More of Beliefs

“When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Abraham Maslow.

This is about beliefs too, isn’t it?  If I believe I’m the righteous hammer of God, for example, that I’m doing God’s will and following God’s word when I hammer other people—criticize, attack, and worse, then that’s too bad for those other people, but it’s ‘just the way it is.’   After all, who am I to doubt and challenge God’s will?  Indeed, who am I, and who are you?

What if my mental equivalent—my belief about both myself and God’s will, is wrong?  What if it’s not even ‘wrong,’ but just a mistake?  Who has to correct the mistake, me or God?  What’s my ‘free will’ for, anyhow?  And what is God’s will?

Hard to know because many among us do not believe in one God, but in two, God and the Devil. 

Are we created in God’s image and likeness or the Devil’s?  What is our nature as human beings; is it always ‘bad;’ what’s our default, God or the Devil? What does it mean to be created in God’s image and likeness?  Does it mean God thinks, acts and looks like a human being; and if God is like a human being, why is It male and not female?

To me, ‘image and likeness’ means that we partake of God’s creative power, love and compassion; that there is no ‘Devil’, no power in opposition to God; that seeming ‘evil’ is what we experience when we forget our oneness with spirit, mistaking the ego’s nightmare for reality. 

Reality is our oneness with God, and if this is so, then God’s will is for us to manifest that oneness, Its creative power, love and compassion, realizing that seeming evil is only, ‘seeming’, and manifests when we forget who, and what we are. God’s will for us is to make loving, unique contributions to a world that works for everyone and everything, not righteous hammering.

Opinion v Fact

Everyone has a right to their own opinions.  But not their own facts.  Can’t we at least agree on the facts?  That’s what the sign I carry at demonstrations says.  Facts are neutral, not Democratic or Republican; just facts.  Their neutrality provides the glue that holds society together; the common frame of reference we need to communicate and dialogue.  Without facts communication and dialogue are not possible. Corrupting, twisting, shading or straight forward lying about facts makes communication and dialogue impossible.

That’s why it’s so important to be aware of and question our beliefs.  Beliefs always bend and bias facts.  Beliefs make people selective about facts, make us pay attention to only the facts that support our beliefs and discard the rest.  The more invested in our beliefs we are, the more subjective and less objective we are, and the more impossible it becomes to dialogue and communicate with those whose beliefs differ from ours. 

If dialogue and communication are important, then facts are important.  If one does not wish to dialogue or communicate, but simply wants to impose his beliefs on the world, then facts are unnecessary.

In fact, people who simply want to impose their beliefs on the world, dislike, even hate facts.  Such people give lip service to the importance of facts, but really think facts, Science and critical thinking are dangerous. Such people, groups and organizations seek to corrupt facts, muddy the waters, lie, shade and distort facts.  Such people think ignorance is good.  Just be still and go along.  You don’t know what the President knows.  He has the facts.  Trust him. The way we did with Johnson in Nam and Bush with his WMD. Just watch your sports, play your video games and watch the so-called news that isn’t news but opinion. Do anything but get the facts and think about them!

If dialogue and communication are important, then facts are important.  Facts make communication and dialogue possible, without them communication and dialogue are impossible.

Beliefs

“The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1875

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.  Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.  Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was Protestant.  Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”  Martin Niemoller, 1945

What do you really believe?  Have you taken the time to check out your beliefs, subjected them to rigorous scrutiny?  Determined how well they contribute to a world that works for everyone and everything?  Do you hold your beliefs because authority figures in your past held them?  Do you own them, or does someone else or some other group or organization own them?  Does what you believe embody both the physical and metaphysical aspects of the one God/no idols concept, and the Ten Commandments?  What do you know, how do you know it, and how well is that working for you, your family, community, the Nation and a world that works for everyone and everything? 

Doubt what you believe! Question it! Check it out!  Have the humility and grace to recognize you don’t know everything and that maybe, just maybe, you can make a change, perhaps only a slight shift, that will enable you to better embody both the physical and metaphysical aspects of the one God/no idols concept, and the Ten Commandments, and make a contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything.

Idol Worshippers?

A few days ago, I posted about the metaphysics of the Ten Commandments; that there are two levels: the literal, legalistic physical level, where the words mean exactly what they say and the deeper, more philosophical metaphysical level where the words suggest concepts deeper and vaguer than the exact, literal meaning of the physical words themselves.  To me, the concept of one God has similar metaphysics.

On the physical, literal and legalistic level, “one God” means only one God and no others, that we do not worship graven images nor idols made of stone and wood.  But are all idols made of stone and wood? Is it possible that many of us, especially so-called conservatives, who believe they are honoring the concept of one God are really worshipping idols?

A less literal and more metaphysical interpretation of the one God/no idols concept is that anything that might come between God and Its people is forbidden; that things we yearn for, worship and sacrifice for like career, winning, success, fame and fortune may be perceived as idols.  Anything without the attributes of God—love, inclusion, compassion and peace, or that causes us to forget the attributes of God, or to sacrifice the attributes of God, is an idol. Idol worship is forbidden.

On a still deeper metaphysical level, the concept of one God, may be perceived as Oneness itself, that God is all there is, that there is no place that God is not. In this interpretation, nothing is ‘forbidden,’ and the ego nightmare becomes a classroom, with all things being lessons God would have us learn.  As Steinbeck said in East of Eden, the real Commandment is Thou mayest, not, thou shalt not. This is the deepest metaphysical interpretation of the one God concept. 

This is not permission to murder, rob, hurt and abuse other people and things; that would be interpreting Thou mayest and the one God concept at the physical, ego level.  Thou mayest, is not at the physical level. Thou mayest is at the deepest metaphysical level, the level at which we perceive that we, you and I, and everything and everyone, are one, created of the same substance and by the same Creator. The metaphysical level is acting as if we knew that our oneness with God was true and therefore whatever we do to someone or something else, we realize that not only do we do it to ourselves, but we do it to God as well.  All things are lessons God would have us learn means there is only one lesson to learn – God is One, God is all there is, so forgive and be kind as It at the metaphysical level, forgives and is kind.

We exist at both the metaphysical and physical levels simultaneously. We can choose to worship the one God at the deepest metaphysical level, manifesting all Its attributes: love, inclusion, creativity, compassion and peace, or we can choose to worship the one God at the most surfacey physical level, believing that because we go to church and no longer worship graven images and idols of stone and wood that we are not idol worshippers, even as we sacrifice God’s attributes in pursuit of career, winning, success, fame and fortune. 

We all fall into idol worship; that is part of the ego nightmare we call reality.  The thing to do is catch ourselves at it and stop, without blame, guilt, or judgment. When I awake and realize I’m worshipping an idol and begin worshipping God at the deepest metaphysical level instead, without guilt, judgment or blame, seeking to manifest all Its attributes: love, inclusion, creativity, compassion and peace, I make it possible for you to do the same. Try it. Wake up. What would the world be like if we all understood the one God/no idols concept at its deepest metaphysical level…?

Hmmm....

“Do not try to find the truth, merely cease to cherish opinions. Tarry not in dualism.” Hubert Benoit  So much for my constant references to inner/outer, good/bad, Republicans and Democrats.  What should I do when these come up?  Forgive myself, not feel guilty or beat myself up; give ‘em over to spirit, get centered, and go from there.

“The only guarantee of our Divinity is in its expression through our humanity.” Science of Mind text.  This means that my default to dualism may be perceived as an opportunity to choose again and express my divinity.

“Make way for love, which you did not create, but which you can extend.  On earth this means forgive your brother [and yourself] that the darkness may be lifted from your mind.  This is the spark that shines within the dream.” Course in Miracles, Text.

Politics and The Ten Commandments

In my experience, both liberals, progressives, and so-called conservatives give lip service to the Ten Commandments. But even though many of the most fervent and dedicated so-called conservatives say they honor the Ten Commandments and try to live by them, they really don’t.  While liberals and progressives who don’t talk much about the Commandments, actually live them a bit more that do the so-called conservatives.

That’s because liberals and progressives have internalized the Ten Commandments more than their vociferous so-called conservative brethren and tend to see the Commandments in both/and terms, as both narrowly and legalistically meant to govern our outer physical behavior, and as guides to both our outer physical behavior and our inner thoughts feelings and behaviors - as guides for getting our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits. 

For example, the Commandments as guides to both inner and outer: we might not often be inclined to covet other people’s possessions, but do we compare our lives to theirs, sitting in judgment over the differences?  Yes, of course we do; at least I do, constantly. 

Another example:  Killing another person seems abhorrent, even when done in our names by the state, but what about when we have extinguished hope, enthusiasm, or opportunity—which seems to be the point of large chunks of contemporary Republican policies aimed at large segments of the population? 

The Ten Commandments may thus be seen to have both an inner metaphysical meaning and an outer physical meaning.  While the narrow, physical, legalistic interpretation of the Ten Commandments would not seem to be violated by much of contemporary Republican policies and politics, what about the spirit, intent and metaphysics of the Commandments? How well do the policies and politics of contemporary Republicans reflect the spirit, intent and metaphysics of the Commandments?

Using Stoicism

William Irvine in, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy, asks, “Do you want to worry less and be more tranquil?”  Of course, I say.  Then consider this, and Irvine quotes the great stoic Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius: “Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will and selfishness—all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good and what is evil”—good being, contributing to a world that works for everyone, evil being, making the world more exclusive and exclusionary.

In addition, Irvine and Marcus Aurelius suggest:

Practice negative visualization: Periodically contemplate the bad things that can happen to you.  This makes it easier to bear if such things do happen and it may also help you appreciate the stuff you currently take for granted.

Ascertain what you ‘completely’ control, what you cannot control, and what you somewhat control.  Remind yourself that one thing you can control is your attitude to what is going on in and around you.

Tell yourself that discomfort is not necessarily a bad thing, as dealing with it can help you become courageous.

Do not get bent out of shape over insults.  If the information conveyed is ‘true,’ learn from it.  If the data is ‘false,’ then consider the source and be relieved that you are doing the ‘right’ things.

For Marcus Aurelius, the art of living is more like wrestling than dancing.  To minimize getting thrown and pinned, follow his suggestions.