Food for Thought #31: Be True:
The Cost of Being Different
What Happens When You Cannot Be Just
Like Everyone Else
About What is "Normal":
Is it normal to be a Christian, a Jew,
a Buddhist, or a Hindu? It is inside their own cultures and
countries... but not on the outside.
About the Demi-Monde:
When you are not
normal, you find yourself living here: in the less-than-respectable
world which is not a part of mainstream society.
About the Pressure to Conform:
Why "for
your own good" is the most terrifying concept as it creates the
pressure to conform to the expectations of others.
About Being a Karma Fan:
Why and how I
became the biggest fan of karma.
When you are visiting this site, you are a temporary member of the Karma
"Demi-Monde". "Demi-Monde" is a French word meaning "half world". In
English, "Demi-Monde" means "persons who are not respectable because they
live on the fringes of respectable society" (or the "real world").
*
Demi-Monde:
This 19th century term was used to describe
"courtesans" who were kept in fashionable apartments by their wealthy
lovers. Today this word is used to describe those who do not follow
the mainstream of society. This means that those of us who are
"karma fans"
are in the "Demi-Monde" like it or not.
*
Feared:
People fear what they do not understand. When you follow
one of the major religions, this gives others a level of comfort with you
as the beliefs you share makes it easier for you to trust one another.
When you follow a new age religion inspired by a belief in reincarnation,
this makes others in mainstream religions automatically mistrust and fear
you... because that is what different beliefs inspire.
*
Misunderstood:
When you are feared and mistrusted, you are bound
to be misunderstood as well. Those who cannot understand you cannot get
comfortable enough with you to get to know you better. At best, they will
just shy away from you. At worst, they will gossip about you and may try
to turn others against you.
*
Shunned:
The hardest part of the "Demi-Monde" is knowing that
others will be automatically prejudiced against you and will make no effort
to know you better. You will be a "social outcast" and be shunned by
those who might otherwise have liked you... if only they would have been
willing to get to know the "real" you.
*
Secrecy:
Your beliefs are your own private business. When you
are a member of the "Demi-Monde", you learn to be in "stealth mode" with
those whose fear and ignorance have blinded them to the greater truth of
our existence that karma and reincarnation teaches. You learn that secrecy
about religious beliefs is a good thing.
"'For your own good' is a persuasive argument that will
make someone agree to their own destruction." (Janet Frame)
The most terrifying phrase in the English language is "for your own good"
because it means you have caved to the pressure to conform to the agenda
of others.
*
Who Decides?
The only one who is in the best position to decide
what is in your best interests is YOU! When someone claims to being doing
something "for your own good" what they are really saying is that THEY know
what is better for you that you do. Unless there is something that limits
your capacity, like illness, injury, incapacity, or youth, this is never
true. It bears repeating: you are the only one who should ever decide what
is best for you... not someone else!
*
Who Cares?
History has shown that those who claim to be acting
"for your own good" often do the worst things to you. Like those in the
Inquisition, who killed your body and claimed to do it "for the good"
of your eternal soul. Like those in the cults, who get you to swallow
poison and claimed to do it "for the good" of your life. Like those gurus,
who force babies on underage children and claimed to do it "for the good"
of their future. Those who you allow to do things "for your own good" end
up doing things to you that really is for their own good, not yours.
*
For the Good of Your Body:
Those who ask you to harm your body
"for your own good" are always wrong. Did those religious orders who
insisted that their followers whip their backs raw move them closer to
God? No. Did those religions who insisted on meditative practices that
blew out a person's hips, knees, ankles, etc move them closer to God?
No. Only those who treat your body with love, kindness, and care as the
temple of your spirit are doing you any good.
*
For the Good of Your Mind:
Those who ask you to deny your mind
"for your own good" are always wrong. Do those religions which convince
their followers to harm or kill others move them closer to God? No. Do
those religions who supply excellent reasons for its followers to hate
non-believer move them closer to God? No. Only those who treat your mind with
respect as the humble servant of your master spirit and teach the principles
of love are doing you any good.
*
For the Good of Your Emotions:
Those who ask you to ignore your
emotions "for your own good" are always wrong. Do those religions who
demand that their followers mistrust joy, exhibit hate, and create destruction
move them closer to God? No. Do those religions who persuade their followers
to kill innocent others and to destroy property for the "greater good"
move them closer to God? No. Only those who honor your emotions as your
guiding spirit are doing you any good.
I am a Karma Fan. Perhaps, after reading this site for awhile, so are you.
My work over the years has increased and deepened my faith in karma. After
all I have seen, I am a greater fan of karma now than I was when I started.
Here is why and how I came to be such a huge fan of karma.
*
Search for Faith:
It took me many years to find karma and more
to become a karma fan. In my search for a faith to guide my life, there
was one golden rule that guided me.
"A faith should not depend upon me
not asking someone the right question about it!"
There has been NO question karma could not answer
for me.
*
Off the Christian Path:
I was a Christian for almost 2,000 years.
The question I asked - which got me off the Christian path - was
"What happens to those who are born and who die
in remote places without ever having gotten the chance to hear and
follow the word of Christ?" The answer I
got was, "They are doomed to hell because
only through knowing Christ's word can a Soul be saved!"
HUH? Even I knew God would not be as unfair
as that!
*
Deep Philosophical Problems:
Karma is the only "religion" that
addressed the twin philosophical problems of evil and inequality.
Q:
"Why is there evil in the world?"
A:
"Individuals must reap the consequences of the
unloving actions they have sown in this life and past lives."
Q:
"Why are individuals born into unequal
conditions (relative to health, wealth, and happiness)?"
A:
"They must experience the full cycle of life
from all points of view (such male-female, sick-healthy, rich-poor,
etc) to evolve in Soul awareness."
*
Karmic Justice:
Karma does what religion should do: it makes me
feel more peaceful in the world. I no longer feel the need to right
wrongs: I leave that to karma. I no longer feel fear of "bad" things
happening to me: I know that karma has and will treat me with justice.
I no longer get upset by the evil or inequality I see: I know that karma
is always acting in the background to silently and inexorably create
justice between past and present lives. I no longer worry about the
future: I know that I have created it as I wish by living a karma free life.
Credits: from channeled
information and "Respect" logo by
peacemonger.org.
What Happens When You Cannot Be Just
Like Everyone Else
Web Site Hosted by
by