Πεποιθήσεις και εμπειρίες

Osho, Eckhart Tolle and many other spiritual thinkers and leaders of our time make a clear distinction between merely believing in God (Spirit, Consciousness, Universal energy or however one may call it) and experiencing it. When God is believed in, they suggest, this entails the work of the thinking mind. Thinking mind is designed in a way to help one preserve the sense of self, the sense of separation from others. It sees everything in the form of duality, and it seeks identification.
Once God becomes a belief, the person identifies with it. “My belief” is created and then the ego feels the need to protect it. Different beliefs of the thinking minds of other people challenge My belief because they attack the identity that I have created, and that my ego thinks that it depends on. Minds with similar beliefs become my friends because they strengthen this illusion of the ego. Others become enemies.
The often overlooked part is that the true depths of consciousness can only be experienced in the absence of ego, or rather, in the absence of the identification with the ego. That is to say, identification with the ego stands in the way to these experiences.
Furthermore, having god as a mere belief system may prevent one from embarking on the journey of the search for god. This journey entails a great shift of the daily attention from outside inwards. It entails getting to really know oneself and one’s depths. This is essential according to many - if not all - spiritual traditions. At first one becomes aware of the mental noise and chaos, and it may seem pointless to give it any attention. But that’s only the suggestion of the mind again. The truth is that this attention and presence are slowly but surely taking one to the place of stillness, silence and spaciousness. This is the place of experiencing the pure, formless Being, the source of all creation. It is the place of love. Then the realisation comes that this source is not something separate from us, but rather, that it is the essence of who we are.
It is very obvious why the mind wants to cling to the belief about god, and to avoid really experiencing it. The mind is trying to keep its role. In order to experience god, one needs to reach the state where mind fluctuations (Patanjali’s chitta vritti) lessen, vanish or are there, but are being observed. The thinking may be happening, but the identification with it gives way to awareness of the thinking process.
I heard an interesting story from a yoga teacher once – He went to India to spend some time in Ashram with his guru. After a while of being there, the guru noticed that my teacher carried around a picture with him – a picture of Jesus Christ. So he asked my teacher if he would like to have it at the place where everybody prays, right next to the image of Lord Krishna. In surprise, he agreed and there they were – two gods different in appearance – side by side in the Indian Ashram. It was immediately clear to my teacher that the wise guru didn’t care what image represented God for us. All the images we choose around the world serve only as a doorway to reach the same heights and feeling of unity.
There is no need for one to abandon, change or acquire any particular religion. Any religion can help individual’s spiritual evolvement, just like any religion can hamper it. Wherever one finds themselves with their beliefs at this very moment, is exactly the point from which their spiritual awakening can begin.