Merely surrounding oneself with religious meme chords and performing works out of duty to the meme chords does not grant access to God.
Here's how the Bible puts it in Matthew 7:
21 Not every one that said to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
What does it mean, to "work iniquity"? It means putting your mud's desires ahead of God's will (or the metaversal plan). When a UC puts its own well-meaning-but-limited plan into action, a karmic debt is created. Seekers after God desire absolution from sin/karma/iniquity. Building even more karmic debt out of personal effort is the last thing the seeker wants.
Here's how the Tao Te Ching puts it in Verse 18:
When the Tao is lost, there is goodness.
When goodness is lost, there is morality.
When morality is lost, there is ritual.
Ritual is the husk of true faith,
the beginning of chaos.
The Tao Te Ching, or Book of the Way, is an ancient Chinese collection of 81 wisdom verses. In “The Simple Explanation” model, the Tao spoken of by Lao Tzu refers to the metaversal information and principles of organization that have informed our universe since the moment before creation.
This verse describes ritual's fall from grace.
The highest state is to be at one with God and God's plan, called herein the Tao.
When one loses touch with the universal UC, one loses the Tao's information pipeline. But, says Verse 18, even if your UC has lost its way, you still know goodness when you see it, and your heart may still be in the right place.
But, once your heart loses its way, you no longer have true goodness. Morality is what you are left with once love departs. Morality is a system of rules meant to engender Godly behavior in those who no longer know God.
Once morality is lost, empty ritual takes its place. Ritualistic behavior no longer serves to bring one closer to God. At this stage, the Way to God has become replaced by meaningless gestures.
"Ritual is the husk of true faith." Lifeless, dried-up memes have replaced morality, goodness, love, and access to God. Verse 18 declares this state to be chaos, anarchy, entropic, because when the Word of God cannot pass its organizing principles through your UC, the opportunity is lost to accomplish whatever part your UC was to play in making things better. This is the last thing the seeker wants.
Cyd, Your application of the "Simple Explanation" to the Problem With Religion is wonderfully articulated and right on the button! Your position is beautifully summarized in Verse 18 of the Tao te Ching. In one line, the problem with religion is summarized: Ritual is the husk of faith, the beginning of chaos. Indeed, we must shed our meme laden garments in order to return to the God (the Universal UC) within.
ReplyDeleteYes. I read something interesting in Iyengar's "Light on Life" this morning that relates. He explained the difference between attaining realization or Oneness with the Self UC vs. attaining Oneness with the God UC. One gives up attachments (memes) to be One with the Self UC, but one must go beyond individuality and give up identity with the the Self UC in order to merge with the God UC. That's an interesting way to put it. Although Paramahansa Yogananda says we never give up personal identity even when we merge with God.
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