Well said Steven. That is the essence of the problem. That is why the ego is such a handicap for real understanding and why its destruction is at the core of Buddhist teaching. I would also add fear to the reasons why religion is so powerful. Life is threatening and having God on your side gives great comfort. If the after-life can be made to have a possible threat, following God is even more important. The skill used by the leaders of religion in designing a belief system to achieve a particular behavior is truly impressive.
Regards, Ed On Nov 6, 2008, at 12:45 PM, OrionWorks wrote:
HI Ed, Hi Horace, IMO, What many learned scholars and teachers seem to say on matters similar to these recent discussions is that the ability to transform (or update) a belief system is intimately linked to how deeply one has personally identified their very existence to the care and feeding of maintaining a particular belief system in it's current state. I suspect we all understand this on some fundamental level even though it would seem that some may be more consciously aware of its ramifications. This implies, as some go on to say, that the trick is learning to let go of assigning, or identifying one's "soul" to any particular belief system. Granted this might seem impossible to do. It's not impossible. It is ok to simply observe. Life goes on, sometimes pleasantly. And when life and life's surroundings are not so pleasantly experienced, one can still remain centered, ultimately through acceptance of the situation. Regards Steven Vincent Johnson www.OrionWorks.com www.zazzle.com/orionworks
