I discovered Karen Armstrong’s writing through her book A History of God, in which she addresses the historical impact of the god concept through the first three main belief systems of the world; those being Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Reading that book confirmed many of my beliefs: mainly that the concept of god had been manipulated by humanity to fit its own experience of the divine and expectations of the world, and that such manipulations had led to intolerance and domination of the lower classes by the powerful.
The first civilizations experienced the divine in completely different fashions. Through myth and ritual, these ancient peoples created a mythology by which they tried to make sense of the world that surrounded them. It was through such rituals that they gained a sense of themselves and how to cope with their environment. The myths they created were programs of action. A myth was enacted as ritual so that answers could be found to man’s queries about his existence. This way, mankind learned how to address their concerns about the world. To this day, ritual is an important component of all major religious traditions, including those lesser known ones, such as Wicca, which I tend to address in another entry.
Story-telling was integral part of the mystical experience. As man tried to make sense of what was happening to him, civilization developed creation myths, gods and theologies. With time, these stories were recorded and evolved into complex literary works and traditions. Each major ancient culture, from the Babylonians to the Egyptians developed such works. Eventually, so did the Jews with the Torah. These works are considered by many as direct revelations from God. Even the Koran does not discard the Jewish and Christian Scriptures as fallacy, but as the precursors of the revelation given to the prophet Mohammad by Allah. However, these writings cannot be taken literally.
What is important to realize is that these works are allegories. Scripture must be opened to interpretation. In order to achieve an understanding of ourselves, we need to be able to move from the literal to the mystical. Revelation is an ongoing process. It is different for every human being. It is in the stillness of silence and meditation and in the sparks of creativity that we can experience the divine.
What we call God, I like to refer to as the Creative Life Force. It is no surprise that the experience of the divine has such a close link to the arts. Throughout history, music, painting and literary works have been created to the grace of “God.” What we fail to realize is that all creation has a spark of the divine. We humans fail to relize is the "We are but a thought in the mind of the creator." The arts are forms of meditation for it is inspiration that moves us through will and concentration to create. To many of us who create, it is that moment of inspiration where we find “God.” It is the experience of elation and “otherworldliness” that makes us give of ourselves. Personally, I have experienced moments when I have felt that it is another power propelling me to give birth to an idea. I never know what the journey will be like. I have a goal and I allow myself to be guided: in perfect love and perfect trust.
Take the myth of Creation in which Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden. It is by giving a part of himself, that Adam assists in the creation of Eve. I don’t intend to discuss theology, but you see my point. The divine is achieved by giving of ourselves without selfishness. It is illustrated beautifully in that allegory. Theology should be something that lifts our hearts and engages us to be better human beings, not something that tries to define God literally. That domesticates that which we cannot see, touch or even understand.
It has been said that we were created in the image of God, and if such is true, then there is no need for us to bow to a deity. We must, therefore look within ourselves to find the true meaning of the divine within us. The divine voice should speak to the reality of the human condition, not work against it. By taking the biblical allegories literally, mankind has fallen into a dangerous fundamentalism that does not allow others to have different perspectives on how to approach the subject of the divine. It goes without saying that wars and oppressive behavior has been engaged to by humanity due to this fundamentalism. However, the test of any faith is compassion, something that our world lacks in great measure. It is the selfishness of nations and the religious establishment has, that has kept us away from the divine, by preaching that their views are the only ones worth pursuing.
In the age of enlightenment, science was put on a collision course with God. The Christian Church did not want to accept that the universe does not revolve around the Earth and Man. Such an egocentric though did not allow for creativity and independent thought to thrive. However, we must realize that religion does not contradict science. To me, the principle of Accommodation, that which indicates that God has chosen to reveal aspects of himself to mankind in a way in which mankind is able to understand has everything to do with science. Therefore Man cannot sit still and believe that he knows everything there is to know, for it is through the journeys of discovery, in whichever form it takes, from the scientific to the secular, that he can understand revelation. There is a reason that “God help those who help themselves.” A wise man seeks wisdom because he knows he does not have it. Therefore, we must be able to accept other’s revelation and share on its merits. Someone said “I believe so that I can understand.” You don’t have to blindly believe in anything. It is your involvement and commitment that helps you achieve a goal. The same applies to achieving that which the Hindus call “Nirvana” and that I call the sparks of the divine.
The world we live in is full of danger because of the intolerance of many to allow others to express their views on such revelations. Our generation has created such an environment in which the powerful have struggled to impose their views on others. Nations and peoples have forgotten that kindness is the true virtue and will not cease until the opposing party is humiliated. They delight in the misfortune of others. You don’t have to look far. These behaviors are even experienced in our daily lives: in the office, on the road, in schools, within families… Man needs to realize that quarrelling about scripture negates scripture itself. Scripture should be a vehicle to reach the divine. Not the end of the road.
One of Ms. Armstrong’s favorite stories, is also one of mine. It goes something like this: One day a pagan approached Rabbi Hillel and told him that he would convert to Judaism if he could recite the whole of the Torah, while standing in one leg, to which the great Rabbi replied “Do not do unto others as you would not have done unto you. That is the whole of the Torah: go and learn it.” This is what is commonly known as “The Golden Rule.” That illustrates that the goal of any religion is COMPASSION, that which is essential to human existence and peace, both inner and outer. To me, that is the whole point of religion and scripture and why we need to strive to reach the divine. I echo the message from Karen Armstrong when I say: do not be blinded by doctrine and scripture. It is all just commentary on the Golden Rule. Rest assured.
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