Copyright 1994 Lee Herald

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Published in New Thought magazine, Autumn 1994

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SURELY THERE IS GRANDEUR IN KNOWING THAT IN THE REALM OF THOUGHT, AT LEAST, YOU ARE WITHOUT CHAIN;
THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPLORE ALL HEIGHTS AND ALL DEPTHS;
THAT THERE ARE NO WALLS NOR FENCES, NOR PROHIBITED PLACES, NOR SACRED CORNERS IN ALL THE VAST EXPANSE OF THOUGHT; THAT YOUR INTELLECT OWES NO ALLEGIANCE TO ANY BEING, HUMAN OR DIVINE.
SURELY IT IS WORTH SOMETHING TO FEEL THAT THERE ARE NO PRIESTS, NO POPES, NO PARTIES, NO GOVERNMENTS, NO KINGS, NO GODS, TO WHOM YOUR INTELLECT CAN BE COMPELLED TO PAY A RELUCTANT HOMAGE. --ROBERT G. INGERSOLL, THE GREAT QUOTATIONS, Compiled by George Seldes, Published by POCKET BOOKS, New York, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.


AN OPEN MIND

One of the greatest riches of life is an open mind in all discussion. Like a golden magnet gleaming in the sun this priceless mental attitude continually attracts knowledge and wisdom.
“The free man is he who does not fear to go to the end of his thought,” said Leon Blum.
Yet, due to the mind-blinding influence of tradition, free thought is an attribute that most people never possess.

The liberated thinker and the hidebound traditionalist were both provided with a virgin mind, but that beginning was their only similarity.
The eclectic thinker knows no intellectual boundaries, but the myopic conventionalist is limited by his dogmatic beliefs.
Early on the highway of life they came to evolution’s fork in the road. One went down a wide freeway that led to mental lethargy, and the other took a narrow pathway that led to invaluable knowledge.

THE DOGMATIST

Unrelenting stubbornness is the calcifying characteristic of the dogmatist. This preachy puritan can’t bear to consider anything contrary to his entrenched creeds from the cradle.
He is a direct descendant of the Christian witch-hunters of the seventeenth century who put their neighbors to death at the burning stake.
Why did they commit murder in the name of God? Because someone dared to differ; because someone dared to think new ideas.

Book-burners and people-burners are one and the same, but in a civilized society they can only burn books.
Moved to hysterics upon hearing a differing viewpoint, they flee from the circle of illumination and hide in the shadows of superstition.
Then, like the proverbial ostrich, they stick their heads in the sand and ignore any opinions that differ from their own.

The narrow-minded fundamentalist is easily identified, for he refuses to read anything not approved by his intellectually inhibiting institution, nor will he tolerate free speech within its walls.
An ever-obedient sheep, he is so steeped in his emotion-encrusted doctrines that he never considers the possibility that he might be wrong.
However, the shifting sands of his foundation are swiftly revealed when he loses his cool at the slightest questioning of his Babylonian beliefs.
Whenever challenged by someone who might upset his applecart, his crafty dodge rarely changes—“I don’t want to argue.”

This proud believer doesn’t realize that his philosophical persuasions are the product of his environment, his personal circumstances.
He doesn’t realize that his parents and his cultural surroundings influenced his “choice” of religion.
He never perceives that his religious tenets are but hasty assumptions, second-hand biases, derived from a geographical accident of birth.
He never understands that if he had been born in India he would most likely be a Hindu.
He never discovers that it is his learned deceptions that forever prevent him from having an original thought.

CITIZEN OF THE UNIVERSE

In stark contrast to the simplistic sectarian, calmness of spirit and patient grace are the refreshing marks of the citizen of the universe.
A man for all seasons, he has learned to control his emotions in a debate.
The only lesson needed to gain this control was to be willing to change.

He will listen to any mind-boggling proposal, even if it conflicts with his present opinions.
He will ponder any proposition, though not necessarily subscribe to it.
He does not first consider how a new theory would affect his life, a fact that might color his thinking.
He uses the scientific approach to truth. He determines the probability of a concept being true and then ponders its effects on his life.

Standing atop a lofty plateau this unique pioneer surveys the world with panoramic vision.
He is a rarity—a spearhead of evolution—and because of this, the unchanging majority often brands him weird.

Unlike his tunnel-visioned contemporary the book lover knows that change is the only constant, the single eternal event.
Upon hearing a radical hypothesis his unfettered mind coolly stills itself instead of scampering to darkness.
A truly free man, he gladly welcomes anyone presenting a dissenting viewpoint.
He will not always agree, but he will listen. He may not accept, but he will consider. He will not change completely, but he will grow somewhat.

Such a person has severed his ties to all of the embalmed establishments that fearfully forbid open discussion. Since he is ever prepared to change his mind he fields dozens of questions about his philosophy.
He is willing to examine every new theory, and he will cast aside beliefs of a lifetime when found in error.
Having no dogma to defend, he does not worry about saving face.

This exceptional explorer understands that error is error regardless of how charming the elder is who teaches it.
He understands that the veracity of a statement has nothing to do with the character of the speaker.
He knows that two plus two is four, computed by Hitler or Gandhi.

A freethinker, he is spiritually related to all of the sages of the past and, like a swelling sponge, he eagerly absorbs knowledge at every opportunity.
Keenly aware of the “use or lose” principle, he continues to exercise his emancipated imagination throughout his lifetime.

The citizen of the universe has spent much of his life in daily contemplation while developing the courage to break away from erroneous convention.
Now he has a reward for this mental discipline, a compensation for his hours of serious study in solitude.
Now his logic and intuition are so sharp that he can recognize fallacy even if from the lips of an eminent scholar.

He will not always know what is true, but more importantly—he will know what is false.
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