Please think, instead of using the herd instincts!
Expressing one's personal philosophy is not always an easy task, especially when it involves some controversy. But my thoughts are essentially of peace and the search for truth. The seeds of my personal Philosophy stemmed from several shocking incidents that led me to leave behind my religion and create my own guidelines to live.
The first was a visit to a museum in Schwyz, a town in central Switzerland where one can see the testimonies of thousands of women who first were accused of having sex with the devil, then were tortured until they confessed it. They were then burnt in public, and according to the Catholic Church at the time, these burnings were a necessary cleaning process. This procedure was carried out for quite some time in Europe as well as in America. In Spain up to 1,500 burnings a day were reported. If you have a hard time to believe this, click on the picture. There you'll find statistics, and lists with names and dates and how the witches were executed.
Another experience that had a profound impact on my life-view was the revelation of some very special publications: The Road Less Traveled by M. Scott Peck, M.D., several books by Peter Lauster, a German Psychologist, and The Return of the Celts by Martha Sills - Fuchs. But the one book that had a particularly strong impact was "Wörter machen Leute" Magie und Macht der Sprache ("Words make People" the magic and power of language) written by Wolf Schneider, a style teacher of the German language. It still gives me the goose-pumps to read in this work about how easy language has been, and is used or misused by governments, religions and other groups to brainwash people.
Religions and religious sects have often manipulated their followers into committing absurd atrocities in order to 'get to heaven'… incredible suicide-bombings, flights into the twin-towers, Hitler´s brilliant speeches that managed to misguide a whole country to commit the most unbelievable crimes against humanity, to name a few. And it is absolutely startling that many of these methods of manipulation are used by political and religious leaders today. In the name of religions, we can count around 30 wars going on at any given time. Millions of people get tortured, raped, beaten, locked-up, and killed because of words that are written in some of these 'holy books' or spoken by priests or politicians.
Keep in mind that just a thousand years ago, very few people had the ability to read or write as printing had not yet been developed. It was mainly priests that had these skills and it was their duty to copy 'holy books' adding some of their own ideas along the way. That's why there are so many versions of some of these books (i.e. the Bible) that have caused so much trouble and misunderstanding among the believers (for instance 30 years of war between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland). Why do we have to learn about all the wars in school but so little about democracy and tolerance? If we don't learn how to live together in loving, tolerant relationships, we will never have peace on this planet.
There is no country and few communities without some sort of religion. People need social guidelines and ethical rules to coexist in harmony. Yet, it seems that most churches fail to provide these guidelines today. Pedophile priests are as common as Burger Kings that are supposed to guide us or our children. When I worked in insurance in Switzerland, I learned that the profession with the shortest life expectancy is the catholic priest because of the celibate life-style is an unnatural health-stress. In central Europe the churches only survive because of tax-payers monies not because of church-goers.
When I finally decided to leave my religion behind, I immediately got a visit from the local priest. Most people in Switzerland who abandon their church do so in order not to pay church-taxes. When the priest heard my arguments she said, "You're the kind of person we need in church. You would make a difference." I answered that I will find different ways to make a difference, but I cannot find what I need to be a better person listening to irrelevant sermons with half the congregation asleep.
Love your neighbor (or enemy) as you love yourself?! Well until I was 30 years old, I hated myself, did that make me a public menace? I could not even bare to see myself in the mirror.
At age 30, I finally decided to change my life and began by "soul-searching". I stopped smoking and started to do two to three water fasts per year to cleanse my body and soul and to practice self-discipline. I became a vegetarian, and believe me, all this turned my life around.The result was a defining and constant redefining of my own personal and practical philosophy:
In General
My life philosophy comprises of, in great part, the following ideals as goals:
1 To live life with integrity and do things that have positive repercussions regarding the quality of life of others and of the environment.
2 To start each day with freshness and love in my heart and to have the energy to spread that enthusiasm.
3 To each day improve my ethic of character to be more tolerant, cooperative, compassionate, obliging, amiable, loyal, decisive, responsible, punctual, honest, valiant, generous, and just.
4 To reject any groundless beliefs of religions, demons, gods, prophets, and fortunetellers.
5 To believe in the love of people and in my love and all that that happens in life that has reason.
6 To be perseverant in living my ideals.
7 To try to give the best of my capacities and aptitudes and give more than what people expect.
8 To make a special effort not to leave the path of honesty.
9 To never desire more than what I need and to use excess resources to aid needy people and improve a declining environment.
10 To remember that I alone am responsible for my emotions. Pain should not be one of self pity.
11 To always remember that love is an activity that produces love.
Regarding the Family
My family has absolute priority in my life. My house or apartment should be a place of love, fun, comfort, peace, happiness and pleasure. In this sense I want to practice a family culture and to give the children around me the most of my experiences. It is especially important that they learn to love, enjoy life and live with integrity.
I want to find ways for children to discover their talents. But at the same time, each family member must be responsible for his space and to live in a clean and orderly manner.
Regarding Relationships / Marriage
Love with erotic sentiments is the child of liberty. On the other hand, mental or physical infidelity can be a mortal blow for a loving and lasting relationship. Only absolute fidelity gives us the best foundation for a relation that will survive the torments of life. Only in this way do we have the security and the confidence that we are not going to fall in love with another person which normally means the end and the destruction of the actual family. If with time the feelings of love and /or sexual desires diminish, I have to remind myself that love recovers stronger than before. Life is not as in the novels or Hollywood movies where love strikes like lightning and then establishes itself as an incurable virus.
I'm going to make sure that neither work nor pleasure, no matter how fabulous or satisfactory it can be, causes me to separate from my wife or family for much time. I want to practice at least one or better two hobbies or free-time activities with them.
Regarding Time
The time that we live is very short and unrepeatable. It is precious. For this reason I want to pay a lot of attention to what I'm doing with that time. I always want to be conscience that today may be the last day of my life because only in this way will I organize my time properly. I don't want to waste time hoping for better times in an undefined future, but instead enjoy the everyday journey of living.
I want to be very selective with whom I share my time and love. But with those with whom I chose to spend time, I'm going be empathetic and make an effort to listen carefully to them. Also, I am going to be careful to listen to many different opinions before making rash judgments.
In my conversations, I want to demonstrate good humour and not allow differences of opinion to be interpreted as personal criticism. Also, I'm going to avoid criticizing others in this sense.
With my different interests and projects, I always want to concentrate on one thing at a time and to do it at the best of my abilities. I am not going to be afraid of making errors. On the contrary, errors are the best teachers. At the moment I realize that I made a mistake, I'll correct it and, if it's appropriate, apologize for it. I'm going to learn to wait more patiently for the fruits of my activities.
I want to spend less than what I am earning and only incur debts in emergency situations or when there is no other solution such as, buying land, a house or a car.
At least five days a week, I want to dedicate my time in some form to creative activities. I want to apply my creativity to improve life on the planet and for the community in which I live.
I'll always keep an open mind to new ideas, changes and innovations even if they the result is unpleasant, difficult or painful. I'm not going to wait for opportunities but to find them and create them. I'll never stop learning something new. In fact, I would like to learn a new skill at least once every two years.
Regarding Health
I'm gong to stay far away from customs that can result in addiction (tobacco, drugs, excessive consumption of tea, coffee, white sugar, alcohol and work). I want to use wisdom and prudence in the selection of foods, drinks, literature and film. With meals, I try to use fruits and vegetables from my own garden. Also, I buy organic vegetables, fruits and grains if they are available and I try to eat as much raw fruits and vegetables as possible.
Finally, I want to further develop the courage to laugh about those difficult times that we are all destined to have and use my energies where I can to make our shrinking world a little bit of a better place.
If you like to read my philosophy in other languages, you can read it here in Spanish and German.
Have a happy day
Jörn
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