The Saga of Spiritual Seekers

I'm back on a Friday, writing this from my apartment in Cyberjaya. I wanted to spend some time here today mainly to do housekeeping. The dust and debris from the roof repair works last week are still not properly cleaned yet. Today I want to spend some time also to plan for the upcoming replacement of my bookshelves, which had been badly damaged by rain-water and the ravages of time. But today's topic is not going to be about Time or the Second Law of Thermodynamics, instead I'll be writing about people's attitude towards religion and other supposedly spiritual pursuits.

I've written a lot about spirituality and religion here in my blog and I think my views about these subjects are quite clear. I am a student of religions and if I have any religion at all, it is this highly personalised spiritual way of life backed by my own pseudo-philosophy and principles, many of which I've attempted to expound on this blog.

At the same time, I've also talked to a lot of people about their religious or spiritual beliefs. I can identify three underlying themes in their quest: protection, immortality and meaning. There are some elements of all three in every spiritual seeker. Let's discuss each one.

As human beings, we are threatened by many things that could harm us. Life is precious and fragile and we want to be protected from every possible danger that could rob us of our well-being. Because we feel so helpless, we naturally want to seek the protection and blessing of some higher force that could ensure of safety and happiness.  If I pray hard enough, some divine being will grant my wishes, shield me from any calamity or danger and when I die, ensure that I am not punished or banished to some horrible place called Hell. 

This need to be protected in the face of something more powerful than us like nature and the vicissitudes of life is an instinctive urge. We like to belief that everything is planned out for us and we do not want to miss the boat. Hence we want to belong to a group that seems to present a worldview that offers both protection and salvation. This belonging to a community is also very comforting. Life can be very happy knowing that you are guaranteed safety from the torments of Hell.

And then, the spiritual seeker's interest extends beyond this life. Knowing the inevitability and sorrow of death, they want to assured that their lives continue beyond that. Souls are immortal and when we overcome the trials and travails of this mortal life, we'll be uplifted to a better place--that mythical place called 'heaven' where all imperfections will be gone and we'll be guaranteed eternal bliss with all our loved ones. Heaven by this definition is simply earth without all the imperfections. This is what many mainstream religions promise. Having an admission ticket to Heaven is certainly a great privilege.

Those who are more intellectual in their pursuit of spirituality would seek 'meaning'. They are basically driven by age-old philosophical questions like: What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? Who created the universe? Where are we going? Belonging to this group are also the experience junkies. They want to pursue Enlightenment like it is a kind of superpower or some ultimate form of orgasm. They are also achievement oriented. If this is the ultimate goal of life, I want to attain it. And once attained, my life will be meaningful and I will know the answers to all the great questions.

There are potential pitfall in all three pursuits. The protection and immortality seeker will find that every religion proclaims that theirs is the greatest and the act of being a believer guarantees both protection and immortality. Which path is the real one? How does one choose? What is the proof of their claims? Scriptural authority? The superior knowledge of priests and preachers? Is being a believer simply taking Pascal's wager: there's everything to gain and nothing to lose? Is one simply lulled into a sense of comfort by the promises of religion?

For those who are driven their existential quest for answers, how do they know what they have attained is the ultimate? Even if it is so, so what? Is the answer they are seeking somehow defined by the limits of human intelligence? Is a satisfying answer something that is expressible in human language or is it an experience to be perceived directly by the body and brain? What makes you think different from someone who is under the influence of drugs? 

I am happy knowing what I don't know. And I am happy to continue studying this strange need that humans have for answers. This continuous quest is my spiritual practice. It is in a way a celebration of the mystery of human existence and I'm contented in knowing there's so much more for me to learn and pursue. This alone would take up my entire lifetime and it is what makes it so 'meaningful'.