|
Beliefs come in many shapes and sizes and yet all share something in common:
Although we cannot "touch" a belief, it certainly has a way of touching us.
Our belief modifies the way we think, how we act and feel. I take my tinfoil hat off to those who invented this system of social order so many moons ago.
What a concept indeed. Imagine sitting around a stone-age conference table discussing this idea.
I surely would have laughed it off.
Oh my, how I would have missed the boat.
Not only did the concept grow legs, it sprouted wings. Turns out everyone wants to believe in something.
For one thing it's kind of fun.
In the following paragraphs I'll take a somewhat playful (if not cynical) look at some of the hermetically-sealed belief systems that dominate in our lives.
There's a circuitous path one must navigate that divides our place of knowing from a world of make-believe. This trail can get a little precarious and downright slippery at times.
So let's saddle up our loyal mustangs and see where they take us. These majestic creatures are sure-footed, certain and most graceful in their stride.
More than that, I sense they may know something we
have forgotten.
Where the trail ends, a new one begins and the sights and sounds are something to behold. The rider learns the way of the horse and the horse the way of the rider.
It's a relationship of balance and harmony. There's a transfer of energy from one entity to another as our thoughts begin to roam free with wild abandon and the mustang gently restrains in courtesy of the saddle.
On this
journey, it's not where you go - but where it takes you.
But I sense there's a trifle few who would suggest we're not deserving of this freedom.
I believe they gain very much from the belief
structures we submit to. And so we are encouraged to believe in
those ideas and concepts that place cuffs on our hands and feet. We
unlock our mind and hand another the key. Not because we're foolish,
but because we are trusting.
Can you see how someone might be stirred remotely by the belief system they follow?
It's here where we find the chasm between
the spiritual and the believers. The spiritual mind seeks truth and
spends many, many lonely nights pondering and wondering. It's not
enough for a lesson to be taught and handed to them - it must be felt
at the very core of their being.
We've all been conditioned into "believing" that we're just a tiny speck in the macrocosm. Okay, to them I say:
You'll find it leaves a hole in this macrocosm, a tear in the ethereal fabric of all that is and will ever be.
The tear would surely be the center of attention for all to notice. There is nothing insignificant about that. And we must "believe" freedom is not free, they say.
That's not what the mustang tells me.
And we must "believe" in a fabricated religion or face consternation or eternal damnation.
We must "believe" in our teachers and the concepts of higher education. Most of all, the belief-makers want us to believe in all things outside ourselves.
That's the true societal doctrine. We must believe that without our loyal adherence to those synthetic constructs that mold us, we are very small and insignificant.
Indeed, join the Army and be part of something bigger than yourself - or so they will tell you.
But I will tell you again and again:
In his song aptly titled, "God" he states,
Exactly what was meant by this verse is of course a matter of interpretation.
But referring to God as a "concept" is what I find particularly intriguing. Lennon goes on to mention many ideologies and icons he doesn't "believe" in.
Even The Beatles made the list...
Near the end of the track he writes,
These are profoundly insightful words from someone who clearly understood the illusions that blind and bind us.
When we believe in something outside ourselves we subordinate to the authority of that belief. Somebody is in control of that belief system and it's not you.
These are the powerful words of Paul Simon from "Kathy's Song."
Simon goes on to say,
The songwriters of yesterday came to our poetic and philosophical rescue.
Music was perhaps the last conduit for elevating the masses into a higher consciousness. We've since moved on to a different sound and a different message. It would seem the philosophy belongs to a bygone era of the children of World War II and the veterans of Vietnam.
The music I hear today is often brooding and complex or unmercifully adolescent. It too provides a snapshot of where we are today, but offers little antidote or resolution.
The new sound seems to concede to the idea that
we're
already screwed. They might be right...
As in the case of a religious structure, we find not only individual power but the collective power of millions.
We know there is an ongoing concern about religious improprieties.
Collusion with nefarious governments, horrendous inquisitions, child rape and murder and a whole host of other unspeakable atrocities should offer one some pause and reservation.
Personally, I will have nothing to do with institutions that serve as agents for Divine intervention. If there is a devil... in such a house you would find him.
My thoughts
belong to me. I've not been assigned my way of thinking.
I once had a grade school teacher candidly admit,
Yes there is rudimentary instruction that loosely qualifies as teaching.
But the real goal is to indoctrinate and enforce submission and turn the populace into working bees.
There are many gifted children who ultimately fall out of this system because they have issues with compliance. I have nothing but disdain for modern education.
Those who ultimately earn
an advanced degree will be well-seasoned and attuned to the
conformity and compliance of this institution. These are the same
people who are ultimately chosen to effect major policy changes in
society.
Devices such as propaganda have long been used by government to influence the masses. People "believe" in what they're told because they have submitted to this external authority.
This power is so persuasive it can encourage people to enlist in the armed services.
They are told they're the
defenders of "freedom" and yet they must give up much of their own
freedom in order to serve in this capacity.
In fact, I'm grateful for it. We are entitled to believe in what we want, but we should understand that beliefs are not the same as truth.
The problem seems to be that many hold belief in the same light as truth.
How did this happen...?
That would surely spell my demise as I drink the stuff as if my life depended on it. So be it.
My belief permits it. I abstain from meat - the Mormon does not. I would advise this ideology to not lecture me on matters of morality. If perhaps they are open to true enlightenment, I would suggest they close their book and open their mind.
If they do, they
will see how their structure is not unlike the others. Like all
faiths, they preach peace and love as they march their children to
war. There is such hypocrisy and deceit behind the velvet pulpits of
shame.
This means you're the authority of it. You are not relinquishing your power to another. It does not suggest your belief is the right one or the only one. It does however suggest that you have found a belief that serves your needs - and that's powerful indeed.
You live with an inner-knowing and an inner-peace. You can separate yourself from the spectacle that surrounds you. From this vantage, all the rumblings of the world play out on stage.
You may feel like one of the actors at times, but the spiritually aware are more attuned as observers.
They may feel captivated and moved by the story, but they
know it's just a show.
I fought long and hard for the truth and the philosophy I live by. I had to first unlearn what had been sewn into my young psyche at such an impressionable age.
Not an easy task by any measure. I had to forgive and forget the Catholic teachings and extricate myself from the labyrinth that held me. I had feelings of guilt which were not unlike the pain of divorce.
I
learned to let go...
On the other hand, the word
"truth"
suggests a state of knowing, a resonance in harmony at the very core
of who and what we are. And yet we use these words freely and
interchangeably.
There were a couple of slippery parts
there - but your mustang held on and stayed true to course. When the
rider bonds with their horse, there's a synergy that benefits both.
You really had nothing to fear as the path withered and narrowed
into a new trail of your own making.
And I think to
myself, if only he could see the light on the other side. If only...
|
