Music, Sex and Poetry

Walking in the rain though a pedestrian center on Saturday, there was a guy standing on a pedestal shouting "YOU ARE ALL GOING TO HELL! IF YOU DO NOT REPENT, IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THE 10 COMMANDMENTS, YOU ARE ALL GOING TO HELL!" I thought about it...quite honestly I couldnt believe him. I find this a really outdated way of seeing things. First of all, with all this beauty on the earth, I can't believe God would be anything but all-loving. Seriously, this idea of Heaven and Hell is harming the planet, cause hey, if we dont wake up and consider the Earth heaven, we will all go to hell by destroying it. Ya, I believe we live many lives, and I feel like there's a thin veil of consciousness which stops us from realizing how many times we've been here before, but this is a beautiful Earth. When we are here, it should be preserved for whoever's coming next. The native Indians say we borrowed the Earth from our grandchildren, and I do find the Native Indian spirituality the most reverant towards the Earth. Growing up with a love for Nature, I can't imagine following any kind of religion that makes me feel like I'm saving up brownie points to get somewhere better. My spirituality has become profoundly based on the idea that the more present I am now, the more I'll be able to just be a channel for light and love and good vibrations. For me, doing yoga is equally as spiritual as going to church, or sitting, looking at the ocean. There are many ways to feel close to something higher. When I do connect to my all-loving creator, I'm sure he's not saying "hey, do it MY way or youre going to Hell" Do we need a creator who has a wrath? Do we need the man standing on the soapbox screaming "Youre all going to Hell if you dont repent!?" I think being with our creator is all about feeling good, and a realm of possibility far beyond fear and anxiety. Next, this guy on the soapbox started shouting "If you lust after women, you are a sinner, and you're going to hell for that as well!" You know, for the pagan religion, sex was a spiritual act, a way to get closer to God and to the life-force. Actually, being turned on by someone can be a hugely inspiring experience. It's kind of part of who we are. The whole immaculate conception myth seems a little off to me. Although, I do believe in channeling sexual energy into creative and spiritual acts, I think sex is a natural part of being a human being. Religions that breed intolerance and division and fear I think are quite outdated at this point. We live in a world that is getting smaller and smaller, and we need to embrace the idea that we are one World Family, that God is an all-loving force, and therefore we are each all-loving forces in the world. Today, I picked up a mug in the coffee shop that had a Ghandi quote on it: "We must become the change we wish to see in the world." Of course, it's not every day that we feel like perfect bubbles of enlightenment, but we can all aim for something higher. And if it comes to picking up a gun or a flower, I'd far sooner pick up a flower. I think younger and younger generations are picking up a baton of internationalism with, for instance, all the countries in Europe now being a part of the European Union. This just shows that merging and acceptance is becoming much for fashionable than division and difference. We all have one thing in common: we are all human beings, and we all have experienced in some way or another, the universal force of love. Each day we create Heaven or Hell within us, and each encounter with another human being is just a lesson. How we see things is all important. I believe we're all going just where we want to go.