Just wanted to share the following with you today. Read, think, and discover. I found it interesting given that the writer is the pastor of a large church located in Austin, Texas.

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Jim Rigby

2h  · 

TEACHERS OF AWAKENING

For me, consciousness is the most fascinating subject in the world. Somehow, in a universe of burning gas and exploding rock, we are lights shining out of that darkness giving witnesses to it it all.

Religion sometimes expresses the mystery of consciousness with fantastical stories. In my opinion, the point of such teaching stories should never be belief in supernatural hypotheticals. Their purpose should be to deepen and broaden our awareness until we can sense the miracle in the ordinary.

I believe it is important to notice that, when Jesus wanted to begin teaching, he took students away from their ordinary frames of reference (businesses, families, religions, etc.). He, then, took them out to a shoreline and asked them to learn from the birds and flowers. Throughout his ministry Jesus taught with parables, not theological doctrine. It seems to me that he, like Buddha, was focused on awareness, not religious tradition.

Some preachers begin and end their teaching with scripture. They believe their job is to repeat word for word what they were taught, whether they understand it or not. At funerals, they pretend to be certain about matters no human being can possibly know. In sermons, they shed more light on the past than the present. Often, without realizing it, they teach their followers to see through borrowed eyes and listen through ears not their own. They earnestly believe their job is to pass the torch that was given them. They just hope no one notices its flame has long been extinguished.

Teachers of awakening begin by leading us to our own human hearts in the here and now. At some point, they may use tools like scripture to deepen and broaden our consciousness until we fall in love with the whole process of life. To this end, they teach the miracle stories of scripture, not as violations of nature, but as poetic expressions of what life feels like when our are hearts are in tune with the whole.

Rather than making hypothetical claims about heavens and hells, teachers of awakening help us find infinity in the here. Rather than claiming to know objective facts about an ancient creation or future apocalypse, teachers of awakening help us find eternity in the now. Rather than a permanent relationship of teacher and pupil, teachers of awareness never forget that we are ALL teacher just needing to be brought back to our own wisdom.

Perhaps, most importantly, teachers of awakening never forget what they do NOT know."