2 Burst results for "Jerry Spence"
Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast
"jerry spence" Discussed on Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast
"But there's no logical explanation for a lot of things, and it doesn't make any sense to look for something that isn't there. At some point, the most logical thing to do is let go. Trust the process and say, I don't know. And I'm okay with not knowing. Having faith doesn't mean believing that God is the reason behind the phenomenon we can't explain. People do that only when they're uncomfortable with the unknown. When we didn't know what caused thunder and lightning, for example, we believed God was expressing his anger and disapproval. But that's not faith. That's scapegoating. It is important to distinguish between truth and facts. Science is a search for facts, not for the truth. It sets out to answer how things came into existence, for example, but it doesn't concern itself with why they came to be. Religion, on the other hand, not only attempts to answer why things came to be, but subsequently calls its answers the truth with a capital T no less, often with absolutely no regard to conflicting facts. Scientists can and often do make new discoveries that invalidate or append earlier data, even if it means admitting previous findings were short sighted. This is possible because science has no emotional attachment to that data, organized religion can not allow new discoveries to stomp or append earlier statements because pulling one string could potentially make the whole thing fall apart. There is absolutely no reason to argue over which religion came first or whose philosophy is better. The important thing is to be kind, understanding peaceful and compassionate. It's no coincidence that these are the fundamentals of all religions and schools of thought. Whether it's Mother Teresa's acts of charity, Gandhi's perseverance or your aunt Betty's calm demeanor. It doesn't matter who inspires you. So long as you're motivated to be better today than you were yesterday. So regardless of religion or geographical region, race, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, flexibility, or vulnerability. If you do good, you feel good. And if you do bad, you feel bad. Amen, hallelujah, and all that jazz. Everything we've experienced in the past has prepared us for something yet to come. Time and time again, I have found myself in completely foreign situations, yet fully equipped with the knowledge and confidence to get through whatever life has to offer. You see nothing happens to us. It all happens for us for us to learn from grow from and most importantly move on from. True, we can assume the ever comforting victim role and radar ourselves of any null responsibility to grow around obstacles, but that just leaves us stuck in a loop of what we'd call misfortunes while optimists see them as opportunities. There is no right or wrong way to go about it, but as Robert Holden succinctly stated, you can chase happiness, or you can choose happiness. It all depends on how much time you want to save. I don't consider myself a skeptic at all. Nor do I claim that the world is full of lies. On the contrary, I believe the world is full of truth and in a brilliant words of Jerry Spence. It is better to have a mind open by wander than a mind, close by belief.
Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast
"jerry spence" Discussed on Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast
"When I tell people that, I don't have a religion, they automatically assume I don't believe in God. But man, nothing could be further from the truth. This episode explains why my memoir is called faithfully religionless. You see, I have a tremendous amount of faith, but it's doctrine free with a definition of God that doesn't conjure a white bearded man in the sky who dispenses blessings for good behavior and condemns the bad. That's because I don't believe God does that. Religion does. And as Anne lamott cleverly put it, you can safely assume you've created God in your own image. If it turns out that you're God hates the same people you do. All of the media outlets were exposed to have oversaturated the public with videos, photos, and online posts about terror, murder, and brutality with so much detail that nothing shocks us anymore. We've become immune to the threat of eternal damnation and religious leaders are quickly realizing that they need to change their pitch if they want to keep their members. Times are changing and fear doesn't sell like it used to. Every day, more and more people turn away from religion for one reason or another. For some, it may begin with a negative experience at church. While for others, the dogma of conditional acceptance simply hits too close to home. I believe religion needs to quickly evolve from being exclusive to inclusive. Otherwise, it will inevitably make itself extinct. I'm not necessarily against religion as a rule. I just don't have one, nor do I think we need religion to be ethical. There are wonderful churches doing great work in the world, alleviating suffering and helping us in our time of need. I feel bad that many of them are losing credibility through no fault of their own. It's unfortunate that good religious organizations with open doors to everyone are badly tainted by the extremists and the fundamentalists who still preach judgment and hatred. Like the boy who cried wolf, religion has given us too many false predictions like the end of times to a point where the word religious has somehow become a derogatory term. That's why many of us are so quick to say I'm spiritual but not religious because God forbid we associate ourselves with those religious people. Fortunately, it doesn't have to be that way. I think it's perfectly possible to have a personal relationship with God without any religious affiliation, nor any association with a specific church or sect. I don't know about you, but my God loves everybody. The way I understand it, God has very little to do with religion that judeo Christian Bible or least of all the church. But when people have a bad experience with one aspect of their faith, be it the church, the Bible, local clergy, or when religion gets mixed up with politics, they end up tossing all of it away. God included. And yes, I know that a spiritual seekers we are drawn to the calm, smiling faces of those compassionate godless Buddhist monks of Tibet with their colorful robes and quiet demeanor. They sure give those Catholic nuns around for their money. The allure of eastern philosophy is stronger than ever. But what I've learned on my journey from faithless religion to being faithfully religionless is that we don't have to shave our heads and get rid of God in order to live a peaceful life. We may not need religion to be happy, but we do need faith. You see religion asks us to believe in someone else's experience, while spirituality invites us to have our own. And after years of now being able to wrap my head around the concept of faith because I'm a big fan of logic and the two seem to repel like magnets, all I had to do was take a step back, zoom out and realize that it's not about deciding between faith or logic. It's about having both. Logic argues there is a reason or at the very least an explanation for everything in the universe. While faith invites us to let go of the need to know, which is true freedom, if you ask me. But there is no logical explanation for a lot of things, and it doesn't make any sense to look for something that isn't there. At some point, the most logical thing to do is let go. Trust the process and say, I don't know. And I'm okay with not knowing. Having faith doesn't mean believing that God is the reason behind the phenomenon we can't explain. People do that only when they're uncomfortable with the unknown. When we didn't know what caused thunder and lightning, for example, we believed God was expressing his anger and disapproval. But that's not faith. That's scapegoating. It is important to distinguish between truth and facts. Science is a search for facts, not for the truth. It sets out to answer how things came into existence, for example, but it doesn't concern itself with why they came to be. Religion, on the other hand, not only attempts to answer why things came to be, but subsequently calls its answers the truth with a capital T no less, often with absolutely no regard to conflicting facts. Scientists can and often do make new discoveries that invalidate or append earlier data, even if it means admitting previous findings were short sighted. This is possible because science has no emotional attachment to that data, organized religion can not allow new discoveries to stomp or append earlier statements because pulling one string could potentially make the whole thing fall apart. There is absolutely no reason to argue over which religion came first or whose philosophy is better. The important thing is to be kind, understanding peaceful and compassionate. It's no coincidence that these are the fundamentals of all religions and schools of thought. Whether it's Mother Teresa's acts of charity, Gandhi's perseverance or your aunt Betty's calm demeanor. It doesn't matter who inspires you. So long as you're motivated to be better today than you were yesterday. So regardless of religion or geographical region, race, ethnicity, color, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, flexibility, or vulnerability. If you do good, you feel good. And if you do bad, you feel bad. Amen, hallelujah, and all that jazz. Everything we've experienced in the past has prepared us for something yet to come. Time and time again, I have found myself in completely foreign situations, yet fully equipped with the knowledge and confidence to get through whatever life has to offer. You see nothing happens to us. It all happens for us for us to learn from grow from and most importantly move on from. True, we can assume the ever comforting victim role and radar ourselves of any null responsibility to grow around obstacles. But that just leaves us stuck in a loop of what we'd call misfortunes while optimists see them as opportunities. There is no right or wrong way to go about it, but as Robert Holden succinctly stated, you can chase happiness, or you can choose happiness. It all depends on how much time you want to save. I don't consider myself a skeptic at all. Nor do I claim that the world is full of lies. On the contrary, I believe the world is full of truth, and in the brilliant words of Jerry Spence. It is better to have a mind open by wander than a mind, close by belief. Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of faithfully religionless and Buddhist boot camp for additional information, please visit Buddhist boot camp dot com where you can order autographed books to support the person library project, watch timbers inspiring TED Talk and join our monthly mailing list. We hope you have enjoyed this episode and invite you to subscribe for more thought provoking discussions. Thank you for being a soldier of peace in the army of fluff.