Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Gaining an ear for religious disharmonies

I’m not at all musical. But I’ve got a pretty good ear for theological inconsistencies. These are statements that, when I hear them, sound like an obvious off-key note. Like a loud whaaaap! in the midst of an otherwise harmonious composition. During my many unquestioning devotional years, I was able to sit through Radha Soami Satsang Beas “sermons” (a.k.a. satsangs) and pretty much tune out the disharmonies. I could do the same thing when my daughter briefly, blessedly, tried to learn to play the violin in elementary school. When you’re attached to someone or something, you tend to overlook sour…
4
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

If a religion can’t be wrong, it surely is

According to Daniel Dennett’s new book, here’s a surefire way to tell whether a belief system is a religion: is it invulnerable to disproof? In other words, is there any way to tell whether the beliefs are wrong? For example, Jesus is the Son of God. We know this because the Bible tells us so. The Bible can’t be doubted because it is the Word of God. So is Jesus, according to St. John. Thus we have a skeptic-proof system operating here. If you doubt the truth of the Bible, you lack faith in Jesus, without which you will never…
8
Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Emerson’s sacrilegious Divinity School address

On July 15, 1838 Ralph Waldo Emerson addressed a class of Harvard Divinity School graduates. He wasn’t invited back to Harvard for three decades. Given what he said, I can understand why. The complete address can be read here. I’ll share some of my favorite passages: Meantime, whilst the doors of the temple stand open, night and day, before every man, and the oracles of this truth cease never, it is guarded by one stern condition; this, namely; it is an intuition. It cannot be received at second hand. Truly speaking, it is not instruction, but provocation, that I can…
3
Posted inGod Religions

Possible and impossible gods

I’m a firm believer in melding science and spirituality. Any religion or metaphysical system that is clearly at odds with evident scientific facts has no appeal for me. So the book by Victor Stenger that I wrote about in my previous post, “God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist,” is right up my alley. It hasn’t been published yet, but today I took a look at a sample chapter via Stenger’s web site. “Possible and Impossible Gods” is thought-provoking. And Judeo - Christian - Islamic religion-demolishing. Stenger argues persuasively that it isn’t possible for the…
5
Posted inGod Religions

Are you religious or spiritual? Take the test.

Often people say, “I’m spiritual but not religious.” Understandable. Religion, after all, has some notorious drawbacks. Intolerance, divisiveness, sanctimoniousness, irrationality—to name a few. But what does it mean to be non-religious? I’ve just started reading Daniel Dennett’s “Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon” and came across his intriguing definition: Tentatively, I propose to define religions as social systems whose participants avow belief in a supernatural agent or agents whose approval is to be sought. Interesting. And persuasive to me. Not least because this definition by a professional philosopher meshes nicely with my “turn on or tune in?” distinction.…
10
Posted inBuddhism Religions Wu Project

To find God, get off the mind road

Churches are big on mind roads. That’s what they want you to travel on. In the church’s theological car, of course. Propelled by faith that you’re eventually going to get to God. Driven by the savior, mediator, master, guru, or prophet who supposedly knows the territory. Problem is, nothing travel-worthy is apparent apart from the belief that there is. That’s why it is a mind road, not a real road. The pavement is cobbled together from passages found in holy books, words heard from the mouths of holy teachers, images seen by eyes that have gazed upon holy places and…
3
Posted inReligions Wu Project

Religious knowledge totals exactly zero

Zero: it never fails to astound me that this is the sum total of genuine religious knowledge accumulated throughout human history. There have been so many worshippers, so many devotees, so many seekers of divinity. And the demonstrable metaphysical facts that have been accumulated from all of this effort? None. Absolutely none. There is not a single shred of objective evidence that reality consists of anything more than the universe we know now. If there were, such a fact would have been trumpeted in banner headlines across every newspaper in the world. Core scientific theories would have had to be…
3
Posted inDeath/Rebirth Radha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Living in the now

What if this is all that there is? This. Right here, right now. A succession of moments in the physical world. After we die: nothing. No more “this.” As I so often repeat here at the Church of the Churchless, I don’t know. I sure hope there is life after death. As Woody Allen put it, “I don't want to achieve immortality through my work I want to achieve it through not dying.” But here’s another Woody Allen quote: “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to…
9
Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Spiritual nomads

Over at the wonderfully named Ambivablog, amba is “Calling all spiritual nomads.” Her piece is well-written and thoughtful, as befits a blogger with an impressive literary resume. (I’d love to be able to say about myself, “wrote a lot of reviews for The New York Times Book Review.”) I was pleased to note that amba says that Church of the Churchless is a new favorite blog of hers. Same back at you, my churchless sister. I thoroughly enjoyed your spiritual nomad piece. Especially the musical chair analogy. Say “Religion” in this strange new world of ours, and I see a…
No Comments
Posted inReligions

On being spiritually lost

Today I learned that I’m heading for the Sixth Level of Hell, where heretics are sent. Well, it could be worse. Fraudulent, malicious, pandering, and treacherous souls end up in levels seven, eight, and nine. I’ll be living the good afterlife by comparison. To find out how doomed you are yourself, head to Dante’s Inferno Test. After answering a few questions (be honest or you’ll make it worse on yourself!) you’ll know what’s in store for you, hell-wise. Funny thing is, I don’t feel spiritually lost. I realize that my Sixth Level of Hell score is based on Christian rules…
7
Posted inReligions Science

Yoism, an open source religion

Hey, it works for Linux, the alternative to Windows. So why not apply open source principles to the creation of a new-time religion? Out with dogmatism and hierarchy; in with freedom and independence. Such is the allure of Yoism, which bills itself as the world’s first open source religion. Thanks to a link sent to me by Church of the Churchless visitor Steve, I’ve been able to browse around the intriguing cyberhalls of Yoism and get a feel for the Almighty Yo. Yo, I learned, is “the Infinite Unknowable Essence from which all that we experience manifests.” All right, I…
3
Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Bible and The Da Vinci Code are both fiction

I’m used to hearing absurdities when I listen to conservative talk radio, but this really jarred me: today I heard “The Da Vinci Code” being compared to holocaust deniers. Geez, righties, you should at least make a halfway attempt at rational discourse. This evening Victoria Taft interviewed Michael Chapman of the Media Research Center, which bills itself as “the leader in documenting, exposing and neutralizing liberal media bias.” He was frothing about all the Christian bashing that’s gone on with coverage of The Da Vinci Code book and movie. Funny. I haven’t noticed it. I’ve read quite a few articles…
8
Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Wave relaxing into ocean. Ahhhh….

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at Maui waves the past nine days. Hopefully I’m starting to get their spiritual message. “Dude, we’re the same as the ocean. Just like you are the same as God, Buddha nature, Tao, whatever you want to call it. Relax, brutha. Hang loose. Trust us, we know: when you’re not the wave, you’re the ocean.” The thing is, waves are a lot more interesting than the flat ocean. When I sit on the beach and gaze out to sea, mostly I focus on the waves. (Which, sadly, have been calm the whole time…
No Comments
Posted inReligions Wu Project

Tuning in to religion-less religion

A few days ago I used the term “religion-less religion” in a "I'm working on my Wu" post. Over at the Yoga Loft, they’re asking, “See It Three Times, Is It More Than Coincidence?” I don’t know. Could be a cosmic synchronicity. Could be a random happening. Could be something else. Regardless, I enjoyed what the Yoga Lofter had to say about religion-less religion. The first time this term came up was in a conversation with his or her mother. We agreed that all the world's problems seem to stem from people trying to stick the concept of God into…
2
Posted inHumor Religions

Kissing Hank’s ass, the essence of religion

I never realized how much religion was like kissing Hank’s ass until, not surprisingly, I read “Kissing Hank’s Ass.” What a revelation! Every Church of the Churchless visitor should read it also. If you don’t, Hank will kick your ass. I guarantee it. Hank told me so. Well, not Hank exactly. But the thought, If you don’t, Hank will kick your ass, just came into my mind, and I sincerely believe that it came directly from Hank. You’ll just have to trust me on that. Oh, I almost forgot to mention the good news. If you do kiss Hank’s ass,…
1
Posted inReligions Universism

Death of a religion: Universism’s strange demise

It isn’t often that we get to observe the birth and death of a religion. Especially a non-religious religion. Universism is, or was, such a beast. Its brief rise and sudden fall offers some instructive lessons concerning the dangers of institutionalized belief. I’ve been writing about Universism since I discovered it last July. At first I considered it a kindred unfaith that was completely compatible with my churchless leanings. I then plunged deeper into Universism and organized a local Salem Universist discussion group. But then the central Universist Movement started to turn weird. My posts became more critical, starting with…
6
Posted inPersonal/Stories Religions

Dance to your own music

I’m taking tango lessons. Hard to believe. But I’ve got proof. Check out my “We tango and also get tangled” post. A month has passed and we don’t get quite as tangled now. I’m enjoying tango much more than I thought I would. It’s tempting to dive into an analysis of what I like about tango. However, the memory of some pithy advice I was given at the last class is still vivid: “Shut up and dance!” That declarative statement was a gift, not an insult. Borrowing a favorite word from Steven Colbert, I enjoyed the marvelous truthiness of it.…
1
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Go ahead and believe

I’m a skeptic. That’s my nature. But if you’re a believer, more power to you. Skepticism feels right to me. Belief feels right to most people, since belief in a “God” of some sort is a decided majority opinion, particularly in the hyper-religious United States. I understand the allure of belief in a higher power. Faced with the uncertainties of life—death, disease, distress (to name a few)—it’s tremendously reassuring to consider that you’re being cared for and loved by God or some other manifestation of divinity. Such as a guru. In response to my “Who is the guru?” post, Nick…
No Comments
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Religion should make us more humane, not less

It strikes me as strange that ardent religious devotees often act in ways that are less humane, caring, and loving than a regular person you’d meet on the street. The Mohammed cartoon riots are a good example of this, since normally people don’t kill or pillage if someone offends them. So if an action wouldn’t be acceptable in everyday life, it certainly shouldn’t be acceptable in the name of religion. Spirituality should make us better human beings, not worse. Unfortunately, often the reverse is true. I heartily agree with these comments by Valerie about a religion I’m well acquainted with,…
5
Posted inChristianity/Jesus Religions

Jesus says, “Beware of religion”

Here’s another great churchless teaching story from Anthony de Mello, my kind of Jesuit priest. The kind who was censured by the Catholic Church after his death for speaking the truth too freely. This is from his book, “Taking Flight.” The priest announced that Jesus Christ himself was coming to church the following Sunday. People turned up in large numbers to see him. Everybody expected him to preach, but he only smiled when introduced and said, “Hello.” Everyone offered him hospitality for the night, especially the priest, but he refused politely. He said he would spend the night in church.…
6