This is a blog about my belief systems. I'm not trying to criticize anyone's religious beliefs, but I do not accept the mythologies presented in the religions I'm familiar with.
There are many religions though out the World that I don't know anything about. One of those might be closer to my own belief systems, but I'm not looking to join any organized or even disorganized religious group.
I was raised Jewish and my maternal Grandmother who lived with us, was raised Orthodox. She emigrated from Hungary when she was 12 years old with her older sister who was 14. Her father lived to 103 and died in 1939. Grandma Ida lived to almost 98 and died in 1970. My mother will be 100 next year; so clearly members of that side of my family live a long time.
I just turned 73. I'm not sure if I will live to 100 or if I even want to. Of course we don't know what happens after we die, but I'm inclined to believe nothing. Whatever our life force is, it dies with us or moves on to something else.
I don't believe in heaven, at least not the one with angels sitting on clouds playing harps. I used to think a lot about heaven when I was 12. What happens if someone remarries? Whom does she live with in Heaven, Hubby number 1 or hubby number 2? When you die, are you that age in heaven or do you revert to another age, and if so which one? There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Biblical heaven, and even more about the Biblical Hell.
So I came up with a different concept – the All Pervasive Energy or APE. This is kind of a merging of science and religion. Science has proven that the Universe is steeped in energy that flows between the planets and stars. It is believed to be the afterglow from the Big Bang that formed the Universe. I believe the APE is what religious people sense as God.
I do not believe in the Biblical version of God as an all-powerful male figure who looks over us or possibly punishes us, very much like an old Jewish patriarch.
The APE is like PG&E; it is a stream of energy we can plug into but has no knowledge or concerns about us. We plug into this energy to draw from it and use it in different and powerful ways, but the energy is how WE use it not how it relates to us. We tap into the APE; it does not bestow itself on us.
When we die our energy could dissipate and merge back into the APE. I’m not sure if that fits the concept of Karma, but I'm sure someone will explain that here.
There are a lot of religions and belief systems in the World. Something is there that humans want to grab onto or fit into, but we create whatever this is for ourselves. When these mythologies become institutionalized in religions, and the power is captured by those who want to control it and control us, then we give away our piece of the power to the institutions. That's not for me.