Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677)
Spinoza spent his life studying sacred books and philosophy. One day, he wrote:
“I don’t know if God really spoke, but if He did, here is what I believe He would say to believers:
Stop praying and beating your chests!
What I want you to do is go out into the world and enjoy life.
I want you to have fun, to sing, to learn… to enjoy everything I’ve made for you.
Stop going to those cold temples you built yourselves and call my house!
My home is in the mountains, in the forests, in the rivers, in the lakes.
It is there that I live with you and express my love for you.
Stop blaming me for your miserable lives. I never said there was anything wrong with you, that you were sinners, that your sexuality or your joy were evil!
So don’t blame me for all the things you were told to believe.
Stop focusing on things that have nothing to do with me.
If you cannot read me at sunrise, in a landscape, in the eyes of your friend, your wife, your husband, or your child… you will not find me in a book!
Stop being afraid.
I do not judge you, I do not criticize you, I do not punish you.
I am pure love… I filled you with passions, limitations, pleasures, feelings, needs, contradictions… and I gave you free will.
How could I punish you for being who you are, if I was the one who created you?
Do you really think I could create a place to burn all my misbehaving children for eternity?
What kind of God could do that?
Respect your fellow beings and do not do to them what you would not want done to you.
All I ask is that you take care of your life, let your free will be your guide.
You and nature are one entity… so don’t think you have power over it.
You are part of it.
Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Don’t use your genius to find what harms that balance.
It is up to you to keep that balance intact.
Nature knows how to maintain it very well—just don’t disturb it!
I made you absolutely free.
You are absolutely free to create heaven or hell in your own life.
I cannot tell you whether there is something after this life, but I can give you a piece of advice:
Stop believing in me.
I don’t want you to believe in me—I want you to feel me within you.
When you tend your sheep, when you hold your girl close, when you stroke your dog, when you bathe in the river…
Express your joy and learn to take only what you need!
The only thing certain is that you are here, you are alive, and this world is full of wonders…
Don’t look for me out there,
You won’t find me…
I am here—Nature,
The cosmos… that’s me.”