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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Life Is A Journey Of Personal Spiritual Discovery

     Probably the most satisfying and the most terrifying aspect of being human is our self-awareness. Because we are self-aware and can hypothesize beyond what we can verify, we seem perfectly willing to create simplistic answers to complex cosmic questions. For example, an interesting cosmic question is, "Why is there suffering on earth?" 

     A simplistic answer might be, "There is a devil tempting us to be selfish and evil toward one another." A more rational approach is that as creatures of evolution, we have an innate drive to dominate and control others. This insures survival, first for ourselves, then secondly, for our families or what we could call our "tribe."

     There is hardly a conflict between neighbors nor a war among nations that is not related, in some way, to an ethnic or cultural conflict. It always seems to be a we/they matter, where what WE think is right and what THEY think is wrong.

     You might ask, what is available to humans to counteract these innate aggressive and self-centered impulses when they are not appropriate? A simplistic answer might be, "God will reward those who are good and punish those who are evil." A more rational perspective is that we are completely capable of recognizing our own destructive, innate behaviors and changing them for the good of all. Our capacity for reasoning can override our survival impulses, if we so choose. The decision each of us makes determines the direction our life goes.  The good news is that each moment is a opportunity to decide anew.

     We cannot eliminate our innate impulses, but we can change our reactions to our own impulses. In fact, this appears to be the foundation upon which religions are based. Religions represent institutional attempts to prompt (shame?) individuals into controlling their survival drives when such impulses are no longer beneficial to society.  This includes the most basic sins involving sex, greed, and envy.

     Unfortunately, church organizations are human institutions and frequently evolve into theological families or tribes that compete with and attempt to dominate other theological families or tribes. They simply mirror the personal drives and impulses of their particular members. Again, the mantra is, WE are right and THEY are wrong. Unconditional love, which is the reality that defines God, is a level of understanding that is higher than the thinking we use to find fault in others or to demand retribution for the perceived sins of enemies.

     This does not mean that participating in church organizations is bad or wrong. God is wherever we are, listens when we speak, and speaks when we quiet our minds. Actually, I feel it is important to have a church home, it's just that each individual is responsible for what he/she believes, not some external church authority. Your most precious beliefs are between you and your experience of God. 

     Church administrative hierarchies are not at that level of understanding. They must reflect and promote the human cultural biases of their members or they risk losing them.  Yes, this creates an insulated, circular system, but in this way the teaching traditions and organizational hierarchy, including jobs, dogma, status, and material wealth are perpetuated.

     All human organizations exist with members serving in core leadership positions. This core is surrounded by an even larger number of peripherally committed members attracted by the presence of the leaders, who are respected as spiritual guides. It is primitive tribal grouping behavior. It's not bad, but it does tend to support organizational growth, and not, necessarily, personal spiritual growth. 


     You learn and grow, spiritually, into the presence of God from within your own mind and heart as an individual. Spiritual growth is not mastering details of doctrine, nor memorizing scriptures or creeds, or expressing Christian apologetics, making public professions of faith, nor accepting dogma because it is written in a particular book or spoken by certain people. Righteousness is not arranging to be seen doing the right things, but rather, it is seeking and knowing the right things to do from within your capacity to love and understand...the link we have with our Creator.


     You grow spiritually by reading, listening, thinking, praying, meditating, deciding, acting, and observing how your world and life change as you make better, more spirit-led choices. What you grow to understand may be in perfect alignment with the teachings of your church, and that is a wonderful experience. If it is not, however, be true to what you have learned from your own spiritual development. It is revealing to you something more important than what your church teaches.

     Interestingly enough, from among the multitudes of religions and denominations around the world, there are individuals who decide to accept responsibility for their own thinking and strike out on their own personal spiritual journeys into the presence of God. They have participated within their institutional home to the point of becoming spiritually aware of themselves and aware of something greater than themselves. And when that awareness occurs, their allegiance to the doctrine and discipline of their religious heritage becomes secondary to their personal spiritual understanding.

     I know this happens, because I have met many such individuals during my life. Our religious backgrounds are very different, but what we have come to understand, as adults, about the world, life, humanity, and reality is strikingly similar. 

     This has confirmed and reconfirmed to me that spirituality is a personal job, within the mind and heart of each of us. A group of independent mystics, regardless of their original theological heritage, will express more unconditional love and unity among themselves than will members or leaders committed to specific religious organizations. The fact that religions are "organized" means that membership in them is "conditional." Jesus never taught anything like that.

     Still, yes, participate in churches or religious organizations that are meaningful to you. God is wherever you seek. Find and rejoice in a religious family and support ministries as you see fit, but realize all along that your true spiritual journey is guided by however you experience God's presence and in that presence we are all one.