The final chapter...

Watts revisits his original premise- religion. I didn't take as much out of this chapter on a personal level as compared to previous ones. It was, however, still interesting to read and really brought the book full circle.

The traditional mindset of most seems to be religion opposing science and visa versa, when in fact, it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. I'm not a religious person by any means, but I am not ignorant to the thought process.

"Science and religion are talking about the same universe, but they are using different kinds of language."

According to Watts, science looks at the past and future, explaining HOW and detailing WHAT has happened. Religion, on the other hand, looks at the present. I always saw it as the other way around, but Watts brings up a good point...

"[Religion's] doctrines have to do, not with future and the everlasting, but with the present and the eternal. They are not a set of beliefs and hopes but, on the contrary, a set of graphic symbols about present experience."

In my opinion, I think that is a much healthier way to view religion than I have previously been exposed to. I never bought into the 'follow God's plan' or 'follow the universe's plan' for you. I saw that as a cop out, like taking your hands off the wheel and just hoping everything works out. While I still see it as a cop out, I have figured out what the plan is. THERE IS NO PLAN! There is only giving up the notion of 'I'. All you have is now. Right now.

"When life provides some bitter experience, the "I" can only support it with the guarantee that it is part of the plan of a loving Father-God. But this very guarantee makes it impossible to realize the 'love of God,' which, as is well known, requires the giving up of 'I'. "

--This is where we talked about 'I' attempting to escape pain--

It is often said that 'Ignorance is bliss.' Well it can be, but it's also still ignorance.  So I've been doing a lot of searching, analyzing, letting go...and I've hit walls, been frustrated, and continue to fall into old habits. Often my mind feels like it's running a million miles an hour, spinning in circles, leaving me feeling like a little brother stuck on the merry go round at the park where my older brother has sped it up to the point of nauseam. Other times my mind goes blank. I'm still working through this, and fortunately Watts shed some light on it...

"Steadily he approaches the point where what is unknown is not a mere blank space in a web of words but a window in the mind, a window whose name is not ignorance but wonder. The timid mind shuts this window with a bang, and is silent and thoughtless about what it does not know in order to chatter the more about what it thinks it knows. It fills up the uncharted spaces with mere reputation of what has already been explored."

This blank space, this window, is opportunity. It's the opportunity to let go of the past and enjoy the present. It's the opportunity to create the future by acting on the present rather than imagining a future and missing the opportunity that the present has provided you.

 

Thanks for reading. You all have been extremely supportive in this endeavor. I hope it helps you in the same ways it has helped me.

The only way to be happy is to be happy RIGHT NOW. And if you're going through a painful experience, you have to embrace that pain as  an opportunity for growth. Be that pain, and let that pain guide you to happiness. Have faith by letting go. Follow your gut. Be what is in your heart, not what your mind is telling you you're supposed to be.