Yesterday’s searching writing about courage has helped me focus on my need to ‘get to it’, as that saying goes. My former friend Olivia, from ca 1995, had a round cutting board with ‘Get to it’ carved into it! As students in 1962, we would say ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’, when we were unsure of how to proceed.
God in the western and Christian tradition is quite human like, - anthropomorphic - as an actor, creator …
Although I did not write about it, the idea of ‘The Divine’ is quite central to my message and its framework, presenting a challenge to me as to what I mean by it when I use the concept of ‘Existence Divine’. This is the jumping off point for me in the formulation of my framework and message. Therefore I want to have a clear understanding of what ‘divine’ then actually means and how it informs me in that formulation.
The dictionaries more or less equate god and divine, which is not the way I understand ‘divine’. God in the western and Christian tradition is quite human like, - anthropomorphic - as an actor, creator often, originating the universe.
I separate the universe from existence, considering a universe as one of many possible processes within existence.
I see this differently. First of all I see the universe or cosmos as a process within existence, with existence itself as being without beginning or end. I separate the universe from existence, considering a universe as one of many possible processes within existence. Existence is from its own nature existing, while that what exists is by nature a cycle with a beginning and an end.
Existence Divine then contains all there is, all that exists in its cycles, long or short. The ’Divine’ in Existence Divine conveys that, to the human existence is mysterious in that we can only understand some of it. The idea of divine points to the autonomous nature of existence that is not subject to human intention or manipulation.
However, humankind and the individual exist in a process of mutual interaction with Existence Divine as we are integral with it, as it contains all there is. For short I say that I human and we humankind live and exist in a ‘Knowable Mystery‘ which I call ‘Existence Divine‘.
The various religious traditions of humankind are the outcome over time of this interaction, …
The various religious traditions of humankind are the outcome over time of this interaction, each in its own characteristic essence, manner, form, teachings, ceremonies, values and identity. Each and everyone of these traditions, large or small, great or dubious, are in their own right a true and self-consistent understanding of what existence is about. Each tradition orders the experience world of its participants in a meaningful way.
… but the traditions that have shared history and similar but differing views are more conflict prone.
In our world of today we are faced with the problem that each and every historically formed tradition must now accommodate other such traditions. Traditions that differ greatly exist in a kind of tolerance of isolation from each other, but the ones that have shared history and similar but differing views are more conflict prone. This has to do with interference from one set of values and beliefs with one that is similar, causing confusion and challenge of authority.
This is as far as I want to go today, but a kernel has been formulated and it may indeed be my ‘jumping off point'!
<10:41am~
