. Natural disasters and disease for example, are thought to be the wrath of God. Some teach both.
In an attempt to understand God, humans have projected human qualities onto God. Qualities such as judgement, anger, and revenge.
God is not human, so, God has no human qualities. God is beyond the physical realm. God is spiritual. Therefore, nothing of the physical realm would apply to God.
Physical life, specifically human life, when viewed from the viewpoint of the ego, gives rise to emotions such as judgement, anger, and revenge.
Nonphysical spirit however, is non-judgmental perfection. Spirit is only capable of love, compassion, and understanding.
So, why would we fear God?
For an all-knowing God to create imperfect beings such as humans, and then punish them for being imperfect, would make God sadistic.
God is not sadistic.
Suffering is created by believing we are separate from God. But God does not inflict this upon us. We do this to ourselves. We punish ourselves with our false beliefs.
#2 Religious Rituals Don’t Equate to Righteousness
The spiritual realm is not of this world. Therefore, nothing in this world, at least as it currently exists, is truly spiritual.
However, spiritual truth explains realty. And not just the universe we live in. Spiritual truth explains who and what we are.
We are not humans trying to have a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings temporarily in the human condition.
We simply cannot be anything other than what we are.
However, we can believe it so, and therein lies the problem.
Religious rituals are mankind’s attempts to be spiritual.
There is no problem in practicing religion. However, when we assume the viewpoint that we need to become spiritual, we are operating from the belief that we are not spiritual. This belief prevents us from being spiritual because we are actually practicing not being spiritual. We are denying spiritual truth.
Can you make sense of attending church on Sunday, asking for forgiveness, then going out and sinning all week?
Expressing the truth of God by living it is honoring God. Seeing others as God sees them and treating them accordingly is the highest form of worship.
#3 Without Freewill, Life is Meaningless
There are no heaven credits. While we can prolong entering heaven, we cannot earn it.
Do you feel defeated when told you must follow a set of rules without question?
Does that make you wonder why God bothered to give you a brain and free will?
All knowing God would not give us free will unless we were supposed to use it.
There would be no point in choosing anything, unless we choose it out of free will. The value in someone doing something for the greater good is not that they did something for the greater good. It is in the fact, that of all the choices they had, they chose the greater good.
Growth is evidence of life. In order for there to be personal growth, there must be a lesson learned. Then we must choose to do things differently. Knowledge through experience followed by action based on that knowledge equals personal growth.
This is the purpose of life. And it is meaningless without free will.
On a spiritual level, in every decision we make, we have a choice. We can choose the greater good, or we can choose something else.
And our choice makes all the difference in the world.
#4 What the Greatest Spiritual Teachers Teach
Truth is threefold. First, we must be ready for the truth, then we must understand the truth, and finally we must become the truth.
What we are talking about here is spiritual consciousness. Spiritual awakening. A process of shifting from our current level of consciousness, to higher consciousness.
When we realize something is missing, we are ready for the next shift.
As we see through the nonsense, we gain understanding.
With understanding, we can choose differently.
And when we do, we then become truth.
We become truth when we live it.
Truth is of the spiritual realm. Focusing on physical aspects of reality takes us further from spiritual reality. We form a more sophisticated state of confusion. Distancing ourselves even further from the truth.
Physical reality is temporary and exists within a larger spiritual reality.
We cannot learn the truth because it is not of this world. Nothing in this world is truth because everything in this world changes. The truth never changes. It always is what it is.
Deep within, we already know the truth. It is a matter of connecting to it and allowing it to emerge.
The Truth About Getting into Heaven
While attending church is not a requirement for getting into heaven, understanding truth is.
Spiritual teachers can help lead us to truth, however we must become truth. This is a process. Most noteworthy, until we realize the truth, we are spiritually unconscious.
Being spiritually unconscious is equivalent to being locked out of heaven.
The next step in mankind’s evolution will be spiritual.
We are all in this together. Hence, we will all get into heaven.
However, it is not something we learn, or earn, and it cannot be forced. Force is the way of the physical world. Force is not spiritual. Any attempt to force spirituality results in preventing it. We can only allow it to happen.
We all have the possibility of entering heaven in this moment. Still, we are only ready when we are ready.
When we are ready, we will resonate with higher truth. Those who are higher truth will help. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
The more spiritually conscious we become, the better our lives become. By letting divine knowledge flow through us and into this world, this world becomes more like heaven.
As each of us shine a little brighter, we shine a brighter light for those who follow. Collectively we move towards heaven on earth.
Understanding Heaven
It is the process of becoming truth. We connect to truth and allow it to flow through us into this world. The infinite lives though us.
The infinite can be understood through working for the greater good. Unconditional love.
The more we help others with the process, the deeper our level of understanding becomes. Consequently, as we enter heaven, we help those who are ready do the same.
Life becomes beautiful for everyone.
Heaven is not a place, nor is it in the future. Heaven is a state of consciousness. It is here and now.
The truth is that heaven on earth is the future of mankind.
And the truth is, collectively, we are the ones who will create it.