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Today's
Quotation:
The Buddha spoke gently, "Once
a person is caught by belief
in a doctrine, one loses all one's freedom. When one
becomes dogmatic,
that person believes his or her doctrine
is the only truth and that all other doctrines
are heresy. Disputes and conflicts all arise from narrow
views. They can
extend endlessly, wasting precious time
and sometimes even
leading to war. Attachment to views is
the greatest impediment
to the spiritual path. Bound to
narrow views,
one becomes so entangled that it is no
longer possible
to let the door of truth open."
Thich Nhat Hanh
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Today's
Meditation:
I'd
love to write a book on this subject. It makes me sad
to see just how many people limit their own perspectives by
clinging to views and ideas that they've embraced just
because someone else has taught them that they're
true. It's like we're willing to sacrifice our own
freedom just to hold on tightly to a belief that may or may
not be true. Most dogma is based on the beliefs of
people-- Christian dogma, for example, is based on the
interpretations of people, not on the words of Christ.
Many churches hold on to interpretations that have been
disproved by new translations, yet because someone hundreds
of years ago interpreted the Bible in a certain way, the
churches still cling to the ideas because they're now
"tradition."
If
we want to become truly spiritual beings, we must embark on
our own journeys into our selves and our personal
relationship with God or life. The answers to my
spiritual questions are not in someone else's interpretation
of anything-- I must learn to trust myself and my own
perspective on life.
Have
you ever thought someone was mad at you, and it made you
feel awful? This was a belief, and it held you back
because you didn't like having someone angry with you.
When you later found out that the person wasn't angry with
you, your belief was shattered, and it no longer made you
feel awful.
Likewise,
if we keep ourselves open to learning and growing, we will
find out that some of the beliefs that we hold on to are
actually holding us back, making us feel awful, and if we
were able to cast them aside, we'd be able to move on and to
grow more. We owe it to ourselves to walk on a clear
path, one that's not overgrown with the dogma that other
people have created, trying to get others to believe exactly
what they believe.
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