by Anthony Cappello

Created on: January 03, 2010

There are literally thousands upon thousands of different philosophies which all try to convince one of truth. Just take a look at Christianity, for instance. Just in Christianity itself, there are many different forms of Christianity ranging from Protestant to Roman Catholic. For the most part, each of these philosophies claim that they are "right", and all others who disagree are "wrong". For example, in Catholicism, one must confess his/her sins to the priest who acts as a medium for God. Only a priest is capable of acting as this medium in order for your "sins" to be absolved. In order to fully complete the process, the priest may tell you to say 5 Hail Marys or something to that effect. This seems absolutely preposterous to me. From my own personal experience, this could not be further from the truth of the nature of God/the Universe/Spirit.

In my opinion, it is more important to follow your own inner voice, your own heart, your own soul. Many people try to preach the "Word of God", but this is someone else's perception. Many people look to the bible for truth, but keep in mind that it was written millenia ago and has been translated several times over in different languages. Much of the original meaning was lost, and, dare I say, manipulated by those in power at the time. There are many passages that may highly resonate with certain individuals, and that is great. If something highly resonates with a certain individual, then it is something personal for this person. However, many are so concerned with the "Word of God" that many fail to truly have the EXPERIENCE of God. Certain words can aid in leading you to direct experience, but direct experience is the goal because it goes way beyond any words you read or hear. Anyone who has had deep spiritual experiences, including myself, will tell you how it is very difficult to put the experience in words since they are so limiting to the experience as a whole. When you blindly follow someone else's word because you were raised in that particular religion or if a person makes a strong argument telling you why you should, or even MUST, believe what they tell you, then you are stripping away your own personal power and giving it to someone else. Fear is a tool used for this sort of manipulation. "You will be damned if you don't believe our way of thinking". Oh really? So an unconditionally loving God will only love you unconditionally if you follow the only one "true" philosophy or religion? Sorry to say, but that

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