Read Online Create Your Own Religion by Daniele Bolelli - Free Book Online
Authors: Daniele Bolelli
Tags: Religión
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illusion that they and they alone own the truth about God. With equal dogmatic certainty, hardcore atheists deny the existence of God, no matter how the word may be defined. Unfortunately for believers and atheists alike, certainty in these matters is the enemy of truth and the building block for reassuring lies.
The Nez Percé leader Chief Joseph once remarked, “We don't want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God.” 34 Chief Joseph gets my vote because any organized religion that promises to offer crystal-clear answers about God stops the individual search for God cold in its tracks. On the other hand, I have no problem whatsoever with traditions that don't insist on forcing God to fit into a rigid theology.
The Lakota people use the term Wakan Tanka to speak of a divine energy that pervades all things. The most common translation of Wakan Tanka is “Great Mystery.” This is probably as close as we get to my idea of God. It's something that you may perceive, something great and powerful, but also mysterious and so far beyond human understanding that trying to conceptualize it would be ridiculous. Similarly, the Taoists refer to the Tao, the power that is at the roots of all things, as a “cosmic mystery.” 35 We are very far away from any sense of atheist denial here. Wakan Tanka and the Tao recognize an energy that is as real as it is sacred. And precisely because it is real and sacred, little effort is wasted trying to explain it away.
After all is said and done, what we know is very little. And anyone—believer or atheist alike—offering certain answers does so because he or she is too scared to admit having doubts. Only strong personalities can accept to live with mystery. But let's try to resistthe urge to oversimplify reality. Any answer based on incomplete information is at best tentative, a work in progress. No one can know what God is or what he/she/it wants us to do. The search for God is an ongoing quest with no destination in sight. The healthiest step we can take in this search is to remain flexible while striving to do one's best.
CHAPTER 4
THE INTANGIBLES: DEATH AND AFTERLIFE (MAYBE . . .)
Believe in life after death, and you will die. Don't believe in life after death, and you will die. Any way you slice it, you will die. Death laughs at our beliefs and disbeliefs. No one has a clue, and yet everyone has beliefs. All our theories, all our conjectures, all our promises of rewards and punishments. . . . Things must definitely be funny from Death's perspective. Not knowing drives us crazy, and Death loves to tease. Like all good attention-magnets, Death knows that the secret to popularity is mystery. Once people become too familiar with something, they lose interest. But the mystery . . . ah, the mystery is hard to resist. And this why the riddle of death captivates the minds of human beings and never lets go.
The concepts of God and the afterlife are intimately tied. In most religions, those claiming to know God's will promise rewards for following them (e.g., an eternity of bliss in heaven or a much better reincarnation in a future life) and punishments for disobeying (take your pick: burn in hell while being tortured by demons, or be reborn as live bait for a fish).
God and the afterlife are connected in yet another way: there is no irrefutable evidence for the existence of either of them. This is why Buddha strongly resisted indulging in his disciples' curiosity about both God and the afterlife. Why bother with things that are beyond human comprehension and that we have no control over? Buddha suggested in the Parable of the Arrow. Focus instead on what you can do: find a way to eliminate the causes of suffering and improve the quality of your life. Buddha's brutal pragmatism has no patience for idle speculation. His philosophy/religion is driven by a practical purpose, and is not meant to console us or comfort our fears. And this is why Buddhism is an exception among the
The Nez Percé leader Chief Joseph once remarked, “We don't want churches because they will teach us to quarrel about God.” 34 Chief Joseph gets my vote because any organized religion that promises to offer crystal-clear answers about God stops the individual search for God cold in its tracks. On the other hand, I have no problem whatsoever with traditions that don't insist on forcing God to fit into a rigid theology.
The Lakota people use the term Wakan Tanka to speak of a divine energy that pervades all things. The most common translation of Wakan Tanka is “Great Mystery.” This is probably as close as we get to my idea of God. It's something that you may perceive, something great and powerful, but also mysterious and so far beyond human understanding that trying to conceptualize it would be ridiculous. Similarly, the Taoists refer to the Tao, the power that is at the roots of all things, as a “cosmic mystery.” 35 We are very far away from any sense of atheist denial here. Wakan Tanka and the Tao recognize an energy that is as real as it is sacred. And precisely because it is real and sacred, little effort is wasted trying to explain it away.
After all is said and done, what we know is very little. And anyone—believer or atheist alike—offering certain answers does so because he or she is too scared to admit having doubts. Only strong personalities can accept to live with mystery. But let's try to resistthe urge to oversimplify reality. Any answer based on incomplete information is at best tentative, a work in progress. No one can know what God is or what he/she/it wants us to do. The search for God is an ongoing quest with no destination in sight. The healthiest step we can take in this search is to remain flexible while striving to do one's best.
CHAPTER 4
THE INTANGIBLES: DEATH AND AFTERLIFE (MAYBE . . .)
Believe in life after death, and you will die. Don't believe in life after death, and you will die. Any way you slice it, you will die. Death laughs at our beliefs and disbeliefs. No one has a clue, and yet everyone has beliefs. All our theories, all our conjectures, all our promises of rewards and punishments. . . . Things must definitely be funny from Death's perspective. Not knowing drives us crazy, and Death loves to tease. Like all good attention-magnets, Death knows that the secret to popularity is mystery. Once people become too familiar with something, they lose interest. But the mystery . . . ah, the mystery is hard to resist. And this why the riddle of death captivates the minds of human beings and never lets go.
The concepts of God and the afterlife are intimately tied. In most religions, those claiming to know God's will promise rewards for following them (e.g., an eternity of bliss in heaven or a much better reincarnation in a future life) and punishments for disobeying (take your pick: burn in hell while being tortured by demons, or be reborn as live bait for a fish).
God and the afterlife are connected in yet another way: there is no irrefutable evidence for the existence of either of them. This is why Buddha strongly resisted indulging in his disciples' curiosity about both God and the afterlife. Why bother with things that are beyond human comprehension and that we have no control over? Buddha suggested in the Parable of the Arrow. Focus instead on what you can do: find a way to eliminate the causes of suffering and improve the quality of your life. Buddha's brutal pragmatism has no patience for idle speculation. His philosophy/religion is driven by a practical purpose, and is not meant to console us or comfort our fears. And this is why Buddhism is an exception among the
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