I Believe In My Experience

-Demosthenes

 

“You might be tempted to avoid the messiness of daily living for the tranquility of stillness and peacefulness.  This of course would be an attachment to stillness, and like any strong attachment, it leads to delusion.  It arrests development and short-circuits the cultivation of wisdom”.

-Jon Kabat-Zinn

 

We all believe what we believe.  Some of us watch Fox News while others watch MSNBC.  Some of us believe in Jesus.  Others follow the teachings of Buddha or Mohammed.  Still others watch no news at all and do not follow the teachings of anyone.  I am like most people.  I choose what I believe and most of what I believe is based on what I have experienced in life.  When I evaluate my own beliefs and the sometimes contrary beliefs of others I wonder where the real truth is and I wonder what the real truth is.  One man’s truth is another man’s lie.  If knowing the truth isn’t already challenging enough there are people spouting alternative facts and fake news.  Many leaders want to deceive you and keep you confused and in the dark.  I try not to be cynical but my own experience is all I truly trust.  The only true reality for me is the one I live in, not the one I hear about from another’s perception.  This is why at this time of my life I struggle with the whole idea of faith.  It is difficult to believe in things you have not experienced and if you have experienced them you don’t need to believe because your experience is real.  At the end of the day, regardless of where we get our information or whose teachings we follow, we all want to be happy and live in peace.  If you are fortunate enough to actually be happy and to live in peace, it is difficult to not become attached to the experience and to hold it firmly with both hands.  However, when you become attached to it and try to hold onto it, it becomes something you have to protect.  That changes the whole dynamic of the experience.