Home
Doors
Essays2007
Essays2008
Essays2009
Essays2010
Wisdom
Gallery
Links
Bios
Contact
|
..:: Faith ::..
By
Alan Schneider
Faith
is the subject of this first essay of 2010, and this
concept will be studied and considered from the perspectives of the many
dimensions that it represents in human consciousness and our human
condition.
In the simplest view, Faith
is the personal belief in the existence of some process, entity, or
condition that is not immediately supported by physical evidence on the
Physical Plane of conscious expression. Now, why is this important for
our consideration here? Because without Faith, life has no deeper
meaning than the collection and manipulation of physical objects, the
most superficial level of human involvement, one that is satisfying
only to the most base and ignorant among us. The moment that a
person begins to investigate beyond this baseline level of perception,
the domain of deeper, more extended, and fundamental, meaning is
encountered – the realm of Faith and Belief that ultimately deals with
what can be sensed and perceived perhaps only indirectly, but is still
very significant within human consciousness.
Faith demonstrates a complex
array of composite elements making up its larger manifestation. These
include the aforementioned belief, and hope, revelation, social
interaction and reinforcement, testimony, sacrifice, and such
practices as prayer and meditation. All of these combine in individual
proportions to express the quality and extent of our Faith in some
thing or some process that we have identified as tangentially
(or perhaps even literally) present in the world around us. Let us
examine these features separately with an eye to revealing their
contribution to that composite that is Faith.
Belief is intimately
associated with Faith. Belief is the personally held conviction that
the world operates according to some principle, or principles, that may
be unseen or unverifiable, but nonetheless exist on some Plane of
experience that at least affects the Physical and Material
condition shown to our consciousness by the senses. Belief can result
from many sources, including indoctrination (often independent of
experience), experience itself as interpreted from any number of
existential perspectives, and revelation resulting from some series of
generally unusual events occurring either internally of externally.
The basis of belief resulting from indoctrination is possibly the most
common one, and also the most dangerous one, since this requires
absolutely no underpinning in any other mode of thought or experience.
Amazingly, all that is required to instill belief at this level is the
insistent repetition of some information whether demonstrably correct
or not to the human subject. This is the operant principal of
brainwashing, and every totalitarian regime in history (including
those who have vigorously denied this identity) has used it extensively
to control the subordinate human population present within its borders.
Sadly, many religious belief systems have also used this approach to
the presentation of belief with their membership, rather than permit and
encourage them to independently investigate and decide for themselves
what is true and correct in this world and the next.
When belief is the result, at
least in part, of experienced events in life, this is possibly less
questionable than indoctrination, with the caveat that our experiences
are always the result of some framework of interpretation, and do not
stand solely on their own merits. Indeed, experience uninterrupted is
meaningless chaos – we must interpret. The point here is to be
aware of what mechanism we are using to perform the interpretation, and
of the fact of its existence within our consciousness. Again, sadly,
many people have no such awareness, possibly in consequence of
their spiritual (or other) indoctrination, and live in the grip of all
manner of assumptions and suppositions that unconsciously determine
their Faith. In order to think sensibly, we must know from what source
our thoughts are emerging, or more commonly not emerging, into
perception and expression. The great bulk of therapy centers on the
identification by the client of the here-to-fore unconscious mechanisms
that have effectively controlled belief and behavior up to that point.
Thus, although the use of personal experience as the foundation of
belief is less objectionable than indoctrination, it still can be held
up to question and requires extensive self inquiry as the price of its
practice.
Revelation is possibly
the most valid source of belief, and at the same time, also possibly the
least valid, depending upon its source of inspiration. The
psychotic individual frequently has many revelations of belief, all of
which are highly unsubstantial from the perspective of and kind of
concrete material verification. Yet, most of the advancements of
science have been inspired by the imagined revelation of visionary
individuals who then applied the scientific method of inquiry to these
bold precepts and discovered momentous things in consequence. Clearly,
revelation is meaningful only when it can be placed in some framework of
consequence for humanity in general. Of what use is the (still
mathematically unverified) Cosmic String theory for the “man (or woman)
in the street” who has just lost a position due to the contraction of
the world economy, and must compete to find another? Of what use is
belief in a God who cannot, or apparently does not, provide the
necessities of life for the believer? To be useful as more than simply
a perceptual curiosity, revelation must be relevant. How is this
relevancy achieved? By deeply confronting the revelation until its
relevancy is rendered explicitly evident in our consciousness. In this
context, all of the Jungian synchronicities and archetypes are at least
potential revelations, yielding their hidden gems of wisdom through the
Jungian realization process when and if it is fully applied in
the transpersonal analysis venue. Thus, ultimately, we must make our
revelations contextually useful for ourselves and others as the price of
individuation.
Another facet of Faith is
Hope. Our condition as commonly perceived by the senses is
very challenging – we find ourselves biologically founded in a sense
perception and body that certainly looks to all appearances like they
are both quite finite in extent, and that “extent” is fraught with
confusion, frustration, and suffering more often than not for the
duration. Yet, we must make our way though this intimidating
background to discover what morsels of light might be present, and
therein lies the essence of Hope – the aspect of belief that
continuously seeks illumination – yes, enlightenment – of
the riddles of human existence. It is through this process of
progressive enlightenment that all hope is created in our species in the
face of our many inarguable limitations. And this complex of Hope is
viable – the evidence of near death experiences does seem to
support the belief in an afterlife (if the mechanism remains obscure),
the correspondence among the endocrine glands and the Chakras is
likewise evident as the Kundalini Shakti rises, as is the association of
the planets and signs with the incidence of macro-events in individual,
social, and national affairs postulated by astrology, and the list goes
on. There is good reason to suppose that the remarkably consistent
advice of the Saints and Seers throughout history does lead to a
more productive and happy life when this is followed than when it is
ignored or defied, witness the fall of many a dictator and tyrant! So,
the mere quest for enlightenment always supports the fact of
Hope.
In the act of testimony
we confirm, often at great personal peril and cost, what we have
personally found to be true about Faith, Belief, and Hope. This is the
process of bearing witness to our innermost events before others. The
act of bearing witness not only supports the investigation of spiritual
Truth, but actively encourages others to follow suite in their own lives
by sharing their own spiritual Truth as a social offering. In
this sense, testimony is an aspect of another, larger, more expansive
spiritual act – sacrifice. The risk of social retaliation that
we undergo when we testify to our Truth is already a sacrifice by its
very nature, even if that retaliation does not immediately materialize –
we have sacrificed our precious personal security by standing forth in
Faith.
I have had much to say about
sacrifice (literally “to make sacred”) in these essays, and now I
will say more. Sacrifice is the communication process that, more than
any other, connects us to God through Faith and Hope. Every time we
release something of prized content in our lives for the sake of the
Truth of Consciousness, we take a giant step forward in Love and
Enlightenment. Through sacrifice, we not only become more like
God, we become more of God, and God becomes more of us.
There is literally no way to exaggerate the power and importance of this
action in spiritual development – it transcends all other practices in
effect and potency. The apparently spare and humble life of the
poverty stricken monk that is lived as an act of sacrifice to the Self
as the embodiment of God bestows a great entitlement by literally
placing that individual directly within the Light and Love of that
Presence – what greater wealth can there be? This is what is meant by
the Christian admonition “Tis more Blessed to Give than to Receive” –
when giving occurs in the context of genuinely selfless service to
others in the name of God, the bond of Faith is increased and
strengthened, bringing us into the Holy Presence and securing the
Blessing of Divine Grace. By comparison, when we receive a material
gift, no matter how well made, we are receiving something transitory and
superficial that will leave us eventually, where the bond with God
created by sacrifice never will. What would you choose?
The social processes of
interaction, prayer, and meditation are the trinity of Faith in
practice. Whether engaged in through isolation, with a partner, or in
a group of any size, these three activities make Faith real –
much more than just a casual or hypothetical concept that can be easily
disregarded or ignored when convenient. These keep us on track to the
Divine Destination by working together for that purpose, building a
community of Faith both within the individual Psyche and among other
devoted people. Spiritual interaction, known as Satsang in Sanskrit,
and simply as the Church (or Mass) in Christianity connects us socially
to the Divine life, prayer connects us interpersonally through dialog
to God as the Universal Consciousness, and meditation connects us to the
Seat of God within us – the Self. I personally feel that
these three actions are mutually supporting in and of the Divine
lifestyle – they all work together and reinforce each other in harmony
to produce an integrated spiritual condition and society of Faith
dedicated to the Divine Life.
So it would appear that Faith is a most complex subject indeed,
and it is no wonder that it has been regarded throughout history as the
ultimate force at work in human affairs. Faith is the living
relationship with a God who has become actualized, literally
forged into manifest existence by the Faithful themselves, or Self
realized in Jungian terms – the Word made Flesh in the
Presence of the Temple, the Sacrament, and the Christ. Such a force is
beyond intellectual logical comprehension – it must be experienced
through participation in its rites, rituals, and institutions. It must
be witnessed in the demonstrations of its personal, social, and cultural
power and potency in the material world on the Physical Plane of
existence. It must be known through the acts of sacrifice and
devotion that mark the Faithful as its adherents and followers, great
and small.
- With Love, Alan -
(Copyright 2010, by Alan Schneider)
Return to Top
|