Through discourse comes understanding. The synthesis of a paradigm comes from first a thesis; then its diametrically opposing antithesis scrub out all the garbage and you have the birth of an idea whose truth still must then stand the test of time… We should disagree vigorously and then learn from our conversations… That’s how we should build the muscles of the intellect so we can be mentally strong enough to fight off any onslaught from those who would seek to devour us… – James Landeau
Today I allow a quietness to settle on my spirit. I meditate on the universal soul that moves through me. I inhale the wonders of this world and exhale the pain that thrashes about, hoping to be released from the hooks that catch it. I close my eyes and allow myself to feel the beginnings of all things. I let there be light upon my soul. I let the darkness give birth to all that is within me. I meditate today on life.
No one is an island. Everything in the universe works together in some way. We create and we are created. Everything we are as men and women is through a force within us AND a force outside of us. We cannot separate our existence from our parents, our friends, our neighborhood, our city, our country and the world. If we could, then 90% of America would believe in and practice Buddhism, or some other religion that is not major in this country. But by virtue of where we are born, to whom and under what conditions, we are guided in a particular direction–outside of our will. Although many of us would like to believe it is our will. If you were born in a muslim country, without any information about another way of life, you would be muslim. This is a fact of life that cannot be escaped.
Therefore, what and who we are as men and women is a direct result of not only our thoughts and actions, but place in time and location. To deny that fact is rather shortsighted & naive. Yes, we are all responsible for our destiny, but that limited destiny is still determined by factors that will forever be outside of our control–it takes a special person to step outside of themselves and see things differently from their only known environment. We were born here, or there–that fact cannot be changed. We are inevitably a product of our interactions and surroundings. We believe what we are taught to believe, and can only discover something new through experience or reading. Even then, breaking the bonds of where we were born is not an easy task. Our culture guides our thinking in many ways.
People, then, are affected by what others do, regardless of what decisions we wish to make for our lives (or THINK we make on our own). If we could merely think or believe ourselves out of a predicament, then this post would not be necessary and we wouldn’t be having all these discussions about who is at fault, who is responsible…responsible for this, that, or the other–the creator of this or that. I’m sure many cultures in the past, who had no inkling to the insanity that would be thrust upon them, believed strongly that their higher consciousness or power would save them from their future. But no amount of belief in the potential goodness of humankind saved these cultures. The will of others was thrust on them. Remember, we cannot usurp the free will of another. Especially if they decide to impose themselves physically on us. It is only through reasoning and the hope that someone evil will respond to reason. One can only hope that their free will driven by imposition can be transformed into something positive.
Nothing in this world is without an influence of some kind. Not humans, not animals, not plants, not rock, nor soil. One thing affects another, and this happens more often than not, outside of that things will. An antelope cannot will itself to not be food for a lion. It can only succumb or fight for its life.
I believe in the power of taking responsibility for our actions as humans in general. But I think it is rather shortsighted to think that any one person, male, female, culture or race, is the sole creator of their situation. EVERYTHING plays a role (because everything influences us). And no ONE thing can be pinned down as the reason for how we interact and respond to interaction. All the universe is cause and effect. And the complexities of such cannot be thoroughly dissected in a lifetime, nor can it be dismissed with a mere, I agree, or disagree.
“When a trout rising to a fly gets hooked on a line and finds himself unable to swim about freely, he begins with a fight which results in struggles and splashes and sometimes an escape. Often, of course, the situation is too tough for him. In the same way the human being struggles with his environment and with the hooks that catch him. Sometimes he masters his difficulties; sometimes they are too much for him. His struggles are all that the world sees and it naturally misunderstands them. It is hard for a free fish to understand what is happening to a hooked one.” - Karl Menninger
This is from a section of a book that I find very interesting. It speaks to how I view the notion of truth seeking.
“In Elementary Orthopathy, Lesson No. 1, the student is asked whether he is searching for Truth. All students invariably answer in the affirmative.
“People think they are searching for Truth. But experience proves that this is wrong. Experience proves that most people are searching for evidence to confirm what they already believe. They reject with scorn that which fails to harmonize with their belief, and yet their belief is inherited from their ancestors, who based their belief on traditions, handed down from father to son during the ages.
“There have been martyrs among the religious of all countries, but their zeal and confidence was no evidence that their religious opinions and beliefs were rational, or in any way corresponding with the deeper laws of the universe. A person may be ever so sincere in his belief, but that sincerity is no evidence of intelligence on his part, much less is it proof of the truth of his belief.”
from The Secret of Regeneration by Hilton Hotema
Things are unraveling faster each day. The universe is shifting, changing, evolving into something new and unrecognizable. As I sit here writing this, I wonder what it’s all about. Everyone is fighting over things that are merely belief. We know so little about our existence, yet we fight…often tooth and nail, to preserve that which is elusive. We fight over a belief in God. We fight over a belief in religion. We fight over a belief in money. We fight over a belief in land ownership. Over all things created by our minds. We fight over so called science. We will even fight over the belief in time and the idea of eternity or mortality. Yet, in the end analysis all these things are merely our beliefs. So many lean on the notion of faith as a convenient excuse to continue believing in that which has no solid foundation, that which is not provable, not sure. Faith allows them to continue in their violence, to continue believing that which causes harm to everything around us. Faith allows us to keep on “believing” without having to explain our beliefs, and even more, without having to be held accountable for the fact that each one of us believes different, and with equal fervor and passion. So who is right? The one with the strongest “faith” or the bigger gun?
In the end, we all become converts–turned into believers rather than thinkers. Turned into faith chasers rather than truth seekers. Turned into consumers rather than creators. Followers rather than critical thinkers. We are the converted, those who would fight for what we don’t know, rather than live in peace and admitting that we don’t know. It has become painful to be unsure of our destiny. It is so subconsciously painful that we’d rather be at odds with our fellow human, trying desperately to force them into believing what we believe, so we can be comforted. You see, misery loves company. And one’s beliefs become unstable and unsure if you’re the only one believing–so we think. So the conversion begins. Some call it, mind colonization. Some call it teaching. In the end, we are converted. The conversion manifests itself in the constant battle we wage against each other. All of us fighting over what we believe to be true–what we believe to be right. But no one willing to say, ‘you know what, i might be wrong. what am i fighting for? let’s learn and grow together.’
Anything true and right does not require battle and it certainly does not require anxiety and the need to convince anyone. The minute we pick up the sword (figuratively or physically), we show our beliefs to be untrue or lacking any viable substance. We show that we are filled with anxiety more than true knowledge or thoughtful premise. We show that we are disbelievers in the thing we claim to believe are truths. We show that all we want is everyone to believe what we believe, so that we can be right; sleep comfortably in the belief that the world’s mysteries have been solved–all is well–nothing is unknowable–so we can be assured that life is as we view it–as we’d like it to be. But making people believe what we believe will never transform our views into truths. They merely transform people into little lemmings all walking off a cliff–patterned creatures with no random, unique thoughts. They transform our beliefs into things to be fought, things to be slain, rather than things to be considered as merely possible, not the final truth of the cosmos.
My thoughts and beliefs need not be fought or slain, because I do not hold them up as swords before the masses–threatening the life of other ideas. My ideas are not the fire breathing dragons of our intellectual discourse, they will not burn down the cosmos, they are a part of the cosmos. I do not claim them as the end all. Opposing beliefs do not make me uncomfortable or threatened. Why should I be threatened by ideas in a universe of infinite possibilities? Why should I be threatened by that which is unsure? Why should I defend my beliefs as though they are mysteries solved that now require no questioning? There is no need. I embrace all ideas, the viable and seemingly not viable. I allow all to enlighten me…to give me knowledge of new ways of seeing.
It is time that we humble ourselves and recognize that we know nothing.
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