Individual vs. Group - Paragraph 3
“The reason we find a religion’s most authentic history in the individual journey is not only because the light of revelation is first hand, but because this same light, filtered through a group or social prism, becomes diffuse according to each one’s level of reception. It is this diffused diversity of interpretations that has divided our religions into numerous sects and denominations, sometimes to the point where the original is no longer reflected at all. This is why the spiritual history of the individual yields a clearer view of revelation than its fragmented, second-hand accounts.
In this matter it is well to remember that a religion’s history is always traced to individual founders - Moses, Christ, Buddha and others. Although the history of religion plays out on two levels, that of the individual and the group, to overlook the individual for the group is a mistake. Too often the group takes on a mentality and spirit of its own quite apart from the revelation that brought it together. Group-think is one of the surest ways a revelation can become unrecognizable, and why, without repeated revelation, it can be lost altogether.”
I appreciate Robert’s continued emphasis on the individual’s revelation as a touchstone. The churches I attended tried to emphasize the Founder’s revelation to the best of their ability, but their resistance to questions and reluctance towards challenging conversation fell short of any real grappling with the revelation, text or the Founder. This lack of grappling is precisely for Robert’s reasoning, that the revelation was “filtered through a group or social prism” and diffused through “each one’s level of reception.”
Robert’s wisdom that revelation or truth is diffused through our personal cognition, cultural understanding, emotional and psychological make-up makes sense. Frankly, it is a wonder that any truth gets through to us at all. I also appreciate her idea of a “level of reception,” which explains various religions, sects, and denominations throughout time. I’ve experienced levels of reception in my own on-going experience. As I continue to surrender the prism of my cultural, emotional, and psychological beliefs to Love I find I am more open to see the world through the eyes of Love.
That is why first-hand experiences of revelation are necessary, both to truly understand the deeper truths of what your tradition points towards as well as to clearly see where the tradition has become derailed. These first-hand experiences provide illumination about yourself, the world, and ultimately of Love (God). These experiential revelations are what open us to Love; .an opening that is on Love’s terms not our own.
Two thoughts come to mind. One is honoring the individual’s journey believing it recapitulates the Whole and, second, how to live on Love’s terms. As for honoring the individual journey, churches I attended were drawn to group think thus disregarding and disrespecting the individual. An organized approach is helpful in getting started on the journey, but teaching and/or training people, in any field, should ultimately allow freedom; freedom towards creativity and new understanding. My Christian training never allowed nor taught how to remove the training wheels of group think and launch out on your own.
Only when the training wheels come off can one begin to truly live on Love’s terms. In fact, it is in this laboratory of living that you actually begin relating to Love on completely unimaginable terms. At this point my intention is to stick with the mapless journey, which begs the question, how do I participate in ongoing discovery in ongoing flux? How does one never land, always change, and keep maturing? If God is infinite and the journey one of liminality the question becomes how do I manage living a liminality of ongoingness?
One way is to seek out individuals already well steeped in such living. They provide a way forward, not by persuading me to follow their path or think according to their understanding, but to experience and figure out for myself the way forward. The scripture “work out your salvation” comes to mind. Today I’m working out how to be more receptive to love and noticing the blocks that get in the way. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!
