Right Effort
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Trusting in Him
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James_Lai
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There is a thin line of our free will.
If we say God takes over us, then it’s not our merit. If we say God doesn’t help us, then He’s not good.
What’s His intervention and how we achieve it?
Reading many books on psychology and neurophysiology of spiritual experiences, it’s a powerful thing. Therefore the 12 steps utilize it. Nothing more nuclear to your mind.
We tap into resources of our consciousness that are above the mind, higher than the physical structure and chemical processes in the brain. It’s so fascinating. It’s as if we can create software than can in time rewire the hardware.
Sin is limbic brain, our primitive instincts and powerful reward/punishment pleasure/pain premammalian “reptilian” self. Frontal lobes, prefrontal cortex is where our human complex intelligence with understanding cause and effect, and consequences of our actions, also it’s wired to control the primitive brain. Also in higher brain emotions such as love and compassion and kindness etc or the opposite. It’s like an onion with animal inside and human over it driving it with more or less success.
Higher power concept is training and activating this part of the brain and making it in the driving seat. For bad sinners with regular sin recidivism or people in addictions, initially the limbic system got reward for bad behaviour, then because the chemicals released endogeneosely or take in from the external world become a goal in itself, i.e. sin or substance are directly rewarding by pleasure or soothing pain the primitive brain bypassing higher brain, independent of what was the initial trigger for the behaviour or self-medication. Vicious cycle. And it’s very powerful, because it’s controlling our impulsive behaviour - people do stuff before they can even process or analyse it.
So faith in higher power will activate, train the frontal/prefrontal cortex and restore the strong links (control channels) to the limbic system, otherwise completely out of wack. There are also experiments to activate those regions with magnetically induced electricity (in accordance with the low frequency AC of the brain actvity).
So by your own consciousness or on your own it’s extremely extremely difficult if maybe impossible for many, without outside regulating and control (e.g., being in the army or living in a monastery, or locked up in a strict rehab centre) to change your ways. Maybe one step forward, but then two backward again and again.
Creating a powerful image of a higher power does the trick as it’s for our brain as real if faith is created, cultivated and unkept to be strong daily. The more powerful and clear the concept of God in your consciousness, the easier it is to change your ways. You create your own jail guard or a couch or guru (all in very good sense of the words) that overseas you and pushes you and limits you and supports you and rewards you
Say, you put electric perimeter fence if you don’t want to leave house and give control to breaker to your brother. The he only os capable to let you out. Then you remove the fence and no barrier. You can go and sin. Then imagine, you believe day after day that there is an invisible barrier, and cultivate the faith. It becomes one day so real, so strong, can be more powerful than the real thing. The real thing you can figure out put a blanket over and climb to freedom. But imagined is so perfect and without blemish and so strong, no tricky way to escape.
Therefore, it is utmost and utmost important to have a clear picture of God, and what His powers, gifts to you, His expectations, laws and requirements are. The less conflicting and more coordinated, comprehensive, harmonious belief system it is, the better are the results. Maybe that’s why Islam, it seems to me, has better results overall. Or older versions of Christianity, than new wishy washy liberal ones where anything and everything goes. Because more simple, robust, clear and more sensible picture of the Beyond.
If the God is thought of as not so powerful, or people half-believe, or He has conflicting commands, or contradicting nature, then maybe better not even create one like that…. Result will be something very sinister. Like those priests who do bad stuff to kids you know etc…
Therefore I think, the simpler the better.
Of course, all of that is just my silly thoughts. I’m not an expert. Could be anything. I don’t know
If we say God takes over us, then it’s not our merit. If we say God doesn’t help us, then He’s not good.
What’s His intervention and how we achieve it?
Reading many books on psychology and neurophysiology of spiritual experiences, it’s a powerful thing. Therefore the 12 steps utilize it. Nothing more nuclear to your mind.
We tap into resources of our consciousness that are above the mind, higher than the physical structure and chemical processes in the brain. It’s so fascinating. It’s as if we can create software than can in time rewire the hardware.
Sin is limbic brain, our primitive instincts and powerful reward/punishment pleasure/pain premammalian “reptilian” self. Frontal lobes, prefrontal cortex is where our human complex intelligence with understanding cause and effect, and consequences of our actions, also it’s wired to control the primitive brain. Also in higher brain emotions such as love and compassion and kindness etc or the opposite. It’s like an onion with animal inside and human over it driving it with more or less success.
Higher power concept is training and activating this part of the brain and making it in the driving seat. For bad sinners with regular sin recidivism or people in addictions, initially the limbic system got reward for bad behaviour, then because the chemicals released endogeneosely or take in from the external world become a goal in itself, i.e. sin or substance are directly rewarding by pleasure or soothing pain the primitive brain bypassing higher brain, independent of what was the initial trigger for the behaviour or self-medication. Vicious cycle. And it’s very powerful, because it’s controlling our impulsive behaviour - people do stuff before they can even process or analyse it.
So faith in higher power will activate, train the frontal/prefrontal cortex and restore the strong links (control channels) to the limbic system, otherwise completely out of wack. There are also experiments to activate those regions with magnetically induced electricity (in accordance with the low frequency AC of the brain actvity).
So by your own consciousness or on your own it’s extremely extremely difficult if maybe impossible for many, without outside regulating and control (e.g., being in the army or living in a monastery, or locked up in a strict rehab centre) to change your ways. Maybe one step forward, but then two backward again and again.
Creating a powerful image of a higher power does the trick as it’s for our brain as real if faith is created, cultivated and unkept to be strong daily. The more powerful and clear the concept of God in your consciousness, the easier it is to change your ways. You create your own jail guard or a couch or guru (all in very good sense of the words) that overseas you and pushes you and limits you and supports you and rewards you
Say, you put electric perimeter fence if you don’t want to leave house and give control to breaker to your brother. The he only os capable to let you out. Then you remove the fence and no barrier. You can go and sin. Then imagine, you believe day after day that there is an invisible barrier, and cultivate the faith. It becomes one day so real, so strong, can be more powerful than the real thing. The real thing you can figure out put a blanket over and climb to freedom. But imagined is so perfect and without blemish and so strong, no tricky way to escape.
Therefore, it is utmost and utmost important to have a clear picture of God, and what His powers, gifts to you, His expectations, laws and requirements are. The less conflicting and more coordinated, comprehensive, harmonious belief system it is, the better are the results. Maybe that’s why Islam, it seems to me, has better results overall. Or older versions of Christianity, than new wishy washy liberal ones where anything and everything goes. Because more simple, robust, clear and more sensible picture of the Beyond.
If the God is thought of as not so powerful, or people half-believe, or He has conflicting commands, or contradicting nature, then maybe better not even create one like that…. Result will be something very sinister. Like those priests who do bad stuff to kids you know etc…
Therefore I think, the simpler the better.
Of course, all of that is just my silly thoughts. I’m not an expert. Could be anything. I don’t know
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James_Lai
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Maybe music could be so powerful to help find God. When I visit an old church with an organ playing all those low notes, but balanced stable amplitudes (not like rock or pop with cacophony and high amplitude jumps in a wide range of freqs in acoustic spectrum). Also those infrasound organ vibrations hit the brain directly in Alpha wave range bam! Like you fly into Heaven
Temple bell or Aum chants or choirs - from same kind of mechanism maybe. Should be relatively low level and longer notes to initiate lasting spiritually reviving resonance in our body
Temple bell or Aum chants or choirs - from same kind of mechanism maybe. Should be relatively low level and longer notes to initiate lasting spiritually reviving resonance in our body
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I am glad you see people need God. But why do you view Him as someone people created rather then believe He created us? I pray God softens the ground of your heart so you can understand there is a true and living God that loves you and wants you to believe and accept Him @James_Lai
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James_Lai
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Of course it would be nice to find God - maybe only in the next life? Until then He’s hiding for a purpose maybe.
I don’t know what and who God is and if He exists or not. I’m not saying God is a man creation. Human being is certainly capable of creating an image of God in their mind. Ask several believers and they will each attest to their own unique picture of God. I was talking strictly about the spiritual journey, because it’s how science says it works. Of course, science is limited knowledge, but it’s true information how we function at least at some level that we can observe. Surely, there is a higher plane, I think there is some evidence for that. Nobody has any idea how and what it is.
Even if God is an objective reality, anyway we have to come to an understanding of Him ourselves. He doesn’t engraft this in our minds snd hearts. There’s steps we take, too. So it’s fair to say I think, if you have faith in God, that you created yourself an image of Him that lives with you. Whether it’s a good or true image, it’s a whole different story
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