Please, please consider "clicking" on my poll in GD

[JanMichael]

Thank you so very much! :)

[Sanity Claws]

1. Please post the url for it

so we can find it

[JanMichael]

2. Thank you; it was moved to "Groups, Religion"

Kinda hurt my feelings, but I would appreciate it if you could just check it!

Stephanie

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x34288

[Cleita]

3. Don't feel bad. it's in the new rules.

Skinner doesn't want any religion threads in GD unless directly related to politics.

[hippiegranny]

4. I participated

I think cross-posting it here was a good idea.

[mntleo2]

5. Done!

Just wondering...why do you want to know the correlation of income to eastern religions? I will say that without taking any pulses, religion is most prevalent among the poor. As a person who knows, you often have to literally depend upon miracles to make it through. Like you cannot pay the electric bill, and you receive an unexpected resource, etc. Or your car, that you depend upon to get you to work, is on its last legs and it just keeps going. I have literally prayed my way to and from work because I did not have money for gas and then when someone else gets in the car, it is out of gas.

People living on the edge have to turn to faith to get them through...I believe this is why Jesus said, "It is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle..." The poor who are spiritual often have greater insight and wisdom about God when they have to live every day barely making it by the skin of their teeth because they learn to have faith that whatever they truly need, God will provide and that God knows best what you truly need. The trick here is in the phrase, 'whatever you truly need' because you may think you 'need' something when God in Her/His wisdom knows you have lessons to learn and that you could live fine without it. People who are comfortable often take for granted everything they have and they assume it is because somehow they deserve it, but the poor know they do not 'deserve' anything and that they need to be thankful for every single little thing/kindness/caring they receive.

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[JanMichael]

6. Hi, this is Stephanie, not Michael

I am studying Buddhism, and Hinduism this semester in school--next semester, I am going to continue my Buddhist studies, but also add in Native American myths to the mix-that's why I singled out the Asian religious/philisophical practices. Specifically, I am interested in people who incorporate the I-Ching, Meditation, some type of bodywork with Chakras-

Currently, I am writing two fairly in depth papers on the mediation of eastern practices into Western religions. One of the very first things I noticed was how pricey getting into this stuff is. Yoga classes, massages (the Chakras stuff) the I-Ching paperback book, or going to retreats to study with mediation teachers--I suppose I could toss Martial Arts instructions in there also.

So, while you are historically correct about "religions being for poor," I would have to add, "but, enlightenment is only for people with disposable incomes."

Not too many poor people living beside Retreats in this country---

Stephanie

[mntleo2]

7. LOL! And I suspect...

...at those expensive resorts and spas, you will not find many 'enlightened' people either, starting with the instructors, they are just a bunch of people with disposable incomes hanging out with other people with disposable incomes, LOL!

I don't need no stinking spa or hoo-ha place to find enlightenment, all I have to do is go to where I work with the poor, the disenfranchised and the disabled. They have taught me more than all the books I have read, all the gatherings I have been to, all the so-called workshops I have attended. Why one of my greatest teachers is in a wheelchair, and he has left everyone I have met, all I have learned, in the dust when it comes to "i-ching"-like stuff. He used to teach at those places and he says while he was sincere and all, he wondered where he got the hubris to imagine he knew ANYTHING until he became disabled and poor. Sadly he is a far greater teacher now, but nobody even knows about him except a few now, an 80 year old Asian man who is almost always invisible unless he gets in someone's 'much more important' way. I am glad he is invisible (as is he glad), it is like a message from God I have been asking for all my life for a Teacher. Here he is and I almost have him all to myself! Oh yeah!!!

I do not expect you to hear me and I am not recommending this route of poverty by any means. It is not for the weak of stomach or faint of heart. By shedding all you have and becoming a beggar, as many of the greatest sages advise if you really want to find enlightenment, you have chosen the hardest path of all to the Light. Still, I tell you, for someone who wants to live in the comfort of some store-bought vacation spa and perhaps even get 'abused' for a little while, they will find little enlightenment ~ no matter what faith they are. Financial comfort is only another stumbling block.

My 2 cents

Cat In Seattle

[JanMichael]

8. What a great post! You just made my day!

(btw--I hearya! ;) )

However, you are correct about one thing--the path of the renunciate is not mine YET. I am in the "householder" stage of life (a day late, and a dollar short, too I might add. Didn't meet my husband or get married until I was 38--or 39--can't remember!) and, while I am fully aware that having "stuff" is the stumbling block from Hell, if you will....this is where I need to be right now.

I have never been to one of those spas--I understand the allure for some people...the ones in the deserts of SouthWest are have particularly pretty websites-

You are incredibly lucky to have found such a wonderful teacher...if you want to share yours or his story, feel free to PM me anytime. I stand in awe of people like him, and am impressed when I run into someone who sees the value of an enlightened teacher.

Thanks so much for your answer!

Stephanie

[Terran]

9. Done

Kind of interestng, the results your're getting; the two ends of the ranges you gave are the ones most often practicing these things.