Here's my attempt to answer your questions.
"you always CAPITALIZE THEM"
Maybe somebody can teach me how to underline or italicize in SI, and I won't have to!
"I would like to point out that these are your notions only (or perhaps only the notions of your teacher)"
Correct. What I have learned is as a result of about 35 years of study, but primarily by virtue of being a devotee of Adi Da, so the notions offered primarily come from him.
"You state that a CORE communication that approximates the message of....."
You find it expressed in different forms in different religions. Many religions have the notion of ONE God. Many have the suggestion of a Divine Spirit infilling all living beings, and so on. Christianity has the notion of a Creator-God, with Whom a personal relationship is possible via Jesus. Adi Da's articulation of the subject is similar, but profoundly different in the sense that he stresses that there is NO separation from God, ever, because everything is permeated by, and lived by the Divine, and yet the Divine is personal. The separation from God, he says, is as a result of something WE are doing, which he calls the "ego" or the self-contraction.
"designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone"
The matter of one's relationship with God is traditionally the central part of any religion. However, it is also true that these teachings have, traditionally, not been widely
offered. In some cases they have been secret, or limited.
To some degree this is true with Adi Da as well, in that he
has never appeared publicly, but he is certainly available to those who have established their genuine interest.
You do indeed find esoteric teachings relative to virtually every major religion, but you have to look for them!
"Merriam Webster instead feels that exoteric is defined as "suitable to be imparted to the public; belonging to the outer or less initiate circle; relating to the outside; external"."
We are talking about the same thing. That which is widely imparted is generally in the "social-wisdom" category of content.
'I find myself asking "So what?"
Well yes, I have been putting forward the ideas that:
-- core teaching of any religion is its esoteric teaching
-- trying to get people who are more knowledgeable than I about Islam to say what its esoteric teachings are.
I have also been inviting others to comment on the esoteric teachings of ANY religion of which they have direct personal knowledge. This for the reason that I believe these esoteric teachings have substantial similarities.
In other words, can we celebrate our SIMILARITIES rather than our differences?
"What can I do to ease the pain of those suffering under an oppressive religious dogma?"
I would suggest:
-- change your own consciousness
-- pray for them
-- treat them not as separate people but as other versions of you
-- approach them in the mode of COOPERATION and TOLERANCE
I hope this is helpful in some way. Thanks for the good questions!
Namaste!
Jim |
