Question everything

Do not believe what you have heard.

Do not believe in tradition because it is handed down many generations.

Do not believe in anything that has been spoken of many times.

Do not believe because the written statements come from some old sage.

Do not believe in conjecture.

Do not believe in authority or teachers or elders.

But after careful observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and it will benefit one and all, then accept it and live by it.

 BUDDAH (563 B.C.-483 B.C.)

When I read this I cried.

I had never read this before. I am not that familiar with the sacred writings of the Buddah. I was raised a Roman Catholic. Eastern religion was always something that was exotic and foreign to me, and as it turns out, it is something that I have come to resonate with deeply.

Sometimes it is a hard and lonely road when you wake up and find yourself on that trek and it seems like you are alone. There were many times I wondered, “Am I the only person that feels this way?” I also wondered why I could not let well enough alone and accept the religion of my ancestors. Why I had such an inquiring mind. Why I questioned everything.

Growing up, I always felt like a fish out of water. Sometimes it would have been much easier to simply be content to swim with the school, but that was not the way my life was playing out. I was different and viewed things differently, and that, for the most part, was not acceptable in my neck of the woods.

I never believed what I heard. There was always something that a still silent part of me balked at accepting. I can remember being in church on Good Friday and thinking that there is NO WAY that I would ever have done that to Jesus. I was probably about 12. Even then I knew that Love did not operate in that way.

I tried to fit in. I think that a lot of us try very hard to fit in because we are so darn scared of what could happen if what those folks are saying is true, even if there is just a remote chance of their being right. We all err on the side of caution. The questions get suppressed and the natural inclination to find satisfying answers get depressed. The challenge to organized religion is to somehow live with the fear.

I do not believe in tradition simply because it is old. It must stand up to the test. That test is God is Love. That is the only test, and it is mine. God does not test me – that would not be Love.

Think about it. I have. Being all there is, what would an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent Being do with the test results? And Being all there is, there is nothing that It is not. Who would It be testing?

A thought came to me while in deep contemplation that changed the course of my existence – just because someone or many someones say something is true, does not make it true. A story is just a story; it can be retold and retold and revised and remodeled until it looks nothing like the original, and the original loving intention has then been lost.

It is a sad statement that most religions teach people to fear God. People ruled by fear become fearful. It is a natural progression. And what you fear you cannot Love, no matter how much you say that you do.

That still silent part of me I have come to know is my Spirit. It is my Divine essence. What my Spirit had balked at accepting was Its imprisonment.

My ego was strong and I resisted the call to freedom, but as I listened to my Spirit’s call, my ego acquiesced in the face of Love. I renew that communion in daily practice by Being silent and listening.

This is what we are all called to do in this eternal moment of Now. We are called to look deeply into the face of Love and acquiesce . . .in quiet, perfect surrender. No more struggle, no more games . . .questioning everything . . .with the only answer worth accepting is to the question What would Love do?

Our ongoing dialogue is necessary and needed in these tumultuous times. Fear and anxiety can cloud the face of our Creator as it shines out in perfection through the eyes of our sisters and brothers.

You are not alone. Reach out to others . . .the God in you will provide the feelings that, once extended, will return to you what is your true essence. . LOVE. You are One with your Creator and with everyOne.

Let’s talk about it, my friends . . .

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