In Defence of Nitya-baddha Souls Posted in: Freedom From Judgement, Seeing the Divine, The Self Divine

For a westerner embracing the dharmic tradition, the concept of nitya-baddha (sanskrit) – often translated as ever-conditioned or eternally conditioned soul – is routinely confused with the idea of fallen soul prominent in Abrahamic religions. A fallen soul, in simple terms, being one who has rebelled against God, and has thus been cast out of / banished from the kingdom of God. …

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Non-judgementalism Posted in: Freedom From Judgement

Many religions consider freedom from judgement of others a saintly quality. But how attainable is it for a person of faith? Especially when at the foundation of their existence are a number of huge personal judgements. For example

What I believe to be truth IS true (I judge it to be true)
My beliefs are not actually beliefs at all … they are knowns – revealed to me by God
I know a lot about God … certainly enough to know that others who disagree with me are wrong
The goal of life is prescribed by God

How is it possible to maintain such convictions, and at the same time whole heartedly celebrate the divinity and perfection of others – and especially when their life paths are opposed to your chiselled in stone truths? …

Freedom From Jugdement Of Others Posted in: Freedom From Judgement

Many would agree that to achieve freedom from judgement of others is a worthy goal. My song Preacher is about the struggle a person-of-faith likely faces in this endeavor. But regardless one is a person-of-faith or not, I believe the path to freedom from judgement of others has a similar set of obstacles.

At the heart of the challenge always lies conviction there exist ‘truth-absolutes’ of good/bad, higher/lower, worthy/unworthy, should/shouldn’t … in terms of individual attitude and action. …

Flies in the Face of our Divinity Posted in: Divinity, Freedom From Judgement, The Self Divine

I propose we are divine, part of God, or in other words, we are ‘of God’. And because we are not anything but God, in that sense we ARE God. And that we are also NOT God does not change that we ARE.

That being the case, I suggest that judgement of wrong or right/good or bad/punishment or reward flies in the face of our divinity. …

One of Us Posted in: Divine Expression, Divinity, Freedom From Judgement, One And Different

It’s easy to relate to some people. Not so to others. I am sure we all find this to be the case. When we particularly relate to someone, we might say something like “he/she’s one of us!”.

But I propose that everyone is actually one of us. Personally, I believe we are all equally part of God; little gods, if you will, going about our business of serving the completeness of God. …

Point of View Posted in: Belief and Truth, Freedom From Judgement

I am the first in line to say that each is entitled to their own point of view. After all, I believe am … so it would be inconsistent to deny others the same right. Point of view means you are seeing something from where you stand in relation to it. It is therefore, by definition, always a relative and partial appreciation of the complete view/whole picture. …