Dave has sent a comment to the post about Osama Bin Laden’s death, saying in part:
…Therefor, why not take it that this [life and death] is an intended process that we, and all other living things are subjected to. If this truly is the case, stop judging this process that forges on ahead whether we like it, agree with it, or not. Instead, accept it as it is, study it, and learn from it. This means dump all the religious dogma that we’ve been hampered with, albeit that some truth is contained within. However, real truth cannot be fully convayed by mere words, it’s something you feel, and enables you to act accordingly.
The real truth we seek is found through sensing the creative force within us (God), and from that perspective, experiencing this process (school) that we’re all involved in…
Every one of the enduring religious traditions has originated not in the intellectualized rules of a religious dogma but in the personal experiences of a single individual. Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Confucianism–all began with an individual who so powerfully felt and studied his own encounters with that creative force that other people were drawn to hear and then follow, from which sprang teachings–which, because human beings love to keep memorabilia so they won’t forget, became formalized into dogma.
Always, at the center, is the clear spring of encounter. It is our task to remember that doctrine is simply the clothing of direct and intensely personal experience, and to apply to our own experiences the same careful study and discernment that will prove them worth keeping. Really knowing a religious tradition and understanding deeply how it works can be a big help with this. (It’s more than being bossed around!)