"There are two spiritual basis for belief systems. One is natural and grows out of who a person is -- from the inside. The other is unnatural and has been plastered over the original nature and held there through pressure. In the unnatural system, simple truths threaten to unstick what is held in by pressure. Truths, then, are an enemy.
As I see it, it is very black and white. There is reality, and everything else is dreamy to one degree or another. There is knowing within reality, and there is the unknown to us (because of our lack of intimacy with it or because it was only a dream.) It is important to understand precisely where the dividing line is.
Sometimes we may be tempted to "go beyond ourselves" to embrace what we don't really know. This may seem necessary because of some ambition that we have. But this moment of choice is our test of humility. Will we be content with the knowing that the Holy Spirit (that is, the inner teacher) has brought to us -- which is sufficient for us -- or will we judge God's sufficiency to be insufficient and cross that "line of humility" to embrace the unknown as if it were a known. This is the trying of our spirit -- a moment where we deepen our commitment to what is good and right or where we abandon it out of some negative emotion (like fear or greed, etc.)
Now nothing I've said above should be taken as a rejection of science. We may have "an inkling" that something works a particular way, and our inner inspiration makes us cognizant of the opportunity to test the idea in the arena of reality through some experiment. But embarking on such science does not have to be done by embracing the truth of the yet-unproved conclusion. I am patient, I wait for the clarity that can arise out of such experiments (which could also be called intimacy with reality.) I do not know until I know by the light of Truth shining from inside out onto the experience. The ring of truth seals it.
There is little room for (or use for) doubt in this way. There is knowing, then there is unknowing. Both are matters of certainty. I know that I know, and for the unknown, I know that I don't know. Doubt plays no role. This leaves no room for confusion.
Uncertainty, of course, is just unknowing -- but for most they will experience it with an added tension which comes from adding the judgment that "they ought to know" or "need to know" to the unknowing. The tension comes from the separation from God that is inherent in such judgment. There is a discipline of humility that eases this tension, reducing uncertainty to mere unknowing and repairing the "polarity" problem which moved one away from God, causing the unbearable tension often associated with uncertainty.
I think we learn by finding the line between knowing and unknowing, then yearning in the soul to understand. The yearning somehow speaks directly to God, who fills us. Words will not do the same thing.
So, you see, all the old truisms come together here.
- Seek and you will find
- You shall know (be intimate with) the Truth and the truth will set you free
- I will send the Holy Spirit to write the doctrine in your hearts
- Those who preserve their (selfish way of) life will lose it, but those who will give up their (selfish way of) life will find the life everlasting.
Add your own favorite to the list. The mark of the Creator is all around you. Love is the answer - but love that transmits, originating with God, through the clear lens of human, purified heart.
We must act on the truths that we see, not those that we don't see.
This is fundamental and paramount. We must also develop the humility of inaction in the face of our unknowing. Practicing this in everyday circumstances brings one to understand that both represent a commitment to the guiding inner spirit.
Neither of us has any superiority over any others on the journey. Indeed, the superiority we sometimes have over those not on the journey only happens because of how they themselves put themselves down. Human dignity of all and basic humility reign supreme. The only Superior is the Inner Spirit--sometimes called the Holy Spirit - which is our teacher."
[C.N., in June and August 2002] ----------------------------October 12, 2008
