Continuing from the last blog, as I mentioned, as human beings, we naturally possess a powerful ability to create reality from our thoughts and imagination. The trouble is that this ability works both ways. If you envision something and wholeheartedly believe in it, you can actually manifest your thoughts into physical realities. However, this power can also create harmful physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health issues for yourself. Depending on your depth, you can even feel a direct connection between yourself and God, granting you the ability to individually heal or harm yourself through your thoughts and their corresponding realities.
Despite our modern-day evolution and advancements in Western societies, meditation is increasingly gaining popularity worldwide. Stressed individuals globally are turning to spiritual awareness to cope with everyday challenges. While meditation originates from Eastern philosophy, it is now practiced universally. Underestimating oneself is not an innate trait; it is instilled by our belonging groups for political purposes, including political religions. When accepted authorities tell you that you cannot connect with God directly but need intermediaries like prophets, religious leaders, or priests, you accept it without questioning. You conform to the traditions, customs, rituals, and rules of your belief system without challenging them.
The side effects of believing oneself to be irrelevant or unimportant, and losing self-esteem, are beneficial to the authorities to whom you belong. If you do not question these authorities, you diminish your self-importance. This makes it easier for the group to politically influence and manipulate you for their agendas. They thrive on individual weakness and promote a sense of irrelevance.
Contrary to old-style politics, where strong individuals are harder to control politically, they actually contribute more and make a group smarter and stronger. Throughout history, humanity has experimented with various governing and political systems—kingdoms, religions, empires, authoritarianism, socialism, and communism—but none have achieved the popularity of democracy. Democracy has popularized voting and equal human rights, combating prejudice and discrimination. The foundational assets of successful modern societies include fair pay for work and the feeling of equality irrespective of gender, race, color, nationality, or belief system. People flock to societies where they find equal human rights, contributing their talents to make those societies excel.
When there is freedom of speech and room for personal growth, individuals can imagine and create better societies. If a nation with smart citizens becomes authoritarian and disregards its individuals, it begins its decline because individuals always seek environments where they are valued.
Just as when constructing a building, you must honestly communicate with yourself, particularly in meditation. If even your self-communication is politically influenced, you cannot be truthful with yourself. You need to discuss the reality of your foundation, which may not be fully understood by you. The more real it is to you, the better, because you have limited time to waste, especially on political beliefs.
Not only do you have limited time, but you are also responsible for how you use that time, as it pertains to your mortal life. If you find it difficult to locate yourself amidst the numerous influential identities imposed upon you, examine your personal desires. Whether you seek to fit in, impress others, or be admired, keep your mortal nature in mind. There are two sides to this mortal coin. If you live solely for others, you may do yourself injustice; conversely, living exclusively for yourself can also lead to self-harm. As human beings, we are not merely physical creatures; we are also spiritual entities. Neglecting your spiritual side while solely nurturing your physical side can leave you spiritually starved, preventing contentment and happiness. Maintain awareness of your mortal nature to avoid extremes.
Recognize the power of your imagination to benefit rather than harm yourself. One side of this coin can create anxiety, self-inhibition, isolation, a restricted life, and self-harm, and can even lead you to harm others due to an inability to use your personal sense of justice. On the other side, through visualization, prayer, and reciprocation, you can create a different reality. For instance, physical exercise not only builds muscles but can also facilitate a direct connection with God, provided your mind is positive, pure, and clear. If your mind is cluttered with doubts about God and yourself, you will be everywhere and nowhere. You won’t achieve what less evolved creatures can, such as changing colors to blend into their environment. If you fail to understand yourself, you will be bogged down by daily survival and its accompanying anxiety. Your negative thoughts will manifest as physical realities, requiring you to engage in honest self-communication to resolve issues.
Believing yourself to be a victim or blaming others for your shortcomings is one thing; finding your spiritual self and establishing a direct connection with the source or God is another. If others build things for you, you may become a good soldier for your group but not for God. This may give you a sense of belonging, impressiveness, or admiration from your group, but it ignores your freedom and limits your potential as a human being. You were created by God as an independent entity; failing to utilize this ability means you are not fulfilling your potential as a CEO, as intended by God. Following our groups has historically led to politically inspired conflicts in which we hurt and kill each other for political purposes. As human beings, we all—without exception—possess our own personal atom of autonomy and free will. Therefore, we are all responsible for our actions. Even if you claim to lack choice, you must communicate with the atom of autonomy within you. While your external material life may differ, internally, you cannot afford to be dishonest, especially with yourself. Utilize all the abilities you possess, especially your spiritual side, which includes compassion, personal justice, love, and everything in between. If spiritually aware and in tune with your human nature, you will understand the importance of personal justice. Otherwise, the politics of belonging may devalue you until you feel worthless. Ultimately, it is up to you individually because you possess the inherent atom of autonomy.
Remember, being born into any race, gender, nation, religion, or group—whether with or without a belief system—should not lead to punishment. You have no control over or say in the circumstances of your birth, logically or spiritually. Therefore, you cannot hold yourself accountable for your birth circumstances, nor can you punish others for theirs. Reflect on history and observe how nations, races, and religions have treated innocents in the name of belonging. If ruled by the politics of belonging, use your personal and spiritual sense of justice to honestly assess your group’s actions toward the innocent.
We have evolved from cultures of division; even some religious doctrines label individuals as born sinners, contradicting spiritual law by punishing the innocent. Our political biases, prejudices, discriminations, and related actions against each other constitute spiritual crimes committed by our nations and religions, openly and with pride.
If you harm yourself or others due to thoughts of superiority, you are on the wrong side of the spiritual coin. You possess free will and are individually responsible for your choices. Use your thoughts and their corresponding realities for the benefit of yourself and humanity. Unfortunately, we have been entangled in the political realities imposed by our groups, hindering our progress.
Our problem is that politically, we have been and are keeping individuals from realizing their potential because they themselves believe they are irrelevant, unimportant, and even sinners, yet that has nothing to do with God.
All sins depend on or conform to society’s rules and the era we live in. Just look at it from today’s perspective: past sins are no longer sins, and previously accepted practices like racism, prejudice, and discrimination are now widely regarded as bad and sinful. Harming or punishing the innocent has always been wrong but has been politically accepted, even by organized religions. The Pope is just starting to accept modern-day changes—or rather, realities—of today. Personally, I don’t believe this stems from the spiritual side of religion but is a political decision, because going against equal human rights could potentially put religious institutions up for sale, even if it’s just for a dollar (read: “God’s house for sale”).
Our imagination may not be akin to our ego, but both have two sides to them, making them similar. Hence, we should exclusively pursue their beneficial sides. Often, as individuals and even collectively, we politically choose their harmful sides. If you are an able CEO, you can be wise enough to see both sides of the coin. Otherwise, influenced by the politics of belonging, you will likely end up choosing the harmful side, especially if you are not careful. We harm others and ourselves by engaging in wars, whether external or internal.
Our imaginative constructs are not based on reality, yet we create them nonetheless. When we go to war and kill each other over our belief systems, we turn our imagined constructs into physical realities. This can be seen as a form of godhood gone awry, all due to the politics of belonging. The correct path should involve understanding spiritual compassion, peace, and love. However, we have historically and continue to choose passionate wars, not because of a spiritual God, but due to politics. Whether or not you believe in God, if you participate in political wars and use God as justification, you are tarnishing God with human emotional politics.
Personally, I don’t place much emphasis on the unknowns, such as witchcraft, psychics, horoscopes, fortune-telling, exorcisms, ghosts, magic, or visiting the tombs of dead saints or prophets for help. Anything extraordinary or not clearly physical or understood should be considered unknown and unclear to all of us, as we are still evolving. Instead of blindly believing in or outright rejecting them based on egoistic assumptions, I categorize them as my unknowns. As long as we are evolving, there should be respect for all forms of human knowledge. To me, this is a healthy approach. If you are not open to learning anything new, you are operating from ego and adhering to politically installed assumptions, whether yes or no.
Reflecting on these matters brings me back to the concept of creating physical realities from our thoughts and imagination. If you truly believe in extraordinary phenomena beyond the comprehension of ordinary humans, you will actively seek them out, making anything strange become real to you. Since I don’t prioritize these in my actual life, I have not experienced them. But if you ask me, “How real is God to me?” My answer is, in the absence of human beings, things logically lose their physicality. Yet, do I believe in our godly and spiritual realities? Without a doubt. When an individual human feeds a hungry person or any creature, especially without any strings attached, I witness how God works tangibly through ordinary human beings. Observe the social good being done by living, breathing God around us. Depending on your view of God, if you were taught that God does everything and you are insignificant, that would logically be incorrect, as God needs human beings to perform godly deeds. Now, where does God fit into your personal life? If God is on a pedestal and you are deemed insignificant or absent, you have been politically brainwashed. Belonging groups ensure you do not believe in your significance. If you think you are unimportant or a born sinner, it’s because they want to diminish your self-esteem and make you easily controlled.
To discover your true self, look within. If you find your atom of autonomy, you will find a god-like entity within yourself. I don’t wish to discuss the devil within, as I believe that engaging in evil acts for belonging groups is the logical devil. By doing so, you are directly opposing God’s will, even if it is done in the name of religion. This is not just a simple matter of belonging; it’s about your actions dictating whether you align with the devil or God. Remember, both depend on you and how you shape your realities.
If you still doubt yourself, consider the human ability and desire to protect others from harm. Where do you think this impulse comes from? While I wish it were non-political, it’s an example of people joining the armed forces due to this desire. Unfortunately, it is often exploited politically by belonging groups. However, risking your life for others is clearly a spiritual notion.
When someone invents drugs like insulin, develops life-saving procedures, or creates vaccines for diseases like COVID-19 to save lives, it is God speaking through them, regardless of political affiliations. This is how I believe in God. It may differ from others’ beliefs, but I wholeheartedly believe in our spiritual side. Ask yourself, how do you believe in God? Do you blindly follow whatever your religious leader preaches, or do you question their political motives? Do you seek the well-being of your group exclusively, or do you strive for all human beings? This is where you must question why or why not. If you can’t question, your personal belief system is politically tainted. Only by honestly shedding these politics can you truly reach an unbiased and spiritually real God. Otherwise, you will not only be politically biased, prejudiced, and discriminatory but also believe that even God is biased, prejudiced, and discriminatory—a double spiritual crime for you.
For me, judging a belief system’s spirituality means examining its core teachings. I personally believe that every belief system should espouse equal human rights and spiritual justice as foundational principles. If not, their spiritual teachings are tainted by politics. Following such tainted beliefs could lead to becoming a prejudiced and discriminatory individual, which is unappealing in today’s world. Hence, we must separate politics from spirituality, or risk causing harm to others and ourselves.
Remember, your atom of autonomy resides within you. If you are not spiritually aligned, balanced, and enriched, you will lose inner peace. While it may feel natural to live within the bounds of your group due to loyalty, this is a result of early indoctrination. There’s nothing wrong with joining a group politically, as long as you do not compromise your personal sense of justice. It all hinges on self-understanding; losing balance between your spiritual and physical sides is a significant issue, not just in history but in our current era as well. This internal conflict is no trivial matter; it has the power to deprive individuals of inner peace, spiritual fulfillment, happiness, and contentment—all crucial aspects of mortal life.
The debate over the existence of God has never been the real issue; rather, it’s the politics of belonging that dictate our realities. As far as human wisdom goes, there’s no end in sight, at least not yet. Delving into it deeply may lead us away from God, not because of God but because of our politics of belonging. Hence, an honest inquiry will always reveal that we cannot fully comprehend it, as we are only using a fraction of our cognitive capacities and are still evolving. Even the foundation of belief systems is built on unknowns, portrayed egoistically as certainties. Consequently, this exerts a powerful influence on us as human beings. It has the potential to aid us in navigating mortal life with hope, optimism, happiness, and contentment, which are otherwise hard to come by. The wisdom of God is intensely personal and individual; thus, its benefits or harms are also individual.
I happen to believe that this wisdom of God is a priceless gem, worthy of one’s life. Without a belief in God, it’s just a drop of water to you, regardless of its origins. You cannot derive any benefit from it because you fail to acknowledge its value in your transient life. In today’s world, everyone has the prerogative to live their life as they see fit. However, a life of deep happiness and contentment is increasingly rare due to our disconnection from our spiritual side.
Two plus two equals four is mathematically correct, and so are many scientific discoveries. Their knowledge can only benefit you if you apply it during your lifetime. The same applies to knowledge of the unknown. You can benefit from it, but you do not fully understand its workings, much like the placebo effect. As you age, what was once a simple calculation may no longer add up due to our ego’s reluctance to accept imperfections. In the journey of aging, failure to adapt to change can lead to a loss of happiness and contentment. In mortal life, happiness and contentment are paramount; ignoring them amidst imperfections can be daunting.
It’s difficult to accept that we do not know everything. If you believe you must know everything, your time will run out before you learn even a fraction of it. Therefore, embrace all facets of life. The best approach is to remain in a constant state of learning. Deciding or believing in certainties, whether known or unknown, egoistically feels natural, but it is inadequate for a constantly evolving entity like a human being. Today’s truth may be disproven tomorrow, so not knowing everything is acceptable because it leaves room for further learning and evolution.
Both science and religion share one thing in common: they advocate for the belief in knowledge as ultimate truth, suggesting that nothing more needs to be learned. However, since we continue to learn new things daily, no one should claim complete knowledge about any subject, even with repeatable results. Even accepted truths can potentially work against us, such as when drugs approved for human use can interact dangerously due to unknowns.
Passionate individuals compel you to adopt their beliefs due to their politics of belonging. Therefore, it’s up to you to question everything before you follow. We all have the ability to open ourselves to spiritual wisdom for self-help, as it can genuinely bring life to our years. Regardless of my level of evolution, I personally believe that belief in God is a priceless wisdom, akin to a pearl rather than just a drop of water. It can benefit anyone, enabling them to delve inward, find inner peace, and spread spiritual benefits to others. This pearl helps me to explore within and enjoy deep happiness and contentment. I don’t merely live to nourish my body and mind; I believe in feeding my soul to achieve equilibrium in my mortal life.
Recognizing that we don’t know everything is human. Therefore, especially for mortals like us, my happiness and contentment mean more to me than egoistically claiming complete knowledge or feeling the need to know everything. In the realm of aging, if we do not adapt as things change, we may find ourselves at odds with our happiness and contentment amidst life’s imperfections.
In conclusion, the leader like Trump on one side urges you to join a specific group, nation, or religion, while on the other side, a virus like COVID-19 or issues like global warming compel you to embrace humanity as a whole. Individuals with a strong sense of belonging will naturally gravitate towards their group and its prejudiced, discriminatory politics. Conversely, those with spiritual fortitude grounded in common sense will lean towards advocating for equal human rights and the unity of humanity to address global challenges with universal solutions.
Some may find the idea of working as a unified humanity absurd, preferring group loyalty instead. I believe otherwise because history repeatedly shows our evolution. In India, the caste system existed or still exists, but Islam’s arrival brought change. Islamic prayer requires standing in lines and bowing down to the ground, symbolizing equality—your head is at the feet of the person in front of you. They sought to abolish Hindu practices like Sati, where widows were expected to immolate themselves with their deceased husbands, a practice the British also sought to eliminate and is now virtually nonexistent and certainly not popular. We have strived to do right by the individual, but group rights often obstruct progress. Many individuals cannot see beyond their politics of belonging, hindering the pace of change. Despite this, we have collectively recognized the benefits of democracy and equal human rights. While we may not have fully achieved these ideals, they are gaining popularity.
The United States’ Trump era serves as an example, as Americans grapple with this issue despite being vocal proponents of democracy and equal rights. The courts do not always align with Trump’s objectives because the constitution is designed for a democratic society. What is right for the individual differs from what is right for the group. One is aligned with universal and spiritual truths, while the other is rooted in prejudiced and discriminatory politics of belonging. Which path do you choose? For an evolved individual, the answer is clear, but the politics of belonging can override all our civilization and progress.
We are undergoing social change, albeit at varying speeds. We no longer sacrifice virgins by throwing them off cliffs, yet our work remains unfinished. My purpose in writing this is to highlight our slow but persistent social evolution. If you are someone deeply invested in group politics, consider two significant points. First, setting aside suffering, consider the human death toll resulting from groups fighting and killing each other’s individuals, regardless of innocence. I wager we cannot even quantify this toll because it has been a part of our group consciousness since time immemorial. Second, examine the crime rates in each society and observe who commits these crimes and against whom. You cannot simply attribute these to other groups, as statistics clearly show that people from the same belonging group often commit social crimes against each other.
Logically, this is all tied to the level of our evolution. We must take the next step in our evolution to unite as humanity as a whole. The politics of belonging to our groups are and will continue to place obstacles in our path, doing everything possible to hinder this progress. Consider the International Space Station and the internet as examples of humanity working together. Global warming-induced extreme weather events and infectious diseases like the coronavirus demand that we evolve and take a leap of faith. They do not acknowledge our political party divisions, boundary lines, or human community borders. Ask the Chinese why their wall did not contain the virus, or consider if the United States had a wall around the entire country, could it keep out extreme weather or the coronavirus? Be rational and ask yourself what your answer would be.
As nations, we can think and physically build monuments like walls for political reasons. However, not all our constructs are healthy for us as individuals when it comes to practical reality. Personally, I believe that all our religious monuments do not contribute much to individuals because I believe in practical prayers. Our thoughts should not just remain thoughts; they should shape our physical reality. A grand mosque or church may be related to our group politics, yet it still represents a physical reality of religion. If we are still killing each other, experiencing poverty, hunger, and related death tolls, these are the true realities of humanity. This indicates that our walls, nations, and religions have not been truly successful for humanity and the individual. Our politics of belonging to our groups have been, are, and will be a reality for a long time unless we begin to think, act, and create physical realities from spirituality. Equal human rights represent the most spiritual system of all, and we should all vote to incorporate them into all our constitutions.