Towards the Silent Heart

kitchen table philosophy

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Is peace possible?

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People will argue that war is a matter of individual and national survival, that little choice is allowed as to whether they should be involved.

It is still a brutally destructive way to settle differences and significantly points to a lack of understanding, of harmony and a peaceful disposition between humans. It is also a sign that education is failing to produce spiritually integrated and happy people, in tune with the universal nature and deeply considerate of others and their different social standing.

It indicates too, that violence, even as a last resort, is considered an effective and acceptable means to bring about desirable conclusions in human affairs. It is terminal for many and does bring about temporary results that at first sight offer the means to rebuild on new and peaceful foundations.

Inevitably, because the inner strains in human relationships have not been dealt with from a basis of consideration and understanding, they surface anew after a period of incubation to breed more of the destruction and violence that is accepted as an enduring theme of human behaviour.

We observe the savage behaviour of animals in defence of their kind, the protection of their territory and in killing for food. Rarely though do we see the organised slaughter to match what humans do when they war against their own kind.

Violence does not eradicate violence. 

A peaceful world in every way can only follow if we are truly peaceful people. Not only peaceful as the mind understands this but a deeper enduring peace where every propensity for violence has been eradicated by a developing spiritual understanding.

From Peace is Possible by Joseph Raffa – The Kitchen Table Philosopher Collection.

Here’s the link to Joseph’s Amazon author page with full details of his available titles. https://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Raffa/e/B00JLFFH6C

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Live free of corruption

Kitchen Table Philosopher Joseph Raffa asks if corruption is endemic to human nature…

 

Corruption has been exposed over the years in sport, politics, science, in fact in most areas where people come together to compete, to achieve, in a bid for power or to accumulate wealth.

Is corruption then, in some form, endemic in the human race?  Why are people in prominent positions prepared to risk all for the dubious returns that corruption offers?

Regardless of good intentions, protective legislation, watch dog committees, nothing seems to halt the movement of corruption, sometime, somewhere. Always it looms as an offering of worthwhile value.  Those who are initially confronted with a choice yield for one reason or another, then they are caught in a web of devious deception from which it is difficult to extricate oneself.

Are we helpless then to halt the tide of its movement?  No.  Humans have always been endowed with an inner capacity, a universal nature, the discovery of which releases a deeper perception of the extent and depth of corruption in the human expression.

In many it may not be the spectacular kind that holds the media attention or brings forth investigative committees, but to individuals learning to live corruption free lives it is of profound importance to understand and eradicate every aspect of corruption that bids to settle in the mind. Not only the forms of corruption that are easily recognised as such but also the lesser ones which society may even accept as being worthwhile behaviour.


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Go behind the facades

Joseph Raffa, The Kitchen Table Philosopher, urges us to look beyond the surface…

I tire of this crazy world with its pretences and presumptions. The airs and graces of phony people, the postures and presentations.

Stripped bare, humans are the same underneath – a seething mix of emotions, fears and suppressed yearnings. Longings vie for supremacy and desires urge for utterance.

The spirit longs for an outlet unrestrained by social conventions cast in frozen moulds.

Smash the image in the mirror. Break the mirror into a thousand pieces. Pick them up one by one and like a jigsaw puzzle rebuild the shattered image into something of far more value if you can.

Or, are you too far gone to be so bold and free? Have you lost your way so completely and fear to cast aside the dress of time to see what lies beneath?

There is magic there. Life surging in channels bare making its own way to the Universal sea unconcerned with the images cast in time. These fickle faces dressed in the fashions of the day and worshipped by the empty who presume to know what true value is.

 


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His message of love

  by Joseph Raffa

It is almost Christmas and the thoughts of devout Christians turn back to the events that unfolded more than 2,000 years ago. They will not only celebrate the birth of a man, a prophet, a messiah and a religious leader of outstanding qualities but also the remarkable texture of his life. His birth gave little indication of the extraordinary nature of what was to follow nor of how he was to develop into such a spiritual colossus.

From its seeds in this birth, a flowering of incredible beauty came to full bloom in an example of love, wisdom and understanding unparalleled in its expression. He wandered sandy pathways in that barren, desert land giving out his inspired message of love. Such a contrast to the aggressive displays of the time.

His offering was one of peace to a strife-torn area. Peace and love. Not carnal love but spiritual love, that rare quality that flows from the meeting between God and humans. But few there were who could respond to such a high calling and fewer still who could understand. The forces of ignorance, fear and concern for established traditions and authority rallied to crush the living flame of truth that brightly burned whenever he spoke. There was no way though that this spiritual outpouring could be checked by the acts of desperate men. Neither torture nor the cross could halt or obliterate this man’s destiny or his offering to a blighted mankind.

We celebrate in recognition of those qualities and the values he represented. Not yet is the world how he would have it. Much of the behaviour that existed then still stalks the land. Corruption, indifference, violence, brutal suppression, crime – you name it, it happens somewhere, sometime.

And humans still seem powerless, in spite of great technological strides, a knowledge explosion and skill in organisation to halt the flood of all that is ugly in human nature.

It would seem then that his mission was in vain, that his words fell on deaf ears and his example lacked the power to inspire humans to greater endeavours of goodness. Yet still he lingers in the minds and imaginations of this present time, just as he has done in the past, just as he will do in the future.

He stands as an example in living, as the solution to the problems, the difficulties and the irrational behaviour that plague us today.

Not in his fleshly body. That went the way of all flesh – something to be discarded eventually. Not even in his words, though these carried a message of great importance, but in the living nature, the God he was integrated with. This was his source, his inspiration, his sustenance. This was what he was calling the human race back to – its spiritual homeland where they could join in holy union with the creative power.

Although rejected by many in the land of his birth, over the years his influence has spread and gained considerable attention worldwide.

In their hour of need, in times of tribulation, of sorrow and great suffering, people turn to that silent figure, transfixed on the cross, call his name and pray for his help and guidance.

And in many, a response comes from within, touching the heart, uplifting the mind and giving encouragement and strength to carry on, even spreading gladness and joy where formerly darkness reigned.

Because of this his mission was a worthy one of the utmost value to mankind and its success is not to be measured by those who fail to respond, but by those who come to that very same peace and love that he expressed in such a beautiful fashion while he was here.

Cross coverBeyond the Cross, A collection of Joseph’s moving, inspired writing about Jesus is available in ebook and paperback formats from Amazon.com. Click here.

 


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The greatest mystery

 By Joseph Raffa

IT WOULD SEEM the greatest mystery in human history is the mystery of Jesus Christ. Volumes have been written for and against many aspects of His life and today, come Easter or Christmas, controversy surfaces about the nature of the man and the recorded events of His life.

We who live ordinary lives find the reports of healing, the miracles and the resurrection difficult, even impossible to understand. The inspiration in His words, the spiritual outpouring and the quality of His life are acknowledged by the sensitively attuned.

Yet the sombre events that took place on that cross almost two thousand years ago still have the power to move people to tears and defy the capacity of unenlightened intellects to understand. What is there then, to understand in intellectual terms? He came, He passed through and He conquered by the power of a great love for Mankind, by the inspiration of His life and His words. For a human outlet the spiritual outpouring was immense and such was its force that it spread from its centre in this man to flow around the world.

He stands as an example of what humans must aspire to. Not towards unusual effects that sometimes accompany spiritual persons of this magnitude but towards spiritual discovery and union with this strange nature we call God. The encouragement He gave that such does indeed exist, and that it is the greatest blessing that humans can share, was the most important legacy He left the human race.

Beyond the Cross, the full collection of Joseph’s moving pieces about Jesus, is available in both e-book and paperback formats from Amazon.com

CrosscoverThe Kindle edition  is being offered at a discount price in the lead up to Easter. Buy it here.


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A timely reminder

IMG_0229“Explore the planets, the outer reaches of space, the depths of the seas. Burrow into the earth, climb every mountain. When you have seen it all, you will still be left with the mystery of yourself. Turn and face this. Explore this. When you’ve traveled the extent and depth of the human expression, much of what you learn will be beyond the mind’s capacity to convey through verbalisation. When heart speaks to heart, what more is there to say?”

Joseph Raffa shares an inspirational message for those who care to listen in The Silent Guardian, a timely reminder of our spiritual journey and true purpose on Earth.

The_Silent_Guardian_Cover_for_KindleThe Silent Guardian is now available in paperback and e-book versions from Amazon.com