jim123

What do you think spirituality means? Notice that the word 'spirituality' comes from the root word 'spirit'. I believe that according to the Bible, there is the Holy Spirit and there are also the unclean spirits (demons and devils). There is the right kind of spirituality and the wrong kind of spirituality which is demonic. When you are doing spiritual practices like yoga or meditation, you are actually messing with real evil spirits that are out there. That's why it's called a "spiritual practice." If it was actually meant for seeking and finding some deep truths or enlightenment, why not call it something else?

Self-love is not real love. Real love is when you love someone else.

If we are just supposed to worship death, then why did God even create life in the first place? If it's better to be dead and never come back, why did God even create the cycle of reincarnation in the first place? It makes no sense. If life just causes suffering, it would have been pointless for God to even create life to begin with. By the way, I don't believe that the cycle of reincarnation exists, but I'm using that as an illustration of my point. I wouldn't mind to be reincarnated. That would be awesome. I would love to be reincarnated a million times. That's because I like life more than death. The teaching that "all life is suffering" is complete nonsense because many people are living their lives with very minimal suffering. Theoretically, if you lived a perfect life with perfect Christian values, you would not suffer at all. Not even the tiniest bit. The only reason why we suffer is because we are sinners. Sin causes suffering. The ironic thing is that the people who are trying to escape suffering are actually the ones who suffer the most. Some spiritual guru who is sitting in a dark cave torturing himself probably suffers more than any normal person.

Well, I say amen to this. Of course you don't have to die to realize heaven because heaven is eternal life, not eternal death. Death-worshiping cults like Buddhism on the other hand teach that heaven (what they call Nirvana) is literally eternal death. Yes, the same thing. You receive eternal life just by believing in Jesus. In fact, it would be an impossible scenario if you believed in Jesus but didn't get saved. God has commanded me to preach the gospel to every creature, so here you go:

I think everyone knows that there must be more to life than just materialistic things. Everyone knows there is a heaven. But your idea of heaven is backwards. You think that heaven is eternal death and that you enter it by literally dying. The truth is the opposite. Instead of being eternal death, heaven is eternal life, and instead of entering it by dying, you enter it by being born again. And you can become born again by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ.

If our purpose is to cease from living and realize that we are God, why did God even create life to begin with? I don't think that's a silly question. I used to wonder that all the time when I was a follower of Actualized.org. God would have been thinking like, "I'm going to create a useless creation, just because." That doesn't make any sense. God is also not a deceiver so why would he deceive himself into thinking that he's not God? It's actually the devil who is the deceiver. God is full of holiness and truth.

It originates from man's own free will. Have you ever wondered why exactly did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to the garden of Eden? It would have been so easy to avoid all the disaster and imperfection if that tree didn't even exist to begin with. But the reason why God put that tree in the garden of Eden was because God respects our free will. God is so mighty and powerful that he was actually able to create people with free will. That's something that only God can do. Scientists and engineers could never create a computer or a machine that would truly have a free will of its own.

Not at all. Zero. The reason why heaven is a perfect place is because there's no sin in heaven. I think I remember Leo Gura said on one of his videos or blog posts, that if heaven was a literal place, it would be impossible to avoid suffering in that place. I totally disagree with that.

The garden of Eden was a perfect place without suffering. Then when Adam and Eve committed sin by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that caused a lot of suffering. That's why we now live in an imperfect world that has tremendous amounts of suffering in it. Sin also causes suffering at the individual level as well. The people who commit the most sin tend to be the ones who suffer the most, and the people who commit the least sin tend to be the happiest people. Take the sin of gambling as an example. Often times gambling is the only reason why people get their entire lives destroyed. It becomes an addiction and soon enough you have lost all of your money and have huge debts. It's game over at that point. Or what about sins like drinking or using drugs. People who have a drug addiction are not very happy people. Sins like murder and rape are obviously great sources of suffering. The bigger the sin, the more suffering it causes.

The Bible has a famous passage in Matthew 7:14, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." If all religions supposedly were pathways leading to the same Truth, then way would not be narrow at all. And yet Christianity teaches that it indeed is narrow. All religions except Christianity could be pathways leading to the same truth, but you would have to exclude Christianity from the list.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life." - Jesus, John 6:47 That's a pretty dumb interpretation because the Bible teaches that the devil is transformed into an angel of light. That can't be just some symbolism of the ego. No normal person in their right mind would elevate themselves to the level of an angel. That would require a pretty big ego. "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." - 2 Corinthians 11:14

As if sitting 40 years in a monastery torturing yourself doesn't count as "work." Yes, and the will of the Father is that you would believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the Bible teaches in John 6:40. And it's actually the other way around. Religions have changed it into making you think that you need to work your way to heaven. Every religion teaches that except the Bible.

I'm causing division and separation with my religious beliefs, exactly what Jesus wanted me to do. I used to be a follower of Actualized.org before I became a Christian. I thought that I could go to heaven by doing things like meditation or yoga, but then I found out that you can go to heaven just by believing in Jesus. You can't work your way to heaven. Even if you sit 40 years in a monastery torturing yourself, you will be no closer to heaven because your own righteousness is like a filthy rag in the sight of God. "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." - Isaiah 64:6

Nope, he didn't. The gospel of Thomas is Satan's counterfeit of the real Bible. Anybody could write a counterfeit gospel and claim that it's part of the Bible. The King James Bible has been the standard Bible for more than 400 years. It has never been corrupted during those years.

Division and separation is a good thing. Here's a quote from Jesus: Luke 12:51-53 "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." On Actualized.org you believe in oneness and unity, but Jesus teaches separation and division.

The Bible is the most influential book in human history. Even people in North Korea know about the Bible. Even if you don't believe that it's true, you gotta admit that it's a pretty important book.

Even the most die-hard fundamentalist Christians don't take the Bible literally. The Bible actually teaches that the thought of foolishness is a sin.

If all religions are leading you unto life, then "the way" which leads unto life is not narrow at all.

I was bored so I wrote a little essay about one of Leo's blog posts. Leo says: ”I have no desire to make you believe in God or my teachings.” At least he has a desire to have people following his cult YouTube channel and committing themselves to the work that he talks about. But supposedly you can do all that work even if you don’t believe anything that Actualized.org teaches. That's the whole point. The importance of direct experience seems to be the main theme of the blog post, so let's just focus on that. In my direct experience, I can see that it is impossible to put any spiritual teaching into practice unless I first believe in it. For example, the motivation to practice meditation in the first place is the belief that what you are doing is worth it. It is mainly the belief that your practice will eventually reveal some profound truth that only a few people know about. If you are seeking enlightenment, obviously you must believe that enlightenment is even a real thing. Many people do not seek enlightenment. Why? Because they don’t believe in it. Sorry buddy, but beliefs are necessary. If you ask Hindus why they are Hindus, would they say that they are Hindus for no reason? No. They would say that the reason they are Hindus is because they believe in Hinduism, or because they believe in the teachings of some Hindu guru, or maybe because they believe in the scriptures of Hinduism. The thing is, everyone believes in something. The difference between religion and Actualized.org is the fact that the former admits that it has faith, and the latter denies. And if we really go philosophical, even the idea that beliefs are not important is, in itself — you guessed it — a belief! By contrast many people believe that beliefs indeed are important in regard to spirituality. But if belief is an obstacle, then you must, paradoxically, believe that you should not have any beliefs (not even that belief!). And even if this is somehow possible to accomplish, you still can’t get there unless you start by having faith. What even causes people to be interested in eastern mysticism? What even causes people to be interested in anything? It is their beliefs. Blog post I was referring to: https://actualized.org/insights/this-work-is-not-about-belief

@Leo Gura Really? Why did Jesus never teach meditation, yoga or self-inquiry?

@WelcometoReality Yeah, the eastern ones, but not Christianity. That's why Leo hasn't made any videos about Christianity; because it doesn't line up with his philosophy. He does mention Christianity here and there, but 99% of the time he only discusses eastern religions (which is strange given that Christianity is the biggest religion in the world). Jesus himself taught the opposite of what Leo teaches, because Jesus said that if you believe on him you have everlasting life (in John 6:47). According to Christ beliefs are very important, but Leo says that all beliefs are obstacles.

@WelcometoReality Even if I explored it 100 years it would never prove this teaching that ”you are God.” I could have some mystical experiences and stuff but would those really be a proof of anything? And there’s nothing special about that teaching by the way, because it originates from Hinduism which is the third largest religion in the world. The scriptures of Hinduism, in particular the Upanishads, flat out says that YOU literally are God, leaving no misunderstanding.

In the Bible the word ”death” often refers to hell. But don’t let that bother you.

@WelcometoReality What eastern spirituality is about is sitting in a dark cave for 10 years straight in hopes of reaching this enlightenment thing. That is way beyond simply exploring things with an open mind.

In his videos Leo has said that there is no such thing as ”right” or ”wrong.” He even said something along the lines of: ”I could detonate a nuclear bomb and not feel bad about it.” But here’s how hypocrisy comes in with this philosophy. If I said on this forum that I’m going to go out tomorrow and murder a bunch of people, you would condemn me and say something like this: Oh, you’ve misunderstood us completely. You need to seek some professional help. But wait a minute, I thought murder wasn’t wrong. I thought murder wasn’t evil. If there is truly no such thing as ”right” or ”wrong,” why would you react that way? And I’m sure that many of the spiritual teachers who believe in the same stuff would also react in a similar way. Why? Because they are hypocrites. Either there are such things as right and wrong, or there are not. Which one is it? Choose one. On the other hand, if you actually are completely fine with people wanting to do such evil things, then this forum is basically a forum for psychopaths. I guess all the mass-murderers and other psychopaths are the ones that are spiritually enlightened then.