Podcast Transcript | Ep. 25

God & Religion

God & Religion | Ep. 25

[00:00:00]

[00:00:43] Hello and welcome everyone. To order within I'm your host Brandon Ward. Episode number 25. It's a very special

[00:00:55] The topic of this episode. Is going to be God and religion.

[00:01:00] Something that's very near and dear to my heart, but there's a lot of confusion around these topics. But before I dig into the episode here I'm venturing into new territory. My wife and I have made the decision that we're going to be. Doubling down on our content. I've put I've finished my last day.

[00:01:20] At Remotish on friday, September 30th. And we're in this new phase of exploring content resting. Recharging and taking care of our family. So I'm very much excited about what can come from this time. The goal is to really produce a lot of high quality content and get serious about building businesses that we align internally with that we aligned spiritually around.

[00:01:46] This is a, it's interesting that I didn't really do this on purpose, but I'd been planning that to do this episode for a while now. So to have. This episode, be episode number 25, which is a nice number there. A nice marker, and also to have it be about God and religion during this point of when Ashley and I have made this leap. It's very, it feels very synchronous.

[00:02:12] So with that being said, Let's get into the episode and today what we're going to be talking about. So God and religion, these two concepts are often connected together as one. But what I'm going to discuss in today's episode is the distinction between the two and the differences in them and why that matters.

[00:02:32] At a very high level. From my perspective, God is an internal component. We've been taught that it's an external component. Now. There absolutely is. Externality and external aspects of God, everything around us. His creation is the same energy of creation. And therefore is God from that perspective. But what we're discussing today is the idea of internal.

[00:02:55] That internal connection. To God versus religion, which is externally focused. Which is focused on the world, around us, the material world, the things that we do. Outside of ourselves. And how they correlate to religion. Faith. God. And so the distinction there is that. One is focused on the inside and the connection to existence and the other is really worldly based.

[00:03:24] And I think something that's happened so much is first and foremost, with religion and the focus on the world around us. I think most people feel comfortable. In this space, or some people feel comfortable with religion because it focuses on the world. It's things that we can rely on. It's organization that we can lean into it's books.

[00:03:50] Whether it's. The Qur'an, whether it's the Bible, Bhagavad Gita.

[00:03:57] Whatever book it may be.

[00:03:59] These books lead. Us, they help us to understand the world around And I understand the need for that, the desire to understand the world around us, to learn, to grow in wisdom. These are beautiful things. But religion has also been used as a tool for control abuse.

[00:04:18] And. Limiting us in our connection to our creator. And so with these books, with these rules, things like church, Prayers. Repetitive things that we do, we pray now, again, I'm not against religions, I'm not against these books. I'm not against learning from them. I've learned some things from these books, these practices, I pray a lot.

[00:04:47] So I'm not against those things, but the difference is when these traditions, these repetitive acts, these external activities replace the internal work.

[00:04:56] And replaces that internal connection that we have to our creator. We experience massive problems and people correlating religion with God is a fatal mistake. I see it happening all the time. And so a lot of people have had terrible experiences with organized religion, with churches, with abuse, with fear-mongering.

[00:05:19] There's a lot of ideas that exist within organized religion. That has caused a lot of pain for many people. And I hate that. It's tough. Seeing so many suffering. Because of humans and their organization around God. And that to me is what religion is. It's a human. Structure that we've created to try and explain and understand and comprehend our place in the universe. That's a beautiful mission, but it's gone way off course.

[00:05:52] And we're experiencing that in so many ways. Many people have learned that you can use religion and these things as a means to gain power and control over others. It's a way to manipulate people with fear and the promise of future riches that may be. And they're inherent. These examples are inherent in all the world's religions. It's not that. There isn't truth in these books and that in these practices and that church can't be fulfilling and rewarding and having a community and having traditions. And prayers. And processes things that we do on a regular basis. That's totally fine. But it's when we do those things in to replace the inner work is where we get ourselves in trouble.

[00:06:42] And that to me is what religion has done so much of it's replaced the need for inner work. With these concepts of the external activity that we do allows us to gain the thing that we desire. Most people who pursue these things are doing it only because they believe it will give them what they want.

[00:07:06] Later in the afterlife in particular. So really in a lot of ways, it's no different than what many people do in the business world, in the growth space, in the startup world, they're all going all in trying to get a big payout. They want to take their companies public. They want to become a unicorn.

[00:07:26] Everybody's trying to make the big win. Get the big payout. That's what so many people are doing. And a lot of ways, religion is very similar to that. It says, do these things and you will get X follow me. And I will give you this. Give me money here and I will promise you the afterlife. Do this, and you will have 46 virgins in your afterlife whatever it is, there's all these different ideologies that promise things.

[00:07:55] Based on us doing something. And that's the fallacy. That's what I've come to learn is the. Deception. And the correlation between religion, external forces and factors that were created by humans. And the correlation between God, our internal connection that exists within each of us and cannot be severed unless we severed ourselves.

[00:08:20] Those are two very different things. And many people are closing themselves off from their relationship with our creator because of what religion has taught them or because of their experiences with religion. And the fear and force that has come from. Those entities.

[00:08:39] I see them in many ways as barriers to God, barriers to our creator. And they have become that. There's a lot of phony people in our world seeking power and resources and misleading people.

[00:08:54] They're deceptive. They're only seeking interest for themselves and they are willing to do and say whatever it takes to gain those things. Religion is no different. And I think many people have experienced And when you look at the travesties of abuse, In the Catholic church in many churches throughout the world.

[00:09:18] It's people abusing their positions of authority. In manipulation of information. So they're leveraging, I am the gatekeeper to what you want, and therefore you must do this for me, so you can have what you want. And almost always what you're being asked to give up is your dignity, your sink, your sanctity, your sovereignty, and your soul in so many ways to give them some sort of physical need.

[00:09:47] That they want from you. It's a very sinister thing that exists a lot. I also understand that this could upset a lot of people. Again, I'm not saying that if you go to church, Or if you read these Bibles or these books that you're doing, you're contributing There are a lot of well-meaning good-hearted people who go to church and read these books and learn from them and live good lives and live through their actions.

[00:10:18] They are the example. That's how it's done though. It's done through our being the way that we live every day, our existence. The micro actions that we take each day are what define the type of person we are. Not these. Routine things that we do socially. Acceptable.

[00:10:37] So getting to understanding that the distinction there religion is really focused on the world. It's a human structure that was created. And in these books, all people are describing their experiences and perspectives on creation on God, whatever that may be. But they're humans at the end of the day.

[00:10:56] So understanding that we have to take it all with a grain of salt. Humans wrote these things created, these things shared these ideas. It doesn't mean there's not wisdom in them. But it doesn't mean that they're infallible. It doesn't mean that there's not nuance in there. That's not true today.

[00:11:16] But it also doesn't mean that we have to throw out all of our wisdom in these traditions either. It's about the balanced path, the middle path, that paths that says this is okay, and this is okay. I'm going to throw the rest out. I will be in the middle. I will lead an authentic live. I will find things that work for me. I will go to church if it resonates for me, or I will not.

[00:11:39] It's up to each of us, what matters is how we live day to day, how we treat one another. The cleanliness of our thoughts, our mind, our internal state that is not unseen in the universe. We may think it is, but it is not. So how we are inside. Is how the world the eternal existence sees us. So we can't hide from existence as much as we like to think that we can, which is what comes into God being within us. It's an internal component.

[00:12:10] But what does that even mean? God is within us.

[00:12:13] For me, it's come to I've come to realize that. There is a fraction, a literal fraction of God that lives within each of us. A seed of existence that all of us have. This is how we have not been left alone. This is how, no matter where we go throughout the infinite cosmos, we are connected to creation and existence because God is within us.

[00:12:36] God is our companion in life. God is our creator. Our maker, our bringer of goodness and lessons. He, she is with us at all times, waiting for us to turn. To her. Him, whatever you want to call But God is both female. And male. Energies masculine and feminine. It's the entirety of existence. It's the idea of omnipotence.

[00:13:06] The totality of existence. Living within our creator. So that for us. Is. Our source. And that's how it begins within us with a seed. We nurture this relationship, this companionship. That's something that I didn't realize young. I didn't understand that this is how it worked. I never understood what God is within us. What does that even mean?

[00:13:35] The same thing with the kingdom of heaven is within us. As the same concept. What does that mean? The kingdom of heaven is within us. I thought heaven was after life. Outside of us now. There's some truth From what I understand there absolutely is physical paradises and heaven, as we would describe them in the infinite universe. But what we don't understand is that our limited perception of existence is extremely limited.

[00:14:10] Therefore we do not know about so much. The organization and structure of creation. So denying that there could be things of this nature is honestly a fool's errand. How can we deny that when we can't prove or disprove something?

[00:14:26] So understanding that there are potential worlds that exist of this nature, but the idea of the kingdom of heaven being within us is that God is with us today. That there is a richness of our being that we have been given. A seed of existence, and Eternity that is waiting for us to. Cultivate. And grow.

[00:14:49] The kingdom of heaven within us is our being of existence. The expansive being that we are the Eternal being that We have that within ourselves at all times. Therefore we can connect and access the kingdom today. But we have to unpack all the pain, all the trauma. All the heaviness that we've layered on top of the treasure within us, it's like a diamond buried in all the cold, deep within the earth. That is our soul. That is the treasure of ourself. That is a waiting to be discovered.

[00:15:30] That is the concept of God being within us. God is literally with And God has given us the seed of our soul. That is eternal. And that we have a choice to connect with. None of this is required. All of it is choice. That's what makes it so powerful.

[00:15:48] Is, we are free to choose the path we take.

[00:15:51] So we find God through ourselves through this personal connection from within, because God is connected to each of us and all of us. And how we connect with him is from within ourselves.

[00:16:05] It's a very personal connection that we have. It's something that we all cultivate. That's why the idea of religion and church and the Bible and these books have never resonated with me because I've always instinctually known. God is here already, but I couldn't understand how or why or where. And it wasn't until I began to learn and read and meditate and pray and think, and write that clarity became began to come.

[00:16:37] And I'm realizing that small still voice within is that wisdom of our creator that lives within each of us. All of us have this voice. It's just whether we're willing to listen and tune in and take action. But it's a whisper and it will always be a whisper. Because that's the choice. There will never be forced. If we are forced to do this, there's no value.

[00:17:03] That's why to me.

[00:17:05] Destiny is something that we create, but I'm going to talk about that in a bit here. So God is within us. It's a personal connection that we all carry within We don't have to accept this. We don't have to agree with it. We don't have to acknowledge We can turn away for all of our existence. That's completely within our reason to do so, but we're turning away eternity. We are turning away all that is promised to us by making that choice.

[00:17:32] And that's what I want to clarify. Is the power that we hold. The force that we carry within ourselves. And how within us is this infinite treasure waiting to be discovered. The world of ourselves is connected to eternity, to creation. So going within and exploring, it allows us to go on an epic journey, unlike any other.

[00:17:58] It instills and informs all that we do when we make this journey. When we make this choice.

[00:18:04] It's the power that we all hold. And is ours. If we claim

[00:18:10] But the problem is overlapping. The two God and religion, religion has ruined God for many, many people. Many atheists are nonbelievers because of the church and the things that they experienced in church growing up. Or a strict family with the beliefs that they had, they were constantly being inhibited on who they were based on these structures that were remind you created by humans.

[00:18:40] And mostly men.

[00:18:41] So we're living we're allowing men. To dictate the way we live today. Based on something that's written in a book now. That's totally fine. We learn from people all the time. I've learned from many people in my life. Reading and using books. But if we do it blindly. We're in a dangerous place and many have followed religion.

[00:19:08] And these organized ways of thinking blindly and it's created massive problems. And that's also what happens is blind. Faith is very dangerous.

[00:19:17] be cause that blind faith turns people away when they're manipulated or taken advantage of. And many people know that in those positions of power. And churches in pastoral positions. They leverage that position of power. And they weaponize our spiritual heritage. Now, I don't know if people are doing this intentionally or not. I do believe that some are, I think a lot of this is probably done unconsciously.

[00:19:44] I think most people believe what they're selling to the world. They believe what they're telling everyone. But. It still becomes a weaponization of our spiritual heritage. And that happens a lot. It's. Taking what we yearn for, which is our spiritual truth. Our. The cosmic journey that we are on the story of our beginnings.

[00:20:10] It's the roots that we seek to our existence. The why behind we're here?

[00:20:15] The why behind why we're People yearn for this, they yearn for meaning and fulfillment. So knowing that it can be easily manipulated. By those who are in positions of power. The seeker can be misled. Very easily.

[00:20:34] When. They are following. Their desire to connect with their spiritual heritage, but unsure of how to do that. And that's where religion and these positions of power. Can take advantage of us. When we're seeking in that sense and that's happened a lot and it's ruined the connection. People have with God.

[00:20:57] Now this doesn't mean again, as I said at the beginning of the show, this doesn't mean that religion is inherently bad, that these books are bad. But we need to take them with a grain of salt. We need to be skeptical of everything we're engaging with. And we have to understand that humans are not perfect and we have.

[00:21:13] Fallacies and mistakes and all these things that we do. So understanding that can help us. Not get lost and pulled into the deception. But understanding that nothing is perfect either, right? This is it. Religion is just a manmade institution trying to make sense of our spiritual position in the world.

[00:21:33] That's a beautiful thing. But we're not doing a very good job of it anymore. Many of the world's religions have completely lost their way. And have fallen prey to this very materialistic. Social status, power driven way of operating. And these organizations are just another hierarchy that people seek to climb.

[00:21:55] So knowing that religion is not inherently bad and that these things are not bad per se, they can be manipulated in that sense. Where do we go from here? What's next? How do we get out of this mess? Well, for me, it's nurturing ourselves to cultivate a love within understanding that ourselves are our deep self within our true, authentic selves is a literal seed of eternal existence.

[00:22:25] It's how God created us and what we are. That's a gift. It's our eternal gift that God has given So cultivating and nurturing that love of ourselves, that deep inner self, not the social self that I've talked about. So many times on this show. But the self that we don't show to the world, the self that lives within us, that is our unique created being that we have been

[00:22:52] It's our role to cultivate and nurture that relationship. And through nurturing that relationship from within. With ourselves. We can begin to connect with our creator. We can begin to connect with God. Because we begin to see. The magnificence and beauty and glory, that is the self. Because we are created in the image of our maker.

[00:23:18] How can we not be magnificent then?

[00:23:20] But this isn't that phony narcissistic ego-driven. Bullshit.

[00:23:26] It's authentic. Genuine. Self-expression not the fake proving others. Fake it till you make it nonsense. When we genuinely love ourselves and feel that connection within it naturally emanates from us. But we have to heal to get to that point. We have to uncover a lot of this darkness that lives within us. A lot of the pain that we've been carrying.

[00:23:50] Because our deepest roots are connected to eternity in our existence. In life in creation. But we hinder that connection with our heaviness, with our pain. The stories that we've told, been told, the stories that we've experienced life on earth is heavy and burdensome. And those burdens can block that connection. So it's our responsibility to understand our relationship, to find that pain, to find those stories within us.

[00:24:19] And to cultivate. A wider understanding to learn from those stories and realize that maybe that's not true anymore. Maybe what was true when I was a child is no longer true as an adult. Maybe what my parents told me. Wasn't correct. Maybe what my teacher told me in school. Isn't And understanding where these stories are hindering our existence and help uncovering what that is. And then begin loving and nurturing ourselves, accepting who we are, embracing who we are with the understanding that that self, that soul is the seed that was given to us by our creator. And it's there to be cultivated.

[00:24:57] And. And brought into the world.

[00:25:00] This isn't about control. So I've had a lot of experience when I was early in my journey of faith in God. I mean, I still had these moments where I was afraid that I was giving up control of my life.

[00:25:11] And it's a very scary idea to, to think about aligning with God or aligning with creation within us and connecting with God within ourselves. Oh my gosh. How can I do this? This is crazy. I don't do a lot of things right. I'm making mistakes all over the place.

[00:25:25] But that's exactly it. That's how much we are loved. It's endless. God knows this and we are still loved. That's the powerful thing. There is nothing we can do. To not have that love. The only thing that ends that love is when we choose as souls to sever that tie completely. And to no longer exist in the Eternal landscape.

[00:25:49] Surrendering to that creation within us is not about sacrificing ourselves our lives, our desires, our yearnings. What I've come to realize is that what I once thought was me having to surrender my life to something bigger than myself. Was actually empowering the vision that I already had. The vision, the desires, the yearning that I felt in my soul was actually what God was calling me forward to do the work that I'm in the world to do.

[00:26:19] It's not surrendering those things or sacrificing those things. That's actually my highest path. And so it was the change of perspective and realizing that I'm not giving up control of my life. I'm actually gaining it back. I'm reclaiming my life, my story, my vision. And I'm being given the keys to that kingdom, the power to do it.

[00:26:40] And the ability to execute on who I am as

[00:26:43] I'm not surrendering my life. I am in the sense of I'm letting go of control. And figuring everything out and having to have all the answers. That's what I let go of. That's what I surrendered. I surrendered to God's wisdom. And love. Knowing that he would lead me to the, my highest possible path, the best possible life I could possibly live. And that's exactly what's happened. That's what I didn't realize early on in my journey is that surrendering isn't about sacrificing our life and living something that's not true to who we are.

[00:27:17] In fact, it's the opposite of that. It's about cultivating all that we are and living our most authentic life because the thing that drives you from within. Is that seed of existence. That connection to creation that is God prompting you to take action in your life.

[00:27:32] Our highest vision comes from within. And that was what I was terrified of was surrendering myself, letting go of this authentic self and giving up control, sacrificing myself for something that didn't feel true to me. I was wrong. And that was the fear that I felt I've learned since that it's the opposite. And you can find that too. That's the power of it.

[00:27:54] So nurturing ourselves, cultivating that relationship within allows us to, to connect and reconnect with our eternal self, to connect with God that lives within our creator. That spark of creation that literally lives in each of us. If you can envision. That our creator, when we were made, there was a seed planted in every one of us. That was a thread that always connected us to our maker that never left us a stray in life. And that was always your lifeline whenever you need it.

[00:28:24] Would you surrender that?

[00:28:26] I sure as hell won't.

[00:28:27] But that's the point. That's what we have. That's what we've been given.

[00:28:32] We are never alone in this world. We are not abandoned.

[00:28:36] We are not being punished. For something that we've done or someone else has done. Humans are not an outcast.

[00:28:44] We are made in the image of our creator. And we have the most epic human potential and destiny. It belongs to all of us. This is our destiny. If we so choose it.

[00:28:56] It's a choice. It's not set in stone. Destiny is not set in stone. It's something we make. Through our lives, through our actions, through our beliefs, through our commitments. That's the difference. Destiny is our highest possible life. It's what can be. It's what awaits us. If we align within and take action to bring that vision to life. That's the key.

[00:29:24] Our epic future begins today through our life, through living. These moments.

[00:29:30] Heaven is here. Inside of us, it can exist in this world. Through our true expression, through our connection of existence, through our connection to God, it is not outside of ourselves. It is not something that someone else gives you. And if anyone tries to stand in your way, To your connection to your maker.

[00:29:55] You call them out and you run in that opposite direction as fast as you can. No one stops you and can stop you from this connection from cultivating this power that lives within you. No Anyone that says otherwise is deceiving you and wanting something from you.

[00:30:13] Heaven is here today. Y'all.

[00:30:15] Okay. Oh, man, that feels good. I'm not hiding anymore. For the longest time I was hiding, I was hiding my faith. My love for creation, our creator ashamed that I would be deemed silly, childish, immature, any of those things, but I've come to realize I don't care anymore.

[00:30:35] Because the world from my perspective is a mess. So why would I care about what anyone thinks regarding that position? I'm far happier now than I ever have been. Because of this connection and relationship that I've cultivated within myself. I'm not bragging. I'm telling you this because I want you to have the same thing.

[00:30:56] And it's real. It's life-changing. There's nothing. There's nothing better. Then the experience of being in yourself, connected to creation. Moving in the world in an authentic way. There's no greater feeling.

[00:31:13] Because you bring it with you wherever you are in all things. So it layers in to everything that you do when we make this connection. That's the power of

[00:31:23] It's an incredible thing. And I want you to have it too. That's really why I'm doing this because it's yours. It's your birthright. It's there. It awaits you and the world has done everything that it possibly can to try and keep you from it. And I refuse to go down silently.

[00:31:41] So I hope you found value in this episode. I'm curious what you may think about these concepts. Some of the things that I'm going to begin doing more of is activating conversations in the community so that we can discuss these things because it matters. It matters, the stories and experiences that we all have as humans.

[00:31:59] So I hope you're finding value in it. If you do, please share like all those things, but I'm going to go and wrap the episode. I'm not sure what next week's episode is going to be about, but now that I've got a lot more time, I've been getting more organized. I'm getting more intentional about it. I've been planning a lot of episodes out, but I've got a few that I'm considering.

[00:32:16] But you will see soon what that episode will entail. So until next time y'all.

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