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Sometimes...
Created: 2023feb21tue
Updated: 2026mar30mon
Sometimes, late at night, around a camp fire, people start thinking, and talking, and wondering ... about all their wanderings...
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This started out on the Trails homepage on this wixsite, but I've decided to clean things up a little, and expand this particular bit.
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Religion, and faith. ... You might disagree, but I think that our way of living our life is the broadest representation of our religion, and it is a manifestation of how strong our faith is that this religion of ours is actually worth all of that sacrifice. ... think about it for a bit... Sela. ;)
In case you're wondering, I'm with Nazarene Israel. To Christians, I seem to be a Jew; to Jews, I seem to be Christian... it's not complicated, just complex. ...And once you've worked through the complexities, it's actually a lot simpler than it might seem at first. ...like the uncomplicatedness of the Dao, with a spot of Zen on the side. ...as long as it doesn't conflict with the Towrâh or the New Testament. No, I'm not trying to serve two (or three, or four) masters.
Then there is also James Tabor... whose research makes me seriously consider becoming an Ebionite myself...
...but I don't pretend to get it right all the time either. It's a journey; and the destination is merely to get back up again everytime. "Your mileage may (read: will probably) vary." Here below follow merely some of the highlights along my personal journey to and with Nazarene Israel, so far...
...And then there is Science, of course. Which could be considered to be just another religion again. Feel free to disagree. I don't care. ...and you can't make me care either. So, there! ... Looking up at the stars at night around a camp fire... What is out there? Astronomy, cosmology, quantum theories, hyperdimensional metaphysics... -- Aliens! UFOs, crop circles, conspiracy theories, urban legends... Don't you just love hiking, and camping out?
Perhaps you might want to take these following resources along on a nice, long, multi-day hike, or even just for a short solo stroll or saunter. ...or perhaps not. You decide. ... at your own risk, one way or another.
The Little Prince
Winnie-the-Pooh
The House at Pooh Corner
Return to Pooh Corner
-- Kenny Loggins
The Tao of Pooh
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
-- Neil Diamond
(Love at the Greek)
Be / Dear Father / Lonely Looking Sky / Sanctus / Skybird / Be...
Illusions
Man from Earth
This video here above is about some people having a discussion around a fire. It's not quite a campfire, but it is an entertaining story with some interesting concepts; well-written, well-acted. I do not agree with the usual, popular perspective on the Old Testament from the apparent point of view of someone who does not seem to have given living it a fair try for themselves, but ... I like the idea of considering alternatives to what we think we've been told to believe... ;)
The Prophet
Celebration of Discipline
101 Zen Stories:
Compilation of Zen Koans
The Gateless Gate
Koans
Wow... This is an amazing video here above from Buddha Wisdom, "Your Brain Can't Solve This ZEN Question | Buddhist KOANS" -- THE MORE YOU THINK... THE WORSE IT GETS -- YOU'RE TRAPPED ;)
I love koans. ...and the understanding that understanding that not understanding is not the understanding, and that understanding is not... -- not even this understanding. ... Understand? ... Ha-ha-ha! I love koans.
This video had me in stitches. ...perhaps not because it is particularly funny (although it is... for me, anyway) but rather because it is so beautiful (and I wasn't even looking at the screen -- the visuals just distract me from concentrating on what I shouldn't bother concentrating on... ;p ) ...and because I recognised the beauty, and because it resonated within me.
Here's my koan: What is nothing? In philosophical terms: Define (absolute) "nothing". ...and go! Enjoy. It's a whole lot of fun. ...because I think I get it. ...but I know that if I truly got it, I actually wouldn't get it. ... Get it? Bwahahahahahahahahaaa!
Is this why Budai laughs? ;)
Tao Te Ching
The Art of Being:
The Inner Chapters
The Art of Being:
The Outer Chapters
The Art of Being:
The Miscellaneous Chapters
If you're interested in Judeo-Christian faith and religion, here's a four-page document, "Hebrew 101", which contains everything you need for a very basic and
concise introduction to reading the most important four-letter word of all. Much of this lifestyle is about getting back to the original Hebraic roots of Judeo-Christian Scripture, and playing around with textual patterns, looking for the beauty of conceptual associations... that lead to greater and deeper -- practical -- insight and understanding ...
It is recommended that you display it in a pdf reader that allows you to flick the pages quickly, like a flipbook animation, and look for the similarities and differences among the pages. You can also print it out, and arrange the pages in a 2x2, left-to-right, top-to-bottom, grid lay-out, for further comparison of patterns. ...And, maybe, one day -- one night, around a campfire, we can talk about it. ;)
The following are merely introductory videos to YouTube channels where you can find more, related information.
For further ideas in this general regard, this Chase Spirit blog post might be of interest.
...And then... If you're looking for a guru... Here, have some of mine. Rodney Norman. Like most, he's got some stuff that I don't agree with, but... generally, he's got enough wisdom for everyone, and then some left over. ;)
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If you continue reading, and you haven't been yet so far already, then you will now definitely be led astray. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Since last I've been here, my religion and I have been proudly corrupted. The agents of said corruption are Dan McClellan, Ky Dickens and Dakota of Earth, with some contribution by Chase Hughes, and everyone else mentioned here above as well. Were it not for the Afrikaans Dutch-Reformed Church, Winnie-the-Pooh, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Nazarene Israel, James Tabor and the rest, I would not have attained this high level of enlightenment that I now possess... ;p woteva.
I guess the corruption can (perhaps?) be summarised by the following (rhetorical?) questions and their implications:
(1) If "God" is supposedly indefinably-beyond anything anyone can't even dream, then how can any one of the approx. 40,000 different Christian denominations (ask your friendly neighbourhood AI), or the myriad equivalent sects of any other religion, claim to have the final word about "Him"?
(2) If the only constant is change, and no-one can ever hope to explore the extent of "God" to its fullest, then how can anyone ever claim to have surpassed stagnation?
(3) If each of us is a uniquely-different individual of different background and different experience, then how could Jesus have commissioned the Inquisition, requiring us all to limit ourselves to the same box?
If your faith is strong,
do not be afraid...
If you are afraid,
study, to shew thyself approved...
and become corrupted.
TTT should be followed from the first video first, in order, all of it. Otherwise, you will corrupt (without quotes) yourself.
For those who haven't figured it out yet, the "corruption" of which I speak should be written in quotes. It sits opposite ignorance.
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...and now, the following...
(https://walkwater.wixsite.com/wwww/post/untitlable)
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