The time has now come for some serious stuff instead of the mundane, daily misadventures, pills and doctors' appointments. It's been said that "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set ye free"...or something to that effect. Well, I'm not too sure about that. Sometimes the truth will hurt and really tick you off. So, I'm questionning the part that promises "freedom". Freedom from what? From pain; from illness; from penury? Spinoza says, "The greatest good is the knowledge of the union which the mind has with the whole of nature...the more the mind knows the better it understands its forces and the order of nature; and the more it understands the order of nature, the more it will be able to liberate itself from useless things."
The pursuit of knowledge then, is the "liberating" element in one's life and when its pursuit leads to the joy of understanding only then is there power and freedom.. When one comes to the knowledge of God through this understanding it releases the mind from ignorance of nature and the union and oneness of mind, matter, nature, and God. God is not a "person," not an entity that wills good and bad. The eternal laws of nature determine good and evil and this is the essence of God. If one wishes to live with peace of mind...to be liberated from doubt, one has to come to grips with an understanding and acceptance of his own"religion" and his own understanding of God. And this is mine.
Spinoza writes, "I have often wondered that persons who make boast of professing the Christian religion--namely, love, joy, peace, temperance, and charity to all men--should quarrel with such rancorous animosity, and display daily to one another such bitter hatred, that this, rather than the virtues that they profess, is the readiest criterion of their faith." Will Durant states that the Jews have survived chiefly because of Christian hatred of them; persecution gave them the unity and solidarity necessary for continued racial existence; without persecution they might have mingled and married with the peoples of Europe and lost their culture and identity. Spinoza was born in Amsterdam in the 17th Century to orthodox Jews, but eventually came to a different understanding of his God, and for that he was excommunicated by the Rabbis in his beloved synagogue where he was a brilliant scholar.
So back to the mundane things! Can't wait until tomorrow when we are going with neighbors to The Isle Casino in Pompano. There I plan to win lots of $$$ on the slot machines to which I have a slight addiction. I'm of the opinion that I cannot allow a mindless machine to deprive me of my money. Cogito, ergo sum.
6 comments:
Just because Truth can be painful or tickoffish, it doesn't detract from its ability to set one free. Freedom isn't always free, as the saying goes. Free from what? People are often slaves to untruths, and carrying on life based on a lie causes additional problems.
Free from what? Free from the painful uncertainty of the existence of a God and immortality.
Not the freedom to walk safely or to be a slave to untruths. As I've said, we are not "free" until we settle our relationship with eternal truth which is the purpose and goal of the pursuit of knowledge.
I'm not sure that Spinoza links the freedom one gets through the pursuit of knowledge to the freedom one gets through the understanding of God. I think he says that the pursuit of knowledge is what will set you free. The pursuit of the understanding of religion is just an example. Unless you call that the ultimate "truth," "truth" being the so-called "pot-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow," the "rainbow" being knowledge.
The freedom I speak of does not come through the pursuit of knowledge; the pursuit of knowledge is the pathway to the freedom one experiences from an understanding of the nature of God.
It seems that we are talking about two different things. Robin and I are discussing the attainment of knowledge (the Emperor is not wearing magic clothes; he is naked) and how that frees one from the consequences of living under false pretenses (embarrassment, humiliation perhaps). It seems that you are discussing the attainment of knowing God's nature and how that frees one from doubt. Personally, I think this second track is unattainable, so the corresponding freedom is unreachable. Therefore, for me, I'll concentrate on finding out if these pants really do make me look fat, and then I'll be free to wear slimming stripes.
I call your attention to the quotation opening this blog...
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