What is the core of spiritual strength?

This writing is kind of the continuation to the past blog of mine, of religious discussion. Like I concluded in that blog, no religious nor spiritual path can be judged or categorized by the plain facts it offers. I've come to think this is also the case with nominal christianity. People have somehow lost the core of the religion. The same phenomenon can be seen in all religions. In many spiritual movements, like christianity, islam and buddhism, you hear the talks about secularization.

The common answer is that religions are needless today. Science has taken so big leaps that people don't have the need to believe into "imaginary friends" anymore. But at the same time everyone can see how the science has not got us any better. Science has only those thousands of theories, diagnoses and medications, still unable to solve the mystery of mind and to explain what we are made of. Besides, science is also a question of believing. Whether it is a regular flu or theory of relativity, we can explain a lot, but having an effect on the real world theories describe, requires faith.

What is it that spirituality offers then? What is the core to keep people empowered and convinced? I don't know the answer for sure, but I think I'm not missing the point very badly, if I say it is the experience. Same time as the talks of secularization increase, the influence of religions and spirituality to our everyday life diminishes. Though only through the influence, you get the experience. And the influence is nowadays only the few formal things scattered infrequently along your life's path - weddings, funerals and from two to three other days in your life.

I had to take the buddhist yoga course to learn to quiet my mind and to learn to contemplate my inner thoughts. I got only vague suggestion on praying from my own spiritual group. Only after some time I learned about medieval monastery practices and for example quietism that would've had the part of the answer I was searching for. It was the experience I was after - not a membership to a club that has certain benefits after you die.

For me the experience and living this life is in a core of my spirituality. I don't get any satisfaction in argument on facts and figures. I don't get a warm feeling of belonging just by donating to someone who is on "a good cause". I need the experience, the tools for this life and the nourishment for my spirit. And luckily I've come to notice, that I'm not alone.

Will to change (WOS part III)

I continue with thoughts arisen from the Walls of our souls part 1 and part 2. Those writings has lead me to think about the will behind the change. People do have innate tendencies to change because of our biology. Our brains are designed to adapt, but because of survival, we also have to have the fear for the change. But how do we react or adapt in different situations, is also a question of conscious thinking and requires at least some amount of will. I think if the process would be just biologically driven, I wouldn't do this thinking process at the moment - I'd just choose according to my instincts.

When talking about the bigger changes in life, not just everyday bread-or-porridge-for-breakfast decisions, one needs the will more than usually. But the will can also lead you astray, if you're not familiar with it. Knowing the nature of the will is important. "Will" today is thought to be some kind of focused, determined state where one tries achieve a chosen goal. A state where one focuses all perception and actions towards desired target. A target that very often has been reasoned to be the best alternative. Or if the target's been chosen instinctively, it is without knowing where from and why the emotions rise.

When choosing goals in life, we quite often use only reasoning. This is what we're taught to do. But when we ourselves - our brains, bodies and minds - cannot be reasoned, the decision made by plain reasoning, is just folly. The will itself works also on different levels than solely on pure scientific logic. If one reasons the goals and uses will as mere a tool to achieve desired state, one ends up out of the frying pan, into the fire. This creates usually a situation where personal power is depleted in the process of setting goals too high or worst yet, choosing the goals that wont increase your energy. This leads easily to dead end where you hear one saying: "I want to change my life without changing." You can't change without the energy to do it.

The will consists of many elements. The desires, needs and emotions are to be evaluated and included also. Will is not plain focus or being stubborn. The best description I've achieved so far is:

"Will is not determination. To be determined is to know one's will."

How being social is very anti-social

I know some people who consider themselves as social and some who consider they are not very skilled in social situations. But these are not the opposites.

To some people social equals to gregarious, loud and outgoing to the point where they suffocate everyone else. They usually like to socialize, but they pick only the company that supports their own ego and hear only the comments that support their own view on themselves. Yes, on themselves, because they usually are not interested of the world around them and the people in it. Their excuse is the interest and love to other people but the truth is usually interest on themselves and using other people in the process. They have an inner world - oversized ego - which they've built and they use other people as mirrors. But in a way like the Snow White's stepmother used the mirror, not really seeing what is actually going on around them.

Social is just being social. Last time checking the dictionary it said "People who like to be with other people". It doesn't include the social skills. Social and socially skilled people on the other hand seem to be less social on the first glance. This is because they are genuinely interested of others but they also have the ability to give room for the people around them. They also strive to understand other points of views and they understand the need of inner silence in the process. By talking, you only find what you wanted to find, usually a reflection of yourself. By listening, you find what's outside you, and you risk a chance of learning of the world and people around you.

The problem with this term "social" is the illusion of social people being also socially skilled, considering and loving persons. This is not true. In my life this has usually been exactly the opposite. Including myself. But I've come to learn that the social life is so much easier with the social skills and they are worth the pursue. Though it can be pain at the start and requires you to give up a lot of the pile of crap you've used to call yourself.

One of today's slogan is that "you don't need to understand other people to get along with them". This is true to the point in getting along. But if one claims to be social and socially skilled, considering and open person, you really do need to understand. You can't make this happen just by saying this is true - you might not see the truth, but trust me, other people do. Whether or not they are polite enough not to say that aloud. If you want to see, learn and develop yourself, you do need to understand. If you lack the ability, the empathy, to do this, you should probably train yourself. Empathy is also a skill that can be learned. Study yourself and find the reason for the inability. Sometimes this process reveals something of yourself, something you didn't want to know and accept, but I tell you, it is worth it. And it's possible for everyone.

You just need to stop. Yes, you. Not the other people.

The power-draining modernity

Many speak of modernity and stress it causes to a man. Many speak of accelerating speed of life and the shallow contact it gives to life itself. In ancient philosophies the speed of life and just external performing of man has never been valued high. For example in taoism is a concept called Te - virtue. The virtue can be understood as a inner personality or strength. Virtue can also be described by an analogue to farm; the virtue of the farm is to produce the crops. Virtue cannot be learned from books but from studying the inner self. As one lives according to his or her virtue, one grows the inner strength.

In Taoism is also another concept: Wu Wei - the concept of effortless action. It's philosophy is to spend only as much energy as is needed to complete the task. All extra energy spent is just an extra stress. For example skilled butcher cuts between the bones, so he never has to sharpen his knife. Even though training a craft takes a lot of effort, mastering it gives you the possibility to do it out of a sheer joy of doing it. Not stressing yourself.

It's also a biological fact that brains shape according to our environment and actions. The most used neuron circuits strengthen and the less used circuits tend to weaken and die. So also biologically thinking the older one gets, the more hard it becomes to gather and learn to master new skills, virtues or ways of life.

But today's world demands sometimes the opposite. Man has to be ready to move his whole life and family after jobs. He has to be ready to train oneself into completely new profession, if markets demand that. Some has even made a lifestyle and dogma of this superficial and shallow touch on life, claiming that man has to renew - to "shed a skin" - in certain cycles of years. Man does need certain kind of renewing, replenishing, but I'm not sure these "prophets" always see the process in positive, empowering way.

Every year we have less time to be quiet with ourselves. Every year there's less people doing our jobs, causing the few do more than before. Every year there's more people without the job, below the average subsistence, forcing one to focus on survival, leaving no time for inner development, growth as a human being. Thus blocking also the development of our societies. Every year we have more social problems, poverty, crimes, diseases and people dropping outside the society. Which nowadays seem often only a society for a few "qualified". For those who sacrifice themselves for nothing. The growth of our economy doesn't equal to the growth of our humanity.

Impenetrable ego (Walls of our souls -sequel)

Last year I wrote about the walls of our souls. I had a vision that we build the walls to protect ourselves. Some defenses around our egos to keep us safe. However in the process of disassembling my own walls I came to see the fortress is quite empty inside. I came to this conclusion after noticing that in taking the walls apart, I always had to give up of something I've used to call "myself". Actually, I am not revealing something that is called me from the shadows of the walls, but instead there's no one home inside the fortress. There is no "higher me", there is no divine soul inside.

The walls and ego seem to be the same thing after all. The "ideal me" I've wanted to be all my life does not exist at all. Well, should I put the bricks back on their places then? I cannot live as incomplete construction yard, right? But it wouldn't solve the original problem. The original target was to be open to the world, open to myself and open to my environment on all levels. And to break free from the fortress, from the prison I've built for myself. But, the stronger the ego, the further the goal. No matter what kind of ego I build, in building it, I always leave something out. The more I identify with something, the more I reject it's opposite. It'd just feed the dualistic battle where no one eventually wins. So the answer to break free from the truths I've built for myself, seems to be to get rid of the ego.

Instead of just thinking who I am, I should change the point of view totally. I'm not sure yet what it is, but I've come to learn few new views.

• Most of the obstacles in being free and being true to yourself comes from yourself. The ego makes the biggest blocks on life's highway.
• Your truth is a lie to someone else and your lies are the holiest truths to someone. If you fight this, you will lose - if you accept it, you have a chance to learn. 
• To your inner balance and peace there is no right of wrong, true or false, black or white, dark of light. There's just your inner force.
• The inner force must not be fed from dualities, because every time you feed from light, you risk losing to dark, when you feed from hate, you risk losing to love and when you feed from others you risk losing to yourself. 
• The strong ego gives an impression of vast and large world. But it is just a world full of empty visions which exist only to yourself. Stronger the ego, stronger the hallucinations and stronger the belief into them. 
• When your world is not agreed on, it doesn't exist. No contact space means no flow of force. No force means imprisonment inside your ego's hallucinations.  
• To the outside world, your world exists only in positions where you find contact space with your environment and other world. 
• Your world and your force replenishes only through these contact spaces. 

Let's see where the world takes us...