William Bezanson: I BELIEVE
OMTIMES: Do you believe we need a personal guru or a coach to develop our internal spiritual gifts or we can do it on our own, with a dedicated self- paced program?
William Bezanson: Both, depending on one’s learning style. For myself, I have benefited greatly by belonging to one or more mystical organizations, as I mentioned earlier, for structured development mystically. For others, a guru or spiritual director may be appropriate. How wonderful it would be if we could catch the attention of young people and show them that such life choices are worth considering and appropriate. In either case, or with a blending of these methods, I think it important to have regular contact with like-minded people, for support, ideas, comparing notes, and so on.
OMTIMES: In your new Book, “I Believe”, you talk about the concept of God, and discuss and evaluate, in a broader way, the tenets of the Christian Faith. In your opinion, what is so different now, then when the credo first was spoken?
William Bezanson: My guess is that in the early years, people thought more critically about the Nicene Creed and other Christian tenets. In modern times, we have become jaded about the
Church, with rote, unthinking mouthing of the Creed and other prayers. Whether critical or not, the people in the early years and up until recently were captive to the Church hierarchy, and they knew that they must not express any doubts about what they were mouthing. In my own case, I felt growing discomfort with the Creed and prayers over the decades, and embarked on my own research into the Nicene Creed and eventually into a restatement of it into my own beliefs. I am fortunate, as we all are, to be living in a time in which we can openly criticize the Church’s teachings and written prayers.
OMTIMES: In your opinion, what are the major challenges needed for a better understanding of the Spirituality behind the religions, to avoid manifesting their Fundamentalist and radical aspects?
William Bezanson: Nepotism, Fundamentalism, Hypocrisy, and Getting people to use their Brains and to think. Well now, that’s a tall order to change such ingrained biases and habits. So, maybe I could answer with one concept that I have been preoccupied with for some years, which does address a key difference between spirituality and religion. That’s the concept of reincarnation. A few years ago I suddenly realized how very important it was for us to be aware of the seriousness and importance of reincarnation when deciding what to do today for planning for the future. I wrote about this in three of my books and in a couple of articles in OMTimes. You see, the reason that I want to take care of the world (which means earth plus spirit) is not just for our children and grandchildren, as is the usual reason that we naturally think of, but also, and perhaps even more importantly, because we will be back in future incarnations, and we will want the world to be in good shape for our next lives. That may sound selfish, but it’s actually the opposite, perhaps even altruistic. I have learned a lot about spirituality and spiritual laws, and I want to be able to share my learnings with others, not only for their benefit but also for the betterment of the world, in this life and in future lives.
