From a comment by Wonko to the "Father" posting below:
"During the surmon he stated that he admires people who have such certainty in their faith."
I think many of us have felt that. And it is clear that the most powerful people in the world often have the strongest beliefs, and the strongest certainty in their view of the world, whether religious or otherwise. And they are probably healthier and sleep better too.
But... would you rather be healthy and successful than actually be right? Hitler was amazingly certain of his beliefs, otherwise he could not have accomplished destroying half of Europe. But is the world really better off, and was Hitler really better off, for his certainty?
The universe is complex, and it seems we are just starting to unravel many of its most important secrets. (Quantum theory etc.) Spiritually we are toddlers. And I think it is a bad thing for a toddler to be too damn certain about anything at all. Anything.
Sure, it hurts to be uncertain. But I think we need to live with a lot of uncertainty for a while yet. It'll get better, and personally I am just trying to relax and enjoy the ride.
2 comments:
The notion of absolute revelation is one that's more or less peculiar to the western monotheist religions. Hindu and Buddhism are far less dogmatic, asserting that the path to enlightenment must necessarily be different for different people. Rather than one holy book, the Hindu religion is informed by four Vedas, which are themselves contextualised by a multitude of Brahmanas, Aranyakas and Upanishads. Although I don't personally lend the Hindu religion any more credence than it's western counterparts, it is refreshing and rather hopeful to see that religion needn't necessarily be as rigidly dogmatic as we're accustomed to. I wonder if we might not all be richer if Christians, Jews and Islamicists were encouraged to take a more liberal approach to the interpretation of holy writ.
in my early 20's I lived in a Zen Buddhist meditation center. The Korean Zen Master (Seung Sahn) had a favorite saying: Only Go Straight Don't Know. Hold a big question in your mind always, like, What is this? or What is love? What is God? Who am I? etc. But keep a big open wondering mind. This, he said, would lead to a certainty beyond certainty, where all would become clear. I still love this teaching, among the hard certainties of people around me (and of my own grasping mind). Try going one day, as many moments as possible, *not knowing* that moment. Try not knowing the person you say you love. Something like grace comes through this practice of uncertainty.
laurie
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