Inner knowing is no better than holding a religious belief

Belief and faith used to be held in quite high esteem, then came along science, reason and the rationalists. Nowadays belief and faith are often seen in a lesser light, almost synonymous for some to superstition, gullibility and irrationality. Religion is a bit stuck with the belief/faith thing and so it too struggles for credibility.

However, the new religions of the New Age movement have had an opportunity to do something about that. They can dispense with the terms belief and faith altogether. Instead they have adopted terms such as 'inner knowing' (clever use of 'knowing' there to give it an appearance of rationality and divorce itself from belief), recognition, intuition, resonance, deep inner truths, a truth that lies beyond the intellect and comes from the purity of the heart.

But, in essence, it is still just belief and has all the same problems, limitations and pitfalls. One group of believers (or 'inner knowers') will have a belief (a knowing) about something and will respond to people who disagree with them by advising them to 'go within and listen deeply to their hearts' where they will discover the truth. The problem is that another group of believers will have arrived at a completely different truth and respond to critics in exactly the same way.

In conclusion, your inner knowings are beliefs and they will contradict the inner knowings and beliefs of others. Don't confuse a belief or an inner knowing with an absolute truth. Don't think your beliefs or inner knowings are better than others, that is the old game of 'my religion is the one true religion' playing out all over again.

In essence, I agree with what you have written and appreciate the clarity and gentleness of it. May it act as water dripping on the stonehead (... by which I am saying that I think it is good but unlikely to make much of an impact in the short term on such individuals who are sure they "know"!).

There is something to benefit from the study of the language of these groups and in learning to recognise that behind most of it lies the same forms. It's "business as usual" with a new brand name and wrapper. In every generation, a similar proportion of curious individuals are attracted to find out what it all means seeking some kind of place in the world. Perhaps, in the majority, those who already feel like outsiders within their own societies for whatever reasons.

They invest a similar amount of time and energy learning the linguistic codes to discover that behind them is generally nothing new or a even half-baked form of the old. Most then discard it whilst a few turn it into a business either individually, publishing books and setting themselves up as gurus, or by finding positions within the hierarchies of such communities or organizations. A new priest caste emerges.

By "inner knowing" do you mean the same as "my intuitions"? I never fails to amaze me how sure I can be of my "intuitions" ... and yet how many mistakes I make in my life.

The bottom most line I have come to about existence is that it is a game of power ... acquiring power, expanding it and defending it once you have some. The "powerful" have a better experience of life and the "powerless" are abused. By power I mean very real material things; money, property, wealth to extend one's will. At the most essential, it equates to an ability to afford material sources of energy that allow us to carrying out our physical activities.

Religious talk, its manipulation and devices (or "yuktis"), is just one fairly successful and well established ways of doing so that has evolved over the millenia (war, trade, legal wrangling, crime etc are other ways).

The Brahma Kumaris' modest successes in this area appear to me to be dependent on their borrowing from and sticking close to other already established brands or forms (e.g. starting with Hinduism and Christianity), and by "snowballing" new ones as they come along (e.g. personal growth, hypnosis, corporate coaching latterly). We have studied many of them as they have been added.

Wendy Smith wrote a paper comparing New Religious Movements to Multinational Corporations. In this light, the BKs for me are a bit like a Chinese electronics industry stealing and borrow other companies ideas, allowing some market experimentation and quickly adopting successful strategies and discarding unsuccessful ones.

But what happens to BKs types once they leave? Do they go on seeking and searching within the New Age movement, or do they leave disenchanted with religion and able to see through the shams and the scams?

Yes, ego is easy.

But what happens to BKs types once they leave?

"Disenchanted with religion" is most likely true for me.

Yes, ego is easy.

Ego may be easy but 'Lego' is better. "Leggo!" ... let go ... it's a pun; and this is Lego Jesus! Yes, leggo Jesus, leggo God and leggo angels too.

legojesus.jpg (46.95 KiB) Viewed 10124 times

"Disenchanted with religion" is most likely true for me.

Sadly, I think you put your finger on one of the more difficult parts of the post-BK malaise. One that, I suspect, stops many leaving.

What to do when the "Supreme Religion" fails you? You cannot really go back to any other, so what and where next?

Some post-BKs say they just manage to leave it all behind them and dive back into the world. I wonder ... however, I do not suppose that we are that much different from other sincere individuals who have seen through religion or whose orthodox religion has failed.

I guess the big choice when one realises that the religion or leaders are false is whether one sticks within, in the hope of doing some good within its framework, or heads off on one's own to see what is next. And does one stick with it out of self-interest, e.g. to gain status, security ... free bed, board and loadings ... or does one stick with it because one recognised it is a danger to others and should be reformed?

I also suspect that basic human insecurity and the fear of loneliness, or aloneness, are two other elements that keep individuals stuck to the framework offered by the BKs well past their faith's shelf-life.

I mean, do the Seniors really believe it is as they say it is any more?

In conclusion ... Don't confuse a belief or an inner knowing with an absolute truth. Don't think your beliefs or inner knowings are better than others, that is the old game of 'my religion is the one true religion' playing out all over again.

Tao Te Ching (Chapter 19)

Give up sainthood, renounce wisdom,
And it will be a hundred times better for everyone.

Give up kindness, renounce morality,
And men will rediscover filial piety and love.

Give up ingenuity, renounce profit,
And bandits and thieves will disappear.

These three are outward forms alone;
They are not sufficient in themselves.

It is more important
To see the simplicity,
To realize one’s true nature,
To cast off selfishness
And temper desire.

(from: 'Tao te Ching' by Lao Tsu, translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English)

What to do when the "Supreme Religion" fails you? You cannot really go back to any other, so what and where next?

I am certainly very wary of anything that feels like a "religion". I am also wary of anything that sounds like "knowledge".

When I lost faith in the BK God I automatically let go of all the BK beliefs. In my view it was the only logical and sensible thing to do. And it was very easy to do, just like turning a switch off.

My biggest issue was how to explain my mystical experiences, all the experiences of what I believed to be God and other experiences relating to BK concepts like experiences of the soul, the sweet home, etc, and which seem so real. My conclusion was that although I could not deny their reality and how much of a positive impact they had on my life, I just could not accept the BK concepts as valid explanations any more, even if I had no other sensible explanation for it, and I realised that I did not need to have an explanation, I did not need to "know".

Until I let go of the BK beliefs I did not realise how much the thought that I "knew" was limiting my horizons and my ability to learn and grow. It feels much better to live my life free from "knowing".