AKA…Do Not Believe Everything You Think, but feel free to apply it everywhere

Those individuals who know me as a teacher…regardless of whether it is as a teacher of mathematics, physics, or spirituality…understand that I operate on two key principles.  The first principle is that you must always challenge the thoughts and principles that dominate the field of that which is being taught.  Not surprisingly, those who come to me for spiritual instruction embrace this idea.  True spirituality seems to go hand in hand with questioning common beliefs and socio-cultural mores.  And depending on the level of physics, students are rather enthusiastic to endure this outlook.  I mean, can one truly accept Quantum theory if not willing to let go the strangle hold on Classic Mechanics?  Students of mathematics have a much harder time with challenging theories.  One clear reason for this is simply that theories a millennia old are pretty much a given in mathematics.  When asked to answer the question “Is 1 plus 1 always equal to 2,” I tend to get creative answers…but ultimately a willingness to let go of a given…1+1=2.  It will be debated whether expressing 1+1=10 in a binary system is equivalent to 1+1=2 in a decimal system, with the obvious “How can they be equivalent if 2 does not exist in one of the two systems?”   On occasion someone will introduce schrodinger's cat…which of course ties back to quantum mechanics.  Math students like to say X=1 or X<1 or X>1, not X=<>1 …which is schrodinger's simplified premise involving the fluffy feline in a box.  Ultimately students of mathematics return to a truth that 1 plus 1 will always equal 2, even if they have no idea how to prove it…merely because it is a fundamental given…disturbing it means disturbing every other fundamental that uses it as a building blocks.  Math students do not like to disturb things the way physics students and spiritual students do.     

So the point to this rambling is simply that as a teacher I require one to let go of preconceived notions.  It is my first principle of Math 101.  My second principle often is mistaken to be a contradiction to the First Principle of Math 101.  However, upon deeper examination it is understood to actually be a Corollary to the First Principle.  It is simply to never discard all that life has taught you, even when applied to a completely different field of study.  That is to say, if you have learned it, it cannot be wrong.  It can be misunderstood, it can be mistranslated, it can even be wrongly applied…but all things learned in life stand as a truth on some level.  The goal is to find the relationship between the learned truth and system being studied.  When one finds a successful mapping of truth in one system to another, the result is a cross-domain understanding that allows for a clearer understanding of How Things Work.  This understanding is not generated EVER from disregarding life experience for the sake of the Knowledgeable One standing at a lectern. 

The successful implementation of challenging what is generally accepted while holding on to all that is learned forms a teaching approach referred to as Critical Pedagogy.  For one who understands the soul to be a living consciousness, it is essential to welcome this approach.  Simply put, if there is a higher consciousness that is a Creator…some call it God, some call it Unity…it is all pervading and therefore all things must hold truth, if one is capable of understanding how it applies to this existence.

Well, I suppose that was a lot to bite off for a Wednesday.  My question for you is simply do you question all that you believe?   If you do not question it, how can you prove it true?  And do you believe it because it was told to you or because you have learned it and understand clearly how it applies to the world as you know it?