換句話說,他的心中,對於這些舊習俗,有著某種空虛感或失落感。我想把這篇文章送給這樣的人。
當然,我無法向大家「證明」上帝的存在,而且,什麼才是「證明」呢?從科學的角度來看,「證明」的意義,是要以某個普遍受到認可的「定律」作為基礎,來提出某一個結論。
一切無非是愛
我從愛及尊重的觀點出發,來撰寫這篇文章。時下有越來越多人,不想繼續遵從社會的舊信仰(例如:中國傳統的禮拜儀式、寺廟內焚燒紙錢…等),或者,他們已經將這些舊信仰完全拋棄。或許,他們一年只會參加一次這樣子的活動,就算內心深處已經無法認同這樣的習俗,但是為了讓家人或長輩開心,還是勉強行之。也許是因為他已經接受了高等教育,又從網路上可以得到很多資訊,所以,他漸漸發現,自己已經無法輕易接受這些舊觀念。
換句話說,他的心中,對於這些舊習俗,有著某種空虛感或失落感。我想把這篇文章送給這樣的人。
當然,我無法向大家「證明」上帝的存在,而且,什麼才是「證明」呢?從科學的角度來看,「證明」的意義,是要以某個普遍受到認可的「定律」作為基礎,來提出某一個結論。
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恕我沒有能力這麼做,因為,如果我可以證明「上帝」,那麼,「上帝」又怎麼稱得上是「上帝」呢?因為,真正的「上帝」早已超越了我們的科學邏輯、經驗以及各種學術上的方法論。
讓我們再從另一個角度來思考這件事。
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我擁有生命,而且,我很確定自己並不孤獨。在這個世界上,還存在著許多的人事物,就像我一樣。
同時,我也知道,我無法單獨的存活,我無法離開社會,若世界沒有其它一切的東西(例如:食物、房子、水…等),我就無法生存。
我的生命,我的幸福,都是建構在這樣的關係之上。我擁有一群朋友。我特別深愛著某個人,他(她)就是我的先生(妻子)。我們組織了一個家庭,擁有我們的孩子。
因為我生活在這個社會當中,所以,我必須符合社會的要求,然而,我卻面臨了一個難題:究竟我在這個世界要做什麼?
你、我都需要接受某種幫助,讓我們的身心受到啟發和鼓舞,讓我們能夠繼續存活在這個世界上,面對眼前的困境,讓我們保有心中的愛,並且使這份愛增長,也讓我們充滿了創造力。
我之所以談到「愛」,是因為我認為每一個人,都需要被愛和愛人。即使一個人擁有許多財富與社會地位,但是,只要沒有「愛」,人就不可能感到幸福。
同樣的,如果沒有創造力,我想我早就已經死亡了。我們每天創造新的事物。「創造」就是「生命」,創造還能給予人們一種極為深刻的幸福感。
「創造」也是某種形式的「愛」。
我們致力於某種事物,例如:科學,或是成為一名老師為社會服務,或是其它形形色色的工作。如果沒有「愛」,我的工作就變的十分乏味,我的生命也會跟著了無生趣。
「愛」可以趕走對死亡的恐懼,因為,我們知道,無論如何,我們終究會死亡,然而,我們卻常常對此議題漠不關心。我們從不試著為它尋求解答,我認為如果我們不知道「愛」,自然就無法知道「死亡」。
然而,問題的癥結在於:我們如何能夠知道「愛」?我們要如何實踐「愛」並且增長心中的「愛」?
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我也知道,「愛」與「自由」是互相連結的,沒有自由的愛,也稱不上是真愛,我指的是「無條件的愛」。
這並不是說,因為我自由地選擇了你,我就必須要愛你,這樣子的觀念是錯誤的。正確的說,讓我舉個例子:雖然愛你是一件非常困難的事,但是,因為你是我的家人,所以,無論如何我就是愛你(當然,這樣子的愛是帶有責任與條件的,甚至有時候,我們家庭都還存在著許多問題)。雖然,愛你是這麼的困難,然而,一旦我愛上你,無論你一貧如洗,一點也不漂亮,或者,你根本算不上是一個好人,我就是愛你。愛代表了接受對方所有的缺點,我們之所以愛對方,並不是因為他(她)的條件很好,而是因為我們選擇去愛他(她)。
從這個觀點來想,愛讓我們從人性的需求中「真正的解脫」,例如:從人性根本的需求出發,我根本不需要去作一幅畫,但我還是畫了。我根本不需要寫一首詩,但我還是寫了,我可以表達所有我想表達的事。所有的行動、詩、繪畫、歌曲…等,讓我們成為一個實實在在的人。
愛就是我們的「自由」的終極表現,也因為愛,讓我們成為一個真正的人。
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在上文中,我寫了許多例子,因為,我覺得現代人應該會同意我的看法,我想,你應該也會贊同我。我們之間唯一可能產生的異議大概就是,對許多現代人來說,不只是「愛」很重要,「錢」也非常的重要。因為如果沒有「錢」,我們就不可能有「愛」。然而,我卻不這麼認為。因為,即使是身陷牢獄,只要你有愛,只要你知道仍有人愛著你,你依然會感到快樂。我想,現代人並不知道什麼是死亡,因為他們連如何活下去都不知道。
沒有愛的生命就好像一個飢餓的鬼魂。你盲目的追求金錢,可是當你有了錢之後,你卻不知道該如何使用他們。當然,你更不可將這些錢帶進墳墓裡。
然而,如果你同時工作,又同時給予愛,並接受愛,那麼你的工作一定會更加順利,你將擁有較高的EQ,你擁有愛的力量,這會讓你擁有更多的創造力,並且讓你在事業上一帆風順。
如果能發掘更多更多的愛,你就會瞭解「正教會」的教導。
因為「正教會」的另一個名稱就叫作「愛」。
「上帝」是什麼?「上帝」就是「愛」。
他賜予我們「愛」,無盡的「愛」。
不只是如此,上帝正是愛的泉源與中心,也是愛的給予者。
有些心態不健全的人,他們認為上帝就好像一個超級警察一樣,隨時都在記錄我們的罪狀,準備有朝一日能夠處罰我們。這是天大的錯誤,這樣的想法,只是暴露出他們病態的心理。
因為,「他們心中渴望著處罰」,當然,是處罰別人而不是處罰自己。
那麼「地獄」又是什麼?「地獄」就是「完全沒有愛」。完全不去愛,也完全拒絕任何人的愛,那麼,你就會感覺自己身陷地獄之中。
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「愛」讓我們成為「人」。
我成為「人」,完全是因為我有「愛」的能力,而我願意去愛。如果你沒有愛,即使你再聰明,擁有再高的學歷,你都會成為一名殺手、一位小偷、一個暴君。
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我是「因為他人」而存在,也是「為了他人」而存在的。
我想,如果你接受以上的觀念,那麼你已經是正教會的基督徒了,接下來,你就會了解,上帝並不是一種極大的權力,也不是全能者(Almighty,事實上,聖經中並沒有這個字,這是一個錯誤的翻譯,希臘字原本的意思是萬物的包容者All Embracing)。上帝是終極的「他者」(Other),是最終的「愛」,上帝的存在就像「聖三位一體」一樣,是一種共存的狀態。
而這種愛並不只是一種概念,這是我們人類可以近距離接觸的事物。
最後,「上帝」也就是「愛」,他取得肉身而成為人。
因為「上帝」成為「人」,所以,我們每一個人都有可能達到這終極的「合一」,也就是「愛」。
究竟,我和你要如何變成一體?藉著閱讀經文嗎?或者,僅僅藉著內心的情感就能合一嗎?儘管你確實充滿了愛,但是,這樣仍然不夠。一定要有某種東西,將我和你以及整個世界結合在一起,才能算是真正的「合一」。
而這個東西,就是「上帝(愛)取得肉身而成為人」,因此,我們可以加入他,加入這個共同體,成為彼此的一部分。
這就是基督教的觀點。
這種「共同體」的生活方式,並不是為了獲得某種權力,也不是在強權之下,受到強迫的,更不是為了遵守某個法則。這個「共同體」與終極的「愛」(上帝)結合在一起。上帝是如此深愛著我們,他自由自在地愛著我們,以致於他變成了人,成為我們的一員,為我們做出這樣的轉變。
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我想,對一個現代人來說,這樣子初步的瞭解就已經足夠。這已經解答了人們一直在追尋的答案。
最後,我想要告訴各位,接受這樣子的「愛」,並不會失去任何的東西,如果一個人改變了心意,或是覺得有更好的事物等著他,他有絕對的自由可以拒絕。
然而,我想,這是值得一試的。至少,我們應該給自己一次機會,稍稍經歷一下這種生命,試試看這條愛的道路。
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It is all about love.
I write the following from love and respect for the common person who nowadays finds difficult to follow the old religious ways (traditional Chinese worship , temples paper money etc) and does not follow , but may be once a year , just to please his family . He does not follow because probably he graduated from a university , he uses internet and finds not easy to accept the old believes. But from the other point of view , may be there is some empty space inside his heart, may be there is a feeling of something missing.
Of course i cannot prove to you the existence of god. And actually what is proof? From scientific point of view is to conclude something based on generally accepted principles.
I cannot prove god because if i prove god should not be god because he is UNDER my scientific logic, experiment and methods.
But let us talk from some other point of view
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I live this life and i know for sure that i am not alone. There are other things , other people like me.
I know also that i can NOT live alone. I cannot live out of the society, i cannot live without THINGS (food , house , water etc).
My life my happiness is constructed of relationships. I have friends, i love specially somebody as lover and husband or wife, i make a family, i have kids etc.
Besides i live in the society , i face the question, what i am doing in this world.
I , you need something to help me, to inspire me to keep living , to face the difficulties, to keep the love and to increase the love and at the same time make me creative .
I speak about love because i think everybody would like to receive love and to give love. Even he has a lot of money or he is famous , personally is not happy without love.
And also without creativity i am already dead. To be creative , to make new things, is life, and gives a deep feeling of happiness.
Creativity is also a kind of love , of devotion to something , for example my science , or serving the society as teacher or any other job. Without the love , my job becomes boring my life becomes boring.
This love is something that casts out the fear of death. Because we know that definitely we will die, but we do not pay attention to this question , we do not try to answer it. And i think that if we do not know how to live, there is no way to know how to die.
The problem is how to know more about love, how to practice love and increase love.
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We also understand that love is connected with freedom.
Love without freedom is not real love .
My meaning is that i love without any obligation.
Not because i must love but just because i choose this freely. For example it is different to love you because you are my family, (of course it is obligation but sometimes i have problems with my family) and it is different to love you because i choose to love you , even you are not the most rich, beautiful or even the best person in the world. Love means i can accept the weakness of the other and love him NOT BECAUSE HE IS GOOD but because i choose to love him/her.
From this point of view LOVE MAKES US REALLY FREE from the need of human nature. Art is a good example for this. For example there is no need to pain something , but i do it , there is no need to sing, or to write a poem, i can speak what i want to say. All those acts, poetry, painting songs etc…make us to be real human beings.
LOVE is the ultimate act of our freedom , makes us real humans.
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I write all those things because i think a modern person will agree, you agree also. The only objection should be that nowadays it is not only about love but about money. Because without money you cannot have love. But i think the opposite. Because you CAN be happy if you have love even in prison, if you know that somebody still loves you. I think modern people do not know how to die because they do not know how to live.
Living without love is to live like a hungry ghost. You go only after money and when you have it you do not know how to spend. And of course you cannot take money in your grave.
But if you work and in parallel you have love, you give love and you receive love , then you can work better, your emotional intelligence is better, you hake power of the love to be more creative and successful.
If you dig more about love , you will discover the orthodox church.
Because the orthodox church is the other name of the love.
What is God? Just love
And he gives us love , unconditional love.
Not only this but he is the source and the center and the giver of the love.
Sick people created an idea of god like a big policeman who writes our sins and prepares punishment for us.
Huge mistake. The just express their psychological problem because THEY LIKE THIS PUNISHMENT , of course for the others not for them.
What is the hell? NOT TO LOVE. Reject the love of anybody you feel the hell.
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Love makes us human persons.
I become human because i have the ability and i choose to love. If you do not love , even if you are very smart or educated you become a killer a thief or a tyrant of the people.
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I exist BECAUSE OF THE OTHER and FOR the other.
I think if you accept all the above you are already orthodox Christian . Then you understand that GOD is not the ultimate power , almighy , (actually this word does not exist in bible , is misstranslation of the Greek word ALL EMBRACING ) . God is the ultimate OTHER . Is the ultimate love. God exists as trinity. As coexistence.
And this love is not only a concept, it should be something human something we can touch.
Finally the god who is love become human.
He become human so that to make possible to us to go to the ultimate unity which is love.
How can i be united with you , you who reads the text? Just by my emotions? But if you really love , this is not enough. Must be something to unite me REALLY not only emotionally , with you and all the universe.
And this is the god-love who become human. So that participating to Him, to participate to all , to be members of each other.
This is the point about Christianity.
The unity not for power or under power or in a principle, or by force. But the unity with the ultimate LOVER who is god and who loved us freely so much so that become human to be our union and our transformation.
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I think this is enough for a new begging for a modern person. It is the answer to what he is seeking.
And finally he has nothing to lose. He is free not to accept if he does not like or if he finds something better.
But i think it is worthy to try , at least once this way of life, the way of love.