– Most people believe that their life would be fine with a few changes – this time I was the one who started the conversation – that with a self-improvement book, a weekend course or a few visits to the therapist, they will be able to fix what prevents them from being happy.
– That is a very modern idea: now everything must have a simple, fast and, above all, easy solution. Hundreds of self-improvement books offer "the seven laws of success", or "the seven habits to be effective", or "the four agreements of I don't know what"; the idea that they sell you is that with a few adjustments you can improve your life immediately.
– But they don't work, do they?
– Can you cure cancer with an aspirin?
- Of course not.
– Well, it's the same. The world we live in is terribly wrong, sunk in indifference, misery, injustice, unconsciousness. Do you think being highly effective has any beneficial effect in this situation?
– No, I guess not.
– What about achieving success? Do you think that helps improve human life? Do you think that contributes to us beginning to respect each other and take care of nature?
- Of course not. But then where is the possibility of a change?
– In our basic beliefs: the concepts that give meaning and direction to our lives. This is a neurotic society so everything that sustains it: its values, its goals, its beliefs, are neurotic.
– Only if we analyze them consciously could we then choose those that convince us and go with us and those that do not give us peace.
– That's right, very good. Shall we continue?
- Well... yes - I said timidly fearing that we would continue with another sensitive topic.
– The concept of God.
– Zaz! Better not, don't mess around.
– I have to get in there since that is one of the concepts that creates more conflicts in men.
– I don't think he wants to talk about God.
– We are not going to talk about God, we will talk about one of the concepts of God. Two different things.
- What is the difference?
– Look, there are many religions in the world, some like Hinduism have thousands of gods, others like Islam, Judaism and Christianity only one and others, like Zen Buddhism or Jainism, do not believe that there is a god. Some believe in heaven and hell, others in reincarnation and others believe that this life is the only thing that exists.
So to talk about a concept of god is to talk about how a certain religion understands its god and life.
– Very well, the ways in which a group of people see God. And each of them is different and each group thinks that they are right.
– That's right, many people in the world are willing to kill or die to defend the concept they have of God. What kills are not bullets, it's ideas. Finally, we continue.
You have an idea of god that you received from your society. You didn't choose it, it was forced on you. That concept is stuck deep in your mind, and it's pretty ugly.
– How ugly? If it is a god who loves us and cares for us.
– Your god, the god you have been given, is not a loving god. It is a god who criticizes you, who judges you, who punishes you, who does not accept you.
Your god, the concept of god you have been forced to believe, is not a just god. It is a god that fills you with limitations, desires, instincts, passions and then gets angry with you because you respond to them.
He is a god full of contradictions, who tells you that you are free but that if you do not do what he says you will suffer for all eternity. What kind of freedom is that?
He is not a compassionate god, he is a god willing to punish you for the mistakes you make; errors that are the result of the limitations that it imposed on you. Where is the compassion in that?
– Let's see, let's go by parts, did they force me to believe in that god?
– Yes, when you were a child and before you even asked, they told you about daddy god and showed you images of him, they took you to what they told you was his house. And the worst of all is that they began to instill fear in you towards him: "God is going to be angry." "If you tell lies, God will punish you."
– I was very afraid to go to church.
– Expensive that was scary, full of images of bloodied, sad and suffering people. They told you to shut up and be still. It seems that god doesn't like children who are full of life. That is a religion that promotes guilt and sadness. There is not a single image in churches of people smiling or celebrating.
- Well, I've never seen it like that.
– That is the problem: what is socially accepted is rarely analyzed.
What do you think a child feels when they are told that a person nailed to a cross, full of wounds, died because of them?
“I guess you feel terrible guilt and fear.
- Surely yes.
– Wait a minute, it also has good things.
- Like what?
– Well you can feel that someone takes care of you and your loved ones.
– On the one hand, and on the other, that you have no freedom or privacy, someone watches you all the time, someone is always aware of your actions and keeps a record of everything you do. Someone always tells you what to do.
– Well yes, it is very heavy to always be “fearing of God” as the elders say. Also feeling helpless and bad about oneself. How come nobody thinks about this?
– Well, because they repeat it like parakeets, they are full of fear and prefer to ignore the contradictions, justify the atrocious acts of their religious leaders; to feel the fear of taking responsibility for oneself.
– What does being responsible with God have to do with it?
– Well, if you simply accepted a concept of god without questioning it, if you accepted a set of rules that others gave you, if you follow them for fear of punishment, you are exactly what they want you to be: a sheep, a sheep. You are not responsible for anything.
– And then… is there a god?
– Do you want me to tell you so you can repeat it like a parakeet? Do you think that's an answer someone can give you? Do you think it's as easy as reading a book?
What I imagine is that if there were a god he would tell you:
Stop praying and beating yourself on the chest! What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy your life. I want you to dance, have fun, sing, have fun and enjoy everything I've done for you.
Stop going to those gloomy, dark and cold temples that you yourself built and that you say are my home. My house is in the mountains, in the forests, the rivers, the lakes, the beaches. That's where I live and that's where I express my love for you.
Stop blaming me for your miserable life, I never told you that there was anything wrong with you or that you were a sinner, or that your sexuality was a bad thing. Sex is a gift that I have given you and with which you can express your love, your ecstasy, your joy. So don't blame me for everything you've been led to believe.
Stop reading so-called holy scriptures that have nothing to do with me. If you can't read me in a sunrise, in a landscape, in the eyes of your friends, in the eyes of your little son, won't you find me in any book!
Trust me and stop asking me, are you going to tell me how to do my job?
Stop being so afraid of me. I don't judge you, I don't criticize you, I don't get angry, I don't get upset. I am pure love. Stop asking me for forgiveness, there is nothing to forgive.
If I made you, I filled you with passions, limitations, inconsistencies, needs. How can I blame you if you respond to something I put in you? How can I punish you for being the way you are, if I am the one who made you? Do you think I could create an evil being to lead them astray or a place to burn all my children who misbehave for the rest of eternity? What kind of crazy god can do that?
Forget any kind of commandments, any kind of morality, any kind of laws, these are tricks to manipulate you, to control you, and they only create guilt in you.
The only thing I ask of you is that you pay attention to your life, that love and your alertness be your guide.
My beloved, this life is not a test, not a step, not a step on the road, not a rehearsal, not a prelude to paradise. This life is the only thing here and now and the only thing you need.
I have made you absolutely free, there are no rewards or punishments, there are no sins or virtues, no one keeps a scoreboard, no one keeps a record. You are absolutely free to make your own life a heaven or a hell.
I couldn't tell you if there is something after this life but I can give you some advice: Live as if there isn't. As if this were your only chance to enjoy, to love, to exist. Thus, if there is nothing, then you will have enjoyed the opportunity I gave you. And if there is, rest assured that I'm not going to ask you if you behaved well or badly, I'm going to ask you, do you like me? You had fun? What did you enjoy the most?
Stop believing in me, believing is supposing, guessing, imagining. I don't want you to believe in me, I want you to feel me in you. I want you to feel me in you when you kiss your loved one, when you tuck your daughter in, when you pet your dog, when you bathe in the sea, when you dance like crazy.
Stop praising me, what kind of egotistical god do you think I am? I'm bored of being praised, I'm sick of being thanked. Do you feel grateful? Prove it by taking care of yourself, your health, your relationships, the world. Do you feel admired, awed? Express your joy! That's the way to praise me.
Stop complicating things for yourself and foolishly repeating what you've been taught about me. The only sure thing is that you are here, that you are alive, that this world is full of wonders. Why do you need more miracles? Why so many logical explanations?
Don't look for me outside, you won't find me. Look for me inside... there I am beating in you.