Conversations for A Truths-Seeking Purposeful Life

Learning a Life Of True Purpose

By Michael Heng

 

The following Conversations with my good friend, Him, take place in real time over social media:

Him: “U read doctrine of christian discovery?”

Me: “Not yet.” 

Him: “Must read. The source of european domination of afro asia n the americas. They r still trying to hold on to the empire. Forces of history changing. Time to repay their debt of conquest. Europe will fall to the Muslims.” 

Me: “BBC has good stories on Buddha, Confucius & Socrates. Talk further when meet.” 

Him: “Political Science PS 101 : )

Him: “I read the bible many times just to know biblical truths. Even attended alpha course. Not impressed. Only confirms bible has two sides like God has two sides, the good side n the evil side.” 

Me: “Actually, only the Truth and others, but no sides. The pursuit & uncovering of this Absolute Truth is what I am interested in now. Basically, the Truth of Christ points to the other Truths as the Holy Spirit enlightens me.”

Him: “The truth of jesus' teaching is wat he said. 'The secrets to the kingdom of heaven have been given to you.' Unfortunately no one knows wat r these secrets.” 

Me: “Actually, the "kingdom of heaven" is HERE on earth, not somewhere in some future place. Christ said: "It's within you." Elsewhere repeatedly, he said that the "secrets" consist of just "worshipping" God the Creator, and ACTIVELY help the poor, sick, women, widows, children & orphans. Nothing else matters in true & authentic Christianity. All else is fluff & hollow designed to profit the power elite, mostly priests, theologians & lay leaders in the church. The real "Church" composes of INDIVIDUAL Christians & NOT in buildings & institutions. Each Christian is the self-sufficient Church of Jesus Christ. The "authentic" Christian is evidenced by his/her "fruits" of good work in the name of Christ.”

Him: “Doing good is in most religions. Goin to heaven is a different thing altogether.” 

Me: “There is no going anywhere. Here and now is all there is. Doing good & doing right NOW are the only most important things. Cannot worry about the irrelevant "next" life. Just start living this current one right while worshipping God. Let's continue when we meet.”

Him: “U been reading buddhism: )”

Me: “I know Buddhism b4 accepting Christ. We are who we are - all "sinners" before God. Desire, warts and all define mankind. Impossible to suppress or overcome desire. No human effort is effective to make us "good" enough. That is NOT life's purpose or objective. Like it or not, it is to "know the True God and worship Him". Period. Do not fight & kill one another over religion. True religion makes a person "better" than he can ever be as defined by whether his fellow men can "see" Christ in him.”

Him: “What is the common spiritual practice of all religions.”

Me: “All religions prey on fear. Fear of hell, of eternal damnation, of continuous never-ending "punishments" for various human weaknesses & imperfections, of death and of the "end" of this life. That's how "holy men" gain power over devotees. True religion offers real freedom and sense of liberation in the loving forgiving bosom of God. He said: "you have been forgiven of every sin, current & future, AND I, God, will remember them no more". How's that for absolute true freedom!”

Him: “I m looking at meditation as the way to enlightenment. Jesus did the same n spoke abt it many times. Believers dun understand or did not want to understand this most impt part of his teachings. Many parts must hv been edited fr the bible.”

Me: “Meditation as part of the worship of God is indeed Christian practice. Unlike other meditations which recommend "blanking out" or escape the man-made social realities of pain, sickness, crime, poverty and human relationships. More important is to demonstrate God-likeness in our ACTIVE conduct towards humans, animals & climate around us.” 

Me: “Enlightenment" refers to the continuous discovery of the Truths.”

Him: “Not really. Jesus was enlightened the same way as Gautama (Buddha). Both had the same experience, one after 40 days n one after 49 days of meditation.”

Me: “Both shared their "discoveries" of the Truths that they found until their respective deaths. Truths continue to be unfolded to the seekers, meaning those of us who want to pursue them. Buddha's Truths excluded God's role; Christ included the role of the Creator, which to me embraces the "larger" Truth. Christ did not end there - He said his Truth will lead us into "other" Truths. All Truths overlapped, since no one could humanly discover exactly the same amount of knowledge. They merely shared what they believe to be SUFFICIENT for existence in this world. That's why there is consensus on the overlapped common Truths, but considerable diversity and contradictions outside the overlaps. Focus should be on inside the overlapped Truths. The test is whether one is "comfortable" with the unfolding Truths. No need to force others to believe the same; once absolute Freedom is attained in the mind and soul, the believer knows and will adapt physically. He experiences what the bible refers to as the "peace that surpasses all understanding". That I have experienced on some occasions. And that's why I know my God is real.”

Him: “What is truth?” 

Me: “The absolute Truth or Reality is enveloped by onion-like layers of man-made delusions, philosophies, religions, knowledge and superstitious beliefs and practices. It lies at the core. Try taking a large onion and start peeling off its layers one at a time. Imagine the false reality onion which is many thousands time bigger with overlapping layers. What lies at its Core is the answer to your question, which may never be obtained in your lifetime; and neither do u need it in order to live the rest of your life. We can however embark on realistic journeys towards the Core Truths. For me, the Final Truths have to do with worshipping God the Creator; and to Love my fellow men actively as much as I love God and loved ones. These 2 journeys are sufficient endeavors for the rest of my remaining life. I will continue to peel off the "onion-like" layers of false realities in my writings & speeches. 

Him: “The peeling analogy is like knowing ur true self. The part abt loving god n praising god - does god need to b loved n praised when he is everything n needs nothing?”

Me: “Not the Christian God. The Christian God loves being worshipped through praises & thanksgiving music and songs. This is evident throughout the bible. That's why He created human beings to enjoin Him in the celebration of life. Such Godlike human qualities are also in us since He created us in His image as the bible said.

Him: “The christian god is the god of israel. Actually all the assumptions abt god is a human interpretation of wat is god. We live not to love god. We live n we make meanings of our own existence. Is there a purpose n wat is this purpose? To love god, cant b right?”

Me: “God is the God of all He created. Israel did not invent God. God appeared to Abraham, the Father of those referred to later as the Jews. God also appeared to many, many other early and earlier civilizations. But NOT all the early Gods refer to the SAME God the Creator. Many are imposters, who are quickly found out and abandoned. I think if you want to know who is the True God ... Better to discover Him yourself, if serious want to. It's a personal discovery. Different religions have it own "formula". Choose wisely; pray to the True God to guide your choice. 

Him: “I always find this obsession to praise god n love god amusing. It is like a loveless god craving for love n attention. N he is there to meddle with everyone n displeases with man not wanting to know him or to believe him, not to love him. My view, god is too big to indulge in such things. He creates man to know him?”

Me: “Depends on which religion u want to use to talk about God. Again it is not what u think about God that matters, it's what God think about you.” 

Him: “U r saying god is thinking abt everyone n wat each ind thinks abt him?”

Me: “God doesn't think about everyone; He knows each one of us.” 

Him: “Exactly. U r talking abt the all knowing, hv everything n does not need anything. The christians believe they r connected to god n know god while other believers r connected to anything but not god. This is just a belief wld u think so?”

Me: “Yes. That's just Christianity the religion. Others have their own beliefs in their religions; and they shd feel comfortable in those beliefs. No need to argue relative merits ... There are no merits in any religion. Truths are independent of religious and man-made beliefs.”

Him: “I see u r getting closer to the real thing, religion a man made self delusion. God is not confined by any religion: ) i m still asking a lot of questions but no satisfactory answers. Still searching n waiting for the truth whatever that maybe.”