Jesus was not a Christian, Buddha was not a Buddhist...

Scriptures come from God, but alas, they are written by humans. Thus the Divine Word is sullied by cultural and intellectual bias, but the Spirit Beyond is nonetheless pure. And so, the messenger becomes the message. This is well, for any one of us engaged in the process of purifying mind, body and spirit becomes eligible to be as One with the Holy Spirit. Satori, Nirvana, transcendence - the shaman lives in all of us - when we choose to exercise our multi-dimensional capabilities.

Spiritual seekers, psychedelic voyagers, original people on their vision quest, prophets, buddhas, saints and meditators (to name a few), are all exercising the same facility. There is a spark of Divinity in every one of us. But humanity has yet to know its own infinite mind. The more we study, the more wonders we find. The finer we slice things, the more we find they are the same. We must treasure our commonality, and excoriate all thought that would seek to divide us.

We need no "isms," we need no enforced modes of thought, it is ours to Be. Still, we should know the histories of our institutions, remain wary and vigilant of potential excess. Witness how the baser elements of the human condition corrupt any organization in due time, regardless of the nobility of their charter. It is time to insure the irrelevance of dogma, as we overcome the failures and errors of the past. And stay respectful of our elders as they see their structures vanishing. Those of us engaged in Becoming will see the disappearance of ancient musty regimes as a melding of our best qualities while removing the dross of hatred and intellectual restraint.

Our need for Love and Sacredness is only fulfilled through right action. Anyone who claims their way as the only way is thinking narrowly and indeed courting the hubris of Lucifer. We are all equal in the Eye of God, we are all Divine. Know your own heart and you will know the Heart of God.

-- Don Baraka