A man feels compelled to go to the altar at a Billy Graham crusade. He feels guilty because he fell asleep at the wheel and it killed his wife and child. The Christians told him that if you pray this prayer and believe in Jesus you will be forgiven. He does and a wave of guilt is taken away by what they called the Holy Spirit. He weeps and shakes and feels like he is born again. He walks away a changed man feeling free.
Same man, same problem. But instead he goes to a psychiatrist who works with him exploring his thoughts that plague him about the accident until one day it dawns on him that he is not guilty. He instantly has a cathartic release of emotions and he weeps and shakes and experiences tremendous freedom. He feels as if he is born again. His life is changed.
Same man. Same scenario. He hears how psychedelics like Ayahuasca are changing people’s lives. So he goes to Peru and sits with a shaman who leads him in the ancient medicine. An hour later he energetically purges the guilt from his body. Then he has a vision of his wife and child speaking to him and telling him they are ok, everything is fine and that its time to let go and move on. The love he experiences allows him to let go and freedom takes over his life. He feels he has a second chance at life. He is a changed man.
Same guy, same situation. Out of his guilt his heavy heart caused him heart problems and one day he has a heart attack. The medics find him and try to revive him for 20 minutes. During that time he has a near death experience and sees the beauty of the afterlife. He talks to the Light and remembers how as spirit beings the accident was planned by them before they were born in order for him to see life from a completely different point of view. Moments later he is revived, his guilt is gone and his life is changed as he is no longer afraid of death or life. He feels as if he has a second chance at life like he has been born from above.
Does it really matter where the truth came from? Truth is universal though it may break through a billion different expressions of life. It can’t be copyrighted or owned. It is personal, transformative and life giving. As one teacher said, “the truth shall set you free.” You know in your heart when a truth lands by that unmistakable resonance takes place within, right?
This can be seen in simple universal truths like “the Golden Rule”. Notice how so many religions share the same spiritual truth.
In all things, do to others what you would have others do to you; for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Jesus, Mat 7:12)
Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. (Confucius, Analects 15:23)
Do nothing to others that you yourself would find hurtful. (Buddha, Udana-Varga 5.1)
This is the sum of duty: do not do to others that if done to you would cause you suffering. (Hinduism, Mahabharta 5, 1517)
Treat all creatures in the world as you would like to be treated. (Janisim, Mahavira, Sutrakritanga 1.11.33)
No one of you is a believer until you desire for others that which you desire for yourself. (Islam, Muhammad, Hadith)
What is hateful to you, do not do to another. That is the entire Teaching; all the rest is commentary. (Judaism, Hillel, Talmud, Shabbat 31A)
Regard your neighbor’s gain as your gain, and your neighbor’s loss as your loss. (Taoism, Tai Shang Kan Yin P’ien)
Do not do to others whatever is injurious to yourself. (Zoroastrianism, Shayast Na-Shayast 13:29)
Lay not on any soul a load that you would not wish to be laid upon you, and desire not for anyone the things you would not desire for yourself. (Baha’i, Baha’u’llah, Gleanings.) (Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent)
I love these because it reminds me how beautiful it is that no one owns a truth?! Or maybe it would be better said that the only one who can own the truth is the one who personally embraces it no matter what the s/Source!
The Church of The Sacred Synthesis isn’t a community of dogma, but lovers of truth that are creating a universal container for the experience of truth. It invites you to see the universal sacred sacrament as an opportunity for connection with yourself and with God.
Dr. Chuck Crisco
And so it is…
Pastor Chuck, thank you for sharing! This is a realization I had after growing up Episcopalian, then being “saved” in the Southern Baptist Church and studying Buddhism and Hinduism amongst many other religions. They all have their truth, which is interestingly similar. This does beg the question of who owns the truth, in which one can see the universality of it all. 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you for this post Pastor Chuck. The Zoraesterians also believe in Asha, the cosmic and universal principle of truth. Kind intentions, kind thoughts, kind words, and kind deeds. There are many maps, there is only one path and that’s the truth and love. All other paths are false. Sovereignty and freedom from the prison of the constructed self in a constructed world, and integration/embodiment of our human animal part will bring us into peace within and without.
Beautifully rendered. As i have done my work over the past years, ideas and ‘truths’ have emerged. As i have accepted an idea, a thought, a saying as truthful for me, I’ve noticed myself saying “Well gee, that’s what the Hindus/Buddhists/early Christians/Taoists/Medicines said” In contemplation, i have realized that the message has been here all along, in hundreds of writings, statements, experiences. Even the Beatles told me: “All you need is Love”