Kitabı oxu: «The World. Myths of the Divine, Realities, and Awareness. Freedom. Love. Life»

Tatyana Arzhaeva

Şrift:

ISBN 978-5-0060-1381-0

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

1. The Myth of the Single Path

Your experience

Have you ever been to a forest clearing?

Under water? To the sea? To the ocean?

To dense marshy forests? The ones they call taiga?

To the mountains? Green with woods or white with glaciers?

To a scorching desert with its seas of sand?

Or do you live in a city and have never left it? It doesn’t matter! For you still can see the city, you’ve been to many of its parts.

Just think of the diversity and abundance you’ve seen!

Of colors and shades.

Of flowers, plants, insects, birds, fish, people, buildings, constructions, creations, etc.

How many species. Thousands, millions. The abundance of diversity! The beauty of abundance!

And yet, there is a harmony in it…

And how many sounds? Poems, verses, songs? Discoveries?

The list could go on and on! We are lost in this abundance of diversity

Don’t you think so?

About the myth

A lot of religions, beliefs, and their prophets claim that the world was created by… God, Allah, Krishna, etc… Think of your own examples and study them thoroughly.

This is a task for you.

Yes, a real task. In some schools, Religious Education is a compulsory subject. Perhaps, you attended one of such schools yourself. But usually it is the study of one religion only.

And if it is some kind of a religious school, then, surely, they teach only one religion. That is why I suggest that you get to know all the options or at least most of them, at the very least – just look them through (though I do recommend some more thorough investigation).

It would be great to attend a school where all religions and beliefs are studied in one and the same careful manner. How about that?

But let us get back to the subject of this chapter and its very beginning.

In this case, we are all able to see and enjoy this abundance of diversity. So, upon what ground could some representative of the humanity get it into their head that there is a single path to God? And moreover, managed to knock it into others (with them happily accepting and agreeing to this!)? Only one?! And it is one and only path that is right and righteous! And what about others? For some reason, they are not. But it’s as if a single flower was announced right, while others or some of them were deemed wrong! Nobody in their senses would apply that to flowers, animals, birds, or fish.

Although, wait a minute. Do you remember anything of the kind? About cats? About black cats in particular? About crows? About pigs? About cows? About rats? Someone did apply that to animals after all… Influenced by their faith and prejudices. Or only by faith? Or only by prejudices? Let alone the path to God… I guess there is nothing wrong (another evaluation) in declaring someone or something sacred or right. Take cows, for example, a source of so much useful stuff for a human. So this approach can really be for the good – if it is used for the sake of protection and sheltering. And yet, the way I see it, we shouldn’t declare someone or something wrong, for this is to the detriment of both the declarer and the declared.

You are not interested in the diversity of flora and fauna? Then think of the diversity of nations and peoples, of cultures and human beings. Each of us is unmatched, unique, and special. What a bizarre combination! Some of us are exquisitely surreal, others – so earthly, so familiar, and dear. How can we deem one culture, nation, or people right and other – wrong? Being of sound mind and memory… Seeing one as better and another as worse? For one thing, they are completely different! And then again, whose point of view are we to take? Of those who push through the idea that benefits them in the hope to acquire a special status or possibilities (or rather, an excuse)? Of those who know it better?

It’s a shame few people consider this possibility: Perhaps, the One who created such a riot of species, forms of life, and civilizations actually had the trouble to provide people with plenty of paths and opportunities to come to Him. So that each of us could find our own path, our own way. But in this case, there have to be plenty of ways. An abundance of ways. An abundance of unique ways.

And yet a lot of people deem one path better than another. Perhaps, it’s their arrogance and the desire to belong to the «chosen», to the «right»? (But how can we talk about freedom in this case?) And what about others? Is there something wrong with them? But how can we be so sure that our path is right and all the others – wrong? How can we be so sure that what I’m saying here is right or wrong? If we deem something right and have an explanation or an excuse for that, the same can be done by others… So how can we tell who is right? Maybe the trick is not in finding out who’s right. Maybe we just need to accept that all the paths have one and the same source and lead us to one and the same home, however differently… And as for what path is right or what nation is better, it is not not up to us. It is up to the one who created it all.

Or, in this context, of the plurality of gods in all its forms, from paganism and shamanism to the entire pantheon of single gods. Too extraordinary? But what if we assume that is exactly the way it is? To be able to do that, you won’t need much. Just read on… For this book provides you with diversity and the foundation for peaceful co-existence. For this book is not so much about God as it is about energy. Or is it maybe about something else?

But let us get back to our Myth. How many tragedies! How much pain! How many wars! How much destruction! How many people have been killed? How many living beings extinguished? Talented, capable creatures. Once created by… yes, the old-fashioned… God, Allah, Buddha, Krishna, Zeus, Ra, spirits, the Absolute, the Universe, etc. It all went on for centuries and goes on and on even now. But why? Only because someone declared one path the right and righteous, claiming that all the others are wrong? And it doesn’t even matter whether we talk about religion, politics, nations, races, cultures, or genders!

What is the point of it? Of these categories of «right» and «wrong»?.. What is the point of such dualism? What is the point of this black-and-white dichotomy? Is it wars and extermination of others? Or is it integrity, unity, and cooperation? What is the point of dividing the world into «right» and «wrong», except that the winner gets the opportunity to boss around, to seize and capture, or rather, to plunder and murder with impunity, having an excuse for that! In the hope that no one, not even God, will notice the greatest sin – the murder of a living being in pursuit of one’s personal interests. Due to this odd excuse, our winner reaches absolute power and the warrant for their violence and moral depravity in the bargain! The power over those who share their path and over those who don’t. In a single go! The power over everybody… Those who rejoice at being a part of the «elite» don’t even realize that they are not the exception, that they are being controlled too. They understand it much later than those who aren’t in the «elite». Or maybe the reason for such division is a fractured mind that is unable to rise to the level of integrative perception of reality?

But what if it is not the way it all works? What if there are many paths and each of us can choose the one that suits us best, providing others with a chance to make their own free choice too? How do you like the idea? The idea of a meadow covered with all kinds of flowers where each of us can choose any flower (or even flowers) we want.

Come to think of it, lots and lots of religions and beliefs propagate the idea of a conscious, free, and independent choice… A choice that is not influenced by fear of reprisal or punishment (this kind of choice falls into the psychology of slavery). A choice that is not influenced by the desire to get an award (this is the psychology of mercenaries). But this essential and very unique detail somehow «disappears», «gets lost», and «fades from our memory». Does it happen for a reason or due to our ignorance?

Children and teenagers are not taught the diversity of paths in front of them. They are introduced to only one of them. And this single path is forced upon them, they are brought up within it and see it as the best of the best. Children are not provided with the right of choice and with the chance to learn more about the variety of paths. They are deprived of the possibility to realize their right of choice, the freedom of choice, even though it is deemed so important in many of paths. They are not taught to learn! They are not taught to integrate, unite, and probably even create something new. They are taught to divide, evaluate, and criticize. They are not taught how to be free and make conscious choices! They are hit with labels: This is the only right way. And then one is tempted to suggest that all the other ways are wrong. And thus, you are either right or wrong. You either fit in or you don’t. And you find yourself immersed in certain traditions and rites while all other kinds of traditions are called wrong, not just different. Sometimes defiers can be severely punished. And even executed.

But it is possible to follow your own traditions and yet treat others with respect, without labelling them «wrong». It is possible to just tell people more, show, explain, teach, and support. And there are those who do that! But isn’t it too time-consuming? It is indeed time-consuming and complicated, from the point of view of our mortal coil. We always want to achieve a quick result and we don’t care that aggressive methods are deprived of faith and don’t take into consideration the lives of those who were created by… the most divine being or beings. You can always just tell people more, show, explain, teach, and support. It’s not much, as far as our soul is concerned. And this is a much more careful and gentle way.

You should propagate your ideas not through violence. But by way of example. Sincerely! Because it is really good, because you like it. Because you do it out of love – not only towards yourself and your ideas but to those around you!

And yet we tend to stick to this old way that was imposed on us in childhood – so much that even when we grow up and seem to have an opportunity to do research and make a conscious choice, we reject it. Why? Because it is a revolt against the system! Why? Because it is scary. It is awfully scary to go against the system. We are afraid that the system treats us the same way we treat others. We are afraid that it will all come upon us. Why are we afraid? Because deep inside we understand that the system doesn’t care about individuals and their paths. The system needs followers who are ready to fulfill orders. Followers who won’t think much (for studying various paths inspires the ability to think, reason, feel, make conscious choices, and integrate). Followers who will just follow and take orders. Followers who were raised in the system and thus are willing to justify all kinds of its atrocities, even those that obviously contradict the declared ideals and values of the system itself. The system needs followers who are slightly out of their minds – just like those who are in charge of this system. The system doesn’t want reasonable and conscious people. A reasonable human being will ask too many tough questions. Moreover, such a human being is really hard to control and manipulate. You can hardly send him to war, for such a man or woman won’t kill other human beings who have a «wrong» eye color or have different thoughts and beliefs. You would have to talk to such person and negotiate.

Give it some thought.

And also think of how it is manifested in our everyday life. Surely, the scale is a bit different here. Our everyday goals are to make a point, to gain recognition and status in our community (among our family and friends), etc. How about some examples? Parent-child conflict is a conflict of different worldviews, different opinions, and different experiences that were acquired at different times and in different situations. Each of these worldviews has the right to exist… at least for its holder and in recognition of their reality. But parties of the conflict tend to forget about it and try to thrust their own opinion on each other, seeing it as the right and righteous. It can be a conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, father-in-law and son-in-law. Each of these people has their own family history, experience, traditions and yet for some reason tries to force impose them as the right and righteous without pausing to think that this may be just an old habit. That there is not necessarily only one answer. This leads to conflicts, arguments, grudges, etc. What about the famous conflict between «physicists and poets»? It’s pretty much the same. The conflict between educational or upbringing systems, etc. You can make your own list.

There is an abundance of various paths and ways. None of them is perfect for everyone. There is always one that suits someone best. And yet others will find their own, special and unique way. Some paths are better for a certain period of time, for a certain country, or a certain person. Yes, it would be very convenient to have one path for everyone. But who benefits from it? The one who created it or the one who follows it? Surprisingly enough, having one and the same path for everyone is a way to self-annihilation of the system in general. The challenge here is not to lay our meadow down with one variety of flowers, however fabulous and beautiful. The challenge is to see beauty and wisdom in the generous diversity of creations and learn how to make your own choices while respecting the choices of others. The challenge is to learn how to live within this diversity, to create, integrate, unite, and supplement. And it’s not only about faith.

I provided some vivid examples, including historic ones. You can easily find plenty of others not as vivid, even in our modern-day society. Or you can specify these historic examples, adding some details: Year, country, people, religion, culture, political trends, persons, situations.

Put aside the myth of the single path in religion, politics, and the question of nations. Put aside the conflict of duality (either this or that) in all other matters. Then the excuse for wars will just disappear. But there is yet another problem. Those who want to have wars will come up with new myths and new excuses. It will go and on until the masses realize it!

In order to get beyond limitations you should first acknowledge the abundance of diversity and take interest in it…

Tips

Do research on various religions and beliefs (at least 15), learning about:

– their essence, mission, fundamental idea, and intended purpose;

– their rules, commandments, and principles;

– rituals, ceremonies, traditions;

– history of their origin, development, and perhaps ending, as well as their background.

This is a very useful method to broaden your outlook.

Do research of various political systems (at least 10) following the aforementioned algorithm.

Do research of various peoples (at least 20, preferably all from different continents) following the same algorithm.

Do research of family histories of various dynasties – those you know personally or not. At least 20.

Do research of various approaches to management – at least 10.

Do research of various approaches to parenting – at least 15.

Do research of various approaches to family relations – at least 15.

What else are you interested in?

What choice will you now make – in faith and religion, in political movements?

What will you now think of those of a different opinion? Of those who make different choices and act differently?

Key points

It would be great to attend a school where all religions and beliefs are studied in one and the same careful manner.

The One who created such a riot of species, forms of life, and civilizations actually had the trouble to provide people with plenty of paths and opportunities to come to Him.

The trick is not in finding out who’s right. We just need to accept that all the paths have one and the same source and lead us to one and the same home, however differently…

Those who rejoice at being a part of the «elite» don’t even realize that they are not the exception, that they are being controlled too. They understand it much later than those who aren’t in the «elite».

It is indeed time-consuming and complicated, from the point of view of our mortal coil. We always want to achieve a quick result and we don’t care that aggressive methods are deprived of faith and don’t take into consideration the lives of those who were created by… the most divine being or beings. It’s not much, as far as our soul is concerned. But this is a much more careful and gentle way.

The challenge is to see beauty and wisdom in the generous diversity and learn how to make your own choices while respecting the choices of others.

Surprisingly enough, having one and the same path for everyone is a way to self-annihilation of the system in general.

In order to get beyond limitations you should first acknowledge the abundance of diversity and take interest in it…

The myth in a nutshell

There are many paths to God. Each person or a group of people has their own path. In different periods of time, there are different paths too. In different periods of time, there come different people who create certain paths.

A Soul Prayer for PEACE

Thou art the one who has many names and forms

To whom many paths lead

The one who lives in everything and yet everything lives inside thee

Who guides and always endows with freedom of choice

Help me understand thy intentions and lessons.

I am the one that remains eternal among the perishable

The one that stays real among illusions

The one that stays unchanged among all the changes

The one that is called to serve thee while being true to oneself.

Help me find peace and awareness.

Thou art the creator and true master of everything, so help me

Serve thee and take care of thy creations

In freedom from fears, passions, attachments, and sins

On the path of knowledge, gaining reason and goodness

In the revelation of love and compassion

In unity therewith, and therefore, with everything thou created.

2. The Myth of the Need to Forget about Your Body, Emotions, and Mind on Your Way to God

Your experience

How well do you know your body? And how well do doctors know human body?

How well do you know the bodies of other creatures that inhabit our planet? How well do scientists and researchers know them?

How well do you know bodies in general? How well do scientists and physicists know them?

And what does it mean – to know a body? What do you think about bodies? About your own? About the bodies of other people? About the bodies of various species inhabiting this planet?

And what do you feel about your body and the bodies of other creatures?

And what do you know (just like in previous questions) about emotions and mind? About your own feelings and thoughts? Do you recognize them? And what about feelings and thoughts of other people?

What do you know about shapes and forms?

What do you know about essence and content?

About the myth

Let’s discuss it using the example of Christianity (or any other religion). God made man. In flesh and blood. And what was done to man by fellow man in the Middle Ages? What was done to the divine creation – allegedly in the name of faith? What was done to it later – in the age of colonization?

Was it a declaration of the will of God? Or was it just a cover to conceal the pursuit of power, riches, and keeping them no matter the cost?

And suppressing the wonder of fleshliness, the brilliance of emotions. Suppressing the genius of thought, destroying others! By double standards, among other things (when some people are allowed something and others are not).

Why thrust your nose into someone’s bedroom and dictate what they should do, in which position, and how many times? Why have such limitations and control?

Why pry into someone’s private life? Why forbid feeling something and allow only a tiny part of the wide range of feelings?

Why force something so violently and aggressively, telling what one can think and what one cannot?

There are powerful historic examples behind all these questions. Powerful and yet tragic! For not only books were burnt but people too. Talented. Beautiful.

Who gave them that talent? Who bestowed upon them sensuality? And intuition? And mind’s eye? Who bestowed upon them intelligence in all its forms? And beauty? Oh, right. There is the Devil. And yet we were made and endowed with gifts by God. In any case, this is a divine creation, we don’t have any right to control it. However, some people conceited themselves to be near as great as God and began to pride themselves. Others understood the simple truth and yet were not able to abandon power and its gifts. Suppression, control, jealousy, neglect (devaluing), and destruction won’t bring you to God… Neither will pridefulness and pursuit of power. Ignorance and clinging to one’s passions. In this regard, maybe we should study the works of various spiritual teachers and Eastern masters of various religions to get a deeper understanding and analysis?

Perhaps, instead of making fires for the wrong books and people, we should have taken a different path. The one that is fast in terms of our soul but long and tiresome for those who are attached to worldly passion. The path of decent examples, discussions, learning, stories, reflection, mentorship, etc.? Meaning the path of the freedom of agreement, acceptance, and choice. The path of the creation of beauty and comfort (that’s it!), creativity and art instead of violence and fear, destruction and hate, instead of strangling the potential of the Great Creation… We should have taken the path of freedom (freedom from our own ignorance, our fears, power, riches, pridefulness, arrogance, vanity, etc.).

Oh, how much the church opposed progress (not all the clergy really serve the Almighty, since some people choose to serve their own or someone else’s interests by way of religion). How much it opposed paganism that provided, perhaps, even more opportunities for harmony – with ourselves and the world around us – or probably just interfered with the goals of certain people. Those in power don’t like to share and they will never support those who can potentially overthrow them or provide a competition. But Christianity is not the only example. How about killing of infidel even though they were made by Allah? Otherwise, where did they come from? Were they made by someone else? And does it mean that Allah is not alone? That is somehow contradictory, wouldn’t you agree? Alright, we won’t kill them. But we also won’t let our children be happy, we won’t let them and their loved ones be together. Well, that’s an option. How much there was told, written, and sung about this! How many dramas and broken human lives. Why not cancel God at all (you never know, right?) and make a political and economic system our top priority, acquiring the right to do whatever we want?

But let us get back to body and faith. Maybe the secret is simple. Maybe those who launched and maintained all those movements didn’t aim at helping people find God (anything else). Surely, some of them were genuinely mistaken and are still under a delusion. But there are also those who acutely understand: People should be lured away from God, Allah, Krishna, Buddha, or any kind of enlightenment (no matter what name it bears). It doesn’t matter what deities different people (Asian and American Indians, Egyptians, and Aryans) believed in. The crucial thing here is to lure people away from them. How can that be done?

That’s pretty simple! Equivocation and prevarication! Instead of protecting our bodies, taking care of this greatest gift, this tool of manifesting our consciousness into the world, instead of paying heed to our emotions, being in tune with our feelings and understanding what is happening to us, learning how to express our feelings properly and appropriately, instead of treating intelligence as the greatest treasure bestowed upon us by God Almighty (choose whatever name you like) … we are doing exactly the opposite! Instead of improving it all, we declared our bodies to be vessels of sin! Touching your own or someone else’s body is a sin! Sex is a sin! You shouldn’t even wash your body (read some historic works). And should a person die because of that, we consider it great, for they are going to meet God! It’s so convenient. You can ignore the development of medicine and science or deny everybody or someone (women or slaves, for example) medical treatment. That is the will of X (substitute X for any name you like). We can always shift the responsibility for our own actions to a deity. The worldly life is nothing. Naught. We have forgotten who created it and why.

But if the worldly life is naught, then why put so much effort into its creation? And why make it so complex and diverse as well? The worldly life is a way to our soul, to God. We forgot about it… and began to pride ourselves again. Let’s take our mind and feelings under control. And blame all our misfortunes on them… But how? Well, we can always announce that one shall not feel anger, one must exercise patience… One shall not rejoice at one’s success, one must be modest. One shall not hold grudges, one must be obedient!

One must be a stupid, filthy, patient, and obedient slave, sickly of body and mind. So that no lucid idea could be conceived. Our mind is so lively, nimble, inquisitive, enquiring… Oh no, no. Those truly enlightened don’t think… But then how did great ecclesiastical works appear? Thanks to what? Obviously not due to the fact that their authors rejected their own intelligence – an essential step towards enlightenment. That’s for sure. Equivocation and prevarication again. We do need reason, we do need mind. But in order to calm your mind, you have to learn how to be patient. We do need our emotions and bodies too. But balance is important here. Our body, emotions, and mind are a good help. When we tip the balance, they become our masters. In order not to tip the balance, we need reason.

But body is also about life. If you want to depreciate a human life, depreciate their body first, as well as their bodily needs – of water, home, warmth, comfort, touching, and caressing. Or influence their freedom of expressing themselves since one was born. Babies used to be swaddled up tightly, and there was a pretty odd excuse for that: It was supposed to help them stop being afraid of themselves. Communism used the same approach, by the way! And not only Communism. Just look at what is going on in the Western world in respect of children. Though they are supposed to have democracy there. Again healthy expression of love is prohibited under a pretext of genuine care.

You should be humble, obedient, and patient. Once confronted with a choice – faith or someone you love – you should be very careful. Which means you should choose faith. And not love… Once confronted with a question of expressing your talents, you should be modest. Once confronted with the need to protect yourself and your loved ones, you should be humble and turn the other cheek. But don’t constant silence and failure to take action create even more evil? Is humbleness really about that? And what does it mean to remain silent in this case? Does it bring even more evil? All right, so you have to be a martyr, a victim. By no means should you be a master of your own life. Your life doesn’t belong to you. It doesn’t even belong to God Almighty (call him whatever you like) because your life belongs to those who really control it. To your master. Humble, obedient, patient people deprived of intelligence and contact with their own bodies, emotions, and thoughts. People who are willing to countenance. Who are they? Slaves. Slaves by nature. By their psychology! Even though they are not clapped in irons. Why put them in irons if you can always use other kind of chains? Why put them in irons when you can always shackle an enquiring mind, feelings that function as inner eyes and ears, as shining beacons? When you can always trivialize and distort them? All you need to do is set up attention focuses and determine the right and wrong ways of thinking! And, as a lesson to everyone else, to prevent them from taking interest in wrong things, we can impose censorship, disregard, reprobation, and punishments – even to the point of a death sentence to you or your loved ones! To the third or even seventh generation! This kind of scourge exists not only in religion. It exists in politics too. It became so ingrained in our everyday life that we apply the same principle to all unusual children or adult people, trying to force them into the frame of common and familiar things. We try to cure them instead of curing ourselves. We call our path right and their path wrong, though their only fault is that they are different. And they may even have a much stronger connection with their bodies, emotions, and minds.