Subscribe Feed (RSS)Just My Imagination? On Doubt and Faith
January 2nd, 2009 | Filed under Uncategorized.
At times in life, we ask ourselves such weighty questions as, Is that true? What is the truth? Aspirants or seekers exploring a spiritual tradition may ask, Can I believe in this — should I have faith in this path? But they jump in, knowing experience has its own wisdom; then down the path, in moments of doubt, they may wonder, Am I’m setting myself up for disillusionment later on? Is this path just a subjective truth? Is it just my imagination?
Yes, and no, I say. But there is no other way to live.
Great men and women are the work or product of great imagination and will, because—and only because—subjective truths are not “just subjective,” they are spiritual truths, profound truths of identity and the means by which conscious individuals create themselves and align themselves with the deeper or higher will.
Think of the greatest and most visionary individuals in the history of the world. Such people create themselves from within, through personal, inner struggle that gives birth to unique and beautiful insight, in order to manifest a better world. They are born in the fire of dreams. And they know it and embrace it.
You may ask, But is that God’s will? Well, No, not completely. But, Yes, one’s inner life is the only true door to deeper understanding of the higher will.
That deeper vision is a truth of the spirit we must grasp for and realize, or win, through personal effort—through acts of imagination and will. We must approach such visions, call on them, even command them; otherwise, they are too elusive to visit us uninvited.
On the other hand, if faith and spiritual truths are “just my imagination (running away with me),” to quote the pop tune, what are we left with that is true? Well, that’s basically self-interest, the fight for survival and, eventually, old age, disease and death. Or maybe a dollar and 98 cents worth of chemicals. A dark world.
So next time you ask yourself the big questions of whether what you’re doing is right, or true, remember that the inner life has it’s own truths, profound truths, and, yes, subjective truths, but realities, nonetheless, of the spirit. These truths are gifts, given to us as co-creators. Through powerful acts of the imagination and will, we use them to create great lives of purpose and achievement.
Yes, we are making it up. Yes, we can make it up. Yes, we should. Yes, it is the only way to create a deeply meaningful life, for ourselves and our community.
Pete Benedict
I’d like to comment on the idea of becoming disillusioned on the path. If we never become disillusioned, then all we have done is embraced a rigid form of belief and practice that never grows and never challenges us. We are each on a journey of exploration, and that means new horizons, breakthroughs, mistakes and painful errors. If we do not repeatedly become disillusioned on the path, we are not growing. The point is to face disillusionment and understand that the path and the nature of the journey and the ever expanding goal horizon is always far far more than we can imagine it to be, and that requires giving up what we know and are comfortable with, and that means, disillusionment. Disillusionment means we are ready to go new palces we were not prepared for before. Disullusionment means we are ready to slough off baby steps and partial understandings for a larger slide of the Truth. Look forward to the disillusionments. They are an important gift on the path. Disillusionments and moving beyond the transparent barriers of those disillusionments are a sign that we are healthy on our path.