It wasn’t until many years later, after composing the “Religion” poem, (previous post) looking at my journey in retrospect, that I realized I had traversed through a trajectory of those three distinct mindsets. I later termed them exoteric, mesoteric, and esoteric paradigms. My lived experience gave me insight I could not have gained any other way. This I share.
“The exoteric group is dogmatic. Its members will not recognize the universal thread as a point of agreement between faiths. This group cannot accept relevant similarities between their beliefs and other religions, and ignores inconsistencies within their own tradition. Some try to convince and convert others. People of this type tend to assume their parents’ religions they were born into.”
“The mesoteric believer seeks less internal confusion, less absolute views. This group will accept there are similarities and imagines insignificant any differences within a religion and between religions. Some do not like it when others try to convert them. They may chose to practice the religion they were born into but with less absolute dogma, more discussion, and with tolerance of many viewpoints.”
“The esoteric believer seeks personal attunement with the Divine, and intergrates information, and shuns dogma or indecisiveness. Esoteric people, whether they stay with their parents’ religions or pursue a different one, live according to the cosmic religion principles. For example, an esoterically-inclined Christian practices meditation (some type of contemplative practice) and lives the unitary principles that Jesus taught, which will allow one to inherit eternal life: Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Self.”
Calabria, Ralph. The Cosmic Religion: Love God, Love Neighbor, Love Self ; Amazon