Discovering Spirituality - Episode 03 Spiritual Interpretation - Podcast Transcript

For many, the most sought after state of being is happiness, people just want to be happy. The trouble is, most people have a rather limited perception of what happiness is. It is usually associated with the external, wealth, power and the satisfaction of desires.

But when the fleeting success is over there is still a yearning for more and so the cycle continues. This is in general, how society frames success and when all is said and done, what are you left with? Mores to the point what did you have?

It's funny how the path of true meaning is at odds with the false meaning which is defined by society, in fact they are polar opposites. When the individual succumbs to how society defines life's purpose it is clear that they are not thinking for themselves.

To exist within a society there are certain responsibilities and frameworks. Most of the population live confined within these frameworks, which creates varying degrees of resentment that is tolerated by the populous. One could consider this masochistic is essence, heaped with a health dose of justification. There is always blame and resentment that ones desires are not being met. This has created many destructive and toxic ideologies. 

These social ideals create victims and casualties due to the failure of meeting these social ideals. For those on the periphery, these ideas may be viewed in a more revealing way, which can sour the individuals needs to meet the social ideals that offer very little of value.

There are those within this group of misfits that recognize that what truly gives meaning to life lies in the depths of emotional experience, particularly positive emotional experience, when care and compassion are extended to others, in a word, "selflessness."

This is a state when the need to fulfill ones desires take a back seat and cultivating positive human connection provides a more satisfying meaning to life.

This particular cycle of dissatisfaction has become increasingly prevalent over the last 100 years as fiscal prosperity has become more accessible. With increased prosperity came stronger cravings for what was promoted as being an ideal. That ideal revolved around things, so the acquisition of things became the purpose, the drive, the focus.

For the peasant class, their life was one of hardship, but this was a hardship that they accepted. They knew they could never attain the same levels of wealth and status that was afforded to the upper class. There where those that found a greater meaning in life. How you were carried more weight with attributes like character, integrity, courage and patience having a more meaningful value. Many of these positive virtues were lost on the upper classes, since they had not experienced the same degree of suffering as the peasant class did.

But once educated and the ability to read became more prevalent, the great shift occurred and the peasant that was educated could and would challenge the authority of the ruling class. And so society divided into the working class, the middle class and the upper middle class, for the sake of simplicity.

It was the merchant classes that posed the greatest threat because they realized that money was able to purchase power, influence and the all important status. It was this merchant class that started to redefine happiness for the masses. So man entered the age of money, vanity and power, and with that the identity was all that mattered.

Material wealth opened the flood gates of desire, because by having money the individual had access to satisfy them. Desires are the illusions, the hungers that cannot be satisfied.

_________________________________________________________________

Desire and avarice fuels and maintains the current social and political structures, how we live is defined by this model. How we vote, how we are educated, how we work is all about the fulfillment of human desires.

In modern western society, specifically located in and around cities, the pace of life and the accompanying social pressures leave little space for self acknowledgement. These being the moments of self reflection to truly understand who you are.

Silence terrifies most people because within this space, or state, one has the potential to experience discomfort, which could lead the individual to question ones drives and motivations. (This is a generalization)

But let's face it, people do not want their identity and the accompanying life style choices to be challenged in any way. Perhaps because it will cause them to think and question their reason for living.

Imagine that you are conditioned from an early age to achieve certain goals and benchmarks of success, only then to realize the uncomfortable truth that the driving force behind ones motivations have very little meaning and lack and any true fulfillment. Wouldn't you want to avoid that?

If most people truly acknowledged what made them the happiest they would be quite shocked.

The meaning of life has been interwoven with the distorted meaning of success, which are naturally at odds with each other. What you are left with is a deep inner dissatisfaction that cannot be understood or explained. It's just there.

There are of course lots of sign posts we come across within our lifetime that offer some insights into why we feel dissatisfied, but very often they go ignored. Why?

There are a lot of philosophical and spiritual texts that have been penned over the last several thousand years, which does hold a lot of truth. But despite having these truths within them they too have caused their fair share of conflicts, creating tribes with varying degrees of attitudes about how life is supposed to be lived.

The trouble with these ideologies is that they create converts and not independently thinking individuals. Yet another means of self identification that limits human potential.

_________________________________________________________________

The spirit, the spirit of life, the essence of life, what it takes top truly live, to think for oneself and to live as a balanced individual who has inner peace, and who understands inner peace and how to achieve it. But what is inner peace? Is it to know your own being, God's being? Is it to know your true identity? I know what I am, not just who I am.

To consciously and willingly live life to create and discover your state of being. To consciously accept the physical reality and see it for what it is, as a means to grow and discover who you really are.

The more conscious you become, the more aware you become of the consciousness of your origins. That is the consciousness of all the knowing. This can be used as a guide to navigate you towards the goals of your growth.

It is when you are at peace that you connect with this consciousness on a deeper level. There, the path looks the brightest. With this knowing you will see your existence from an alternative perspective. New opportunities will present themselves, new challenges will be experienced, causing your mind to shift.

_________________________________________________________________

How can I be a better person today, would be a good thought to start the each day. On the surface this seems like a reasonable request, but in truth it is very far reaching and involves having a perceptive mind that is paying attention. But what should we be paying attention too?

It is always a good idea to maintain mindfulness, this is a skill that needs to be developed as well as recognizing the difference between mental chatter and true thought.

You may come across moments when there is something you don't understand, this is your opportunity to ask a question or to ask for help. You will be surprised how this help comes, sometimes it can be obvious.

The search for meaning. How do you find meaning, how do you understand? Can you understand it on your own merits without the default reaction which is to take someone else's word for it? You may come across many different concepts that have already been discussed or contemplated by many a learned individual but those are their thoughts, their ideas. There is no shame is figuring things out and discovering for yourself.

Beholding the ideas of others is the easy option, this is why so many people find solitude in religious teachings, but do they truly understand them? For example, how do you know there is a god, or that you have a soul and it is your responsibility to grow that soul? You can read the text, it may resonate with you but how do you actually know? How do you know that God helps you, do you feel it, do you see it, again, how do you know?

Spiritual interpretation is a mind set, an openness to discover. It is a way of life, a commitment to live as a free thinking individual, it is a choice, it is a choice to live. It is to acknowledge that you can choose, not to just understand. But to choose how to live you life.

When you choose how you can live your life, you are taking responsibility for yourself. You are the one that is investing in the direction you see fit. You are providing meaning and purpose to your life, you are the one that nurtures yourself. You are the one who thinks and challenges your truths, your values and your virtues. You are the one who creates your own reality. What do you want out of this reality? What meaning will you discover?

_________________________________________________________________

The conflict of the twin paths. There is the primitive and these is the spiritual. But are you consciously aware which path you walk, have you even made a conscious choice?

For those who follow a path of religion, consciously there is a choice to lead a life that is supposed to be dedicated to growth. Many fall short. There are those who believe that by pure reason alone an individual can determine the growth of their being intellectually.

Ancient philosophers pondered the topic of "how to lead a good life", and what it took thousands of years ago.

Much of the moral fabric of today's western society is based on Judaeo Christian teachings. So the concept of living a good life has clearly been thought about at length for a significant amount of time.

Currently, in modern society there seems to be an endless battle waging over who knows best about being a good human being. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the subject.

Judaeo Christian values have been on the decline for a long time and atheism has seen a steady increase. The battle between faith and reason. But for the modern masses, we are fixated on distractions and utterly unaware of why we remain so unhappy, despite living with a degree of prosperity never before experienced in human history.

Why, what is missing? What have we forgotten, but more importantly what are we not paying attention to?

Is it that we have denied God? For the majority, the search for God has been abandoned, that is until they find themselves backed into a corner. It does not take to long before hands will be raised in prayer the moment we feel helpless.  But what is helplessness? The opposite of being in control. What if we eased off on our application of control, would we descend into chaos or find order?

Freewill is not only used to make choices, but used primarily to manifest control. Control offers the illusion of security and certainty. It provides us with a certain degree of self assurance, confidence and arrogance. Arrogance meaning that we somehow know how to pilot the ship and understand what direction to take, so to speak.

The truth is, we are all just floating about in a massive sea of uncertainty, never really knowing or understanding what lies ahead of us. But one this is certain and that is at some point we will shed this mortal coil.

Death come to us all and what we do in between birth and death needs to matter. But most people have trouble figuring this out. Life for the most part is about survival.

_________________________________________________________________

We all matter individually and collectively. We all have the choice to accept or deny God. We can determine our purpose and we are responsible for nurturing the life we have. We have the power to create or to destroy, to give and to take.

Human nature and divine nature, two wolves fighting, whichever one wins is the one you feed the most.

And those were my thoughts on the writing Spiritual Interpretation.

D.B 30/04/2019