Religion Is A Means To Enlightenment, Not An End
Religion is antithetical to enlightenment. No not exactly right. How about religiosity is antithetical to enlightenment. That’s better. Having religious or shall I say spiritual beliefs is necessary for us to connect with the eternal. However, religiosity doesn’t bring us closer to Source, but instead takes us in the opposite direction. We become more pious and more focused on the rules and goals of the religion, instead of the spiritual truth of the religion. There is little room for independent spiritual thought within the confines of religious organizations. It is imperative that you follow the dogma or be cast out or killed. So because of this serious danger, most people don’t want to explore too much. But people have to if they want to expand their consciousness.
So the real problem isn’t the faith. It’s the human infrastructure that it is built up around it that is the issue. When Buddha, Lao Tsu or Jesus came along, for instance, they offered us an insight into divine consciousness. Instead of trying to attain material or societal rewards, they were more interested in understanding the sacred. And they were able to share their ideas with others. None were looking for money or power over others. Buddha for instance, even told people not to follow teachers blindly because people who wear holy robes can also mislead you. He said you should use your own discretion. In other words, think for yourself.
Adding Ism To Your School Of Thought Doesn”t Give You Divinity
The person we call Buddha was not an actual Buddhist. He was referred to as the awakened one as Buddha means awake. The people who followed him later called themselves Buddhists, of course. As someone who became enlightened, he just wanted to share his insight with others to help them end suffering. Although he gave people religious structure with his teachings, he did not build a money making organization to benefit himself or his inner circle of monks. He didn’t force people to believe in him. He did not act high and mighty. He went door to door with his begging bowl even after he was well known.
Likewise, Jesus wasn’t a Christian. Christian comes from Greek title Christós, which is a translation of the Biblical Hebrew term messiah. Apparently Jesus never called himself a messiah. He, like Buddha did not live an extravagant lifestyle but wanted to expound his truth and ended up with a lot of followers.
And Lao Tsu was a quiet thinker who put together a small book called the Tao te ching. Tao means ‘the way’. He wrote about how people should live in harmony with nature and the world. He wasn’t one who was much for attaining personal recognition.
But a worship cult grew up around all of them. They became representatives of organizations that were based on their teachings, but not always true to the message. Buddhism, Christianity and Taosim. Some people focused on the spiritual message, but many were mesmerized by the misguided priests who were more interested in their esteemed positions and worshipping the artifacts, symbols and superstitions that they created for control and influence of their followers.
It Can Be Hard to Find The Answers In A Rigid Structure
There is always a split between the people who understand the spiritual message and the others who would rather worship the artifacts and the books. The pious follow and enforce the rules of the religion and allow no room for the visionaries who are trying to have an actual connection with Source. So the worldly take over the religion and in effect, suppress or force out the people who are trying to follow the actual teachings of the founding sages.
The dogmatists usually outnumber the truth seekers, because they are more interested in material and reputational gain. They set up a system that will further their agenda. They weaponize their position to get compliance from members of the sect. They spread their religion through force or social censure. They work hard to keep their followers in line with real world sanctions if they stray. Friends and families will reject them, they will be excommunicated from the church, and they will believe that hell awaits them.
You may think it would be foolish for someone to worry about any of this. But it’s hard to give up the world that you have been immersed in for your life up to that point. Even if you are committed to deprogramming yourself, it will take years to drop the pain, guilt and regret.
Would They Be Happy With Those Who Represent Them?
And I think that if Buddha, Lao Tsu and Jesus could come back, they would not be happy with some of the misinterpretations of the teachings and manipulation and harm that is done in their names. You’re aware of stories of greedy priests who drive around in limos and live in huge estates but don’t care about the poor. Or they chant a few prayers for cash and promise eternal bliss to the donor.
People Don’t Want To Do The Hard Work. They Entrust the Priest Class.
What went wrong? Nothing. It’s just human frailty. It’s not exclusively the fault of the leaders. They are just filling a void that the population is demanding. The people don’t want to think for themselves and are instead choosing to turn their spiritual power over to someone else. Without the masses, priests wouldn’t have the support to do what they do.
And most people have been programmed to give up their sovereignty by a variety of influences… by the society they are born into. We are all swimming in a swamp of collectivism. Most people don’t even know what’s going on. So when someone comes along and says they have all the answers, people will gullibly swallow the bait. They want to believe. And when they believe without verifying, they can be deceived.
They’ve Strayed From The Original Idea For Power And Money
Religious groups are corporate systems with an administrative hierarchy whose sole purpose is to increase the power and wealth for themselves and their organizations. They have discovered that the human mind can be hacked…we can be programmed if they get to us soon enough. And parents are complicate in this as they bring their babies to the temples to be molded to follow priestly authority. They don’t know any better. The same was done to them. And so the system is perpetuated.
You may think I am only talking about the three religions I mentioned earlier. But I’m not. I am only using them as an example because I am more familiar with them. The same applies to all other organized religions.
The model spills over into the rest of society as well. For example, corporations and governments make their own cults. They have emblems and flags as symbols. There are normative rules set up with threat of punishment if you don’t follow their authority. Are you a team player or not? Are you a good consumer? A good citizen?
Likewise, all the other groups, be they scientific, medical, environmental, educational, and social justice are all institutions of religiosity with the same goals as stated earlier. If you don’t go along you are punished in the same way.
The Religion Of Science Is Based On Belief, Instead Of Proof
I’ll give you an example. People will tell me that the big bang theory is a scientific fact. Or that the earth is 7 billion years old. All I can say is that they have to prove it as scientists. And as far as I know, there has been no one who has seen the creation of the earth or universe for themselves. So it hasn’t been proven. They are not scientists…I think they are science fictionalists.
They are stating something they can’t prove and expecting me to believe it because they wear white lab coats. They were inculcated with their so called knowledge or theories…then they just repeat what they memorized. And they sound good when they are doing it.
A true scientist will only assert what he or she knows to be an observable fact. They will admit when they are just speculating or inferring. And this can be risky for them, because, like other religions, you will be ridiculed and kicked out of the group if you disagree with the concensus. Notice a pattern yet?
Take a look around at all the organizations in society. If you belong to an order of atheists, communists, or capitalists, you are part of a religion too. You also enforce rules on your followers and others. You’re not looking for independent people. No difference from the rest.
Hypocrisy May Be Our Protector
Short of breaking away from the group, there is one thing that protects people from becoming too serious in carrying out their religious obligations. That is…hypocrisy. If they are told by their church they can’t dance or sing, they agree to it in order to protect themselves from being ostracized, but break the rules in their house. That’s being smart if your survival depends on it. It gives people a chance to have some joy in their lives. It’s like a pressure valve. They are rebelling against the oppressive rules in their own small personal way. The more hypocritical the followers are, the more of a chance we have for some humanity to break through. They may not have the courage to challenge the system, but they can eventually change the system by maneuvering within the it, instead of facing it in a direct fashion. They may not be so judgmental of others who are breaking the norms in public, when they know they are doing the same thing behind closed doors.
Living Up To Spiritual Truth Without Requiring An Intermediary
Alright, enough about the blight of religiosity. We have to find a way to break free of that paradigm if we want to grow and reach our true spiritual potential. I’m not telling you to give up on the people within these organizations, because there are definitely good people there. Even if they are publicly too scared to agree with you, they may be in alignment with you. There’s nothing wrong with voluntarily meeting with like minded people for bible studies, meditation retreats, philosophical discussions or scientific debates. We can all be influenced by good ideas.
So let’s start by not blindly following authority. Who gave them the right to tell us what to do? Do you believe that a divine being wasted time speaking to a figurehead who is just a human with the same flaws as the rest of us? And now we have to go through them to get to the truth? Forget it. Or that just because someone has some medical knowledge we have to believe them? No way.
We are all connected to the universe. We spring from it. We are it. We communicate directly with it through our very breath…our energy. We don’t need anyone to interpret source for us. And we don’t need anyone to interpret phenomena for us either.
Spiritually and materially, we can come to our own understanding by learning from wise people who share their ideas with us, instead of being forced to listen to intellectual impostors. We never put them above us even if they are the wisest people In the world. We use them as a guide but don’t let them control us. We live the experience. We learn first hand about a lot of things instead of relying on the messages of other people.
We apply the knowledge and ask if it’s true. If so we incorporate it into our lives, if not we reject it. We should be using our everyday common sense as a starting point and then we should be sifting through the information that we’ve absorbed or learned, and put it to the test to see if it makes sense.
We are never going to become complete by conforming to the collective religiosity mindset….by going along meekly with a crowd and accepting everything the group leadership is telling us to do, whether in the spiritual or material world.
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