Heart to heart on: The heart of darkness

[divineflashes]

Vladyka, thank you for this beautiful message. I know this wasn't the main point of the video, but speaking of out of body experiences, wouldn't the soul have an out of body experience after our earthly death before the resurrection of the body? Are not all the saints in heaven currently experiencing their heavenly joy out of body? Forgive me if I'm misinterpreting your point.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@divineflashes That is part of the point: the soul can exit the body ONLY at death. We would not class that as an "out of body experience," since the term is referring to a supposed experience while the body is STILL ALIVE. that, of course, is impossible. We have practically no knowledge at all about the state or condition of the soul after death, although we do have a multitude of usually contradictory supersitions and mythologies. It must be said that the Saints have things we do not.

[killeroftime978]

Maybe some of these acts are from desperation. Poverty doesn't leave one with many choices. I think it would be a fair assumption to state that a someone who is starving, and has close to nothing, is easier to indoctrinate with acts of violence, than a person who is not. Superstition leaves no time for the Gospel, and death and starvation more often than not leaves no time for faith. love, and especially empathy.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@killeroftime978 Excellent observation, and a call for those who profess the Gospel to open ourselves more to the tragedies of starvation, death, and the enourmous struggle for bare survival that so many millions of people are excperiencing in our world.

[ioannismiami]

There is great depth to the love of Christ as Vladyka presents again in this video. Valdyka's call is for each of us to examine how our thoughts of harming others or ourselves --once we have harbored them in secret, thoughts that to us might seem innocuous because we have no intent to act on them-- contribute to [unintended] evil outcomes such as the recent bobmbing in Minsk. As the Psalmist says, "Put a guard over my mouth, O Lord." Put a guard over my thoughts, O Lord. Lord, make haste.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@ioannismiami Thoughts can be loaded weapons waiting for the bolt to be slipped and the trigger pulled.

[allsaintsmonastery]

@ItsTheSuperFly Precisely the problem: there is no religious motivation here, and as a political act, it has not basis because of the target and the victims. It appears to be sheer nihilism. But even the terrorists acts of Al queda are nihilistic, and this requires much more study and analysis.

[ioannismiami]

@allsaintsmonastery Vladyka wrote: "...and this requires much more study and analysis."

Perhaps nihilistic thoughts arise of envy, which rejoice in the misfortune of one's enemies:

-->Thoughts as these, should they arise in one of us, we might send packing by speaking aloud:

"Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another."

[Rom. 12:15-6].

[themanofearth]

I'm always terribly sorry to hear about bombings however the bombings are not an act of nihilism. They are most assuredly acts of perfect belief on the part of the Muslim bombers. If religion were just the "excuse" for bombings, should there not be Palestinian Christian and Indian Hindu terrorist bombers? The Muslim faith is the problem in these instances as was the Christian faith in the case of the Jewish persecutions and killings in Russia. Continued...

[themanofearth]

(Continuation) Attempting to separate religion from scripture (new or old testament) is not a worth wile task because it cannot be done. Though I most definitely prefer your interpretation of your holy book to the extreme interpretations of some others, I've never heard a convincing argument as to why yours is more justified or legitimate than the extremist interpretation. The very apparent ability of holy writ to justify "darkness" to me would point to the fact that God was created in our image

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

there were hindu suicide bombers -- a lot actually -- until fairly recently in sri lanka before the hindu tamil uprising was finally crushed by the buddhist sinhalese in sri lanka.

it seems your knowledge of world events and history is limited to what you want to believe and what is presented on popular media.

and not to dispute the anti-jewish persecutions of russia but jews under bolsheviks did avenge themselves -- guys like lazar kaganovich were no less worse than hitler.

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion I'd forgoten about the shri lankan conflict actually. I stand corrected however the LTTE are (as far as I know) the only case of suicide bombers who are Hindus. It's not exactly a wide spread practice among the Hindu population especially in India as I stated. There's also the matter of the justification of Hindu vs Muslim suicide bombers; is the Tamil justification explicitly religious as it is in Islam?

I'm curious also as to why you commented on that and not on the second point.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

i'm not sure exactly what you want me to comment on.

if you're implying the sri lankan conflict is not religious in nature, it very much is. india was a buddhist country for nearly a millennia before adi sankara brought hinduism back from the dead and under the erstwhile kshatriya/rajputs converted most of the subcontinent back into the hindu fold.

only modern afghanistan and sri lanka were the exceptions. cont'd

[allsaintsmonastery]

@maulpreylion Religion is certainly a "facilitator" even when it is not the direct cause. The Tamils had other motivators than religion, but religion certainly has been a facilitator int he conflict. Religion becomes a form of tribalism, so one must consider the possibility that such terrorism is also tribal, since, for example, sunni and shia are both the same "religion." but different "tribes" of that religion.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

if u research the particulars, u'll see that these tamil bombers performed ritual purification and ceremonies before committing their acts.

heck their even have been sikh suicide bombers and even they cited their religion as primary motivation.

unlike these, however, 99% victims of muslim suicide bombers are OTHER muslims. there r a spate of bombings in iraq, afghansitan, pakistan everyday that dont make the news channels.

anyway

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion Uh... I wasn't suggesting that the conflict wasn't religious in nature. I was merely asking if, as in Islam, is the explicit motivating force behind a suicide bomber's decision because eternal reward for martyrdom in the (again rather isolated) case of the LTTE?

And what I was curious about was why you didn't comment on the "Continuation" and posted only about the suicide bombing which makes me even more curious now that you've not commented on it again.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

i would think my entire point would make the argument that religion is rarely the primary motivation for a man to kill himself and others. juvenile generalizations are laughable because they deny the horrific political realities of israel/palestine, iraq, afghanistan, pakistan and so on.

if it was that easy for muslims (or any) to commit suicide bombings they wouldnt require the weeks and months of indoctrination and brainwashing beforehand. cnt'd

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

its not allah or buddha or milenia old scriptures coming down and telling someone to blow themselves up. if ur willing to overlook the conditions of these societies and still believe ppl simply blow themselves up for religious fervor, then that is your prerogative. though you have yet to address the fact that the vast majority of victims of muslim suicide bombings are fellow muslims. y does a sunni pashtun drive a truck full of explosives into a sunni pashtun neighborhood?

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion "... religion is rarely the primary motivation for a man to kill himself and others."

Interesting, and yet the most famous group of suicide bombers on the planet (the 9/11 hijackers) where middle class and had not experienced any significant level of political oppression. Additionally, confessed Muslim suicide bombers invariably site their religious beliefs as their main motivation for carrying out suicide attacks. How do you account for this?

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

9/11 hijackers were not suicide bombers. however if u wish to go down that train of logic, i suggest you look at the 2008 mumbai attacks -- the perpetrators were all from impoverished classes. the lone survivor was the son of a street vendor and confessed to being lured by the promise of money to his family. this is also the case in israel where the families of bombers have been compensated relatively handsomely by hamas/hizballah (and formerly saddam hussein).

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion Ok NOW you've GOT to be kidding me. The 9/11 hijackers were not suicide bombers because... they didn't use a constructed bomb or something? Additionally, the son of a street vendor in Mumbai is not necessarily a poor person, lowER class yes but not impoverished. The "compensation" you're talking about in the case of Hamas is a gift in celebration of their loved one's entrance into heaven, not compensation for the loss of a loved one.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

ok you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. the mumbai attackers were NOT FROM MUMBAI.  they were pakistani.

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion Beyond that I never asserted that all suicide bombers were from the middle class and you've STILL not accounted for the fact that middle class suicide bombers can be found all over the world as well. Like the case of the (not somehow disputed) 9/11 hijackers, the 7/7 bombers and many bombing coming from the Palestinian territories.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

those are exceptions but by and large bombers are not only poor but also illiterate as govts of india, pakistan, iraq and even russia will attest.

anyway there is no point in arguing with someone who believes a street vendor is not impoverished (u probably think slums in india = middle class).

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion "though you have yet to address the fact that the vast majority of victims of muslim suicide bombings are fellow muslims."

This should be followed by "juvenile generalizations are laughable" or is "Muslim" a united political group to you? Do you completely disavow or are you simply ignorant of the fact that it's explicitly religious sectarian targeting within the Muslim community that account for those Muslim on Muslim killings from suicide attacks?

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

the recent trend of bombings in pakistan and afghanistan is sunni on sunni. the conflict is entirely political with pro-government and anti-government elements clashing. karzai is a druglord and pakistan speaks for itself -- and you think ppl blow themselves up solely or primarily because of religion?

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion and those "anti-government" elements just happen to be al-Qaeda which is EXPLICITLY founded on religious war/laws (and drug lording is how they FUND their enterprise) which has NOTHING to do with the anti-government movement now that the government has become and is becoming more secular? Give me a break.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

wow. u really dont know anything about anything, do you? taliban and al qaeda are the ones who are ANTI-HEROIN. heroin production only resumed AFTER taliban had been removed from power.

where do u get this al qaeda nonsense anyway? the baloch and pashtun want to break off from pakistan. pashtun want to join afghanistan while baloch want complete independence. both have been agitating since the 1950s long before ur "al qaeda" even existed.

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion "its not allah or buddha or milenia old scriptures coming down and telling someone to blow themselves up." Scriptural religions like the Abrahamic faiths do not exist outside of their texts and their interpretations. If you wish to make that argument stick you're going to have to get in a VERY long line of people claiming to have the correct interpretation. Good luck with that.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

honestly, i don't know what you're saying. i never said anything about interpretation. one can interpret any religious scripture any way they want and that's exactly my point.

maybe you're on youtube looking for a fight or somebody to pat you on the back for your condescending views but i think i've made my case as much as possible.

take care

[themanofearth]

@maulpreylion LMAO! Please.

Anyway you entered the interpretation game when you asserted that "its not allah or buddha or milenia old scriptures coming down and telling someone to blow themselves up."

I know what you meant by it saying that it's the interpretors who are telling someone to blow themselves up (contradicting your earlier point) however the interpretors are as religiously motivated as the bombers unless u simply deny what they themselves say is their motivation for waging holy war.

[maulpreylion]

@themanofearth

im going to save you from yourself and terminate this discussion

[1961raver]

Satan makes it so easy to hate, after all there's only one emotion to deal with. Whereas Love, requires lots of emotions, Kindness, Respect, Honour, steadfastness, compassion to name but a few. Thanks for the video sir.

[lapkine77]

A very inspireful video your Eminence, especially after all of this Burn Qur'ans thing nonsense...