November 23rd 2009 - Dogma

The concept of Dogma keeps entering my mind lately. I'm only now starting to really understand the concept of Dogma. According to Wikipedia, "Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, ideology or any kind of organization: it is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted or diverged from." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma. Dogma is usually followed with what we call "blind faith."

What I really want to say is that anything anybody tells you, including me, is merely Dogma, unless - and until - you experience it personally. Many of the spiritual paths I have studied differentiate themselves from religion by the fact that you experience tangible changes in your Life by following them. Blind faith becomes unnecessary after actual experience. When an overpowering and beautiful energy opens up and radiates from your Heart center and overcomes your whole being, it's much different from somebody telling you that they have a technique to open your Heart. Before I felt that, I had a totally different concept of what it meant to "open your Heart." One of my mentors said often, "An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of theory." Theory is Dogma.

I have advocated certain practices to my readers from a dogmatic perspective. How am I to know which practice is perfect for you? I only know what has worked for me. One of my readers was inspired to start practicing another type of Yoga than I have advocated. She's loving it, and I am so excited that she pursued it after being inspired by my writing. Maybe that's her path. Maybe it's an even more powerful path than those I've studied. Who knows?

Heartily,
Alan