Believe it or Not

Our first experiences as infants teach us how to traverse this world we  inhabit.  The person who feeds us eventually returns to feed us again.  We learn to cry if it isn’t timely, often bringing desired results.  The same is true with all subsequent learning.  So our initial experiences establish our belief about how things work for us in this physical world.  Gradually we then become intrigued by the subjective world or the world we cannot see and it teases our imagination.  Some children even have ‘imaginary’ playmates or see ‘angels’.

We observe how animals seem to know instinctively what behaviors are necessary for survival. Documentaries on animals and their behavior from March of the Penguins, swimming with dolphins, living with bears, The Migration of Birds, are just a few that have given us a rare insight into animal culture and instincts.  For instance, young birds know when it’s time to leave the nest, unlike other species I could mention!

In his book, The Universe in a Single Atom,  His Holiness The Dalai Lama, explores the convergence of science and spirituality. Quote: “Given the highly subjective nature of our experience of consciousness, is an objective third person scientific understanding of consciousness possible?” It’s amazing how someone trained in an ancient spiritual system from a very early age, has had a life long passion for the mechanics of how things work in the physical world.   This  has led him to meet with  the world’s most renowned neuro-scientists and physicists who have mentored him in learning more about the brain and quantum physics.

This book also compares  the varying disparate findings of science with the same subtle variations existing in the philosophy of his religious traditions. Of course, I didn’t really understand all that was written and it left my head spinning.  However,  the fact that this revered spiritual leader is pursuing the possibilities that these two systems could, at some point in time, converge, got my attention.  Death is where this convergence becomes most obvious.   A Course in Miracles states: “There is no point at which the contrast between the perception of the real world and the world of illusions becomes more sharply evident.”

Often belief, which is an abstract concept,  is used as an attempt to freeze in time observations of our physical and non-physical universes into comfortable, safe, and predictable packages.  Beliefs can take on a life of their own becoming doctrine and dogma, a convenient tool for those who would use it as a source of power over others.  So it is refreshing to know The Dalai Lama likes to open the packages of belief and discover something new.

We can believe in flying saucers and aliens, things that go ‘bump’ in the night,  winning the lottery, any number of religious theories or that we’re the top of the food chain.  However, belief doesn’t necessarily make it ‘true’, whatever that is.  You see how confusing it is to figure out what is real from any point of view.  As one who learns through experience,  I  like to play with my subjective and objective realities which seem to always be in flux.  Often we are motivated to learn because of desire or need, whether it’s how to grow food, cure cancer or get to Heaven.  I personally want to know where Ulf is residing.  I’d like to ‘believe’ his loving energy is with me at this moment.

The Course says, “The world is nothing in itself. Your mind must give it meaning.  There is no world apart from what you wish…. Change but your mind on what you want to see and all the world changes accordingly. Ideas leave not their source.”  So what is in our mind except the past and future?  Maybe it’s suggesting we change our perception by emptying our mind and welcoming life in the present moment.  The Course, along with other systems of thought, guides us to do just that.  For now, I’ll accept that ‘belief’ as a way toward an expansion and creative experience.  After all, most creative tasks emerge from that state of just being in the present moment.  Maybe that’s what is happening ‘now’ as I write!