There is no doubt: while religions have served a few, they have also left many unattended. Upon seeing the pentagram I wear, I am often asked about what I believe in. In this article, I know that I will not be able to explain it in details, but I will endeavour to satisfy the most curious of minds.

I call it Allpatheism. To put in in simple terms, I believe that all paths and all religions have some truth and some purpose: I am an Allpatheist. I believe that religion was made for the service of people and not vice versa. Here are some of the main things that I believe in:

1- There is only one God: everything…including you.

Almost all religions define God as this all-powerful and omniscient entity ruling the universe. Truly understanding and embracing this concept allows us to see God, this creative force, in eveything. God is that which is within and that which is without. If we look out towards the ends of the universe, we will see God; and if we look into the depths of the smallest particle in the universe, we will also see God. But which God is God? That is not a question we ask anymore, for God is all with the inclusion of none.

2- Challenge yourself and your beliefs.

The spiritual and the natural worlds are endless reflections of each other. Why should we constantly challenge the discoveries in the natural world but not those of the spiritual? Just as the natural world and our understanding of it is always evolving, our wisdom of the spiritual world should also be the same. There is no reason to accept anything on faith, for we are called for an endless search, not for “the” truth, but for our personal truth, and the only way to follow this path is to embrace every challenge of our belief system and strive to disprove it if we can or incorporate it into our belief system if we cannot.

3- Do what you can with LOVE.

LOVE is Lots Of Valuable Energy. Whatever you do, strive to do it with LOVE, for when you do it thus, it gains the energy you have put in it, amplifies it, and spreads it to all who see or use it. For anything to succeed and prosper, it has to be filled with the LOVE of its patron.

4- Strive to master yourself… if you feel you have succeeded, know that you have failed.

The more you challenge yourself and work on breaking out of bad habits and cultivate better ones, the closer you are to mastering yourself; however, you can and should never be fully satisfied with what you have become. Being satisfied is different than being happy. Always be happy with what you are being, but never be satisfied with it. Keep reaching for better and keep climbing higher, yet enjoy and be happy with the journey. Whenever you feel that you have fully mastered yourself and that you have become better than everyone else, know that you have become stagnant. Stagnation is death; and many die alive because of it. When you find yourself there, look within yourself and find out where your weakness lies: it could be in your leadership style, your communication skills, your dedication or your wisdom. Find the weakest of the four and develop it.

5- Seek to share your light, but do not strive to convert people.

If everyone on Earth wanted the same thing, we would’ve gone extinct eons ago. And just like not everyone has the same calling, Allpatheism is not for everyone. There is no better way to make people resent a religion than to force it upon them whether through propaganda, bullying or violence. When asked about what you believe in, explain it plainly and answer truthfully, but do not preach and do not seek to convert people. If they feel Allpatheism is for them, they will embrace it by themselves.

6- There is no evil, only a different point of view.

When a person believes something is right, that person will do it. Sometimes, people do what is wrong while knowing that it is wrong in order to escape from a fate which is worse than the one they find themselves in. What we perceive as evil is only a response to something we may or may not know; therefore, we should always seek to understand the “evil” we perceive in order to know how to respond to it.

7- Nothing remains.

If you believe something is not right, seek to change it; however, if you do not have the power to change it, do not make it the focus of your life or blame your predicament on it. Pursue another noble goal or go another direction for the time being, and things will change eventually. On the other hand, if you believe that this is your path and you are willing to suffer infinitely to pursue it, then by all means, do it. However, in any of these situations, if you do not have the power to take on a path, do not be a hurdle to others in it. Instead, offer your perspective and your support, and let them keep going. Your light, no matter how faint, can still feed the fire within another.

8- Be an instrument for another’s evolution as another is yours

Not everything in life should have a price tag. If you know that you can help someone do what they are doing better and it would cost you nothing, do it for free. We are all part of the same universe and the same God is within all of us; therefore, when you play a role in the betterment of another, you are helping the universe as a whole with you included. Moreover, in this world we live in, be thankful to those who accept your help as you would be to those who are helping you for they are allowing you to realise yourself through them.

9- Accept before you judge

Before you judge something, make sure you accept its existence and seek to experience it from every possible angle. In the end, when you accept something as it is, you understand its uses for others if not for yourself; therefore. After you have accepted something objectively, you can seek to judge and/or condemn it. If something does not exist in or contradicts your belief system, it does not mean that it is wrong; it only means that it is different, and when you truly understand it, your judgement of it (if still required) would be valid.

10- Belong to nothing so that you can belong to everything

Countries, nations, sects, religions, casts and races have all been used as reasons to stereotype and compare; however, what we have in common is much more than what we don’t. Seek the similarities between you and others, yet cherish the differences for they expose you to new paths, new ideas, and new challenges in your path towards your mastery of yourself.

11- Laugh at yourself

Only a person who has a healthy sense of humour towards himself can truly evolve, for only when you can appreciate your own blunders and learn from them can you truly be on the path to wisdom. However, laughing at yourself does not entail making yourself a joke to others; it means that you should be lighthearted and humble enough to accept your own mistakes.

12- Keep things simple

In an effort to avoid offending people, we have rendered things more and more complicated. Seek to keep things simple and focus on the meaning of the message and not the words used to transmit it. Do not waste time avoiding to offend people; instead, deliver your message and withdraw, for those who are meant to understand it will understand it regardless.

In conclusion, these are the core tenets of Allpatheism; however, that does not mean that there aren’t others or that those are sent in stone. When another has something to add or modify, it will be taken into consideration and fitted into the existing tenets so that, just like Allpatheists are called to keep evolving, Allpatheism continues to evolve as well.

Originally posted on September 11, 2020 @ 8:41 am