We arrive in life in mystery, and when we depart this life, we disappear into mystery. How we spend our time responding to life is not a mystery: it is our decision.
In every age, human beings choose to react to life by trying to solve it. The Great Questions are familiar to all: Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life? Where will I go after I die? Is there anywhere to go? Will I see those I love again after death?
We know these questions are unanswerable. This truth need not bring anxiety, but people encumbered by fears and longings about life and death understandably seek to lighten their load. Bookstores and Web sites are full of religious and secular materials discussing distinct points of view, but these compositions are simply endless pages of talk supporting particular unverifiable opinions. They are collections of thoughts. Extracts of ideas. Philosophies, ideologies, and theologies are not knowledge, no matter how desperately we need them to be.
In trying to understand life and death, we turn to things that are equally incomprehensible. Organized religious systems seek to answer the questions of life with symbols, rituals and formulated conceptions that make us feel we have some control over our existence, because life produces problems. The biggest problem is death. We fear what we do not understand. As philosopher Bertrand Russell remarked, “If there were no death, there would be no religion.”
The multiplicity of religions and contrary denominations within religions is in itself evidence that the answers to the Great Questions are unknowable; however, the primary interest of religion is to console—not to provide concrete answers. All religious faiths provide the same degree of personal consolation for the believer. The psychological and emotional equality of felt results of any given faith makes null and void all claims of particular religions to be the “one true faith.” Each and all give comfort. No one can deny what someone else is feeling.
Beliefs get in the way of learning about ourselves. Present-centered consciousness is the only available gateway to your soul—the essence of who you are. It requires no prerequisite beliefs or systemic religious contexts for entrance. To foster a mature spirituality is to understand the human condition without desires or fears. It is the capacity to be silent and at ease with the unknown. Contemplating mystery is a source of strength. Spiritual growth requires living with the questions that arise from the inscrutability of life. When we fully grasp this, all fears disappear and we begin to trust the ways of higher consciousness.
Most people know that spirituality and religion are not synonymous.
Spirituality is to religion as being is to wanting.
Merely being open to the idea of questioning your religious beliefs can result in an enlarged, expectant, and mature life, a life of your own—not one planted within the boundaries of answers provided by someone else. Conditioned, prescribed faith does not encourage questions. Religious beliefs are arguments of faith, thus the answers you will be given orbit only around advice for more religious faith.
Spirituality dwells in the realm of awareness and propels the mind into liberating consciousness. It was this freedom of realization that propelled religious thinkers throughout human history to reevaluate ossified religious institutions but often, regrettably, to start new religious institutions.
Religious knowledge is not divine knowledge; it is merely information about a religion. Venerated objects and concepts of particular religions, particular views, are just that—objects and concepts. There are many views available to us on Earth. If you hold one, it is most likely determined by your position on the planet. This is religious destiny by geography.
Religion is an historical expression of moods and motivations about ultimate concerns, historically problematic. Religion has not been a benefit to the collective welfare, or connectedness, of humanity through the millennia. It has not helped make the planet a safer and healthier place. The value of fundamentalist religion—of any brand—has always been, and will continue to be, the greatest threat to peace on the planet. Fixated minds are not liberated minds and therefore not tolerant minds. As the world has always witnessed, and as we are seeing today, individuals of uncompromising, absolutist religious beliefs with an irrational preoccupation with evil—who always feel under siege in the world—will always see enemies.
I believe an individual has a better chance of spiritual maturity by not holding any branded historical explanations or opinions on “Truth.” Spirituality must be grounded in the perceptions we glean from our own experiences in real time. If it is not, we will remain harnessed to the projected hopes and fears a particular faith has instilled within us.
Choosing not to identify with a particular faith makes you a soul-at-large. For souls-at-large, the spiritual performance of life is in a theatre without walls, on a stage without backdrops. The view is unobstructed, the path unencumbered.
If your religion isn’t helping you to know yourself, it isn’t helping you to know your God. If your religion’s vision of creation is the eventual destruction of creation and genocide of humankind, you do not believe in a God of love. If your religion isn’t interested in tackling global problems, it is contributing to them.
You don’t need an organized faith to believe in the higher consciousness we personify with the name God. You don’t need religious beliefs to know that morality, right behavior, and charity are the best design for life—yours and the life of the planet. Love is always the answer. It is as simple as that.
What matters is the intention in your heart, the awareness in your mind, and the silence of your soul.
The sensing heart lives in wonder. The conscious mind lives in questions. The receptive soul lives in silence.
Learn from the silence within yourself. Listen to the pause between the sounds of human utterances tainted with advertisements that seek to make you a duplication of others. Find the peace no combination of words can provide.
“We are constantly invited to be who we are.”
— Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
Always interesting to reflect with you on such great aspects of religion/spirituality and their differences. Will look forward to finishing the book — well, reading it, if not necessarily thinking about it. Thanks for the reflections.
An entertaining wake-up call. Spiritual searching requires looking at deeper questions. You challenge AND give hope. Keep writing.
As a soul-at-large, I find all this thought provoking. I am eager to read the whole book.
I enjoyed reading the exerpt from your upcoming book. Please let me know when it is published so I can be one of the first to buy it. The puzzle of religion has been a fascinating topic since the beginning of time – and I, like most of my species, find it complex and worth exploring. Although I intellectually know there is no right answer, “areas of grey” never appeal to someone searching for answers. Your inspiration and hope are a welcome addition to the literary world.
As others have commented, I find Mr. Perrault’s writing to be extremely thought-provoking and deeply engaging. The concepts that he is exploring are deeply personal, and yet universal … We need more intelligent discussion about these eternal questions, and I am anxiously awaiting my copy of this book!
I am one of the lucky few who has had the pleasure of reading Steve’s complete manuscript. (You should be jealous.) I loved it. This book is heartfelt, hilarious, kind, charming, intelligent, insightful, gently scathing and very wise. There is so little in the current glut of self-awareness literature that can both illuminate and entertain. (The best religious books have always been stories.) Steve’s collection shines a warm, loving light on the oldest of human questions and fractures stale interpretations of spirituality like a kaleidoscope. And he does so in the context of charmingly realized characters who live in the real world. You have probably met several of them, and if you haven’t, you will want to. It is a great read. If somebody doesn’t publish this manuscript soon, I suggest, dear reader, that you send Steve a check and ask for a Xerox copy.
Mr. Perrault’s expanded website provides only a glimpse of his artistic talents and intelligence. The book excerpts are both insightful and entertaining. His thoughtful writing draws direct parallels with his visual paintings. I love his creative art and can’t wait to read his entire book.
Keep writing Steve! Thank you for sharing your creative zone with us.
I’ve followed Steve’s artwork for many years and have enjoyed watching it evolve. However, I am thrilled to learn of his book. In fact, I just read parts of it on this site. As many of the previous bloggers stated, his work and writing complement one another encouraging the viewer/reader to exam oneself and gain greater reflection into their own meaning of rarely examed questions about the ‘here and there’ of existence. I, too, join a growing list of individuals who patiently await the next evolution of a thought-provoking, creative genius.
A great read, Steve. Gives you a great deal to think about.
I so agree it is all about love and personal morality and charity and I long for the increased knowledge of this truth in the world. I am eager to read the rest of the book. I am so lucky to have the Seat of the Soul in my home and the friendship with Steve in my heart.
Stephen, I have just been introduced to your work by your partner Ski. The link between your soul and your expressions on canvas and on paper mirror a person that truly is, as you coined the phrase, a “soul-at-large”. Having followed a simular journey studying for the priesthood and then becoming a psychotherapist, I find many parallels in our life experiences. I am still looking for the right place to settle in, however. Your writing and your art work helped stimululate the emotion in me to identify stronger with the core of my being and to stay on target with my mission to find peace in my life through my professional and personal expressions of love. I would like to read more of your writings. I look forward to seeing your art work in person this weekend in Houston at the Dean Day Gallery. Warm regards, Frank, Soul-at-large.
Steve Perrault has such a wealth of life experiences to share with us and his writings are a true gift. I have read “Living in Real Time” from cover to cover and I am honored to share my appreciation. The stories are filled with Steve’s unique insights, humor and real experiences of living life. The reader will be able to share in the journey while reflecting on personal beliefs and opinions. Life is worth living and each day will find many pleasures to enjoy. Steve Perrault’s book is among the pleasures!