Mental Gymnastics

Re-writing the Gospels I

To the avid reader
To those who question faith
To the open mind
To the curious folk

I've devoted a quarter of my life to books and for that, I will not always recommend that knowledge is a good thing. For one, it utterly crushed my childhood faith. Ignorance is still bliss. But if you’re up to satisfying those insatiable thoughts on beingness, then I suggest you read the following:

Conversations with God Books 1-3 by Neal Donald Walsch
The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantsakis
Da Vincci Code by Dan Brown
The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin

Stories on faith, issues on religion and timeless questions on existence often provide award-winning plots and best-selling intrigues. Most of the titles I am recommending are not for the uninitiated. Unless you are satisfied with what traditional Christianity has to offer then spare yourself the trouble.

On the top of my list is Conversations with God by Neal Donald Walsch. This is non-fiction and as my friend’s mom would say, it should’ve been entitled as “Conversations with the Devil”. She, just like my parents, was utterly blown away by the eccentric approach the author made in his writings.

Conversations with God, as the author claims, is a mere transcription of the author’s ‘divine’ experience. It kicks off as a self-help book as it tackles issues on self-motivation, relationships and career handling. But as you progress from the first to the third book (yup, there are 3 books), current Christian teachings are blatantly undermined. Here, one can perceive God as cool, patient and definitely logical. There’s no sugarcoating in his answers and I didn’t see the egocentric and vengeful God that is often told in the bible. What I like about the dialogues is that it covered pretty much everything, from personal concerns, social issues, even life in the universe. In other words, He addressed a lot of modern man’s issues in a contemporary way.. not the medieval hoopla which for me, sounds so fairy tale-like.

Moving on, how would you feel is you see Jesus as truly, a son of man. In Nikos Kazantsakis’ The Last Temptation of Christ, Jesus is a simple peasant who’s daily struggles involves weighing between his human needs and eventually accepting his fate as the Messiah.

Just like the rest of us, Jesus wanted marriage (yes, with Magdalene, his childhood friend), and to have a family of his own. God has been pressuring him to accept his fate but, initially, he tried to escape the path that leads to abandonment, pain and death. The story unfolds with Jesus as a cross-maker. Little did he know that he will soon be on the cross himself. He’s afraid of speaking in front of crowds because he doesn’t know what to say to them. He speaks in parables because he is a simple man and doesn’t know how else he could convey the message from God.

There’re plenty of similarities between this story and Buddha’s. Sidharta Gautama (Buddha) himself, just like Jesus, has already been chosen since birth. They both struggled physically, mentally and spiritually in the desert as they sought for answers. Their personal life’s journeys eventually led them to achieve divinity (or in Buddha’s case, nirvana).

(End of Part One)

posted by kquill @ 8:28 PM