The human brain and the mind play tricks on us all the time. Most importantly, they really screw around with what we know, what we know we know, and what we think we know, and what we believe. (For vice-president Dick Chaney it's what we don't know and what we know we don't know.) Often, what we think we know is really only a belief. But, we can, with a little use of the mind, change a belief into a knowing.
What I know comes from my experience. I know that I am a little cold right now. That is not a belief, or a theory, I know it from my experience. I believe that it will be sunny today because the weatherman said so. Let's make this a little more interesting. I have a belief in a God type person, or being, or universal creative force, whatever. Why? Well, I have reasoned this all out, and my mind tells me that some thing, or some one is behind all the order and beauty of the universe.
Now isn't that interesting? My belief comes from a rational thought process.
My belief in this God person, however, does not give me that much consolation. It satisfies one part of my mind that needs to make sense of things, but it does not give me any emotional fulfillment. On the other hand, if I think about something that happened to me about 20 years ago, when I had what you would call a "spiritual" experience, when I felt God do something to me, that I know. I know that I had that experience, I know that it was beyond the physical universe, I know that what happened could only have happened if there were a being outside of the material world that I live in.
So here is a knowing that is actually more meaningful to me than my actual belief. I know I experienced this God event, but I only believe in a God person. What is more powerful, knowing or believing?
Where am I going with all this? The point is that what we know is more dependent on our experiences than on our rational thinking. Example: I have a close friend who does not believe that God can exist. Until she was 20 she believed in God. Then she experienced a terrible tragedy. Because of that event she "knows" that there is no God. How unrational is that? Guess what, we all do that in our own ways. We just do it differently.
The holistic perspective takes all of this into account. Keep in mind that what you know, you know from your experience, and that involves your emotions more than your rational brain. I think I would hold onto all of my "knowledge" a little less tightly. I'd look at my feelings a little more closely. For me, I want to know more than believe. I want to "feel" what it is that I really know. I'm going to spend a little more time (maybe a lot more time) feeling what it is that I know about this God experience. It is better to feel this Creative Intelligence that to believe in It (Him-Her).
Your brain is not a computer--it is hardwired to your emotions. Reason doesn't rule, guess what does.
What I know comes from my experience. I know that I am a little cold right now. That is not a belief, or a theory, I know it from my experience. I believe that it will be sunny today because the weatherman said so. Let's make this a little more interesting. I have a belief in a God type person, or being, or universal creative force, whatever. Why? Well, I have reasoned this all out, and my mind tells me that some thing, or some one is behind all the order and beauty of the universe.
Now isn't that interesting? My belief comes from a rational thought process.
My belief in this God person, however, does not give me that much consolation. It satisfies one part of my mind that needs to make sense of things, but it does not give me any emotional fulfillment. On the other hand, if I think about something that happened to me about 20 years ago, when I had what you would call a "spiritual" experience, when I felt God do something to me, that I know. I know that I had that experience, I know that it was beyond the physical universe, I know that what happened could only have happened if there were a being outside of the material world that I live in.
So here is a knowing that is actually more meaningful to me than my actual belief. I know I experienced this God event, but I only believe in a God person. What is more powerful, knowing or believing?
Where am I going with all this? The point is that what we know is more dependent on our experiences than on our rational thinking. Example: I have a close friend who does not believe that God can exist. Until she was 20 she believed in God. Then she experienced a terrible tragedy. Because of that event she "knows" that there is no God. How unrational is that? Guess what, we all do that in our own ways. We just do it differently.
The holistic perspective takes all of this into account. Keep in mind that what you know, you know from your experience, and that involves your emotions more than your rational brain. I think I would hold onto all of my "knowledge" a little less tightly. I'd look at my feelings a little more closely. For me, I want to know more than believe. I want to "feel" what it is that I really know. I'm going to spend a little more time (maybe a lot more time) feeling what it is that I know about this God experience. It is better to feel this Creative Intelligence that to believe in It (Him-Her).
Your brain is not a computer--it is hardwired to your emotions. Reason doesn't rule, guess what does.
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