When you are thirsty, how do you know that water will quench your thirst? At the cellular level, the hormones being secreted and your body biology changes and only by drinking you will quench your thirst, and if you did not have this hormonal secretion, you would not be thirsty at all. Too much of a good thing is not good either. Just imagine that your body secrets too much hormone regarding the thirst, then you will never able to quench your thirst. We are programmed for spirituality at the genetic level. When we engage in a Belief System, this Belief System activates a gene and selects our behavior. What we believe shapes us more than what we eat. We can turn on or off certain genes by our perception. In other words, Belief switches on genes and activates a cellular response. All religions and spiritualties emphasize that they want you to be the nation that does not go to two extremes but rather stay in the middle path – this is due to the fact that too much of anything is not good.
For years, we thought that genes control your life. Genes do not control the biology, you do. Positive perception and Belief activate different genes than negative thought. Through meditation and stress reduction, the genes can be manipulated. Stress is the most cause of disease, and you can change your genes by the way you react to the world.
Meditation and prayer increase endogenous opioid, reduce respiratory rate, reduce heart rate, increase dopamine secretion, and reduce depression, all possibly initiated through an increase in the nitric oxide pathway. But you are going to ask whether it is going to happen in one or all religions, like asking whether power should belong to the federal government or state governments or rather to the people with no government. The same holds true about religions and philosophy.
My personal journey in life started through the path described by the Persian poet Attar in The Seven Cities of Love as it says “Attar passes through all the seven cities of love, but the rest of the world is debating about the name of single alley in one city.” I started my journey through a search in many religions, and the seed of searching as the first step toward understanding the world and religions is to be patient. Being patient to understand a religion that you do not known requires that you need to be like children again to see the beauty of God. And during this trial and journey, one should be cautious not to be attached to any thought or ideology and look for the beloved everywhere even in unexpected places, to believe what they do, and to worship what they do in order to see in each face the traces of the beloved one. Only those with a pure heart can see God clearly. After this journey, then next step is falling in love with any specific philosophy or religion. During this step pain is the main seed of this step and suffering is part of that and if you are lucky and move away from this level, you enter the city of God in which all you see is unity, and with the eye of God you see and with the feet of God you walk. You will not be judgmental as they are all an image of God man and women created. During this path confusion can happen and need you to be ready to let the attachment go of any belief system and then move like a small straw on the ocean of oneness, despite the movement, still you are in the ocean of God. Contentment is needed and in the end, you become part of eternity as God,” blessed those who are pure in heart that they can see God” you become the mirror and God will be reflected within you, and then serving humanity is honoring God, the same God in every religion, only different manifestations of God. At the core of all these beliefs is how beneficial you are to your society and other human beings. Any human being who is suffering diminishes me as I am part of mankind as Robert Kennedy once said.
Now are you ready to build Jeffersonian nations by gathering all the Hamiltonian means. This means that even though all the religions are the same spirit, each individual makes a connection with a specific religion which should respected. Some choose not to have any ideology due to corruption of organized religions, but the Belief System is something personal. You can choose to active or inactive the genes, the choice is yours. The realms that are visible can be changed to realms which are invisible, and with closed eyes you see the beauty of God and with close lips you can sing the joy of unity in all the Belief Systems and humanity
All the religions and philosophy come to a single word, LOVE. Love also feeds cells by addition of dopamine, vasopressin and growth factor and fear increases stress hormone and inflammatory cytokine. Stress and fear increase all these negative signals.
Mother Teresa said she saw Christ in every hunger, every leper, every homeless and poor one, as all reflect the image of God. The Persian Poet Attar said it many centuries ago as well. Try that and you will be happier in life and heathier in your body and soul, specially now in the Christmas Season.
It also reminds me of a poem by Shawn Gallaway which not only healed the nation at the cross roads of history but still heals the souls of people no matter where they live:
I can see laughter, or I can see tears
I see a choice, love or fear
What do you choose?
I can see peace, or I can see war
I can see sunshine, or I can see a storm
What do you choose?
I can see sharing, or I can see greed
I can see caring, or poverty
What do you choose?
I see us healing, the darkness dying
I see us dawning, as one world united
So what do you choose?
Love or fear
Now I choose to live with freedom flying
From my heart, where the light keeps shining
I choose to feel us all united
In the strength that we can rise above
I choose Love
I choose Love