Tannishblog

“You have a hole in your tolerance,” she said – and she was right: I have a religious intolerance.

I am deeply troubled by religions that speak of God. This most often is expressed in bashing Christianity, but the things that bother me are endemic to all theistic religions. Christianity gets blasted because I’m most familiar with it, and because in today’s political climate, Christianity speaks with the loudest voice.

In truth, I question the concept of God and all its adherent subtexts. I will spare you the details; as such arguments are well worn and have been better argued by smarter people than I. Some of the most damaging beliefs has spun off the God-concept that I scratch my head in awe that it’s still a viable meme. It is better to have a blind spot in tolerance than to have tolerance in a blind spot. Rather, it is better to one to strive toward tolerance fully knowing the imperfections of one’s view, than having imperfect views without acknowledgment. Herein is the hole in my tolerance, wide enough to float a small moon through, yet narrow enough to still allow me to function.

If my theism-trashing words offend you, don’t blame me entirely. Instead look to your mental processes. No one can anger you without your permission. To freely give permission to be angered is unwise, yet all too common. Instead of submitting to a knee-jerk, conditioned mental response to my words, try looking at the mental mechanics of your reactions. Hear each thought as it arises, feel the tension in your breath, know how the chain reaction of habitual thinking is the culprit in your discomfort, your offence and in your corresponding emotional expression.

Words are just words. When spoken, words are vibrations, nothing more, transitory and easily lost. The thoughts they refer to, have more staying power. When written, words are just symbols, meaningless without a shared cultural context from which meaning can arise.

In both cases, it is the movements of mind that matter. All phenomena exist only in the mind, therefore to know how your mind works is the most important arena of study. To let the words and deeds of others inflict the pain of hatred and anger in your mind without understanding how this happens is to deny yourself control over your own mind. Such behavior is foolish. To know the workings of your mind is to have control over your life; from the extent of knowledge comes the extent of control. Such understanding is the foundation of wisdom. How is it that such knowledge is omitted, even repressed, in out theistic society?

While I work on patching the hole in my tolerance, I ask you to work in familiarizing yourself on the inner workings of you mind. Sit 30 minutes a day in an upright position, focusing on your breath. Let all thoughts fade as you focus on breathing. After a while you’ll begin to note the many haphazard ways your mind tricks you. Before long you can sink comfortable beneath you mental landscape and feel calmness. From this calmness arises control, wisdom, and peace. I wish you all of these and more.