Archive for June 2012
Belief vs. Experience
“A man is accepted into a church for what he believes and he is turned out for what he knows.” – Samuel Clemens
Is there an amicable meeting ground between one person’s religious beliefs and another’s spiritual experiences? Or are these worlds and the people who inhabit them just too different, too much in conflict? I know this is a tall order, but I would like to explore that a bit here. Now right off I want to make it clear, this is not going to do an anti-religion diatribe here. That wouldn’t be fair, because it’s too easy, offering the target rich environment that they do. Obviously, that doesn’t mean I won’t take religion to task. No, I am trying to communicate what I think I might understand here. Ha, isn’t that how it always is? We think we know more that we do, but then we probably know more than we realize. Is that a paradox? Is that what I’m diving into? And maybe the questions I ask here are some evidence of a paradox in operation?
Anyway, here is my personal conundrum. Every once in a while I get asked about the religion I practice. Actually, and I want to state this emphatically, I do not practice any religion, any philosophy, or any belief system, at all. Does that make me an atheist, or a malcontent? Of course not. I just don’t adhere to the doctrine and dogma fed to the masses via the ‘recognized religions’ of the world. I know there are much larger forces and beings at work in the Cosmos than little ol’ me. Then the next question comes, but what about the spirituality that you sometimes talk about? My answer usually doesn’t soothe them, because it falls outside the normal parameters of religious belief. I answer that I base my spirituality on my own personal experiences. Uh, oh. Most just nod politely, not quite knowing how to take that. A few, I wish I could see their thought bubbles, because I’m sure they are priceless. A small percentage do engage with me beyond that, but don’t usually follow me too far. Such nonsense seems to be beyond the horizon of many. But I am not perturbed, insulted, or even concerned with all of that. It is the norm and I accept that. However, over the years I have seen more movement in my direction in this, so I am hopeful.
Jeffrey & Jonathon
“The highlight of my childhood was making my brother laugh so hard that food came out his nose.” – Garrison Keillor
As I’ve mentioned before, I come from a large family, being the oldest of seven children. I certainly didn’t know that when I decided to incarnate in that particular family that six more would follow me. I guess my parents must have seemed like a desirable set of parents from the other side. Not only that, every one of our names started with a “J”. Not quite sure what that was about, but I don’t think it was an issue with any of us.
Out of the seven of us, two of my siblings are no longer with us in the physical world. Jeff (on the right in the pix) and Jon (on the left) have departed and moved on. They were number 3 and number 4 in the birth order, and they exited way before their time.
I have stories about both that I would like to share. Families have always been complicated worlds to explore. They involve so many dynamics and provide so much material to consider, that no wonder they have been the subject of so much writing, art, music, drama, science, etc. throughout the ages. But of course, there is one major reason above all. Families are the very basic foundation for all of civilization. Without their proper functioning and growth, there can be no civilization. None whatsoever.
Revolving Wombs & Tombs
“Reincarnation is a way for God to improve his earlier works.” – Norman Mailer
At first I had a hard time mentally accepting the idea of past lives. There didn’t seem like any real logic to it. I mean actually, the idea had some coolness about it. How hip could it be that we been revolving in and out of this place for, what? Centuries? Eons? So hey, we’ve probably seen and done all kinds of things, right? It fit right into the sixties thing, so yeah man, it was cool. But coolness and logic were different things, and they were locking horns inside me. I guess the whole thing made me feel eerie.
But hey, I was only in college at this time, and I didn’t need to figure it out right now. It had only come up because I started reading all these books on metaphysics, trying to understand what these experiences I was having were all about. And most of them got into the reincarnation thing. I didn’t care about that; I just wanted to know what the hell was happening to me.
As I read more and more, I realized I needed to find a teacher of some sort, someone to guide me through some of this. I wasn’t interested in the eastern guru paradigm. Somehow paying allegiance, homage or devotion to someone like that just didn’t feel right for me. More like someone who had experience (way?) beyond mine who was more like a teacher at a university who you just took a class from, with a more distant relationship akin to that. I didn’t want someone to hold my hand, just someone who could point at a road that maybe I should try. But the more I looked, the harder it seemed to find someone like that. Most of them were so into their own trips, it all seemed fake to me.