I've enjoyed the posts. Excuse the religious slant of this but I think there is a principle here. Buddha taught Buddhism in India and it spread to many other countries, becoming the most popular religion in the world but did not take root in India which is a Hindu country. Christ taught in Israel and Christianity spread around the world but Israel remains Jewish. These teachers were ignored at home.
I left Australia aged 32 where my life was bogged down and meaningless and emigrated to the States where I found fulfilment. It wasn't easy, it was illegal for me to earn money but it all worked out. I think there's something about leaving one's home country that invites a brand new path, a fresh opportunity to wipe the old slate and start afresh. I strongly recommend taking the flying leap into the unknown.
What prevents you having a direct real experience of God (call it what you will) is the crap that goes on in your mind. An analogy is to think of God as pure silence and the incessant mind chatter as constant noise. You need to remove the noise to hear the silence. The problem is doing that ain't easy.
The purpose of the external world is for you to do your karma. You can only be born if you have karma to fulfill. From that you gain experience and grow. But it is a meaningless distraction. The path of the return to God is about mastering what happens between your ears. The external world doesn't actually matter, it is an imposed regimen.
I enjoyed the discussion.
Can anyone tell me where I can track the monthly CB balance sheet numbers for ECB, Japan, US and China?
The Fed does not seem to publish them.
My purpose is focusing on my spiritual path.
1)meditation
2)spiritual reading
3)spiritual practices: mantras and the like
I don't do this for any "reward" but for its own sake.
I acknowledge that my "eventual" goal is the return to God. That concept assumes reincarnation.
I can't think of any other activity I can "take with me." I do it for the love of it.
This is an emphasis on the world of the soul rather than the personality.
My purpose is focusing on my spiritual path.
1)meditation
2)spiritual reading
3)spiritual practices: mantras and the like
I don't do this for any "reward" but for its own sake.
I acknowledge that my "eventual" goal is the return to God. That concept assumes reincarnation.
I can't think of any other activity I can "take with me." I do it for the love of it.
I left Australia aged 32 where my life was bogged down and meaningless and emigrated to the States where I found fulfilment. It wasn't easy, it was illegal for me to earn money but it all worked out. I think there's something about leaving one's home country that invites a brand new path, a fresh opportunity to wipe the old slate and start afresh. I strongly recommend taking the flying leap into the unknown.