Alexander Liss
In monotheism, when one deals with
Infinity, a concept of Reward has a limited meaning.
One
(an individual or a society) should not expect a Reward from the Supreme Being.
One should not expect a tilt in one's chances to satisfy one's wishes based on
actions directed at the Supreme Being.
One
cannot do anything that obliges the Supreme Being to Reward one's actions in
any way.
An expression that the "reward is in
coming world" does not mean anything unfolding in time. It gives a hint:
It is possible to change the world for better with own actions and this changed
new world is a Reward on its own. These changing world actions are a form of
cleanup (individual and social) from stupidity, and this cleanup is done with
relatively simple activities.
An expression that the "reward comes
after one's life" either has a similar meaning, or it is an article of
faith, which by design contradicts one's experiences, carries an internal
contradiction and no logical conclusion could be made from it.
The desire to be "closer to the
Supreme Being" through own actions should be understood only as getting
rid of own rigid ideas. It should not be understood as making Infinity a part
of oneself. The idea of the soul does not justify in any way the perception of
oneself possessing anything Infinite.
Protecting oneself from falling into
mistakes of these types helps combating deficiencies of human nature.
This limited meaning of the concept of
Reward is reflected in concepts of Sacrifice and Prayer.
There
are two types of a Sacrifice (or a Prayer, which is used instead a Sacrifice).
One is praising the Supreme Being. Another is a final step of cleansing
procedure.
Praising is used every time one is ready to
fall in some form of stupidity: overestimation of own achievements and own
place in world, anxiety, excessive attachment to daily activities, etc. It
works well, because it brings in focus a comparison with Infinity, which no
rigid idea could survive.
After one fell into stupidity and realized
this, one makes steps to return to original flexibility and creates safeguards
against this particular form of stupidity. Creation of safeguards is difficult
- the stupidity is reinforced already in one's mind with feelings, memories of
enjoyment etc. A strong producing catharsis action is needed to remove these
reinforcements. The goal is actual destruction of some rigid structures of the
mind. In addition, often, the removal should be not limited to an individual
side of a person but should be done in a social side also. This is done with a
Sacrifice, which is public and requires substantial efforts of one who
commissions or performs it (expensive relatively to ones abilities, hard to
make, etc.).
A Prayer works in a similar way.
Any Prayer aiming to tilt the chance to
one's benefit (beyond a benefit of being free from stupidity) is a mistake. In
such an attempt, one wants to control the Supreme Being, at least to some
degree.
The
mistake is especially bad, because the society easily creates stable structures
around it, which lead only to detachment from reality.
Examples in monotheistic texts, which
seemingly contradict this assertion, do not teach how to ask for something, and
they do not inspire imitation.
In some cases, there are developments
through a mistake to a mistake, which actually lead to eventual deeper
understanding and elimination of own stupidity.
For example, for a person, who thinks that
everything in person's hands, the very action of turning to the Supreme Being
for help, is an admission of own misunderstanding and a symptom of a desire to
get rid of it. While such Prayer is a mistake, it is a triumph over own
stupidity. Such step could lead to eventual cleanup from stupidity;
unfortunately, usually, it ends there, and the person sticks to a delusional
idea of acquiring some powerful tools of getting what the person wants through
the Prayer.
Another example comes with an attempt to
identify one's self with the one's Infinite soul. Such an attempt is useful in
the work of destruction of own rigid illusions. Unfortunately, such attempt
often leaves a residual illusion that one's mind is Infinite, at least in some
respect.
It is possible, that some could be guided
in this way from a mistake to a mistake until the removal of stupidity, but
this is a dangerous way, and it requires a dedication to go until the end of it
and a good guide.
Often, a person approaches a form of
monotheism with delusional goals. Sometimes it is done to gain better control
(either by gaining a rigid and well-defined decision-making system or by
gaining additional tools of own control of situation according to own goals via
"manipulation" of the Supreme Being). Fortunately, many forms of
monotheism have built-in safeguards, which help persons with delusions to
revise own views of the world, and find in monotheism something they were not
looking for. Eventually, they understand that monotheism makes person's views
broader and decision-making more complex and it does
not leave room for a negotiation with the Supreme Being.
Jewish Culture is based on monotheism.
In
an ancient form of the Jewish Culture, Sacrifices were strictly defined and
were made only by a special group that no one could use a Sacrifice for
creation of delusions. Jewish chronicles reported with sadness cases, when
people did not follow rigid rules of Sacrifice, because any such violation
opened a possibility for a stable delusion.
In
a current form of the Jewish Culture, Prayers are standard. Individual
self-made Prayers could easily lead to attempts to negotiate with Infinity for
person's gains according to current person's desires, which is a delusion.