Ditching Belief….

… and the “Need to Know” is a big step on the road to peace and the elimination of suffering.

My only “belief” is that one should “do unto others….” And rather than “others” I should perhaps say “other” since I don’t wish to exclude non human living things or the environment.

I don’t need any evidence for this belief: it is simply the way I have come to feel I should lead my life. It is MY belief, no need for any faith. Is it important to do unto others as you would have others do unto you?  Well, it has become very important to me and that’s about all I can say. It isn’t a physical law or even a human law, it’s simply an emotion, a feeling, a personal choice.

And as for the rest, I have ditched it all and feel immensely better for having done so. I don’t need to puzzle anymore over whether there is a god, whether animals have free will, whether the universe had a beginning or will have an end. Or why there are so many violent and greedy beasts in the human jungle.

And I have no need for belief or faith in any of these matters.

It is a vast freedom to kick all this rubbish into touch.

There are no answers and so why bother with it at all?

There is no evidence whatsoever as to the existence of the supernatural and so pro tem we are stuck with physical reality. Or at least what our senses tell us is out there in the physical world.

And it’s equally impossible to prove the negative – so I’m not inclined to try.

Alongside my own behaviour, which I will try to maintain, all I have to rely on is science. Which, despite the continuing horrors of our world, is the only factor since our very beginning which has made one jot of a difference to our lot.

I won’t bother to state the obvious by listing all the good and bad things which science has brought us. But I eat well, don’t have to live in a damp, bug infested hovel and have a decent hospital round the corner. I wish I could say the same for all those millions who have had less luck on planet earth.

I am following up on my post about Gurus. You don’t need them because most are deliberate fakes and those who are genuine are well intentioned but talking through their metaphorical backsides.  Pontificating on speculative matters and insisting that we must believe them. Why? Well because they say so, obviously.

I’m not writing to be provocative. I am writing because I have found the ditching of belief and the need to know cathartic in the extreme.

If I’m treading on the toes of your deepest held beliefs, well that’s just the way it is.  If you worship the Flying Spaghetti Monster and feel good for it, you must carry on. It does nobody any harm unless you force your beliefs down other people’s throats. Using verbal persuasion or even violence to convert others to your bizarre belief system has been as harmful as any human behaviour over the millennia. Believe as you wish and have the decency to let others do the same. 

There ARE things I would like to know but the reality is that I will never find the answers.  My endless meditation has brought me peace and, I hope, has reinforced my determination to do unto others.

It has not brought me arcane knowledge. I have not met god or the Flying Spaghetti Monster and if I were going to, I would have done it by now.  I have little idea what the universe is, or where it’s going, or what it’s “for”. Perhaps none of us will ever find out; and that’s all right – live with it.

All I have is the sense that it is all proceeding as it will and that that is the way it is and the way it must be. I sense no great purpose out there, no overriding meaning. It all just “is”. We all just “are”. And that is enough – I have come to accept the situation and find greater peace in my life than ever before.

Some would be outraged by my words. Some would understand my meaning and agree with me. 

Ditching the need to know, dumping baseless faith has improved my life.

That is good enough for me.