Do Not Cling To Your Beliefs

People are always disagreeing about religion, politics, and countless other things. We are often so certain about our own point of view that we cannot even entertain the view of another. I think this reality is part of what’s behind the Buddhist way of thinking. The Buddha teaches us to not cling to any belief. He teaches us to believe in our own experience. Non-dualistic thinking is challenging. Most of us have an either/or approach to beliefs rather than a both/and approach. In today’s world it seems that meeting in the middle or accepting another point of view is a lost art. As a result politics is very partisan, religion separates more than it unifies, and not much gets done.  I suppose it’s a good thing to be passionate about one’s beliefs, whatever they are. We are all on a search for meaning. Few want to think that life is simply a giant ant farm on some cosmic window sill and that the purpose of life is to be found in the creation of tunnels. From my perspective the search for meaning implies an openness to new truths, new ways of thinking, and new ways of seeing and being. My spiritual journey has been fueled by a desire for the transcendent. What does that mean? Some call it the experience of God, others call it Enlightenment or Nirvana, while a few think of it as a oneness with the universe. Whatever you name it, for me it is the realization and experience of something bigger than myself. When I cling to a belief or a worldview, I feel like I make my world smaller. I don’t want to be closed to anything. I want to be open to everything although openness does not imply acceptance.  Some days I do feel like an ant in a giant ant farm. If I am an ant, then I am one of the ants that thinks and, hopefully, is acquiring a greater consciousness.