Where do we go when we look for what is right, good, and true and we are dissatisfied with conventional methods of truth seeking? We have to look exactly where we are to see what is real, true, and good. Conventional religion and conventional wisdom only go so deep. The truth doesn't depend upon these things. It doesn't depend upon frequently walked paths. These may help us get so far while they are ultimately training wheels. The truth is unconcerned with who you are, who you were, or what you believe in. The truth is simply true because it is how things are. These things are titles anyway, they are conventions, ideas. There is no real difference between a Christian or a Buddhist. They are both human beings. They have the same mind. Christianity and Buddhism are mental constructs that humans use as tools for various purposes. Christianity and Buddhism are name plates that define the various differences and particularities of a method or tool. Using one tool or the other doesn't make you a different person. The belief that goes along with the though, "I am a Christian", or "I am a Buddhist" is a story that we tell ourselves that defines our identity as we perceive it in our own mind. This a conventional belief, that we belief is true and real. It is not as real as we believe. I don't think these stories are ever real as we make them out to be. This believing is a method that humans employ to understand the universe they find themselves in and to fit into it. Belief implies uncertainty. We are uncertain because we do not see clearly enough to know objectively what is real. Believing in something is the best thing we can do at the moment to move forward so this is what we do. Believing is thus inherently blind and willfully choosing to be blind or ignorant of part of reality. Conventional truth is based upon this mode of behaving and perceiving, thus it's truths are partial. Human perception and experience goes beyond this so when we grow up enough, we will become dissatisfied with mere belief and conventional answers and identities. These identities we carry, " I am such and such" are not as real as we belief them to be. They are more interpretations of our experience that anything concrete. They become very narrow when you start to look at the world objectively. These identifications that can divide or unite us, are in our heads, they are not who we really are, they are what we choose to belief in, and how we can best interpret what is happening to us right now. I think these ideas may do a decent job of taking care of things in general, but they are far from being objective, and thus leave a lot lacking when it comes to really understanding ourselves and the universe we live it. Being objective has the potential to do a lot more to in this terrain, yet we won't turn to it, until we are psychologically ready to face it. Facing it means we can no longer depend upon our stories and the stories we are told by conventional authority. It puts the responsibility and authority on our own shoulders. We don't depend upon the conventional truth that is socially constructed, we depend upon what we perceive with our own senses. This implies a certain degree of trust in what we see, trusting it more than the conventional paradigm we have up to this point been swimming in. It becomes apparent that we are responsible for understanding what is real and also taking care of ourselves. The conventional effort of society to manage it's well being only goes so far. It is limited by the inherent limitations of conventional thinking. Participating in society in such a way will thus only get us so far in taking care of ourselves and the people around us. Giving people what they objectively need is better than giving them what is conventionally appropriate. It is conventionally appropriate to pray the gay away. This does not really help gay people deal with their gayness. What they really need is not to be judged for who they are based upon who they find sexually attractive. All human beings need to be seen equally as human beings regardless of who they are, and not to be seen as some other that belongs to some sub-category. Human beings need nurturing, love, wisdom, and respect. Also food, water, shelter, etc..
What we need, what is good for us is independent of conventional contexts. It includes these contexts, but is not set by how these contexts define what is good. Example: It is helpful to encourage children at the appropriate age to develop a conventional interface for navigating the world. This does not mean that how such a child perceives what is happening to them, or what has happened to them is fully true according to the conventional interface they have developed...As adults we often forget that what we think and feel are the same conventional stories we began telling ourselves as small children. We are so deep in these myths that we forget how detached from reality they are. As a society, it is so normal for us to live in such a way, that we find it acceptable to continue with such irrational behavior. I think the truth is that we are so inundated with this garbage that it makes it difficult to break out of it. We are not democrats or republicans, we are human beings. This kind of thinking is suicidal. It is stale and dead. It is a disease. We are capable of so much more. We urgently need more people to grow up so we can change these outdated institutions.
The boundaries we believe in do not exist. Clinging to them is war. How much of this war is growing pains, and how much of it is immature behavior that is no longer necessary?
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