From the back cover

 

     We want to believe that the world is essentially good, that evil forces don’t exist, and if they do, that they’re not that evil.

     In reality, there are ruthless, evil people in the world―many of them.  They will kill you, control you, manipulate you, and use you―without a second thought.  This, then, needs to become one of the foundational truths with which your life is based upon.  Without it, you will forever misunderstand the world you live in.

     You must also understand this: not only are there ruthless people in the world, some of them are extremely intelligent.  These are the one who really run the world.  Bankers, corporate owners, politicians―they’re all playing a game that you’re not privy to.

     What it comes down to is that the majority of mankind never asks themselves the tough questions in life.  They accept what they’re told, never thinking about much of anything for themselves.  They fail to develop the most powerful tool at their disposal―their mind.

     This is the first thing that separates Them and Us―they have awakened their minds.  They study themselves and the world around them.  They exercise their minds and try to understand how nature and the world around them works.  Bt most importantly, they understand how we as human beings work―what makes us tick.

     So the question is, how much of your mind do you want to give Them?  That’s important to understand … They’re not taking it, we’re giving it!

     Every day we have a choice―will we be free, or will we be what They want us to be?

Excerpted from Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom by Adam Soto

     My vision when I started this blog was to share my spiritual thoughts and writings with people and to share some of my favorite quotes and stories by other people that helped to guide and enlighten me along my spiritual journey.  I scheduled all (or most) of the blog posts ahead of time, with no real plans for what would happen after the scheduled posts were done. 

     Now that my original posts are finished, I would like to transition to another aspect of the spiritual journey.  For me, a major part of the spiritual journey is grounded in the philosophy of freedom.  In my view, there can be no adequate conception of spirituality without freedom being a foundational part of it.

     In spirituality, anyone trying to live the Godly path should never try to force their will upon another; neither should they let anyone force their will upon them.

     From a spiritual and philosophical perspective, the freedom to live according to one’s own conscience or understanding of God or spiritual principles should never be compromised, nor should anyone be forced to do something that goes against their conscience.

     I believe that a major part of the spiritual journey is for each person is to learn to have the courage and inner fortitude to live according to their conscience and philosophy, despite the many forces that try on a daily basis to bend them to their will and lead them away from the Godly path.

     When it comes to freedom, how free can most people say they really are?  If we’re going to be completely honest with ourselves, there are many forces, both private and governmental, that work very hard to bend us to their will.  Some of it is made to seem legitimate and is backed by physical force, such as the loss of freedom by imprisonment if someone disobeys a government “law,” whether the law is just or not.  At other times people try to take our freedoms through dishonesty, mind control, and deceit, working in the shadows to manipulate our deepest fears and desires, and will even exploit our good qualities if it helps them to achieve their goals.

     For the next forty days, I’m going to share excerpts from a book I wrote entitled, Them and Us: A Philosophy of Freedom.  The book is written less like a spiritual book and more like a book of philosophy, though in my view it is still very spiritual.

     One thing that I would like to address right off of the bat is that although the book is entitled Them and Us, in no way am I advocating that we should hate anyone who tries to force their will on us or manipulate our minds.  I believe in nonviolent, noncooperation with evil and in doing one’s best to remain loving despite the actions of others.  It is, at times, a hard sacrifice to live this way, but it is the way of love.

     Also, there is nothing wrong with pointing out the unloving or even sinister actions of others.  Unfortunately, there are many people in the world who are sick with desire and ego, who somehow find reasons to justify, in their own minds, their cruel and wicked behavior.  We must resist these kinds of people.  We must expose their ways and enlighten people of their goals and actions until we are strong enough to build a better world, one based on love of God and freedom, where people live in voluntary communities guided by Godly principles and respect, not forced servitude and systematic violence.

     I admit, some of the information and ideas in this book may be hard to swallow.  Even if your mind tries to resist some of the ideas, I urge you to read on anyways and investigate what I’m saying for yourself.

     Who knows, perhaps my ideas will challenge you to see freedom in a new or different light?  The thing is, you’ll never know unless you give the ideas a chance and let them challenge your current understanding of the world.

     Lastly, I’m choosing to post the excerpts from this book daily for a number of reasons, the first of which is because I think that the ideas will stay fresh in your mind better with daily exposure rather than having a few days in between posts.  A second reason is to help show how beneficial it is to have philosophy as a daily part of your life.  And lastly, to demonstrate that you are not too busy to take a few minutes out of your life to dedicate to philosophical or spiritual endeavors.  If you are, I pray that you find a way to balance and order your life so that you can exercise your mind and spirit for at least a few minutes each day.  Just as we need food to nourish our body and keep us going, it is the same with spiritual matters.  Without daily nourishment, we can become spiritually weak or uninspired.

     In conclusion, I hope that what I have written will inspire you in your own spiritual journey for freedom and peace.  If you would like to read the book in its entirety without waiting for me to post excerpts, I will have a link under the “Books” section where you can read or download it at your leisure.

     Thanks for reading!

―Adam Soto

 

     Here are what I believe to be four of the most ignored (or least applied/understood) scripture verses in the Bible.  Wouldn’t any understanding of God that portrays God differently, even if it’s from the Bible, do so in contradiction to these verses? ^*

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NLT)

     ⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

1 John 4:16 (NLT)

     ¹⁶ We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

     God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

Matthew 5:43-48 (NLT)

Teaching about Love for Enemies

     ⁴³ “You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. ⁴⁴ But I say, love your enemies!

     Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who persecute you! ⁴⁵ In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. ⁴⁶ If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. ⁴⁷ If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. ⁴⁸ But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

1 John 4:18 (NLT)

     ¹⁸ Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.

 

     The Bible has many different portrayals of God.  Some verses portray God’s love as perfect and unconditional, as these verses do, and in others, God’s love is conditional.  The basic rules of logic and reason dictate that two contradictory statements can’t both be true, so which is it?  Is God’s love perfect and unconditional, or is it conditional?

     I have heard some argue that God is too “pure” to be in the presence of “sinners”—hence, the necessity of Jesus’ atonement.  (Atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin in general and original sin in particular through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus, enabling the reconciliation between God and his creation. ^[1])  To say that God is so pure as to be unable to be in the presence of sin gives too much power to sin and not enough power to God.  God’s love is the greatest force in existence!  Being in the presence of sinners can’t possibly harm or change God, for God is love. God is love regardless of anything we do, because it is God’s very nature to “send sunlight and rain to the evil and the good, the just and unjust alike.”  Not only that, but Jesus spent the majority of his time in close contact with the “unclean” and “sinners.”  Did that make Jesus unclean?  Was Jesus less pure by being in contact with them?  I think the obvious answer is, “No.”

     As it says in the verses above, God is love, and God is perfect; therefore, God’s love is perfect.  Any idea of perfect love would have to include the idea that God’s love is unconditional, for if it was conditional, then it wouldn’t be perfect.  Also, if God’s love is perfect, God’s love would also posses all of the qualities (attributes) that we consider to be a part of love; hence, God has perfect and unconditional patience, perfect and unconditional understanding, perfect and unconditional mercy, perfect and unconditional grace, perfect and unconditional forgiveness, etc…

     In regards to whether God’s love can be both conditional and unconditional: Can a circle be both a circle and a square?  A circle—by definition—is round.  A perfect circle—by definition—is perfectly round.  If there is any imperfection in the roundness and shape of a perfect circle, then it could no longer be considered perfect.  In the same way, conditional and unconditional—by definition—are contradictory terms, so logically speaking, they can’t both be part of God’s nature.  Love is love; if it isn’t love, then it’s something else.  Perfect love is perfect; if it isn’t perfect, then it must be called by another name (conditional) and understood in another way.

     Look at it this way: if God is love, then there can never be a time when God isn’t love, correct?  If God is perfect, then there can never be a time when God isn’t perfect.  So I’m perplexed as to how anyone could reconcile the two (conditional/unconditional) and still consider God’s love to be perfect. Any explanation would simply defy the logical premises on which the ideas of perfect, conditional, and unconditional are built; there really is no other possible outcome or explanation.

     It is for this reason (one reason among many, actually) that I dismiss any understanding of God that portrays God’s love as conditional (which obviously includes the atonement).

     Human beings often forgive people without any need for payment or recompense.  If humans, who are imperfect, can do that, shouldn’t God, who is perfect, be able to forgive without any kind of payment?  Anyways, isn’t that the very definition of forgiveness, that a debt or wrong is forgiven or forgotten without payment?

     What we are discussing here is the most fundamental question there is about God: What is God’s nature? Or in other words, What is the essence or character of God? As you can see, I believe that God is Love, and God’s Love is perfect and unconditional.

     Really think about this: if we are forgiven by God only AFTER Jesus’ “atoning sacrifice on the cross,” that is a textbook example of conditional love; our forgiveness is conditional on the death of Jesus.  That contradicts the message of love and grace Jesus taught us about God, and contradicts how Jesus told us to love and forgive our fellow man (and the example he set for us).

     Isn’t forgiveness universally considered an attribute of love? And if forgiveness is an attribute of love, and God is Love, then forgiveness is also an attribute of God. Taken one step further, if God is Love, and God is perfect, and forgiveness is an attribute of love, then an attribute of God’s perfect and unconditional love would be God’s perfect and unconditional forgiveness.

     In my view, sin (which I simply define as separation) isn’t taken away by someone dying (Jesus); unity happens through love, by intentionally aligning our will with God’s will for love and unity.

     God is already love; the goal is for us to also become love, to the best of our ability, and seek unity through love as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s will.

     We are united with God when we love as God loves, when we live as God lives.  That’s why Jesus told us to “love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”  We are to “be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect” (to the best of our ability, anyways).  “Those who live in love, live in God, and God in them.”  This is the gospel, the “Good News” that Jesus taught us; that God is love, that God’s love is unconditional, that God wants unity with us, and for us all to have unity with God and each other through God’s example of perfect love and unity.

     To be clear, I’m not saying that Jesus’ death was meaningless; on the contrary, Jesus knew that he would be killed for teaching what he taught about God because it undermined the authority of the powers structures of his day, but he taught us anyways. So he did sacrifice himself; I just believe that his life and teachings and the new way he taught us to think about God’s nature and character was more important than his death.

     When we have God’s Love and grace in us, and share that love and grace with everyone else, that is when we are unified with God, that separation is taken away.

     In conclusion, if people’s most basic understanding of God’s nature is of a God whose love is conditional (atonement), what follows will automatically be colored by that brush.  Similar to trying to solve a complex math problem and making a mistake in step one of the solution, all steps thereafter will be affected by that error.  Therefore, we must be willing to refine our understanding(s) of the nature of God and discard any understanding that doesn’t pass the filters of God’s perfect, unconditional love and unity.  For if we continue to hold on to and practice certain ideas that—by their very definition—limit God’s love, the world will continue to allow separation and exclusion in the name of God, as if it is part of God’s nature and will, and we will continue to work against the Kingdom of God on earth and within ourselves.

“Unconditional love is not based on the performance of the receiver, but on the character of the giver.” ^[2]

-Jack Frost

 

^* These are verses that have helped to shape my understanding of God. To be clear, I’m not appealing to the Bible as the only source for our understanding of God.  I demonstrate more than once in my writings that we should use as many sources as are available when trying to distinguish the truth (or potential truth) of a subject.  The theory of atonement, especially as held by Christian theology, is the subject of this essay; hence the use of Christian scriptures.

 

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement_in_Christianity

[2] https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/47287864817289719/

     “Practice resurrection.”

– Wendell Berry, “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” in Farming: A Hand Book (1970)

Source: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry

     “All most people really need in life is to feel wanted or appreciated or worth something.  They want to know that there’s somebody out there who accepts them for who they are, and realizes that all they really want to do is love and be loved.  And if we would only stop for one second and open our arms to them and embrace them, and let them know how much they mean to us and how important they are in our lives, then this world would be a better place … a much better place indeed.”

— Excerpted from The Truth as I See It: A Collection of Spiritual Writings by Adam Soto (p. 63)

Copyright 2018 Golden Rule Independent Publications

    “Iron is full of impurities that weaken it; through forging, it becomes steel and is transformed into razor-sharp sword. Human beings develop in the same fashion.”

– Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace

Source: https://omlc.org/aikido/talk/osensei/artofpeace/44.html

     “As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such.  All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this minute solar system of an atom together.  We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind.  This mind is the matrix of all matter.”

– Max Planck

Source: https://todayinsci.com/P/Planck_Max/PlanckMax-Quotations.htm

     Once Satan and his demon sidekick were walking down the street, closely watching a man 20 yards ahead who was on the verge of realizing the Supreme Truth. The demon grew worried, and began to nudge Satan, but Satan looked quite calm. Sure enough, the man did, in fact, soon realize the deepest spiritual Truth. Yet Satan still did nothing about it. With this, the demon nudged Satan harder and, getting no response, finally blurted out, “Satan! Don’t you see? That man has realized the Truth! And yet you are doing nothing to stop him!” With that, Satan cunningly smiled and announced, “Yes, he has realized the Truth. And now I am going to help him organize the Truth!” (–story heard years ago from Indian sage Jiddu Krishnamurti)

Source: http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Spiritual_Humor.html

     “This is the fundamental question about life. How do you want to spend this moment?”

― Sadhguru, Encounter the Enlightened: Sadhguru, A Profound Mystic Of Our Times

Source: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/52332-encounter-the-enlightened-conversations-with-the-master