Sri Ramakrishna Wonders, Is It All Made Up?

[♦ ficino ♦]

This poster on Patheos quotes the famous yogi, Sri Ramakrishna, as wondering whether in the end spirituality and contact with the divine are all made up.

 

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/shekhinahcalling/2014/11/18/spirituality-versus-superstition-or-what-if-were-making-it-all-up/

 

She consoles herself with the thought that if even great mystics had doubts, normal spirituality seekers like herself "are doing OK."

 

But what if it is in fact all made up?

 

My experience leads me to think that it is.

 

But normal spirituality seekers are doing OK, I guess, as long as they stay off my land.

[Fweethawt]

Ummm -- NEWSFLASH -- it IS all made up!

 

Spirituality and Transcendence are all just fancy names for chemical and emotional reactions.

[R. S. Martin]

Sure, it's "made up," but not as in someone sits down and consciously writes up a religion. At least, I don't believe Christianity developed that way. I believe traditional religions evolved out of the human struggle for survival in a harsh environment, human interaction with the unknown, myths humans told themselves to explain inexplicable events that let one person live while another died. Etc.

 

In looking back several thousand years, the evidence abounds that these myths arose in every human society on earth and all were connected with survival in whatever form survival was threatened to that society. For example, the threats to survival differed in the sun-scorched deserts of Africa from those in the frozen deserts of the Arctic. Threats to survival of mountain-dwellers differed from threats to coastal villages. Etc.   

 

If your food staple was the meat of swine, your mythology differed from people whose food staple was cereal grains. Etc. But a threat to the food supply was common to all. 

 

Human imagination can supply the missing links if facts are lacking and the need to know is overwhelming--as it has been throughout most of our existence. 

 

Life in the last couple centuries has become so secure that we can afford to be complacent and argue about the real facts. We have the time and resources to seek out the abstract facts of the universe and disprove the mythologies. And I believe there may even be a few geniuses who have sat down and invented new religions from whole cloth. But the traditional spiritualities are, I believe, traceable to normal psychological processes.

[Overcame Faith]

When I was a teenager many years ago, a group of friends and I who all went to church together, were out riding around together having fun. Eventually, the conversation turned to the Bible (though none of us were strong Christians as teenagers). Not long after the conversation turned in that direction, one of the girls got quiet for a moment and then said, "Wouldn't it be something if the Bible were written by a bunch of people who just made it all up?" No one responded, but her question/statement had an impact on me because I had never thought of such a thing. However, I thought of it many times throughout all the years that followed.

 

Though I eventually became a fairly hardcore Christian as an adult for more years than I care to remember, once I finally broke free of the grip the religion had on me, I realized that that question/statement made by my teenage friend was a seed planted deep within my psyche. When that seed finally sprouted and grew, the plant's fruit was freedom.

 

My point is that I applaud those who dare to ask whether it might all be made up and I commend its consideration to all freedom loving people.

[florduh]

Maybe the anomalous perceptions we have sometimes, the rush of endorphins, a voice or vision, the tricks our minds play on us at times are simply mislabeled to fit an expectation. Religions are then made up to provide a framework and meaning.

[Fweethawt]

Maybe the anomalous perceptions we have sometimes, the rush of endorphins, a voice or vision, the tricks our minds play on us at times are simply mislabeled to fit an expectation. Religions are then made up to provide a framework and meaning.

"Maybe", my ass! This is EXACTLY what happens!

[StillLooking]

Sure, it's "made up," but not as in someone sits down and consciously writes up a religion. At least, I don't believe Christianity developed that way. I believe traditional religions evolved out of the human struggle for survival in a harsh environment, human interaction with the unknown, myths humans told themselves to explain inexplicable events that let one person live while another died. Etc.

 

In looking back several thousand years, the evidence abounds that these myths arose in every human society on earth and all were connected with survival in whatever form survival was threatened to that society. For example, the threats to survival differed in the sun-scorched deserts of Africa from those in the frozen deserts of the Arctic. Threats to survival of mountain-dwellers differed from threats to coastal villages. Etc.   

 

If your food staple was the meat of swine, your mythology differed from people whose food staple was cereal grains. Etc. But a threat to the food supply was common to all. 

 

Human imagination can supply the missing links if facts are lacking and the need to know is overwhelming--as it has been throughout most of our existence. 

 

Life in the last couple centuries has become so secure that we can afford to be complacent and argue about the real facts. We have the time and resources to seek out the abstract facts of the universe and disprove the mythologies. And I believe there may even be a few geniuses who have sat down and invented new religions from whole cloth. But the traditional spiritualities are, I believe, traceable to normal psychological processes.

 

This post makes me recall an unforgettable story that I read when I was struggling with christianity:

 

The Physician and the Priest

High in the mountains there was a small, hidden valley. In this valley there was a small village. The village was isolated, so the villagers lacked many modern conveniences and observed many strange customs.

Early one spring a Physician arrived from the lowlands. At first the villagers were wary. The Physician was a woman, and the village Priest had given them very particular ideas about what kinds of work were woman's work. Being a Physician wasn't on his list.

With modern medicine and methods, the Physician was able to help many people not helped by the villagers' simple folk ways. In only a few weeks she was able to convince the villagers to accept her.

One day the Physician was sitting in the village green eating her lunch. She took out a big red apple and started to eat it. Seeing what she was doing, the Priest rushed up to her. He shook his finger at her and said, "That's no way for a lady to eat an apple!"

"And what's wrong with the way I'm eating this apple?" asked the Physician.

"A decent woman would pierce the apple with three iron nails, and leave it sit over night before eating the apple," fumed the Priest.

"Eat an apple with nails in it? That doesn't seem like a very good idea to me. Why would I want to do that?" asked the Physician.

"You take the nails out before you eat the apple," said the Priest. "And you do it because you are a daughter of Eve. Eve tempted Adam with an apple, thus inflicting original sin on mankind. Christ died for these sins, hung on a cross with three iron nails."

The Physician rolled her eyes "You people with your silly superstitions!"

The Priest stalked off in a huff. The physician continued eating her apples without first nailing them.

Many women of the village noticed that the Physician ate her apples without nailing them. Since the nails gave the apples a funny taste, many of the village women also stopped nailing their apples.

After a few months, the women who stopped nailing their apples became pale, and complained of having no energy. The Priest declared that this was a punishment from God, because they were no longer nailing their apples. The Physician scoffed at this idea, saying "These women are simply anemic. Your diets here are low in iron. Nailing the apples must have transferred some iron to the apple itself. All your women have to do is start taking an iron supplement, and they'll be fine." Some of the village women went back to nailing their apples. Others started taking an iron supplement. The women of both groups quickly regained their color and energy.

During the spring and summer, the Physician hiked in the mountains around the village. As autumn came, and the first snows starting falling, the walks became impractical. The only entertainment left in the village was a dance held every Friday night in the town hall. This was fine with the Physician, because she enjoyed the music and lively dancing.

One Friday, not long after the first snows of winter, the Physician arrived at the town hall and found it quiet. The people gathered, but there was no music or dancing, and the people were quiet. "What's going on?" the Physician asked. "Where's the party?"

The Priest answered "It is the feast of Saint Foobar, patron saint of our village. From this day until Easter Sunday we must abstain from music, singing, dancing, and other frivolity; or face the wrath of God."

"More superstitious nonsense, I see," said the Physician. "Come on, let's dance!" The Physician was able to persuade only a few people to defy the tradition and dance. Next Friday, a few more joined in, and one of the musicians played. The Friday after that, all but one member of the band was playing, and the majority of the villagers were dancing.

The Priest interrupted the festivities. "This is sacrilege! You mark my words, you'll regret this. Those of you who still have faith should abandon this den of sin, and join me in the church to pray quietly."

Some of the villagers went to the church with the Priest. Some stayed in the town hall with the Physician. For several weeks the Physician and her people spent Friday nights dancing and the Priest and his people spent Friday night praying.

Then one Friday night, during a particularly raucous stomp-dance, there came a low rumble. The rumbling turned to a roar. The singing and dancing had triggered an enormous avalanche. The town hall was destroyed. Many villagers were trapped in the wreckage.

The Priest and his followers rushed to scene of the disaster. They were able to save all of the villagers, although some were quite badly injured. When they reached the Physician, she glared up at the Priest "You...you bastard! Why didn't you...tell us we would...cause an avalanche?" she asked the Priest.

"I didn't know you would, I just knew that tradition forbade the dancing and singing at this time of year. I warned you, no one can escape the hand of God," said the Priest.

Just before she passed-out, the Physician scoffed "This wasn't...the hand of God...just a n-n-natural d-d-disaster." She was right, but the town hall was still flattened, and many people were still seriously injured.

Winter turned into spring. The villagers met to decide what to do about the destroyed town hall. After some debate, they decided to rebuild. As they discussed where to get the materials, the Physician spoke:,"My cousin owns a sawmill. He also owes me a favor. We could log the forest behind the church, and use that wood to rebuild the town hall."

"Sacrilege!" screamed the Priest. "Those woods are the birthplace of Saint Foobar himself! Great evil will befall us if we desecrate them.!"

"Rubbish!" retorted the Physician. "You can't seriously believe all this nonsense about sacred woods?"

"Nonsense, is it? Would that be nonsense like the iron in the apples, or nonsense like the avalanche that almost killed you?" asked the Priest.

"Those things had perfectly logical, scientific explanations," replied the Physician.

"Logical, scientific explanations that you failed to think of until after the fact; an oversight that has caused the very problem we are now trying to correct," the Priest reminded her.

The Physician started to object. The suggestion that she pay attention to superstition seemed to go against everything she believed in as a woman of science. Then she thought of the rusty apples. They did work, even if the villagers didn't know why. She thought of the avalanche. It was triggered by their singing and dancing. If she had taken the Priest more seriously, if she had tried to understand the reason behind the superstition, she might have avoided the disaster. She took a deep breath, and spoke. "Priest, perhaps you're right. Perhaps there is a reason why those woods were made sacred. Would you be willing to let me examine your records? If so, I might be able to find the reason."

The Priest started to object. The suggestion that there was a mundane reason for the sacred seemed to go against everything he believed as a man of God. Then he thought of the women who were taking mineral supplements instead of nailing apples. The appleshad been adding iron to their diet. Maybe that was the real reason for the tradition, even if no one ever knew it. He thought of the avalanche. If he had been able to give the people more of a reason than "It's the way we've always done it" more of them might have listened to him. He took a deep breath, and spoke. "We'll look through the records together, and we'll see what we can find. If the records don't show us why, maybe we can find the answers ourselves."

The Physician nodded, and added: "And if we can't find a reason, we'll log the mountain... cautiously."

High in the mountains there is a small, hidden valley. In this valley there is small town. Physically isolated, modern communication technology keeps it in touch with the rest of the world. Even so, the town's people still remember traditions passed down through countless generations. When a new idea comes along, they don't dismiss it; but neither do they ignore the hard-won wisdom of their ancestors.

 

http://www.jhuger.com/the-physician-and-the-priest

[Deva]

Any guru who is the real deal will say something like this. Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj said to one of his disciples "forget me forget my teachings.." 

 

And Ramakrishna and Nisargadatta were the real deal if anyone in the last hundred or so years was.