Helen’s latest revelation is urging me to the conviction that real spiritual growth does not come from reliance on any person, power or other thing external to us. I am coming to believe that we should give up relying on gods, ministers and teachers, and instead learn to listen to what we already have within us. It seems to me that the real purpose of any spiritual teacher should not be to give us facts, theories, doctrines and dogma, but to show us how to listen to a part of ourselves that we’re not trained to listen to.
Having said which, I have to confess that I’ve found a new favourite statement on Acey’s blog. It comes from what appears to be a yearbook based on the advisements of the Buddha:
Truth is one.
There is no second.
This seems to me to be the most exquisite, simple summation of what is probably the only truth that ultimately matters. And I do hope that anybody reading this will bear in mind that it come from the Buddha, and will not be tempted to interpret it according to the dictates of exoteric monotheism.
4 comments:
This made me think of the lyrics to a song I used to like:
"There is no truth,
there is only you,
and what you make the truth."
Saying something entirely different, I realize. But your post got me thinking.
One of my earliest 'influences' was Richard Bach's Illusions, in which the reluctant Messiah explains to his young sidekick that the process of learning is no more than remembering what you already know.
That's something slightly different too, but connected.
Very nice to see you, Zoe.
I with you there Jeff, I believe it's all about remembering/ connecting with that quiet part of ourselves. I think the spiritual teachings behind the religions have that kernel within them but sadly, as with most things in this world, we're discouraged from finding our own source of power.
I'm reliably informed, Mel, that one of the teachings ascribed to the Buddha was to avoid organised religion. And then there's the 'lost Gospel of Mark' that the Church apparently doesn't want people to read, in which Jesus purportedly taught that God should be sought within us, and not worshiped as an external force. Makes you wonder what all the other Gospels that the Church destroyed in the 4th century had to say.
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