Transformation of Believers

"Religious conflict occurs more from the belief-attitudes than from the religion's beliefs."

The attitudes of religious minded people can determine the perception of a given religion. Generally spiritual minded persons fall into two ends: dogmatic believers or spiritual believers. Regardless of differences in religions, dogmatic believers are often at the core of religious conflict; while spiritual believers more often form the nucleus of inter-religious peace, writes theologian  Choi-in-sik, Seoul Theological University, Korea.

Choi-in-sik, a contemporary theologian, examines the ways believers and religions communicate their messages. Given that dogmatic believers are prone to inter-religious conflict, to realize meaningful dialog Choi-in-sik writes that the primary task is to turn those persons into spiritual believers. A dogmatic person, unwilling, and a spiritual person, unwilling to enter into dogma will have no meeting of the mind nor heart, is Choi-in-sik's premise. And yet we are all dogmatic at least some of the time. How many 'shoulds' and 'should nots' go through our minds when regarding our self or others? Perhaps the spiritual position is something more like 'will' or 'will not', ' is' or 'is not' when turning the hearts and minds of believers.

Twentieth century theologian, Hans Kung proposed an idea of the "true humanity" in which all believers would come to a spiritual point of view. Alternatively Choi-in-sik proposes the image of the "spiritual self" to represent true humanity. A review of the term, true humanity, via an on-line search quickly shows that it is a term of wide interpretation. In this article Choi-in-sik defines the term: "True humanity is the realization and maturation of the spiritual self."
 He further postulates the the conversion of every dogmatic believer into a spiritual believer is possible, thereby making dialog between persons possible.

"When one resolves to live, realizing that the spiritual self is the true self, there denies one self and bears the true cross," writes Choi-in-sik. In other words, that person turns from the merely physical to the spiritual; therefore, to follow the physical self in exclusion of the spiritual self is to lead away from the spirit and to follow the things of men alone. To live by the spirit, one is body-spirit and flesh all at once.

What Part of Me Believes That?

"Sometimes we are startled. Where did that come from? I didn't know I felt so strongly." -- Robert Johnson, writer, Jungian psychologist

As a student and one associated with the late Carl Jung, Robert Johnson carries on Jung's work. Jung, unlike many of his generation, was one who believed that the base root of most all personal problems is not functional, some described such as "toxic", "games," "setting fences and boundaries," but rather spiritual challenges or crises that are not limited solutions or positions; instead they are potentially limitless and as unique as the persons who pose them. These other terms have no place in the spiritual world; they are 'pop psychology' and not terribly helpful. Sometimes they are denigrating; often they indicate power seeking by the one who utters them. The Simple mind avoids thoughts like these because people are greater than the sum of their mistakenness and sometimes confusion.

We can learn by examining our issues closely. What is it about me that feels this way? Why do I think that? What part of it sets off this (intense) reaction in me? Robert Johnson takes up a small part of this issue writing, "We remember getting worked up in a conversation and blurting out some strong opinion that we didn't know consciously we held." And we are startled by this sudden revelation not only to those listening but in our self equally! There is this sudden surge of emotional energy and maybe we suddenly find we are being our self, because what constitutes our self is the totality which necessarily includes our unconscious pronouncements. These "hidden parts of our self have strong feelings and want to express themselves."

Sometimes the hidden or unconscious part of our self is zany, sometimes its out of sync with social norms; sometimes it's embarrassing, violent, or humiliating when these facets of the self, parts of our personality, abruptly emerge. Other times, points of talent or strength arise, suddenly surprising us with their skill and clarity. As we grow, we may conclude that we are a different kind of person than we previously thought. Complicating matters, our qualities both positive and negative, emotional and intellectual may or may not arrive at precisely the most appropriate moments. This can leave us feeling strongly for or against someone or something and having the intellectual thought, Why? We may not yet understand.

Into the mix, our self definition is called into play; we are challenged by it. The unconscious is a huge energy system. Like others have famously observed the heart has its reasons, and the reception of its images and messages can be deeply informative to our spiritual and growing selves.