Cracking the Code of Religion

The religious icons; Christ, the Buddha, etc., went deep within themselves and found something quite remarkable, then advised their followers to do the same.

"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old, seek what they sought (Matsuo Basho)

But something happened along the way; and these icons became articles of worship instead of teachers. Then their followers became idolaters instead of enlightened beings. This explains a lot about the tragedies that followed - the religious wars and sectarian strife that justifies the condemnation that religion is the cause of human strife, rather than the solution.

To discover the truth about contemporary society, and whether it would rather idolize a savior than transform itself as its saviors have done, we must approach the problem with an open mind. When we approach problems with ideology or hardened opinions, we only utilize a fraction of the facts that are available.

If it is true that we idolize and worship rather than search within for answers, then our practice of religion will produce different results from those experienced by our icons, simply because the stratagem is skewed - they did it one way, and we are doing it another. So, what are the results of idolization instead of self-inquiry? Obviously, narrow-mindedness and sectarian strife, which plays out on the world stage every day, just as it has for thousands of years. We just don't get it. We just don't get it that the contemporary code of religion is a code of convenience.

The problem is; we don't want to get it. Our saviors had spent a lot of time and angst becoming enlightened (that's what it takes), but we don't want to be troubled with all of that. We want to keep our cake but eat it too; we want a shortcut to happiness. Have we achieved happiness? Let's look at our lives, not at how our life should be, or what it will be someday, but how it is today, right now. Are we happy? Will we remain happy? Will cancer strike? Will the world burn up in a nuclear war? Will our relatives move in with us? Our happiness, even if achieved, is tenuous at best.

The Buddha had given up a kingdom to search for truth, and then he had nothing. He literally became a beggar, and feared nothing, and he was happy. He didn't worship anybody; he taught by his actions and by his words. He recommended that his followers give up everything as well; family, wealth, ideas, everything, and dedicate their lives to uncovering the truth for themselves. But instead, it was easier, and more fun, for many of his followers to build religions around their icon, and as the old saying goes, if you can't do it, read and write about it!

And this has been the code of religion forever, reading and writing about something we have no direct experience of, and then believing it without the bother of proving it true for ourselves. These icons didn't preach out of any books, none at all, they preached about what they had found within themselves, and since it was universal truth, it has persevered all these years.

When what we see and hear derives from internal observation, then the teaching becomes universal and not sectarian, and this is the real code of religion, the one that lasts - universality. It lasts because the internal experience, even though many times misinterpreted by zealots, is universal in nature, and that ineffable experience becomes just that, inexplicable . . . as well as universal. Only when the small mind attempts to fit the experience into some neat idealistic package does the truth become skewed, and then the truth becomes a dangerous weapon in the hands of fanatics.

The Buddha and Christ expressed what they experienced internally through their actions, and their actions were a study in love and compassion. The Buddha steered clear of politics, remaining within his sphere and teaching for 45 years. This was enough time to crystallize his teachings into straightforward and clear instructions, enabling over five-hundred of his followers to become enlightened. Only three months after his death, his enlightened monks met in a cave and memorized all of his teachings, chanting them together so that they could never be misspoken or misinterpreted as time went by. These same sutras are chanted today in Buddhist temples, unchanged for over twenty-five hundred years, and just a relevant today as then if not more so. And they all point to a solitary search by each individual within.

This is universality. This is awakened thought in concert with science every step of the way. This is peaceful. (Not too many Buddhist terrorists about)!

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers.

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