SOPHIA
Sophia means wisdom in classical Greek. Wisdom is a value that all humans recognize and all cultures denote as good.
A few profound experiences I had in the past convinced me that there is more to existence than meets the eye. I want to make good use of the time that is left for me here to examine these matters to the bottom and gain real wisdom about the meaning of life.
The Nature and Workings of Religion are Universal
Religious experience is a central aspect of the human psyche, and humans throughout history and in every culture have sought to develop it.
During my years in this world, I partook in several religious traditions. I came to believe that religious experience follows universal natural cross-cultural mechanisms, and that by studying several different traditions we can get to understand which about their practices is essential, and which is cultural fluff.
Religious Experience Does Not Require Conceptual Truth
I gradually developed a dislike towards the philosophizing and dogmatizing that over time has popped up in all major religions.
I always had a lot of questions about the nature of reality and our purpose, as human individuals, in the greater scheme of things. I have always been skeptical and questioned ideas all the time. I have come across many different concepts about the meaning of life. They either felt attractive or unattractive, and I came to recognize that my favor of one view over the other often had more to do with who I am, my past experiences, how I see myself, and who I want to be, rather than with them being true or untrue.
I do not want to deceive myself into thinking that when a philosophical idea feels good or right to me, it must necessarily contain a resemblance of truth. That is not to say that I think there is by definition anything wrong with choosing to engage with a belief because it feels good. But I think it is unwise to see feeling good about something as proof of truth.
It became obvious to me that merely thinking or feeling that something is true does not in any way give any guarantee that it is indeed true. Hence, I feel humility is golden when we assume what is true and when we are judging competing views.
We do not need to have proof for a belief in order for us to cherish it; however, judging others and cultivating enmity because of differences in belief is unwise because religious experience is always personal.
By now there exist countless religions, philosophies, and ideologies, and none of them have been accepted as truth by the majority of humans. In contrast, all humans accept that rocks fall down when you drop them. This shows how subjective religious convictions are in comparison to concrete day-to-day experiences and how difficult it is to prove them. Yet people keep searching regardless of how many answers have already been formulated.
Because of all the facts I mentioned above, I do not think it is worthwhile nor important to try to prove religious ideas, and I think that doing so is not at all necessary for religious practice, which I think definitely works and has had many very positive effects across cultures and religions.
Keeping Philosophy Out of Religion
Because intellectual inquiry has not given, and still does not give, reliable truth, I am wary of its intermingling with religion. All modern religions employ philosophy to 'prove' the absolute truth of their teachings. I think this is a moot exercise and works against their efforts.
Religion rises from the depths of our unconscious mind, and in my opinion, this is where it should remain if we want to reap real benefit from it. As I see it, philosophy has turned religion into a lifeless endeavor that blocks mystical experience. I think religious philosophy is, in essence, a prelude to atheism and eventually --unavoidably-- leads to it.
Religion equals mystical experience, and philosophy is opposite of the mystical.
Universal Mechanisms for Mystical Experience
I see 4 universal basic elements of religion that are practiced and experienced in all cultures, and these are already present in records we have of religious activities happening in the Bronze Age.
- Mythoi
- Apotheosis
- Catharsis
- Henosis
Mythoi is classical Greek for legendary-historical storytelling. The ancients, who lived in ethnically homogeneous groups, held a vast body of mythological pseudo-historical stories that explained their past, beliefs, values, and practices. Until today these are invaluable sources of intuitive insight.
Apotheosis is classical Greek for devotion towards / worship of the divine. Surrendering the self to the divine is necessary for spiritual blossoming.
Catharsis is classical Greek for purification of the mind from mental and emotional toxicity. A pristine innocent slate of consciousness opens up the devotee for the divine.
Henosis is classical Greek for union. Comm(union) with the divine is the goal of all religious practice.
Conclusion:
- 1) I aim to, rather than being cut-off because of superficial intellectual understanding, filter out the philosophy from a religion, in order allow its mystical core to be sensed intuitively
- 2) I try to discriminate the essential from the trivial by looking through a comparitive cross-cultural lens.
I begin with the tree of the Canaanite religion, which stretches from Canaanite polytheism to the three major Abrahamic monotheistic world religions of today.