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If we’re out in public enough, sooner or later we will have a conversation with someone who holds absolute certainties about how the universe was created, when it was created, where we came from, and why we are here. Often, they will let us know, sometimes without our asking, that if we don’t agree with their view of absolute reality we can expect a punishment involving a fiery and tortuous agony that will last for eternity.
The good news is that, while they have the freedom to hold and express their nightmarish notions about absolute reality, I am just as free to ignore them. God bless America!
I am truly grateful that we live in a land where we can freely express spiritual ambiguity.
Perhaps you have heard someone say, or even said yourself, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” I believe this ambiguity is an evolutionary leap forward. In ages past (and even today, in certain parts of the world), if you say that you’re not religious but spiritual and you really don’t know what God is all about, or even if there is a God or not, that would have been the end of you—in a probably horrific way involving fire (why is it always fire?).
A cross, star, and crescent moon are the symbols for the big three monotheistic religions today. And there was a time when I did wear a cross around my neck. But I gave it away years ago after doing some actual research on the origins of Christianity and the Bible that we know today. The practice of gathering information, along with the application of critical thinking, is powerful and not emphasized enough in our culture. After some serious study, I discovered some wonderful pointers on how to live a good life in that esteemed collection of ancient texts. And I discovered the same of Shakespeare, Emerson, the Tao Te Ching, and the writings of Ursula Le Guin, as well.
At the risk of eternal damnation (with flames, no doubt), I am currently shopping for a gold question mark to wear. For me, that is a symbol for an open mind. An open mind, free from any absolutist dogma, is the foundation for the hardy and surprising wisdom-path of the spiritual ambiguitist.
There have been some mind-blowing scientific discoveries made in the last 100 years about life in the macro realms of planets, stars, and galaxies, and the micro and immeasurably mysterious realms of atoms and subatomic particles. These discoveries point to a multi-dimensional existence that defies the comprehension of most (if not all) of us.
In light of the vastness of these discoveries, I find it is impossible to hold any human-manufactured truth as absolute reality. This is where that practice of critical thinking is useful. For me, a big part of spiritual practice is learning about our world and the space that it is hurtling through. Learning about creation from creation itself. And due to creation’s infinite nature, this is a path of infinite learning. I suspect that spiritual enlightenment is a verb.
Considering all the pain caused by different groups claiming knowledge of the absolute, maybe we can let absolute truth go for now.
Instead of rigidly clinging to stories of an absolute reality, perhaps we can loosely hold a more fluid idea about a maybe-reality. This is much more aligned with the unfolding of life and turning of our world, as witnessed by today’s scientific discoveries about the cosmos. This notion of maybe-reality cools the heat of absolute and dogmatic pronouncements by a creator god.
If we can learn to relax a little, which is another spiritual practice, and seek for roadmaps pointing towards worthwhile maybe-realities instead of explicit and dogmatic instructions about an absolute reality, then things may begin to lighten up a bit for our polarized and angry society. This seems the path to a greater, more fluid type of wisdom.
The late trickster, Robert Anton Wilson, talked about the value of holding catmas instead of dogmas. Catmas, he said, are “relativistic, meta-beliefs.” Holding catmas leads us to a more flowing cognitive process that can change as our needs, priorities, and goals change. There are fewer arguments when we hold catmas instead of dogmas, as differing catmas can easily hang out together without a fuss. Differing dogmas, on the other hand, should not be left alone in the same room.
Questioning the nature of the big, infinite unknown of things, and comparing and contrasting it with our family, friends, and neighbors’ questions about the big, infinite unknown, makes for an enlivening dinner party. Peacefully sharing our ideas and experiences with each other over a glass of wine or a cup of tea creates openings in our psyche. These openings are the ground for greater realization and deeper and more authentic spiritual connection and experience, which transcends any story we may hold about spirituality.
I wish we could enjoy these types of infinite conversations on a national level. There is so much poo-flinging going on amongst us primates these days. This notion of having to be right and proving others wrong and imposing our rightness on to those who we believe are wrong, is a profound social sickness that I hope we can cure. I guess it starts with our leadership. How wondrous if we had a more rational leadership dealing with real issues instead of the made up, divisive crap they use to maintain their power.
It’s sometimes hard to believe that we used to be a people who valued our freedom above most anything else in life. Now it seems we just want to be right and everyone else to be proven wrong. We’re like a bunch of stubborn and rebellious children, and, like the good book instructs us about dealing with rebellious and stubborn children, we should all probably get stoned.
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