Theology and Mysticism
This is post #199 and next post is scheduled for delivery on Wednesday afternoon (Pacific Time), just before the beginning of the Thanksgiving holiday. I am indulging a bit as we reach the 200 post milestone.
I think I have mentioned that while most people are brought up in the religion of their family, this was not the case with me. I overheard my parents discussing which church the children should attend. The date is not clear to me but somewhere around age 8-10. They chose the Presbyterian Church because Dwight Eisenhower was popular and perhaps already president, and he was a member of this Protestant denomination. I remember being quite upset because it seemed like a frivolous way to choose a church.
A helpful context for this might be a reference to my own horoscope. I have a Sagittarius Moon in the ninth house and Pisces rising so both religious study and mysticism are natural for me. For more information, read my essay on the Monastic Moon.
As a child, I was very active in both church youth affairs and efforts to promote international cultural understanding. I was editor of the youth newspaper for the church, and was sent to a leadership training conference in Big Bear, California, where an immense debate took place one evening after dinner. We were scheduled to discuss the youth budget for half an hour, but the arguments went on through the night until breakfast. My position was that the missionary budget should go to health care and not involve proselytization. The grown up leading the discussion became so infuriated that blood vessels broke in his eyes, and he made some quite inappropriate allegations that should never be repeated. I responded calmly with what I now see was predictive of a long future wrestling with beliefs. I said that hell is not a place but rather a state of mind. Upon my return home, the minister of my church summoned me. I expected to be praised for my insights and had no idea that my views would be regarded as heresy. I ended up saying to the minister that he obviously did not understand what he was saying when standing in the pulpit and preaching to the congregation.
Thus began a quest for another place to go on Sunday mornings. I will not recount all my disappointments, but I was clearly not going to find a place of worship that met my needs for trustworthy interpretation of spiritual profundities. This has been a lifelong pursuit, and there were many wonderful milestones on the journey, but in all these decades since the clash at Big Bear, I have not changed my position on attempts to convert others to one’s own beliefs. I believe strongly that we each come to our understanding little by little, some faster than others; and it is absolutely imperative to keep politics out of religion since the administration of affairs on Earth has little or nothing to do with the broader scope of Creation and its Purpose. This said, I am profoundly optimistic about the long haul since there can be nothing more powerful than Creation Itself so we will all fall in line sooner or later, if not by choice, entrainment itself will operate to our benefit.
Many believe in duality in some form or other. As an astrologer, I see people favoring either a path of what is sometimes called skill in action or a path of discovery involving deeper and deeper understanding and eventually wisdom. This particular duality expresses itself in the first chakra and determines the both the direction of the spin and the functioning of the fight or flight mechanism. It is not safe to attempt to change the direction of the spin so it behooves us to recognize our paths and to perfect our expression of the finest qualities of each orientation.
This said, it is easy for someone such as myself to look at the world situation and wonder if the reins of power are in safe hands. Likewise, few on the path of wisdom have reached a trustworthy level of understanding so we must use discernment and caution before abdicating the responsibility for governing ourselves. For similar reasons, we need to have the maximum freedom to think and explore and a minimum amount of meddling in our lives and the choices we make.
Every country has its history. For instance, after India got its independence from the British Raj, it quickly faced a schism in which East and West Pakistan split off from India. Hindus in the two Pakistans, now Bangladesh and Pakistan, fled; but many Moslems felt safe staying in India where there is immense cultural and religious diversity.
Europe is now struggling mightily with cultural identification and issues of assimilation, and we see several bases for the deportations that are occurring, only one of which involves differences in faith. The other issues largely involve economics and crime.
The U.S. should be different because whatever we might say about the waves of immigrants since Columbus and later the Pilgrims, at a certain point, the indigenous cultures were trampled; but immigrants have, on the whole, adapted to their new homes. Of course, most people retain some kind of association with their ancestral roots, but certain concepts, mainly of universal rights and freedom, are accepted. This said, I will go on record saying I support deportation of those who have entered the country illegally as well as anyone committing crimes. The right to live in a foreign country almost always involves visas and usually begins with temporary visas that may or may not guarantee permanent residence and citizenship. As someone who has lived in many different countries, I am fully aware that to stay permanently in any place usually involves a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy and sometimes investment in the country, i.e. a willingness to enhance the local economy rather than to absorb its resources.
Since much of modern society has been socialized to some degree or other, there are also immense potential expenses revolving around the services offered to residents. In general, I believe that government impinges on many of our freedoms so I would like to see that reach trimmed, but defining the lines between what is humanitarian and what infringes our inalienable rights can be challenging. Turning national involvements in matters such as education back to the states does not really restore rights, merely which governmental bodies that have influence.
This said, the point of the celebration of Thanksgiving is that we are grateful for the opportunity to pursue our paths without excessive interference . . . and we need to remember that important as our roots are, there are times when to survive, we must be transplanted to a safer place.
Copyright by Dr. Ingrid Naiman 2024 || All Rights Reserved
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I just love your perspective and insights Dr. Ingrid. Thank You for this!!
Have a lovely Thanks-In-Giving
hugs to you, Raven