Buddha Archives - Randy Gage

You’re Going to Raise Skinny Children…

Does God Want You to Be Poor?

When interviewers ask what I believe to be the number one issue keeping people poor, unhealthy, and unhappy, I answer worthiness issues. (Most people simply don’t believe they deserve to be healthy, happy, and prosperous.) And the biggest root of those worthiness issues is organized religion. Not spirituality—but organized religion with all its dogma and doctrines. There are billions of people on Earth (across many religions) who believe that timidity, self-sacrifice, and poverty are pleasing to their God.

Hope, Dope, and a Dead Pope

It was spring, 2005 and I was sitting in a coffeeshop in Amsterdam toking up some sinsemilla, while the TV on the wall played images of people mourning the death of Pope John Paul II. Maybe it was the dope, but I was profoundly melancholy, thinking that like so many before him, the Pope was a very spiritual, caring and well-meaning human being – who would leave a legacy of poverty, ignorance, and despair for his followers.

Becoming an Enlightened Person

You may worship Jesus or Buddha, idolize Mother Teresa or Golda Meir, or be inspired by the way Oprah lives her life. Your lifetime goal might be that people see you in a similar way. That’s a wonderful perspective to have. But there is only one way to create that reality and it won’t come from imitating those you admire.

The Process of Mental Transformation

Of course the real breakthroughs come when you learn how to think instead of what to think. It is those two last steps above, the reflection and contemplative experience where wisdom, insights and innovation come from. Buddhists may not see it that way, but I view this as the critical thinking element.

What Even Buddha Could Not Foresee

Unless you have engaged in serious critical thinking and evaluation of your core foundational beliefs – and how you came to believe in them – what the Buddha called “your own reason and common sense” may be neither.

Self-Mastery

One of the timeless universal laws is that you see the world not as it is, but as who you are. Because of this, to improve any situation or your station in life – simply requires working on yourself.

Fighting Dangerous Ideas

I don’t want to end religion. It can (and does) do so much good in the world. But in order to do that, today’s religious leaders have to agree that everyone is entitled to basic human rights and treated equally under the law. Everyone has the right to think, believe and act as they choose, provided those thoughts, beliefs and actions don’t infringe on the equal freedom of other members of society.

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