This title should probably be “My bias on religion” to slightly alleviate the antagonism I am going to inflict in all religious people, especially those who happen to be my friends.

Over the years I have never quite regarded myself as an atheist, due to my awe toward this natural world and my constant quest for the transcendental force. Nor would I name myself an agnostic, though this may be a closer description. Throughout my adult life, especially during the hard times, I have greatly benefited from religious thoughts, which have aided me on my spiritual path. I live my life through trial and error. I fully acknowledge all human experiences, even if I am not able to experience everything, and may not want to. I have lived as my fellow humans have, for the most part. Along this dangerous journey, when reality was about to crush any spirituality in me, and I saw the impossibility of all my dreams, these religious thoughts have inspired me, held my soul tight. By constantly immersing myself in these transcendental ways of thinking, I have developed some inner strength, and become somehow an enriching influence to those whose paths cross mine. I do understand what “God” means on many levels. I use this word myself, to refer to what my heart truly desires, an image of beauty, love, peace and power beyond what can be seen or imagined in this material world. I think my usage of this word agrees with the definition of many outstanding religious figures, such as the saint John of the Cross, as described in his Canticle.

However, I answer to my own God, not anybody else’s.

It is my firm belief that for true spiritual development, one should stay outside any religion. Even he feels closer to, and chooses to practice a particular religion, he should not worship with others of the same religion. Because each person should find his own God, and should not imitate other people and accept a ready-made image of God packaged in a particular school of theology. Otherwise it is just spiritual laziness and feebleness. You cannot do so without some extent of self-deception, which is bound to corrupt some human nature in you and thwart your life force, thereby rendering this life less worth living.

Religion is institutionalized belief. And I do not trust any institutionalized belief. Spirituality is a very personal thing.

By subscribing to any institutionalized belief, dogma or doctrine, one compromises two important freedoms: the freedom of mind, and the freedom of exercising one’s life.

The freedom of mind is the most important freedom. This is what you can have even in a prison. It is the most precious gift to you. Through this freedom you exercise all the other freedoms you may have, making judgments and choices. What to learn, where to live, what to do, whom to love, what meaning your life can have, what goals your life can accomplish. Are these not what life is all about?

This gift is endowed to everybody. However, many people are not aware of it, or consciously choose not to exercise it. Honestly, I cannot think of a greater crime one can commit against oneself. Your life is given to you only once, and it comes with this gift, so you can live this life the way you want, to the maximum extent, although within the constraints of your time and place. The best thing about this freedom is, it can even affect and change your environment. You are a traveler passing through this world, but you can still leave a mark, a mark you choose.

How many people did not live the life they were meant for!

In a historical view, independent thinking is really the only protection against hardened doctrines, extremisms, collective cognitive mistakes, dehumanization and its accompanying ideology and propaganda. Independent thinking is the only protection for human liberty and life. It is the only correcting force in our blind evolution.

All the dictatorships try to destroy independent thinking. China’s first emperor burnt all books except for a few technical writings, and buried alive all free-thinking scholars in a large pit. Hitler brain-washed the Germans so they could commit the Holocaust. The Hutu government of Rwanda conditioned the mind of their tribe so they could kill a million Tutsi citizens, many of whom had been their neighbors and friends, within a few months—known as the Rwanda Genocide. The first thing Pol Pot did when he seized the power was to kill all intellectuals in the capital city. For three days blood flowed like river, and Cambodia ceased to be a country in any political sense due to the loss of its brain. Dictators are forever afraid of independent thinking, which is their doom and humanity’s hope.

All dogmas claim to be just and virtuous. Under this claim, they try to install “justice” and “virtue” in the human mind in the place of independent thinking. The more minds are molded into their doctrine, the more justice and virtue there will be—so they reason. This is the worst and longest mistake in human history. And it is still the norm today. Here lies the biggest danger for humanity.

The freedom of exercising your life (to be finished)

And it is also my firm belief that one should keep his religion to himself.