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Prophet or Madman

He Who Has The Most Toys When He Dies Wins

Last updated on: December 11, 2011 at 3:28 pm   by chrisjohnson

He Who Has The Most Toys When He Dies Wins 2011-12-11T15:28:54+00:00 chrisjohnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Bruce Adams

I remember reading a bumper sticker once that read, “He who has the most toys when he dies wins!”

From the human view that many adhere to as their basis of life, that statement holds a degree of truth. For those who wish to awaken to their spiritual life however, the opposite may be true.

Over the last decade or so, I have been doing my best at writing and teaching the difference between life as seen through the eyes of man compared to the eyes of spirit. What I discovered through observing and listening to others is there exists very little true understanding in this world. 2000 years ago Jesus said we had the blind leading the blind. Looking at our world and seeing what people have been taught, I would say not much has changed. As a result of the blind teaching the blind, there are many misunderstandings and confused points that have been accepted as truths.

Before addressing some of  those points, I wish to state once again for the record, by no means do I believe that you must become or follow any one particular religion to awaken and reconnect with God. As a matter of fact, holding such a belief is contrary to truth.

That said, let us take a deeper look at the deference between the human and the spiritual view when it comes to toys. To begin with, I find that it is best to start with the idea or concept of ownership. Some years ago, I remember hearing that the American Indian had no concept of land ownership. They believed that all land belonged to the Great Spirit. If you were to take this concept and applied it to not only land but rather to all things in this world, you would go a long way in gaining some divine insights.

While reading the Bible after seeing creation from beyond the view of man, I noticed some discrepancies between what I had been educated to and what actually is. For example, as a child I heard, money is the root of all evil. What I discovered was, the bible does not say, money is the root of all evil but rather, “the love of money is the root of all evil.”

This example is but one of many that exist in this world and affect the minds of all those who adopt the wrong view. Looking at the latter,“the love of money is the root of all evil,” it becomes obvious that money is neutral and nether good or bad. The apostle Paul address this when he wrote, “Of its own self, all things are pure, they become impure when we eat with an impure mind.”

Looking from the view of Spirit, Paul was absolutely correct, money and toys are not the problem. The problem is not the things of this world but rather what the things and people of the world mean to us.

Rumi a Muslim mystic was once quoted as saying, “Inside the great mystery that is, we don’t really own anything. What is this competition we feel then, before we go one at a time, through the same gate?”

To me, the competition we feel exists only when we forget that God alone exists.

While it is true that everything that exits is pure. It is equally true that anything has the potential to cloud your vision. This is why Jesus said, you must forsake everything and everyone including yourself to be his disciple.  For those who do not yet understand, forsaking does not mean abandoning or running away from but rather, shifting one’s vision to the Spiritual view.

Another way of saying the same thing is to substitute the word forsake with detachment.

Detachment is a release from desires stemming from the human mind and is a common belief held by many religions including Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Jainism, Kabbalah, Taoism and the Bahá’í Faith.

When I wrote my first book, I had no idea of how many books had been written on the same subject mater. It was not until I choose the title “Conversations with God” that I discovered I was not the only one working on this subject matter.

Upon a visit to a local book store much to my surprise, I saw a book with the title “Conversations with God.” Looking back, I recognize I was given a lesson in non attachment. Rather than getting caught up in the moment I asked for guidance as to what to use as a substitute title. What came to me was , “It Is All One Truth.” Imagine my surprise when it hit me, from the spiritual view truth is universal and there are many paths that can lead us to our Re-birthing/remembrance.

In closing I would like to quote our brother Jesus; “you cannot serve two masters.”

Anyone who has the most toys when he dies while holding an attachment to this world, may just find, the only thing they won was a return trip back to this world.

Regardless of your path or what religion you practice, if you wish to awaken yourself and live awakened in this world you will have to struggle. More to come…

Love and Light,

Brother Bruce

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