To: K-list
Recieved: 2000/09/16 09:05
Subject: [K-list] Re: K and religion poll
From: Bob Vincent
On 2000/09/16 09:05, Bob Vincent posted thus to the K-list:
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--- In Kundalini-GatewayATnospamegroups.com, druoutATnospama... wrote:
>
> << what difference does religious belief have in K-awakening, >>
>
> Dear List,
> Since we are on the subject of religion...:)) I was wondering...
> What religious visions/associations/symbolisms/patterns/motifs,
etc. have been part of your K awakening? Did these reflect the
religion of your upbringing (or your pre K religion) or did they
reflect other religions or philosophies? Did these experiences
influence a change in your religion?
>
Hi Hillary,
Very interesting question. Here's one point of view for whatever it
is worth. It seems to me that religion is a forum and an aid for
whatever is happening in people spiritually. There is a sort of
bootstrapping of spirit that eventually happens in each person, and
whatever tradition(s) is available will play a role in that
bootstrapping, which is a dynamic between what is arising inside the
person and what teachings are available outside which can provide
some means to facilitate that arising of spirit. So I don't see
religion as the key. It comes from inside. However, I think religion
is important in terms of the methods and signposts it provides which
assist each soul moving through its own unique journey. Any time-
tested tradition will do for the soul which is illuminating from
within. The soul will find what it needs, one way or another. If not
nearby, then eventually somewhere else.
In the end, formal religion becomes less relevant as far as the
journey of the soul is concerned. I think Sai Baba said it best:
"It is good to be born in a religion, but not so good to die in one."
In the end the journey will transcend its own path.
My own experience seems to reflect some of this. I was born into a
fairly ho-hum protestant congregational tradition. Going to Sunday
school each week, romping around with the other children, ended up
having a very large effect on me, but not on my siblings. Why?
Because I was apparently receptive since birth, and the message I
walked away from Sunday school with from Jesus was, "You can do this
too." No one told me that, but I knew it intuitively, and found out
in a hurry that it was not appropriate for me to start climbing
up "The Pedestal," no matter how much my gut told me that is what I
was supposed to do. I began spiraling away from my own cultural
roots at that point. After a dispairing early adulthood, I came
across meditation, yoga and all of the the doors and understanding
that the eastern traditions provide. This occurred long before my K
opening. Once K opened, 15 years later, I was already well
established in a yogic way of life, so there was no question about
how to view what was going on. Mine was a yogic view by then, through
and through.
I would say there was "no looking back" to my Christian roots, but of
course there was. As my experience advanced over the years, I found
it necessary to honor my roots, the early exposure to "spiritual
community" and childhood revelations in Christianity. So I went back
and studied and came to understand my experience in Christian terms
as well. That was part of a further integration of yoga for me,
finding recognition of the truth of my experience in all the
traditions I encountered, including the one I was brought up in. I
found it to be the same human spiritual process in every religious
venue. For me, religion is relevant if it fits the experience, not
vice versa.
A rose is a rose by any other name, yes? :-)
Peace,
Bob
http://www.onelist.com/community/Kundalini-Gateway
http://www.kundalini-gateway.org
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