Greg Leake emails: Hi Luke,
\nto some extent I think I understand the dilemma that you write about.<\/p>\n
In a way it reminds me a little of Rabbs feeling that he had to choose between Judaism or a medication regime that might eliminate his compulsive dilemmas.<\/p>\n
However, I think you may be turning this whole matter into an unnecessary problem.<\/p>\n
I think that we would probably agree that G-d is omnipresent. G-d is everywhere, from the most distant galaxy to the most intimate part of creation.<\/p>\n
As G-d is everywhere, G-d is both “out there” and “in there” — because there is no place where G-d is not present.<\/p>\n
This being the case, it is only natural that some people find G-d more easily “out there” and some find G-d more easily “in there”.<\/p>\n
This whole line of reasoning that causes an inside and an outside is probably spurious, because these categories are simply inventions of the human mind.<\/p>\n
(You will recall your interview with Bruce I Kodish, the subject of which was his book Drive Yourself Sane. And, of course, he is a student of Alfred Korcybski, and the whole view of what is subjective and what is objective is only a conversation for the public sphere. You probably realize that the entire philosophy of idealism essentially states that the world of our perception is essentially the product of a mental phenomenon… which has something to do with why Kant said that we “cannot know things in themselves.”)<\/p>\n
My suggestion for those who find G-d within themselves is to see if they can also find G-d outside themselves. Likewise, those who find G-d outside themselves should see if they can locate G-d within.<\/p>\n
Sometimes in the study of religion it is pointed out that there is a horizontal and a vertical dimension.<\/p>\n
The horizontal dimension is the one we mostly see with our outward forms and cognitions about our religions.<\/p>\n
There is also a vertical dimension to religion, which is the dimension of depth, and it is often felt that the dimension of depth is the one passed over.<\/p>\n
So anyway, if G-d is omnipresent, there is no real reason why we should be discouraged with the idea that G-d is also within us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Greg Leake emails: Hi Luke, to some extent I think I understand the dilemma that you write about. In a way it reminds me a little of Rabbs feeling that he had to choose between Judaism or a medication regime … Continue reading