decode reality
13-02-2010, 05:37 PM
Here's something that I feel applies to everyone, no matter what our particular worldview is - a religion, spiritual system, atheist etc - regardless of what we may call it (or not). I'm going to apply it to religion.
The actual power is not in the set of ideas/information that someone defines their worldview by. The power is in the belief that they invest in those ideas, the power they give and attribute to those ideas .
Simple example: There are people who regularly attend a church or a mosque and they're fully convinced of the veracity of the teachings. Then there are others, for whom the teachings hold little or no relevance/resonance. The religious one may still try to "save" or "convert" this kind of person, despite the fact that the person has no need of being rescued and is perfectly fulfilled and aware of who they are, their life purpose etc.
Bringing it closer to home: A friend of mine does sound technology/music workshops with young people. He was working with a mixed group of girls, mainly white but some Asian muslims also. One of the muslim girls was naturally very gifted in music, she was showing her friends what to do. She will never venture into music though. Simply because of the power she's invested in the inculcated belief that music is supposedly haram, i.e. forbidden. And yet someone like myself can hear about this prohibition and see that it isn't true.
There are lots of examples that could be cited. The power is in BELIEVING, it's not a quality/attribute of what we 'believe in'.
The actual power is not in the set of ideas/information that someone defines their worldview by. The power is in the belief that they invest in those ideas, the power they give and attribute to those ideas .
Simple example: There are people who regularly attend a church or a mosque and they're fully convinced of the veracity of the teachings. Then there are others, for whom the teachings hold little or no relevance/resonance. The religious one may still try to "save" or "convert" this kind of person, despite the fact that the person has no need of being rescued and is perfectly fulfilled and aware of who they are, their life purpose etc.
Bringing it closer to home: A friend of mine does sound technology/music workshops with young people. He was working with a mixed group of girls, mainly white but some Asian muslims also. One of the muslim girls was naturally very gifted in music, she was showing her friends what to do. She will never venture into music though. Simply because of the power she's invested in the inculcated belief that music is supposedly haram, i.e. forbidden. And yet someone like myself can hear about this prohibition and see that it isn't true.
There are lots of examples that could be cited. The power is in BELIEVING, it's not a quality/attribute of what we 'believe in'.