I am still not 100% sure why I decided to put this page here, as an "afterthought" to the spirituality page. It's definitely not about "making some kind of statement" about my personal beliefs. I suppose it's more about showing one possible example of how an HSP's personal spiritual journey might unfold.
If you choose to read this, I ask you to kindly keep in mind that you are just reading the story of one HSP's journey. This is not a "manifesto" of what I think people "should believe." If you're easily offended by differing points of view, please consider reading another part of the site, instead.
By way of introduction, I am one of the HSPs who follow a form of "Life Philosophy" that has been patched together from a whole lot of different places. More often than not, I end up telling those who ask that "Nature is my Church."
Now that I think about it, my reason for adding this page has to do with someone asking me a question, recently. It seemed like a pretty simple question: "Do you believe in God?" However, it ended up stopping me dead in my tracks, and having to think rather thoroughly about what I do believe.
After some pondering, I realize that's not a question I can readily answer.
Lest that sounds wishy-washy, here's an explanation of how my belief system has come about. But first a quickie answer:
I think most HSPs have a tendency towards introspection and the intellectual curiosity to look around and want to explore the world of thought, spirituality and faith. I started my own journey of spiritual inquiry fairly early. I grew up in Denmark, a country that's 90% Lutheran "on paper," and where the school curriculae are mostly set by the government. As a backdrop, I'd describe Danish society as "largely non-religious." It would be my (educated) guess that 80% of the population only set foot in a church for christenings, weddings and funerals. My purpose in saying this is that I, like many Danes, was not raised in a family who sought to pass on a "doctrine," to be instilled in me from toddlerhood on-- rather, my choice of beliefs was shaped by my own curiosity and inquiry. Anyway, my journey started in the 4th grade, with a class simply called "religion."
That was then. Many years have passed. I am now in my latter-40's.
Many of my earlier years of spiritual inquiry didn't revolve around the conventional questions about God and religion, but rather around a curiosity as to why these questions were so gosh darn important to people. Neither Ms. O'Hair, nor the Baptist Brothers seemed particularly happy, nor pleasant, as human beings. In fact, most people I met who were "deeply into" some belief system-- never mind what it was-- struck me as far more angry than blissed out.
But back to the original question.
I believe in
The Infinite Possibilities of the Universe.
I believe in Love.
Allow me to expand it a bit:
"Religion" (which we had twice a week from 4th through 7th grades) was essentially a "world survey" of belief systems, taught from a "historical/procedural" perspective. One month, we might examine the Hindus-- along the lines of historical origins, philosophy, format of "rituals," etc. Next month we'd examine Chrsitianity, in a similar fashion. It was very interesting, and we covered everything from mainstream Christianity to obscure forms of Santeria and Voodoo, as well as pre-Christian Nordic Goddess worship. No preaching, no moralizing, no manipulating, just information. More than anything, I believe the class served to make us think and inquire.
When I was about 12, I found myself in a church with my Uncle Erik, who was a Lutheran minister. He asked me if I could "sense the presence of God," and with the honesty of a shy but earnest child, I replied that the only presence I could sense was mildew. Although a strict man, my uncle let the comment slide, without further ado.
During the ensuing years, I was exposed to many different beliefs. While in boarding school in the UK I was exposed to the Anglican church; when I arrived in Texas to begin university, I was exposed a vast array of belief systems. My first girlfriend after I arrived in the US was a devout conservative Christian who more or less "dumped" me on discovering that I didn't place Jesus Christ ahead of her, in my life. During my senior year, the two Southern Baptist brothers who lived in the apartment downstairs repeatedly tried to "save" me. A few years later, the now deceased Atheist leader Madalyn Murray O'Hair and her son were customers of my retail business.
I believe that whether there's a "God" (deity) or not, whatever "God" may be (i.e. Supreme Being, Creator, Collective Consciousness of all living entities, The Force, Biblical Figure, The Great Void, The Great Pumpkin), it is so far beyond the comprehension of our human brains that we feel compelled to give it a "label:"
GOD
Otherwise, we simply can't contemplate it.
Humans (in general) have a great fear of the unknown/unknowable, so a "quantifyable God" makes it easier for us to stomach something we can't even begin to comprehend. We do this rather frequently with things unknown: Ghosts, Vampires, Aliens, Bigfoot.... we give them a "known face" although we don't know..... In a similar vein, I imagine that Mog the Caveman heard thunder and called it "God" because it was unexplainable, and thus scary....
.....and before we knew what a "virus" was, humanity feared many diseases as brought upon us by "things unknown." Mind you, I'm not saying that we'll ever "comprehend" God, just that God is "unknown and unknowable." Thus, we can't "behold," or look directly, at God. The Bible has its explanation; personally, I think "God" is just so complex that if we looked at it/him/her, we'd have a psychological meltdown in trying to understand. So God says "Don't look at me!" She doesn't like nasty bits of melted brain matter on her doorstep. It's all a matter of quantum physics.
I believe in
the infinite possibilities
of the universe.
In my personal exploration of the universe, I have found no compelling reasons for "God" or "not-God." All I have found are possibilities, steeped in paradoxes. All I have found are perspectives. Reasonable perspectives, I might add. Plausible perspectives. But no single "explanation" I can fully accept-- either by faith or by proof. And I don't even seek proof, just a compelling reason.
In some odd way, my "beliefs" are precisely "The Possibilities," rather than "How It Is." My life is about "the journey," rather than "the knowing." As I have sat here (for a couple of hours, now), considering these words, I keep returning to the realization that what gives my spiritual life some kind of "meaning" is the "exploration of the possibilities," not the "having the answer." Would I like an answer? Sure... but it certainly isn't central to my emotional and spiritual well-being. I feel completely at easy with uncertainty and "not knowing."
I am open to the idea that every "conscious" entity in the universe is part of a greater "Collective Consciousness"-- not unlike "The Force" from the Star Wars movies-- and that this is "God." I am open to the idea that thousands, maybe millions, of years ago highly evolved "beings" found this planet and said "Hey, that rock would make a nice Petri dish!" and set about starting an "experiment" that is today our world-- and that they were "God." I am open to the idea that we truly are just a unique "cosmic accident." Period. And I'm open to the idea that said accident was deliberately created by "something" we have chosen to refer to as "God."
I have no fear of death; instead I am immensely curious as to what (if anything) might be on the other side of this "known" existence; these three dimensions that seem to hold us here. Maybe it's "Heaven." Maybe it's endless blackness. Maybe it's something we can't even begin to imagine. But I hope it's something wonderful! And I hope I'll be able to clearly see all those things I am "sort of intuiting" in this lifetime.
I live by a philosophy patched together from Nature, Buddhism, the Bible, Pantheism, Shamanism, Golden Rule, Fourth Way, Freethinking, Universal Unitarianism, Taoism, Wicca, old Druid laws, experience and common sense. Some would call me a "scientist." Some would call me "Godless" and "doomed." Some would call me "deeply spiritual." Some would call me "Full of Shit." But my opinion of any given person doesn't have squat to do with their belief or non-belief in God, Allah, Buddha or anything else, and everything to do with who they are as a person. Frankly, I just want to be at peace with my surroundings-- and if I can leave the world a better place for my having been here, well... that's about all I can really ask.
Ultimately, I am love. We all are. And I feel that Love is something worth believing in.
