I spend my time these days writing rather than reading. Chasing my own muse. Quora is my usual outlet, though I'll occasionally feel compelled to comment on HN.
>>> Kundalini is your polar opposite within you. When it awakens, you realize how immensely powerful you already are. You experience how there is a whole universe within you. It is your feminine energy if you are a man and your masculine energy if you are a woman. It is your passage, your path to eternal fulfillment within you.
>>> when you start meditating on the chakras, it is only from your experiences and newly gained abilities that you come to know that a transformation is taking place within you. The greatest transformation upon the awakening of the kundalini is not that you see blinding light (although, that can happen and has happened to me on numerous occasions) or you feel feather-light or you feel highly energetic. These are epiphenomena. This is not the real product; it’s more like buttermilk than the actual butter. The real transformation upon the awakening of kundalini is that you shed your old tendencies and negativity like a snake sheds its old skin. You no longer feel angry or flustered over trivial matters unlike the earlier times. Your emotions and thoughts don’t overpower and trample all over you anymore. You begin to gain control of yourself. ‘Supranormal’ streams of creativity and energy gush forth at the awakening, surprising even you with talents you never thought you had.
>>> Awakening of the kundalini is reaching your innermost state of bliss and joy. This state is covered with ten layers – desire, anger, greed, attachment, ego, passion, jealousy, hatred, fear and selfconcern. As you elevate spiritually, you start shedding these layers. These avarana, layers, veil the true you. The real you that is beyond the duality of pain and grief, good and bad, moral and immoral. Awakening is a steady and gradual process on the path of kundalini sadhana. It is not an instant realization. It builds up, it grows on you. With each level of awakening, you discover bit more about the new you and you shed bit more of the old you.
>>> Awakening of the kundalini is realization of your pure abstract intelligence, the type that is not conditioned by your fears, emotions and worries. It is your pristine nature. When you are able to tap into this latent source of energy, you truly become the master of your universe. You can manifest whatever you wish in your life because your scale of consciousness is no longer limited to your body alone; it envelops the whole universe.
>>> What’s even more beautiful is that anyone who is willing to put in the effort can experience it.
Whatever crumbs of truth (treat others like you want to be treated, life is short, etc.) included are better expressed elsewhere and without all the baggage.
You need a map to the Bible in order to really understand it. I like YouTube videos, and the best ones I've seen on this topic are the ones by the Bible Project.
https://www.youtube.com/user/jointhebibleproject
And they only feel like crumbs because we've spent the last 2000 years building a society based on those ideas. But they were new and shiny at one point in time. Just like tech is new and shiny now.
Matthew: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+22:36-4...
Mark: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+12%3A28-31
Luke: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A25-28...
We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.[1]
Elsewhere there's the commandment to "love as I loved you", i.e. love others to the point of dying for others. The standard set is incredibly high and hard—hence the Saints, whose lives & sacrifices are commemorated for their selflessness despite other struggles and failings.
[1] First letter of John, ch 4
So, there's good takeaways even if there's lots of bad stuff in there. I'll throw in Buddhism and Confucianism given they have some good advice. As always, keep the good tossing out the bad or questionable stuff.
Many of it's teachings are certainly counter-cultural. And it does take time and effort to learn and interpret wisely. But I find much in the Bible that is very applicable to life today and, arguably more important, applicable to the life to come.
As for the imaginary part, there are plenty of rational reasons to consider the claims of the Bible. This isn't a bad start:
http://www.veritas.org/how-does-christianity-measure-up/
A lot of it boils down to your own personal presuppositions and worldview. For more advanced treatment that gets to the heart of how we know what we know and how our presuppositions affect what we think we know:
https://www.amazon.com/Doctrine-Knowledge-God-Theology-Lords...
Maybe. But my early worldview was shaped almost entirely by Bible believers. Now after thirty years my perspective has changed. And it's hard to see value in evaluating the world from ideas and testimonies that cannot be proven, especially those that condemn those born different.