Photo above by Stefan. Photo below by Karen Eliot.
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
- Buddha Gautama Siddharta (563-483 B.C.)
Every spiritual teacher worth listening to has offered themselves up to be questioned. All of the great spiritual teachers have said to their followers, “Don’t take my word for it; go see for yourself.” Jesus suggested that we should know the truth by its results the same way we know a tree by its fruit. The Prophet Mohammad had said that “The search of knowledge is an obligation laid on every Muslim.” Yet, when we look at the organizations that promote the teachings of one particular teacher, we come against resistance to questioning. Why should it be that way?
When we surround ourselves only with those who agree with our ideas and beliefs, we start taking those ideas and beliefs for granted. Relying on these notions as being true, our faith becomes blind and misguided. Without regular challenge, a spiritual journey becomes a religious institution and stagnates like standing water. Religious institutions become resistant to external questioning because of lack constant of internal questioning.
Inconsistency in the texts of major religions are actually beneficial in that they challenge each individual to think beyond the text. However, the mechanism for unity is so strong in institutions, that these inconsistencies are overlooked, glossed over, or justified with poor reasoning. In contrast, when faced with someone else’s religion, members of these organizations cannot help seeing contradictions and flaws in reason. Truth be told, institutions train its members to see nothing but the problems inherent in other views while blinding them to the problems within their own.
This is probably the biggest hurtle that religious tolerance faces; the mentality that allows for questioning of other faiths, but not of one’s own. It is so much easier to question the beliefs of another person than to question your own. I always try to remember that, whether I am writing about my own faith or the beliefs of others. And yet that isn’t enough - we must each be willing to be questioned.
What I write here is controversial by its nature, but more importantly, by its design. I want to challenge and be challenged. I question your beliefs to spur you into questioning mine. If you learn nothing else from what is written here, learn to think for yourself and question authority. It is true that no one religion can be founded on that principle, but a community where every individual is a philosopher-prophet-priest demands it.
My question for you is whether or not Unitarian Universalism is that community. Do we follow Timothy Leary’s creed to think for ourselves and question authority? Can we say we live up to the Buddha’s denial of rumored wisdom? Are we taking a good long look at the fruit our trees bear? I ask this because there is a very strong current against mystic or divine experiences within our religion and I believe even this needs to be questioned.
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