Faith vs Intellect - fear of belief - page 1

Thanks for the feedback!

It's so hard to articulate why I believe without it sounding mysteriously childish or a gullible desire to fulfill an emotional need (which scientists would reduce down to materialism). When reading the UB it provided the kind of detail that gives you a greater appreciation – like reading the biography of a great person, except in this case it made me appreciate humanity and God. I didn’t read it and believe straight away, it was more a process (like musical notes all coming together), until I reached a point where it just made sense – it resounded within. I had to read it like a fable to begin with, and there was definite scepticism. However, the subjects were so intriguing and that’s what kept me reading, and before I knew it, it dawned on me that I actually believed it! Especially moving were the Jesus papers and the history of mankind. I read it every day for 8 weeks straight, some days until the early hours of the morning. I remember this point exactly (of believing), and the emotions that followed. It was at work while on a break (which I’d spent reading the UB). Beforehand, I was reading almost out of curious investigation, and a humorous tone to it (e.g. “what on earth is this rubbish?! It’s a pile of crap but really interesting nevertheless….and why does it does it go into excruciating detail if it's just a story?”). The realisation that what I stumbled across was truth (to me) was like a light bulb going off in my mind, and a sudden relaxation/peace/calm came over me mixed with elation as if finding a treasure (my mind allowed it to “be” and let the cautious wall down that I’d been supporting). It’s like I’d found something I didn’t realise I was searching for. The excitement and joy was indescribable, like nothing could really phase me. This in the face of already heavily ingrained fundamental Christian teaching (i.e. a Jehovah's Witness).

If I could bottle up that state of consciousness and give it out I would! However, my efforts at "preaching the UB" (as is) fell on deaf ears, people either are scared or they think you're nice but deluded. So I resigned myself to dissemination instead - adapt/uplift what people already believe. I quickly realised that you can reach a far wider audience simply by reflecting the values contained within, I realised that we shouldn't become "knowledge preachers", but rather relatable and down to earth people with a spark of the divine motivating us. We should strive to be ourselves and not self aggrandise to the level of preacher/teacher (not that teaching is bad, but more to the point, being cognizant of our place and the changeable/limited nature of thoughts). Everything expressed must come from this fruits of the spirit, and that source be revealed rather than obsessing over what we "know".

So over the years I've taken that approach with my good friend (both of us grew up in the same cult), never going into too much detail of the mechanics of my beliefs. This has lead to the conundrum of him seeking the root of my faith, to know the mechanics so he can take a similar approach (or at the very least simply be more aware out of curiosity what makes people like me tick). I must admit, I do use the UB as a crutch quite a bit, and without that I can see why someone like him would feel lost. I cannot deny that the intellect plays a very large role in my faith, and he says the same thing about his unwillingness to believe - that his mind needs to be fully convinced! It's like being stuck between a rock and hard place because although real truth goes deeper than surface mindal perception/framework, the latter "solid ground" is still necessary....but can also be scrutinised to death and rationalised away!

To make matters worse :lol:

Partial, incomplete, and evolving intellects would be helpless in the master universe, would be unable to form the first rational thought pattern, were it not for the innate ability of all mind, high or low, to form a universe frame in which to think. If mind cannot fathom conclusions, if it cannot penetrate to true origins, then will such mind unfailingly postulate conclusions and invent origins that it may have a means of logical thought within the frame of these mind-created postulates. And while such universe frames for creature thought are indispensable to rational intellectual operations, they are, without exception, erroneous to a greater or lesser degree. (UB 115:1.1)

This almost seems self sabotaging to make this comment in a book about reality. It's an extremely frustrating stance to take with someone who wants something tangible. You could get around this by saying that the UB provides a better framework to uplift current thinking about the cosmos/afterlife etc, but still, my friend would say something along the lines of "either midwayers exist or they don't", or "either we wake up in the resurrection halls or we don't". Why believe that over Thor? "Well Thor is just a Greek myth....ah...I see where you're going with this lol". There's no get out clause of our limited perception here, the UB takes an almost fundamental approach in many places (no grey areas like the book of Genesis which can be taken metaphorically). It still begs the question of "why believe that and not some other story"? I cannot honestly say anything other than it being a matter of faith; that I have been so moved by the majority of the UB that I take it on faith that the other parts (which blend together wonderfully to create a grand purpose) are also true.

It may feel insulting to have our beliefs compared to others that we see as "primitive", but ultimately can we really always be pointing the finger at others and smugly claiming their's are carnal, based on fear, food symbolism blah blah (in other words, dissecting them down to some basic human motive with a touch of truth) while forgetting our own beliefs come under the same scrutiny? It's the whole glass house concept. As much as we may be respectful, if we endeavor to elevate our form of religion by comparing it to traditional ones we still run the risk of reducing existence into a mechanistic nature (shoot our own foot). It always leads back to a bottom line of how it makes you feel. You can say you glean far greater value from the UB which makes you a better person. That would then lead onto the question of "why believe all those little details which could be myths...why not just skip straight to the values?".

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Faith vs Intellect - fear of belief

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