“The misconception which has haunted philosophic literature throughout the centuries is the notion of ‘independent existence.’ There is no such mode of existence; every entity is to be understood in terms of the way it is interwoven with the rest of the universe.”
– Alfred North Whitehead
“I searched for Buddha – the wise one who sees and knows the true nature of reality, the one who understands the cause and solution of suffering, the one who walks in peace, serenity, and liberation. I searched for Buddha but I could not find him. I only found this enlightenment inside myself.
I searched for Guanyin – the mother of universal and indiscriminate compassion, the one with motherly resolve to liberate all her children from suffering. I searched for Guanyin but could not find her. I only found this boundless compassion inside myself.
I searched for Jesus – the one who unifies his divinity and humanity, the one who transcends the dualism of God and man, the one who knows no separation between heaven and earth. I searched for Jesus but could not find him. I only found this great completion inside myself.
I searched for Socrates – the one who questions, the one who investigate all things curiously, deeply, critically and introspectively, the one who ordered his life according to virtue and love. I searched for Socrates but I could not find him. I only found this wisdom inside myself.
I searched for Dr. King – the one who would not claim freedom for himself as long as his fellow human beings languished in isolation, suffering and oppression, the one who fearlessly championed the cause of the victimized, marginalized, maltreated, and forgotten. I searched for Dr. King but I could not find him. I only found this calling inside myself.
I searched for a God – the fundamental nature of reality, the ultimate ground of all being, the primordial essence of all that is, the wholeness and completeness at the heart of all things. I searched for a God out there somewhere but I could not find him. I only found this ultimate reality as the nature of all things and the essence of what I am.”
Jim Palmer
From Jim Palmer – Facebook Page – Founder for Non-Religious Spirituality
The personal is personal! And sometimes there’s a memory lapse as I go on and write or talk or draw as it always comes back to making sense of living, and now, impending death – I’m well at the moment and have no life threatening diseases – and God/god! And the church/religion! I spent 52 years flat out in it and now at 74 I have been flat out out of it for 22 years!
I read a book by a conservative activist in the 1970’s Oz Guiness “Doubt – Faith in two minds” and it helped me put doubts on the back burner and ostensibly come back to them. They, doubts, are all I have at times and yet the closed systems I hung onto needed and have been pushed away, abandoned and questioned. This is my journey and in finding Jim Palmer on Facebook was an interesting discovery. Strong dominant male leaders have sucked me in over the years and so I am a bit wary. But there is a pattern of his kind around. My own thoughts, readings, children and various authentic social media accounts post my exit from the church/religion continue to lead me to similar positions as Palmer [cited above].
Two excellent books from a pile of excellent books – and one that quotes Alfred Lord Whitehead – is by American theologian Catherine Keller – On the Mystery – Discerning Divinity in Process. The other is Courting the Wild Twin by the wonderful mythologist Dr Martin Shaw. Keller’s style is very demanding to read with a style that I need to re-read to get the gist of. But I get what she is driving at and it’s good to read a woman theologian’s work! Shame on me. Here are strong words from my favourite chapter – Sticky Justice: “Agapic or compassionate love has seemed sentimental, inffectual, patronizing. It prefers charity to structural change. In response we can only insist : those who are oppressed don’t want our compassion, they just want justice. They want a shift in the stucture of power that block their possibilities, that shut down their life process. ” P114
Trying to get there with this.
Peter Breen.
Peteskibreen's Blog 