Jan 22, 2018
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Chiropractic
Rubbish Camp
On Spirituality and Skepticism
Doubt and skepticism have always been a part of the human experience. The depth and breadth of a seed of doubt that exists in our mind at any given time, when it finds roots, can grow into the tree of skepticism. According to wikipedia (and yes, we can express doubt about the source!), the expression of doubt finds applications in various domains as:
Skepticism or scepticism is generally any questioning attitude or doubt towards one or more items of putative knowledge or belief. It is often directed at domains, such as morality (moral skepticism), religion (skepticism about the existence of God), or the nature of knowledge (skepticism of knowledge).
From a spiritual perspective, we may find ourselves naturally expressing doubt about the beliefs and practices of those who do not fit into our framework of beliefs or our life experience. The less we know about the individual, the society, their way of life or their background, the more we may find ourselves being inclined to doubt and skepticism. It is easy for us to transisition from the slippery slope of uncertainty into the valley of doubt. What begins as irritation, turns into anger, grows into hatred and mainfests as rage.
It isn't as if doubt and skepticism cannot have a productive role in our life. If we examine the seed of doubt as soon as it is planted in our mind, we can use it in a creative way. We can choose honest examination instead of irritation and anger. What if we were to construct a 'thought experiment' with the seed of doubt? What if we were to construct a series of 'what if' questions about our natural, defensive skepticism to new ideas and foreign beliefs?
So, what would it take for us to welcome doubt and skepticism? It would require us to overcome a bit of our belief inertia to walk with doubt. It may require us to discard much of our hubris in order to truthfully accept our skepticism. It may require a willingness to open our hearts to listen to those whose world view is diametrically 'opposed' to ours. What if we were actually to do all three? How would our life be different? How different would our spiritual practices be if we were to rely on our own direct experience to resolve our doubts?
If we are indeed 'seekers of truth', maybe we need to doubt a little bit more...?
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. ~Rene Descartes, mathematician and philosopher
An acceptance of doubt does not mean that we abjure faith and hope. In fact, they can coexist. Even peacefully. What if we set out to strengthen faith and renew hope through the personal resolution of our doubts? What if faith and hope were to become the purified gold nuggets that emerge from the fire-tested crucible of doubt and skepticism?
Yes. I posit that we can reframe our questions. We do have the courage. We can reframe our doubts and skepticism. We do have the inclination. We can sit with our opponents and share our irritation and our fears before they turn into hate and rage. We know what is truly at stake. For that is perhaps the one way for us to walk in peace, in harmony with our love of nature as we (re)discover the nature of love.
Kumud @AjmaniK
I invite you to share with us, Sunday October 16th 2016 in our weekly #SpiritChat conversation on twitter. Bring your doubts and your skepticism. Who knows. You may leave with a new friend or two...
Fall Colors Break Out - No Doubt about it!
It's been a long, strange year without you, Hitch. Here's to you, with a tumbler full of Johnnie Walker Black.
if you never doubt anything, it's a good chance that you're either stupid, or idiot...
@benhan, via Twitter.
Not necessarily an "idiot' (that's rather rude) but I agree with his point: doubting is an important process in receiving information.
This is both obvious and troubling:
LinkedIn and Groupon are only part of a larger investment trend -- one that will ultimately include Facebook itself (which seems poised for an IPO in 2012). And, to be fair, the new social networking/aggregating companies with the most speculative buzz right now do not share the completely Seinfeldian nature of the most infamous dot-com companies of the 1990s -- that is, they aren't totally "about nothing."