Great material to think about. I spent several months in Jerusalem on several trips and I learned quite a few things…not what I expected. Most people were on a spiritual or religious path (vs Tel Aviv which is extremely secular, yet a mere 45 or 50 miles away). I met a lot of great people, and I also met a lot of arrogant raging assholes (spiritual narcissists). I discovered that most people’s view of the purpose of prayer fell into roughly two categories:
1) Traditional: I pray so god hears me and counts the number of prayers and those who pray the most get the most spiritual benefits. Ie nothing else matters, you can be an arrogant ass to your neighbors or visitors, but as long as you pray to god, you’re good.
2) Modern: I pray for me…to be a better person. Whether there is a god or not, and what form he/she takes is irrelevant. I met several people who said if they didn’t pray they would be alcoholics, mean people, etc
#2 resonates with me. #1 seems fraudulent, but probably worked well for ancient civilizations. I was amazed how people In Jerusalem would have knock down / dragged out fights about religious principles without realizing that the core of their disagreements is the above - they had fundamental disagreements about the very nature of prayer and god. That they couldn’t even see that, was bizarre to me. After all that time seeking god / spirit…you couldn’t recognize that. You don’t have to agree, first just recognize it!!
Humans vast intelligence is eclipsed by one thing:
Our capacity for delusion when it comes to putting ourselves at the center of attention.
An example is whether following Nazi principles makes you evil. A lot of people go to the Dark Side because they have been hurt really bad, they see the other as evil. Is that justified?
One of my favorite theories is Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. He proved that since you can’t tell the difference between gravity and acceleration, they are the same thing. It’s hard to tell whether somebody’s evil behavior is justified. Maybe they’ve been hurt. Maybe they’ve been brainwashed. But it doesn’t really matter why. They chose the Dark Side, they chose evil, they chose the easy way out. There are plenty of people who were in the same situation, but didn’t goto the dark side.
But it’s hard me to judge. I grew up privileged. Not wealthy, but better off than 95% of Americans and 99% of humans. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs describes this. I can’t judge but I can decide to not support and to not trust such people. I sadly have found myself needing to do this to friends who have gone ultra right wing. Most of them are bored, depressed, and / or isolated. I tried helping them, I tried to have a positive relationship with them, but I couldnt stand their hate driven lives. I had to walk away, I still love them, but I’m truthfully so disappointed in them…at least I’ve realized the difference between disappointment and anger.
Another thing I discovered is that the female view of things is so much different from the male view. Males have a tendency on average to be a lot more selfish, whereas females have a tendency to be more cooperative. As a man, I always had a strong feminine component, but that was stepped upon so much I couldn’t take it. But now I understand both ways, I can see how strong the differences are.
Cheers and Happy Holidays!
