The Great Mystery
I always invite readers to do their own research into The Great Mystery, instead of letting others provide their answers. The Great Mystery is this question:
What IS there? (Is there a God? If so, what is the nature of this God?)
This is Question #1 of the Three Fundamental Questions. How you answer this question has everything to do with Question #2, which is:
Who am I?
This question of identity has been the source of power, abuse, genocide, wars, religious and cultural conflict for as long has humans have been tribal. Without it, there would have been no Crusades 1000 years ago. Without it, there would be no war in Eastern Europe today. Without it, there would have been no genocides in Rwanda, Nazi Germany, Armenia, Cambodia, 18th & 19th Century America, or present day Myanmar and Western China. Religious, racial, cultural and ethnic oppression are common and constant themes.
It is human Nature that we are tribal. Stone Age tribes competed for food and resources. High school kids have their little cliques. Local governments have competing interest groups vying for power. People carry a variety of identities – profession, avocation, hobby, religion, or other cultural identities. We band together in tribes for protection of various kinds.
We begin life as babies, seeking food, comfort, and to learn about the world around us. Everyone experiences some sort of conflict from caregivers who seek to protect us from ourselves and our curiosity. Remember how much you hated hearing the phrase, “You’re not old enough.” when you were denied something?
All children break things, spill milk, hurt each other and get hurt. All children tell little lies to get something they want. As children, all of us feel helplessness, make mistakes, feel guilt and experience oppression. At some level, everyone experiences abuse – verbal, physical and far, far too often, sexual abuse. As a result, everyone carries some level of trauma, which is largely the hidden impetus for irrational emotional behaviors so many exhibit. Without them, psychotherapy would be an unknown profession.
Recently I saw an article which contrasted mystery with certainty in how people approach religion. The author spoke of the world as chaotic and that people feel insecure. Is it any wonder that given the dangers and suffering we experience as small children that we wouldn’t want certainty in the answers to Question #1, and thus Question #2?!
I ask people to examine Question #1 for themselves, and that takes enormous courage. To take responsibility for your own investigation into The Great Mystery, you surrender the certainty and protection of those institutions that claim to have the answers. For many, that is terrifying.
This is not to say that the teachings of any religion, writer or historical figure should be ignored. Everyone needs sign posts and guides for their journey. Doing your own investigation often starts with something someone else has said. This is precisely how the Scientific Method works. A researcher makes a hypothesis. Conducts an experiment that demonstrates or refutes the hypothesis and publishes their findings. Others then read those findings and do the same experiment to validate the result for themselves.
Many religions teach that God is infinite and unknowable, but they still tell you what it is that God commands, set themselves up as God’s Messengers with Divine Authority and demand that followers obey their edicts. Am I the only one who sees a contradiction here?
Much as in the story of the four blind men trying to describe an elephant, I see The Great Mystery as a grand jewel, with many different facets. For me, teachings and scriptures from the many religions are all different ways of looking at the same question. Much like a scientific hypothesis, something I see or read from a spiritual teaching gives me a place to begin my own investigation. I find useful information and a sense of truth in many places, but in the end, like a physical scientist, I want to validate it for myself.
I invite everyone to find the courage to do their own work.
I write my blog for those who prefer to find and know spirituality on their own terms, without the demands from any religion. I write because I feel called to speak equally to both the heart and the mind, because neither love nor rationality has to supplant the other. If what I write speaks to you, please subscribe to my blog, which will always be without charge.