The Stairway of Spirituality

Last week I wrote about the abstract concept called 'God'. To call God an 'abstraction' or a 'concept' might sound blasphemous to people who revere the Almighty and feel His presence deep down in their souls. The presence of God makes them feel loved and purposeful. Some pray to Him everyday and this connection with the Lord anchors their everyday existence. And there's nothing wrong with that. Each one of us finds resonance in a certain type of language and concept. The God model works for a lot of people and they should keep it that way.

The only problem I find with that model is  the doctrines that have been created by religious authorities over the ages to 'explain' their view of God. Great schisms and sects have arisen out of doctrinal differences. This is the sad thing about institutionalized religion.

Being unattached to any religion in particular allows me to sample the best of everything. I am personally apprehensive about using the word 'God' because it has been over-abused through the ages.

The most tedious thing about religion are the arguments about what the scriptures actually say. Proponents of religions that dissect every word in the scripture to find their 'real' meaning have to understand that most likely the version they are reading is a translation of the original. And even the original itself had been copied repeatedly and probably subjected to numerous edits and embellishments to support certain positions preferred by the people in power. Scriptures are only useful as a stepping stone for the exploration of spirituality. They are meant to inspire and serve as starting points for personal reflection. 

It is the reading and reflection that creates the understanding. And even what we claim to understand has to be accepted with humility for our human capacity to comprehend is limited. One 'aha' moment doesn't mean you've already understood God. 

Some religious scriptures, even though they are read in their original language, are also subject to interpretation as they were orally transmitted and written down much later. The language used is archaic and often its meaning had evolved over time. Every time we listen to the interpretation of scripture from an authority we are actually tapping the wisdom of the authoritative figure, who is merely recounting what the scriptures mean to him or her. It is not the gospel truth, merely one data point in many that the student has to collect in order to gain a fuller understanding.

If only we can approach religion this way, we wouldn't be in so much trouble with it. We wouldn't feel superior to others who are not following our path instead we adopt the humble stance of a seeker of Truth.

We can only interpret what we perceive as 'Truth' with the limited comprehension capability of the human mind. We know we are susceptible to beliefs that we somehow latch unto because it addresses an insecurity that we feel inside. The fact is, our neuroticism colours what we choose to perceive as truth. 

When it comes to spirituality, truth is a feeling. If it feels right, if it clicks inside, if  the Tetris block falls neatly into the right slot, a moment of epiphany arises. And some would call the feeling as being 'touched by God'. But be prepared to go further. On swallow does not make a summer; one insight does not make you a prophet. It is merely one small step up the stairway of spirituality.