He Paid....

Am I Free Now
Published by A Pilgrim at Smashwords
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If one can conquer the two extremes of the Denial of the Holy and being blindfolded by
beliefs of a doctrine......... there is no stopping him or her from the most valuable
substance in the universe. Freedom.

Getting inspired is getting motivated and energized by someone's deeds, life, and
values. Many years ago, I found my life Inspiration. I was inspired by Jesus Christ. It
was not the sweet looking face drawn by medieval and contemporary artists. I stopped
worshiping him. I looked at his life, his words. I simply got inspired. A pursuit that will not
stop at anything started.

In my long search for Christ, I felt, everybody, all human beings, back then, now and
always will be more than happy if someone else pay for us...be it for our sins or for a
meal at a restaurant.

Are these not the "instincts" we are made of, I thought. These instincts make beliefs.
Getting assured pardon for our endless sins, Being loved by a farther despite all the
despicable things we do...We simply want that..so we simply believe it so.

I felt, Christ did pay a heavy price for preaching the good news, a totally new set of
Values and a new way of life, to an arrogant, extremist society, who eventually crucified
him.

He sure did sacrifice his life to show me the way. I am not going to disappoint him, I
thought.

John 3:16 - I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. Does this mean.. Believing in Christ as the lord can take me to God the
father...?

I did not think so because Christ did not want me to think so.

Mathew 7 22
On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name? 23And then
will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

The purpose of a "way" is to follow. You can see Jesus mentioning this word quite often
- "Follow me". He could not have meant "walk behind me in a single line". I realized, His
word can be Followed.

I felt as a small alter server back then, The God the Farther is Perfect, void of sin thus
we call Holy. When you follow the way, it leads to the farther .It leads to God .It leads to
be void of Sin.

I am not perfect, I am only human dose not stand anymore. I cannot simply remain a
Sinner, if I follow the way of Christ. I can surely remain a sinner if I just resort to believe
and worship Christ.

I realized the word of Christ as, I tell you the way, Follow it - be saved.

The cost of following him is simply awesome. Naturally, many resort to "Believe" instead
of paying the price of - "Follow me."

What is this cost of "Follow me", I re examined.

Mathew 6 24
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money

Mathew 19 - 21 Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess
and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

What is the problem with wealth?, Can I not be a good person with all I have now. The
person mentioned in Mathew 19 - 21 is a Good person who kept his commandments.
Yet he was told to...drop everything to follow Christ.

Hmm. Not very comfortable. Did not make any sense at first. Yet I searched, far and
wide, even beyond the walls of the doctrine.

Then came a revelation in the prayer Christ taught, ...Our Farther in heaven.....Do not
bring us to the temptation and deliver us from all evil.

Jesus defeated the tempter, in the wilderness.

What is the tempter..I inquired. An imaginary beast we think of as the Devil..? That was
too primitive and unrealistic to me. I looked for more realistic terms and found - The
tempter is given rise by the Desires we harbor.

I took time to reflect on myself. It became obvious that each time I got angry or hated
someone it is because I did not get what I desire, the foundation for all the Temptations.

Break the code - No one can serve two masters...! Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth. The seemingly anti wealth words of Christ. Acquiring wealth is a
never ending desire. Wealth does not mean millions of Dollars. The never ending sense
of acquisition can relate to a piece of ornament I desire in my home to all the money
and comforts I dream of having.

Lust and Greed prevail when you get what you Desire and Anger and Rage prevail
when you don't get what you desire. The total sum of SIN. So..What would life be
without DesiresI found out just that..

I wondered how I got so deluded to think when I get what I desire that God has blessed
me...! What a ploy by the tempter.

Ever so frequently, Lust and Greed, Anger and Rage become the fueling force for my
actions through the body, word, and thought. These actions are the SIN I try to avoid.

Where does the total sum of sin exist. The body did not seem to harbor the Sin for my
legs dont get angry nor my organs get lustful. The total sum of sin seem to manifest in
the MIND. The root of the sin, the desire, seem to manifest in the MIND .

What is mind, where is it. Mind seemed to be a different entity from "me" as the mind
wanted to do many things I did not really want to do. Despite my strongest resolve not
to do certain things, Mind eventually gear up to do it.

When I say "My Mind" , the mind is something that belong to me. Whatever it is... I
realized I had little power over it.

Take a look at some verses that give us the "Way" Christ has taught...

Mathew 5 22
But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, You fool!will
be liable to the hell of fire.

...How many times a day would we call a motorist, a politician, a passer by - You idiot -
in our thoughts...

Mathew 5 36
And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black.
37Let what you say be simply Yes or No; anything more than this comes from evil.
...All our endless arguments and opinions we cling to, that produce nothing but dis
contempt in our hearts can end if we simply say Yes or No to what believe...

Mathew 5 39
But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right
cheek, turn to him the other also.

Mathew 5 46
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?

Mathew 6 19
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal, 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Mathew 6 25
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will
drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body
more than clothing?

Mathew 5 - 27
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall not commit adultery:
28But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath
committed adultery with her already in his heart.

There was no way I could keep up with the "way' of Christ as my mind was in a state of
its own, defying my resolve to be god fearing. The only option seemed to believe "God
would forgive my sins".

I felt, Christ paid a heavy price preaching this "Way" for me to Follow. It would be an
insult to that price if I just get complacent and accept..I am a sinner, god will forgive me.

The "Way" of Christ is a course of action. It hardly contained any beliefs. Anyone
interested could follow the way.

"do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about
your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing?".This is not a religious belief.
It's a piece of advice anyone could take to lighten the burdens.

A breakthrough......

I came across Mindfulness as I searched beyond the walls of the doctrine to find - How
Can I follow the way.

It seemed extremely relevant and useful in taming a mind that can destroy all my
resolves at will. The practice of Mindfulness existed all over the world across many
doctrines. So many different practices like yoga, mindfulness for specific higher levels of
alertness, mindfulness for relaxation and healing etc.,
For my great fortune, what caught my eye is the Mindfulness that can help me follow the
Way of Christ.

The mindfulness that can free my mind from the powerful grasp of Sin and it's
foundation - Desire. Such mindfulness was taught by a great man now referred to as
"The Buddha".

The details were embedded in a doctrine called Buddhism. Just like the way of Christ
could be followed by anyone, the mindfulness taught by Buddha could be followed by
anyone who wished to benefit from it. Nothing religious.

I peeled off the doctrine of Buddhism to unveil an extraordinary practice and a guideline
for realization.

Mathew 6 7
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think
that they will be heard for their many words....Jesus would have taught Mindfulness.
Mindfulness does not have words in it.

Jesus was in the wilderness in complete solitude and silence, where he defeated the
tempter

The mindfulness of Buddha is entirely based on "Silence" and "Solitude" and is aimed at
"Observing" the trail of mind and to know how it entangles and what it produces.

Almost unbelievably, this process will take one through the "Way' of Christ eventually.
This process of Buddhas mindfulness produces knowledge and wisdom that you would
begin to change how you perceive Happiness.

Everything we do... work, play, beg, steal, borrow..is aimed at achieving Happiness.

When we have a clear new perception of what happiness is, it will change the way we
work, play, beg, steal, borrow.

The Buddha teaches the entirely Non Matter mind as having 5 faculties or
independently working attributes. If one is to have control over something, it is
imperative to know of that matter in detail. Getting to know the mind and how it works
matter.

1. The Will - What decides action (Great relevance to - Thy will be done in Christs
prayer)
2. The Energy - What produces Psychological energy to the process of thinking and
physical energy to move about.
3. The Attention - produce Awareness
4. The Absorption - What keeps numerous actions initiated by Will without diminishing.
5. The Rationale - Knowing of cause and effect of inputs from the 5 sensory organs of
the body - eye, ear, nose, tong and touch.
For a start I invite you to practice mindfulness to Perceive these 5 attributes within
your mind, your non physical part.

The first step is to focus the attribute of mind called The Attention which produce
awareness, to your breath. Just pay attention to your in and out breath keeping your
body straight so that you would not fall asleep due to relaxation. Try and build this up to
an hour a day.

Initially sit in a quiet comfortable place and pay Attention to the inhale and exhale with
eyes closed.

Mathew 12 - 17
Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is
expelled? 18But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this
defiles(spoil) a person. 19For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery,
sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.

In the sheer silence just observe the thoughts that arise in your mind. They arise
whether you want them or not. Dont try to stop them arising. Take good care with firm
attention not to start thinking along the thoughts that arise. Thinking is and Act with
Will.

Thinking makes you tired. Thoughts and Thinking is initiated by positive and negative
force of Desire (Like and dislike). All our actions are based on thinking. In above verse
as recorded in Matthew, mind is referred as the Heart.

Learn with frequent practice to keep your focus "firm". Thoughts will arise but you will
not start the process of thinking. When you have control over thinking..you have control
over your actions.

Thoughts of making something, Thoughts of having something, thoughts of anger,

thoughts of uncomfortable burning desires. Just observe them without engaging in them
which make you start "thinking".

Replace irrational thinking with Contemplation. Inquire with firm attention fixed on
breath. Inquire what?.What is Happiness, What keeps me from happiness, What is
pleasure, is it happiness, What is right what is wrong, Why is it right why is it wrongall
the deep questions you need answers to. Keep contemplation alive all the time. The
answers will come. Still keep contemplation alive. Refine those answers you get.

After such frequent practice, learn to pay attention to your breath with your eyes open,
while walking, while doing something. Fix your attention to the breath.

Find out through Contemplation...when the mind is not entangled in anything...it's

calm. It produces Happiness. This is opposite to our general perception that
happiness is brought about when we entangle in things to get what we like and repeal
what we dont like.
This understanding of Happiness will eventually change the way we work, play, beg,
steal, and borrow to make happiness.

For further clarifications on the practice and your views and comments please feel free
to email me at - a.pilgrim2freedom@gmail.com

May the goodness be with you.

 About the Author

A Pilgrim , I am on a journey to find Peace and Liberation. Religions seem contain valuable
codes that are heavily or completely over shadowed by their built up Doctrine. The fueling
principle in my search is - If one can conquer the two extremes of the Denial of the Holy and
being blindfolded by beliefs of a doctrine......... there is no stopping him or her from the most
valuable substance in the universe. Freedom from burning desires and raging anger.

I wish to share my findings and get any help I can from you for the uphill journey.
 Other books by this author

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a.pilgrim2freedom@gmail.com