Maybe I spend too much time thinking about things. Maybe I go too deep in thought, contemplation and searching for answers to the mystery of life. In a blog a year or two ago I mentioned I was going to explore philosophy as that was one subject in college that I just did the minimum of study in, due to my other interests at the time. So, what has come of that study and research? Since I occasionally have people ask me what I believe in, what my religion and my philosophy are, I thought it was time to sit down and explain where I am at this point in my life (and perhaps, where I’ve been).
So, to put it in a nutshell, as they say, I would say that today, I am a Zen-Stoic Christian Spiritualist. Yes, I’m a ZSCS. That’s the best I can come up with at this point. So let me explain what I mean by all of this. I’ll say a little about each part of my self-identity, but I must say, up front, I am no scholar, no academic, no expert on any of this. I’m just me trying to figure out what I am in the whole scheme of things.
First off, I see myself at least in a basic way a Zen Buddhist in how I live. Now, there are books and books on this subject, and like all philosophies and religions, there are many, many branches. but I’m just interested in the basics. Zen is basically a meditation technique connected with the Buddhist philosophy. It is meditation. It is about being in the silence and looking at life. Seeing life as it is, right now, in your (my) face. Whatever is going on in one’s life, what is right in your face, as I said. Suspending judgment, opinions, anger, etc. as best as you can. Just being with what is. Just being there. Looking at what is. As people say, “it is what it is!” That may sound awful, but, in reality, that is the truth. If something awful has happened, it has happened. It can’t be undone by denial, by saying it did not happen. Our human reaction is usually denial and thus, creating all sorts of psychological problems.
Like I said, this is a very simple explanation of these parts of my self-identity. So, also, stoicism I find very similar to Zen. Many years ago, I came to the conclusion I was basically a stoic after reading about stoicism. Stoicism gets misinterpreted these days, I think, as being a philosophy of cold, detached, non-feeling, non-caring people. That is not accurate at all. Stoicism is very concerned with living an ethical, virtuous life. It, like Zen, asks what is true, right now, in this moment, what is staring you in the face. Without judgment, opinions, just what is. (Not very easy to do for most of us most of the time). I would say, for most of my life, this was an impossible state to put myself in. I was always reacting to everything happening to me, often in extreme, inappropriate ways. I did not handle situations calmly, with a feeling that things would work out. My “triggers” were always being activated.
Now, regarding the “Christian” part of my identity. I have in previous blogs mentioned I do not like the term Christian so much these days. In today’s religious and political climate that word just has so many bad associations attached to it. And really, what is Christianity? Jesus was not a Christian; he was a Jew. His religion was Judaism. So, for me, a better descriptive term would be “Jesus follower.” I’m a Jesus follower. And, in my recent blog I explained that I love Jesus. So, yes, I love Jesus and follow his teachings. But our culture is basically Christian, so that term is the one used to describe Jesus’ followers. As a theologian I know says, “I’m culturally Christian and spiritually unlimited.” That works for me.
So, having very briefly covered the Zen, Stoic and Christian (Jesus follower) parts of my self-identity we come to the last part, spiritualist. To me, this only means that I realize and feel that there is more to life than the material, physical, seen world. I’m not into ouija boards, dramatic seances, etc. Not into witchcraft and all of that. But I know there seems to be more than the visible world in this life, this existence we experience. I’ve had some encounters with the unseen or Spirit world. Even science says openly that we only see about 5% or so of what exists in our world. Probably 95% of existence is invisible. I find it amazing for science to say that. Everything we see is not all of existence, in other words. Amazing, I say.
So, I’m (at this point in my life) a Zen-Stoic Christian (or “Jesus follower’) Spiritualist. Works for me. I think the hardest things in life are learning that there is only change. Nothing is permanent, as the Buddha taught. If we can handle that and live with that somehow, we can cope with life in an enlightened way. Life is hard. Life is constant change. Life is painful at times. And life can be good. We can’t control it all. It must be lived moment-by-moment. Be in the moment and have a good one, as much as you can.
This is just a brief overview of where I am now. I have not gotten into beliefs in any detail. In fact, I’m not big on “beliefs.” In fact, Christianity was the first religion to come along with belief and doctrines being a big important part of the religion. “Have the right beliefs” is the main thrust of evangelical and fundamentalist, conservative Christians and churches. Not for me. I wrote a previous blog on how I love Jesus, but I did not discuss any beliefs I had about him. Maybe a future blog will deal more with beliefs we have, but for me, just living the right life, the virtuous, ethical, moral life is what’s important. Zen, Stoicism, Christianity (following Jesus) and spirituality are part of my life now, not doctrines, creeds and dogma, etc. And so it is.
Wally