Visionary Heart Alchemy

Part 1- the Problems of Dogma

Dogma, as I mean it in this context, refers to fixation on a relative truth as Absolute Truth or fixation that leads to attempting to apply a relative truth to a context in which it does not function. There is a strong tendency in humans towards this dogmatic fixation and this leads to a whole host of problems and confusions. Even an intellectual understanding of the Principle of Two Truths can help to dissolve these fixations and serve as an antidote to the problems that result. It because of this important capacity of the Principle of the Two Truths that I have dedicated so many of these early posts to the Global Alchemy Blog Matrix to it. It can help prevent what can become serious errors in understanding.

Before examining some the problems and confusion that result from dogmatic fixation that occurs from failure to understand and apply the principle of Two Truths, I want to point out that people dogmatize in all arenas of relative truth. It is as prevalent in scientific thinking as it is in religious and spiritual thinking.

The first problem with dogmatic fixation is it engenders closed mindedness and inflexibility of thinking. This in turn inhibits perception, learning and creativity. Once a relative truth is taken as Absolute Truth it can’t be revised in any way because, quite correctly, Absolute Truth can’t be revised. (The words used to describe or indicate Absolute Truth and ones understanding of it, can be revised because they are relative truth…unless, of course you dogmatize them). Once a truth can’t be revised, thinking about it ceases, perception of anything to the contrary gets ignored, nothing more can be learned in that regard and creativity becomes blocked. In short dogmatic fixation prevents any growth in understanding.

Dogmatic fixation also inhibits personal growth because you are part of the context that make a relative truth true and if you can’t revise a relative truth you will resist changing into a context that makes it untrue.

Dogmatic fixation breeds intolerance. When relative truths are elevated to Absolute Truth they become sources of contention. There is no way to contend over actual Absolute Truth because there is nothing to fixate upon. It is entirely possible, on the other hand, to fixate on ideas about, and designations of, Absolute Truth. However it is not just relative truths about Absolute Truth that become sources of contention. The root of this tendency to dogmatically fixate relative truths is the need to concretize identity. Our ideas, concepts and beliefs are part of the building blocks we use to create our sense of identity. The more insecure we feel about out identity the more we need to concretize or “fix” (in the sense to make unmoving) it. The more concretized and fixed our identity is the more readily it feels threatened and insecure. Since the relative truths from all our conceptual arena are among the building blocks used to create our sense of identity, the need to concretize our identities leads to concretizing the relative truths we utilize.

Dogmatic fixation is also a pervasive source of confusion. Concretizing relative truths into dogma creates “either/or” situations where they don’t otherwise exist. It leads to ‘it must be either this or that” when in fact it can be either, both and neither at the same time.

Dogmatic fixation also leads to confusion by causing misapplication of relative truths. If you place cheese in a maze but change the location each time, rats will learn that there is always cheese and look until they find it. If you then always put it at the same place, eventually rats will learn to always go directly there when placed in the maze. If the cheese is then moved, the rats will try three or four times to find the cheese in that spot. After that they will look elsewhere again. Dogmatic fixation is continuing to go to the same spot for the cheese expecting it to be there no matter how many times it hasn’t been there.

I will explore in the next post how the Principle of the Two Truths serves as an antidote to dogmatic fixation

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