If I can’t change my dog how can I expect others to change their’s?

It is possible, though, to teach old dogs new tricks. We have good dog trainers here in this country and they get good results with intensive training programs.

But who or what is trying to teach the brain something new? And what new tricks do the brain have to learn? Should she behave more like a Buddhist monk or a Hindu Yogi, or maybe more like a successful, wonderful host on a TV talk show? Wouldn't that make your life easier if you were more like you ought to be?

What kind of dog do you have, a Yorkshire terrier, a poodle, a German Sheppard?

Be yourself! they tell us, the rock stars and the self improvement gurus. Many of them lie. They pretend that they are themselves, but in reality they put on a show, they act. Well, let them pretend , let them act. That’s their job, and they are so much better paid than I am?

What can we do? It is almost impossible for us to meet in the physical world. What can we do but write and have our endless talks over the phone? What would we do if we didn’t have words. Words are pretty important. Also fantasies, dreams and jokes are important. The world we live in is truly a terrible place. Most people in the world experience almost no happiness at all. It is just an endless struggle to survive. AIDS, starvation, exploitation, trafficking, war, poverty, drug problems… How could we live in this world without fantasies. Maybe the religions serve a purpose after all.

In Christian mythology Mary did not became pregnant the natural way. There is a Father God but no Mother God. Isn’t that interesting? How could there be a father if there is no mother?

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This is elementary: We can only perceive a small, small fraction of the totality. We are like frogs in a well, totally unaware of the nearby lake, as the Buddhists say. Our senses are not keen enough. Even with the best microscopes and telescopes in the world we will have a limited view. We will never know if there are many more universes out there.
So we use our imagination to make up fantasies how the world is working. Also the scientists speculate. No one knows for sure. This is not a problem as long as we don’t mix up our fantasies with how it really is.

Religions are not a problem as long as we don’t believe in them. And the stronger our beliefs are, the more trouble we will create for ourselves and to others. We might end up as wackos,fanatics or fundamentalists.

Fantasies, opinions and ideas are not a problem either, as long as we don’t take them seriously. If you think that you know who you are and what the world is like then you can be sure that you are wrong. Strong opinions will lead to trouble.

Well, suppose that you had found yourself living in Germany, in the end of the nineteen thirties, then what choice would you have had? If you had told people in your neighborhood that you didn’t’ have any strong opinions about anything. Then they for sure would have given you a hard time. The same thing is happening today in America or in Europe. If you point out to people you meet that they have got it all wrong, that they don’t know what they talk about, that their religion or strong political opinions is nothing but fantasies, then they will be very upset.

So it is better to shut up. It has always been healthier to keep the mouth shut.

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Think of it. What if you're not the one you think you are. What if you're, in reality, someone else. Maybe the world is not at all what you think it is. Maybe the life you are living right now is all wrong. What if you are on the wrong train. What if you are completely fooled, like those who has bought shares in non existing summerhouses. This is not speculative nonsense. People has always fooled themselves.

If there is a God, a creator, with a plan for his creation, how come he created us so blind, so cruel, so evil? This is an age old question. How come he accept so much evil in the world? Why do so many innocent children have to suffer so much?

One answer that many Christians give is: Because he gave us a free will and we insist to do wrong. All the brutality, all the wars, all the idiocies, is not his fault. We have to repent and pray for forgiveness.

But most people in the world are already deeply religious, and Christianity is the religion with the largest numbers of followers. Almost all big wigs in the world are religious. Augusto Pinochet in Chile, for example, was a devout Catholic. Al Capone was a Catholic. Berlusconi in Italy and George W Bush are deeply religious men. The slave traders, the slave owners, the inquisitors where all Christians. The Hutus who where responsible for the genocide in Rwanda where fanatic born again Christians. Christianity clearly doesn’t work.

The Hindus believe that if innocent children are suffering it is because they did bad things in previous lifetimes. They believe that all suffering is a righteous punishment for wrongdoings. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna is convincing Arjuna to skip his doubts about going out to war against his relatives. If you kill someone that you have to kill, know that you can never really kill anyone. The body is but a garment. The Muslims have similar ideas, if I have got it right, but they go to heaven when the Hindus come back in to this world.

The atheists don’t have to bother about the theodicy problem but they have to have a view. Should one speak up against evil, injustices and idiocies or should one simply shrug ones shoulders?

The problem is that many atheists, really, in their hearts are religious, and many religious people, really, in their hearts are atheists. Many sincere and religious people pretend that they are atheists because they don’t want to be mixed up with all the religious hypocrites, and many atheists pretend that they are religious simply because they think it looks good. What a mess! What the hell can we do? I really don’t know. Almost all people in the world seems to have an answer but I don’t. To me it is a relief to meet people that don’t have a clue. With such people I feel at home.

I agree with Karen Bishop that apathy must be a part of the “ascension process“. To put the same idea in other words: To be disillusioned is to suffer because one is getting rid of illusions.

Another answer to the question how God can allow so much evil is of course that he/she is pretty useless. He/she created us to his/her image. When human beings make children they rarely have a plan for it. Also good parents can find that their kids run into trouble with drugs and criminality. Maybe “God” didn’t have a plan for us. Maybe we came to this world by an accident, a roll in the hay one midsummer night. Maybe the Gods weren’t even married when it happened and even if they then tried the best they could, they couldn’t stop us from running in to trouble. I still think that Homer and Marge is a better image than Shiva and Shakti. And the idea of just one father God doesn’t make any sense at all to me.

To search for perfection is neurotic, I think. To try to be a perfect parent that has to create perfect kids, exactly like in the books is an crazy idea. In the same way: The idea of a perfect God is neurotic.

Think of a cruise ship that is cruising the Atlantic. You are invited for a wonderful holiday trip together with some other 2600 people. But it is not a very pleasant trip. Everyone seems to be completely crazy. Everyone is fighting like hell to get a greater share of everything. A few people has managed to get hold of almost everything. Many people are hungry and have to beg for crumbs. Violent fights are constantly flaring up, sometimes on C-deck, sometimes on A-deck. Different groups are formed around a few psychopathic gang leaders. You are told that it has always been like this. If you question the way things are too much you will step on someone's toes and get a very hard time. If you don’t like it you are free to jump overboard right away.

Well, all people are not crazy. Some try to do the best they can with the situation. They try to find ways to cope. They try to love what is, simply because there is nothing else. They try religion, prayers, yoga, meditation, psychotherapy or simply to be human. It works as long as they happen to be on a part of the ship where the fighting is not too bad.

To discuss religion with a Jehovah’s Witness is a waste of time. His views, opinions and ideas are written in stone. He has no other intention but try to change your mind. The same thing happens if you discuss politics with a neo-liberal economist or women’s rights with a fundamentalist Muslim. Well, the same thing happens if you try to discuss almost anything with anyone. We all have our views written in stone.

To rid oneself from opinions, ideas and ways of looking at things is extremely difficult. We just can’t give them up. And still, this is what we have to do. Without this crucial step no further awakening is possible. To be able to question one’s own “thinking”, to be able to question oneself is extremely important. To have a strong self-confidence can create a huge problems if ones ideas are misunderstandings. And to doubt everything can sometimes be very healthy.

What if God is not very powerful? What if he’s not like a king? Maybe he is more like Homer Simpson.

A mean and evil old man can easily convince himself that he has always been too kind.

A woman can think of herself as a smart woman with class. She can be convinced of that her good manners is because of her good upbringing. However, in reality she is just a pain in the neck; in reality she is carrying herself like a sulky teenager on her shopping rounds.

Even complete idiots can think of themselves as clever.

This is how the human mind works. To wake up from delusions is not easy, it is in fact incredibly painful.

Think of a man who has devoted his life to Nazism. Maybe he did terrible things in a concentration camp during the second world war. To him it doesn’t pay off to wake up. Or think of a man who has spent his life teaching the benefits of egoism. Or think of an alcoholic who has ruined the life of his children. It's not hard to understand that such guys feels a resistance to waking up, but isn't it strange that also normal every day people with fairly clean consciences also feel a strong resistance to waking up. Why is that?

Why is it so hard to wake up? Is there any point in waking up, really? Isn’t it better to snuggle up somewhere and try to make the best of the situation?