The David Library, Page 1
( Index, Orientation,
1, 2 )
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Some
Questions Worth Contemplating
(For the answers, look within your heart—and
look further into the David Library and the website.)
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 | Is this a Creation or just some kind of place? |
| Was or is there a Creator or a Big Bang? |
| Are things getting better or are they getting worse? Both? |
| What do they mean when they say it's self-evident that
"the world begins in perfection?" |
| Is virtue rewarded and vice punished? Who can we identify with
virtue and vice? Do bad guys get away with it and good guys (and
dolls) get screwed? |
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| How am I supposed to love everyone? I know some real jerks!
Forget it! |
| God loves us? Sure doesn't look like it! Looks like the
opposite! Just what is God's relationship to us and the world,
if He exists at all? |
| How can I be convinced that religion isn't just superstition?
That is really the Big Question that haunts me. |
| Sometimes I say to myself, "I just want to live in
peace." All the religions, from what I understand, talk
about peace. Infinite Peace. I want it! Where do I begin? |
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| If there is a God, does He or She really care about us? It
certainly doesn't look that way! |
| Was there really some kind of Fall, some kind of Fall from
Grace? When? And if so, can anything be done about it? |
| Is there such a thing as Sin? Am I a sinner? |
| What do people mean when they say things like, "this is
all an illusion"? |
| Is it good or bad to be passionate? |
| Am I a character in a "cosmic dream"? Who am I?
Where am I? |
| Is it good to suffer? How so? And why do I suffer? I always
try to do the right thing! |
| Was Christ really God? Did he really perform all those
miracles? |
| Are there statements that are really true, absolutely true, or
is everything just relative? How can I know the Truth? And then
what should I do? |
| Do I have to be conservative if I'm religious? |
| Which is cool? Austerity or the pursuit of happiness? |
| Do I have an immortal soul? Is there an afterlife? What is
death? |
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| What is this ego I'm supposed to lose? Who am I who
loses it? What's left? |
| I hear a lot of loose talk about "The Eternal
Now." "Live in the present," I am told.
Others tell me, "Go with the flow!" OK: What is time? |
| What is the meaning of "the Absolute"? What
does it have to do with me? |
| Do I need a "spiritual Master"? Where will I find
one? |
| I hear about "The Command to Perfection." I
think I have a long way to go. I know people who'll never get
there! What's this all about? |
| How can I fear God and love God at the same time? |
| I hear about "crossing the flood," "the inner
pilgrimage," the "spiritual journey." I suppose
this refers to a Path. What is a Path? Where does it
begin and where, if ever, does it end? |
| The religious texts and teachings are called "revelation,"
as if they come direct from "God" and have absolute
authority, as if they are the Truth. How can this be verified?
How do we know they weren't just written by nameless sages long
ago? |
| A lot of people put down "organized religion."
Was |
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© Estate of Frithjof Schuon
c/o World Wisdom Books
P.O. Box 2682 Bloomington IN 47402
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| Is evolution true? Did we evolve from protoplasm through apes
to what we are now, or were we always human? |
| Is there any point in praying? Are prayers answered? |
| Are some people living the right way and some the wrong way? |
| How do we go about "loving God"? Or "loving
Christ"? |
| If life is a test, how do I pass it? If it's a lesson, what am
I supposed to learn? If it's an illusion, how do I find reality? |
| What is the "inward dragon" I'm supposed to kill?
How will I know when it's dead, or wounded? |
| Why are there different religions? How can they all be true? |
| Faith in what, that's what I want to know! Faith in what? |
| Salvation from what? Redemption from what? |
| Some people are totally into New Age, other say it's bunk!
Who's right? How do you decide? Where is authority? |
| We're supposed to be "whole" people, not fragmented.
What's that all about? How do I know which I am? |
| I have an occasional insistent feeling that there's something
I'm supposed to know that I don't. An understanding I'm supposed
to have, and then I'd be happy. Is this true? What am I supposed
to know? Something about God? |
| Sometimes I feel that everything is crazy or empty or
false.
Am I right? And if so, what can I do? |
| God is Love, God is Love: I hear that all the time! Does it
mean that "God" is just a name we give to Love? What's
the big deal then? |
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| "organized religion" once OK and then
something went wrong? or is it still OK? |
| Did everything go the way it had to go, the only way it could
go, or did everything happen by accident and chance? Free
will or determinism? What's going on around here? Should I
surrender and take up arms? |
| Are there really "god-men"? Who can I
identify a "cult," how can I distinguish
between the genuine and the phoney? |
| Exactly what is the problem in the world today? Or what are
the problems, if there are many? What has gone wrong? And what
is it within me that tells me there is something fundamentally
wrong, when the whole culture is celebrating itself? |
| What will guide me in the choices I must make, every day,
about my own life, the lives of my children? |
| Some people appear satisfied that there is no God. Others
suspect there is something but go no further than that, an
uneasy suspicion; others wish there was something beyond
empirical reality and pine for evidence. Where can I turn for
non-dogmatic guidance? |
| What is this "perennial philosophy" I hear about?
Are there really sacred eternal truths? |
| What are the experiences in this world that will lead me to
what is holy and sacred? How can I select experience with this
goal in mind? How shall I interpret experience in a religious
manner? |
| I long for something I cannot define. Something eternal.
Something real. Where can I turn? |
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