{"id":21170,"date":"2025-03-21T11:02:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-21T11:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/?p=21170"},"modified":"2025-08-12T04:23:03","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T04:23:03","slug":"open-religion-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aurelis.org\/blog\/open-religion\/open-religion-depth","title":{"rendered":"Open Religion & Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many, religion is about following rules, belonging to a group, or accepting a doctrine. But what if religion is not meant to be a wall that separates but a door that invites? Not a final answer, but an ever-unfolding horizon?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is what is meant by Open Religion. It is not about rejecting religion but allowing it to breathe \u2014 to deepen beyond fixed beliefs and into something alive, warm, and ever-expanding.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And for that, we must talk about depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four levels of depth in religion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Religion is not a single thing. It exists at different levels of depth. One does not simply believe or disbelieve; one can go deeper. These four levels of depth<\/a> help us understand how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Conceptual belief<\/strong> \u2013 Religion as rules, identity, and obedience. No direct experience.<\/li>
  2. More refined belief<\/strong> \u2013 More intellectual, more nuanced, but still a mental framework without personal religious experience.<\/li>
  3. Mystical experience<\/strong> \u2013 Religion becomes personal. One feels God, has visions, enters ecstasy. But the seeker remains.<\/li>
  4. Deepest mysticism<\/strong> \u2013 The self disappears. No longer an experience one has but a depth one is<\/em>.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    At level four, the walls dissolve. The question is no longer, \u201cWhat do I believe?\u201d<\/em> but, \u201cWhat am I?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The tension between levels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Religious depth is not always welcome. The deeper one goes, the more one threatens those who prefer fixed structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Mystics throughout history were persecuted not because they denied religion but because they experienced it too deeply. Their crime? Seeing through the system rather than merely following it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take Meister Eckhart<\/em>, who spoke of \u201cthe God beyond God,\u201d dissolving even the idea of a separate divinity. Or Rumi<\/em>, whose poetry moves between levels three and four, dancing between longing and presence. Those at level one or two often see these mystics as dangerous. Why? Because their very existence suggests that truth is not a fixed doctrine but an unfolding depth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The \u2018Openness\u2019 in Open Religion is not a choice \u2014 it\u2019s the reality of depth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Many people may see Open Religion as just one perspective among many, as if it\u2019s a conscious decision to be more inclusive or flexible. But true Openness is not a choice. It is what happens when depth is truly entered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    At level one or two, religion appears as a set of beliefs to hold onto, rules to follow, or truths to defend. But as one deepens into level three \u2013 where religious experience becomes personal and alive \u2013 the rigidity begins to soften. At level four, Openness is no longer something one tries to cultivate; it is simply how things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Depth dissolves rigidity. The deeper you go, the more openness happens naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Would a mystic at level four ever say, \u201cMy truth is the only truth\u201d? No. That is the language of levels one and two. At true depth, there is no need for defense \u2014 only presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Three pathways toward deeper religious experience<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Religious depth doesn\u2019t arrive by force. It can only be invited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Three interwoven pathways \u2013 autosuggestion, symbolic understanding, and deep meditation \u2013 allow religion to unfold naturally into something beyond rigid belief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A. Autosuggestion: a gentle invitation to depth<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Faith is not something to be commanded. It is something that grows organically from within. This is where Compassionate Affirmations<\/a> (CA) come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Instead of rigid statements like, \u201cI have faith\u201d<\/em> (a statement, still conceptual, asserting belief); we move toward something more alive:<\/p>\n\n\n\n