The Transcendental: The Church Project

The Master of The Way

March 1, 2024

There was this guy from years ago, and I remember him talking about religion and hell. He has a religion. I'm not gonna say 'obviously' because having an opinion on religion and hell doesn't automatically translate to having a religion. Like me, I don't have a religious affiliation, but that doesn't mean I think religion is a scam, I just found something that made things I know about religion make more sense. It's where the pieces fit together, where there's harmony and it's not convoluted. Obviously, I'm talking about spirituality.

Religion is not a sham. I see religion playing a big role in moving people forward to spirituality. It is with religion where people are introduced to spiritual concepts and as to why it is important to develop spirituality as a person. Concepts like goodwill, values, virtues, establishing a relationship with the divine, penance, rebirth, and ascension. I see Judeo-Christianity introducing the path to spirituality. But like this guy was saying, if you only practice religion because you're afraid of going to hell when you die, you're probably missing the point about having a religion or if I were to say it myself, missing the purpose of religion. Because 'having a religion' and 'being guided to developing spirituality' are two different things. I could say I am a Christian, but if Christianity is hardly reflected in my speech and actions and I have poor spirituality, then that's a lie. I am not Christian. 'Cause what makes a man a Christian is doing what Christ would do, approaching life guided by the teachings of Christ. It's not just being born and baptized a Christian and growing in a household of people baptized as Christians. Christianity is a way of life. Religion for the most part is a way of life. Christianity is something you live, breathe, and practice. Being a Christian is living a spiritual life because Christ, that's what he was known for and what he was known to be teaching not just his apostles but people who wanted to know what it is like to do things the spiritual way or the divine way.

I don't know much about the apostles' backgrounds. I know there's a tax collector. And that he left tax collecting to be one of Christ's students. I know they call them disciples and followers, but 'students' is more accurate, I think. 'Cause I see the apostles followed Christ to observe his way of doing things, Christ took the role of a guide. Just so we don't confuse 'following' with 'following orders' or 'being commanded'.

'Cause spirituality is not commanded, it's not something that you get ordered or tasked with. It is something you have onboard because you see the good in living a spiritual life. It is something you develop on your own accord. If you do goodwill or do something the way Christ would, you don't really say: I did that because Christ told me to. Christ commanded me to. But you can say Christ taught me by showing me the way. 'Cause somebody who might still be skeptic about following Christ might go: Why follow orders from Christ? And we don't really want to give that person the idea that Christ has this relationship with his students where he is a lord, and they're those servants. When they say Christ is lord, that's actually from teachers being called masters. The confusion was from the word 'master' 'cause in English, we get a master who gives out orders like a boss and that's used with the other meaning of servant who follows the orders, and then we have a master who knows things and imparts or shares what he knows and that's used with servants being people who serve guided by a principle or knowledge gained, and it could be that the servant is serving the spiritual way. People forget that Christ is a teacher. Master is being used interchangeably with teacher and master gets interchangeably used with lord. Jesus is lord is not wrong, but just don't forget that Christ had followers not because he's a boss who gives out orders, but because he is a teacher and they're following him because they are students who want to learn by observing his way. If you want to be a servant of the lord, you actually want to serve the way the lord serves, you want to serve with the teachings of the master in your heart and in your mind. You're not subservient to the lord, you serve the spiritual way. When you get somebody skeptic about Christ, you say do things the way you do because it is the spiritual way and Christ taught you the spiritual way with his speech and action.

'Cause there will be skeptics that might think you're just following orders and because you're afraid that if you don't, you will get punished or you're just following orders because you know that if you do, you'll get rewarded. And that's gonna translate to them to bonds or strings that binds a master to a slave. Christ doesn't have slaves. He actually assisted people in freeing themselves from those bonds and strings by showing them what those bonds and strings are made of. Lao Tzu is a master, and people just know why he's called a master. He's my teacher, he's a teacher of the way.

In spirituality, masters show the way to ascension. Masters will teach you how to release yourself from bonds and strings. They will guide you. If you want to go to heaven, what you want is ascension. You want release from bonds and strings that keep you from living a spiritual life. You ascend by developing spirituality. How you descend is the opposite, when you neglect your spirit.

When people say they want to go to heaven, and a master says: I am the way, the way is through me. that doesn't mean you just believe that he is lord, that he is savior, it's an invitation to examine your life by observing his life, it is an invitation to free yourself from bondage by letting his light in, letting his teachings guide you. 'Cause that's the path to heaven, through the teacher. The master holds the sacred keys. Sacred keys are spiritual truths. You have to open up to receive them. Believing is just saying: He holds the sacred keys. You have to receive the keys. You have to take the keys from the master. How do you receive the keys? Let him in, let him guide you.