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Reality, Religion, and the New Renaissance
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Reality, Religion, and the New Renaissance |
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AncientHippie Member
since 2009-10-15
Posts 411Surfing the Cosmic Flow |
Reality is a very personal perspective, with each individual viewing his/her own universe in an egocentric manner. One's intellect, or intellectual capacity, varies from person to person, and, I submit, is exactly at the level that the individual needs to cope with his/her perception of reality. For some people, faith plays a major role in filling in the grey areas at the edge of perception: for others, logic is the keystone, with the unknown remaining unknown, and the logician accepting that the grey areas are indeed grey areas. Hence each accepts the individual reality of his/her individual universe on individually designed terms. Over the ages of our evolutionary development, Mankind, in order to survive, has had to hone and balance the growth of physical skills together with those of the intellect in order to more effectively respond to environmental and societal crises. This uniquely human symbiotic relationship of body and mind has been so wildly successful that we have extended our lifespan substantially, have been able to kill others at the push of a button, while completely ignoring the fact of millions of our fellow humans live in penury and intolerable squalor, decimated by petty wars, archaic prejudices, starvation, have no sanitation and not even the most basic medicine. The more complex our lives have become, the more we feel the need to understand who we are, why we are, and where we are going. The dichotomy between SUVs, plasma TVs, the consumer mystique, and the refugees of Darfur, and displaced Palestinians, is apparent to all but the most socially insensitive. Growth industries have sprung up to service our need to understand. Established religions, New Age philosophies, Eastern mysticism, and Zen meditational techniques, are all enjoying a Renaissance. Sacred texts, be they religious texts or peer-reviewed scientific journals, have come to be viewed by their various target audiences as the sole and only key to understanding that which we are not able to understand. Reliance on any one viewpoint, while closing the mind to different interpretations, is unworthy of our level of sophistication. What seems to be the key to some may appear as a facile crutch to others. What is purported to be the word of an absolute god is, in fact, only the writer's perception of what he believes his god is saying. His divine inspiration may have been caused by lead poisoning, the ingestion of psychotropic substances, hunger, or simply impending madness or an attempt at social manipulation. On the other hand, what is said to be the absolute scientific proof of theory X, is, in fact, only the conclusions drawn from a set of tests that may, or may not, be later determined to be invalid. The thinking individual will attempt to process all forms of Truth, or Proof, through the filter of cynicism and, if extremely lucky, be able to glean at least a glimpse of one small portion of what may be a universal Truth, but will, of course, bear in mid that such Truth is valid only in his egocentric view of such things, coloured necessarily by cultural, religious, and possibly genetic bias. All major religious texts agree on some form of continuation. The Torah, the Koran, the Bible, the Vedic texts, the works of Zoroaster, and various Buddhist sutras all agree on two things. The first is the continuation of the spirit, either through reincarnation, Heaven, Paradise, Nirvana, or the catch-all "higher level of existence." The second point of convergence is the acknowledgment of the cosmic and ongoing battle between good and evil: parables of Chaos and Order struggling to tip or maintain a universal balance. So what conclusions can a person, setting aside faith, draw from these two common lines of agreement? Only that man feels a sense of anticlimax from his existence: a feeling, a hope, that there must be more to it than this. There must be more than just the now, more than the wars, more than the pain, the heartache. Fertile ground indeed for a growth industry selling a message of hope and immortality. One must, however, remember that words are only words, and, in an egocentric universe, only subjective experience is acceptable. John Lennon wrote "Whatever gets you through the night, it's all right, it's all right." Given our basic human need to shine light into the darkness, Mr. Lennon may well be right, with the caveat that your "whatever" doesn't impact negatively on one's neighbour. And it is here that the problems begin. Not content to huddle together in shelter from the unknowable cosmic mystery, man tends to split into diverse groups, each of which claims an exclusive key to the unknowable. Further, if you do not accept their key as the only key, you are outcast and excluded from their group. Rather than accepting a global community united against the common darkness, as would appear logical behaviour under such threatening and untenable mystery, we tend to form tribes, with each tribe claiming exclusivity and stature as sole arbiter of the Truth. Until we lose the bazaar hawker mentality, with each sad salesman selling his own ticket to the unknown, we are destined never to reach the social renaissance of which we are capable. Given the foregoing, it behooves us all to seek, to learn, to listen. We must seek any knowledge that may ameliorate our condition. We must learn from our collective wealth of experience. We must listen to all points of view. Standing at the pinnacle of human development, we all have our individual and unique strengths and talents. It is how we utilize these talents, and what we do with acquired knowledge that is the true measure of intellect. "We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock" |
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| © Copyright 2009 James D. Fanning - All Rights Reserved | |||
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GBride Senior Member
since 2009-07-02
Posts 538 |
Wow, do I have the honor to be the first to comment, unbelievable! Stange the conincidences which lead us to the path of knowledge. I am reading this because I was unable to check out any library materials as I cannot check out any more library materials due to my fine. Okay I did spill my coffee on two copies of the New Yorker magazines I had checked out and returned several days ago. Hense, I must pay them $6 for coffee damage. Yes, the pages of same are brown and brittle, so I do owe the money. But, being old and cranky, I will pay them when I am good and ready. Thus, instead of reading new magazines I am reading your article. And what a read it is: a pithy, tightly written essay on the condition of belief today. More illuminating that a full moon on a winter's night over new fallen snow. This beats the New Yorker magazine any day. Could be a long time before I pay up. |
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AncientHippie Member
since 2009-10-15
Posts 411Surfing the Cosmic Flow |
I am so glad you enjoyed this essay. I often feel that I must work to get my thoughts and ideas down on (virtual) paper before I explode. The essays never go anywhere, but are most helpful in defining my Dharma, my path through life, death, and the universe. Formalising my thoughts on the page helps to codify my credo, as it were. Very best regards, Jim PS "old and cranky" certainly works for me sometimes... "We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock" |
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Clang Member
since 2005-12-15
Posts 222 |
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your works: this one and the sutras. I agree that man is egocentric in nature. Forgive me for not being profound. It wasn't until 2004 that I was introduced to living in the Now as you put it. I am an infant. When I was little there were only three religions I was exposed to...now as an adult there doesn't seem to be a homogeneous viewpoint in sight. People are meditating, reading Thoreau, doing yoga, lighting candles and burning incense, and then heading off to church...all the while still feeling lost. It is a lonely world. People have lost connection...especially with themselves. This is a reflection of my opinion and observations, not a judgement of my fellow man. |
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AncientHippie Member
since 2009-10-15
Posts 411Surfing the Cosmic Flow |
My dear Clang, Thank you for you comments. I am happy that you managed to glean something of value from my thoughts, scattered and diverse as they may be. If people are feeling lost after practicing their spirituality the only conclusion I can make is that they are searching externally, whereas the only destination/philosophy/guru able to provide the answer one requires is within oneself. It has been my experience (and I do not at all advocate that this is the only way nor the right way for anyone else) that organised religion is about the form of that religion, about the community of that religion, rather than the questing individual. With regards to the cyclical "fad" spirituality concepts, Truth is not something that can be purchased or subscribed to: it simply is, but it is within. Continue the Quest, my friend. May your Dharma be clear. Jim "We are stardust: we are golden: and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." --Joni Mitchell "Woodstock" |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
I apologize for sounding overly harsh here but I tend to like playing the curmudgeon when reading decidedly new-agey texts like this one. While the speaker's ideas in this text are honourable and noble I do have a few questions. I am wondering what you mean by a sacred text. You identify peer-reviewed scientific journals as examples of such texts. The reason I ask is because it tends to be a lot more difficult to discount something written in the Christian Bible as false and in need of revision while any theory or idea presented in a peer reviewed journal is susceptible to dismissal at a later time. I believe Karl Popper wrote about this. The next passage I'd like to ask about was very interesting to me.
In which case this thinking individual would be falling into another creed and following it unquestioningly. If one googles the word cynicism one finds many interesting quotes about it -- many of them cynical  . For example, "Cynicism is what passes for insight when courage is lacking" (Anita Roccick, found at http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/12163)
It would be handy to cite some examples of each of these two factors in several of these sacred texts/religions. It is too easy to wave one's hand and make politically correct statements such as these.
In which case how does the speaker in this essay propose to convince the reader of anything? Since the reader might be reading this text as a veiled plot to destroy the universe, his subjective experience is no less valid than whatever point the speaker might have been trying to get across in the first place. Indeed, the idea here of subjective experience being the only acceptable form of experience would seem to pose a problem for the later claims that "Until we lose the bazaar hawker mentality, with each sad salesman selling his own ticket to the unknown, we are destined never to reach the social renaissance of which we are capable," or that "We must learn from our collective wealth of experience." Thanks for the good read and the chance to reply. |
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JamesMichael Member Empyrean
since 1999-11-16
Posts 33336Kapolei, Hawaii, USA |
When John Lennon wrote and performed "whatever gets you through the night, is alright" obviously he didn't have Charles Manson nor the man that would end his life, Mr Hinkley in mind...James |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
Could you elaborate, James? I'm afraid I don't get the references or how they're connected.... |
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