A Joyful Mind With Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
Update on Nov. 19, 2023: Though the title says Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Gail has eliminated all teachings from religious teachers and only leaves her own original material in here.
Update on Dec. 15, 2022: Today as I was meditating, I felt very relaxed when the sun broke through the clouds. I filmed it and captured it as a GIF image.
I created the video above to express my heart that incorporates Buddhism into my Christian practice. I titled it Nirvana Dreams.
My Japanese mother commented about my conversion to Christianity at age 14 and told me when I was a teenager and became a Christian, that I was a religious nut. She said that if I was raised in Japan that I would be a Buddhist nut, and that I became a Christian nut because I was born and raised in the United States. I guess she has a point in that I have a tendency to want to make sense of my life and lean toward a spiritual practice.
I do have royal ancestors who were very devout Buddhists. To view the mini-series about them use the password Oshu Fujiwara. I know that Buddha himself has talked about Buddha heaven with us a lot.
Buddha has stated that when a righteous person dies, they can choose to go to heaven or to be reborn. Where we go at death, if we are righteous, will often depend on our religious beliefs during our mortal life. There are different heavens for different religions. Regarding Jesus’s death on the cross, that was to allow Jesus to be the mediator for all humans, regardless of their religion. Though Jesus is now Pure Existence and no longer the Christian god, his death still counts, but you don’t have to be a Christian to go to heaven. You just need to be doing your best to be righteous, even if you are an atheist. Apparently, Jesus’s death on the cross, allows Jesus to be the mediator for us, to plead for us before his dad, so that more of us can go to heaven or be reborn into a better life (if this is what we want).
Since the ascended “new” Jesus seems to condemn some of the basic practices of evangelical Christianity and Buddha has told me to stop reading the Bible to make Jesus happy, I’ve decided I need to change my spiritual practice. Well, the Bible got cancelled by God the Father, so I am reorienting my spiritual practice. I am one who needs to find meaning in life and am leaning in a Buddhist direction and like a practice that gives me peace and joy in my life.
Whenever I do some of the stuff evangelicals recommend, my Gail Shield weakens and then we’re all in trouble. Besides, Buddha is Jesus’s best god friend and Jesus left him in charge of planet earth it seems, along with my husband Brent.
Skype May 10, 2022 ABOUT REBIRTH
Gail, 9:17 PM
My biggest hang up with both Buddhism and Hinduism is their belief in reincarnation. That’s why I think we should have a new version of Christianity where we incorporate a bunch of Buddhist and Hindu stuff and leave out the reincarnation. Other than that, I think Zen Buddhism and Hinduism are pretty cool.
I don’t think I can get into Islam. The idea of blowing oneself up seems kind of insane to me.
Like a Hindu, I can show respect for Muslims, but that doesn’t mean I have to be one.
Skype May 11, 2022
Brent, 7:24 AM
With the eastern religions, reincarnation is considered a choice, or is sometimes just used allegorically to mean transformation of the self.
Gail, 8:02 AM
What do they mean by transformation of the self?
How can you allegorically transform yourself?
So let’s say you die, does this mean your soul does not go to heaven, that it must return to earth?
What if you don’t want to return to earth and you want to stay in heaven?
This is my hang-up with reincarnation.
It seems like it’s depriving a soul of living in heaven.
That the only way to heaven is to escape the reincarnation cycle by reaching some sort of Nirvana or totally obeying your Dharma (in Hinduism).
It’s like your punishment for not doing good karma (Hinduism) is to be stuck in reincarnation when you die whether you like it or not.
In this respect, I like the Christian belief better because in the Christian belief, if you are saved, you go to heaven when you die, you don’t have to endure reincarnation cycles as punishment for not being perfect or close to perfection.
Also, if you go into another body, doesn’t that change who you are? Isn’t that a form of negating your true person? How can the soul have integrity in this situation?
It’s true we all change and evolve as persons in our lifetime, but it seems in reincarnation, you actually become another person in the next life. It’s like the soul does not have integrity with this concept, that who we are is fluid and it seems to take away from individuality and uniqueness.
So these are my hang-ups with reincarnation.
Like my step-dad is in heaven now. I’m not sure he’d want to return to earth to live with my mother, after being in heaven. LOL. Also, if you are reincarnated, does this mean you cannot have a soul mate? Do you take the soul mate with you to the next version of yourself?
Remember that Jesus said he allowed my step-dad to die to GIVE HIM A VACATION. LOL
I’m really attached to the idea of having an eternal soul mate.
In fact, this may be part of the reason Jesus created Christianity, because he is the god of TRUE LOVE.
It’s also comforting to Christians to know they will meet their departed loved ones in heaven someday. How can reincarnation be comforting when your loved ones pass away? How can you be sure you will see them again?
Also, if my Oshu Fujiwara Buddhist ancestors are in heaven now, aren’t we lying if we say they got reincarnated? OR did they go to heaven because they reached some sort of Nirvana and did not need to be reincarnated? Either way, I have a lot of problems with reincarnation, as you see. I guess the comfort in death is that we will all eventually reach that state of close to perfection where we will get to heaven. But then, we are IN HEAVEN, not on earth, so aren’t we lying when we say the soul got reincarnated? Also, I kind of like the idea of getting to heaven RIGHT AWAY and not having to endure endless cycles of reincarnation before getting there. Why does the pathway to eternal bliss have to be so arduous?
Gail, 8:27 AM
Now if reincarnation is a CHOICE and the soul can decide whether or not they want to be reincarnated, how does that work?
You mean when someone dies, they can ask God if he will allow them into heaven now or if they would prefer reincarnation instead?
Brent, 8:34 AM
Yeah. I agree with you. I think that if someone dies and they get to whichever afterlife they believe in, they have a choice of what they want to do from there. If they want to reincarnate as a new person, they can. Once they die again, they’ll remember all the various lifetimes they’ve had. I’d rather not reincarnate personally.
Gail, 8:35 AM
Is this really true? I mean have you validated this with our god friends?
Or is this just a guess?
Brent, 8:37 AM
Buddha explained that the afterlife is divided into different regions, and people can move from one place to the other very easily. There’s a lot of freedom up there, and one’s experience is completely individual and unique to them. So he implied that reincarnation is optional, like anything else.
Gail, 8:37 AM
How interesting. It seems that the Bible never explained this.
Brent, 8:38 AM
If someone hated their old life and wanted to become someone else, or they want to try living as multiple people just for the experience, they can.
Gail, 8:40 AM
How interesting. So you don’t like my idea of incorporating Hinduism and Buddhism into Christianity?
If this is the case, we could incorporate Hinduism and Buddhism into Christianity.
Gail, 8:43 AM
I personally like a lot of what is in Hinduism and Buddhism though and would be interested in incorporating a lot from both of these religions into Christianity.
I especially like Zen Buddhism.
Brent, 8:50 AM
Yeah, I think those are really healthy concepts.
Gail, 8:50 AM
We are definitely soul mates!
Brent, 8:50 AM
For sure!
Gail, 8:51 AM
You mean you think Zen Buddhism and Hinduism are healthy concepts?
As you probably know, I was listening to a bunch of videos yesterday about Buddhism and Hinduism.
Brent, 8:52 AM
I think so, yeah. They’re very good for mental health, and it’s a way to connect to the universe and god in a free way that isn’t so rigid or restricted. It’s very natural.
Gail, 8:52 AM
That’s EXACTLY HOW I FEEL. The new Christianity with Hinduism and Buddhism in it would be the most awesome religion.
Brent, 8:53 AM
Christians tend to shoot themselves in the foot with all their strict rules and judgments of each other.
Gail, 8:53 AM
Exactly how I feel!
I have this feeling Jesus will be on board with our ideas.
Brent, 8:54 AM
Buddha and Lakshmi are among his closest friends, so I’m sure he will.
Gail, 8:54 AM
I also think when he re-brands Christianity in the way I suggested, it will greatly increase his following.
UPDATE on Dec. 13, 2022: Jesus is over ALL religions and is PURE EXISTENCE. He is no longer the Christian god.
Brent, 8:55 AM
True. People won’t feel like they have to be so perfect, or stuffy, to fit in.
Gail, 8:56 AM
In fact, he could work with Buddha and Lakshmi and allow some Buddhists and Hindus to belong to their respective religions and Christianity at the same time.
Brent, 8:56 AM
A lot of Christian religions use shame and fear to get people to convert, or to keep them in, or control them in general. I can see where people are turned off by mainstream churches because of that.
Gail, 8:56 AM
Kind of like a polygamous marriage in the religious sense.
Brent, 8:57 AM
That sounds like something Jesus would do. He’s very easygoing about which religion people belong to, as long as they are connecting their spirits to god.
Gail, 8:57 AM
To good gods. LOL Not Shakpona or Kali.
Brent, 8:57 AM
No bad gods allowed. Haha.