the divided mind and the insanity of religion, part 2
Vic Shayne
author
The Self is a Belief: the idea that causes suffering
In the previous article, part 1, we looked at the idea of a divided mind, which we noted is not really divided but seems so because of the disintegration of a mind that cannot perceive the totality of consciousness. Now we may consider how the fragmented mind seeks to soothe, placate, and save itself by means of its own beliefs and inventions. In the simplest of explanations, we humans are scared and confused so we invent something greater than ourselves to protect and save us. In so doing we just make things worse by perpetuating the underlying problem.
fragmentation is limitation
Our minds are not, by and large, equipped to behold the totality of all that is, and neither are our five senses, so we fragment this totality into pieces we can digest. In doing so we remain ignorant of the fact that we are the totality itself and that everyone and everything that is in our world is ourselves even if in a sensorially different form. We look different yet we are all of the same essence, which if you go deep enough is nothing at all. Failure to see what we really are creates problems galore, chief of which is the suffering of humans, animals, plant species, and the living earth.
We suffer, others suffer, we cause suffering, and we create institutions to ameliorate suffering that cause even more suffering.
the need to believe
Because we are mentally fragmented we believe we need something to protect us from the perceived “other” that we imagine is real and that takes the form of people, ideas, institutions, and most everything else that is outside of our own physical bodies. For this reason man has invented religions, political parties, groups, clubs, and cults, all of which promise an escape and protection from a world of our own making.
We make the world a scary place and then invent religion to make us feel better. The only problem is that it makes things worse, much worse.
We frighten ourselves to death with our erroneous ideas of separation and then we invent institutions to save us from our fear. We’re like a sociopath who gaslights someone and then offers comfort. And if we are not frightened enough, our institutions will help raise our anxiety by threatening us in the afterlife, punishing us for disobedience (of rules we have imposed upon ourselves in the guise of a supernatural being), and so on.
Man’s religions feature gods in the mental image of man, complete with all his faults, emotions, rage, meanness, ugliness, and peculiarities. Whatever wisdom may exist in our world religions is overshadowed by pettiness, greed, murder, violence, and divisiveness — all of which have been an output of religion and used as an excuse to control, abuse, neglect, shame, oppress, ridicule, and murder our fellow human beings from ancient times right down to the current day.
the insanity of our institutions
Religion is madness, insanity. It is both the product of man’s divided mind and his attempt to deal with his divided mind. Religion is also the elephant in the room, because it is so widely accepted that it is taboo to speak about in most situations, including in universities where ideas are supposed to be hashed out and logic is supposed to reign free. The few people such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens who spoke out against religion decades ago made a big splash and then disappeared into a faded memory. It’s hard to say what their lasting impact was, but it seems that religion, in some form or another, is here to stay.
Hitchens notoriously said, “Religion is poison because it asks us to give up our most precious faculty, which is that of reason, and to believe things without evidence. It then asks us to respect this, which it calls faith.” This isn’t the only reason religion is often a poison. Hitchens’ condemnation is sweeping and he leaves no room for quarter, but the fact remains that religion does serve a purpose. As I have written elsewhere, people should be free to believe and practice whatever they want as long as they do not cause suffering. However, if one’s goal is to find some ultimate truth, wake up to what he really is, end division among the peoples of the world, and solve the world’s problems, then religion will not do the trick. It is fundamentally limited, flawed, and weighed down by archaic ideas.
threatening the ego
Set aside for a moment what it takes to believe in outrageous claims and consider that we can’t even speak freely of the real need for religion and what its false sense of security has to do with the human psyche. We can talk all we want about fashion, television, sports, politics, and all sorts of likes and dislikes, but religion is off the table in fear of offending someone even as they use it as a cause for murder or the overthrow of our government.
Religion is a dangerous topic because it threatens the core of the ego. Religion is so entrenched that even our governments, schools, and scientific institutions put up with it. We can’t criticize it in mixed company, at parties, in public, or in churches, synagogues, or mosques. And yet religion affects all of our lives in one way or another. Even those who appear to be open-minded enough to admit to the fault of their own religion cling to it nonetheless. There is no “letting go to let God” when you just won’t let go!
so now what can we do about any of this?
It would be remiss of me to leave this conversation overshadowed by hopelessness, so let’s discuss the remedy for our divided mind and all the suffering it causes us, in and out of our punitive religious ideas and institutions. What can be done to bring the mind back into wholeness? In two words: Wake up!
The dictionary has two main definitions for the word “awaken:”
1. to rouse from sleep, and
2. make someone aware of (something) for the first time
When we wake up to what we really are then we become free of ideas that keep us in emotional and mental bondage. This has nothing to do with how smart or talented we are or how much information is stuffed into our brains. It is not a matter of logic, belief, or trying to control our minds. Rather, it has to do with seeing things as they really are; as a result the fragmentation of the mind fades.
time to do something other than thinking
Since nearly every activity of the egoic self has to do with thinking, pondering, wondering, scheming, dreaming, worrying, remembering, inventing, and problem-solving — and none of these activities produce an awakening — it’s time to do something else. The answer is in observation, which is to see what is present right now and not fixate on the past or future, what might be lurking in the subconscious, how to cure ourselves, or finding a suitable distraction, all of which perpetuate the divided mind. See what exists right here and now and take a good long look at the self until it loosens its grip and prominence. It may take months or years, but eventually the egoic self loses its grip.
