Thomas Wirthlin McConkie

[_canpakes]

Did you know they serve lobster in the SLC temple? For only 10% of your income you can participate in a mysterious snoozefest and afterward dine on lobster, which is provided at a tidy profit of course.

- Doc

Hey, those lobsters crawled from the Great Salt Lake and into the waiting truck bed of Juan, the Temple General Conference Cafeteria chef, when he was leaving last Friday from his weekday job at the Island Buffalo Grill. It was a miracle. Even so.

[_mentalgymnast]

Silly mentalgymnast meditating is for hippies, Ponderizing is for Mormons.

No more. It's a new day! Mormons have them both covered.

Regards,
MG

[_Maksutov]

Silly mentalgymnast meditating is for hippies, Ponderizing is for Mormons.

No more. It's a new day! Mormons have them both covered.

Regards,
MG

"Mormon" comes from "Satan". Rusty said so. Looks like your apostasy is complete.

[_Mormonicious]

"Mormon" comes from "Satan". Rusty said so. Looks like your apostasy is complete.

Ha, Ha, mentalgymnast worships Satan. Ponderize that Fact.

[_Themis]

Yes, I'm sure that what you and one or two others have mentioned is true. As you listen to Thomas, however, you come to understand that coming back to the church was the LAST thing on his radar. There was a beckoning that occurred in a almost spiritual/mystical sense that brought him back even though it was quite uncomfortable for him for a while on first entering a chapel after twenty years or so.

I'm sure it was.

I'd suggest you listen to the whole series to really get a flavor as to the wide breadth and depth of Mormonism and it's relationship to other world traditions of belief and thought/spirituality.

They are all related. It doesn't change the solid evidence it is man-made. I cannot think of any idea Joseph didn't borrow as he made up his unique religion.

As I told another poster, it's not for everyone. A certain sense of playfulness and open mindedness is required to listen without automatically shutting down. In times past as I've posted on this board I've lamented that there seems to be a certain 'rigidity' and/or black and white thinking present in some folks as they post

One of my biggest criticism of you is your closed mind and binary thinking. You have even admitted this closed mindedness when you admit you always approach any religious subject with the church has to be true. I was more interested in what is true, not what I want to be true.

You however? You might find it interesting. After all, Buddhism in and of itself doesn't require God belief. You might find it interesting how Thomas McConkie has merged Buddhist thought and practice with Mormon orthodoxy.

Not unusual for many to incorporate many ideas and traditions in their own beliefs.

[_Maksutov]

Spiritual dilettante ends up back with religion of his family. Color me unsurprised.

[_Mormonicious]

Spiritual dilettante ends up back with religion of his family. Color me unsurprised.

Okay, how about Green for jealousy that you didn't write a book for the Morgbots to buy.

Or how about Red for ANGER that yet another damned GOD DAMN Morg wrote a book and started a movement and thinks it supports Biblical Jebus and his/her teachings.

[_toon]

He was interviewed on Dan Harris' (ABC news/Nightline) podcast:

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/abc-ne ... oplay=true

The impression I got is that he was kind of a Jack Mormon, someone who left the church in his late teens not because he no longer believed the truth claim but because he was a rebellious teen. And he returned for primarily spiritual, family, and community reasons, not because questions about truth claims had been resolved. In the interview, Harris tries to pin him down on how he could reconcile returning (with his Buddhist belief system) with Church orthodoxy and truth claims. McConkie was a bit cagey in his response, but it appears that he has adopted a somewhat metaphorical approach. He also does not appear to support or at least hold as important the Church's exclusivity claims.

I've long felt that many aspects of Buddhism were completely compatible with Mormonism. Maybe he's doing this for the buck, something that I don't have a problem with, but if he is an example of where the Church may be going or at least accepting, it would be a positive development.

[_mentalgymnast]

One of my biggest criticism of you is your closed mind and binary thinking. You have even admitted this closed mindedness when you admit you always approach any religious subject with the church has to be true. I was more interested in what is true, not what I want to be true.

One caveat with what you said here Themis. I would rephrase and say that I approach any religious subject with the presupposition that the church is true. But not that the church has to be true. See the distinction? I also am interested in what is true and not what I want to be true. Do you see that as a contradiction with my first statement?

I don't.

Regards,
MG

[_mentalgymnast]

He was interviewed on Dan Harris' (ABC news/Nightline) podcast:

https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/abc-ne ... oplay=true

The impression I got is that he was kind of a Jack Mormon, someone who left the church in his late teens not because he no longer believed the truth claim but because he was a rebellious teen.

He had issues with the hypocrisy that he believed to be present within his community.

And he returned for primarily spiritual, family, and community reasons, not because questions about truth claims had been resolved.

Initially I think this was true...at least from my interpretation of what he said in the podcast I linked to. I think over time, however, he appears to have taken on a hybrid view in which the orthodox and the metaphorical dovetailed into a view that didn't throw out the core doctrinal claims but rather inculcated some of the eastern practices which provided a metaphorical 'add on' to his religious practice.

He also does not appear to support or at least hold as important the Church's exclusivity claims.

That's not what I gathered in listening to the series of podcasts. He sees the church as having an important and integral part in the world of faith traditions. He as a matter of fact says that he sees Jesus of Nazareth as being divinity embodied in the flesh. At least that's what I got out of it.

I've long felt that many aspects of Buddhism were completely compatible with Mormonism. Maybe he's doing this for the buck, something that I don't have a problem with, but if he is an example of where the Church may be going or at least accepting, it would be a positive development.

His 'self realization' and mindfulness practices have potential for those that are in need of a greater awareness of the Spirit that they don't achieve within traditional Mormon practice. Many folks in the church don't seek that 'mystical' bent that can be part of religious practice, others do. Thomas McConkie simply promotes and teaches ways/means by which these people can achieve a higher state of being and awareness of their bodies and their internal selves/workings.

Regards,
MG