Call it what you want...there is no God.

Did you know there are many different types of "atheism"?  The internet says so, and it's never wrong.  I grew up in simpler times, times when you could be a believer and non-believer.  So easy, but like I've discussed before, nothing is permanent.  The non believers have apparently joined more modern times and tried to overcomplicate things. Now there are a lot of hip and cool new ways to not believe in a higher power.

Atheism

Atheists deny that atheism is a religion.  They do not believe in any God/Gods/supernatural powers.  The internet (in its infinite wisdom) reveals that "An Atheist has no specific belief system. We (atheists) accept only that which is scientifically verifiable. Since god concepts are unverifiable, we do not accept them."  Obviously this is an oversimplification.  There are many different views on atheism.  The one common theme is the belief there is no God figure, but I would argue they DO, in fact, have a belief system...just not one the incorporates an omnipotent being running the show.

Agnostics 

Agnostics believe that our knowledge is limited to the natural world and we are never going to know if God exists.  They tend to be skeptical of all/most things related to theology.  Some take the stance that they don't know if God exists or not, others seem adamant that no one will ever be able to understand.

I used to describe myself as agnostic.  It was my ideal place to deal with both believers and non-believers.  It was like I could have my cake and eat it to.   (By no means am I debasing Agnosticism, I personally described myself this way because I wasn't really sure what I believed and it was an easy out)

Free thinkers

"free-think-er n. A person who forms opinions about religion on the basis of reason, independently of tradition, authority, or established belief. Freethinkers include atheists, agnostics and rationalists. No one can be a freethinker who demands conformity to a bible, creed, or messiah. To the freethinker, revelation and faith are invalid, and orthodoxy is no guarantee of truth." - Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc.

This is not fully hitting the mark, but this seems to relate to some Buddhist teachings I discussed previously.

Humanism

"Being a Humanist means trying to behave decently without expectation of rewards or punishment after you are dead." - Kurt Vonnegut.

"Humanism is a progressive belief that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity." - American Humanist Association

Bloggers note: this is an "ism" that I can really get down with.  I also had the pleasure of joining an online humanist forum.  What I found was a group of people interested in making Lexington a better place.  There were discussions of local fundraisers, many community building opportunities(I'm looking forward to a family bowling get together), and discussions on how to help families in need, and discussions on where to learn more about humanist ideas.  Sounds like a church community...without God of course.  And full of people I am happy to share my community with.

Naturalism

 

"Naturalism is a metaphysical theory which holds that all phenomena can be explained mechanistically in terms of natural (as opposed to supernatural) causes and laws. Naturalism posits that the universe is a vast machine or organism, devoid of general purpose and indifferent to human needs and desires...naturalism neither denies nor affirms the existence of God, either as transcendent or immanent. However, naturalism makes God an unnecessary hypothesis and essentially superfluous to scientific investigation. Reference to moral or divine purposes has no place in scientific explanations. On the other hand, the scope of science is limited to explanation of empirical phenomena without reference to forces, powers, influences, etc., which are supernatural." - The Skeptic's Dictionary

 

Rationalism

"The mental attitude which unreservedly accepts the supremacy of reason and aims at establishing a system of philosophy and ethics verifiable by experience, independent of all arbitrary assumptions or authority." - American Rationalist


So what is all the fuss about?  What makes us so afraid of atheists and where do these negative feelings come from?  I'm not going to pretend it doesn't happen, because it does.  I have talked with quite a few people about atheism recently and I have witnessed first hand the stigma that can accompany it.  Lucky for me I was only atheist for a month, I don't know how you full time non-believers do it. 

It seems that somewhere along the way the dialogue became more about being on the "right team" versus the "same team" (ironic, considering the other major religions consider us all Gods people)  As long as there are people fighting for their view to be the right one, as long as there are people unwilling to listen to another perspective, as long as people use their beliefs to justify their fears; ignorance will continue to negatively influence our communities.

In case you missed it, no where in any of these definitions does it say atheists don't believe in good, they just don't believe in god.  I can think of many reasons why someone may denounce religion. (more on that with my next post)  I cannot think of any reason living a moral/productive/fulfilling life has to be mutually tied to a certain belief system, however. The reality of it all is that regardless of their reasons to believe in what they do, they have the capability to love, to be loved, to help, to cooperate, to do good.  And anyone focused on making a positive impact on my community is ok in my book...regardless of what happens to them when they die.

Survey says...atheists are not to be trusted

It's true, recent studies have shown that some people have a pretty negative view of atheism.  Half of all Americans polled said they would not vote for an atheist president.  Studies report many people do not consider atheists as trustworthy as other Christians and Muslims.  Some argue that people who believe God is watching over them are more likely to behave morally.  I believe that people who praise a higher power can certainly use their faith to bring awareness to a better life...but to say atheists are not trustworthy folk, is a dangerous way to see the world.

I have not been able to get to know many new atheists this month, but I have done some reading up on atheist philosophy and other educational perusing of the world wide web and I have discovered an amazing truth.  Atheists seem to be just like everyone else.  They have beliefs, and some hold them tighter that what is healthy.  Some of them seem to genuinely care about a multitude of the worlds problems, and some seem to think the "others" are the bat-shit crazy ones.

Atheists seem a lot like people.  Real people, people with problems, people who meet with other like minded people to try and save the world (or school...or city), people who see the beauty of community.  From what I can tell, a common thread of all people is to want to belong.  So we hang out with like minded people, which is great...so long as we keep trying to expand our personal bubble to include other people who aren't quite like minded.  What we may find is these unlike-minded individuals are more like us that we originally thought. 

So where does this negativity come from?  Probably a lot of places, in a lot of different forms, but one commonality is ignorance.  I'm not talking about bad people necessarily.  Ignorance has many shapes and sizes ranging from down right damaging and completely made up to a simple lack of updated information.  But here is the good new friends, I have something special coming up for you!  (not really, just a lot of information that is mostly new to me)

Be warned.  I have been studying atheism for over a month now, with the help of my smart phone AND the internet.  Clearly I know my stuff, but in the case that I write something incorrect, please correct me.  And when you are correcting me, please try to be helpful...otherwise you might end up looking like one of the crazies.

This stuff can get complicated

I have already written about what drew me to studying more about Buddhism.  It seemed to make sense with how I saw the world.  As I was really getting into Buddhist principles, I started to remember the crazy stuff I had heard at Sunday school.  (I was definitely pissed over the whole Noahs Ark story for a while...I promise I'm all better now)  So here I am getting ready to jump into the Buddhist deep end when out of no where the "simple" stuff gets complicated.  Out of nowhere I'm blindsided with chanting, and reincarnation, wrestling with the idea of there being big-man-upstairs kind of god, and I did what any good little Buddhist wannabe does.  I read more, and the more I read the crazier the stories got. 

Finally I got to the point (I can't remember what book it was in) where I realized it was all just the finger pointing at the moon.  That's when I started to see the great things I loved about the Buddhist teachings were in the teachings I heard in Sunday school as a kid.  Unfortunately, at that time the stories never stuck. (which probably could have saved me a lot of stress and money growing up)  It helped to see how the Buddhist lineages were very similar to the different Christian denominations, and how the Buddhist stories were pointing to the same truth as the ones in the Bible.

Just as in other religions, Buddhism has its fair share of "denominations".  I am going to try to discuss two.  The major branches in Buddhism are the Theravada (school of the elders) and Mahayana (the great vehicle).

Theravada tradition:
More conservative and said to be the closest representation of early Buddhism. 
Nirvana is achieved through your own diligent work.
You seek nirvana for yourself to achieve enlightenment.
The purpose of life is to follow the Buddha's teachings until final enlightenment, in which you are never reborn into the world of suffering. (reincarnation until you become enlightened)
Will be reincarnated based on Karma, based on this, and previous, lifetimes.
Once you reach enlightenment...POW! that's it.

Seems gloomy, but the Theravadins eat that gloomy stuff up!  They believe when you can see the true nature of things there is nothing substantial left in the world.  And when that happens, don't let the door knob hit ya' son, it's time to peace out.  I feel like its similar to Christians realizing that, compared to heaven, there is really nothing remarkable here for us on Earth.

Mahayana tradition:
Seeks enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, and to become a bodhisattva.
Bodhisattvas are people who right before achieving nirvana, stay here in this world to help all others become enlightened.
Infused with different cultural influences, while keeping the core teachings of the 4 noble truths and eightfold path.
There is a belief in reincarnation, but the interpretations are numerous and depend on the teacher
They believe all beings are Buddhas already, they just haven't awakened.
The goal of the bodhisattva is to help all others attain Buddhahood, which in turns opens them to the highest realization of the true nature of things.

More of a friends helping friends vibe, and I can dig that.  But helping people isn't just "it".  You still have to master the inner peace the Buddha found to help others in the best way possible.  That's why giving gifts can still lead to suffering.  If you give something and you expect something in return ( praise, money, benefits, happiness, forgiveness) you will likely find some negative Karma down the road when the outcome doesn't match your expectation.  But if you can find some inner peace and give something away without wanting anything in return...well my friends, that is when helping others truly helps you.  Trust me, you don't need to be enlightened to feel good giving gifts.  Giving just to give, and for no other reason, is good enough.

The type of Buddhism I have been following is Zen.  It is under the Mahayana umbrella, and it is one that I have seemed to stick with for a while now.  It's the most simplistic version that I have come across.  I get most of my understanding of Zen from the Vietnamese Zen Monk Thich Nhat Hahn.  (there are numerous reasons you should look into him).   If I have time, I will try to write a bit about Thich Nhat Hahns take on Zen.  He is a smart man and seems to have a great outlook on life.

buddhism: basic teachings and the difficulties of following them

So what is Buddhism? Religion-ish philosophy maybe?  First things first, Buddha is not a god. He was a prince, as the story goes, who (to make a long story short) went on to become enlightened (Buddha literally means "enlightened one").  Enlightened to what you ask?  The true nature of the cosmos, the world, the inter-relationship of all things. 

The Buddha taught the 4 noble truths.

1. Suffering is universal

2. Suffering has an origin

3.Suffering can cease

4.There is a path out of suffering

 

Pretty vague right?  Well it actually can get pretty complicated.  I'll try to give you my simplified take on it.  Suffering is universal, we can all relate to that.  Suffering in the Buddhist sense isn't just the obvious: fear, pain, disease, having to watch Dora the Explore with (or without I would imagine) your kids.  It also encompasses the desire for power and money, addictions, other mental and physical limitations we all have.  So we have all experienced some sort of suffering...in fact, it's a daily (moment to moment) occurrence.

 

The Buddha taught that all of our individual suffering has an origin.  He linked all of our suffering to attachment.  We as people are really good at trying to keep good things in and bad things out.  The result is attachment.  Attachment is everywhere in our lives.  We are attached to our ideals, our identities, our cultural norms, and we are always clinging to the things that bring us happiness and trying to fight/shut out everything else.

 

The good news: all this nonsense can be stopped, and the Buddha has the way out.  He lays it all out in the Eightfold Path. 

1.  Right understanding: seeing the true nature of things

2.  Right intent: acting from a place of love and compassion

3.  Right speech:  clear, truthful, uplifting and non-harmful communication

4.  Right action: the five precepts (refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, intoxication which leads to carelessness)

5.  Right livelihood:  ethical principle of non-exploitation

6.  Right effort:  consciously directing our efforts to good deeds for yourself and others

7.  Right mindfulness:  Developing awareness

8.  Right concentration:  sometimes thought of as meditation.  "Samadhi"

 

You can find a lot more information with a quick search of the topic, but for the purpose of a quick explanation, you can see its a moral standard of living that can lead to a happier life.  The results of practicing the eightfold path is enlightenment/nirvana.  Seems to have the same effect as the 10 commandments.  Live a moral/helpful life and you will find peace.

 

Seems simple enough, but I'm finding it very difficult.  The mind is an awesome and totally f''ed up thing (at least mine is).  Since starting meditation more seriously I can see some of my habits and how they contribute to a less happy me.  The really crazy part about my brain, now that I have more understanding of what things lead to happiness/suffering, is I can't always keep up the practice. (really I CAN, but my damn brain is persuasive and I CHOOSE not to)  I will make conscious decisions at lunch time about what place has the best fresh ingredients and how I'm going to avoid soda this time because that damned HFCS is going to kill  us all.  And truthfully, I have the best intentions, but then I completely lose my focus and the next thing I know I'm tasting the delicious dr. pepper in my mouth when I realize "you really should have gotten water".  I also know deep down that I should throw the soda out and get some water, but my brain has been trained to get what it wants for a long time.  It clings to the idea that I deserve the soda because it will go with the meal, it wants the instant gratification of the sugar rush and all the sweet memories attached to drinking soda, all the while trying to convince myself that this drink that I know is not benefitting my health, environment (insert any other reasons soda is bad) and yet I do it anyway.  Realize that all of this happens during 10 minutes of my lunch...its ridiculous how many times my ego/brain wins throughout a typical day.  Mindfulness is great, but a bitch to keep.

 

When you really think about what we do to ourselves and each other on a day to day basis, both physically and mentally, it's hard not to see the truth in the first noble truth.  The key is to do a little self investigating to find the roots or your problems.  Remember, bad things do not happen to us...things happen to us and we decide the rest.  If you are filled with fear, hatred, aggression, anxiety...the things that happen to you look awfully grim.  If you are filled with love, compassion, mindfulness of yourself and others, things look like life.  And fortunately for us, life can always be a wonderful teacher and a beautiful thing.

 

 This is just a quick overview of my take on Buddhism.  Just like Christianity and Islam, cultures have taken the basic truths and transformed the teachings styles to suit different times in history.  This leads to many different forms of Buddhism, with even more interpretations of what the Buddha actually meant.  I will try to do an overview of some traditional interpretations of Buddhism and to answer some common questions I have heard about Buddhism.

In the mean time, if you have any questions, let me know...I will try to answer them the best I can.

Namaste

 

 

February: Chopping wood and carrying water.:

Have you ever seen the Morgan Spurlock TV show 30 days?  The basic premise of the show is that it puts two people in the same house for 30 days.  Usually one person moves in with another person (and usually with his/her family).  The interesting part is that the two people have completely different views on a particular topic.  A few of Nicki and I's favorites were the border patrol guy who was blatantly opposed to illegal immigrants who lived with a family of illegal immigrants and when Morgan and his wife lived on minimum wage for 30 days.  It sparked a lot of cool conversations and really made me think about how fortunate my family and I are.  It also made me realize that everyone on every episode was just trying to be happy and do what they felt was the best for their family.  It was around that time when I started to think more about our community in Lexington and how I could get more involved. 

It was also around this time I started reading more about Buddhism and found it very interesting.  What I really enjoyed about Buddhism was the simplicity of it all, and what really drew me to actually practicing the teachings was the try-it-for-yourself approach to becoming a better person.  The Buddha essentially taught to investigate everything, even his own teachings.  If it feels good and helps people without harming anyone else...keep it up.  If for some reason suffering is an outcome...stop doing it.  The more I read, the more interest I had in other religions.  I always felt there was something greater than us, but went through many phases on how to make it "fit" to my liking.  I read the New Testament and shocked myself when I really enjoyed it.  I have come to believe that love and compassion is "it", "the truth", or whatever else you want to call it.  You may call it God, Allah, Nature, the Holy Spirit, mindfulness, common sense, non-sense, but none of it matters without love and compassion.  I believe all religions point to it, but in different ways, and with different traditions.

I started to put my beliefs into practice and started to spend more energy being helpful, trying to cause less suffering in the world:  I tried to only buy used things when I could help it, I started giving things away, I tried to be more helpful, I wanted to try and see things beyond what I have been told and taught my whole life.  What I found was that I was much happier.  Actually, I don't think I was "happier".  I realized how grateful I was for the things I have, and that helped me realize that the things that make me unhappy don't have to. (disclaimer:  I'm not trying to be holier than thou, in fact, I am honestly at the point where I can now see how my actions cause a lot of suffering in others, and am nowhere near the point where I have the ability to always abide by my own set of morals)

So how does community come into all of this?  Like I said before, I have the feeling that most religions preach the same message using different messengers.  I also see how people sometimes are blind to the fact that what they see as truth may look different through someone else's eyes.  If we could get back to the basics of each religion I think we would find we could all be doing a lot more for each other.  My assumption is that each religion calls for each member of the community to help lift up those who are in need.  So instead of assuming, I want to find out for myself.

I am going to try to spend each month this year learning and living with a different group of people.  The plan is to spend the next few months learning about different world religions by practicing each tradition for one month.  My hopes is to spend the month doing some educational reading, participating in each traditions customs, and hopefully attending weekly meetings.  What better way to understand how to help others than trying to see what is important to them and what they believe in?  I want to start with the better known religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Atheism.  My hopes is to spend the other months learning how to volunteer with other communities in town including the homeless, LGTB, and hospice.  It's early in the year, time will tell how this year will pan out.

This month I will focus on Buddhism...specifically Zen.  There is a weekly meditation group that meets in town each Sunday, followed by a group led Buddhist discussion.  I plan on continuing my sitting meditation for the rest of the month, and will try to apply the principles of the teachings into everyday life.  My goal is to blog a few times each month.  It helps me hold myself accountable to the year long project and hopefully someone will find some of this information useful.  I don't have big plans for the blog, but I have no doubts someone may take this (or something I write) out of context, or personal.  My intentions are not to judge.  I do have a tendency to get pretty passionate about things, and I have no intentions to sugar coat things, but hopefully it will lead to some nice discussions both on and offline.  So please if something offends you, let's chat about it.  If something I say isn't how you understand it, feel free to correct me.  If you have any information to help me along my path, don't hesitate to tell me about it.

Namaste.

and then there was one...

Apparently, habits die hard.  Truth be told, I've been consistent with only one of the three goals of the month.  I have been able to sit and meditate for at least 15 minutes a day, but I have gotten a little slack on the working out and no processed foods.  I'm probably stretching/exercising about 4-5 nights a week...one night turned into mandolin night, so not a total loss.  I have been pretty good with no preservatives, but twice I caved and went with the burrito over the bowl at Chipotle.  And we also HAD to go to Dairy Queen for a celebratory treat after we bought a new (to us) car.  Other than that Nicki has been making some really good meals, and we have started back on juicing here and there.  The juicing continues to surprise me with its deliciousness, although tonight's was pretty awful. 

I have decided to focus a little more on the meditating this month, but will continue to do my best to avoid preservatives and exercise everyday.  I am still trying to make getting up early a habit, unfortunately my bed is really cozy in the morning.   Most of my sitting has been happening at night, but I would rather sit first thing in the morning.  Its not only a nice way to start my day, but I find myself more mindful throughout the rest of the day.  Before the new year I was sporadic with sitting, in both consistency and length of time.  Now I sit for 15 minutes, which used to seem like forever, and find myself thinking about the time much less.  There have actually been a few times in the past week when I sat the full 15 minutes without thinking about checking on the timer. 

In the past, I have played around with different types of meditation, but have currently settled on zazen, specifically susokukan (counting meditation).   In a nutshell, I count from 1 to 10 with each in and out breath.  Originally I thought the purpose was to just sit and not think, but the more I tried to not think, the opposite happened. (I had read this many times before, but guess needed to find out for myself).  Now I just sit, breath and count.  When something comes up that I don't need to think about, I try to go back to the breath and start counting again.  I will tell you when I get in the groove, the counting works really well at keeping myself from getting distracted...but the moments in the groove are few and far between.

Now that I have decided to focus more on sitting this month, I am going to start increasing the time I sit each day, and branch out and try a few other kinds of meditation.  For the rest of this week I plan on dabbling in some guided meditation.  I have tried this once or twice before, but I thought it was a little corny...maybe this time will be different. 

For anyone interested in Zazen...google that spiat, you might find it a good read.

Nice to meet you 2014

Looking back, 2013 was a pretty excellent year.  The joys of family, along with the addition of miss Emmersyn, and other happy times far outweighed the stressful ones.  Last year I thought I would continue the blogging, but it wasn't in the cards.  I also planned to continue the monthly resolutions, but lost the urge after the first month.  With a new year comes new learning opportunities, so this year I'm going to make an effort to keep at it for the year.  And my hopes is that blogging about it helps me to keep it up. 

Like a lot of people, I go pretty nuts at the holidays with stuffing my face with delicious and not-so-great-for-me foods.  In addition to that, I pretty much stopped most of my regular stretching exercises. Now add in a bit more soda and booze than I usually partake in (thank you Mrs. Clause for the Blantons!) and you can understand why its time to get back on track in the health department.  Unfortunately, my family doesn't get back into town until tomorrow or Friday so there is no rush to start today,  but I've decided to eat only "real food" again.  Meaning no preservatives, artificial nonsense, or other genetically modified shenanigans allowed this month. 

Since my insides are going to be taken care of this month I thought it unwise to neglect the rest of the body, so this month I will also be trying to do at least 30 minutes of stretching/exercise/vigorous activity (I'm looking at you Mrs. Shelton) a day.  I have also been doing a little meditation in the past year, and I feel like now is a great time to try to make it apart of my daily routine.  I generally feel more relaxed right after sitting meditation but I never take the step to get up early and sit.  So why not go for the trifecta and sit 15 minutes everyday to start my morning?  I'm hoping 15 minutes leads to upwards of 30 minutes, but as a rule for the month I will meditate at least once a day.

It's an ambitious start to the year, time to create some new positive habits and keep the needle pointing in the right direction.