Dedicated to Inspired Expressions of Life's Energy
Inner Truth Don't Let Dogma Stand In Your Way by Lisa Reber Nature's Pathways - September 2010
I attended a funeral recently and found myself clenching my jaw to keep from shouting out to the priest to stop scaring the poor family; they’re in a quagmire of sadness already!It is interesting to see how much our western society has embraced the dogma of separation, sin and hell.I was fortunate to have been raised by a woman who taught us that there is no ending with death, just a transition from one form of life to another. I have searched out the meaning of life and death for many years and continue to search for my own truth.I’ll never forget the feelings of betrayal and then shame I had when I studied the history of Christianity’s beginning.How could I have been so blind to the facts of history?How could I just swallow the churches dogma and follow blindly without questioning! Facing my own death, in a near death experience jolted me out of the ‘herd’ and onto a quest of what the truth is for me.I delved into Shamanism, Wiccan, the Kaballah and other belief systems.What I found was more dogma! It’s ironic to me that we search for answers as if they are to be found in a religion.The fact is I have found the peace and clarity of my truth within me. Recently, I was discussing the nature of evil and hell.The woman I was talking with was shocked when I said there is no devil or hell.Those are constructs of the English language and translation. A simple search for definitions will reveal that the word ‘hell’ doesn’t appear anywhere in the Old Testament.The word that is translated into the English word ‘hell’ is actually ‘sheol’, which has a better translation into the word ‘limits’.The word ‘devil’ doesn’t appear in the Old Testament either.The word ‘devils’ (plural) appears four times and is used in connection with sacrifices made to false entities. Interestingly still, the word ‘Satan’ appears only four times in the Old Testament and is better translated with the word ‘adversary’.Makes you think doesn’t it? When I was a kid, the church had us believing god would punish us if we did things that were perceived (or believed) to be bad or evil.We might even go to hell if we weren’t careful.Yet, those constructs are the translation of a few, so long ago, that have been laid upon the many.Unfortunately the fear, guilt and shame that this dogma creates continue to linger with it. Author, Greg Braden discusses a lot of this in his book ‘The Divine Matrix’.One of his points is an excerpt of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ translated directly from Aramaic (without the prism of any dogma).This is the first line of the translation, ‘Radiant One you shine within us, outside us; even darkness shines when we remember.’It sounds nothing like the familiar translation we were raised learning; we haven’t been separated at all! When we see each other as divine beings of light and recognize that we are the divine and the divine is us, the dogma and separations fall away. You may be wondering how one goes about finding out the truth for themselves.I say read.Read respected authors on the topic.Ask.Always question and even question the answers. Some of you may be offended at what I’m saying and that’s okay.Others may be afraid for my mortal soul.Those are their beliefs, their truths of being and their dogmas.I would like to see more people looking for their own inner truth than blindly following a dogma they inherited from another. I will continue on my quest within to find my truth.I refuse to live in fear of the Divine and will celebrate this wonderful playground of life!
