So far, I’ve presented some background info around the terminology I use and some basic premises on humanity’s need for gods and religion.
Before we dig any deeper, one of the most important things we need to understand as human beings is our personal “paradigms”. This can be referred to as our “world view” (the particular way we each see life and interact with it) but that doesn’t really have the depth or significance of they way this works and how each of us end up so unique. It is also the foundation for understanding our biases.
From the moment we are aware (even in the womb) we absorb masses of information about the world. Every single event, no matter how small, is “absorbed” by us and slowly builds the “lens” we not only see everything through, but also the way we understand, react, communicate etc.
This means everything, from the first emotional senses in the womb, the smiles or frowns we get as a baby, the anger, the fear, our environment, family, economic and social status etc – every single conversation and argument, abuse and trauma, love and acceptance – absolutely every single thing we’ve ever experienced – shapes who we are at this moment, even down to the movie we watched last night, the argument we had with a loved one, the smile a child gave us an hour ago in the supermarket – EVERYTHING!
This is why we are so unique – and so isolated!
We have agreed terminology and words that work well for average daily stuff, but even then, every single word and concept we speak is completely coloured by our paradigm. So much so, that if I used the word “church” in a conversation, for example, my paradigm would be based on a life of struggling with religious abuse and all that entails, whereas the person I’m talking to might have had nothing but loving experiences that quickly create a completely different sense around the nature of our conversation.
We think we are communicating successfully, but the reality is that every word we speak to each other is underscored by a lifetime of emotional responses, stored in our subconscious, creating complex filters in our understanding.
Once we become aware of this, we can begin to observe ourselves and others in a way that brings empathy and understanding. Until we can grasp the significance of this, we can never really understand our spiritual/religious needs or the why we “believe what we believe”.
Take some time to examine some recent conversations you’ve had and what you were trying to communicate. Think about the words you used and what they mean to you. Did the other person really understand? Was there a level of emotional triggering going on for either of you? Also think about the way you feel about certain topics in the same light.
