In my studying of meditation, atheism and religion i keep finding myself at an impasse. The only reason i use the word "impasse" is because i can't think of any other term. I guess, if you are like me, and don't care to follow religion yet believe that spirituality (for lack of another term) is a key element of humanism, you will come to this point. I find that although it isn't a comfortable place to be, it may not necessarily be the wrong place to be. Because really life isn't about comfort, is it? Life is about being present and constant change. I think if one ever gets too comfortable in life, they are setting up to fall hard when that comfort zone starts to crumble.
There are things i am adamant about when it comes these topics. I have been doing a lot of reading involving studies of the human brain and consciousness. There are things that scientifically solidify the fact that there isn't a driver of this car we'll call a human body. In other words, no separation between mind and body. We are body, not a thing inhabiting a body. So i have a hard time using the term "spirit" as it brings about the notion of such a thing. However, i believe that we have many untapped areas of our brain (other realms of consciousness) to be explored. But does this take on a spiritual nature just because we don't experience it at present? Everything stems from the brain, which is a physical organ so how can we separate physical and "non-physical" experiences??
The thing that i figured out is that there is nothing to figure out. Just as the tao teaches, there is no striving, because there is nothing to strive for. You are present, you are here. What you have been looking for this whole time has already been found. Whether this should lead to some desired feeling is up to each person. Again, looking for some "feeling" is another form of striving for something that isn't really there.
I think now i understand the psychology behind religion so much better now. It makes sense to want to feel part of something, and it gives comfort thinking someone is watching out for you in this mystery of life and it's the ultimate in comfort believing we have a spirit that will go somewhere pleasant after we die. I believe we should have a certain degree of separation from our feelings. Not in the way that one should become a cold and callous person, i mean in the way that we need to really understand what thoughts and feelings are. They derive solely from your brain. So these feelings are your own reality and you can live in that reality or you can pop those thought bubbles and create new ones. I think we need to strive to not be a slave to these feelings and really this is where people "get stuck" in life. Another teaching of the tao and meditation is to lessen your attachments, not just physical things such as money/material things but lessen your attachment to feelings. If you keep feeling you were slighted in life because of your terrible upbringing then you will be living that reality. If you can un-attach from such feelings, you become a blank slate.
I think i am starting to form some very positive ideas from my research. Learning to meditate is so important in detaching oneself from thoughts. Thoughts are not reality, they only are if you allow them to be. Reality is the present moment. There is nothing behind you and nothing ahead. Try to understand an implement that thoughts are contrived and can be obliterated at anytime. This isn't easy. It takes a lot of practice. I am in no way able to achieve this for more than a couple seconds, but doing so reveals so much about the power of the human brain.
Also, atheists are good people. Great people, in f act. Atheists care about human rights and do not judge others based on their sexual orientation, race or any other factor that religions have been judging people on for centuries. Atheists do not worship the devil. There is no one to worship. My favorite thing i've heard about atheists is that getting a group of them together is like trying to herd cats because atheists are not followers! Ha, very true!
Funny how things reveal to you in life. Does un-weaving a rainbow make it any less beautiful? Not for me. It makes things more interesting.
No comments:
Post a Comment