Ineffable Truth

Let me open with a few definitions:

Ineffable –
1 a : incapable of being expressed in words : indescribable
   b : unspeakable
2: not to be uttered : taboo

Truth –
1 a (archaic) : fidelity, constancy
   b : sincerity in action, character, and utterance
2 a (1) : the state of being the case : fact (2) : the body of real things, events, and facts : actuality (3) often capitalized : a transcendent fundamental or spiritual reality
   b : a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true or accepted as true
   c : the body of true statements and propositions
3 a : the property (as of a statement) of being in accord with fact or reality
    b (chiefly British) : true 2
    c : fidelity to an original or to a standard

Theory –
1 : the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2 : abstract thought : speculation
3 : the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art
4 a : a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action
    b : an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory
5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena

For most of recorded history mankind has, in some form or fashion, searched for what can be considered as ineffable truths.. Many of the realities of today were completely inconceivable to people that lived a century ago. Just imagine for a second what men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Newton or Socrates would have tweeted! We live in a world so technologically interconnected that it almost rivals the interconnectedness of nature itself.

We live in an age where we’ve mapped the observable cosmos and every discovery is a venture not only in the future but in some ways they are echoes of the past. With each discovery we unravel a mystery of the past and yet to many people this progress is threatening. Religions have held a significant amount of influence over not only culture, but the way people think and how they reason. This is why many well researched scientific theories come under unnecessary fire and criticism. Part of the problem here is the understanding of the word theory as well.  There is a difference between the modern vernacular use of the word theory and the scientific use of the word.  In the world of science in order to label something a theory requires a substantial amount of experimentation, research, and evidence.  Evolution and the “Big Bang” theories are viewed as threats to religion when they should not be.  The men that wrote the Jewish Bible were one group of people in an obscure part of the world.  One group out of many groups, and while all of them had their cosmological legends and myths, none of them had the knowledge we have today.  Few knew the earth wasn’t flat and that the stars were much bigger than the earth.  They didn’t know the molecular structure of carbon or have the ability to even know what DNA was.  So to rely on their presumptions of how everything came to be and reject what we are learning is foolish.  We need to embrace facts and relegate myths and legends to their proper place as allegorical lessons and historical perspectives.

We have seen a tremendous amount of changes in society in the last century and it is due primarily to advancements in science and technology.  Vaccines have eradicated the majority of fatal viruses, computers can calculate and rapidly retrieve data faster than the human brain, and the internet coupled with mobile technology has enabled information to travel across the globe in seconds when it used to take weeks and even months for information to spread across a single country.  Somewhere in the world someone’s very life is being spared because a very skilled surgeon is performing surgery on them.  Somewhere in the world a child is walking for the first time on their own because a skilled engineer crafted a prosthetic leg for them.   The scientists and doctors of today are what people of old would call miracle workers, but what they do is not miraculous in a supernatural religious sense.  We have progressed to the point to where we have a little more control and are subject a little less to random chance.

Yet with all we know we are finding there is still so much we don’t know.  For now there remain many questions that science still cannot answer.  What caused the “Big Bang” and what was there before it?  How do cellular structures “know” to evolve at the micro and macro level?  And while it is obvious that the universe is beyond our comprehension in size and structure we still wonder if we exist for a reason.  Do we cease to exist when we die?  Perhaps most perplexing of all is why, if we just happen to inhabit an obscure planet in a solar system on the outer reaches of a several billion year old galaxy, do we have an emotion as powerful as Love?

Religions tend to answer these questions in dogmatic ways, but the questions still remain for most people.  The idea of any kind of intelligent design is easily brought into question when children are born with life threatening diseases.  Yet when one takes a step back and considers the ineffable enormity of all that exists, how can we be so bold as to assume that if there is a god behind it that we are even capable of adequately describing it’s nature or intentions?  As an old Talmudic theme teaches – If we cannot gaze upon the sun, which is an object of existence, how can we gaze upon that Source from which it came?

The knowledge one claims to have of whatever they believe to be God is purely a mental construct because the existence of any god is ineffable.  We are like specks of sand on a cosmic sea shore.  We roll in with tides and we roll out.  And much like the specks of sand on a beach, we have no way of seeing where the tides came from or where they might take us next.  The Hebrew name of God has traditionally been ineffable.  This less about taboo and more about the consonantal nature of the Hebrew language (there were no vowels).  Perhaps the ineffable name alludes to the ineffable existence of the god being written about.

Angels and Demons

Image via Wikipedia

One of the most perplexing questions many people have is “why do bad things happen?’ When used in terms of placing the responsibility on the Divine it is known as Theodicy. Many have tried to explain it and some use it as a way to dismiss the existence of a Divine presence but, either way it remains the greatest enigma of all.

First we need to unravel this concept of “bad things”. This itself is a subjective term because what one person perceives to be bad may not be bad to another. For example, “Did you hear Fred lost his house? It’s so sad because he is such a good guy.” Is this really a “bad thing” or did Fred get himself into an interest only $500k mortgage on an annual salary of $50k and loose a house he really had no business getting in to in the first place? This, in my opinion, while it is in no way a pleasant situation, does not qualify as a bad thing. It is consequence of bad judgement.

I know what you are thinking… What about all those poor little starving kids in Africa? You know the ones that look emaciated and have flies swarming all around them? Yes, this is a very sad and unfair situation. It too has a very simple solution and explanation…. Love thy neighbor. We live in a world where billions of dollars are spent every day on items of luxury, not necessities and billions more are spent on weapons that are used in meaningless wars. So before we are so bold as to blame the Divine for those kids starving, perhaps we should look at ourselves first. Are we really doing everything we can to love our neighbor or are we viewing acts of charity to be optional self-serving ego builders? Charity is not optional! So are we doing everything we can to stop this bad thing or are we to focused on ourselves and the things that we want?

All of us are created in the image of our maker. This means all attributes of the Divine are within us. We can love, we can show compassion, we can show anger, and we can multiply. The last of these is what makes us go from a seemingly finite speck of dust to an infinite lineage of people (that’s a topic for another post). Within each of us is a yetzer hatov: the good inclination or an angel and a yetzer hara: the evil inclination or a demon. Why are we like this? Why weren’t we created with just goodness? Remember the Garden of Eden allegory explains that we initially were all good, but we made a choice to have both attributes. Some view this choice as the “fall of man” and the beginning of “original sin” but, that is a very inaccurate view. When you think about, it it’s actually the opposite. With both attributes we are given the ability to choose and in doing so, every time we elect to do good we conquer the darkness within us. We turn darkness into light (just like the first utterance of creation when out of pure nothingness came the utterance, “Let there be Light”.) Every day we struggle with the yetzer hara and every day we can conquer it by our own actions. Is this daily struggle a bad thing? Only if you allow the inner demons to get their way.

In giving us the free will to choose between good an evil we are given freedom and with that freedom we have to be careful what choices we make. We will be held accountable if we allow the inner demon (yetzer hara) to win so we need to be sure we are listening to our guardian angel (yetzer hatov).

© Nelson Rose, The Quest for Light

What is the world coming to?

One of the biggest problems facing the human race is intolerance and ignorance. Both are equally dangerous and counterproductive to any form of progress we can make. One only has to turn on the evening news to see gridlock in government and violence in the name of God to see that humanity as a species is just insane. Yes, insane. Why do I say this? Well, ask Mr. Albert Einstein..

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein.

Think about it. How may times has corruption caused economic collapse? How many wars have been fought over religion? Look at what is on TV. An over abundance of “Reality TV” that is hardly reality but, distorts the viewers into actually believing that it is. How pathetic are we that people publicly lower their own moral standards on national television to “win the heart” of the bachelor or bachelorette who has been sleazing around with the other hopeless romantics the whole time as well?

 

To add to this continual dumbing down of society it seems the capturing of a bully beating up on a young kid or a homeless person on a cellphone so it can be uploaded to YouTube is now dubbed as “cool”. We see morally disturbing shows like “Toddler in Tiaras” and other forms of sleaze TV and then wonder why our children get in to far more trouble than we ever did. I may be crazy but, does any one see a similarity between UFC fighting and the Gladiators of Rome?

Humankind has advanced from living in straw huts and hunting with spears into a technologically advanced and literate race, capable of flight and erecting massive buildings and even going into space. Yet we have begun to digress as we progress. I watched a video in which people were interviewed about historical figures and events and I was completely blown away by the fact that dozens of people didn’t know who Adolf Hitler was. These same people couldn’t tell you who the Governor of their own state is or name the current Vice President. Of course, when you asked them who Simon Cowell is, you got a quick answer. OK. I get it, history may be boring and educating yourself on things like economics and government may not be high on the priority list for many people but, those who don’t learn from their history are doomed to repeat it.

 

I recently had the pleasure of yet again hearing someone refer to me as an ignorant heretic. I considered the source and it didn’t bother me but, I decided to engage in a debate (surprising, huh?). The debate started over his belief that all Muslims are evil and that the Islamic faith is all about violence. He is a Christian and I reminded him that the man he worships was very clear about not judging, loving your neighbor as yourself, and even loving your enemy (turn the other cheek). He then proceeded to tell me about all the violence that the Quran advocates and when I asked him if he ever read it… you guessed it, he answered No. This is an example of both intolerance and ignorance – how can you be so sure about something you have absolutely no knowledge of? I could have told him how the church really grew (by the sword not the spirit) but, instead I asked him if he would ever consider reading the Quran. He told me “Absolutely not” and I told him that unless he did he was really ignorant on the topic and would be better off shutting his mouth. He then did the usual and pointed to Osama Bin Laden, al Qaeda and other terror networks. I then reminded him that there are over 1 BILLION Muslims in the world and that if the religion was really about violence, we would have a lot bigger problem then we do now. I then pointed to various passages in the Bible where violence exists and is condoned (yes, it’s there in both testaments). He then told me it was different because it was in the Bible. At this point I realized the level of intolerant ignorance I was dealing with and told him to either read the Quran or stop trashing it. He said “Never!” and I said “What would Jesus do?” Wow, what a look he gave me.

 

We all go through life trying to find some kind of purpose. Something to give us hope and meaning. As our society becomes more and more secular we are also becoming less ethical and morally corrupt. Look at divorce rates. Look at the number of single parents and teenage pregnancies. As we continue to advance in science and medicine people have begun to lessen their dependency on believing in something greater than themselves. The danger in that is very clear.. When there is no God, then to whom in humankind held to account? All of us are born with just enough light to seek the truth. There is more than one way to find the truth and more than one path to the Divine. The allegory of the Tower of Babel teaches that multiple paths are actually part of the divine plan. From what I have read, the closer one gets to the truth the more the paths begin to weave into each other. The more one studies the foundations of all religions, the more they find common tenets and principles. With the advancement of science the scope of the Divine appears to diminish but, only when one dismisses the concept that everything has a source. There are many things that man has yet to discover and prove. Our emotions and our ability to reason will likely never be explained by science as those are the most divine of all gifts given to man. When we use one of those gifts more than the other, we lose our balance and get off course. When we believe that our personal beliefs have a higher moral authority then the beliefs of someone else, we cower in our own hypocrisy. We must all learn that within everyone is the ability to help others and the maliciousness to destroy them. Rather than focus on the faults of others or your own personal perception of the infidelity of the path that they may follow – focus on your path and what it is you are doing that may make the world a better place. We are finite as beings but, infinite with our actions and our ability to pass on what we know to the next generation.

© Nelson Rose, The Quest for Light

The “First” Family

The climax of Creation is when God creates man and woman (Genesis 1:27). Both are created at the same time and as equals and in the same manner as the other species (meaning multiple men and women) with the only difference being that they were created in God’s own image. This is in contrast to the idea that Adam and Eve were the first humans on earth. Another set of verses that shows that Adam and Eve weren’t alone follow the murder of Cain (Genesis 4:14-16) when Cain is banished and fears the “other people” will kill him. You can also read a little further and find that while he was banished Cain got married and began to build a city (Genesis 4:17). Who did Cain marry and who was he building a city with? The Bible does not mention Adam and Eve having another child until Seth (Genesis 4:25). Seth was another son and not once is a daughter mentioned.. The argument could be used that no daughters were mentioned because the emphasis seems to be on males but, even with that logic if Adam had a daughter for Cain to mate with he couldn’t. Not because its incest but, because he was banished to the land of Nod (Gen 4:16) to begin with. So there had to be other people there.

So what is the point of the story? Why tell such an elaborate tale? Some scholars believe the story of Adam and Eve is a continuation of the creation account and is to be taken literally and some believe it to be a completely different creation account entirely. My belief is that this is another allegorical lesson just like the creation account. It is intended to teach about our Creator’s greatest gifts to us: Reason and Free-will. The account of the first family is highly symbolic and is contrary to Augustine’s invention of the curse of Original Sin. The lesson being taught is about man’s moral weaknesses and self-serving nature. From the very beginning we learn that our very nature causes us to think and act inwardly. This will never give anyone a sense of purpose, it carries no reward and never will.

All of us are created with both darkness and light. The serpent is emblematic of our dark side. The “conversation” between Eve and the serpent symbolizes our internal struggle between doing what is right (light) and wrong (dark). The struggle portrayed in this account is one we all experience on a daily basis. We are all born with the desire to please ourselves. This leads to selfishness and greed. Both of which are the vices that cause almost every conflict. Eve decided for herself to eat the “forbidden fruit”. She made the decision because she wanted to be like God. She wanted what was not her’s to have for her own purposes. So she was acting selfish and out of self-serving greed. We have to learn to accept who we are and what we have been given and not seek what belongs to others or that which was not meant for us. This enables us to focus on being kind to others and helping those who are less fortunate. The “banishment” from the garden symbolizes that selfishness and self-centeredness will always lead to an undesirable outcome and it is often the opposite of what you had intended.

The tragedy of Cain and Abel is a critical lesson. It shows us the worst kind of evil. It shows us our absolute darkest ability. There is nothing worse than taking another person’s life. There is a high value placed on human life – remember that we were created in the “image of God” and therefore murder is an action against God and ALL of mankind. Cain was jealous of Abel and jealousy is totally an act of thinking inwardly. Jealousy is a feeling in which you place yourself above others as though you have an entitlement greater than those around you. When we let the evil within us control us we can become capable of the most vile actions and murder, by far, is worst action of all. Why God did not decide to strike Cain down the instant he committed this horrific act is an example of the need for all of us to forgive, which is the most selfless of all actions. So in one lesson we see our worst and our greatest abilities. Thus from the very beginning of the Bible we see the struggle between darkness and light, good and evil, right and wrong. The reason for this constant struggle is the great enigma and the search for the answer is the true quest for light.

© Nelson Rose, The Quest for Light