The Fundamental I am refering to is of course - human construct over time. All of the religions of the world - no matter which one we speak of have required human construction/interpretation/involvement. This goes without say - dogs don't write bibles, and cats don't pray to Bastet (or maybe they do we just don't speak Meowese). No Humans do. And I know from both personal experience and interviews with others that what I read and what you read from a fairly cryptic source can be redefined fifteen times (this is evidenced by the fact that most religions have numberous interpretive sects) and so it eventual boils down to humans making a choice - today I'm an Anglican Christian, tomorrow, because it fits my ideological make-up I'm a Hindu.
Which of these faiths then is correct if they are all man-made (or woman-made if you prefer)? As Marc correctly pointed out - in my opinion - you can't. Which leads to his second point in his original post on the 22nd of February - the experience of divine/cosmic presence. If so many people are claiming to have them can we simply dismiss it as self induced hysteria (as most of us do?) or do we have to realize that with such consistent 'experiences' happening, all over the planet, and in almost all religions it becomes difficult to believe that it's just one big marketing ploy on behalf of the priests of
I don't think so. The answer - in my mind anyway - lies in the examination of the primary offering of all religions: Safety from evil, and security in eternal joy/enlightenment/realisation/rebirth. That is the fundamental basis of all religions (obviously Satanists would seek safety from Good people (which in my opinion is pretty easy to attain...?)). Nonetheless the ultimate conclusion to a spiritual life is safety etc. As humans each of us have numberous psychological things in common as well - fears, hopes, dreams, insecurities etc. If a place (building, meditation, mental, spiritual) offers us - even for a moment, a respit from these numerous worries, or allows us to feel totally safe and at peace with a naturally chaotic universe - could one, who gets to implicitly believing that this is possible only through god/spiritual/enlightenment not help but feel - however breifly - a sensation of calm, of joy, of relief, of enlightenment? When the subconscious is allowed to stop worriing, then the conscious can 'switch off' the whole being would then experience the cessation of internal conflict - which we all have on some level. To me if I can forget (even for a moment) all the worries of my life, that would feel like god/enlightenment/whatever.
So my question to you chaps and chappettes is simple: If we're all looking for the same thing why do we need different rules? And isn't it time we realized what we're looking for is an escape for a socially constructed 'hell'? One where we've derived so many different ways of escaping from it (all the various methods) but have somehow invented rules on how we can and can't escape from it. Rules that constrict us and place even greater pressures on us.
Isn't that a bit... silly?
3 comments:
This might sound like an odd place to find an answer that I can live with, but Grissom on CSI explained our human need for a higher power quite well.
Imagine you are early man on the savanna. Out of the corner of your eye you see movement. If you believe the movement is a leopard and run away. You survive.
If, however, you ignore the movement thinking it must be just the wind. You will likely die when it turns out to be a leopard.
Only the believers tend survive, and so we, their ancestors, are genetically predisposed to believe in things we can’t see.
I believe that we have constructed religion for a number of reasons. The first, and most obvious, is to somehow explain or quantify that which we do not know. What happens to us when we die? Lets make a story about it so we can answer and somehow find comfort rather then be struck with blackness.
The second is control. With religion, you can scare the masses into submission, and have control over them with fear of burning in the eternal fires of hell.
The last, and for me the most apt is the fact that we are afraid of the now, and as a result spend the majority of our intellect dwindling in the past, or dreaming of the future. Too afraid to simply do and be nothing, existing in the now. And when you actually accomplish that, even for a brief moment, the power and peace is immense. Of course those the run this dump of a planet certainly don't want you "in the now" as you will see how we are manipulated by society, ideology, morals and religion. Just keep being afraid, dream your dreams, remember your past, and put that on your credit card thank you very much, have a nice afterlife.
I shall have to introduce you all to Jonathan's Paradigm of Obsolete Thought Forms at some stage but the essential thrust is this:
Such questions on the existance and nature of a devine along with all acompanying religious debates are as usefull to us now as the vacuum tube computer.
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