I am gonna cheat and just add my written work from growing up that kinda brings up a point I have thought about for some time now.

I have loves, wants, and dreams.  I have the will to live and this is what keeps me fighting against this.  I have some hopes left that keep my heart beating.  I might hold onto these too much, but oh well, it’s all I have.  I feel as if I’ve actually lost it all and now I am just lying to myself, trying to get by on nothing.

But sometimes nothing is everything.  Nothing is a very good point to build on.  I suppose. I’d like to think it’ll get better than this.

Thinking about attachment again.  I feel like I really need to just meditate on this because it is so difficult for me to wrap my head around.  Just the other night I was sitting with a good friend, discussing how it is feasible to show love and compassion without attachment.  It feels like the first time I was presented with division- something just needs to click and I’ll get it but as for now I simply have not reached that point.

The only way I think I could increase my understanding of this definition would be to cut myself off- from a lot of things.  People, food, etc. I need to take the things that I am attached to and challenge them to a more base level, then once I am disconnected I can find a way to integrate my heart in this manner.

I’ve said many times “Once I have loved you, I will always love you”. It’s so true.  I never let people go, even if they are just a fleeting hope of a relationship, or just a friend, I am constantly playing through my head just lists of people that I contemplate on and hope the best for.  Some still cause me pain to think over- and I dwell on these instances in hopes to mend my wounds alone since they are no longer a part of my life- but this is very, very hard.

With the realization that my mind is easily consumed by others, I must realize that this pattern is actually doing me harm, and possibly vice versa.  This semester of college was a complete monstrosity- why? because I was constantly thinking to myself about my drama.  Being alone and out of that environment has offered me a peace that was long lost.  I hope to continue these  habits once I step foot back on college ground.  I think keeping the hope of him in mind will help me better myself.  Some people just make you want to be better- they show you that you can, and offer you that escape (or es-ca-pe ).  But, I must detach myself yet again, in fear of destroying  if anything ever happened with said person. Because I am idolizing someone I simply know not.

And now, don’t you see?  How attachment is such an issue-for me?

Norah.

I feel as if I must abandon this part of myself and take up this separate course of life in hopes that things may go better. If I do not benefit my life as myself way not take on a guideline in which I could flourish.  I am just worried of crashing, but maybe I can power through this and hope that I can connect with my true being- my inner aura that springs from the heart (too much so).  By controlling this I could maintain some reasons to hope in my future and to continue to feel accomplished day by day. We’ll see.

I have unending hope. I said once to a friend too close to my heart that I have too much hope in people- I hold on relentlessly until I am battered and bruised- and even then I have my tightest grip still on them- even if its sliding.  This is a good trait, I constantly remind myself, but I hope I can domesticate it. I simply need to.

To things better in the future, and as for the present, I hope I can stay mindful of myself and change these aspects. Because I must change- I must TRY.

Religious debate has fueled the fires of both war and peace within the levels closest to us, such as personal choices, to the global scale, where we find empathy and hate working alongside another in an effort to fulfill the greater good. However, there is never pure agreement along these terms.  In order for us to understand such concepts as this we must delve into the realm of choice and ask if we define our viewpoints through religion in order to justify ourselves and if we use these guidelines to identify a goal in life, or perhaps to solidify a definition of happiness.  Through the examination of religion in society we can ascertain its meaning and possible origin to find suggestions for its overwhelming occurrence and its notable effects on individuals throughout the world.

Over the course of history there have been many different options of dogma.  Time has told the tales of their glory and sometimes defeat or disappearance.  Religion transpires through time and can represent historical trends.   The Christian faith, for example, has been alive for over two millennia and is still thriving today, but one does draw the question of what came prior.  Eastern religions such as Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhism came before Christianity and still survive to this day with less representation in the Western world; however, their presence is becoming more common.

Over the past 20 years, Eastern religions have begun to enter into the Western mainstream.  Celebrities and other high ranked individuals may display these practices, which is in turn picked up by the ever watchful media.  Americans are known to be affected this force- the onset of depression in teenage girls due to bodily insecurities displayed by the media is a startling proportion- therefore, it is only reasonable that religious alternatives could also be absorbed.

Opinions and choices are gathered from such encounters.  As Mahan notes, popular films such as The Matrix have enabled his students to explore their religious imaginations and begin to shape their beliefs and practices based upon the way they are answered through the cultural material they engage (52).  Religions have become similar to popular thought, a tie to our culture, but are not so much the mirror image of popular trend because of the depth of its significance in the hearts and minds of its followers.

Worldwide, supporters of separate beliefs carry a variety of thoughts yet all manage to do one thing similar: practice and keep faith.  Whether or not this effort is exhibited on a minimal to excessive scale, it is a player in human interaction and lifestyle due to the connections it creates.  On a personal scale it creates oneness; it is tied to a sense of sharing and spreading one’s beliefs.  Thus a congregation is formed of people who can interact and share beliefs with one another, and possibly become so involved that more people come into said belief system, creating their own sociocultural world (Johnson 54).  As a result, we have religions resembling the Catholic faith in which one man, the Pope, governs Bishops of many countries that are responsible for Priests in a significant region.  It one of the most popular religions on Earth and has spread worldwide.

The hierarchy of the Catholic faith can be compared to a sophisticated corporate business.  In order to expand, it must retain cash allowances and attract patrons; it also has the Vatican which is a governing body that maintains and creates practice (Cavandish 162).  Support, or profit, for religion has to originate within the patron’s desire to conform in order to reach a certain satisfaction.

This can make religion seem as if it not a free service guided by choice.  At first, an inquirer may seek out the religion in which case they are accepted without requirements.  Over time, this person may become more involved and develop the innate desire to support ongoing practices and change their lifestyle to better represent their dogma; they contribute to the cause thus creating the profit.  Johnson suggests that in even sectarian groups that when people make a voluntary decision to join, they demonstrate their worthiness through their subjective commitment or personal religious experience (61); there is always a contribution to fellowship.

Reasons for conforming to religions can be observed on many different levels and is unique to each individual, but it is the frequency of social attachment and acceptance within religion that has proven to be one of its main selling points.  The Social Identity Theory focuses on the question of how individuals see themselves in relation to role partners (Thoits and Virshup 1997).  In respect to religion is explains that “membership within a social category becomes the crucial basis for behavior and self regulation via depersonalization and self-verification” meaning that within religion we gather as people and create a social identity rather than an individual one on the basis of similar views and efforts (Greil and Davidman 553).  Within these collective societies a purpose and lifestyle is indentified.

There is also the aspect of our innate desire to find meaning in life that religion also satiates.  We want to know where life is going and we also desire to have another lifeline of support.  By employing religion it could be suggested that we are trying to fill a gap within ourselves, to complete the evolution of our sentient being in order to feel completeness in life, with perhaps the promise of no end, the eternal.   Blasti (1980) has suggested that the foundation of a personal identity may be a key factor in the balancing of moral reasoning and moral behavior (Griel and Davidman 551). As human beings, we always desire happiness and good fortune, religion has a way of bringing people together that feel the same and creating social interactions where in a follower may feel they are becoming closer or are better adjusting moral mannerisms to create this shield of well being.

However, it cannot always be said that religions and their practices bring happiness to a follower just by attendance and participation.  Many times, people within a faith feel lost or may not comply with all beliefs suggested to them.  The onset of such thinking has increased through the twenty first century (Beyer 100).  This could be due to the over globalization of religion- for example, Catholicism has become a worldwide faith, but are all its practices relevant to followers of specific regions?  Does it tend to their personal needs?  The answer here is obviously … they try, but no religion will ever be able to truly speak to the heart of everyone within the congregation.

It is a simple fact that we are all human, but we hold many unique differences, hence the reason that so many fall away from global or large congregations- because there is simply no way to comply with others’ rules unless the disciple is the creator.  With religion as a starting point, followers use the rules to implement their own guidelines which will tend to their specific needs and ultimately their faith.

In less religiously ordained countries, such as the United States, people often recreate their faiths and analyze their beliefs.  Here, a hope factor may be generated due to a specific outcome of some stressful event.  Running to religion when aggravating events arise is often a practice that is chastised by religious organizations because it causes one to fall in and out of faith carelessly.  It creates a shoulder to lean on when unfortunate, but is abandoned quickly after more fortunate events occur (Spikard 131, 132).  However, people do cling to faith this way because it represents a hope that is not tied to their crisis or the material world and is thus indifferent from becoming a burden on their circumstances.

This idea of a support that is beyond reality is something most of us can reminisce doing since the early days of our youth.  Our favorite blanket, stuffed animal, or imaginary friend can all testify to this- if they were actually present.  The prospects of religion are based around a similar, mysterious being that interacts with us.  Religion could be proposed as a more complex aspect of this thought pattern, except through age we have learned to think formally and organize socially with those that share our ideals.  Consequently, we accept these beliefs as a norm of society.

We now have entire rules and places dedicated to this practice. This imaginary entity that helps us through our trials, and now what we believe in and dedicate our lives to may hold the same amount of reality as an imaginary friend that perhaps we were laughed at a younger age.  However, this represents a logical choice.  As imperfect humans (an accepted ideal among ourselves and religious texts) having an entity separate from the confines of our reality that is all knowing yet holds an indiscriminant eye could hold high value. This being represents the ultimate authority with the most minimal punishment because it does not play as direct of a role as our immediate reality.

The view of our problems coming later in life rather than immediately within the foundation of religions is not overly common; it is more centered on the Christian faith.  In Hinduism and Islam religions there is a strict tie to beliefs wherein one can expect immediate answers to their wrongdoings from both the physical and spiritual sides of reality.  Also, in Buddhism one faces karma in which the consequences of poor thoughts or deeds comes back into play both within one’s lifetime and ultimately affects the fate of their continuation in the next.

Most faiths have solutions to these deeds or thoughts. In the Catholic faith there is a practice called penance, in which one’s sins are forgiven and consequently the doors to heaven, or eternal life in paradise, are reopened.  This practice alone is a simple method in order to secure ultimate happiness (Spikard 133). Throughout other sects of Christian faith one can take Jesus Christ as their savior and their sins will vanish thereafter.   These dogmas offer a straightforward solution to an individual’s life woes.  We all have regrets and if they are discriminated upon in our religious setting, we would want to be released from them in order to retain the ultimate benefit of our faith.

But faith is not a process that has concrete guidelines.  As human beings that are currently upon the rapid onset of sophisticated scientific enterprises, the need to explain and find truth within religion is a dire search.   This pressure to “see it to believe it” causes many to fall away and in this process the emotional burdens of regret and loneliness are fostered.  This is because through faith the individual is tied to something that although it may not be provable, still represents security to one’s being (Beyer 112).  Religion gives us a way to accept ourselves and others within this society and feel comfortable within reality.

It also gives us a way to guide our lives and to feel greater security with our futures.  Just like directions that come with a complicated structural object, religion gives us a way to piece our lives together in a predictable, organized fashion so that the end result will be exactly what we put our money (or time, in life currency) into.   As humans, we would not want to spent our lives toiling away at stone if we did not see meaning or worth behind it, thus today we have temples and structures that all pay tribute to the benefits of religion and what people of the past and the present believe it can bring.  The promise of eternal life, happiness, or paradise beyond the unknown is something most would not deny yearning for.

The threat of death is constantly upon us and we seek to explain and nullify the pessimistic views upon this experience.  Religious faith is on the same level of tangibility as death- they both present unreachable, improvable circumstances wherein our knowledge cannot ascertain the outcome or give us an absolute sense of confidence.  As a result, followers turn to faith as the answer; practice and continuation of a religious routine clears our endless requisite of knowledge and fact that does not apply to death simply because there is no proof to what is beyond this point.  Religion fills the gaps where science cannot.

The search for such meaning is not a lonely one.  Within religions there are congregations of many people searching for the same exact things- meaning, hope, happiness, etc.  This offers the privilege of beneficial social interaction in which one’s faith is strengthened by those that surround them.  Being part of a large group of followers can help the individual with their doubts and trials, because now there is support.  As suggested earlier, as children we cast away our imaginary friends because it was not an accepted norm of society- we might never have had friends that continued to encourage our manifestation; however, religion offers just that.  With proper respect to the texts and history of the religious dogmas, we as humans gather and accept what is not entirely verifiable thus creating a gathering that radiates confidence.

All these aspects combined create what we see in the minds and hearts of religious followers.  There is a passion behind their belief- an unknown force that designates the lifestyles of its disciples in such a way that it has played one of the largest roles throughout history.  People not only follow scriptures and go to gatherings, they are fighting everyday for what they believe, and this can be examined on both a micro and macroscopic scale.  As individuals with faith, they struggle accept unknowns and take them in to their lives to develop a way of being.  As a society, they come together to form groups that help the individuals to have confidence, which are pressured by the demands of a scientific international society.

We do not have all the answers, but religion attempts to make it so.   As human beings part of this ever growing universe, we have developed a necessity for knowledge and explanation.  Even though the facts and evidence may be lacking, the social movements of religion create reality.

Works Cited

Beyer, Peter. “Globalization and Glocalization.” The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of                           Religion. Eds. James A. Beckford and N.J. Demerath III. London, ECIY: SAGE                 Publications, Ltd, 2007. 98-113. Print.

Cavendish, James C. “The Sociological Study of American Catholicism: Past, Present, and           Future.” American Sociology of Religion. Ed. Blasti, Anthony. Leiden, The       Netherlands.Brill NV, 2007. 151-176. Print.

Davidman, Lynn and Arthur L. Greil. “Religion and Identity.” The SAGE Handbook of the          Sociology of Religion. Eds. James A. Beckford and N.J. Demerath III. London, ECIY: SAGE Publications, Ltd, 2007. 549-565. Print.

Mahan, Jeffrey H. “Reflections of the Past and Future of the Study of Religion and Popular         Culture.” Between Sacred and Profane. Ed. Gordon Lynch. New York, NY: I. B. Tauris         & Co., 2007. 47-62. Print

Johnson, Doyle Paul. “The Theoretical Trajectory.” American Sociology of Religion. Ed. Blasti,     Anthony. Leiden, The Netherlands. Brill NV, 2007. 43-86. Print.

Spickard, James. “Micro Qualitative Approaches to the Sociology of Religion:       Phenomenologies, Interviews, Narratives, and Ethnographies.” The SAGE Handbook of     the Sociology of Religion. Eds. James A. Beckford and N.J. Demerath III. London, ECIY:    SAGE Publications, Ltd, 2007. 121-139. Print.

As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.

How is it possible for me to show compassion and love without attachment?  I feel as if all my life I have been guided by my own self worth ‘attached’ to what I am, what my dreams are, and what things I have in the present.  How is it that I can possibly go about letting these things go- in particular, letting these people go?

For too long I have held people close to my troubles in order to cushion my fall.  I feel as if, now being older and wiser, I find myself more conscious of my wrongdoings towards these people, thus thwarting them into the open water almost immediately—as I warning perhaps. I can no longer maintain healthy relationships with practically anyone because I am so worried about who I am and what I will be to them and even my affect upon them.

My only sense of peace and hope (possibly a sense of inner attachment) is on my spirituality, that I may expand and grow within it as to not feel these trepidations any longer.  Is it wrong for me to want what is best for myself?  Sabbe Satta Suhki Hontu. No, I think this is actually my purpose, it is just the route I take in order to gain said purpose.  It’s hard to find.

I’ll meditate on this, and continue my search.  As for you, continue to live beyond yourself and your own needs.  I believe it is when we reach beyond our own necessities in order to help and love unconditionally and selflessly that we are freeing ourselves from attachment.

’til next time.

Norah