Thank you for your response.
The basic problem is that religious leaders have taken something pure and turned it into an institution. Perhaps they realized that most people are not ready to enquire into their own nature and therefore the next best thing is to at least have them understand some basic things about the nature of reality. Or they saw an opportunity to control people. In any case, they have created a divisive enterprise that is anything but spiritual in its overall purpose.
While we can learn about "the oneness," it remains in the sphere of an intellectual understanding at best and is not an actual realization of what you are. It is up to each person to explore this by finding his/her essential nature. When this is done then everything else falls into place. The self is a fractal or hologram for the entirety of consciousness.
You asked how I personally navigate the balance between using teachings and maintaining my autonomy. It's a good question and worthy of some explanation beyond the superficial.
We must begin with what someone wants. Most people want to be happier, more secure, and to experience a good life. Although this used to be my experience as well, by the time I reached my 50s I wanted something different; I wanted to know what I am beyond the things of this world and even consciousness. While there are gems in every religion, I was tired of trying to wade through all the information and teachings to find these gems. So instead I set out on a path of enquiring into my own sense of self, which requires no teaching, information, belief, or mentation. Nothing but an unalloyed observation of "what is" will bring forth a realization. All of what is known must be abandoned.
When you say that the Quran invites people to reflect, engage in self-examination and seek a deeper connection with the divine, my response is to say that this can help someone move beyond the sense of self. However, very few teachers really understand what the Quran is saying or how to go about using such a teaching to find realization. In the early days of Sufism many sages of great note were teaching the pure realization of one's true nature, but we don't find much of this any more in a world overtaken by religious zealots, whether in Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or other religion. The purity has been subsumed by hate, misogyny, greed, violence, materialism, and so on. Not long ago I wrote an article showing that each religion has a spiritual path (Sufism, Kabballah, Gnosticism, etc.) that acts as a guide instead of a dictator of information and dogma. So the truth is there, but it is overlooked, misunderstood, and distorted by those who are unaware and in control.
The mind of the self is conditioned by ideas, which is why all ideas must be abandoned to step out of it. Organized religion, on the other hand, perpetuates the ideas, because it has an agenda; it has become a power structure.
At this point I no longer have a need for exploration. My journey has led me right back to the spot where I started, which is the fundamental me. I have been writing a book about my experiences over my lifetime, but it's a difficult enterprise, because it is impossible to actually convey what has taken place.
