“Until we learn that this one awesome, experience-able, but beyond human comprehension Reality, viewed from myriad perspectives, is what we are ALL pointing at, we will suffer from the extremist divisions we have faced throughout history.”
Everyone should have their own views. That is very healthy to use ones own 5 sense and mind, to see clearly.
But for a moment, lets look at why it is that some folks think that their worldview is the only right one and all others are wrong.
i am going to suggest here, that if we could solve this issue, it would be a great step towards humans seeing other humans with the same respect as they do for themselves and their “group”.
1) History is a book studied by humans page by page. Each page reveals a new aspect of reality and the way we see the universe.
2) The religions (and political ideologies) that believe that Absolute truth is contained within their scriptures (or teachers writings) are the folks who say “our way or the highway”. They also have extremists (fundamentalists) who take the extreme position regarding right and wrong. We know which religions these ones are.
3) Because they believe that eternal absolute truth has already been revealed to them (by God, or by their ideological father/mother/teacher/leader) they feel righteous in standing their ground, and pointing their fingers at anyone who disagrees. Their literalist view blinds them from any other options.
4) Those same folks HAVE BEEN TAUGHT that to NOT hold these views, is tantemount to betraying their God(or their cause). Even the slightest shift from their literal interpretation is a “slippery slope” to evil. They stand their ground, as citizens do when their country is doing something wrong, even when they know their leaders are acting wrongly.
5) so in fact, it is extremist, fundamentalist views which stop humanity from joining together and becoming a race of brothers and sisters. It doesn’t matter which religion they are from…. extremist/fundamentalist views are divisive.
6) All humans have the same urge…. to have a world view which feels safe and “right”. IF we say that is their RIGHT, then we have a struggle….. we simply need to see our neighbour as we see ourself…… “just slobs on the bus trying to make our way home”.
7) If we can realise that NO ONE KNOWS THIS REALITY SO CERTAINLY THAT WE CAN POINT THE FINGER AT SOMEONE WHO DISAGREES, then we could all see that each of us are seeing the same reality, but putting a FACE (our intepretation… Jesus, Allah, Buddha) on it which we are comfortable with, and that our neighbour is doing the same. then……
8) We could all come together and learn from each other…. living side by side….. finding good in ALL those interpretations and faces…. and the infighting could stop.
This will never become reality thru egalitarianism.
This will never become true by one ideology or religion stamping out another.
This will never become true by forcing laws down peoples throats, or thru human rights movements.
This will ONLY become true if fundamentalists are brought to see the light, that no one knows for sure, and that we all need to realize that our neighbour is doing the same as we are (the best we can), that no one perspective is right and the rest wrong….. but we are all seeing reality with a different perspectives and interpretations (putting different faces on it), and then start to teach their children how to respect and admire the teachings of others, as pointing at the same reality as they do.
“Remember, when looking at the finger pointing at the moon, that is IS NOT the moon itself….. the reflection of the moon in the water IS NOT the moon itself.”
Afternote:
Extremism comes in all forms, sizes, genders and colours. It always has the characteristics of a lack of respect for other worldviews, doing its best to gain political strength to enforce its strict views on others…. this is why, no matter what the topic, we see the same actions from any extremist or fundamentalist group. We see this in MANY activist groups in the 2020’s….. all have their “hobby horse” they ride, and all believe only they are right, and all believe that they need to be missionaries of their cause to the common man….. all believe that “if everyone would see what i am saying as right, all would be good”….. all have the characteristic that once they have gained what they want, they find it unsatisfying, and need to go one more mile, hoping that it will finally get them the respect and attention that they “deserve”.
“i look and see many folks laying in the right ditch, and i look the other way and see many folks laying in the left ditch… they hate each other, and both wish to suppress the other side….. the road is nicely paved with milleniums of wisdom, but extremism is far more enticing…… so hardly anyone uses the road…. just the ditches.
Time for a change.
And, what direction would this change take?
First, there needs to be a realization, that there IS one single reality, but it is so profound, that humans experience it, but don’t ever get a “corner on the market”.
Most, if not all religions scriptures talk about the “beyond human understanding” nature of this “I Am” or in other words, “Reality”.
If we could come together to agree that “The Reality behind the face we put on “God” is where we get out concept from God”
For the folks who fight for genetic reasons, or the folks who fight for ideological reasons, they need to shake off the idea of the Tribalist “we are right and they are all wrong”…. this is simply not true, and we all know it.
Until we learn that this one awesome, experience-able, but beyond human comprehension Reality, viewed from myriad perspectives, is what we are ALL pointing at, we will suffer from the extremist divisions we have faced throughout history.
Reality is Dharma 