There is no hell

There is no such thing as hell.

Hell only exists in your mind, in your life state and most obviously in your circumstances in human form.

The hell for most westerners was created by the church as a tool to control, scarce and manipulate people.

Bishop Spong says “You and I are emerging people, not fallen people. Our problem is not that we are born in sin, our problem is we do not yet know how to achieve being fully human. The function of the Christ is not to rescue the sinners, but to empower you and call you to be more deeply and fully human than you ever realized there was the potential within you to be. Maybe salvation needs to be conveyed in terms of enhancing your humanity rather than rescuing you from it.”

Bishop Spong: “Life is a startling and wondrous experience. Eventually I think we’re going to discover that god is unfolding through the life of our consciousness and our self-consciousness and is not a parent-figure up in the sky.”

Swap out God for Universe, and it makes perfect sense.

I imagine for the same reasons it was also used in Eastern religions as a form of threat, to get people to behave correctly.

Consciousness is always in flux, it is always in movement, it is always growing. Consciousness gives rise to form. Always. It gave rise to the universe.

When we die and our bodies perish, what was good and what was evil remains like a groove in the rock after a river has carved its way through after thousands of years.

Consciousness can never be still, be stagnant, that is why the concept of heaven or hell is illogical to me.

We are always expanding,  always growing,  always becoming more.

No matter how evil you think someone is, each life, no matter how evil simply leads to something else.

Just as the entire Universe was born out of negative energy, so too do you and I appear and then disappear.

Weaving in and out of reality, in a playful expression, that is exactly what we are.

Consciousness as an expression, using matter as a tool to experience space and time.

For what purpose?

Expression, exploration, expansion and then possible implossion. Like the beating of a heart, the rising and falling of the breath. The seasons, the turning of the Earth, the spinning of the galaxies.

Once you see it, you can feel it.

Open the way to expansion.

Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo
Nam myoho renge kyo 

DESMOND TUTU — A GOD OF SURPRISES

(photo: Tom Gennara)

"There's no question about the reality of evil, of injustice, of suffering, but at the center of this existence is a heart beating with love."

South African Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu on how his understanding of God and humanity has unfolded through the history he's lived and shaped.

Listen to Krista Tippett talk with Desmond Tutu about life, humanity and how history changed his life.

Krista is an inspiration to the work I do, in sharing the uplifting and courageous stories of the people that influence me.

Krista Tippett

Host/Executive Producer

Krista grew up in Oklahoma, the granddaughter of a Southern Baptist preacher. She studied history at Brown University and went to Bonn, West Germany in 1983 on a Fulbright Scholarship to study politics in Cold War Europe. In her 20s, she ended up in divided Berlin for most of the 1980s, first as The New York Times stringer and a freelance correspondent for Newsweek, The International Herald Tribune, the BBC, and Die Zeit. She later became a special assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to West Germany.

Krista left Berlin in 1988, the year before the Wall fell. She lived in Spain, England, and Scotland for a time, then pursued a M.Div. from Yale. When she graduated in 1994, she saw a black hole where intelligent coverage of religion should be. As she conducted a far-flung oral history project for theBenedictines of St. John's Abbey (pdf)in Collegeville, Minnesota, she began to imagine radio conversations about the spiritual and intellectual content of faith that could open imaginations and enrich public life.

In 2007, Krista published her first book, Speaking of Faith. It is a memoir of religion in our time, including her move from geopolitical engagement to theology and the cumulative wisdom of her interviews these past years. Her book, Einstein's God, illustrates some of the important ways the program and her vision have continued to evolve.

Krista's two children are at the center of her life. She also loves cooking for her children and their friends, radio plays, beautiful writing, great science fiction, cross country skiing, and hot yoga.

There is no hell. The Church invented hell.

"Hell is an invention of the church ... The catholic church doesn't like the people to grow up." (John Shelby Spong, retired Episcopal bishop from Newark, N.J., interviewed by Keith Morrison on Dateline, NBC, 8-13-2006)

John Shelby Spong, whose books have sold more than a million copies, was bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark for 24 years before his retirement in 2001. His admirers acclaim him as a teaching bishop who makes contemporary theology accessible to the ordinary layperson — he's considered the champion of an inclusive faith by many, both inside and outside the Christian church. In one of his books, "The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Discover the God of Love" (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2005), this visionary thinker seeks to introduce readers to a proper way to engage the holy book of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

A committed Christian who has spent a lifetime studying the Bible and whose life has been deeply shaped by it, Bishop Spong says he was not interested in Bible bashing. "I come to this interpretive task not as an enemy of Christianity," he says. "I am not even a disillusioned former Christian, as some of my scholar-friends identify themselves. I am a believer who knows and loves the Bible deeply. But I also recognize that parts of it have been used to undergird prejudices and to mask violence."

A visiting lecturer at Harvard and at universities and churches worldwide, Bishop Spong delivers more than 200 public lectures each year to standing-room-only crowds. His bestselling books include Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, A New Christianity for a New World, Why Christianity Must Change or Die, and Here I Stand.

Bishop Spong's extensive media appearances include a profile segment on 60 Minutes as well as appearances on Good Morning America, Fox News Live, Politically Incorrect, Larry King Live, The O'Reilly Factor, William F. Buckley's Firing Line, and Extra. Bishop Spong and his wife, Christine Mary Spong, have five children and six grandchildren. They live in New Jersey.

http://www.johnshelbyspong.com/

Saving my friends Marriage. The Gohonzon. What it means to be a buddhist.

Hi Robbie, I like the video you post in youtube. I am new with Gohonzon and haven't attended any SGI meeting. I would like to ask if they have something about marriage. In Christian, they would prefer fixing the marriage if it is failling. Is it also the same in Gohonzon religion? She is fully aware that the guy is in a relationship and she induced him to cheat on her. She got herself pregnant and forced him to marry her. The problem now is he never told his main gf and didnt break up with her. She is working in abroad that's why she never could possibly found out about it. This guy want his life back and marry his main gf. I told him to chant gongyo e daimoku to fix his life. Is it ok to pray their annulment to work? Is this her karma? Hoping you could give me some advice...

============================

Hi there,

Firstly, thanks for writing. I always love to hear from people all over the world, with their various life stories etc.

Secondly, The Gohonzon is not a religion, it is an object for observing the mind. Nichiren Buddhism isn't strictly a religion, it is a life philosophy.

In our practice we learn that we need to be aware of three things;

The things we think
The things we do or our physical actions
and the things we say.

With these three things, we generate karma.

So when you chant daimoku  it is up to you what you chant for, you could chant for world peace, you could chant for the death of someone you do not like, you can chant for the murder of another person, to give you an EXTREME example.

The point I am trying to make is that daimoku, or chanting nam myoho renge kyo can be likened to a knife, a knife is capable of saving life, as well as taking life, it can be used to sustain life, it can be used to create and it can be used to destroy.

Ultimately, through your thoughts, your words and your actions, you can affect your life and the lives of others.

The best advice I would give someone, is to chant for the other persons happiness, nothing more.

Do not formulate your chant, just chant and trust that life will guide you in the right direction.

But when you choose your determinations, choose them with love, honour and compassion.

Being Buddhist is about choosing your words, thoughts and actions, and realising the potential impact they might have.

The Gohonzon, and chanting are not a magic weapon, or magic lamp.

Chanting enables you to take action, based on a place of love, compassion and great wisdom.

Deception is never a good thing, and lieing and being false behind other peoples backs, almost always comes out at some point.

Be honest and open is often the best way forward.

However, if you friend doesn't know what to do, and is struggling, she/he should chant for the happiness of this person, or chant for the wisdom to help her self out of this situation.

Fond wishes and love to you friend.

Robbie