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60) Does the Gospel of Oneness believe in the separation of Church and State since you believe God is in everything and everybody and that everything is connected?

With some religions it is difficult to separate the organized religion from the government.  Since God cannot be compartmentalized, many religionist believe that governments should be theocratic or at least dominated and led by religious wise men who can interpret the scriptures, signs and omens coming from God. The trouble with such theocracies or near theocracies is that the people who wind up in charge are probably not going to be God-knowing saints at this time in our history.

The government of Iran is a good example of a theocratic state gone wrong.  Many human rights abuses have taken place in the name of doing God’s will. And the people there do not have freedom of religion.

While the Gospel of Oneness does believe that God is everywhere and in everyone, it doesn’t believe in setting up a theocratic state to follow one fixed idea of who God is and what he or she wants from us.

The Gospel of Oneness sees everyone as a sovereign citizen of the world and the universe.  Everyone, say above the age of 18, should be able to vote in the elections of a country.

A secular government that is impartial towards all religions is the best.  But let’s say a majority of the “sovereign citizens” want a theocratic government—they can vote that in if that’s what they want, but if such a government starts discriminating against minority religions, then they would not be honoring our God given freedom to have our own inner connection with God.

So the Gospel of Oneness believes in the freedom of choice first of all, and any government that limits or restricts a person’s religious beliefs would be harmful to our development towards a more enlightened society.  The Gospel of Oneness believes that since we are all related as children of God, or “Identities” in God, then we ought to treat each other with love and respect.  We can’t force our truth about religion on other people.  State sponsored religious beliefs will not bring enlightenment to a society.  If the Gospel of Oneness becomes a belief of a majority of the citizens, it will happen naturally with no coercion..

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If you want to seem to live longer, then try not to have any fun because time seems to go by too quickly when you are having fun. But actually the people who take themselves too seriously will probably have shorter lives because of the more stress and worry they put upon themselves.

It seems that many problems in life are caused by people who take themselves too seriously.  They become self-important and try to impose their views and ways of life on others.  They seek to restrict or punish other people who don’t conform to their perception of life. This seems to be especially true of religious and political zealots who think their views must prevail, or else the world will sink into chaos.  Because of their sincere and serious beliefs, which they think are so important, they may be even willing to kill other people who disagree with them.

Well, we have plenty of examples from history, don’t we.  The list is long: Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim il-Jong, Khomeini, Idi Amin, and many more dictators including all the petty ones.  All of these people took themselves very seriously and wanted to impose their view of life on everyone else. They had a lot of people killed who stood in their way of imposing their view of life upon their societies.

We also have plenty of examples in every day life. We may have family members or co-workers or bosses who take themselves too seriously.  If money is involved, then a lot of people take themselves too seriously because their lives seem to depend on having enough money.

A person who realizes the oneness of all life does not take himself or herself too seriously.  He or she relaxes into the equal love of God and sees the joy of life. People who live in the oneness of life know they don’t need to impose their views on anyone else. They also know that whatever they do unto others will come back to them. They would rather express joy, love, kindness, and help co-create a beautiful life, but they don’t make it into a serious agenda that everyone must follow

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58) If Christian doctrine is correct about people needing to accept Jesus as their personal savior, and if it is true that God wants everyone to be saved, then why are so few people going to be saved? What does the Gospel of Oneness have to say about this?

It could be that Christian doctrine has it all wrong to begin with, except for the part that God wants everyone to be saved. However, his plan is much deeper and better than Christian doctrine has it.  According to Christian doctrine, people have to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior. That just isn’t going to happen for most of the 7 billion people on the planet. Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and others have their own beliefs, and they won’t easily give them up—any more so than Christians will give up their beliefs to become Muslims or Buddhists.

So how is God going to save everyone according to the Gospel of Oneness? We are already part of God and always have been.  There is no separation between the Creator and the created. We are all within the consciousness of God. However, from the human point of view, it seems like we are separate.  That is part of the delusion of life, which is not easy to overcome, but we have many lifetimes to overcome this delusion of separateness. The attractive power of God’s love will eventually bring all souls back to Him/Her. A person is not consigned to heaven or hell after one brief lifetime on earth or any other planet.

Christians may be right in saying that there is only one way through Christ, but only if we take the higher meaning of Christ as the universal Spirit of Love, the consciousness of intelligent love that is God’s activating  Spirit in creation.  If we think of God as the power behind all vibrations of creation, then Christ consciousness (the son of the creative power) is God in creation—the knowable God.

We are able to identify with God in creation and to realize our oneness with God. This is what Jesus did, and all people can do the same, sooner or later.

Christians have set up Jesus as an idol and expect all people to worship him as their savior and to believe that his death on the cross paid for their sins.  They expect people of all other religions (which they deem as false) to accept their interpretation of the life of Jesus.

The universal way of salvation is to realize our oneness with God and to live a life of love, joy, and compassion.  A person of any religion or no religion can do this and move up to the ascended realm, and then not have to incarnate anymore on a third dimensional planet.

So, according to the Gospel of Oneness, almost everyone will be saved eventually, but there is no simple formula of just believing in certain doctrines. It is a lifetime after lifetime process for most of us.

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57) I’m heartbroken, my girlfriend has left me, and I feel bereft.  How can I feel my oneness with all of life when what I really want is to be “one” with my girlfriend?

We are one with all life, yet we naturally want to feel our oneness with those we love dearly. Our friends and families are very important to us, and we place them above everyone else, and we place our romantic, passionate relationships at the top of our priorities.

It’s good to have a deep love for and a sense of oneness with our dear ones. And our spiritual aim is to love everyone else with that same love.  It is a high ideal, and to be able to do that we need to see that everyone is an expression of God and deserves our love. I don’t mean romantic love here, but the compassionate love of people who truly feel their oneness  with all life.

So, although you may be attached to one particular sweetheart, if she has decided to break off the close relationship, you may be broken hearted about it for awhile, but there are others you could learn to love just as deeply if you let yourself, and if you let go of your ego hang-ups about it. (You may feel unworthy or frustrated because you were rejected, but you will always be worthy because you are an expression of God.)

If you concentrate on your oneness with God you can more easily see how everyone is a part of God. There are actually many people for you to love and be loved in return.  And there are many who could be the special one to marry.  You may have a lot of “soul mates” to choose from. You can open yourself up to the possibilities.

It is hard to get over it when someone you love rejects you, but you can’t force someone to love you. However, you are complete in your greater Self.  You don’t need anyone else to complete you. We all must face our Creator as individual identities.  We cannot pass our tests on someone else’s charisma and good looks and confidence. Stand up straight in your right in your own charisma, inner good looks, and confidence. Not everyone on earth is going to love you, but you can love everyone yourself, in your higher Self.

Eventually you will find the right romantic relationship for yourself and you won’t become co-dependent, but you will be faithful and true and have real love for each other. Your former girl friend apparently did not have that mutual love for you. You will find someone who has a true love for you within the Oneness of Life. This is not a guarantee, but your chances are good because this is a universe of love.

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56) What does the Gospel of Oneness say about martyrs—people who die for their cause or belief?  Is it worth it to give up your life for a belief or cause?

The Gospel of Oneness says that life is the highest value, and that all life should be respected.  Even though the death of a body is not the end of the “consciousness” of that body, still it is the end of that specific body in a specific time and location.  There is no coming back except in those rare cases when a person dies for a few minutes. So to give up the body is a very final choice.

If a person is willing to give up his or her body for the advancement of a cause, or a belief system, or for the sake of personal honor and dignity and integrity, then that indeed is a very tough choice, or maybe it is choice that is almost forced upon a person because of their society’s customs and mores.

Now let’s look at some specific cases such as a suicide bomber who not only kills himself but also kills others for the sake of his cause or beliefs. This is totally out of alignment with the Gospel of Oneness which says we are all part of the same one life of God.  To kill others for a political or religious cause is murder, and there is nothing glorious about such a martyrdom, and no heavenly reward awaits such a person.  In fact he will have to somehow atone for his misdeeds, and he will feel the pain of all the people he killed because he is part of them.

Now let’s look at the person who does not want to hurt anyone else, but is willing to die for his or her religious belief.  First of all, let us see if a belief is worth dying for because we might consider that some beliefs are false, and it would be a shame to die for them.  If a person says that he will never back down on his belief that Krishna is the supreme personality of God even under the threat of death, would you think that person is misguided and would be wasting his life on a false belief?  Or how about a person who is willing to die rather than renounce his faith in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world? Or how about a person who is willing to die for his belief in Allah and Mohammed as his true and final messenger?

Your answer would probably depend on your own religious beliefs.  For a person who is a Christian, anyone who is a martyr for another religious belief is simply wasting his life on a false religion.  And the same goes for a Muslim, or Hindu or a Buddhist who sees other people dying for a religion other than their own.

But if a person really believes he has found the highest truth in religion, is it right for that person to stake his or her life on that belief?  The Gospel of Oneness would say no because no one on earth has the highest truth.  There is always more to learn.  A person under the threat of death for his beliefs could say something like this: “I believe I have found a belief that makes sense to me at this stage of my life. I may be wrong and I’m open to learning more about the truth.  I’m not willing to die for a partial truth, or what I know so far.  I would like to continue living so that I can keep on learning.  I am not willing to renounce what I have learned so far because it has all been part of the process.  I’m willing to hear your views, but you may not convince me of anything.”

If a governmental or religious authority still wanted to kill such a person, then that would be murder, and I suppose such a person would be an unwilling martyr for the cause of having an open mind towards learning the truth.  So the Gospel of Oneness says that no religious belief is worth being a martyr for, but narrow minded zealots may want to kill people who will not convert to their beliefs. What can a person do? Fake it until you can escape because it is what you really believe inside that counts or die for the principle and honor?  And what if you have a spouse and children depending on you to stay alive? The Gospel of Oneness says to do all you can to help people see that what you do to others you also do to yourself.  The Gospel of Oneness says to do all you can to show that bigotry and religious persecution are forms of insanity.  The Gospel of Oneness says don’t be so sure that you yourself have all the right answers.

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Question 55–According to the Gospel of Oneness, who are the false teachers, false prophets, and wolves in sheep’s clothing?

The leaders of the mainstream churches of Christianity and the mosques of Islam have warned their members to watch out for false teachers and prophets who might lead them astray.  And they are probably correct in warning people because many cults and sects do have some strange beliefs, even dangerous beliefs such as the suicide pact of  the “Heaven’s Gate” cult.  Orthodox Christians will also warn people about the Jehovah Witnesses,  Mormons and other groups that have radically different ideas, even if they do come under the banner of “Christian.” However, the sects and cults will warn their members about mainstream Christians who they think have become shallow and contented in lukewarm beliefs.

In Islam there is a wide schism between the Sunnis and Shias and the Sufis as well. In Buddhism there are different schools of thought,  –Hinayana, Theravada, Zen and other approaches to the way of the Buddha.  In Hinduism there are many different paths to God, and they have debates over whether the ultimate God is personal or impersonal.  For example, the Hare Krishna movement has a very personal conception of God. They see Bhagavan Krishna as the supreme personality of God.  However, there are many other Hindus who see God as impersonal—the unknowable cosmic force and intelligence way beyond our limited human minds to comprehend.

According to the Gospel of Oneness, the false teachers can be put into basically two categories. The majority of false teachers are sincere and well meaning people who have a limited understanding of religious truth, yet they think they know enough to teach others and lead them to the promised land. The other category are those people who deliberately try to deceive people. They are usually easier to expose because their lifestyles usually betray them. However, some are  very clever and can gain a great many followers through artful propaganda,  performing miracles and healings, charismatic personalities, and great organizational abilities.

So what are the criteria for the discernment of false teachers? Here they are, and one or all of the criteria may apply:

1–False teachers will say their way is superior to any other way and that they have the ultimate truth and you need not look any further.

2- False teachers have an ego based attachment to their teachings. They can’t be wrong because that would hurt their egos. Their egos are invested in the teachings.

3- False teachers proclaim an “automatic salvation.”  If you follow their doctrines and rituals you will automatically be saved.

4- False teachers will not tell you to take full responsibility for yourself, including everything in your subconscious.  They will offer you a scapegoat that you can blame or that you can put your sins upon.

5—False teachers will say or imply “let us do evil that good may come.” For example, some may say let us kill those unbelievers because the world will be better off without them.

6—False teachers are lost in the dualities of life and are trying to win victories over other people who are also part of the one and only true God of all creation

7—False teachers take themselves way too seriously. They will say things like the future of the world depends on his or her followers carrying out his teachings. They will lack a sense of humor and historical perspective. On the other hand, some false teachers may have a robust sense of humor and be very charming and charismatic and still think that their teachings are the final word on truth.

8—False teachers will advocate force to gain their ends or goals. This includes subtle means of force such as applying or encouraging peer pressure and other forms of mental and emotional  manipulation.

9—False teachers come from a perspective of being separate from the rest of life. They don’t realize they are one with all other humans and life on the planet as well as the planet itself.

10—False teachers will say that “God” is out there, in the sky or heavens and is not within us. They will say that God is separate from us

There are more criteria that could be listed, but these ten are a good start.  Now let’s go back and see how to use some of them. Let’s take number 1, using this criterion we can see that most Muslim and Christian teachers are false because they say they have the one and only true way. Number 2 is a little harder to discern. You have to actually see if a teacher is putting his or her ego on the line with the teachings. In number 3, there can be no automatic salvation because that would create a privileged class of people who qualify for the automatic salvation, and it would leave many deserving people out in the cold or intense heat, maybe. In number 4 we can see that most  Christian teachers are false because they say that Jesus died for their sins and became their scapegoat, and now they don’t have to be responsible for their sins because they’ve all been laid on Jesus.

We have seen many examples of number 5. Many religious and political leaders have advocated doing evil that some greater good may come about. But the greatest good is Life itself, and if you kill or hurt other parts of life, you are trying to kill or hurt part of the oneness. There are many examples of number 6 also as these teachers see themselves as part of an epic battle against other world views. Number 7 is about dominant people who use awesome force or charming charisma to push their view of ultimate truth on others. Number 8 is about using any kind of force in pushing for an agenda. Number 9 is about teachers who manipulate  others because they think they are separate, and have to be bent to their will. And number 10 is about those teachers who preach about an external God that judges us.

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Question 54;: What is the world view of the Gospel of Oneness?

Here is the world view in 10 points:

1)      This world has been created by God and by spiritual beings of enormous, far reaching intelligence, and as part of the oneness of life, we humans are helping to co-create life on earth by our free will choices. So everything we see is the result of the consciousness of God, Elohim, angels, and humans.

As of the year 2011 most humans are heavily influenced by the dualities of life and their own egos, and that is why there is so much conflict and tragedy in this world. The stage was set by the Elohim, but the people living on earth are the ones co-creating the current conditions.

2)      This world has been heavily influenced, controlled, and manipulated by power elites for thousands of years. We’ve had kings, queens, dictators, emperors, sultans, and their advisors who have lorded it over the common people.  Even in modern democracies power elites have ruled the world through control of the money systems of the world. The power elite are deep into duality as they do not believe in the oneness of life.  They hope to gain and maintain the materialistic advantage in this world.

3)      Religions that were supposed to help set us free have been taken over by the power elite, and their doctrines and dogmas have been bent to serve the power elite. For example, the Catholic church corrupted the teachings of Jesus and built a powerful worldly organization that has controlled many people through various manipulations such as having people pay to have their sins expiated.  Another example is the religious elite in Iran who have tried to impose a theocratic dictatorship on the people of Iran.

4)      Reincarnation is a fact.  We come into each embodiment with an outline of a plan as to what to accomplish, experience, and realize according to our over all plan of soul evolution.  Free will is still the factor of what  we choose to do in each lifetime.

5)      The over-all goal of every soul is to grow in awareness and ability to co-create in wisdom and love and to realize that we are part of the Oneness of life. We are not God, but God is us so to speak because the Prime Creator is the only reality. We keep on transcending ourselves forever and ever. All within the One beingness of God.

6)      We are experiencing one part of our eternal lives right now.  We don’t see the whole picture, but we have the opportunity to make this life more beautiful, peaceful, and enjoyable for all. This does not mean having more material goods or sensual pleasure; it means leading more soul-satisfying lives.

7)      Spiritual salvation comes by realizing one’s true soul-self as being one with God.  We go through a process called “Ascension” wherein we qualify ourselves for permanently winning our freedom from having to reincarnate in the physical plane and winning our place in the ascended realm where Jesus and other Self-masters are.  Winning does mean a self effort of the soul to come back to God.  Every soul has lots of help from God, angels, and beings who have already ascended.

8)      This world is a place for all of us to work on ourselves in relationship to every other soul  that we come into contact with. We have soul groups that we work with, often through many incarnations.

9)      Our view of the world is what we make of it.  We may perceive the world in different ways, and so we do.  Each of us is responsible for  our perceptions. We have that soul freedom to be  whatever  we want to be. So our world view is one of ultimate freedom  because we are made in the image of God who is totally free.

10)   Unconditional love, natural wisdom, perfect justice, ever-new joy, and complete understanding  are all right behind this outer drama of life.

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Question 53: What does the Gospel of Oneness say about how society gives preference to beautiful, good-looking people?

This preference giving is an aspect of evolution. We tend to think that beautiful, good-looking people are more highly advanced, even more spiritually evolved. If they are strong and healthy and tall, even more preference is given to them.  We do lots of things to make ourselves more attractive—nice clothes, good hairstyles, enhancing make-up, shapely body, white, even teeth, nice accessories, and of course lots of money always helps in order to buy the cars and houses that enhance our attractiveness. The idea behind evolution is for the best and brightest and most beautiful to mate with each other and thus further the development of the species.

The whole idea of attractiveness is pervasive and we can’t get around it. But it is centered on outward appearance. Just being beautiful and physically attractive doesn’t necessarily lead to any real advancement. What would better serve our development is if the most spiritually developed people got together and produced more children. They would bring up their children by setting good examples and giving them lots of real love.  And what the world needs is more true love.

If anyone is down on their own appearance and physical attractiveness, just remember that there are lots of way to enhance yourself—like being healthy, robust and spiritually dynamic.  Also this one lifetime appearance is only one manifestation of your life. In the higher realms you can take on any appearance you like. If you want to have a beautiful appearance, you can just by willing it.  When we realize our oneness with God we will realize that we are all  beautiful souls and that we can create even more beauty.

If we want to help humanity advance in evolution, then we can emphasize the beautiful inner spiritual qualities of people.

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52)    What does the Gospel of Oneness say about the debate between the new atheists and Christians and Muslims?

It seems that the new atheists have a problem with the external God in the sky as depicted in the Old Testament, and with the remote Allah who rewards some people and punishes others.  They say that religion has done more harm than good, and that in this age of reason, we should realize that a lot of religious beliefs and practices are based on superstition.  They think we could do a lot better if we based our views of life and the cosmos on scientific facts and some agreed upon ethics to live by.

Christians and Muslims have a host of debating points to defend their beliefs and to point out the pitfalls of atheism. So the debates usually come to a stand off with neither side admitting any doubts about the rightness of their views.

However, the Gospel of Oneness says the debate is not whether God exists or not—it is about the true nature of God.  Is God an external super person in the sky who takes sides with some humans against others?  Does this God choose only one group of people to represent him?  Is this God male? Does this God strike some people down?  Does this God reward some people because of the way they believe and punish others for believing in another concept of God? Does this God have a son?  And “only” son? Has this God quit speaking directly to humans after the passing of Mohammed?  Does this God demand a sacrifice in order to atone for sins? Or is God so big that he hardly notices one little planet among the vast number of galaxies? And is there more than one universe sphere, with each sphere being self-contained within the creator-God of each universal sphere? And is God a God of unconditional love?

There is no question that God exists because life and consciousness exist.  It is self-evident.  We don’t go out in the middle of a bright sunny day to look for something with a flashlight.  Atheists cannot deny that life exists, but they do have legitimate concerns about the way God is depicted.

The Gospel of Oneness says that there is one Creator God who is beyond the world of form or vibration and time, and who has created self-aware beings to create and populate the world of form.  All consciousness is within the one Creator God, that is why everyone can feel and experience their oneness with God.  On our planet Earth we can see that life is everywhere.  Even plants and metals have been shown to have some kind of consciousness. Everything that is comes directly or indirectly from the consciousness of God

The life of mankind on this planet has had many ups and downs, with many different views of God prevailing according to the nature of a society or civilization.  For example, China and India have had empires wherein certain views of God were predominant.  Many people in those societies thought they had the correct view of God. But the fact is we are still learning about God. No one on Earth has the full knowledge of God.

The Gospel of Oneness says go within and meditate on God, and experience for yourself your connection with the supreme Creator and with those saints who have gone beyond the seeming limitations we have on earth.

The atheists who think everything has come about by random chance will survive their deaths and then revise their ideas.  Religionists who think they already have the correct views about God will also revise their ideas after death. Of course they could become enlightened before they die. That would be excellent.

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51)   What does the Gospel of Oneness say about failed prophecies such as the recent one by Harold Camping?

The recent prophecy by Harold Camping about May 21^st, 2011 as being the day of rapture wherein 200 million people would be gathered up to be with Jesus while the rest of the people on earth would be subject to 5 more months of tribulation before the final end of planet Earth was a well publicized dud. And yet because of the wide internet publicity it raised some key issues that all of us can learn something from.

First of all, the notion that only 200 million people would be saved or rescued out of 7 billion is rather a staggering insult to the grace and mercy of God. God loves everyone one of us equally and is not going to limit his harvest to a mere 200 million.  Of course God is not really insulted by our false ideas about  Him or Her, but the harm is really done to people who believed the prophecy was true and did foolish things because of it.  For one thing, they wasted a lot of money on billboards and other publicity efforts. Some people went on credit card sprees.  Some people became despondent

Second, it gave some of us a chance to ridicule and make fun of and to feel superior to Harold Camping and his followers for their folly.  So it just divided us into camps.  On one side were the people who thought it was a true prophecy and felt that they were surely going to be among the 200 million to be saved.  On the other side were all the people who ridiculed or criticized the whole notion.  It really shows that any idea that gets wide publicity will be thoroughly examined and talked and written about.  So that should help people realize that they better make their ideas supportable by sound reasoning and evidence.  Harold Camping should have known that such a prediction would be very risky for his ministry. He needs to take responsibility for his actions.  And all the rest of us do also.  We are all in this together.

Third, Christians need to look at this whole idea of Jesus coming again to make everything right and to pass judgment on people. Most Christians say we can’t know the exact day or time of his second coming, but they do believe he will come again.  And it seems that many people think he will come sooner than later. Some people who wouldn’t be so foolish as to predict an exact date, nevertheless are predicting that he will come within the next ten years.  However, the Gospel of Oneness doesn’t look for any outer coming of Jesus at any time. It is the inner connection with Jesus that matters the most, and that can happen any and every day.

Fourth, all of us are going to leave this Earth sooner or later, and we do want to know what happens after that.  Many people think we go to heaven or hell or maybe someplace in between for a while. Some people think there is a formula of belief or ritual that will ensure that they get to heaven.  Many Christians think they have an automatic salvation if they believe Jesus Christ is their savior.  Many Muslims think they just have to surrender to Allah and then lead good lives or do something on behalf of Allah in order to ensure their arrival in Allah’s paradise.

However, the Gospel of Oneness says it isn’t that easy to get to “heaven.”  We are all part of God, and we are on a journey to learn how to be responsible co-creators.  To that end we must go through many types of experiences and environments to learn about ourselves and God’s creation.  One lifetime on earth is hardly sufficient time to learn everything  about  co-creating. We’ve all gone though many lifetimes here or elsewhere already.

Of course the “Heaven within us” is available all the time,  So it isn’t like we are denied entrance to heaven until we go through many lifetimes.  Blissful contact with God is available all the time. How to access it all the time is another topic.

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