IT’S DAMN HARD TO LET THINGS COME AND GO

The Master's power is like this.
He lets all things come and go
effortlessly, without desire.
He never expects results;
thus he is never disappointed.
He is never disappointed;
thus his spirit never grows old.

Those lines of wisdom come from chapter 55 of the TaoTe Ching. I have often read those lines at various services I have conducted, and lectures I have given, over the years. It is such good advice, who could gainsay it? Yet it’s so damn hard to let things come and go!

I find it hard to let go of so many things. Take books, for example. I have literally thousands of them, on a variety of subjects including religion, philosophy, psychology, science, cosmology, history, the performing arts, etc, etc. I am trying, ever so hard, to get rid of a lot of them at the moment, for I desperately need to de-clutter with a view to downsizing my home in a few years’ time or perhaps sooner. Then there are about as many CDs, DVDs, and the like---even vinyl records and a few 78 RPMs as well. No, I am not a hoarder in a strict clinical sense. I am too orderly for that, but I am a hoarder nevertheless.

I am also a hoarder of negative emotions, including anger and resentment. Those things are even harder to get rid of---and much more dangerous to one's wellbeing as well. I spend much of my life trying to help others with their problems of mind and soul, yet I often have so much trouble with my own such problems. (This is a rare confession from me.) Now, recently a spiritual fellowship with which I have had a fairly close association for about 14 years---I was a foundation member of this group, I drafted their constitution and rules, and I have spoken there on a regular basis in both recent years as well as in the group’s early years---treated me quite shabbily, indeed in a most mean-spirited and unfair manner (and this from a fellowship and a denomination---the one of which I am an ordained minister---that purports to be dedicated to the notion of acting compassionately and fairly, not to mention rationally). I won’t mention the name of the group, but if you have nothing better to do with your time you may wish to do this quick word search puzzle. Sorry, no prizes, etc, and please don't bother sending me, whether by way of comment or email, what you thing is the 'correct' answer to the not-so-damn-hard puzzle---a puzzle so simple, dear readers, I'm not even going to give you the search words. Ha!

  

Part of the problem (not the word puzzle, but with the group I mentioned above) is that I felt personally rejected by those in control of the group—and in a very real sense I was. And denied procedural fairness by not being properly heard, or heard at all. And I wasn't given adequate or meaningful reasons, or the real reasons, for the decision, which is tantamount to my not being given any reasons at all. Additionally, I expected a positive outcome, and it did not happen. My response (or rather reaction) was, well, less than gracious, and I felt more than just disappointment. Instead of accepting that even the best of people will act unreasonably, uncharitably and otherwise unfairly from time to time, that life itself is rarely fair---no, I do not believe in the idea that ‘perfect justice rules the world,’ cosmically or otherwise---and that I should ‘let all things come and go effortlessly, without desire,’ I erupted in anger, indignation and self-righteous outrage. I 'excelled' myself, so to speak, as respects my display of those emotions. (Even though in a sense 'they [the people in question] had it coming,' because they were so stupid really, and unfit to govern a religious organization, it is always the case that when we react badly, the problem is always with us, not with the other person or persons, no matter how badly they may have behaved.)

The spiritual teacher Vernon Howard (pictured right) often wrote and spoke of the need to let people think and behave toward us exactly as they wish (while, of course, taking all sensible precautions to prevent then from doing actual harm or injury to us). He would say, ‘Expect nothing from no one, plead for nothing, accept whatever comes, for no one---absolutely no one---has anything of any real, lasting value to give you.’ Such sound advice! You know, all of the world’s great teachers and masters have said more-or-less the same thing over the centuries.

And what about that group of people who, I still feel, acted wrongly and unfairly toward me, and in whom my disappointment is total and complete? Well, I intend to follow this pearl of wisdom from Jesus:

‘Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them.’ (Lk 9:4-5)

I will also do my darndest to release all the persons concerned to their 'highest good,' whatever that may be for them, even though I plan to have nothing more to do with them. (Well, why set yourself up for more hurt?) But releasing them all to their highest good---that’s the really hard part, but it must be done … if only for my own best interests.

MINDFULNESS ACCORDING TO TIME

It’s about TIME---no pun intended of course.

The February 3, 2014 issue of TIME magazine has a cover story entitled ‘The Mindful Revolution’---an apt title if ever there was.

You see, if and when you commit yourself to the regular, daily, and moment-to-moment practice of mindfulness---and I hope you do---you do indeed experience a revolution of sorts. The nature of that revolution is not unlike that word ‘repentance’ which, as any Christian minister (especially one of the evangelical kind) will tell you, involves both a turning away (from oneself and the ‘evil spirit’ of separateness, that is, sin, to use a Biblical word)  and a turning to or toward (a Power-not-oneself, that is God). Repentance also involves a profound change of heart (that is, mind and perception) and, of course, behaviour.

Now, how, you may ask, is mindfulness like repentance? Are you saying mindfulness is religious, even Christian? No, I am certainly not saying that. As I have often said you don't need to be at all religious to practise mindfulness. Mindfulness is not religion. Got that? Anyone can practise mindfulness, no matter what their religion or lack of religion. Now, back to the first question, namely, how mindfulness is like repentance. Well, mindfulness involves, firstly, a turning away from resistance and separation in the forms of labelling, analyzing, judging, and condemning ‘things’ as they happen (that is, unfold in consciousness from one moment to the next), and secondly, a turning to or toward the reality of the actual content (both internal and external) of the present moment---in all its directness and immediacy. 

You see, mindfulness is not a retreat or withdrawal from reality. Not at all. Mindfulness is a full-frontal engagement with reality, that is, life as it unfolds from moment to moment---and that is truly a revolutionary experience if ever there was one.

Thank you, TIME magazine. Your cover story has introduced the ‘science’---as you rightly call it---of mindfulness to its widest audience yet.

Photograph by Peter Hapak for TIME.
All rights reserved.

RELATED POST

THE MINDFULNESS REVOLUTION

IN SEARCH OF TRUTH---THE HIDDEN SECRET

According to the New Pocket Hawaiian Dictionary the Hawaiian word huna means, among other things, ‘hidden secret,’ that which is ‘secret’ or ‘hidden,’ in other words that which is not obvious or readily discernible. And what of ultimate cosmic importance might that be? Well, as I see it, it is what we sometimes refer to as Truth. But what is Truth? Is it not reality? Life? I think so. It's certainly not some supposed supernatural principle, person, 'thing,' or being---other than the 'Be-ing-ness,' that is, livingness, of life itself.

Now, how can life or reality be said to be hidden or not obvious? Is not life in evidence all about us? Of course. However, when we fail to see it as it really is, which is more often the case than not, life is indeed concealed from us---or rather we conceal ourselves from the unfolding flow and influx of life. 

Here's another problem, which only aggravates the situation. We tend to look for Truth in the 'wrong' sorts of places---for example, in churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and self-help groups, and on psychiatrists' couches (although they all have their place). In one sense, Truth is everywhere, so it exists in the places just mentioned and elsewhere as well. The trouble is we think we need to believe this teaching or that teaching, or follow this guru or that guru, or accept this person or some other one as our personal savior. That’s when we go horribly astray, because Truth is not to be found in someone else---not even if that someone else be a supposed deity or messiah.

Here's another shocker. I have come to realize that our conscious, rational, thinking mind, important though it is for problem-solving and the like, cannot directly lead us to Truth. Why might that be the case? Well, when we are thinking, analyzing, and judging we are no longer in direct and immediate contact with life as it unfolds from one moment to the next. I have often spoken of that.

Now, I have problems with the notion of there being different levels of orders or reality. In fact, I am more than comfortably satisfied that there is only one order or level of reality, and all things exist on that one order or level of reality, and on the same plane of observability. However, even the ordinary, everyday things of life are not obvious or readily discernible when we are mindlessly unaware of them. Truth will remain a hidden secret for us until the person each one of us is learns---I am not talking about book-knowledge---to be mindfully aware of the action, both internal and external, of the present moment as it progressively unfolds from one moment to the next.

The author---off the coast of Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. 1987.

There is another Hawaiian word manawa which means time, turn, and season. It can also mean a space between two events---and that could even be the 'space' between one's inbreath and outbreath, or between one heartbeat and the next. That space is nothing other than the now, including that now which is known as the ‘Eternal Now.’ If we want to experience life, truth, reality in all its directness and immediacy---and uninterrupted and unmediated by any intermediaries---we must find it now, that is, in the context and flow of manawa. Why? Because everything---and I mean everything---is contained within ‘the Now.’ All duration---or time, as well as season---is total and complete in the Now. There is an enduring, even ‘eternal,’ quality about the Now. Why? Because it is forever new. The present moment has its unfolding in the Now. The only ‘time’---now, in a very profound sense what I am talking about is beyond time---we have is this ever-so-brief and ephemeral, and ever-changing and 'reincarnating,' present moment. We can only experience life from one moment to the next---in and through the portal of the Now.

Truth is indeed concealed from us until we learn to live and act mindfully. Truth can only be found, that is, experienced and known, 'in' the Eternal Now, that is, in the actual living of life, from one moment to the next, with choiceless awareness of what is. And that particular truth (that is, cosmic principle) is not a hidden secret even though it is not all that widely known. That’s why I am telling you about it. But don't take my word for it. Find out for yourself. Experience it for yourself.

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF MYTH IN OUR LIVES

‘... a mythology is a control system, on the one hand framing its community to accord with an intuited order of nature and, on the other hand, by means of its symbolic pedagogic rites, conducting individuals through the ineluctable psychophysiological stages of transformation of a human lifetime -- birth, childhood and adolescence, age, old age, and the release of death -- in unbroken accord simultaneously with the requirements of this world and the rapture of participation
in a manner of being beyond time.’ Joseph Campbell.

A few decades ago there was a movement in Christian theology the aim of which was to de-mythologize the Bible. The movement was right in one key respect---the Bible, like all so-called holy books, is full of myth, from the very first page to the very last. However, the movement sought to ‘move’ in the wrong direction, and was not very successful. What we need to do is re-mythologize the Bible, not de-mythologize it. Ditto all other so-called holy books.

At the heart of every religion---and not just at the heart but all through it---is … myth! We need myth to learn, grow, evolve, and function successfully as human beings. If religion is to be taught in schools at all---assuming that it is lawful so to do---then it needs to be taught as literature and myth … for that is what it is.

According to the American mythographer Joseph Campbell [pictured left] all myths, indeed all story-telling, folk traditions and ritual practices, share certain common themes. More particularly, Campbell asserted that all such things could be understood in terms of what he described as the ‘hero myth’ (and what he referred to as the ‘monomyth’). Indeed, Campbell tended to construe all religions as ‘misunderstood mythologies’ Campbell 1986; see also Adler 1990:58-9), and saw the principal function of mythology as well as ritual as the ‘supply [of] the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those other constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back’ (Campbell [1949] 1990:11). According to Campbell (1973:19):

Mythology is apparently coeval with mankind. As far back, that is to say, as we have been able to follow the broken, scattered, earliest evidences of the emergence of our species, signs have been found which indicate that mythological aims and concerns were already shaping the arts and world of Homo sapiens. Such evidences tell us something, furthermore, of the unity of our species, for the fundamental themes of mythological thought have remained constant and universal, not only throughout history, but also over the whole extent of mankind’s occupation of the earth.

Tom Chetwynd (1986:145-6) has written, rather esoterically, about the importance of myth:

Myth is not a complicated way of talking about something perfectly simple like gathering the last sheaf for next year’s planting, or a sort of fancy-dress version of astronomy.  It is the simplest and the most forceful language for talking about what is obscure about life - its Sacred Hidden Depths.  The most profound human experiences which rouse feelings of stupendous awe and wonder, and which come in flashes of inspiration that leave a trace for the rest of your life and mark many other lives besides, these are the subject matter of myth and cannot be expressed in another way except through a mythical perspective on Nature, Body, Culture, Sky, Pattern, Number, any or all of which will do, so long as none of them is taken literally but are seen from the perspective of Soul.

In almost all of the world’s religions one finds fairly similar myths of creation, the flood, and so forth. Then there is the myth of the dying and rising god, which is common to a number of religions and religious philosophies. These myths and common motifs, although not in themselves historical, are nevertheless ‘poetic expressions of … transcendental seeing’ (Campbell 1973:31). The Canadian author, broadcaster and theologian Tom Harpur (2004:17) has written:

As [Joseph] Campbell repeatedly made clear in his many books and in the interviews with [Bill] Moyers, the deepest truths about life, the soul, personal meaning, our place in the universe, our struggle to evolve to higher levels of insight and understanding, and particularly the mystery we call God can be described only by means of a story (mythos) or a ritual drama. The myth itself is fictional, but the timeless truth it expresses is not. As Campbell puts it, ‘Myth is what never was, yet always is.’

In addition to myths, there are stories, often associated with a charismatic leader such as Jesus, Buddha or Muhammad who is regarded as ‘ideal’, setting an example as to how followers are to live their lives. The stories commonly involve very similar patterns of behaviour. History and myth often coalesce into what Joseph Campbell (1973:26) refers to as ‘themes of the imagination’, but care must be exercised here. As the late Ninian Smart (1992:15) points out:

… These stories often are called myths.  The term may be a bit misleading, for in the context of the modern study of religion there is no implication that a myth is false.

Joseph Campbell (1987:389) opined that the common theme of all mythology was ‘achievement’, in particular, the achievement of a supreme good (whether that be eternal life, universal justice, enlightenment or whatever).  In his view, mythology had a fourfold function: to relate the individual to God, to the cosmos, to society and to developmental energies (Cousineau 1990:162).  Joseph Campbell (1988:70) wrote:

The myths and rites were means of putting the mind in accord with the body and the way of life in accord with the way that nature dictates.

Campbell also wrote that myth served certain additional functions, such as the following. First, myth enables individuals and communities to address and overcome psychological stresses by arousing hitherto dormant energies (Campbell 1987:370). Secondly, myth validates and assists in the maintenance of social systems (Cousineau 1990:165). Thirdly, myth assists persons to find their place in the universe (Campbell 1987:4) and to discern and engage the source of the phenomenological (Cousineau 1990: 167).

And what of the transformative power of myth? As the Canadian academic and environmental activist David Suzuki (1997:185) points out, myth is essentially curative and unifying in its effects:

Myths help us to reconcile conflicts and contradictions and describe a coherent reality. They make a meaning that holds the group together and express a set of beliefs; even in our skeptical society, we live by myths that lie so deep we believe them to be reality.

Indeed, myth, properly understood, is real, not imaginary. The Unitarian Universalist minister Mike Young (1999:Online) has spoken of the experiential reality of myth and its importance:

Joseph Campbell has rescued the concept of myth. When I was a youngster a myth was clearly something that was not true. What Campbell kept reminding us was that myths are not not true.  For myths are not about how things are out there, even though that may be the vocabulary of the story. Myths are about how things are in here. They have their roots in the human experience.  They are part of who we are inside as a species, not just as individuals but as a people. During the period of our history when we came into existence as conscious entities, we Homo sapiens existed in self-contained groups. Today we live in a world where the horizons are far, far more vast.

A Masonic writer (Swick 1996:74-5), invoking the Masonic legend of Hiram Abiff, has compellingly articulated the dramatic and transformative power of myth in the lives of believing participants:

It is the lucky man who realizes early on that there is a way in which he, himself, is our Grand Master Hiram Abiff. When revelation of this sublime truth comes to the individual, it may strike him with a great force, making him dead to all that has gone before. We are the myth! And the lives of the great ones who have preceded us, are our lives, if we but choose to have it so! As we seek to walk the path they have walked, we become Adam, we become Abraham, we become Hiram.  Their stories belong to us - and their lives are our lives; for the truth of their lives is the truth of human existence.

Yes, indeed. Lucky is the person who, rooted in and fully cognizant of the mythological be-ing-ness of their own nature, knows that they are … myth! So, live the myth that you are. Live it fully. Yes, you---the hero with a thousand faces.

References

Adler, M J  1990. Truth in Religion: The Plurality of Religions and the Unity of Truth. New York: Collier Books.

Campbell, J  [1949] 1990. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.

Campbell, J  1973.  Myths to Live By. New York: Viking.

Campbell, J  1986. The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion. New York: HarperCollins. 

Campbell, J  1987. The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology. New York: Penguin.

Campbell, J  1988. The Power of Myth. New York: Doubleday.

Chetwynd, T  1986. A Dictionary of Sacred Myth. London: Unwin.

Cousineau, P (ed)  1990. The Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work. San Francisco: Harper and Row.

Harpur, T  2004. The Pagan Christ: Is Blind Faith Killing Christianity? Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Smart, N  1992. The World’s Religions: Old Traditions and Modern Transformations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Suzuki, D (with A McConnell)  1997. The Sacred Balance: Rediscovering Our Place in Nature. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Swick III, J S  1996. ‘Veiled in Allegory and Illustrated by Symbols: An Invitation to a Deeper Appreciation of Masonic Teaching’, The Philalethes Magazine, Vol XLIX No 3, June 1996, 74-5.

Young, M  1999. ‘Myth and Modernity’ [sermon: First Unitarian Church of Honolulu HI, December 12 1999], viewed April 5 2005, <http://home.hawaii.rr.com/uuchurch/sermons/myth.htm>.

MEDITATION—A MEASURED DOSE OF MEDICINE

The etymological meaning of the modern English word ‘meditation’ is most interesting to say the least. The word is a Latin-derived word---meditatus, past participle of meditari, frequentative of medēri, which is related to ‘middle.’ Remember the Buddha's MiddleWay? Well, the middle avoids and transcends the extremes at both ends, and thus all opposites.

The word ‘meditation’ is also etymologically related to such other words as ‘mediation,’ ‘medical,’ and ‘measure.’

Finally, the word ‘meditation’ also denotes ‘reflecting’ and ‘pondering,’ not in any analytical or cognitive sense but in the sense of directly perceiving ‘what is.’

One thing meditation is not is this---it is not ‘mind control’ in the sense of subjugation, sublimation or suppression, nor in my view is it concentration. Meditation is being choicelessly (that is, non-judgmentally) aware of what is. Now, in order to properly meditate you must go gently … and take it easy. More importantly, the ‘effort’ involved in meditation is of a relaxed albeit deliberate kind. It has been described as the ‘effort of no-effort.’ Resist not is the important principle involved.

Robert Ellwood wrote a most useful little book on the subject of meditation entitled Finding the Quiet Mind (TPH, 1983). In that book Ellwood, after referring to the etymological origins of the word, defines, or rather describes, meditation as ‘medicine for the mind which does its work by measuring out time, when it can reach a median, a point of equilibrium’ [emphasis added]. I like that. Let's look at those highlighted words.

‘medicine’

Yes, meditation is medicine. It is good for both body and mind, and there are innumerable scientific and medical studies attesting to that fact. Meditation is therapeutic and at times even curative. Why do we need the ‘medicine’ of meditation? In order to wake up, that is, see things as-they-really-are. You see, we are all in varying degrees ‘sick’ because we are in bondage to self. Meditation frees us from the bondage of self.

... ‘for the mind’

Medicine is, as just mentioned, also good for the body, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and so forth.

... ‘does its work’

I have only only one qualm concerning Ellwood’s description. I dislike the words ‘does its work.’ The only ‘work’ the mind does, in meditation, is ... unconditioning. Be that as it may, I think that when Ellwood uses the word ‘work’ he simply means ‘action' in the sense of occurrence, but even then the action is that of ... listening, waiting, being attentive, and (most importantly) being aware.

... ‘measuring out time’

Meditation is something which takes place ‘in time,’ even though ‘time’ and ‘space’ (which are really one) are no more than mediums in which all things exist. Life is movement---ceaseless movement---and so is meditation. As such, meditation is timeless and spaceless.

Also, as everything (including space-time) is contained within ‘the Now,’ everything is total and complete in the Now. That is why we say that there is an ‘eternal’ quality about the Now. It is forever ... new. The present moment has its unfolding in the Now, the present simply being that which presents itself before us in the Now---so the present embraces past, present and future. True meditation ‘measures out time’ by letting---please note that important word ‘let’---each present moment, as ‘it’ unfolds from one moment to the next,  simply … be. There is nothing to 'transcend.' There is nowhere to 'go.' All you have to do is ... be.

... ‘a median’

When you reach the ‘median’ you experience balance and harmony. There is no longer any resistance to what is. In other words, you are now at …

... ‘a point of  equilibrium’ 

When resistance goes there is acceptance, equanimity, poise, and serenity.

All too good to be true? Not at all. Indeed, there are few, if any, things in life more important and more liberating than learning how to meditate successfully. I kid you not.

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MEDITATION AND THE INFINITE

‘Meditation’ wrote H P Blavatsky, ‘is the inexpressible longing of the inner man for the Infinite.’

What is ‘the Infinite’? Is it Life? Eternity? Heaven? Paradise? Bliss? I don’t think it’s any of those things, at least not as those words are ordinarily used and understood. (I will, however, come back to the meaning of the word ‘Eternity’ very shortly.)

I think so-called ‘time’ and ‘space’ – which are really one – are no more than mediums in which all things exist. Life is movement---ceaseless movement--and life itself---pure Be-ing---is timeless and spaceless, with everything being contained within what we call ‘the Now.’ And when I say ‘everything’ I mean every thing … including space and time itself. All duration---that is, time---is total and complete in the Now. Further, there is an ‘eternal’ quality about the Now. It is forever new. The so-called present moment, such a brief and ephemeral ‘thing,’ has its unfolding in the Now.

So, there is one Presence and Power that surpasses even the all-consuming power of time itself--- the Eternal ... the Infinite. Now, Eternity, or the Infinite, is not something we enter when we die. No, Eternity is ‘something’ we are ‘in’---right now!

Each one of us---indeed every ‘thing’—is part of life’s Self-expression (‘Be-ing,’ or the ‘Self’), and life cannot die. Our bodies will die, and, I think, also our minds, but the life in us---well, that’s an entirely different matter.

Why meditate? The answer I give is this---it is the most natural thing we can do. You see, we come from Be-ing, we live, move and have our be-ing in Be-ing, and we will forever be part of Be-ing. We can’t escape ‘it’ … because we are ‘it.’ What? Pure Be-ing, which is forever complete and whole, and which embraces all in One-ness. Meditation---especially the practice of mindfulness---enables us to stop identifying with our body and our mind. They are not the real person each one of us is. Meditation also enables us to stop identifying with time, for the less we think about time, and the less we concern ourselves with time, the freer we will be.

Each one of us---even the most materialistic of persons---has an ‘inexpressible longing’ for the Infinite. The longing is ‘inexpressible’ because it is essentially ‘unspeakable.’ More than that, it is ‘hidden,’ because it is not something that is objective to consciousness itself. Indeed, this longing is of the very nature of Be-ing---that is, pure consciousness---Itself.

Well, why meditate if this longing for the Infinite is ‘inexpressible’ or unspeakable’? The answer is simple. People meditate because they want to live fully and mindfully in the abundance of the Eternal Now. They want to know the ‘Self as … One. They want to feel fully and truly alive … and one with all there is.

So, I say to each of you … meditate.

RELATED POST

BACK TO BASICS

The photos were taken by the author
on a recent trip to Tasmania

GOOD RELIGION … AND BAD RELIGION

'Religion is a monumental chapter
in the history of human egotism.' William James.

I’m not sure whether I am religious or not. That’s a strange thing coming from me---a minister of religion … albeit a minister of a very liberal religion [Unitarian Universalism] … assuming for the moment it is a single religion, or even a religion at all, but that’s another matter.

I have come to dislike organized religion immensely. All too often religion---all religions---divide rather than unite. Religion is the cause of so much misery in our world. It’s certainly not the only cause, or even the major cause, but it is right up there nevertheless.

What is ‘religion’? Well, I am supposed to know something about that subject, as I wrote a huge number of words on the subject in my PhD thesis. Regrettably, the derivation of the English word ‘religion’ is by no means as clear as perhaps one would like, but we do know that the current English word ‘religion’ is derived from the Middle English word religioun which comes from the Old French word religion. Then we need to go to the Latin word religio. That word has affinities with three separate Latin verbs:

· religare, to restrain, bind, bind back, bind up, bind fast together, tie back (especially to oneself again), from ligare, to tie, close a deal, cement an alliance, unite in harmony

· relegare, to banish, from legare, to depute, commission, send as an emissary, bequeath, entrust

· relegere, to gather, collect again, review, re-read, re-examine carefully, from legere, to read, recite, or choose.

All very confusing. Actually, it’s even more complicated than the above, but that’s enough for present purposes. When one considers the meanings of the various suggested derivations of the current English word 'religion' there appear to be some common elements or at least similar themes.

First, religion involves, at one or more levels, the notion of ‘binding together’ or ‘binding back’, whether to oneself (in the sense of one’s true or spiritual nature), one’s ultimate ‘source’ or to other people as some sort of response to life, with a sense of awe, reverence, ‘fear’, devotion, veneration and respect, whereby meaning is gained.

Secondly, religion involves, at one or more levels, the notions of ‘return’, ‘recovery’, ‘restoration’ and ‘re-encounter,’ whether to one’s own self, some condition or way of life, or one’s ultimate home or resting place, with the object and purpose of religion being to restore to us the knowledge of what we really are.

Thirdly, religion ordinarily involves the selection and systematization of certain teachings and beliefs and a consequent abiding by that selection with some degree of regulation and control (eg in the form of codes of conduct) as well as conscientiousness and scrupulousness arising from the religion and inherent as well in its practice.

Fourthly, religion involves the notion of ties in the sense of the fulfillment of duties and commitment.

Fifthly, religion involves practices and activities intended to give effect to the foregoing including but not limited to repetitious rites and the reproduction of formulas and expressions.

Finally, religion involves notions of holiness, sacredness and sanctity (including but not limited to sacred places or things and objects of veneration) and often---but not necessarily---involves notions of supernaturalism as well as superstition.

Now, it may seem overly simplistic to divide religion---all religions---into ‘good and ‘bad,’ but I intend to do just that. Here I go.

Good religion unites, that is, it binds together not just the adherents of the particular religion but all persons in the sense that it recognizes the existence of a larger family of persons who, though they may not be followers of the religion in question, are nevertheless worthy of the same respect and love shown to adherents of the religion. Good religion recognizes the interconnectedness of all life and all persons. On May 18, 1966 the Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr [pictured left] delivered an important lecture at the Unitarian Universalist Association General Assembly at Hollywood, Florida. Among the important things Dr King said was this:

'All I'm saying is this: that all life is inter-related, and somehow we are all tied together. For some strange reason I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of all reality.'

Good religion accepts, embraces, affirms, and seeks to enhance the inter-related structure of all reality. It does not seek to impose its beliefs or practices on those ‘outside’ the religion. That is hard for a religion such as Christianity, which seeks to follow what it understands Jesus meant when he said---assuming he actually spoke these words---‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation’ (Mk 16:15). Now, I could go on for some time giving you my understanding of those words, and what is meant by the ‘gospel,’ but I dare say most of my readers couldn’t care less about the matter. Those who do ‘care’ would reject what I would say in any event. I take comfort in these words of Richard Le Gallienne: 'Organized Christianity has probably done more to retard the ideals that were its founder's than any other agency in the world.' Ditto most if not all other organized religions.

Good religion does not oppose the findings of science nor the use of reason. It eschews superstition and does not ground itself in outdated and silly notions of supernaturalism. It allows its adherents to have perfect freedom in the interpretation of its scriptures and teachings. It erects no barriers around its ‘altars.’ In short, good religion is inclusive whereas bad religon is exclusivistic in nature. Good religion teaches and practises love. Bad religion teaches love ... but withholds it from certain people who think and act differently.

Yes, bad religion divides, judges, bans, and condemns. So, we have the 'saved' and the 'unsaved,' the 'faithful' versus the 'infidels,' and so on. Dreadful stuff. Appalling. Bad religion promulgates the nasty view that it is the one true religion, that its founder or head is the only way to God, heaven, enlightenment, bliss, or whatever. I make no apologies for using the word ‘nasty.’ Bad religion asserts the supremacy of its so-called ‘holy’ book over all others, and may even claim that its holy book is infallible and inerrant. 'The inspiration of the Bible depends on the ignorance of the person who reads it,' wrote Robert G Ingersoll. The same goes for all so-called 'holy' books. All talk of infallibility, inerrancy and unchallengeable authority in matters pertaining to religion is dangerous---and silly---stuff. It is the stuff of martyrs, religious terrorists, and the like. Such stuff has no place in the world of the 21st century, even though we see the evidence and workings of such religion all around us.

Of course, I am showing a certain prejudice or bias in all that I have written, for I have aligned myself with all that I see as ‘good’ religion, and strenuously reject all that I see as ‘bad’ religion, but I must and will say this in self-defence---I have used reason. If ‘truth’ is truth---that is, if the word has any meaning at all---then truth must be universal. It cannot be the exclusive preserve of some people but not others, or of one religion but not others. I like what Oscar Wilde said, 'Truth, in matters of religion, is simply the opinion that has survived.'  That's funny, but Wilde is wrong. Truth, in all matters, is never a matter of opinion. Truth is a matter of what is.

Now, I must be careful here. I am not saying that all religions teach the same thing, although I do hold the view that, at a certain level, there are certain teachings that are more-or-less common to most, if not all, of the world’s major religions. Also, I am not saying that one religion is as good, or as bad, as another, because all of them are flawed in various ways … including the one of which I am a minister. What I do say is this---some religions are more silly, and (even worse) more dangerous, than others, and some religions have few redeeming features. I will leave it at that for the time being.

Religion is not unimportant. Indeed, it is of great importance. However, one does not need to be ‘religious,’ in any formal, organizational sense, to be a decent and responsible human being. Indeed, it may even be easier to be the latter kind of a person if one eschews religion in a formal, organizational sense. However, religion, in the true sense of the word, is inherent in what we are as human beings. I am thinking especially of the notions of ‘binding together’ and ‘binding back,’ as well as the idea of being ‘restored’ to our true nature. Religion is about ‘going home’---and, no, I am talking about some supposed ‘place’ called heaven, paradise or the like. We all need to be more closely bound together, and without some sense of being ‘bound back’ to our source---or to some principle, power of ‘thing’ of supreme, indeed ultimate, importance---life has little meaning. We all need to ‘wake up’ to an understanding of who and what we really are. True religion is about being … fully human. Albert Einstein [pictured below] expressed it well when he said:


'[A] person who is religiously enlightened appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their super-personal value.'

A true ‘religious’ response to life---displayed as a sense of awe, reverence, and respect to all persons, indeed all life---is of ultimate importance. 

Only a response to life of that kind can save us---and the planet.

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