Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Saturday, January 03, 2009
The "I"," We" and "It" of Life
I've made to many uninformed decisions in my life. The tough thing about life is that you can only make decisions based on the information in your awareness. So, I've made decisions based on less than the all of the information available. Sometimes things workout, and sometimes they don't. Either way I learn, grow, change, evolve. . . But at the time that I made the less than informed decision, it was based on my understanding of what was true.
Just about every language on our earth has a form of the pronouns I, We and It. Those pronouns represent the different ways we look at life, and more importantly, truth. Let me roll through an example to make it clear (at least as clear as my limited intellect is capable).
If I want to describe myself I can do so from a variety of perspectives. Science/Modernity would view me as an "it". I can be reduced to a bag of skin hanging around muscles and bone. I could be reduced to a cellular level. A scientists could pop the brain out of my head and say "See, this is Roger." But it would only be partially true. I am more than the sum of my physical parts, although my physical parts are certainly necessary.
I can also describe myself from a 2nd-Person perspective; the "we". Postmodernity has pointed out that we are inexorably connected and influenced by our culture and language, and our perception of truth is as well. We are limited by our language and our culture in ways that are difficult to grasp if we are not aware of them. Needless to say I am more than my culture and language, though they are needed to fully describe who I am.
Last, I am a 1st-person, "I". This is the realm of phenemonology and religion. This is how I experience life. I could describe to you how I feel, what I think, what I see, how something tastes. But, these experiences are not all there is to me. The pre-modern, pre-rational religions dug deep into the "I" (especially Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but there are some interesting Christian Mystics who were on the same path).
These different understandings of truth unfolded in history in a sequential pattern. The various spiritual traditions were born out of a pre-modern, pre-rational worldview. They had almost no knowledge of science and culture, but they were masters at phenomenology and left lots of information for us to assimilate. They attempted to build an understanding of the universe based on their inner, 1st-person experiences.
The pre-modern, pre-rational world gave way to the Modern/Rational. The Enlightenment gave us scientific methods and for all the great advances in science, medicine and technology it raped the world of religion and phenomenology because it could not be measured or quantified. From it's perspective 3rd-person perspective of truth, spirituality and religion was B.S.
In the last few decades postmodernity has shown that the truth claims of both premodernity and postmodernity were outright influenced by the language and culture of the person. All of truth was reduced to culture and therefore there could be no one, universal truth.
Integral Theory says that all of these truth claims have a place at the table. Each discipline or science is merely looking at reality from a different perspective. Religion/Phenomenology looks at the 1st-person/"I". Hermenuetics looks at the 2nd-person/"we". Science looks at the 3rd-person/"it".
In conclusion, (mainly because I'm tired of typing) these three perspectives of truth must be considered together for us to get an accurate view of reality. It has really helped me to put the "truths" that each of these worldviews and their corresponding disciplines give in an appropriate place. The mystic religious traditions have their place along side modern science. The radical pluralism of postmodernity makes me aware of my cultural influences that help me form the ideas of what is "true". Perhaps, if I take into account all three of these perspectives, I will have a more accurate view of reality.
Now the really interesting stuff comes when you lay all of these truth claims out and attempt to harmonize them. Patterns emerge. Stages and states in each one of the quadrants unfold, and it appears that humans, along with the universe and our earth, are evolving.
Just about every language on our earth has a form of the pronouns I, We and It. Those pronouns represent the different ways we look at life, and more importantly, truth. Let me roll through an example to make it clear (at least as clear as my limited intellect is capable).
If I want to describe myself I can do so from a variety of perspectives. Science/Modernity would view me as an "it". I can be reduced to a bag of skin hanging around muscles and bone. I could be reduced to a cellular level. A scientists could pop the brain out of my head and say "See, this is Roger." But it would only be partially true. I am more than the sum of my physical parts, although my physical parts are certainly necessary.
I can also describe myself from a 2nd-Person perspective; the "we". Postmodernity has pointed out that we are inexorably connected and influenced by our culture and language, and our perception of truth is as well. We are limited by our language and our culture in ways that are difficult to grasp if we are not aware of them. Needless to say I am more than my culture and language, though they are needed to fully describe who I am.
Last, I am a 1st-person, "I". This is the realm of phenemonology and religion. This is how I experience life. I could describe to you how I feel, what I think, what I see, how something tastes. But, these experiences are not all there is to me. The pre-modern, pre-rational religions dug deep into the "I" (especially Hindu and Buddhist traditions, but there are some interesting Christian Mystics who were on the same path).
These different understandings of truth unfolded in history in a sequential pattern. The various spiritual traditions were born out of a pre-modern, pre-rational worldview. They had almost no knowledge of science and culture, but they were masters at phenomenology and left lots of information for us to assimilate. They attempted to build an understanding of the universe based on their inner, 1st-person experiences.
The pre-modern, pre-rational world gave way to the Modern/Rational. The Enlightenment gave us scientific methods and for all the great advances in science, medicine and technology it raped the world of religion and phenomenology because it could not be measured or quantified. From it's perspective 3rd-person perspective of truth, spirituality and religion was B.S.
In the last few decades postmodernity has shown that the truth claims of both premodernity and postmodernity were outright influenced by the language and culture of the person. All of truth was reduced to culture and therefore there could be no one, universal truth.
Integral Theory says that all of these truth claims have a place at the table. Each discipline or science is merely looking at reality from a different perspective. Religion/Phenomenology looks at the 1st-person/"I". Hermenuetics looks at the 2nd-person/"we". Science looks at the 3rd-person/"it".
In conclusion, (mainly because I'm tired of typing) these three perspectives of truth must be considered together for us to get an accurate view of reality. It has really helped me to put the "truths" that each of these worldviews and their corresponding disciplines give in an appropriate place. The mystic religious traditions have their place along side modern science. The radical pluralism of postmodernity makes me aware of my cultural influences that help me form the ideas of what is "true". Perhaps, if I take into account all three of these perspectives, I will have a more accurate view of reality.
Now the really interesting stuff comes when you lay all of these truth claims out and attempt to harmonize them. Patterns emerge. Stages and states in each one of the quadrants unfold, and it appears that humans, along with the universe and our earth, are evolving.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
You know...if time really matters to you....
YEASAYER - 2080
I can't sleep when I think about the times we're living in,
I can't sleep when I think about the future I was born into,
Outsiders dressed up like Sunday morning,
With no Berlin wall what the hell you gonna do.
It's a New Year,
I'm glad to be here
It's a fresh spring,
So let's sing.
In 2080
I'll surely be dead
So don't look ahead,
Never look ahead
It's a New Year,
I'm glad to be here
It's the first spring,
So let's sing.
And the moon shines bright
On the water tonight
So we won't drown
In the summer sound.
If you find me I'll be sitting by the water fountain,
Picket signs, letdowns, meltdown it's Monday morning
But it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
It's alright,
Cause in no time, They'll be gone I guess I'll still be standing here.
Yeah Yeah we can all grab at the chance and be handsome farmers,
Yeah you can have twenty one sons and be blood when they marry my daughters,
And the pain that we left at the station will stay in a jar behind us.
We can pickle the pain into blue ribbon winners at county contests.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Spirituality That Transforms
One of my main critiques of religion has centered on the idea of transformation. My opinion has been that if a religion does not aid in transformation it is impotent. If religion is authentic it should provide results. I’ve been doing research on Integral Theory, which I blogged briefly about in an earlier post. I recently came across this article by Ken Wilber entitled “A Spirituality That Transforms”, that explains a lot of what I have experienced, in and out of organized religion, and why authentic transformation is so rare.
First, Wilber lays out the case that there are two basic functions of religion:
If I was my old “Institutionalized Church Self”, I would pick apart the definitions and toss this stuff casually on the trash heap. But, it just explains too much of my experience. I’ve experienced transformation. And I guess I continue to experience it. I beat my head against the wall trying to help others experience it in an organized setting. I’ve been pissed off, outraged, angry, hurt, disillusioned, sad etc. because I just couldn’t understand why the typical church (leaders and members) wanted nothing to do with transformation. So, I left organized religion and continued transforming (and I'm no longer pissed off, outraged, angry, hurt, disillusioned, sad etc) .
Generally, institutional church leadership doesn’t want to deal with transformation. It is often times an ugly, uncertain, messy process when one dies to one’s self. It may entail deep soul searching similar to psychoanalysis to peal away the layers of the onion that is the ego, not to mention being open to eastern spiritual disciplines. Additionally, in my experience, I’ve found transformation to be realized by individuals and not usually by large groups (unless those who are experiencing transformation decide to meet together). Could it be that church leadership is scared of authentic transformation? Not only can it be messy, but transformation by necessity challenges the status quo because it challenges translation itself.
Quite honestly, most of the church leaders I’ve worked with simply didn’t have time to deal with it even if they wanted to, and because the church leaders appear content with translation, so do the masses. Wilber says, transformation “does not render the self content, it renders it undone.”
Wilber lays out the case that very few people undergo any type of radical transformation and that leaves the masses involved in “at best, various types of horizontal, translative, merely legitimate religion: they were involved in magical practices, mythical beliefs, egoic petitionary prayer, magical rituals, and so on.” I’d add that translation is far easier to deal with on a corporate level. It can be preached from the pulpit or taught in Sunday school and requires very little personal interaction. Further, it is fairly easy to control because it is primarily informational. Unfortunately, by itself, it does nothing more than shore up the ego.
Wilber’s solution to this problem? It’s integral. Surprised? Offer authentic and radical transformation with “an approach that honors and incorporates many lesser transformative and translative practices--covering the physical, emotional, mental, cultural, and communal aspects of the human being--in preparation for, and as an expression of, the ultimate transformation into the always already present state.” Religion, in its best forms, can provide the social framework for people to experience transformation. Transformation is eros/upward/expansive, the church is agape/horizontal/caring. Instead of churches full of people with ideas in their minds, we would have pews filled with people consciously experiencing God in their ever day life.
“Thus, the authentic spiritual camps have the heart and soul of the great transformative traditions, and yet they will always do two things at once: appreciate and engage the lesser and translative practices (upon which their own successes usually depend), but also issue a thundering shout from the heart that translation alone is not enough.” I think this points to what I’ve done in my institutional church experience, and what I continue to do here. Sometimes with more or less tact, grace and loving-kindness.
There are some more interesting insights in this article. Maybe I will touch on those later. . .
First, Wilber lays out the case that there are two basic functions of religion:
- Translation – A way of creating meaning for the self that is viewed as horizontal. These are usually new ways to think or feel about reality, a new idea, belief, language or paradigm.
- Transformation – Radical transformation at the deepest seat of consciousness. Viewed as vertical. The very process of translation itself is challenged, and the self is inquired into, ultimately ending in the “death of the self”.
If I was my old “Institutionalized Church Self”, I would pick apart the definitions and toss this stuff casually on the trash heap. But, it just explains too much of my experience. I’ve experienced transformation. And I guess I continue to experience it. I beat my head against the wall trying to help others experience it in an organized setting. I’ve been pissed off, outraged, angry, hurt, disillusioned, sad etc. because I just couldn’t understand why the typical church (leaders and members) wanted nothing to do with transformation. So, I left organized religion and continued transforming (and I'm no longer pissed off, outraged, angry, hurt, disillusioned, sad etc) .
Generally, institutional church leadership doesn’t want to deal with transformation. It is often times an ugly, uncertain, messy process when one dies to one’s self. It may entail deep soul searching similar to psychoanalysis to peal away the layers of the onion that is the ego, not to mention being open to eastern spiritual disciplines. Additionally, in my experience, I’ve found transformation to be realized by individuals and not usually by large groups (unless those who are experiencing transformation decide to meet together). Could it be that church leadership is scared of authentic transformation? Not only can it be messy, but transformation by necessity challenges the status quo because it challenges translation itself.
Quite honestly, most of the church leaders I’ve worked with simply didn’t have time to deal with it even if they wanted to, and because the church leaders appear content with translation, so do the masses. Wilber says, transformation “does not render the self content, it renders it undone.”
Wilber lays out the case that very few people undergo any type of radical transformation and that leaves the masses involved in “at best, various types of horizontal, translative, merely legitimate religion: they were involved in magical practices, mythical beliefs, egoic petitionary prayer, magical rituals, and so on.” I’d add that translation is far easier to deal with on a corporate level. It can be preached from the pulpit or taught in Sunday school and requires very little personal interaction. Further, it is fairly easy to control because it is primarily informational. Unfortunately, by itself, it does nothing more than shore up the ego.
Wilber’s solution to this problem? It’s integral. Surprised? Offer authentic and radical transformation with “an approach that honors and incorporates many lesser transformative and translative practices--covering the physical, emotional, mental, cultural, and communal aspects of the human being--in preparation for, and as an expression of, the ultimate transformation into the always already present state.” Religion, in its best forms, can provide the social framework for people to experience transformation. Transformation is eros/upward/expansive, the church is agape/horizontal/caring. Instead of churches full of people with ideas in their minds, we would have pews filled with people consciously experiencing God in their ever day life.
“Thus, the authentic spiritual camps have the heart and soul of the great transformative traditions, and yet they will always do two things at once: appreciate and engage the lesser and translative practices (upon which their own successes usually depend), but also issue a thundering shout from the heart that translation alone is not enough.” I think this points to what I’ve done in my institutional church experience, and what I continue to do here. Sometimes with more or less tact, grace and loving-kindness.
There are some more interesting insights in this article. Maybe I will touch on those later. . .
Friday, December 12, 2008
Death Wish
Awhile back I was walking with my daughter in the park behind our house. I live in the 'burbs and having a little oasis so close is nice. Anyway, it was a beautiful morning at a place I visit often when I want to get "centered". We were silent, just observing and I said, " You know, when I die why don't you scatter my ashes here." She thought I was being morbid, as most people do when you discuss death, but I assured her that someday I would die. It's not a big deal. Whatever is born, must die.
What is your death wish? Does it matter to you how your remains are disposed of?
Here is a quote and a song that describes my feelings:
"Everything in nature gives in its death; stars die and whole solar systems begin to evolve from the impregnation of the exploded stellar matter. Trees die, and from their wood human beings build homes and furniture, statues and Stradivariuses. If humans died in a healthy culture, they would not lock out the earth in metal coffins and carve their names on stone monuments, but would instead place the naked body in the earth and plant a tree above the silent heart."
-William Irwin Thompson
What is your death wish? Does it matter to you how your remains are disposed of?
Here is a quote and a song that describes my feelings:
"Everything in nature gives in its death; stars die and whole solar systems begin to evolve from the impregnation of the exploded stellar matter. Trees die, and from their wood human beings build homes and furniture, statues and Stradivariuses. If humans died in a healthy culture, they would not lock out the earth in metal coffins and carve their names on stone monuments, but would instead place the naked body in the earth and plant a tree above the silent heart."
-William Irwin Thompson
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Holy Holons!
So, part of my journey has been exploring other faiths, philosophies and practices. To be honest it is overwhelming! I wish I was Neo with a port in my head so I could download all of the things I find interesting and truthful!
Some of my loose criteria have been:
There is no way to adequately explain it in this forum and with my limited intellect. Here are some resources for those interested. I'll be picking a few topics that I've found particularly interesting or helpful.
Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice
An Integral Age at the Leading Edge
Spirituality and the 3 Strands of Deep Science
A Spirituality That Transforms
Religious, But Not Spiritual (Father Thomas Keating)
Some of my loose criteria have been:
- A religion/philosophy/practice should show results.
- A proper worldview should not have to discount science to believe in religion or vice verse.
- The things that all religions have in common are likely pointing toward God/ultimate truth.
- Is it able to make sense of both outer physical realities and inner spiritual experiences?
- Does it provide a truthful view of reality? Not all religions and philosophies are created equal.
There is no way to adequately explain it in this forum and with my limited intellect. Here are some resources for those interested. I'll be picking a few topics that I've found particularly interesting or helpful.
Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice
An Integral Age at the Leading Edge
Spirituality and the 3 Strands of Deep Science
A Spirituality That Transforms
Religious, But Not Spiritual (Father Thomas Keating)
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Future of Christianity
No. I am not presumptuous enough to think I know the future of Christianity. But, these are two guys I respect and I do think that Integral Theory could prove useful to contemporary Christianity. Looks interesting...
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Death, Silence, Beauty
I apologize for my silence here. No, actually I don't.
I've been covering a coworkers vacation and working 3rd Shift. We got a new dog (partially against my better judgment, but hey, I'm a softy). Trish's Grandma moved on from this world, and Trish is in SLC for the funeral. Life is just generally....busy and beautiful.
Some random thoughts and ruminating from my distorted perspective on life and spirituality:
I've been covering a coworkers vacation and working 3rd Shift. We got a new dog (partially against my better judgment, but hey, I'm a softy). Trish's Grandma moved on from this world, and Trish is in SLC for the funeral. Life is just generally....busy and beautiful.
Some random thoughts and ruminating from my distorted perspective on life and spirituality:
- Ken Wilber's Integral Theory is perhaps the most complete explanation of how I believe our universe works. I didn't know much about it, but it is a harmonization of science and spirituality that allows each its place. I'll be posting more later.
- Teens and pre-teens can be completely different people from one day to the next, heck from one minute to the next. What happened to my sweet little kids?
- Was Jesus a non-dualist?
- Brand new Christmas lights will still wait until the tree is completely decorated for half of the strand to go out. I suspect they have some sort of intelligence.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
In Memory of Maggie
Our family dog suddenly moved on to the next realm of existence yesterday. It's been couple days of dealing with grief, digging holes, and thinking about the impermanence of life. Here's a few observations:
Life is ultimately unsatisfactory.
Death is so quick, casual and non-discriminate that it leads me to believe there is something on the other side, though I don't have enough information to know what it is with certainty.
It broke my heart to have to carry the carcass of a being that was once fully alive.
I don't grieve for the being that has died, but for myself.
Time is short. Nothing is certain. Love hard. Love Deep. Love as long as you have breath.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Dedication to Reality
Some would call my spiritual quest foolish, heretical, dangerousw ... I would say that it is merely a dedication to reality and the truth. I am rereading The Road Less Traveled and I wanted to touch on the chapter on Discipline.
Peck says the our view of reality is like a map. They lie somewhere on a continuum of true and accurate to delusional and false. The better map we have, the better choices we make, the more we are able to experience peace, hope and love. So, get a good map, have a good life.
The problem is that we are not born with maps. We have to make them and that requires effort. Dang it. There is always a monkey wrench, isn't there ....? And to make things worse, reality is not static, it is always changing. So, we must continually revise our maps. Double dang it. (Can you tell I tend toward laziness?)
Many people stop revising their map at some point in their lives. I am blessed/cursed to not be one of those people. Why do people stop revising their maps? Pain.
It is painful to revise our maps, it entails "letting go". We must let go of our old beliefs, attachments, theories, questions that have become so comfortable. In fact, we may even view them as our "self". None of us wants our "self" to die, but if we are going to have more accurate maps, die it must. Some people are not willing to suffer, so they stop revising.
"...we must continually revise our maps, and sometimes when enough new information has accumulated, we must make very major revisions. The process of making revisions, particularly major revisions, is painful and sometimes excruciatingly painful. And herein lies the major source of many of the ills of mankind."
Peck says that some will actively or passively ignore the new information in order to preserve their comfort and avoid suffering.
"We may denounce information as false, dangerous, heretical, the work of the devil. We may actually crusade against it and even attempt to manipulate the world so as to make it conform to our view of reality. Rather than to try change the map, an individual may try to destroy the new reality. Sadly, such a person may expend much more energy ultimately in defending an outmoded view of the world than would have been required to revise and correct it in the first place."
I've burned a few maps in the past couple of years. There is suffering involved. In fact, later in the book Peck says that depression is a form of "letting go". Been through that too...but there are new maps. New places to see, new information to learn, new experiences to be had, new people to interact with....
Go make a map!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Whipping Post Nirvana
I'll follow up with some more on True Freedom when I have a chance. . . I love the dialogue! Thanks for participating....
Music is big part of my life, and I don't talk much about it here, but that's going to change. . .
May I just say that under the right conditions that "Whipping Post" from The Allman Brothers Band live album "At Fillmore East" may be considered a spiritual experience. 22 minutes and 44 seconds of heaven.
This is not the album version, but you'll get the flava of some down-home hippie jam band music!
Music is big part of my life, and I don't talk much about it here, but that's going to change. . .
May I just say that under the right conditions that "Whipping Post" from The Allman Brothers Band live album "At Fillmore East" may be considered a spiritual experience. 22 minutes and 44 seconds of heaven.
This is not the album version, but you'll get the flava of some down-home hippie jam band music!
Monday, November 17, 2008
True Freedom
I've come to some conclusions and started asking other questions in my quest. For those who may not know me, these comment come from someone who was very involved in institutional Christianity and has chosen to compare the religion I was raised with to others in an open-minded fashion. These are the semi-scientific, horrifically random thoughts and experiences, nothing more.... It's okay to not agree.
Can you say you are free when things, or people make you angry, miserable, or irritated?
Can you say you are free when situations make you depressed?
Can you say you are free when you crave, desire and obsess about what you do not have?
I spent a large part of my adult life being told Jesus had set me free. Yet, in institutional religion I experienced very little actual freedom. I wonder if institutional religion has a right definition of freedom (that could be debated), but it's ecclesiastical structures (Catholic or Protestant), and it's practical theology, cause their attendees to substitute rules, obligations and trust in hierarchy for true freedom?
True freedom is in the mind. As long as we are a slave to our anxieties and fears, as long as we allow ourselves to be manipulated by people and objects of power, as long as we are afraid in any way to question the structures and people we give authority to, as long as we are unaware that these subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations take place, we are a slave.
Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Joh 10:10
May I just say, that I have found VERY FEW EXAMPLES of anyone in institutional Christianity that I would consider a good example of this verse.
For all of the crusades and preaching, for all of the Sacraments partaken, for all of the hymns sung, for all of the money spent, Christians, as a whole, do not seem to be morally or spiritually superior to adherents of any other religion, or people of no religion at all. In fact, they appear to be far less spiritually advanced then adherents to other religions depending on the criteria (Buddhism or Jainism comes to mind). I have to ask myself why?
Why is it that the people that have accepted the freedom of Christ choose to live in such small ideological boxes? Why is that any criticism of a denomination, or a particular religion is met with such hateful resistance from people that should be full of peace, joy and love? If, after all, they have a benefit that Non-Christians don't have: the One True God living inside of them.
I have to conclude that:
1. Either the forms of Western Christianity that I've been exposed to simply are inadequate to help people live in true freedom.
2. The concept of "Christ within" is simply false. After all if Christ really lived within His people, should not at least a majority of the members live freely, with joy, peace and love?
3. Perhaps Western Christianity has completely misunderstood what Jesus was talking about and has evolved into something it was never intended to be.
4. All of the above?
5. Other reasons I have mentioned. Feel free to enlighten me....
Paul said, "Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop attaching yourselves to the yoke of slavery again." Gal 5:1
What are the benefits? What does it mean to stand firm in freedom? What is the yoke of slavery that people are ATTACHING themselves to? I can say that this verse means something entirely different to me now then it did when I was immersed in institutional Christianity.
Why would people who have been granted FREEDOM by God allow themselves to be slaves to religious concepts, hierarchies and habits? In my personal experience it is a multifaceted answer. I was ignorant. I was lazy. I was deluded. I lacked a concept of personal responsibility for my own spiritual life. I wanted the easy way out. I was willing to let the pastor, priest, tradition, community tell me what was best for me spiritually, whether or not it actually worked for me. I put all my eggs in my tradition's "spiritual basket" and then defended it to the hilt when someone questions it. When I was confronted by the kind of people like me, who ask the hard questions, I either got angry, or blew them off as people who were lost, or did not understand. I did these things because I had self-identified myself with that particular tradition. I was a slave to a concept that existed only in my mind.
So, what is true freedom and are there beliefs or practices that help us attain it? Or, do we already have it and are deluded into thinking we are not free? Is freedom in the mind or external? I don't know....maybe I'll post more later....
Can you say you are free when things, or people make you angry, miserable, or irritated?
Can you say you are free when situations make you depressed?
Can you say you are free when you crave, desire and obsess about what you do not have?
I spent a large part of my adult life being told Jesus had set me free. Yet, in institutional religion I experienced very little actual freedom. I wonder if institutional religion has a right definition of freedom (that could be debated), but it's ecclesiastical structures (Catholic or Protestant), and it's practical theology, cause their attendees to substitute rules, obligations and trust in hierarchy for true freedom?
True freedom is in the mind. As long as we are a slave to our anxieties and fears, as long as we allow ourselves to be manipulated by people and objects of power, as long as we are afraid in any way to question the structures and people we give authority to, as long as we are unaware that these subtle and not-so-subtle manipulations take place, we are a slave.
Jesus said, "The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Joh 10:10
May I just say, that I have found VERY FEW EXAMPLES of anyone in institutional Christianity that I would consider a good example of this verse.
For all of the crusades and preaching, for all of the Sacraments partaken, for all of the hymns sung, for all of the money spent, Christians, as a whole, do not seem to be morally or spiritually superior to adherents of any other religion, or people of no religion at all. In fact, they appear to be far less spiritually advanced then adherents to other religions depending on the criteria (Buddhism or Jainism comes to mind). I have to ask myself why?
Why is it that the people that have accepted the freedom of Christ choose to live in such small ideological boxes? Why is that any criticism of a denomination, or a particular religion is met with such hateful resistance from people that should be full of peace, joy and love? If, after all, they have a benefit that Non-Christians don't have: the One True God living inside of them.
I have to conclude that:
1. Either the forms of Western Christianity that I've been exposed to simply are inadequate to help people live in true freedom.
2. The concept of "Christ within" is simply false. After all if Christ really lived within His people, should not at least a majority of the members live freely, with joy, peace and love?
3. Perhaps Western Christianity has completely misunderstood what Jesus was talking about and has evolved into something it was never intended to be.
4. All of the above?
5. Other reasons I have mentioned. Feel free to enlighten me....
Paul said, "Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop attaching yourselves to the yoke of slavery again." Gal 5:1
What are the benefits? What does it mean to stand firm in freedom? What is the yoke of slavery that people are ATTACHING themselves to? I can say that this verse means something entirely different to me now then it did when I was immersed in institutional Christianity.
Why would people who have been granted FREEDOM by God allow themselves to be slaves to religious concepts, hierarchies and habits? In my personal experience it is a multifaceted answer. I was ignorant. I was lazy. I was deluded. I lacked a concept of personal responsibility for my own spiritual life. I wanted the easy way out. I was willing to let the pastor, priest, tradition, community tell me what was best for me spiritually, whether or not it actually worked for me. I put all my eggs in my tradition's "spiritual basket" and then defended it to the hilt when someone questions it. When I was confronted by the kind of people like me, who ask the hard questions, I either got angry, or blew them off as people who were lost, or did not understand. I did these things because I had self-identified myself with that particular tradition. I was a slave to a concept that existed only in my mind.
So, what is true freedom and are there beliefs or practices that help us attain it? Or, do we already have it and are deluded into thinking we are not free? Is freedom in the mind or external? I don't know....maybe I'll post more later....
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Religion - Missing the Point
The Catholic "religious leaders", being placed in positions of moral authority by their flock, now have the audacity to tell people how they should vote. Not only that, but threaten them with hell if they voted for the wrong person!!! Article here.
The priest said that Catholic's vote for Obama was "material cooperation with intrinsic evil". Ugh, and raping little boys is only deserving of priests going to retirement homes for the rest of their Catholic service?
Please don't get me wrong. I am not anti-Catholic. But I do think that just about all of Western, organized Christianity has become completely irrelevant. It is unable to do the thing that our world needs most" help people on the spiritual journey of life. This is just another adventure in religion missing the point.
Religious people give all kinds of authority to the people they see as "leaders". Then the leaders have the obligation to tell, persuade, cajole, threaten, guilt etc. to get the "flock" to do what the leaders think is right. It happens all the time, in just about every form of organized religion, but it has reached idiotic heights in western Christianity.
Perhaps we should quit placing ourselves under the authority of "leaders", and learn to trust ourselves when it comes to spirituality.
The priest said that Catholic's vote for Obama was "material cooperation with intrinsic evil". Ugh, and raping little boys is only deserving of priests going to retirement homes for the rest of their Catholic service?
Please don't get me wrong. I am not anti-Catholic. But I do think that just about all of Western, organized Christianity has become completely irrelevant. It is unable to do the thing that our world needs most" help people on the spiritual journey of life. This is just another adventure in religion missing the point.
Religious people give all kinds of authority to the people they see as "leaders". Then the leaders have the obligation to tell, persuade, cajole, threaten, guilt etc. to get the "flock" to do what the leaders think is right. It happens all the time, in just about every form of organized religion, but it has reached idiotic heights in western Christianity.
Perhaps we should quit placing ourselves under the authority of "leaders", and learn to trust ourselves when it comes to spirituality.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
The Beer of Life
Not that I need another reason to drink beer, but. . .
However it is a little disconcerting that even beer is getting genetically modified. IS NOTHING SACRED!!!!
However it is a little disconcerting that even beer is getting genetically modified. IS NOTHING SACRED!!!!
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
America's Swan Song
I don't blog about politics much. While I relate to politics and nationalism in a drastically different way than I used to, and I really only care in as much as these issues effect personal freedom. But, I am still aware of what is going on in our country.
I have no "faith" (see my last post) that US government is the answer to fix the core problems of our country. The core problems can only be fixed by personal responsibility, discipline and spirituality. Unfortunately, times aren't bad enough for the majority of people to resort to those drastic measures.
Here are few things that I think confirm the challenges of a country that is in the last stages of democracy and capitalism, or in other words that we are late stage Rome.
The government is scared to death of this financial crisis. I assume they know more about this crisis than I do (maybe that's a bad assumption). They are concocting all kinds of schemes to keep people consuming and spending, which is why we are in this financial mess in the first place. I think there is a chance that no matter what the government does this house of cards will fall anyway.
Most of the governments solutions to the financial problems are Socialist. The government now is in charge of a huge portion of our nations wealth. They have mismanaged our tax dollars to the tune of $10 trillion, so I'm sure they can do a good job of managing all these new assets...
We just elected another President who bought and promised his way into the position. But, already the promises for "change" look like hollow words.
My 8 year-old's school has decided to teach them about the details of drug use. My 8 year-old needed to taught the details about huffing glue, cocaine and assorted other drugs that he knew nothing about previously. That will get him good and curious! So, the state is now taking it upon themselves to parent our children without our approval or knowledge.
Our state, and most others, continues to take their peoples property under eminent domain laws, and force the public to spend money just defend their homes.
And most damning, Americans continue to be happy to relinquish their freedom in return for "security and peace". We continue to look to the government to solve our personal problems.
I would take the time to find supporting links to all of these issues, but they are easy to find. These are interesting times we live in. . .
I have no "faith" (see my last post) that US government is the answer to fix the core problems of our country. The core problems can only be fixed by personal responsibility, discipline and spirituality. Unfortunately, times aren't bad enough for the majority of people to resort to those drastic measures.
Here are few things that I think confirm the challenges of a country that is in the last stages of democracy and capitalism, or in other words that we are late stage Rome.
The government is scared to death of this financial crisis. I assume they know more about this crisis than I do (maybe that's a bad assumption). They are concocting all kinds of schemes to keep people consuming and spending, which is why we are in this financial mess in the first place. I think there is a chance that no matter what the government does this house of cards will fall anyway.
Most of the governments solutions to the financial problems are Socialist. The government now is in charge of a huge portion of our nations wealth. They have mismanaged our tax dollars to the tune of $10 trillion, so I'm sure they can do a good job of managing all these new assets...
We just elected another President who bought and promised his way into the position. But, already the promises for "change" look like hollow words.
My 8 year-old's school has decided to teach them about the details of drug use. My 8 year-old needed to taught the details about huffing glue, cocaine and assorted other drugs that he knew nothing about previously. That will get him good and curious! So, the state is now taking it upon themselves to parent our children without our approval or knowledge.
Our state, and most others, continues to take their peoples property under eminent domain laws, and force the public to spend money just defend their homes.
And most damning, Americans continue to be happy to relinquish their freedom in return for "security and peace". We continue to look to the government to solve our personal problems.
I would take the time to find supporting links to all of these issues, but they are easy to find. These are interesting times we live in. . .
Monday, November 10, 2008
Faith
I was having a discussion with a friend who is preparing to exit the IC. I was trying to explain where I am on this crazy spiritual journey and he said that it sounds like I am discounting anything that requires faith. He is right, depending on how you define "faith".
I came across this interesting site called Live Real that gives lots of definitions. If you think you do, or don't have "faith" I encourage you to read all the descriptions on the site. I'll throw a few out there that I thought were interesting:
I came across this interesting site called Live Real that gives lots of definitions. If you think you do, or don't have "faith" I encourage you to read all the descriptions on the site. I'll throw a few out there that I thought were interesting:
It is "The substance of things hoped for, the evidence for things unseen."
It is another way of saying that you have no proof.
It is an act of imagining the way we wish things actually were, and stubbornly insisting that it is that way, regardless of any amount of evidence to the contrary.
It is the effort to try to make yourself believe in something you really don't.
It is a concept of something that people resort to when they suffer or get themselves into trouble.
Whatever it is, if you have it, you'll be OK; and if you don't have it, you're in for a lot of pain and suffering.
An emotional state of conviction manufactured by emotional speakers at lectures, rallies, revivals, and crusades; in other words, it is the result of a successful sales pitch from a charismatic figure.
Ambrose Bierce: "Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel."
It is a polite way of saying "Please shut up, and stop asking me questions I don't have the answers to."
It is a deep inner state of being which gives one a profound and unshakable trust in life.
H. L. Mencken: "An illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable."
A state of confidence which tends to be shattered by inevitable tragedies.
A weapon of defense against not-knowing; also a philosophical trump-card one pulls as a means of telling folks who are asking difficult, complex, or disturbing questions to basically shut up.
Something called up when faced with a question or situation that one does not understand or cannot solve, which in normal circumstances, enables one to easily rationalize one's failing to put forth any effort to understand, or even attempt to understand even the problem, much less the solution, and so enabling one to relax into a comfortable security of believing that high-ranking spiritual figures are on your side in doing so.
It is an word that describes a process of insisting that you believe in a statement, phrase, or position, and refusing under any conditions to consider, question, or doubt anything contrary to it.
Another word for "inner strength."
An intuition that there is an Answer to The Problem of Life.
Something that is preserved through avoiding, dodging, and hiding from doubting, thinking, and objective analysis.
Something that is arrived at after an intense period of doubting, thinking, and objective analysis.
"I discovered later, and I am still discovering right up to this moment, that it is only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in lifes' duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing, we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God. Taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Friday, November 07, 2008
Questions
In his book "The Road Less Traveled", M. Scott Peck says that the spiritual journey is about learning new things. For us to learn new things we must be willing to let our old thoughts and preconceptions die. "To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision." Letting part of myself die is not comfortable, it is not easy, but I agree it is a necessary part of the journey.
Peck continues, "We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have been previously taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning everything."
Herein lies the problem. Questions hurt. They are scary. They take us to unfamiliar places. But, on the other hand questions make us alive, and may lead us to beauty and peace. Our institutions (government, schools, churches) teach us that asking questions and alternative points of view are dangerous. Just a few examples: look at the rhetoric against the Libertarian Party, school programs like DARE that serve no purpose but scaring children, and fear that churches have towards eastern religions just to name a few.
What kind of questions do you ask? Where do you draw the line in asking questions? What if you know there was nothing to fear on the other side of your questions? Really, how could there be anything to fear. On the other side of your questions and doubts, in your own experience, you will find truth. That's not so scary....
Peck continues, "We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have been previously taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning everything."
Herein lies the problem. Questions hurt. They are scary. They take us to unfamiliar places. But, on the other hand questions make us alive, and may lead us to beauty and peace. Our institutions (government, schools, churches) teach us that asking questions and alternative points of view are dangerous. Just a few examples: look at the rhetoric against the Libertarian Party, school programs like DARE that serve no purpose but scaring children, and fear that churches have towards eastern religions just to name a few.
What kind of questions do you ask? Where do you draw the line in asking questions? What if you know there was nothing to fear on the other side of your questions? Really, how could there be anything to fear. On the other side of your questions and doubts, in your own experience, you will find truth. That's not so scary....
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
My Election Day Prediction
Like you really care...
I predict that no matter who gets elected, the supporters will be sorely disappointed in a couple of years.
We had a little college girl come to our door to try to persuade me to vote for Obama. I politely let her know that my leanings were toward smaller government, less taxes and more freedom and she quickly ran away....
I have no illusion that politics is a solution to the core issues of our problems as a nation. Americas problems are greed, aversion and delusion and will only begin to be addressed when a large number of individuals begin to see themselves, their families, their communities, their state, their country and the world from an enlightened perspective.
Now I'm going outside to enjoy a cigar and the fall colors and know that no matter who gets elected, or what happens in our country, I am free.
I predict that no matter who gets elected, the supporters will be sorely disappointed in a couple of years.
We had a little college girl come to our door to try to persuade me to vote for Obama. I politely let her know that my leanings were toward smaller government, less taxes and more freedom and she quickly ran away....
I have no illusion that politics is a solution to the core issues of our problems as a nation. Americas problems are greed, aversion and delusion and will only begin to be addressed when a large number of individuals begin to see themselves, their families, their communities, their state, their country and the world from an enlightened perspective.
Now I'm going outside to enjoy a cigar and the fall colors and know that no matter who gets elected, or what happens in our country, I am free.
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