Let it be!

In a conversation with my son and his girlfriend on Corpus Christi, which is a public holiday in our area, we talked about the fact that it was established as a feast-day as late as the 13th century. We started talking about the value of traditions and customs and we duly interrupted by a rather rude person who managed to contradict almost every statement we made. In the course of the conversation however, it became blatantly clear that the concern I was expressing was being personified by the sceptic who kept on interrupting us. He was giving me a wonderful chance to make something understandable by his presence.

He, like most of us in the alleged “civilized” world, was a fine example of a “rich man” who had difficulty in even seeing the “realm of God”, let alone entering it. All religious teachings or those which are regarded as such were all “rubbish” in his sight. The Christian teachings were the worst of them all of course. He accused Christianity of fooling the uneducated, duping them into a poverty which only satiated the clerics and paid their way. It was a broad broom with which he swept Christianity away, and he couldn’t see how he was doing more damage than good.

I told him about the story of the darnel or ryegrass that was sown with the wheat and ruined the picture of the wheat harvest, preventing the cereal plants to grow and causing green blotches throughout the field. The disciples had asked why it is, if what God does is good, that sometime people were led astray, and he gave them this example, showing the patience of the farmer who will only throw out the weed at the end of the day. He would be stupid to tear out the weed, for he would do more damage than good. My critic turned on me in fury and said, “There you go! Another example – nothing but a tautology! It says nothing!”

My sons girlfriend stepped in and said, “I think it is quite plain. There is nothing to get upset about just because things go wrong here and there. It is down to having faith and trusting in the good outcome.”

This only inflamed his temperament even more, “Faith blocks progress, prevents development …” and proceeded to rant and rave about all of the things that had gone wrong over the last 2000 years. In doing so, he brought up numerous subjects that I had earlier used as examples for the fact that through the incessant machination of the modern, nothing had really been achieved – except that our resources have been used up at an incomparable rate, and a minority has relative comfort at the cost of the civilisation illnesses like Diabetes mellitus, Arterioscleroses as well as those illnesses associated to such causes.

I was quite amazed really that someone who had been to university could be the personification of Erich Fromm’s modern man, who chooses “to have” rather than “to be”. Such people usually avoid such potholes in their rhetoric path. When he stormed me with his pledge to pure rationalism, the case was sealed. I had won game, set and match without hardly hitting the ball.

It left me wondering whether the problem with modern religion, especially in its fundamentalist expression, is that it just can’t sit back and let others talk themselves into a tizz-wazz, but has to give some comparable verbal diarrhoea of their own. How different Jesus seems to have been. A man of few words, but words that had been weighed before they were issued. It isn’t the number of words, but the effect they have. Most words burden us, his are there to lighten the burden we are already carrying by serving as a yoke. It is sad therefore, when sermons are burdening.

I hear Jesus astounding them all by bringing tranquillity to his listeners, even if this caused derision inside families. The religious militants and the conservatives were only opposites of the roman occupying forces, but just as “bad”. The suggestion that to yield, or that a detachment from events and occurrences could be a blessing has always caused an uproar amongst the indignant and has seen sons and daughters, husbands and wives thrown out of families and communities out of fear of being regarded weak.

He spoke against the religious activism of the Pharisees, against the militancy of the Zealots, against the Compromise of the Sadducees, and against the seclusion of the Esssenes, although he was known to all. God has given life, we must live it and not be lived by others. Therefore, we need to relax and “let it be.”

Any thoughts

Shalom

Great post.

But do not be too lax. You will find your community taken away. O wait… tooo late. I am deadly serious. We no longer have visits with the neighbors and meet as communities any more. We have left God in the dust, and have suffered for it. And many people still do not see it.

But all in all, a great post!

Hi Bob,

I’ve been thinking about something similar for awhile and it seems to me that things at the personal level are no better or worse now than they were 2000 years ago. Those capable of spiritual understanding is probably no greater today than any other time in history. What has changed is that there are simply more of us and so the negatives and the positives are exaggerated. I’d like to think that we’re capable of greater spirituality than in the past. We know so much more… But the reality is that no religion, no philosophy is carried by more than the proverbial handful, now as then. It shows right here doesn’t it?

JT

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Alleged ? You dont think the world is more civilized now than ever before ?
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I would say to you that the world is in fact… Less Civilized myself.

Civilized is an odd phrase. We no longer put leeches on people, simply cut off limps, watch death matches, etc. but imperialistic tendencies are still there as is the affliction of money. But when one goes into a tight knit community scandal has and will always arise. People always have this feeling of the idyllic 1950’s where everyone was content, went to church together, and were “better”. In reality the husbands still beat there wives, children were still molested, and racism was rampant. So perhaps less civilized and more civilized is a relative term. I believe people just leave things more so in the open such as abuse. One of the perfect movies for this would be “Blue Velvet” by David Lynch which shows a young man going back to his pristine neighborhood only to find out it wasn’t quite so nice.

Being “civilized” is more useful to the species then being “uncivilized”. Atleast some of the criminals on earth are being naturally selected out of the breeding pool through prisons, etc?

On the other hand, aggression is very good for the individual if used properly, even if used against some part of the species.

As regards “seeing the realm of God”:

Before anyone can “see” something they must be able to “pick up on” it. Thus they must first sense it. Then, they must somehow interporate it & understand it.
[First get the data, then process the data, then use the data]
^
Most real prophets were psychic, from what I’ve seen, and this is basically the only reason why they could “find” “God” in the first place, because the “God” program is in a different format then the “human body” program.

Many non-psychic believers replace “real” understanding with “faith”, they take the holy book’s word for it instead of having first hand experience.

Religion is not “the truth” – either…

‘let it be’

i think that’s a rather buddhistic notion ^^ … recently, the dalai lama came to belgium (finally - damn those chinese) and he seemed to get along quite well with our local kardinals and muslim representatives

anyway, bob, if you’re voicing for tolerance, i’m right behind you

Hi Astral,

I understand what you are saying, but the biggest problems with community are the problems within, just as our personal problems are generally a question of how we approach life and our illnesses are psychosomatic complexities. If the community has no means of dealing with conflicts within, they will not survive conflicts outside – and they will loose their tradition, even if it is a gradual process.

On the other hand, it isn’t a call to shutter yourself in, but to open up in patient dialogue. We need to reflect on what conversations bring and attend to divergences straight away, instead of ignoring them. This however, means that the basis of community must not be fundamentalist but made up of peacemakers who are able to bring about the unity that often gets lost along the way. A fundamentalist approach polarises the issues and refuses to see the basic commonalities between spiritual movements by all cultural differences. This is because it is basically built on insecurity and works by the logic of flies – if the majority believe then it can’t be wrong!

This isn’t about winning people for membership, but about awareness spreading outwards from such groups which will finally harmonise society. The Way is, however, a stony one and a narrow path, rather than a broad highway. It can easily be overlooked because it is unassuming and unpretentious. It may also be a lonely path, although this mustn’t be a problem. Like a small stone dropped in a lake sends ripples across the surface, so too can the Way be effective.

Hi JT,

I think you are right, the quota of people on their Way is probably comparable. However, in our societies there are millions who are being diverted just by the fact that popular religion is in the hands of the spiritually insecure. This means that they block the Way without walking it themselves – again, similar to then, only many more souls involved.

I don’t think that “knowing more” is the key. There is much more knowledge available to the masses, but this is only useful for those who are balanced enough to use that knowledge. It is similar to the fact that the Bible is by far the most published book, but do people read it, let alone apply its wisdom? I think that spirituality is the same throughout time, because it is timeless. Therefore it can’t be better or worse then or now. Therefore, the spiritual can use any source of scripture or other inspirational medium, whether it is water, breath, air, birds, animals, trees … the list goes on. Spirituality just opens us to this great diversity of inspiration.

This is why the spiritual can be in a community or alone, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the effect of spiritual community is larger towards the non-spiritual, until those people start feeling the thirst. Then it is better to use the smaller community and our own “inner chamber”. What was shown by this encounter, was that hypocrisy abounds amongst the non-spiritual, because they are not able to see their own hypocrisy. Everyone who is discriminate is, to a certain degree, hypocritical. We all know that good and bad are often subjective and that we find ourselves on different sides as it suits us. But we only experience that “side” without the realisation that we have changed sides.

The wise or the righteous are far less discriminating. In the past, it was said to be because of the “hardness of heart” and the “stiff-necked” that the Torah had such strict sanctions. The new covenant is to be different to the first. There will be no need for sermons and the like, since all will “know the Lord!” Inspiration will be universal, because the Torah is written on the hearts and not on stone. The biggest barrier to this covenant is the idea that the world must change before people do. The opposite is true, and the “realm of God” is in our midst. In fact, the Bible describes very pictorially, how creation will jump for joy when the “Sons of God” are revealed.

Hi DOL,

No, I don’t. We have more technology than ever before, but just because our tools are better, it doesn’t mean we are. In fact, the better the tools the more mischief we can get up to! And the last hundred years showed us just that! Millions of victims suffer the consequences of our improved hardware – that isn’t my idea of civilisation.

Shalom

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" Tell us ," they said , “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age ?” (Matt 24:1-3)

You have missed the signs , and have not interpreted these times correctly as a christian I believe

Technology has also been the one thing that has brought us closer together , and helped change things for the better in so many ways , its a matter of perspective

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Hi DOL,

If you knew how many people have predicted the end of the age, you’d be more careful about it.

Yes, a matter of perspective - whether you were fortunate enough to be born in the wealthy minority or in the poor majority … and perhaps whether you were born able to use the resources of the world, or whether you have yet to be born and find that all resources have been used up … a nice world we are leaving for our children and grandchildren.

Shalom

Hi Bob,

They say the more the merrier, but there is a point of decreasing effectiveness in that. Yes, the din is ever louder, the chaos deeper, and the numbers left without a spiritual meal grows daily… I still question whether our advances have changed the percentages much. At best, it seems that we are simply more aware of the chaos than before. 2000 years ago, knowledge of the world probably didn’t extend more than 500 miles or so, and vague knowing of anything beyond that took months or even years. Today we know about EVERYTHING instantaneously, all funneled through a tiny gate called the media. The world is smaller, and there are more of us, and the informational POV is ever more narrow. If there is any significant difference it lies in TOO MUCH information to process, and we selectively ‘turn off’ as much as we can in order to function at all. Unfortunately, we throw out the baby with the bath water.
Our spiritual needs become the last thing considered as the secular world demands more and more of our attention. We are faced with all the questions of what to do in Darfur, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Korea, or in any of a hundred other trouble spots in the world. The lessons we might learn from our humanity or the lack of humanity is lost in the pragmatic issues of how can we feed someone? How can we stop the killing? The questions of how we might change ourselves and encourage others is dulled by the press of knowing too much.

The rise of fundamentalism in all religions is simply a reaction to insecurity in the face of the secular world too much in our face. That it simply adds to the problem is obvious to those capable of seeing. And so, those who find their way remains a small number indeed. I wish there were answers beyond holding fast in the small community of like minded, but I see none. We keep our candle lit in the hopes that others may use the light to find their path. It has to be enough.

Very bad talk. We are Gods. Just think wonderful thoughts and everything will be just lovely. It is so simple.

Keep it up, Nick. Your’re becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.

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Im not predicting anything here , prophecies dont interest me much either

This would be slander against the holy spirit

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Hi JT,

Living the life of a Mystic in the modern world often leaves me very tired and it is only contemplation and meditation that eases that. I think the biggest problem is the fact that my motivation is often questioned, as is the motivation of anyone leading a spiritual life. That is a sign of the chaos and the insecurity of others and fortunately only something I hear from those who don’t know me. I think they feel threatened by me until we have spoken together. It would become a problem if they were mobilised to become a mob – but perhaps that is really a thing of the past.

It is very true that the selective exclusion of information by the media selecting stories that sell is a problem. But I consider the real problem being that people are hungry for the stories of others but forget their own. Many people have this thing about sin that they somehow can’t lose. I have often spoken to people about this, describing sin as our tendency to avoid unity and enjoy polarity. This is because we are unable to step back and observe life, but instead are steeped into everything we do. Some people find that too liberal as though they have to paint themselves black. It seems to be a deep trauma.

Their experience of life is one of a chain of events which they differentiate as good or bad, the bad throwing the question up, what someone has done to deserve it. When they watch the news they immediately step into this dilemma and the question about the righteous God becomes very present. The one group condemn the victims, the others condemn God – both are wrong, but their dilemma is that they have no other perspective. That is why the information is too demanding of them and religion is rejected or fundamentalist. The age old counsel is, just “don’t judge”. But it is difficult for people to live like that, it means a whole new approach – a birth “from above” – but not just a switch to the neo-Pharisees, the neo-Sadducees, the neo-Zealots or the neo-Essenes, which are all just extremes of another kind, and as such “sin”!

The dilemma of the “righteous” is that the suffering isn’t over yet, but at least the rewards are felt too. Keeping our candle, or lamps, lit is the task that we have before us. But it isn’t an ethical question in the Greek sense, rather in the Semitic sense. It is learning to step back and contemplate by following footsteps, gaining a holistic spiritual outlook and allowing the diametric and antagonistic view to be washed away. Only in this way can we learn to relax and find peace with God.

Shalom

That’s how it goes, eh? The weed seed will be removed on the threshing floor?

There is a time to every purpose, yes?

Let it be, …sometimes.

I’m thinking our understandiing has increased greatly but, our wisdom has been reduced by the amount of infomation out there. (As an aside, did you know that information is noise; i mean, scientifically, no noise means no information content. Ritual for ritual’s sake is meaningless tradition; what does it represent is the question.) And it seems to me that you can see wisdom from understanding, and understanding from wisdom; know what i mean? Given our greater understanding, it is easier now than ever before to see the wisdom of the old ways and even the delusion of money. The enemy identifies himself by how loudly he shouts nothing.

I really, really enjoyed my post. It’s a welcome relief from most of the other things I read on this forum.

Hi JT,

I wanted to deal with this separately:

We have another problem – nothing is as it seems. Can we really do anything but postpone or prolong suffering? I sometimes get the impression that the chaos we have is truly a case of “many cooks will spoil the bread”. The result is that the people who need assistance don’t know where their help will come from, nor do they know who their next enemy will be, because they are pieces on a political chess board. Therefore, we need to be sure that the assistance we give is not just to satisfy our own conscience and therefore hypocrisy, and which in fact produces a terrible insecurity for those in need.

We must first know why we are feeding someone. We must first of all know what our motivation and aim is. Are we acting out of a balanced and selfless attitude, or are we wishing to appear to be doing so? You see, spirituality is also like a mirror to our own soul and discernment is a gift of the spirit. We need a network of spiritual centres like wellsprings throughout the landscape, where thirst can be quenched and life slows down to allow the refreshment to spread into all of our limbs. There we can contemplate our deeds, discover where we are going off route, make corrections and find allies.

Only when these spiritual networks reach those people in need will there be more than momentary relief, and only then will not only the physical needs, but also the soul needs be met. But as you can see, this is more than “Jesus saves” or comparable statements of other fundamentalists, this is “living water” which will become a fount within, gushing up at need. The Diabolos is continually preventing this, whipping us into action, creating an expectancy within us that is unhealthy, awakening accusations of hypocrisy, whilst it is hypocritical to awaken hopes that we can not fulfil (hupokrisis - acting under a feigned part). Something “well meant” is not necessarily good.

Shalom

Hi jeffl,

You are of course right to differentiate between information and wisdom, and to find that wisdom has been reduced. I ask myself whether to formally know how something functions is the same as understanding (I am not sure how your hypothesis about information being noise works for the atoms information about where the protons should move in relation to the centre – but then again, this isn’t my field), I think that most of us lack the time to really “understand” so much.

Ritual is also a means to transport meaning to those who have yet to understand. If I take part in a ritual which at the beginning means nothing to me, it can help me to gain an insight that no books could impart. Wisdom is a knowledge that grows with experience, given a chance. To appreciate such wisdom is only the first step, the more important part would be to apply such wisdom.

The “enemy” is a confuser, a muddler, a bringer of chaos which prevents us thinking clearly.

Shalom