Spirituality and Religion

A Blog About Spiritual and Religious Unity, Wisdom & Friendship

Andrew Cort

Andrew Cort
Location
Massachusetts, U.S.
Birthday
March 10
Bio
Author of: "SYMBOLS, MEANING, AND THE SACRED QUEST: Spiritual Awakening in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Stories." Find out more at www.spirituality-and-religion.com

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JULY 31, 2012 8:30AM

WHAT PRESENCE LOOKS LIKE



(Today's post is a Guest Post by Christine Kloser)


Its 2:00 PM on Tuesday, July 17 and in a nano-second the talk title that I’m to give in 24 hours is finally revealed to me, “Books and Publicity as Tools for Personal and Global Transformation.†(Usually books are my main thing,… Read full post »
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JULY 30, 2012 12:47PM

JUST GOT A GREAT NEW REVIEW I HAVE TO SHARE!

MASTERFULLY DONE. A TREASURE

From the book: "There is really no question about the existence of God, it is only a question of whether one has had an experience of God in one's life or not."

Terrific insight from Cort's wondrous, sparkling fusion of wisdom and insight drawn from mythology,/… Read full post »
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JULY 23, 2012 12:22PM

THE QUINTESSENTIAL HUMAN QUALITY


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The wonderful myths and legends of ancient Greece, as well as all the beautiful stories of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, have the common aim of showing us, through symbols and allegories, a practical method for reaching enlightenment. But this information has been lost and forgotten, ev… Read full post »
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JULY 16, 2012 10:46AM

DEMETER'S TORCH


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We cannot ‘change’ ourselves. Only the Grace of God has that power. The one thing we can ‘do’ at our level of Being, however, is to begin to examine ourselves, to follow Socrates’ injunction to “Know Thyself†(he did not say “change thyselfâ€).

This kind of self-obse… Read full post »
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JULY 15, 2012 12:13PM

2012 - "THE END OF THE WORLD"??


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In the Beginning, there were seven days of Creation. So at the End of the tale, there must be seven reciprocal days of Destruction.

“Seven†is the number that symbolizes complete accomplishment. The Creation of the world was accomplished in seven days. The soul completed its descent fr… Read full post »
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JULY 10, 2012 2:19AM

MY CORE MESSAGE



Religions do not have to divide us. Rather than reading their scriptures as literal history and fearful warnings about the dire consequences of moral failure, where each religion sounds contrary to all the others and insists that it, alone, has the only 'real' Truth,… Read full post »
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JULY 9, 2012 2:28PM

THE GREAT WORK OF ART - A Human Being


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According to the Jewish mystical tradition, the Kabbalah, the Sacred Feminine is the ‘Vessel’ that accepts and protects the ‘Seed’, the ‘Light’, of the Sacred Masculine, like a chalice filled with wine. She then pours forth all of nature, abundance, and life. The Kabbalah ad/… Read full post »
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JULY 6, 2012 12:13AM

PRAYERS FOR PEACE


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(Today's Post is a Guest Post from Carol Parrish)   


THE BAHA’ I PRAYER FOR PEACE
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness and a home for the stranger. Be eyes to
… Read full post »
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JULY 4, 2012 10:07AM

HAPPY 4th of JULY !


For America’s Founders, the principle of freedom primarily meant freedom of thought – the freedom to pursue knowledge, truth and wisdom for oneself, without any religious or political constraints: the freedom of an unencumbered Mind.  Now we’ve cheapened it, and seem to think it means “w/… Read full post »
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JULY 3, 2012 12:34PM

BUILDING AN INNER TEMPLE = THE SACRED MARRIAGE


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A Temple is a structure made from elements of Earth, but where God may descend from Heaven to dwell among us. For example, the Tabernacle in the Hebrew Bible serves as a dwelling place for the Shechinah, the Feminine ‘Presence’ of God in the world.

It is important to note… Read full post »
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JULY 1, 2012 1:39PM

ECSTASY AND LUNACY


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“Something was not quite right. Demeter could sense it, impossible though it seemed, even as she embraced her beloved Persephone. ‘My child,’ she gasped, ‘surely you did not taste of any food while you were below? Tell me, and hide nothing.’  But Persephone had indeed tas/… Read full post »
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JUNE 30, 2012 12:01PM

WHEN LOVE REALLY MEANS SOMETHING


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"When things are not going well, when life is difficult, when our ‘Beloved’ is being moody and exasperating – this is when real effort is required to give love, and this is when love really means something. When we can honestly wish for the happiness and well-being of another human… Read full post »
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JUNE 29, 2012 10:47AM

RACHEL & LEAH (Part 2)


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With cunning and wisdom, the Sacred Feminine protects Jacob and transfers all of Laban's power to him.


 
 (Don't like Videos? To read the Transcript instead, click the TAB on upper right)

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If you enjoy my Blog, please consider buying a… Read full post »
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JUNE 26, 2012 11:31AM

OUR INVISIBLE FRIEND IN THE SKY


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Mythology and Scripture are not literal history and aren't meant to be read literally. They're symbolic/allegorical works, filled with a culture's version of the Wisdom Teaching about how to raise one's inner level of Being from the material level to a divine level.

God is the highest leve… Read full post »
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JUNE 25, 2012 10:56AM

THE BEAUTY AND WISDOM OF THE FEMININE


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In the Kabbalah, Rachel represents Beauty and Leah represents deep Understanding, two sides of the Sacred Feminine -- the 'Presence' of God in the manifest world.





 (Don't like Videos? To read the Transcript instead, click the TAB on upper right)

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PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO LEAVE A COMM… Read full post »
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JUNE 21, 2012 7:47PM

THE BEAUTIFUL REBECCA


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Since Isaac and Ishmael could re-unite as brothers, the story makes clear, there is no reason at all why their children, Jews and Muslims, cannot do the same. Come hear the story of Rebecca, her husband, and her children.

Episode 6 of THE SACRED FEMININE: Women in the Bible




(Don't… Read full post »
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JUNE 20, 2012 9:03PM

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR CULTURE, OUR FAMILIES, OUR CHILDREN? THE CASE OF KAREN HUFF KLEIN


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This is why, when I was teaching High School, I was so enraged by the endless nonsense about how it was supposedly my job to "engage" the students, to make the classroom more "interesting", so they would be "happy", and please study, please stop fooling around, please pay attention.


Our… Read full post »
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JUNE 20, 2012 10:56AM

HAGAR, PRINCESS OF EGYPT


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Hagar, mother of Ishmael (with Abraham), was a Princess of Egypt. The Talmud says she was "perfumed with good deeds". In today's Sacred Feminine Video, find out about her real conflict with Sarah.



(Don't like Videos? To read the Transcript instead, click the TAB on upper right)

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JUNE 19, 2012 10:34AM

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE


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After forty years, the Pharaoh who wanted Moses killed (because of what he did to the Egyptian taskmaster) had died. “The Israelites were groaning under the bondage and cried out,†the story tells us, “and their cry for help from the bondage rose up to God.â€

God had been silen… Read full post »
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JUNE 18, 2012 10:41AM

SARAH: ARCHETYPE OF THE SHECHINAH


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In the Kabbalah, the Sacred Feminine is described as a ‘Vessel’ that holds and protects the ‘seed’, the Light, of the Sacred Masculine, like a chalice filled with wine. Sarah is the archetypal essence of the Sacred Feminine (in Hebrew, the SHECHINAH), and as such, she naturall/… Read full post »
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JUNE 17, 2012 10:59PM

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY


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I remember one afternoon when I was single, in my early thirties, walking up First Avenue in New York City. A man walked passed me in the opposite direction, with a little toddler riding happily on his shoulders. As he passed, I felt a tinge of jealousy. 

It made me… Read full post »
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JUNE 14, 2012 12:14PM

AN END TO RELIGIOUS MISOGYNY


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"Original Sin" is NOT something "a woman did a long time ago". This is a parable of our own inner life, each one of us, right here, right now. It’s high time we stopped blaming Eve! Today's video explains.

(This one’s a bit over 5 min, a tad long perhaps, but… Read full post »
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JUNE 13, 2012 1:01PM

EVE and the INFAMOUS RIB


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In this 2nd Episode of "The Sacred Feminine: WOMEN IN THE BIBLE",  I show how the whole sexist presumption that underlies Western Civilization is based on a mistranslation and misinterpretation. In fact, what the story really is telling us is that "The 'One' becomes 'Two', and there is/
… Read full post »
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JUNE 11, 2012 9:30PM

SACRED FEMININE (VIDEO): WOMEN IN THE BIBLE, Episode 1: "EARTH"


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Do you think the Bible is sexist? Only if it is read merely literally. 

But the Bible can be read symbolically and allegorically, and it reveals the psychological instructions for a soul trapped in a Material State of Being that wants to rise to state of Spiritual Enlightenment.

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JUNE 9, 2012 12:07AM

THOMAS MERTON


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One day, on a busy street in Louisville, Kentucky, the famous Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton, found himself surrounded by Jews and Christians, Blacks and Whites. 

He suddenly experienced a radical sensation of inclusion. “It was like I was waking from a dreamof separateness,†he late/… Read full post »
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