Good People - With Or Without Religion?

Q: Do you think a person can grow up to be a good person without any religious upbringing?

MM: Kindness and compassion are universal, and our true nature. A child knows instantly when something bad, mean, or unjust has happened. Children observe cruelty and injustice and then decide either for or against it, for their own behavior. This is often a decision based on their individual instinct of, and physical make-up for survival,as well as their environment. So - yes - a person can grow up to be a good person without any religious upbringing. Discerning between kindness and cruelty is inborn.

Most Atheists would ask - can a person grow up to be good person in spite of their religious upbringing? Religions have "raised" a lot of callous and cruel people. At the same time, religions all over the world have also taught kindness and compassion to people who needed to "re-learn". Sometimes all a religion can do, much like the legal system, is scare cruel people into behaving kindly.

So whatever upbringing we chose for our children - we need to model kindness and generosity, rather than criticism and cruelty, and give children courage and hope in the face of the injustices in the world.

The Veiled Truth

Q: What exactly is this truth you mentioned that Jesus speaks about when he says: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free"?

MM: It doesn't matter. Don't concern yourself at all about what it might be, or might be like. Just know - deep down, and with your complete trust and all the love in your heart - that you will indeed know it. Accept that this is a 100% reliable source making this promise to you. Then you become ready to receive it. That is all that matters, that you become receptive. Don't concern yourself with this truth in any other way. You will not need your intellect, your understanding, or any past experience to recognize this truth to be The Truth. It will be self evident and beyond doubt. It will not be a thought, an idea, an image, a feeling, or anything else you are used to or could possibly imagine. That all has to get out of the way.

That is what meditation is - just practicing getting all thoughts, ideas, opinions, feelings, images...out of the way, so that the veil can get lifted from your eyes.

Karma

Q: The more I think about the idea of karma, the more I get confused. Isn't cultivating good karma for oneself in itself selfishly motivated?


MM: Forget cultivating good karma. Instead cultivate a calm mind. The calmer the mind, the more you will become who you truly are and go beyond dual concepts like selfishness and unselfishness, good karma and bad karma, etc. Once one is truly oneself one can neither be called selfish nor compassionate. Just like the sun which causes both skin cancer and makes our food grow - we become who we are and move beyond worry. To become oneself does not mean the Western idea of "do whatever you want". It means peacefulness, serenity and full presence in which all things get done that need to get done - no more, no less.

Strangely enough, Buddhism which teaches about Karma, the cause and effect of good and bad deeds over lifetimes - also teaches about non-dualistic thinking. When non-dualistic thinking is fully attained there is no karma. At that level time and space also disappear. Therefore, without time and space, whatever is happening now, is happening all throughout time.

One way to reach to non-dualistic thinking is through contemplating the idea of karma. The idea of karma, if followed logically, eventually turns into a koan and can free the mind.

Until then - think of karma as "you shall harvest as you sow". Tend your garden with awareness.

Getting Rid Of All Religions?

Q: How can you say religions are beautiful when they have caused so much suffering and craziness? We should get rid of them altogether.

MM: Religious organizations of all faiths crucify, burn and torture those they feel threatened by on a regular basis, worse than governments even. The stupidities and ugliness committed in the name of religion seem to warrant that we should indeed get rid of religion altogether.

But - it would be like getting rid of sex because of rape, pedophilia, sex slavery, incest and all other perversions, many of them extremely cruel. Sex at its highest levels is communion and love, just like religion. Both at their lowest levels always turn into cruelty, violence and murder.

The same is true of science. The suffering and cruelty committed in the name of science is horrendous. No religion has ever committed such levels of cruelty.

Q: You can't get rid of sex, but you could get rid of religion.

MM: That is not true. Religion is to the heart what science is to the mind. They are interconnected. If you get rid of religion all together, sex itself becomes the new religion in disguise. It is happening now.

Q: So what if you got rid of sex - what would happen then?

MM: If you were to "get rid of" sex, religion, science...and everything else that interferes with pure truth...what would be left over is love in its highest form. Coal (all human understanding and forms of love) would have been transformed into diamond (truth).

You cannot get rid of anything, you can only transform it. In human society and civilization people exist at different levels of maturity, therefore there will always be sex, religion, science.... When Jesus says: "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free" he is talking about only you, and your freedom.

Q: What kind of truth is he talking about? A religious truth?

MM: No. Just truth. Truth free of any religious, scientific, cultural, moral, social, or any other ideas whatsoever. This may sound impossible, especially to the Western Mind unfamiliar with meditation. It is much like Lao Tsu says: "The Tao that can be named is not the eternal Tao." This truth - if it could be "said" or named, it would not be the eternal truth Jesus is talking about. The only thing you can be sure of is that this truth is so clear and self evident that when you come across it, or better, when it finds you, you recognize it and there will be freedom from all doubt.

Q: But then you wouldn't be able to describe it or teach it to anyone...?

MM: Correct.

Q: So what are Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad...and those who follow them, teaching then?

MM: They are hinting at the truth with metaphors and examples the way a thousand arrows can all point at the same spot of emptiness. Some of the teachings often in the form of poetry, simply express deep feelings of gratitude or blessing, and are truly beautiful.

Truth, Religion And Music

Q: MeditationMom - are you a Muslim?

MM: No, except that if someone were to ask me to deny the statement "there is no God, but God" I would have to willingly go to my death instead. Like Galileo I would have to die for that truth. It is not just a religious truth but also a scientific one. I am not sure Muslims think of this statement as I do, but to me this is one of the most profound religious, even scientific, statements ever made.

All the religions are like flowers to me - beautiful. How can you chose? The truth on the other hand is like the earth to me, out of which all the different flowers grow. Few are interested in the earth rather than the beautiful flowers.

All the guardians of the flowers - the priests and imams are in competition with each other, forgetting the shared source of their flowers. This shared source is what the original teachings are all about. One earth - one truth - infinite varieties of flowers and religions. All beautiful and yet - incomplete - destined to return to the earth. Both beautiful and ugly flowers rot and return to the earth to make fertile soil. Which flower tells the whole truth about the earth? None. They are a distraction - and a secret message.

Q: You're an atheist then.

MM: No, Atheists hate all the religions. I love all the religions - although, not all of the churches and religious organizations that are run by corrupt and power-hungry humans.

Religions and religious ideas are beautiful to me - like music - even though my true love is silence, and truth. Religions, even though, as atheists point out, bring out the worst in human beings - also have brought out the very best, not just in the arts, but also in insight and human potential.

Religions can be extremely helpful, or a great hindrance to truth - just like music to silence, or passion to love, or knowledge to science. Music can create a sort of peace, harmony and serenity out of chaotic noise, and it is a good first step towards silence.

Just like music, religions are a good first step towards truth, but need to be left behind eventually. Like Jesus or Mohammad - one needs some quiet time in the desert or in a cave away from the churches and mosques in order to meditate and discover truth.

Atheists deny the existence of God with such conviction, as if they knew. This is just another form of belief, not knowledge. I do not deny the existence of God - although I will point out that there is no God as far as most people's idea of God is concerned. There is nothing that is not God. Therefore any discussions whether God exists or not - how do we go about it? It is such a challenge.

Q: Not to mention all the horrible music that is out there parading as music.

MM: Yes, there is that - and horrible teachings parading as religion. We need to develop that in us that can discern the true from the false. Utmost awareness and sensitivity is needed.

Son of God Or Prophet?

Q: Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God, while Muslims believe he was a prophet like Mohammad. What do you think of this idea that he is the son of God - even the only son of God?

MM: Jesus himself said that we are all the children of God - just like him. Begotten means "by seed". It makes no sense to take this literally, unless you believe in aliens.

Spiritually understood, this "seed", "God's seed" is waiting to sprout within all of us. It is our longing for re-union. The longing that drives everything - all of material, physical life, and spiritual life alike. "Father" means our origin, our source which could just as easily be called "Mother", or the Infinite and Eternal. The trouble always arises when the material mind interprets spiritual teachings. That is why so many spiritual teachings used to be kept secret.

2012

Q: What is your opinion of all the recent talk about aliens, UFOs, and even the idea that our religions may be based on contact with aliens of higher intelligence?

MM: It is a mystery for now. All that is needed is getting in touch with our own higher intelligence. It seems to be more and more urgent. People claim to be after the truth, but if they looked deeply inside they would discover that they are driven by a subtle form of greed and fear. There is always greed and fear involved in not knowing about something.

What is the difference between the ideas of angels and demons, or benevolent aliens and reptilians whispering into our ears - or "taking over" or "coming to our rescue"? It is still all about the freedom to exercise our own conscience and wisdom, while among all the noise and mayhem in each situation we find ourselves in.

Q: But what about governments possibly covering up the truth - all the data that seems to exist?

MM: Have you ever kept information from your children or parents? Either to protect yourself, or to protect them from knowing something? The timing for all truths to be revealed depends on the maturity of the receiver of information, in this case large populations of all kinds of cultural backgrounds, and the wisdom of the giver of information, in this case all kinds of governments, both benevolent and violent. Therein lies the problem - mature mobs and wise governments. Both are hard to come by. It has always been the problem - for all truths - scientific, or religious - to come to light. Once maturity appears, wisdom appears, and truth comes to light. Mobs and governments are made of the same people and have an interdependent relationship.

Q: What do you think about the predictions that the world will come to an end in 2012?

MM: It is based on an interpretation of the Mayan Calendar. Interpretation is not exact.

We are living on a tiny speck of dust flying though space at mind boggling speed, spinning around a gigantic fireball of nuclear explosions while working hard on our own capabilities to throw nuclear weapons at each other here on Earth. Meteors have hit the Earth numerous times and most likely will again in the future. The dinosaurs didn't make it, and the Mayans vanished without a trace from the planet - which should give us pause, and it has. All physical life is fragile at all times. Doomed in fact.

Every new day is a miracle! A thousand more new days, more than anyone could ask. A billion more years ... that idea may just be too boring for people.

Everybody's world comes to an end after only 80 years or so, give or take a few years or decades. No reason to stop living, or worry too much about dying while we are here. What does it mean to be alive for these precious few moments within this vast eternity? As we speak , thousands are dying NOW, today, and even more are born to see a new day.

Q: Well - what DOES it mean?

MM: It has no meaning. It is pure joy. Don't ruin it with worries about "the end". The end will always come - in the end - not necessarily in 2012. Every end is a beginning in disguise. The seed dies and a giant oak tree appears. People try to protect themselves from what they fear in the future and miss life and even start killing each other, as well as the planet their life depends on. Life is happening only here at this moment. In this very moment, life is eternal. Abide in it - always - and all will be well. Be kind to each other! Be peaceful, and simply enjoy quietly. This is the way to eternal life. Forget immortality - it does not exist.