ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (02/25/85)
[once more into the fray...]
i can't speak of a personal experience with a "superior being" because what
i conceive of as that which constitutes divinity lies within people, not
an entity outside of us. we are all capable of manifesting this
spiritual quality, if we can find it and get in touch with it. this does
not mean that all people will want to, but, just as art and music occur
within all human cultures, so does some form of spiritual search. and
just as not all people are artists or musicians, nor do all people appreciate
art or music, not all people will understand just what is or why needs to be a
spiritual path. this does not mean that some form of spirituality is better or
worse, or that there is no place for it, just that it is a quality basic to
human nature, but not necessarily within ALL humans.
no, i'm not contradicting myself, i just mean that this is something
individual; if you choose not to search for spiritual meaning, that is your
choice, not that some people cannot manifest those qualities which are
spiritual. and i will not define those qualities here, because each culture
seems to have a different set, and those selected qualities seem to vary over
time, as culture and society change.
i cannot speak of meeting with this outside force, because it is inherent
in all things in all universes. this does not make it "universal", because
it will be perceived differently by all beings, as a class, and by each
individual within each class. so there is nothing i can PROVE. just
as psychology is a "science," but does not deal with things that are
easily measurable or interpretable. how can i quantify my feelings, emotions,
beliefs? it's not like measuring heat, weighing masses, recording velocity...
yet, this spirituality, which may begin as "magick," is a technology, for
just as just as planting seeds is part of a technology for getting needed
food to beings which eat, so is "magick," and later, when it is dogmatized
and hierarchalized, "religion," a way of dealing with needs which are not
necessarily material.
fine, if you do not have these needs (if you do not perceive yourself as
having these needs), then you do not need to partake.
this does not make you better than those who do, nor does it make you worse
(i'm not going to sit here and claim some kind of superiority, just because
i'm different than you are, and i like the way i am), it just makes you....
different, in some ways, than me.
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And now, back to the Freeway, which is already in progress...