Doubt and Liberation

Article from "The Beacon" Oct -Dec 2016

Where there is great doubt,

there will be great awakening;

small doubt, small awakening,

no doubt, no awakening. Zen Saying

Doubt and liberation, like darkness and light, have characterized much recent thinking. Great doubts and fears have come with the tremendous changes currently sweeping in and it's true to say that today's world is in need of both love and intuitive vision to replace blind desires and fear driven doubt. Doubt is ever associated with the lower mind, and even with soul contact, doubt can still creep in; it can even cause us, with its often all-encompassing nature and subtle workings, to question our own essential divinity. It dampens the fires of aspiration in the heart that are so crucial to enlighten thinking, and then the fear of our impotence and inability to deal with life can quickly overwhelm us. By contrast, the soul's intuition sees at once the links between people and things that are invisible to the materialistic eye. Its higher perspective considers these relationships and is able to clarify judgements and ascertain truths that the lower mind cannot perceive or understand from its lower altitude.

Nevertheless, as the Zen saying quoted above suggests, doubt is also an awakener for both the sleepy mind and the closed one. The right use of doubt has long been the spiritual tool of those who truly think and question the prevailing wisdom. This deep questioning with its ability to challenge and even destroy conditioning thought forms is very important.

While the intellect can prevent enlightment, the razor sharp light of the truly questioning mind can dispel illusion and bring liberation - revealing the prejudiced, unnecessary and irrelevant restrictions of once - accepted rules and teachings. This enlightening use of the mind is noted in the work of the Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, who taught students the habit of "seeing the invisible in the visible reality" on the road of liberation. His life demonstrates that no matter what our circumstances, the mind can be used as an organ of vision to take us beyond doubt and despair to reveal a world of wonder and of possibility.