Meditation and Consciousness (Lecture 1/10)

BDG on YouTube: A Dharma Talk with Ven. Guan Cheng

🔗 Watch: https://youtu.be/EHiRFM6bdl0

#Buddhism #Buddha #Mahayana #Dharma #DharmaTalk #Sutra #Amitabha #PureLand #Wisdom #Awakening #Spirituality #BritishColumbia #Liberation

20 year practice finally completed on the 13th.

A happy moment.

#feelsgoodman
#liberation #celebration

What Now?: New Creatures by God’s Grace

“‘Dear Lord God, I wish to preach in your honor. I wish to speak about you, glorify you, praise your name. Although I can’t do this well of myself, I pray that you may make it good.’”[i]

Introduction

Continuing with our journey through Romans, we find ourselves in the first half of chapter 6. Here, Paul is addressing claims coming from the Corinthian church, specifically claims that if believers sin more than God’s grace abounds more. Paul is clear here, while we are justified by faith apart from works, we must not intentionally pursue sinful behaviors that drag and disrupt God’s revolution of the divine mission of love, life, and liberation in the world for the well-being of the neighbor to the glory of God. (Plus, we will have enough unintentional sin in our lives, we don’t need to pursue it!) We are, according to Paul, new creatures born of the waters of Baptism and are now defined by love, life, and liberation, and therefore voluntarily re-yoking ourselves to that which is indifference, that which is death, that which is captivity is not only anathema but also cut off.  

Romans 6:1b-11

Paul begins with a refutation of what is considered (by some scholars[ii]) to be a quotation from some at Rome, What then will we say? May we continue to sin, with the result that grace might superabound? Hell/ck no! We who have died to sin, how will we still live in it? (vv1-2). The question Paul asks in return is the driving theme of the chapter. It is also, especially for us, a crucial question for those who are justified by faith apart from works. Rather than the event of justification being a license to intentionally sin, it is an exhortation to live a new life. It is a gift given to be enjoyed—this is what the incarnate word is. Remember, back in chapter four, Paul gave a crystal-clear explanation of the gospel summarized by the events of Christ’s death and resurrection, [Jesus] was handed over for the sake of our trespasses and was raised for the sake of our acquittal/being pronounced justified/righteous (4:25). If we claim to believe in Christ, then we’ve come to the end of ourselves and have entered union with God by the power of the Holy Spirit. To intentionally return to the behaviors of the kingdom of humanity is to deny this belief and faith, it is to deny Christ and what Christ achieved for us because it is contrary to the very grace of God.[iii] In a sense, the claim Paul refutes makes God’s grace a human endeavor; for Paul, this is a μὴ γένοιτο! In the economy of God’s activity in the world and, especially, toward humanity, emphasis cannot fall on humans sinning to bring God’s grace. Rather, it must fall on God’s gracious activity in giving us God’s grace. Those who have been saved from the life of the dead are ushered into the life of the living and there’s no going back and certainly no human-centered way to make God’s grace abound more than it already is in Christ by the power of the Spirit. This is why Paul can then write,

Or are you ignorant that whosoever of us was baptized into Christ Jesus we were baptized into his death? Therefore we were buried with him through the baptism into death, so that just as Christ was raised from death by the glory of Abba God, even as also we might walk in the newness of life (vv3-4).

Paul then explains more,

For if we have become grown together with [Jesus] in the likeness of his death, but also we will be [grown together with him in the likeness of his] resurrection. Knowing this that our old person was crucified together with [Christ] so that the body of sin might be abolished, so that we are no longer a slave to sin, for the one who dies has been declared to be righteous from sin (vv5-7).

Paul anchors the believer’s new life not in the old life and person of the kingdom of humanity, but in the new person who is of the reign of God and who identifies (by faith) with Christ’s death and resurrection. This new person is born from the trifold dipping of Christian baptism, marking the fullness of the invested Godhead and our identification with Christ in the tomb.[iv] For Paul, this is all the believer needs to cling to. The believer does not need to take matters into their own hands and cause God’s grace to manifest; God’s grace is (already) made manifest in their lives (in its fullness) because they believe. Now, it is also shared out and into the world as they proceed to live into their resurrected new life and leave the old person and body of sin to the kingdom of humanity (like: “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead” Mt. 8:22, Lk. 9:60). These ones are grown together with (bonded to) Christ,[v] just as they were previously bonded to and grown together with sin and the old person. Therefore, they cannot return to the old way, old life, and old person. Again, Paul is refuting any notion that believers must return to sin to make God’s grace abound; the believer causes God’s grace to abound in the world as they live into their new life by the power of the Spirit and by faith in Christ and in union with God.[vi] (But they cannot cause God’s grace to become more present in their own lives than it already is by returning to sin.) Thus, believers become midwives of God’s grace by God’s grace and are encouraged and exhorted to go further and deeper into the world bringing God’s love and grace to all, especially the oppressed. Anyone who identifies with Christ by faith and baptism has identified with Christ in his death and will identify with him in his resurrection; herein is our justification: for the one who dies is declared righteous from sin. Sin is no longer in control and no longer boss (so, too, the law[vii]); God is now in charge of this new life, and Paul exhorts the Romans to live as such going forward and not backward. Saying,

Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Knowing that Christ, being raised from death, dies no longer, death no longer rules him. For he, he died, once for all he, he died to sin; but he, he lives, he, he lives to God. And in this way, you, you reckon yourselves to be dead to sin and living to/for God in Christ Jesus (vv8-11).

Conclusion

For Paul,[viii] Christ is the sacrament[ix]; it is Christ with whom we identify in both the waters of baptism and in the broken bread of the eucharist. It is not that water and bread are significant in themselves, but through them we come into contact with the dead and risen Christ; in partaking in these sacraments we identify in Christ’s three-day death and in his body broken; and as we identify so here, we can and will identify with Christ in his new life and bodily resurrection (today and tomorrow, present and future).[x] Further, to identify with Christ in his death—sacramentally and spiritually—means that we, too, like Christ our elder brother, are caused to be dead to sin, as in, sin no longer has dominion over us,[xi] eternal death,[xii] too, is rendered impotent for those who believe. (Because of Christ, death is dead, captivity is held captive, and indifference has met is own cold fate.[xiii],[xiv]) Sin’s stain and its consequence, death, are forever removed from the life of the believer;[xv] they are new creatures[xvi] (forever and daily[xvii]) no longer defined by sin but by God’s grace, no longer under the dominion of sin but under the reign of Christ.[xviii] No longer defined by death, but by life; no longer defined by captivity, but liberation; no longer defined by indifference but by love.[xix] We do not need to return…Nay! We cannot return to the sinful existence of the old person, of the kingdom of humanity; [xx] for God’s grace enters in anew every morning with God’s mercy.

Thus, we walk in all this newness, on the move because the Christian life is on the move because it is defined by Christ the gospel, defined by God and God’s Holy Spirit all of whom are always on the move looking for and seeking the beloved.[xxi]As those who identify with Christ by faith, we also identify with whom he identified: the lost, the unheard, the unvoiced, the ignored, the pushed off and pushed aside, the ones the society of the kingdom of humanity has deemed unworthy of love.

[i] LW 54:157-158; Table Talk 1590.

[ii] Martin Luther Lectures on Romans: Glosses and Scholia (1515/1516) LW 25 Ed. Hilton C. Oswald (Saint Louis: Concordia, 1972), 50. “…as falsifiers understand the passage, when they say, ‘Let us do evil,’ that is, let us commit sin, ‘That good may come’ (Rom. 3:8), that is, that grace may abound.”

[iii] LW 25: 50. “By no means, because this idea is absolutely contrary to the work of grace,..”

[iv] LW 25: 50-51. “…the threefold dipping of Baptism signifies the three-day death period and the burial of Christ, into Christ Jesus, that is, by faith in Christ Jesus…”

[v] Sarah Heaner Lancaster, Romans, Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible, eds. Amy Plantinga Pauw and William C. Placher (Louisville: WJK, 2015), 108. “The kind of participation that baptism makes possible is an incorporation into Christ that is a secure joining for a thorough sharing, a kind of bonding.”

[vi] Lancaster, Romans, 107. “For Paul, baptism is s a clear sign of leaving the dominion of sin and entering the dominion of grace.”

[vii] LW 25: 308. “But he over whom sin reigns, no matter how he resists sin, is still under the Law and not under grace.”

[viii] LW 25: 310. “thus in this passage the apostle is speaking of the death and resurrection of Christ insofar as they refer to the sacrament, but not to the example.”

[ix] LW 25: 309. “For having put on our mortal flesh and dying only in it and rising only in it, now only in it He joins these things together for us, for in this flesh He became a sacrament for the inner man and an example for the outward man.”

[x] Lancaster, Romans, 108. “By being buried with Jesus, we are made participants not only in his death but also in his resurrection. To be united with him in death means also being united with him in resurrection (6:5).”

[xi] Lancaster, Romans, 107. “[Paul] describes sin’s power as ruling power; sin has dominion over us, enslaving us to its purposes and exercising influence over us as a kind of lordship. When we are under the lordship of sin, we are bound to submit to its influence.”

[xii] LW 25: 310. “Eternal death is also twofold. The one kind is good, very good.it is the death of sin and the death of death, by which the soul is released and separated from sin and the body is separated from corruption and through grace and glory is joined to the living God. This is death in the most proper sense of the word, for in all other forms of death something remains that is mixed with life, but not in this kind of death, where there is the purest life alone, because it is eternal life.”

[xiii] LW 25: 311. “Just as the death of death means to act against death, which is the same things as life, so the sin of sin is righteousness.”

[xiv] LW 25: 311. “Because for death to be killed means that death will not return, and ‘to take captivity captive’ means that captivity will never return, a concept which cannot be expressed through an affirmative assertion.”

[xv] LW 25: 310. “This is the way sin dies; and likewise the sinner, when he is justified, because sin will not return again for all eternity, as the apostles says here [v9]…”

[xvi] LW 25: 313. “The term ‘old man’ describes what kind of person is born of Adam, not according to his nature but according to the defect of his nature. For his nature is good, but the defect is evil.”

[xvii] LW 25: 314. “The meaning is that we must undergo this spiritual death only once. For whoever dies thus lives for all eternity. Therefore we must not return to our sin in order to die to sin again.”

[xviii] Lancaster, Romans, 107-108. “Those who have died to sin because they have been baptized into Jesus’ death. By participating in the death of Jesus, the follower of Jesus is dying to the lordship of sin and accepting the lordship of Christ.”

[xix] Lancaster, Romans, 108-109. “Dying to sin means that a person dies to an old way of life, and participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus means that a person enters a new way of life. The one who was crucified conquered death, and because we share in his victory, we are no longer enslaved to sin….The proper commitment to the new dominion in which we are privileged to live is to give up sin and live for God.”

[xx] Lancaster, Romans, 107. “To follow Jesus Christ means leaving the dominion of sin and living in the dominion of grace. If that is the case, then the follower of Jesus can no longer do the bidding of sin. By changing dominions, a person has changed lords and loyalties.”

[xxi] Lancaster, Romans, 109. “…new life in Christ is not static…Rather to walk in newness of life means to be on the move, to be ever attentive to what it means to live to God and to exercise our allegiance daily.”

Quel problème résout ce livre ?

Vous avez peut-être tout essayé pour aller mieux.

Quand votre esprit devient votre pire ennemi

Pourquoi le Développement Personnel Ne Suffit Plus

Votre Bien-Être Intérieur Commence Ici

Chaque pensée catastrophique laisse une trace dans votre corps

Le pire ennemi ne vit pas dehors

Quand Tout Semble Sombre, La Lumière Attend Encore

Et Si Votre Plus Belle Vie Commençait Aujourd’hui ?

Pourquoi tu souffres encore alors que le passé est terminé ?

Le bruit attire, la vérité trie

Les histoires qui guérissent ce que les conseils ne peuvent pas toucher

Je pratique l’accompagnement narratif hypnotique

Parce que chacun a besoin d’un peu de douceur.

Pourquoi tant de techniques… et si peu de vraies transformations ?

La peur qui vole ta vie

Les 7 blessures émotionnelles qui dirigent votre vie sans que vous le sachiez

ARRÊTE DE LAISSER HIER DÉCIDER DE DEMAIN

Pourquoi Ton Cerveau Résiste Au Bonheur

Ces phrases invisibles qui détruisent ta confiance

Trop vieux pour être jeune. Trop jeune pour être vieux.

La Blessure Invisible De L’Homme Moderne

« Dis-moi, en quoi puis-je t’aider ? » : La question qui révèle ce que vous cachez

Coach en Bien-Être Intérieur : Celui Qui Reconstruit Ce Que La Vie A Fragilisé

Ce Manque Que Rien Ne Comble

Les signes apparaissaient toujours avant que tout bascule

Ils savent quand je pense a eux.

Le corps suit souvent ce que l’esprit lui impose

UN FRISSON…

Pourquoi l’inconnu fait peur : le piège invisible qui bloque ta vie

Ils S’Accrochent À Leur Mal-Être Parce Qu’Il Les Rend Importants

Ils Courent Après La Jeunesse… Et Perdent Leur Vie

Lire des livres. Regarder des vidéos. Réfléchir à votre passé.

Pourtant, quelque chose continue de vous freiner.

Les mêmes émotions reviennent.
Les mêmes peurs réapparaissent.
Les mêmes situations se répètent.

Ce n’est pas un manque de volonté.

C’est souvent un mal-être intérieur qui agit en silence et influence vos choix, vos réactions et votre manière de vivre.

Dans ce livre, je vous aide à comprendre les mécanismes invisibles qui entretiennent votre souffrance afin de commencer à vous en libérer durablement.

Que va obtenir le lecteur ?

À travers ce guide, vous découvrirez :

• Comment identifier les véritables causes de votre mal-être.
• Pourquoi certains blocages persistent malgré tous vos efforts.
• Comment sortir des schémas émotionnels qui se répètent.
• Des clés concrètes pour retrouver plus de sérénité intérieure.
• Une nouvelle compréhension de vous-même et de votre fonctionnement émotionnel.
• Des pistes simples pour avancer vers un mieux-être durable.

Ce livre n’apporte pas seulement des réponses.

Il ouvre une nouvelle façon de regarder ce que vous vivez.

Pourquoi moi ?

Pendant des années, la vie m’a confronté aux émotions humaines sous leurs formes les plus profondes.

J’ai appris à écouter ce qui se cache derrière les mots, derrière les comportements et derrière la souffrance.

Depuis 2018, j’accompagne des personnes grâce à ma méthode basée sur l’écoute profonde et la conversation hypnotique.

Mon objectif n’est pas de vous donner des solutions toutes faites.

Je vous aide à comprendre ce qui se joue réellement à l’intérieur de vous afin que le changement devienne naturel.

Ce livre est le fruit de cette expérience et de cette compréhension du fonctionnement émotionnel.

Passez à l’action

Chaque jour passé à ignorer son mal-être est un jour où il continue d’influencer sa vie.

La question n’est pas de savoir si vous méritez d’aller mieux.

La question est : combien de temps encore êtes-vous prêt à laisser vos blocages décider à votre place ?

Si vous êtes prêt à comprendre ce qui vous retient et à avancer vers davantage de paix intérieure, ce livre est fait pour vous.

Téléchargez votre exemplaire dès aujourd’hui et commencez ce voyage vers votre libération intérieure.

Ta vérité n’est qu’à toi

Le piège mental qui t’épuise chaque jour

Cette Partie De Toi Que Tu Refuses De Regarder

Le Mal Qui Dort En Silence Dans Ton Esprit

Le Secret Terrifiant Derrière Les Gens Qui Disent “Ça Va”

Je Ne Répare Pas Les Gens. Je Les Rebâtis.

Ce Qui t’Observe Quand tu es Seul

On s’épuise à se méfier

ÉCOUTE BIEN ÇA AVANT QU’IL SOIT TROP TARD

Conversation hypnotique : pourquoi ton esprit dirige ta vie

Et si ta souffrance venait des mots que tu répètes ?

Et Si L’Espoir Était Enfin Quelque Chose de Concret ?

Si Rien Ne Change, C’est Que Ça T’Arrange

Tu Attires Ce Que Tu Acceptes

Le Monstre Que Tu Nourris En Silence

Tu Veux Être Compris… Mais Tu Ne Te Comprends Pas

Comment la conversation hypnotique aide à dépasser les traumatismes émotionnels

Conversation hypnotique : quand parler devient libération

Ce Message Va Déranger Beaucoup De Monde

Ils T’Ont Dressé… Et Tu Appelles Ça “Être Toi”

L’ÉGO TE PROTÈGE… JUSQU’À TE DÉTRUIRE

Ils exposent leur douleur. Mais ils pourraient transformer leur vie.

Ils Exposent Leur Douleur… Mais Refusent de Se Rencontrer

Tu critiques les autres pour éviter de te voir

Tu Refuses D’Être Libre

MON METIER, MA PASSION

Tu Te Mens Mieux Que Personne

Ce Que Tu Nourris En Silence… Dirige Toute Ta Vie

Tu As Peur De Réussir Autant Que D’Échouer

L’attachement discret à l’inconfort

Je pratique ce que j’appelle l’accompagnement narratif hypnotique.

Plutôt que d’analyser sans fin les problèmes, j’utilise la puissance des histoires pour parler directement à l’inconscient.

Chaque récit devient un voyage intérieur où la personne découvre par elle-même ce qu’elle n’arrivait plus à voir.

Trending now:

Guide de lecture

• 0.1 Quand votre esprit devient votre pire ennemi
• 0.2 Pourquoi le Développement Personnel Ne Suffit Plus
• 0.3 Votre Bien-Être Intérieur Commence Ici
• 0.4 Chaque pensée catastrophique laisse une trace dans votre corps
• 0.5 Le pire ennemi ne vit pas dehors
• 0.6 Quand Tout Semble Sombre, La Lumière Attend Encore
• 0.7 Et Si Votre Plus Belle Vie Commençait Aujourd’hui ?
• 0.8 Pourquoi tu souffres encore alors que le passé est terminé ?
• 0.9 Le bruit attire, la vérité trie
• 0.10 Les histoires qui guérissent ce que les conseils ne peuvent pas toucher
• 0.11 Je pratique l’accompagnement narratif hypnotique
• 0.12 Parce que chacun a besoin d’un peu de douceur.
• 0.13 Pourquoi tant de techniques… et si peu de vraies transformations ?
• 0.14 La peur qui vole ta vie
• 0.15 Les 7 blessures émotionnelles qui dirigent votre vie sans que vous le sachiez
• 0.16 ARRÊTE DE LAISSER HIER DÉCIDER DE DEMAIN
• 0.17 Pourquoi Ton Cerveau Résiste Au Bonheur
• 0.18 Ces phrases invisibles qui détruisent ta confiance
• 0.19 Trop vieux pour être jeune. Trop jeune pour être vieux.
• 0.20 La Blessure Invisible De L’Homme Moderne
• 0.21 « Dis-moi, en quoi puis-je t’aider ? » : La question qui révèle ce que vous cachez
• 0.22 Coach en Bien-Être Intérieur : Celui Qui Reconstruit Ce Que La Vie A Fragilisé
• 0.23 Ce Manque Que Rien Ne Comble
• 0.24 Les signes apparaissaient toujours avant que tout bascule
• 0.25 Ils savent quand je pense a eux.
• 0.26 Le corps suit souvent ce que l’esprit lui impose
• 0.27 UN FRISSON…
• 0.28 Pourquoi l’inconnu fait peur : le piège invisible qui bloque ta vie
• 0.29 Ils S’Accrochent À Leur Mal-Être Parce Qu’Il Les Rend Importants
• 0.30 Ils Courent Après La Jeunesse… Et Perdent Leur Vie
• 0.31 Ta vérité n’est qu’à toi
• 0.32 Le piège mental qui t’épuise chaque jour
• 0.33 Cette Partie De Toi Que Tu Refuses De Regarder
• 0.34 Le Mal Qui Dort En Silence Dans Ton Esprit
• 0.35 Le Secret Terrifiant Derrière Les Gens Qui Disent “Ça Va”
• 0.36 Je Ne Répare Pas Les Gens. Je Les Rebâtis.
• 0.37 Ce Qui t’Observe Quand tu es Seul
• 0.38 On s’épuise à se méfier
• 0.39 ÉCOUTE BIEN ÇA AVANT QU’IL SOIT TROP TARD
• 0.40 Conversation hypnotique : pourquoi ton esprit dirige ta vie
• 0.41 Et si ta souffrance venait des mots que tu répètes ?
• 0.42 Et Si L’Espoir Était Enfin Quelque Chose de Concret ?
• 0.43 Si Rien Ne Change, C’est Que Ça T’Arrange
• 0.44 Tu Attires Ce Que Tu Acceptes
• 0.45 Le Monstre Que Tu Nourris En Silence
• 0.46 Tu Veux Être Compris… Mais Tu Ne Te Comprends Pas
• 0.47 Comment la conversation hypnotique aide à dépasser les traumatismes émotionnels
• 0.48 Conversation hypnotique : quand parler devient libération
• 0.49 Ce Message Va Déranger Beaucoup De Monde
• 0.50 Ils T’Ont Dressé… Et Tu Appelles Ça “Être Toi”
• 0.51 L’ÉGO TE PROTÈGE… JUSQU’À TE DÉTRUIRE
• 0.52 Ils exposent leur douleur. Mais ils pourraient transformer leur vie.
• 0.53 Ils Exposent Leur Douleur… Mais Refusent de Se Rencontrer
• 0.54 Tu critiques les autres pour éviter de te voir
• 0.55 Tu Refuses D’Être Libre
• 0.56 MON METIER, MA PASSION
• 0.57 Tu Te Mens Mieux Que Personne
• 0.58 Ce Que Tu Nourris En Silence… Dirige Toute Ta Vie
• 0.59 Tu As Peur De Réussir Autant Que D’Échouer
• 0.60 L’attachement discret à l’inconfort
• 1 Trending now:

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https://a.co/d/0defefQ6

#ResistAndHeal #HealOurCulture #Juneteenth #liberation #history

“The 1526 Project: Resistance at 500”

“In 2026, America will throw the most expensive birthday party in the history of empires. We are celebrating the anniversary of resistance instead,”

https://resistance500.com/

#ResistAndHeal #HealOurCulture #Juneteenth #liberation #history

#book2read: Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America by Michael Harriot
https://a.co/d/01BQ2A0X

#ResistAndHeal #HealOurCulture #Juneteenth #liberation #history