Category: Religion / Spirituality

Well, this political season is a wild one. Lots of talk about cults and lots of anger and hatred and rigid thinking. Gets me thinking about these things. History is full of cults and people needing groups and leaders to follow who promise everything to loyal followers and use various manipulative and control tactics to maintain a very tight control of followers and their minds. I have even had some personal experience with “cults” in my life.

Now, the term cult does not always mean a bad thing. But often, especially these days, it does imply a bad thing. Christianity was considered a cult in the early days. Now it is rather mainstream, you could say. So, cults can be very bad or just a nuisance , you could say.

My experience with a cult sort of “snuck up on me” over a period of time. I got talked into joining one of those “human potential,” self-improvement,” “enlightenment” movements of the 1970’s. I did a training and consequently took “graduate seminars.” Did a few, or perhaps several, then decided “enough is enough.”

When the organization called me one day to get me signed up for a new seminar, I decided, no, I’ve had enough seminars for this lifetime. I said no, no more seminars. Done with them. Thank you very much, but no.

Well, that was not acceptable. If you’ve done the training and done several post-graduate seminars, you will continue taking classes for the rest of your life, or so their thinking goes. And when the person talking to me realized I was serious, he turned on me rather aggressively. “Oh, no, you can’t stop the program. You’ve got to keep taking seminars. You know what will happen if you outright quit? You are going to die” I was told sternly.

If I were to get on a plane, now it would crash. Or I would be in a fatal car crash, etc. Something bad was going to happen if I broke my association with this group. No question about that, the “universe” would get me. Absolutely certain.

It was hard to believe they could actually seriously say that, but that was apparently how they operated. So, that was my experience with what I considered a cult. A bit scary, I’d say.

So, did I learn anything from this experience? Well, yes. I learned some groups are manipulative and controlling. They say and think that they have the truth. They are sure of that and will do what they need to do to keep you in line, so to speak. These groups often have a guru or a master, a leader who will do everything to control you. If you are needy and lack confidence in yourself, watch out. The bad examples would be the Heaven’s Gate cult or the Jim Jones’ cult. There are lots of examples like these.

So, what have I learned from my experiences? I have learned that I do not especially like the concept of “guru” or “master,” or any authoritarian figure leading a group of needy people. I am fine with the concept of “teachers.” I have teachers in my life. Some great teachers, I would say. But that’s it. They are teachers. Flawed human beings that have a lot of good insights and truths to share with others.

So, today we have a lot of cults. Some more dangerous than others. Some in the political arena. Some very “wacko,” I would say. Some very dangerous. Well, that’s what we have to live with. At least I am aware of them and their dangerous influences. I will not succumb to any authoritarian figure in this day and age. I know better. Unfortunately, I see others, some friends and family cave in to cult leader persuasions. A very disappointing situation for me.

But life goes on. I can just do my best to be aware of all that is going on around me and stand up for what I see as truth. I hope and pray that the bad, the chaotic, and the evil go away and do not become the mainstream, especially in my life and of those I love.

Wally

Alright, this sounds like a strange topic for a blog that has a theme of “On the Path… It’s a Wonderful Life.” I agree but let me explain. I’m all for having and creating a good and happy, positive life. I’ve written about my earlier years. Times of chaos, unhappiness, anger, confusion and the usual childhood family experiences that many of us have had. Very dark times I survived. I got through them with no major wrong turns, fortunately.

So, I have always sought a better life than my early years led me to believe was my future. I at some point realized that I had to go my own way. Create my own life, rather than just do what I was told to do. That was the path that saved me from a very bad life of deep, dark depression. Something in my inner self pointed me in the right direction. I looked for and sought out a positive way of living. I sought out religious and spiritual wisdom and guidance and knowledge. Yes, I became acquainted with the self-help literature. I learned how to be more positive and battle the negatives of life. It worked. My life turned out good. It turned out wonderful, in fact. But, underneath the “good life” I was living, there was always a dark place staring me in my face if I let it. The bad things in life. The negative, the evil, etc. Yep, always there.

Now that I have lived many, many decades and survived so many twists and turns on my path, I began to realize that something was missing. So much of the happiness seeking and self-help literature seemed to be missing something. Like so much of church experience, there was a lot of “fluff,” stuff preached at us that was not really honest and substantial. I consider myself a real, deep, and substantial person, so I looked at this situation more closely. How could seeking happiness and positive thinking be lacking something or not perhaps the best way to live?

Well, happiness is good. Joy in life is wonderful. Self-help literature can certainly be helpful and a good thing. But there’s the other side of life. Life is sh*t, the world is f*cked. There’s evil out there. Study history. I did, it was my major in college and I’m deep into studying it now in my continuing adult education. How do you reconcile it all, living a good, positive happy joyous life and seeing the crap of the world?

I needed a new, different perspective on life that was more realistic, real, true, yet good and helpful and positive. Then I came across two interesting books that got me thinking more along these lines of how to be happy and live a good life amid all the muck in this world. The titles are a bit unusual and, well, gross. “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” and “Everything is F*cked.”

Read the two books. Couldn’t put them down and then discovered there was a third book, “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**ck Journal.” Wow, that really got me working on looking at my life in a new way. A different way to see things, consider how you are living and how you may want to live to deal with life now. For me, that was great. Just what I needed. Basically, telling us that there are only limited amounts of f*cks to give in life, so be deliberate in deciding where to give your attention. Don’t waste your life energy on unimportant things in your life. Give your energy to what really matters to you in life. Forget the rest. That not giving a f*ck is one of the greatest skills in life you can learn.

Well, I could go on and on, as usual in my blogs, but you get the point, I hope. There is so much we cannot control in life. Being unrealistically positive and denying the bad in this world does not work, as I see it. I say denial is never a good thing. There is a lot of crap in life. So much of life is control and manipulation of us by others. Parents, family, teachers, friends, the education system and the business world and politics, etc. There is always pain and suffering and conflicts in life. Everyone has their own agenda. Many want to hurt or harm us in one way or another, make us “play the game” (their game, their way). Perhaps you don’t see it that way, but I do. I’ve been around a long time, seen it all.

So, from these books and this personal working journal and my stoic philosophy, I see things much more clearly than I ever did before. We all hurt at times. We have been hurt. Sh*t happens. There is pain and suffering in life. Even Jesus says this. The Buddha, and others. Such is life. Life is learning how to handle all of this, and that is what we have to do, really. Otherwise, we are in denial and living a false, fantasy life. A totally pleasurable, happy all the time life, with no problems. no dark times ever.

So, yes, give a f*ck. But give good f*cks. About things you really care about. Be love, give love, live totally in love, as I see it. Deal with reality. We are going to die, you know. Just live a good, ethical life so you can feel good about it all when you must say “goodbye” to everything and everyone.

I could go on, and maybe in later blog posts I’ll include some more insights gained from these books. I’ll just briefly say a few more things brought out in my reading of these books.

Shut up and be grateful. Eliminate what is not adding value to your life. Create a “F*ck it list of things you will not get involved in. Do not let emotions hijack your decision making. Don’t hope for a life without problems. There will always be problems. Make your life about having better problems (yes, this is possible). There are problems you can actually enjoy having and enjoy solving. Know your values. Ask what problems you enjoy solving in life. Focus on what you can control. F*ck the rest. Find greater purpose in your life. Is that enough to begin thinking in new, unconventional ways? Thinking in these ways have proved very beneficial for me. Enjoy your journey.

Wally

So, a good, long-term friend of mine told me a long time ago, “Wally, I know in the coming years (decades in the future), you are going to hit the “sawdust trail.” I just know that. Hmmm… I thought. What is he saying? What is he talking about? Well, you’ve probably picked up from reading my blogs that I do have a spiritual side to my life. I do have a history in the “evangelical” church movement, I was in college in the “Jesus’ freak” years of the 60’s and 70’s. I ran around with a charismatic, Pentecostal group of college buddies and had some very good, inspiring times, I admit. Going on to theological seminary after college I got to study “theological” and religious things, yes, and that inspired me to continue some deep study in the field. When my professor said we do not want to tell our congregations what we learned here in seminary because it would cause them to lose their faith, I thought, wow, I’ve got to dig deep into this stuff to see what the truth is about all this “church” stuff.

Well, I later gave up on it all. I became what I considered to be an atheist. But a couple of years later I thought, I really need to explore this whole field more as atheism didn’t make a lot of sense to me either. Many atheists I met were rigid and closed minded, so on I went on with my further study.

Eventually I settled on a spiritual journey more in line with my life experience and my “inner sense” or inner knowing. I recently came across a term for people such as me, “exvangelical.” Okay, that works for me. I also found another term for where I’m at, Omnist.

So yes, maybe my friend was right. I continued on my spiritual quest and theological and philosophical study and now I definitely have some “spiritual” life. A mystery of life, of existence. But on a quest of trying to force people to come along with me on my specific journey? I don’t think so. Everyone has to find what works for them individually. My blogs have stated that I love Jesus, God and many sages from the ages. But that’s me, my way of living.

I went on the mission field as a construction worker for missionary friends many years ago. I have preached in churches. I have good friends that have been missionaries. I spend much time in spiritual practice and study daily, normally. But me telling anyone else what they should do or believe… no way. No tent meetings, no “sawdust trail’ as my friend predicted a long time ago. Willing to share my thoughts on things. Believing that having faith and hope and an open mind is a great way to live. Believing that that is a better way to live than just being totally materialistic.

So, it’s your life. What works for you? Embittered from having a bad experience with religion? Consider some alternatives, I say. Don’t give up on contemplating the great mystery of life. Become an exvangelical if you feel you must. Explore Omnism, the good parts of all religions. Most of philosophy says that we must find some meaning in life. Not necessarily answers, but we must give our life meaning if we are going to survive this mysterious chaos called existence. For me, life is all about love. It took me a lifetime to come to this insight, but thank God (or the whatever) I now know what I know ((which isn’t much, really.) I know that I don’t know much of anything. Live love. Life is better that way, as I see it.

Wally

So, what’s your story? What is your life story? Don’t we all have one? A story that is unique for us. A story that nobody else on this earth has. A story that we have created, or a story that we think happened to us with which we had some or little control over. I am fascinated with people’s stories.

I am fascinated by how some people have very unremarkable beginnings and turn out to be amazing individuals who create unbelievable lives, invent incredible things and advance our civilization to new heights. Then there are those who just seem to gravitate to awful lives and do much evil with their time on this earth.

So, our story. What is our story? I think we all know of people who have a horrible or miserable story. A story they are sometimes absorbed in totally and cannot break out of their negativity. Some end up just living totally in their misery and often shorten their lives through their addictions or their decision to end it all through suicide. Sad, I say, but understandable in a sense. We need to have good perspective and good activity and relationships to live positively and productively and successfully. And, I would add, a faith of some sort. If we don’t have those things, well, I say, we are living a fragile and dangerous life. I have seen several friends live like that and often have a very unhappy ending to it all.

I feel my story has changed in the past couple of years or so. I feel I had a rough early life with my family and all that’s involved in growing up. I have written about some it in previous blogs posts. So, yes, I did have some rough times early in my family life. But now I feel different about it all. Yes, I was unhappy with several things early on. But I made it through those times and made my decisions to go in new directions. And now I see that I needed to go through all I went through to get where I am today. In other words, it all worked out in the end. I see all the pieces of the puzzle now fitting together, as it were. And that’s a good, liberating feeling.

So, our story. We have a lot to do with how we see our story. We can be imprisoned and stuck with our story for all our life. Or, if we work at it, we can break out of our self-imposed story and see everything in a new way. And I would say that’s what we need to do. Step outside our “story.” If a process is needed, such as therapy or deep spiritual work, I say go for it. We have a right to have a good life, to be in touch with the invisible, good forces, the Divine aspects of life. I believe we all have the possibility of getting in touch with the Good. But if we don’t do that, well, life can be bad, really bad and sad.

Like I said, everything, everything brought me to where I am today. I have found the love of my life (which for most of my life I did not think was possible). I have accomplished my life dreams of obtaining my pilot licenses and flight instructor certificates. I have literally traveled around the world. I have had great times with great friends. And the crap, well, just part of the whole process, the lessons to be learned.

All of this was recently brought to mind when I met up with two good friends from my college years of a half century ago. They had stories about me to tell and informed my husband about those crazy years living in the dorm at school. I didn’t quite remember everything but knew that was my story at that time.

So, my advice is to look at your story. See it as clearly as you can. And be open to seeing it differently, if necessary. Break out of your repetitious story to created a new, better context if necessary. This is your one life. Enjoy it! Touch your Divinity, your connection to the universe, all of life, existence, love.

Wally

So, the theme of my blog is : “On the Path… It’s a Wonderful Life.” And here I’m saying that there is no path. Perhaps I should clarify that statement to say that there is no ONE path! We are led to believe that there is one path, the right path. Take that one path and our life will be great, wonderful, in fact; we are taught that early in life. For many, that path is a religious path. Just join and commit to the correct religion and you’re set for a good life and a good “after life” with God, in heaven.

Well, I don’t think so. Not quite that simple. I haven’t found anybody that is that committed to every aspect of whatever path they are taking through life if that path is a religious path, especially a rigid, very strict path of whatever religion or leader, with the exception of cults, perhaps. For most of us, we may basically accept a path laid out before us by others or a religion or philosophy. I think that there are many, who, like me, accept some of what others proclaim is “the way” to live a good life. But they do not accept everything. They take some truths from here and some from there. They, in the end, formulate their “own path.” And that is how I believe it should be.

I’ve known “good Catholics,” “good Mormons,” “good Baptists,” good jews,” etc. but they do not go along with everything their particular religion insists on their adherents agreeing to. In my own journey I had to change my thinking many times, and it still changes all the time. I began with joining an evangelical Christian denomination in my teens. That worked for a while but eventually caused me problems as life moved along. After theological seminary graduate school, I eventually considered myself an atheist due to my inability to accept beliefs I was told were the truth, the only “way.” But later on, I returned to some more “open” spiritual teachings and found my way back to a path that was “my path”, my way to experience the ineffable.

So, it seems we all have to find our own path, right? Yes, you may align with a particular religion or spiritual path, or you may not. I think it helps to basically align with something. To be a completely materialistic person, narcissistic or living off of artificial stimulants, whether possessions or sex or drugs or whatever just does not make a good life as I see it.

So, “find your own path” is my mantra. Center yourself somehow in something good. Don’t get “sucked in” to culture, society, the media, trends, miserable friends and other bad influences. Think about who your “teachers” are in your life. You are probably somebody’s disciple, if you think about it. You learned how to live from somebody in your life. Who was that teacher for you?

Think it over. Who were your teachers? Who influenced you? Who and what teaching did you follow? How did you avoid going down the “wrong” path (and I am hoping you did avoid doing that)? Are you living the true religion? Your religion? Traveling your path?

I went through a lot on my journey. I faced making the wrong turns many times. Turns in the road that could have destroyed me. Yes, scary. Yes, lucky. Well, lucky I say, but really I feel I was led and guided all along the way from my very early years. By what? By what people call “God?” My “higher self?” To me it is all mystery, but I have no problems, really, with the term God, Spirit, Life Force.

So, to wrap this essay up, I will give you my secrets to traveling “my” path. There are many things I could say, but the points that come to mind right now are: Always move forward, forgive, retreat and rest and refresh, contemplate, love, give thanks. Those practices are found in several religions. And if I am a disciple of any sages, I would put Jesus and Buddha and perhaps a couple others at the top of that list. May your path work for you. My advice, again, is “do not blindly accept a path presented to you without serious study and thought and consultation with your “higher self, true self or divine intuition.”

Wally