Already at primary school I was interested in foreign religions, and to some extent it has continued to this day. Above all, I try to understand how they see the truth. To pay attention to various dogmas and rituals, and see behind them. This is accomplished best by comparing and searching for common features. Like learning different languages, with different expressions for one thing. I’m not interested in research work, but the core issues, the main lines and how they relate with my own world view. Can I see behind the expression to find something familiar.
Our faith is always an image of our inner world.
Even if we follow a particular religion, we are building our own belief system, which can only be a picture of our internal world, and can’t be forced from outside. In my own reflections, I have come to the conclusion, that all religions and belief systems have some part of the truth. Even atheists are right, if you take a particular point of view. It would be important to remember this is precisely what these different belief systems are all about. They look at one core truth from a particular angle. None of which can tell the whole truth, for it is too wast and at the same time too simple to be detected by means of any belief system. At best, they can show the way for a wanderer.
Don’t imprision yourself with your faith.
On that day, when we are fully confident of our own truth, we have stagnated and this will inevitably fade our development. It often happens that when the creator of a doctrine or belief passes away, interpretations change over time, and the inner purpose of their message is lost. At this point there may come human offensive activities which are carried out in the name of religion. If we limit ourselves too much, we are risking to be imprisoned by our own faith, and become unable to break free, so that a genuinely internal development could take place.
Our faith should be alive, it should breathe, it should be free. There is no reason to deny ourselves a permission to ask and compare. Let us do research and explore with an open heart and mind, with a goal to find that original purpose behind rituals and beliefs. In our faith, let us be present with our whole beings, so that it can truly be awakened and those deeper meaning of our customes could be found from within. A faith that is truly alive can’t be in deep dispute with another belief system, because it’s very premise is curiosity, desire to understand, even when we don’t accept everything for ourselves.
The more paths I find that lead to same goal as mine, the more confident I can be that the path I’m walking is in the right direction.
