Freedom

Welcome Kara and Erin to the class. Today we all agreed that it was great that we could all believe what we wanted in freedom and also that we respected each other. Everyone was able to share what they believed.

Soul

We nearly all believed that people had a soul. Reincarnation was popular, the idea of learning lessons that are carried into another life was appealing, particularly in terms of bringing a greater sense of purpose and progression. The soul is the part of us that continues after death and is who we are. For example we often speak of owning our body, “this is my hand.” The soul uses the body to express itself. Addictions occur when the soul gives the body control. For example alcoholism and obesity occur because a person doesn’t say no to the impulse or graving for alcohol or food. Counselling seeks to help the soul gain control over the body, to teach the person to be able to say no to the body. One student picked up on this by saying that addictions are what people use to compensate for something in their lives. If they are sad they eat to much or drink to much because it makes them feel better.

Not so sure about God

The soul was not something that the students saw as needing to be connected to a god or religion. In answer to a few questions I explained my personal belief in the following way:

I believe unlike Buddhism that God is a person who made the world and made us to be able to relate to him.

At this point I was asked whether I believed in fate. Here I admitted I believed in a contradiction. God is completely in control but at the same time we have the freedom to make our own decisions. This explains the suffering in the world. For example if a person dies in a car crash they may ask why God has allowed such suffering to enter their lives. However, they crash was caused by a drunk driver who had broken God’s values of sobriety and the governments law about not drink driving. God allows us to reject him and live separately from him.

God will one day fix the mess that we have made.

Personal

We all agreed that our spiritual journey was personal. Asked what I thought of people of differing religions and ideas I responded by saying that I would rather have someone believe something than nothing. Then you can discuss what you believe and why. Thanks students for a very stimulating spirituality class.