Evangelicals and missions

I'm writing in regards to this article:

Click Here - www.cnn.com


Briefly, an ex-missionary shares his experience and realization about trying to convert people to Christianity. He realizes that people view evangelists in one of two distinct ways: heroes of the faith who lead exemplary lives, or destroyers of culture and bringers of division and grief. There really isn't much in between. He goes on to realize that maybe these red mythological types (to paraphrase some Integral Theory jargon) would be a whole lot more successful if they stopped trying to get people to convert but rather instead focused on trying to get people to be more conscious and aware, period. (He couches it in Christian terminology, i.e. "to become more like Jesus", which is fine and still accurate. Jesus is an example of a conscious and aware individual that we would not be amiss in seeking to emulate.)

I think this is a great example of a rational person who is beginning to break into the post-modern way of thinking. He seems to be realizing that it's not the wrapper on the candy but the sweetness of what's inside that counts. Religions, doctrines, dogma, creeds are all wrappers. The mythology of each one is different, but the truths in most religions are universal if you dig deep enough.

To take this a step further, a large number of people on the planet take the mythology to be "true". For example, people will believe that the whole mthology of heaven, hell, the bible, and the events that occur within them actually happened, and they will do this sometimes (unfortunately) to the exclusion of what's inside the wrapper: that we should all seek to develop on a personal, familial, national, racial, and world-wide level. Sometimes they forget that things like dogma and the bible are actually TOOLS for developing yourself. Instead they focus on proving historical validity.

I do not want to come across as condescending to those who do believe in the mythology. The people who do believe it are doing it because that's where they are at. I respect them. They are not "wrong" or "bad". It just is what it is, and it is a necessary, needed, and integral part of the whole of Creation to have people who are at that point right now. The gift that these people bring to the world is that they realize that people DO need to follow a set of rules in order to make this planet a more bearable place to live. (They just disagree on what the rules are.) Nevertheless, the need for rules is real. Society is real. Life is real. That is the gift of Stage 3, and it remains useful in further stages.

Feelings vs. Thoughts: Aftermath of Osama

I think aside from all the obvious political ramifications of Osama Bin Laden's death (finally), there are some interesting lessons I'm seeing here. There are plenty of opportunities to learn right now. So pay attention.

As I watch my Facebook stream flow and echo with the thoughts of my friends list, there is a clear contrast between those who are unabashedly happy about today's events versus those who are glad but guilty or downright angry about the celebratory comments from some.

"What does Christianity or (insert religion here) teach about the death of an enemy?" --- from my more religious brothers and sisters....

"Boooyah!!!!" -- from my more honest and less guilty friends

"Why are you celebrating the death of a human being, you animals??" -- from my compassionate, and also honest, but perhaps in some cases 'holier than thou' companions

I am sure there are also those, like me, who are feeling all three things. Perhaps we all are. I admit to it, at least.

Here's the lesson: All of those positions are valid. All of those people feel justified in what they are saying and feeling. All of those positions have aspects that both create unity among us and divide us.

In my personal view, the Conscious thing to do here is accept that all of these points exist and are valid, and not try to eliminate any one of them by shouting or creating MORE division, but rather to understand that everyone who takes one or more of these positions has got reasons for doing so. Then look at the person and try to understand what reasons they have. A new picture might emerge, enabling true compassion for what that person is saying or feeling, and at that point their actual position may not matter anymore, because you have now increased your view of the terrain, so to speak.

Also let's remember that we can't really control what emotions we feel, but we CAN control our actions in regard to those emotions. I feel pretty darn happy right now, but I think it might sit the wrong way in my own conscience if I go out to crack open a few bottles of champaign. I don't begrudge anyone who does, because.... I'm sure they have reasons.... but for me, that's not what I feel is right.

Doing the best you can with what you've got

In a recent conversation with my father, I got some information that grabbed my attention. It's one of those things that we have probably talked about a hundred times, in one form or another, but I never heard it until now. Amazing how people can be told and shown things but never actually hear or acknowledge them until they are ready.

For a while I have generally held that religions should be allowed to flourish, but separately. After all, for many individuals, religions serve a real purpose. They provide a form of organization and rules for living life. They provide a code of ethics and morals to those who are unsure of things. They even provide a kind of emotional sustenance and fulfillment. These things are real. People really feel and believe. Good for them!

Of course, no two religions agree on everything, or else they would be the same religion. (No two people within each religion agree on everything, but I digress!) These disagreements can range from minor to outright terrorist attacks. For that reason, I have held that they need to be separated. "You go over there and do your religion, and I'll go over here and do mine." I also believe (and still might believe) that religions should be private.... like underwear. We know you got it. We just don't want to see it in public. (I even made bumper stickers with this saying on them once.) Expressing religion in public invites discord.

However, something else is arising in my thinking right now based on the conversation with my father. Everyone is given a set of tools in life. Each person is given his or her own unique capacity for Consciousness. Why fault anyone for only doing what they know or only what they have the capacity to do? Instead, shouldn't we nurture and have compassion? Shouldn't we give people space to use their tools and grow? Shouldn't we go so far as even to aid each other in our practices even though they may be wildly different? If everyone is using what they know in order to grow, why not do that?

Of course this should all be tempered with another tool: Reason. I don't advocate helping someone to blow up a building because their religion says so. Things that divide and things that increase hatred in the world work counter to what I am talking about here: lifting the illusion of separation. When it comes to that, I don't think things are relative.

Arising from "nothing"

You may have heard the expression that life is a theater and all the world is a stage. The analogy often goes on to express that people are actors on that stage, like characters in a movie.

In many ways, this analogy is an expression of what ails us. Any particular actor on that stage swears that he or she is the only one, and that all the other actors are just characters that set the scene and offer interaction. When the interaction goes badly the actor forgets about being an actor and really thinks that something awful is happening, and that the results will mean something horrible... like death. So what does the actor do? He acts. He tries to beg and plead his way out of the plot, even though the script is already written. It's all quite unfortunate.

Step 2

I've done a lot of "Step 1". People always talk about it. They always say that Step 1 is becoming aware of a problem. "Once you are aware of it, you can begin to work on it!", they say. If there was ever a "spiritual cliche", that would be one. Alright, it IS a cliche, but cliches are the way they are because they can often be handy.

So what is Step 2?

Ah, the little-known and elusive Step 2! A place we rarely see. Most people who figure out Step 1 either think they are done, or they wander off as if they have some kind of mystical ADD.

Becoming aware of a problem must be followed by observation. I tend to believe that wrestling with a problem and forcing yourself to "tackle" it and "solve" it, as if some kind of bright idea can end it, is not the way it goes most times. Think about it: most of the time your mind is wrestling with things anyway. It believes that by churning around and around it can solve things and find peace. So it churns some more, but it never quite gets anywhere. It is the same thing with "solving" a problem that you have just become aware of. Forcing yourself to think about it or forcing yourself to change your behavior drastically overnight takes a lot of will power, and will power eventually runs out for all of us. It's like going on a diet. Eventually, even though it might take years, you will come off the diet and be back again.

Observation is Step 2. Once you have found the problem in Step 1, you have to face it in Step 2. That involves figuratively going nose to nose with it and looking it in the eye, and doing nothing else. It's harder than you might think. Our brains are wired to solve problems or complain about them. Holding in your mind something you don't like about yourself and just allowing it to exist without judgment or action is not easy, but it is Step 2.

Why is that helpful? Observing something, giving it space, and allowing it to be separates you from it. Before Step 2, you are one with the problem, but you do not know it. It is an unconscious and harmful oneness. Before you re-identify with the problem in an enlightened fashion (in Step 3), you need to have a healthy dis-identification with it first.

IF changing something is the right thing to do about that particular problem, the changes you need to make will become evident as you face it. Not only that, they will also become easier to enact and they will have a higher chance of sticking. Alternatively, you may then find yourself able to accept the issue and move on, without having it impede you any longer.

Some correction and expansion

My thoughts in my previous post need one major correction, taking into account the Integral perspective pioneered by Ken Wilber. When I said that things that are not experienced as Oneness are "fake", that is actually not true. In Integral thought, all things are Real, and all viewpoints have some grain of validity. The Universe is just that big. All of existence is One, but within that Oneness is everything, and it is all Real.

The difference really comes down to paying attention. If you are paying attention to the conflict and forgetting the other parts of existence, you are not as fully aware as you could be in that moment.

Of course that begs the question, "if this conflict is indeed Real, what is there to do about it?" Honestly, I think we should leave that question to the folks who are aware enough to deal with it, and NOT the politicians, soldiers, terrorists, talking head pundits, or fanatics of any kind, unless of course they are playing their roles from a truly Conscious perspective.

In other words, my best guess is that the large majority of us should simply stop focusing on "winning" or "being right" or "sticking it to the other guy", and instead think about what is in our power to do to help and serve on multiple levels, starting with your own self, then your family, then your country or ethnic group, then the world.

The ultimate goal on this case is to be "world-centric", i.e thinking of things in terms of their effects on the entire world, or even the Universe and beyond. However, I do not think that is a readily achievable thing on a large scale just yet for most people. I'd be much happier is people who are "ego-centric" could simply learn to concentrate on their next level up, from wherever they are at the time. In other words, if a person is selfish, he or she should focus on learning how to take care of family. If a person is a great provider for family, that person should look to learn about contributing to the community, and so on.

I do not think that any of these actions should really be about religion, politics, or anything like that when serving, but rather just serving.... doing whatever needs to be done in that moment for the object of focus. Thus, I still advocate a "leaving the conflict" scenario, as well as Observation. I especially think Observation is critically important, but now that I come to think of it, I also think that highly focused care, concern, compassion, and service at whatever level a person is aware of is the key, and that should be done INSTEAD OF participation in the never-ending back and forth of today's Left vs. Right conflicts.

Distractions and missing the point

There is a lot of division nowadays. Right vs. Left. Conservative vs. Liberal. Democrat vs. Republican. Muslim vs. Everyone Else. You name it. There are even factions caught somewhere in the middle. Moderate ________'s, where the blank could be the name of a political party, religion, or nothing at all.

The whole thing is a twisted mess of fights within fights, conflict within conflict. People with advanced degrees in Political Science, Economics, Psychology, and even the Sciences and Engineering cannot sort it out, let alone people without that level of knowledge.

Some people give me hope, however, though I will not say who. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed to hear a supposedly "spiritual" man the other day giving a talk and essentially taking sides in these conflicts. He happened to be siding with the "liberal elites" or the so-called "enlightened" Left, which is a fact, but not the point. The point is he took a side, and that disheartened me.

See, here's what I really think of all these conflicts: on the highest level of awareness, they are fake. Worse than that, they are a distraction. At best, however, they are an opportunity to become aware.

When you focus on Oneness, none of these things are an issue. Religion, economy, and philosophy do not exist. There is only the Eternal, which does not change and encompasses everything there ever was, is, or will be in its cloak of space and silence. The POINT of all these conflicts in the world is not to WIN or LOSE, but to show us that they CANNOT be won or lost. No one will ever prevail in the conventional sense, and even if someone did, they would fall again soon thereafter, just like every Empire, political system, or philosophy has so far.

That's because these things are not Real. They are there to show us that the way to win the fight is to leave the fight all together. However, it is not a typical kind of leaving I describe. What I am advocating here is Observation. If enough people could pay attention to the part of all of us that is One, and allow enough other people to find that part also, then a critical mass could be achieved whereby the conflicts just stop.

Now, I am not stupid. In the meantime, people who cannot find this part of themselves are going to rage and fight, and die a lot. Things are going to get "bad", or worse depending on your point of view. However, there is nothing that can be DONE about that which would have any lasting effect, and death is just as fake as the conflicts anyway. The wars which produces victories and defeats are only bandaids on the problem that mask the symptoms of a sickness we all have, the sickness of forgetting our common True selves.

My solution is let them fight. Defend yourself in your own limited physical space as best you can, and be aware as best you can, for as much time during the day as you can. Then if you get pretty good at that, try to awaken others. While doing that, try to look out for people and not let them get hurt, if you can. Care for those who are sick and injured without judging them, and have compassion on them not just because they are hurt, but because they are still learning how to access the One and All, just like we all are.