Pursuing Happiness

Along State Hwy. 6 - Near Green River Utah

The Greater Jihad

The Universal Tenet of Happiness

I just finished listening to an incredible conversation hosted by Krista Tippett of American Public Media's "Being" on stage at Emory University.  The panelists included His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama - the exiled head of state and spiritual leader of Tibet, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks - Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth, The Most Reverend Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori - the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, and Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University and one of the world's leading experts on Islamic science and spirituality.  The night’s topic; “pursuing happiness with the Dalai Lama.”

I found it especially applicable to the evolving purpose of this blog... a purpose I am still struggling to properly quantify.  I left contemplating two related considerations that I currently find especially pertinent and personal as I fuel my pursuit of happiness.

One of the most commonly used words in Arabic for “happiness” literally means “expanded or enlarged.”  In her closing comments, Ms. Tippett said, “In the 21st century, all religious people must feel themselves enlarged rather than threatened by the presence of religious others.”  This begs two questions; “Do I feel enlarged?” and “Do I enlarge others?”  In pondering these questions and reminiscing personal situations, I came to the not-so-astonishing conclusion that one can not be accomplished without the other and that happiness requires both.

Because my Mormon upbringing tends to view life and faith in rather black and white terms, I haven't felt particularly enlarged as I insist on the shades of gray more common among pluralists.  Understandably, I often feel threatened by rigid sectarianism.  Intended or not, I find much of their common jargon, phraseology, and dogma to be depreciating, condescending and exclusionary.  Unfortunately, in these moments of instinctive partisanship, I too find it difficult to enlarge those outside my defined understanding.  I become defensive and I miss opportunities for open dialog by choosing to be equally uncompromising.

I can firmly say I still do embrace many intrinsically Mormon philosophies yet I seem to seek out sources outside the more traditional Mormon paradigm in my efforts to advance my thinking on such topics.  With rare exception, I tend to view Mormon opinion with far more skepticism.  Tonight's conversation touched on why.

“...thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian; because thou wast a stranger in his land.”  

~Deut. 23:7

Having left Egypt, Moses counseled his followers.  To be truly free of Egypt, they must also leave behind their hatred for their enemy.  I thought my enemy was having my ideas and beliefs considered a betrayal; meritless and damaging in the eyes of those with whom I had once communed.  But as Moses points out, my enemy is much closer and much more personal than that.  My enemy is any hurt and disappointment I allow such considerations to cause.  It is the resentment caused by judgement, real or otherwise, to which I give credence.

I long for the serenity and consistency exemplified by the Buddha.  It is that enlightenment or exalted state which we should all strive and it can only be achieved through the introspective battle of self-betterment... addressing those inner shortcomings preventing us from reaching true and sustainable happiness.

“One of my Muslim friend explained to me one interpretation of Jihad, not only sort of attack on other, but real meaning is combative attack your own wrongdoing or negativities.  So in that sentence, the whole Buddhist practice is practice of Jihad.”

~ the Dalai Lama

The Value of Storytelling

The Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island - Utah

Myth and Legend

"To wish to teach all men the truth of the gods causes the foolish to despise, because they can not learn, and the good to be slothful, whereas to conceal the truth by myths prevents the former from despising philosophy and compels the latter to study it."

~ Sallustius

I’ve long been fascinated by parables and allegory... especially those involving Jesus.  Human beings have used allegory as a teaching aid for as far back as anyone knows.  Scripture employs allegory on a grand scale.

The Human Genome Project, comparing samples from hundreds of thousands of native populations from every corner of the globe, has pretty conclusively ruled out the possibility of the Jewish nation being the “principle ancestor” of any surviving native American.  For as long as Jews isolated themselves as a distinct population, there has been no identifiable relation between them and native American populations before modern times.  Their connection dates to the out-of-Africa bottleneck of pre-history in the days of Neanderthal predominance.  Even within the Book of Mormon narrative itself, there are many glaring inconsistencies with the anthropological record.

Given the conflicts and other social issues with native peoples dominating the American mindset during our nation’s expansion westward, it stands to reason these native populations would have been an excellent learning tool.  I view the Book of Mormon as a parable or allegory instead of an exacting history of a people.

Like the Book of Mormon, the Bible also suffers from many irreconcilable differences with the archeological record.  For example, we now know the destruction of the Walls of Jericho predates Israelite occupation by several centuries.  The massive ruins would have still been impressive in those days.  It stands to reason, religious scholars used them as teaching elements.  Hence, the story of God’s destruction of wicked Jericho at the hands of the faithful Chosen.

Now, some faithful instinctively react against such notions in a vain effort to preserve the orthodox view.  Without understanding the science or even being familiar with the evidence available to us, they dismiss it all as error.  This is a dangerous stance to take.

Faith, by definition, is belief based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.  Until our modern age, there were no tools available to us to prove or disprove our mythology.  Some naively hold to the believe of their absolute veracity and turn a blind eye to the mounting evidence against such a claim.  If our mythology is not permitted to disassociate from fact and be allowed to reside in the protective realm of allegory, we risk loosing its spiritual and social relevance forever in our relentless pursuit of empirical knowledge.

The Nature and Gift of the Holy Spirit

In the courtyard - The Cloisters New York City

Sophia

Wisdom as the Divine Spark

While the belief component of Mormonism isn’t quite as ridged as some may think in terms of gospel speculation, it does have its limits.  This is where I will be making an especially radical departure from my inherited tradition.

Given my allegorical view of all knowledge and belief, I make even less of a distinction between philosophy and religion than most.  Although, for clarity, I will concede religion is always a philosophy but philosophy is not always always a religion.

Philosophy or philo-sophia quite literally means the “love of wisdom.”  Early gnostic Christians used the term sophia or “wisdom” to refer to the Holy Spirit.  I espouse this use since it clarifies the Holy Spirit’s function as testifier, revealer, and comforter.    

Instead of being an actual personage of spirit and member of a Godhead or trinity, I believe the Holy Spirit to be a force; much like the other identifiable forces in the universe, like gravity.  It is the human recognition of the Light of God.  That is to say, it is the portion of God’s presence we are capable of perceiving.    

The Holy Spirit is the manifestation of God’s power and quite literally birthed the physical multiverse.  Every quantum point of creation is permeated with it, resonates to it, and is defined by it.  If the Priesthood was the energy source, the Sophia would be the shock wave that ripped the material realm from the spiritual at the moment of creation.  Intentional God given fluctuations and perturbations in its energy gave structure and form to everything we see today.

To differentiate this view of the Holy Spirit as creative force, while still acknowledging the roles of testifier, revealer, and comforter from the traditional Godhead concept, I also adopt the gnostic custom of using the feminine pronoun... which also reads better when using the term sophia... but there is no intention of applying gender to this force.

As part of the physical universe, we too resonate to the Sophia.  She is the omnipresent aftermath to creation.  She is woven into the very fabric of creation itself and can not be gifted, bestowed or denied.  She just is... waiting to have her presence felt in those quiet moments of contemplation.   In short, she is the divine spark of life itself... now and for eternity.

The Purpose of Life and Living

At The E-Center - West Valley City Utah

Enduring to the End

And the Dangers of the Obedience Test

Why are we here?  What is the purpose for all creation?  Actually, those fundamental questions can be answered simply; to learn.  But what are we here to learn?  Hmm... there are as many answers to that question as their are people, past, present, and future... and it takes a complete lifetime to answer it just for ourselves.

One thing I believe we all have in common is that our Eternal Father wants us to gain practical knowledge.  You know, the kind that helps us develop common sense... not just book smarts.  There is no sense in learning anything if we don’t understand what it means and how it effects us personally.

This type of practical knowledge requires active learning, that is to say, learning by doing.  Human beings are terrible messes but we are messes by design.  Getting messy, taking chances, and making mistakes are all required to uncover the secrets behind morality’s do’s and don’ts.  It’s the why’s and not the what’s that grant us wisdom.

Now, I am not saying we shouldn’t learn from other people’s mistakes when we can.  I’m just saying we all have our blind spots... those areas of our psyche where we just can’t look ourselves.  In those select situations, we can only see what’s real and right and what’s not through error and repentance.  That just defines us as human.

I know there are a lot of different ideas out there as to what the act of “repentance” really entails.  The etymology of the word only confounds the issue.  Conceptually, it’s actually astonishingly simple and quite contrary to what we have been lead to believe.  Repentance is the act of learning from our mistakes... no more, no less.  No deal making with God.  No expressions of guilt and remorse.  And certainly no periods of probation.  True repentance is a joyous realization and, in the very real sense, IS the very act of learning itself.

If we understand the principles of progression as outlined in the Plan of Salvation, we know the active learning process never ends until perfection is achieved and it is predicated on choice.

Choice is synonymous with free agency.  Now, this is really important... to have free agency, we must have real choice.  The choice between right and wrong... good and evil... eternal life and everlasting darkness aren’t real choices.  Who would chose wrong, evil, and everlasting darkness?

For proper and healthy learning, there must be viable options in which we may operate to work out our own salvation.  We must learn to live honestly, question openly, and repent candidly free from judgement or reprisal.  In essence, we must be allowed to repeatedly step beyond the comfortable and into the unknown to grow in wisdom and spirit knowing the only wrong choice is not choosing.

Good intentions aside, religious institutions always risk robbing us of our free agency in exchange for the “safe” harbor of orthodoxy.  They promise a pre-determined plan to exaltation; the hard work done, the trail blazed and paved, convenient road map provided.  Basically, all that is left for us to do is subscribe and follow... “enduring to the end” as if everything we need to know has been laid before us.  Our only dues for such a service is our obedience.

Like shopping the supermarket meat counter and calling it hunting, there is a disconnect.  The what’s become more important than the why’s.  Uniformity of thought and action become prized above the human tendency to question and explore.  Error and repentance take on a negative connotation.  The cycle of learning is broken.

God does not reward blind obedience.  Lower animal life can be trained to do all sorts of things.  As His offspring, He wants much more from us.  Life is not about obedience.  It isn’t about surrendering control of one’s life to the whims of anyone... oddly, not even God’s.  We all hate a Yes-Man.  God wants us to mature and think for ourselves.  He wants us to uncover the truths behind the commandments.  If we just learn the rules and live by them, we risk missing the whole point of living.

“What’s right for most people in most situations 

isn’t right for everyone in every situation!  

Real morality lies in following one’s own heart.”  

~ Portia Charney

A Cyclical Approach to The Plan of Salvation

Front Garden - South Jordan Utah

What Happens After Death

And How Much Do I Really Need To Know

The allegory of The Plan of Salvation is as elaborate as it is inspiring.  Prophets, general authorities, and church scholars have been expounding on it for more than one and a half centuries now.  There’s a lot more to take in than what appears within the pages of The Principles of the Gospel, that’s for sure.  But after all that has been said and done, it does still boil down to the same familiar story; three general epochs; pre-existence, mortal life, and immortality... all designed for one end; the perfection of humankind.

Contemplating a simplified analogy for what is generally understood of the plan, I guess the pre-existence can be thought of as grades K-12.  Mortality would be the SATs.  And immortality, naturally, is everything there after.  We’d receive our mortal “SAT score” which determines the eternal “college” or graduate program admitting us.  We then spend eternity reaching our potential within the measure of that assigned glory.  Now, I don’t know about you but this seems like a complete waste of eternity if those in the lower glories were unilaterally prevented from progressing at some point.

As perfect offspring of the divine, we all have the same end potential and the same end capacity.  Allowing for our unique personalities and talents, it’s sensible to conclude we may not all progress at the same rate.  Given the awesome length of eternity, I don’t think that should be a problem.

Perhaps we have misunderstood the true nature of the separate degrees of glory.  Instead of limiting progress by being some “final reward,” they cultivate progress by being part of our next evolutionary step.  Divisions of advanced, average, and remedial students would be allowed to continue their progression unimpeded in an environment expressly tailored for their success.  Far from being a “final” anything, they are simply transitory opportunities of continued growth.   The end goal still being, after untold eons, the absolute perfection of humankind... all humankind.

The final judgment, said to occur after this life, isn’t as “final” as some would like us to believe.  Perhaps it’s more of a debriefing/goal setting session prior to the next round.

There is a cyclical nature to existence and learning... like the refiner’s fire where you heat and cool metal over and over to temper it making it stronger and more flexible.  I believe our lesson plan is personally tailored to each individual and life is a repetitive process of slow advancement that keeps on repeating until all of life’s lessons are finally learned.

Now, I’m not willing to espouse a belief in reincarnation as commonly understood.  I prefer the term “multiple” or “plural probations” as it was occasionally referred to in some early writings among the saints.  How that actually works is probably infinitely more complex than I can or care to understand.  Equally irrelevant is knowing if this is my first probation or not.  All I know for certain is this is far from being my last.

Beyond an understanding of our infinite opportunity, concerns regarding the mechanics of progression need to remain focused on our current condition.  The staggering feat that remains ahead of us requires our constant and active participation.  Perfection doesn’t just happen.  It requires an eternity’s worth of knowledge and practice.

“Mindfulness is the aware, balanced 

acceptance of the present experience.”  

~ Sylvia Boorstein

The Truer Manifestation of the Holy Spirit

Christmas Morning - South Jordan Utah

The Holy Spirit

As Luminous Epinoia

Many early Christian writers wrote in Greek and used the uniquely Greek term “epinoia” when describing the divine testifier, revealer of truth, and comforter modern Christians call The Holy Spirit.  There is no word to word translation into English.  It means creative insight or inventive wisdom coming from the higher connections of spirit.  This definition adds a layer of understanding often overlooked.

Pondering the roles of testifier, revealer, and comforter, the Holy Spirit as luminous Epinoia adds context to the Mormon term “burning bosom.”   Instead of being merely some etherial switching on of an emotional response, the Holy Spirit enlightens our mind to provide a moment of clarity where we can briefly transcend, in some small measure, this plane of limited human understanding and sense the bigger picture.  It is in those moments of enhanced awareness that we, as thoughtful feeling beings, experience a natural emotional response.  The burning bosom alone is not enough to identify the Spirit in any of its active roles.

Instinctively, most of us understand this expanded definition to be true.  I only bring it up here because it seems to have fallen out of use in modern Mormon culture and that’s a real shame.  Now, that’s not to say those experiences involving just an emotional response aren’t meaningful.  It’s just worth noting that the “meaning” may be more illusive than we may think.  I like to consider these as margin notes from God saying an experience is important and then it is our job to figure out why.  Sometimes, the answers are surprising.

This understanding helped me reconcile a lifetime of seemingly conflicting “spiritual” messages.  It’s important to take personal ownership of your spiritual journey... and not allow others to define it for you.  As well meaning as others may be, their interpretation and their vision is theirs alone.  Yours must be yours and yours alone for it to have any real and lasting meaning and effect.

A Pluralist’s View of Science and Religion

New York Museum of Natural History - Manhattan

The General Relativity of Truth

The universe is a very strange place and getting stranger the more we learn about it.  Many of the greatest minds of our day are working diligently to craft a universal theory of everything encompassing the smallest of the small to the largest of the large.

There have been some astounding breakthroughs in the the fields of quantum cosmology and theoretical nuclear physics that have challenged many of the old views.  To this end, our mathematical geniuses are proving many of our established models of how things work to be, well, wrong!

The complexities being uncovered at Fermilab, CERN, and other research institutions around the globe promise unparalleled advancements in all scientific disciplines.  But for every question answered, many more new ones are left unanswered.

In addition to reexamining or, probably better said, “re-imagining” the universal governing forces of gravity, electromagnetism, the “strong” force and the “weak” force, these down in the trenches scientists are also inadvertently challenging some very fundamental philosophies like free will and the linear nature of existence.  So astounding the implications, the human mind struggles to even grasp its significance.

In evolutionary speak, it is an immutable fact our puny primate brain, that evolved in some unknown patch of jungle, on an insignificant rock, orbiting a teeny pale yellow star, spinning out in some blackened void, in a tiny far flung galaxy, in an unassuming corner of an ever expanding universe, will never be up to the task of EVER understanding the true nature and grandeur of the universe on all its infinite levels... no matter how much time or instruction is given.

If you think more in creationist terms, consider this:  The difference between God’s intellect, as omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, and our intellect as regular human beings, who can find even an episode of Seinfeld confusing, should be astronomically greater than the difference between our intellect and say the intellect of a typical autotrophic organism like green algae.  Try explaining what we know of the cosmos to that!  What does that say about what God probably got us to understand about what He knows about the universe?

I don’t know about you but it has me thinking that everything we believe we know about the gospel might somehow be a really, really, really, to near infinity really dumbed down version of what actually is going on.  And maybe, “truth” isn’t as exacting and universal as we like to think it is.  Religion must then be considered an allegorical overlay to the incomprehensible universe as seen from a mystical perspective.

By that token, given the very specific and limited environmental conditions under which the human nervous system evolved through which we perceive and experience the universe and the fact all scientific understanding is derived from these same limited senses, it is reasonable to conclude science too is an allegorical overlay to an incomprehensible physical multiverse.

I know that’s a mouthful but consider the platonic allegory of the cave.  By design, we see, feel, smell, taste, and reason from one acutely defined perspective.  We could never hope of experiencing the universe in its proper and complete reference.  Like someone only experiencing shadows on a cave wall, we can never fathom or comprehend the true meaning or context of what we were experiencing.

Now, I know this is an issue of control.  Everyone wants to be right.  There is a lot of comfort in being right.  Atheists seek guidance from science.  The religious seek guidance from philosophy.   Both claim a “higher” truth when in reality, they’re just working different sides of the same street.  Honestly, that’s not a bad situation in be in.  Same problem, different lines of investigation; we should come up with some interesting theories.

It is from the realization that all perspectives are firmly based in the allegorical and not factual that I view life and the universe.  This blog will explore my views using concepts and vocabularies best suited for mystics and theologians only because that is its purpose and focus but I firmly believe spiritual concepts have direct corollaries to scientific ones and vice versa.  To speak to one does not negate the belief in the other.  Both are just a play of conceptual semantics.  It is critically important to remember this when reading my thoughts here.

“The only real wisdom is knowing 

you know nothing.” ~ Socrates  

The Road to Exaltation

Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

The Freedom to Pursue Gnosis

I hold strong to the belief that free agency is paramount to our pursuit of peace and happiness... not only in this life but forever.  I may sometimes adopt the absolutist’s speak when sharing my beliefs.  I am absolute but only in the limiting confines of my own faith and my own belief.  My thoughts are not intended to correct or challenge your viewpoint.  Their sole purpose is to share my perspective with you so that you may know and understand me.  It is all done in the spirit of mutual respect and a deep seated faith I have in pluralism.

In the context of faith, I define pluralism as a belief all humankind may and, more importantly, should worship how, where, and what they may. I rejoice in this.  May we celebrate our differences, acknowledge our similarities, learn from one another, and compete in good works.  I reject the hope or belief that one faith will someday become ubiquitous among us.

I reject it for one critical reason.  There is no meaningful choice in such a plan.  To be "meaningful," there needs to be far more choices than just those between right and wrong.  Without this choice, there is no reasoning out and no exercise of faith... and without those, there is no learning and no progression.  The Plan of Salvation collapses in on itself and existence becomes meaningless.

I consider it sinful to impede the process of self-discovery required for true spiritual progression by negating the thoughts, opinions, and beliefs of another in favor of our own.  Sharing is not an act of insistence.  The insistence that for me to be right all others who disagree must be wrong is shamefully erroneous in philosophical terms!  To dictate to others what they should or should not believe is an exercise in unrighteous dominion.  And to call another to repentance skirts blasphemy.

I have long hesitated to share my beliefs because of the language of faith I inherited... a language of absolutes is the language of sectarianism and orthodoxy.  It’s something I can not escape.  I have yet to learn to articulate any other way... I may never learn.  My sincerest apologies should I ever offend you or your cherished beliefs.  I know first hand the harm such a thing can inflict.

An Introduction

© "A More Excellent Hope" by Kendall Davenport

The fundamental drive of our existence is to be acknowledged for who and what we are.  It isn’t for acclaim or approval but for the dignity such recognition grants us.  I believe faith plays a critical role in defining who we are... but it's not the only one.

While my faith pulls from a variety of spiritual traditions, my past affiliation and my affinity for some intrinsically Mormon philosophies continue to shape my experiences.  It has only been after the process of resignation that I have found myself revisiting the rich religious heritage I received from my parents... something I had gone to great lengths to distance myself from.

To be truly acknowledged for who we are, we must first be willing to share ourselves with others.  This is not something particularly easy for me.  The purpose of this blog is to allow me the opportunity to explore, formulate, and share my ideas and thoughts regarding faith, life, and living.  This is intended to be an evolving space... the scope of which will eventually expand.  In the meantime, it is intentionally narrow and not intended to be a complete representation of me or my interests.