Christianity is considerably younger than the other religions we’ve studied, and I found that the readings contained many similar themes. Even though the passages didn’t contain many new ideas, one difference did strike me. One must accept certain myths and irrational beliefs as truths to receive the blessings and awards of eternal life with God in heaven.
Although the following is not an original concept, the words were still inspiring to me: “For the measure by which you give is the measure by which you will receive.” This strongly resembles Karmic Law, which I am completely fascinated with because it’s manifested so clearly in many areas in my life. It makes me wonder though, in the context of Christianity, does this quote mainly apply to ‘giving’ in this life and ‘receiving’ in the afterlife? If we give love or hate on earth, will we receive the same in heaven or hell respectively? I cannot wrap my head around this concept. What are the benefits of being a faithful believer right now? Perhaps it’s our need for forgiveness for the mistakes we make as humans. If I break one of God’s rules, we’re square if I repent, and if I don’t, I have to wait to die before I receive my punishment. If I broke one of my mother’s rules at home, she didn’t accept my repentance (no matter how heartfelt), and she punished me immediately. It might take me a long time before I gain my mother’s favor again, whereas with God, favor and forgiveness can be regained right away.
Another thought provoking passage was, “Unless you change your life and become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is somewhat logical and twisted to me. When I read ‘child’, I envisioned a baby. A perfect being full of love that hasn’t been corrupted….yet. They don’t know the differences between the concepts of boy and girl, black and white, gay and straight, or rich and poor. The passage was sort of logical because only a child is capable of showing love across all of these lines all of the time, so it makes sense that they could enter heaven. The passage is twisted to me because it seems impossible for anyone to change their life to get back to an uncorrupted childlike state. If that is really a prerequisite to getting in to heaven, then I’m sure I’m out of luck.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
Dogen
I liked the theme of change in this passage. Nothing can ever be permanent since time moves forward and no two moments are alike. We’re constantly evolving into something new physically and mentally.
“Wood burns and there are ashes; the process is never reversed. Just as wood doesn’t become wood again after it has turned into ashes, a person doesn’t return to life after death.” I imagined a piece of wood used to build a home and a piece used to build a slave ship. Neither the home nor the ship is permanent, and both pieces of wood, if burned, will become ash. The same is true for humans. A man can live his life spreading love or live it spreading hate. When both die, their physical bodies return to the earth and not back to life. This quote made me think of connections I never would have considered before. The pieces of wood and humans have an ability to leave a legacy of comfort and love or pain and hate.
I’ve always heard, “You can’t go back in time”, “What’s done is done” and “This too shall come to pass”, but these saying never brought me much comfort in my times of distress. I appreciate Dogen’s quote because it makes me feel like if life’s good, cool, enjoy it! But when the good passes and life sucks, don’t worry, you only have to do this life once and you’ll be relieved with death one day.
“Wood burns and there are ashes; the process is never reversed. Just as wood doesn’t become wood again after it has turned into ashes, a person doesn’t return to life after death.” I imagined a piece of wood used to build a home and a piece used to build a slave ship. Neither the home nor the ship is permanent, and both pieces of wood, if burned, will become ash. The same is true for humans. A man can live his life spreading love or live it spreading hate. When both die, their physical bodies return to the earth and not back to life. This quote made me think of connections I never would have considered before. The pieces of wood and humans have an ability to leave a legacy of comfort and love or pain and hate.
I’ve always heard, “You can’t go back in time”, “What’s done is done” and “This too shall come to pass”, but these saying never brought me much comfort in my times of distress. I appreciate Dogen’s quote because it makes me feel like if life’s good, cool, enjoy it! But when the good passes and life sucks, don’t worry, you only have to do this life once and you’ll be relieved with death one day.
Padmasambhava
The section that moved me from this passage was from The Book of the Great Liberation. I often find myself trying to wrap my brain around the words of these scared texts, and it either makes me dizzy or it strikes a cord and brings me beautiful clarity.
“When you realize that all phenomena are as unstable as the air, they lose their power to fascinate and bind you. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind.” I thought of phenomena such as wealth, poverty, success and failure when I read this passage. These things do fascinate and bind me. In fact, much of my life revolves around these phenomena even though they aren’t things I can hold in my hand or even concepts can fully grasp with my mind.
“All phenomena are your own ideas, self-conceived in the mind, like reflections in a mirror. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind.” This makes perfect sense to me. I have measured wealth, poverty, success and failure in different ways depending on my stage in life. When I was younger, I measured wealth and poverty in dollars. Now, I measure them in a less tangible way. I think a wealthy person is full of love, patience and compassion. And I believe a person living in poverty is full of fear and consumed by hate and intolerance. I used to measure success and failure with external cues, like if others perceived me as a winner or a quitter. Now, I know not to look to others for validation because these things are too complex and personal for anyone to judge.
This reading helped me look into my own life and recognize phenomena that are based on my perceptions alone. Perceptions that have changed over my lifetime. I know that wealth, poverty, success and failure, are very real for some and a state of mind for others. Now it’s time to ask myself, how can I consciously move forward and continue be fascinated and bound by something so unstable and counterproductive to my growth and well being?
“When you realize that all phenomena are as unstable as the air, they lose their power to fascinate and bind you. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind.” I thought of phenomena such as wealth, poverty, success and failure when I read this passage. These things do fascinate and bind me. In fact, much of my life revolves around these phenomena even though they aren’t things I can hold in my hand or even concepts can fully grasp with my mind.
“All phenomena are your own ideas, self-conceived in the mind, like reflections in a mirror. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind.” This makes perfect sense to me. I have measured wealth, poverty, success and failure in different ways depending on my stage in life. When I was younger, I measured wealth and poverty in dollars. Now, I measure them in a less tangible way. I think a wealthy person is full of love, patience and compassion. And I believe a person living in poverty is full of fear and consumed by hate and intolerance. I used to measure success and failure with external cues, like if others perceived me as a winner or a quitter. Now, I know not to look to others for validation because these things are too complex and personal for anyone to judge.
This reading helped me look into my own life and recognize phenomena that are based on my perceptions alone. Perceptions that have changed over my lifetime. I know that wealth, poverty, success and failure, are very real for some and a state of mind for others. Now it’s time to ask myself, how can I consciously move forward and continue be fascinated and bound by something so unstable and counterproductive to my growth and well being?
Friday, September 26, 2008
Chuang-Tzu
Chuang-Tzu wrote of “that” and “this” in a matter meant to boggle the mind. At first glace, I felt dizzy, but soon realized it could be quite simple. I interpreted “that” to mean one or self and “this” to mean whole, higher-self or God. The labyrinth of words he used to describe the Tao was deep and shallow, wisdom and gobbledygook. I enjoyed trying to keep up.
There were a couple of verses that moved me deeply. They were, “How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?” And, “How do I know that the dead do not wonder why they ever longed for life?” I’ve attended 9 funerals of very close family members in the last few years and pondered the very same questions. I feel that life is a journey, but not the final destination in my existence, so I don’t have a fear of dying. This life feels temporary, almost like a vacation. Now, a vacation can be fabulous and fun or completely rotten. If it’s rotten, you’re more likely to want it to end because you feel home sick. If it’s fabulous, you don’t ever want it to end. Maybe you even decide to relocate and eventually forget your first home. This may be like the man Chuang-Tzu mentioned that left home and forgot his way back. Either way, this world doesn’t quite feel like home to me, especially since my family has moved. I say moved because it feels strange like they’re on the outskirts of the Milky Way and I can only get my outer-galactic passport and meet them again when I die too. It’s also possible that I’ll be like the atheist who prays to God on his deathbed and finally feel fear of death and intense longing for life on mine.
There were a couple of verses that moved me deeply. They were, “How do I know that loving life is not a delusion? How do I know that in hating death I am not like a man who, having left home in his youth, has forgotten the way back?” And, “How do I know that the dead do not wonder why they ever longed for life?” I’ve attended 9 funerals of very close family members in the last few years and pondered the very same questions. I feel that life is a journey, but not the final destination in my existence, so I don’t have a fear of dying. This life feels temporary, almost like a vacation. Now, a vacation can be fabulous and fun or completely rotten. If it’s rotten, you’re more likely to want it to end because you feel home sick. If it’s fabulous, you don’t ever want it to end. Maybe you even decide to relocate and eventually forget your first home. This may be like the man Chuang-Tzu mentioned that left home and forgot his way back. Either way, this world doesn’t quite feel like home to me, especially since my family has moved. I say moved because it feels strange like they’re on the outskirts of the Milky Way and I can only get my outer-galactic passport and meet them again when I die too. It’s also possible that I’ll be like the atheist who prays to God on his deathbed and finally feel fear of death and intense longing for life on mine.
Tzu-Ssu
This reading contained two passages that were incredibly thought provoking. The first was, “The mature person accepts his situation and doesn’t desire anything outside it. If he finds himself rich and honored, he acts as a rich man should act; if he is poor, he acts as a poor man should act; if he is in trouble, he acts as someone in trouble should act. Life can present him with no situation in which he isn’t master of himself.” Maybe this means that no matter what your lot in life is, rich or poor, in trouble or carefree, you don’t need a guide to tell you how to exist in that way and be content. For instance, if I lost my job and my home tomorrow, I would suddenly know how to exist as a homeless person. It may not seem like I possess the knowledge to live my life in this way, but if it became my new reality, I’d be the master of my homeless self just as I’m the master of my sheltered self now. But is it really possible for a person to be homeless, accept it, and not have any desires? Maybe, if I let go of my perceptions of what life is supposed to be I could grasp this concept. If I accept life as a journey, then I wouldn’t feel like my life is off track because I find myself homeless. Being homeless is the track which is a part of the same journey.
The second passage, “He makes sure that his own conduct is correct and seeks nothing from others; thus he is never disappointed. He has no complaints against heaven and no blame toward other people.” This made me think of life as a game in which I can always choose to have the ball in my court. If the ball is in my court, then I have the power, and if I throw the ball away, I lose my power. So, if I keep the ball and have the power to be peaceful, loving and kind, then why would I ever choose to toss my ball to feel the pain of disappointment, guilt or jealousy? This passage shows that our choices to use correct conduct along with disengaging in negative emotions, can produce inner harmony.
Bad feelings diminish the power we have left to do good and be well, but having these feelings are still choices that we make. From moment to moment we can choose happiness over sadness, delight over bitterness, and acceptance over disapproval. I feel empowered already.
The second passage, “He makes sure that his own conduct is correct and seeks nothing from others; thus he is never disappointed. He has no complaints against heaven and no blame toward other people.” This made me think of life as a game in which I can always choose to have the ball in my court. If the ball is in my court, then I have the power, and if I throw the ball away, I lose my power. So, if I keep the ball and have the power to be peaceful, loving and kind, then why would I ever choose to toss my ball to feel the pain of disappointment, guilt or jealousy? This passage shows that our choices to use correct conduct along with disengaging in negative emotions, can produce inner harmony.
Bad feelings diminish the power we have left to do good and be well, but having these feelings are still choices that we make. From moment to moment we can choose happiness over sadness, delight over bitterness, and acceptance over disapproval. I feel empowered already.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Shmelke of Nikolsburg
This reading was incredibly thought provoking. I think that the message of, “…love our neighbor as ourself” is powerful, but I cannot agree that one should be honored with love if they have wronged me.
Over time I’ve found that forgiveness is the key to overcoming people that have wronged me, not necessarily loving them. I know that I cannot control others and what they do, but I do have control over myself. I also know that when someone does me wrong, doing them wrong doesn’t work for me. It makes me feel like I’ve been sucked into their world of hate and nastiness, and this makes me feel unhappy and out of control. Therefore, forgiveness is the key to maintaining happiness and control in my life. I once heard that not forgiving someone is like taking the poison and expecting the other person to die. This hit me hard because I imagined how physically ill I get when I'm mad or hold a grudge against someone, yet they go on seemingly unaffected. I’m taking the poison and waiting for them to drop dead, and it’s never going to happen. For this reason, forgiveness isn’t optional, it’s essential to my being.
I agree with Rabbi Shmelke when he said, “If you punish him, you only hurt yourself.” when referring to a neighbor who has wronged you. I can appreciate the idea (not necessarily agree with) that we all come from God so we should love each other the way we love God no matter what. I wish I were a bigger person, but the idea of honoring someone with love goes way beyond what I’m willing to commit to. But maybe one day, the idea of loving the wicked will be as necessary to my existence as forgiveness is now.
Over time I’ve found that forgiveness is the key to overcoming people that have wronged me, not necessarily loving them. I know that I cannot control others and what they do, but I do have control over myself. I also know that when someone does me wrong, doing them wrong doesn’t work for me. It makes me feel like I’ve been sucked into their world of hate and nastiness, and this makes me feel unhappy and out of control. Therefore, forgiveness is the key to maintaining happiness and control in my life. I once heard that not forgiving someone is like taking the poison and expecting the other person to die. This hit me hard because I imagined how physically ill I get when I'm mad or hold a grudge against someone, yet they go on seemingly unaffected. I’m taking the poison and waiting for them to drop dead, and it’s never going to happen. For this reason, forgiveness isn’t optional, it’s essential to my being.
I agree with Rabbi Shmelke when he said, “If you punish him, you only hurt yourself.” when referring to a neighbor who has wronged you. I can appreciate the idea (not necessarily agree with) that we all come from God so we should love each other the way we love God no matter what. I wish I were a bigger person, but the idea of honoring someone with love goes way beyond what I’m willing to commit to. But maybe one day, the idea of loving the wicked will be as necessary to my existence as forgiveness is now.
Bakhya Ibn Pakuda
The author summed religion up perfectly in his statement, “Do good; avoid evil.” This sounds so easy to follow, but what happens when you throw money into the equation? This simple and obvious statement becomes way easier said than done. I loved how this reading shed light on this dilemma.
Bakhya Ibn Pakuda said that wealth is a blessing from God. A man with money is able to focus on caring for himself, his family and society, but money does not exclude him from his religious and ethical duties. Wealth and ethics don’t usually go hand in hand in our world (or religion and ethics for that matter). In fact, whether you read the Bible or not, you’re probably familiar with the passage, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” (Timothy 6:10). Everywhere we see someone suffering, we can find someone else getting rich in connection with that suffering. In war, soliders and civilians may suffer injury or death while individuals get rich producing the equipment and weapons used. In free trade, a ten year old in Tailand may suffer in a sweatshop making ten cents an hour while others get rich when they sell the garments at a 5000% + markup. What possesses people to exploit others for their own gains? So many people believe you can’t take your possessions with you to the afterlife, yet place so much energy in acquiring wealth. Even if you don’t agree with Bakhya Ibn Pakuda’s opinion that wealth is a blessing from God that is only entrusted to a man for a limited amount of time, couldn’t you agree that you can’t take it with you when you die, therefore it could never be worth the suffering, death and destruction caused while attaining it?
The absence of wealth is also a blessing according to Bakhya Ibn Pakuda. “…and if he is poor, he will consider the absence of money as a blessing from God, relieving him of the responsibilities its possession involves, and from the labor of guarding and managing it.” I love the simplicity of the point, if you have no money, you don’t have the worries and problems associated having money.
I can appreciate the idea that being poor and wealthy are both blessings. When it comes to money, I’ve experienced both sides to some extent. I know that money contributes to your livelihood when you use it to pay your mortgage, or buy food and clothes. But being poor makes you grateful for the things you take for granted when you do have money, like your family, the sunshine and the rain. Money may make life more easy, but being poor may make it more meaningful.
Bakhya Ibn Pakuda said that wealth is a blessing from God. A man with money is able to focus on caring for himself, his family and society, but money does not exclude him from his religious and ethical duties. Wealth and ethics don’t usually go hand in hand in our world (or religion and ethics for that matter). In fact, whether you read the Bible or not, you’re probably familiar with the passage, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” (Timothy 6:10). Everywhere we see someone suffering, we can find someone else getting rich in connection with that suffering. In war, soliders and civilians may suffer injury or death while individuals get rich producing the equipment and weapons used. In free trade, a ten year old in Tailand may suffer in a sweatshop making ten cents an hour while others get rich when they sell the garments at a 5000% + markup. What possesses people to exploit others for their own gains? So many people believe you can’t take your possessions with you to the afterlife, yet place so much energy in acquiring wealth. Even if you don’t agree with Bakhya Ibn Pakuda’s opinion that wealth is a blessing from God that is only entrusted to a man for a limited amount of time, couldn’t you agree that you can’t take it with you when you die, therefore it could never be worth the suffering, death and destruction caused while attaining it?
The absence of wealth is also a blessing according to Bakhya Ibn Pakuda. “…and if he is poor, he will consider the absence of money as a blessing from God, relieving him of the responsibilities its possession involves, and from the labor of guarding and managing it.” I love the simplicity of the point, if you have no money, you don’t have the worries and problems associated having money.
I can appreciate the idea that being poor and wealthy are both blessings. When it comes to money, I’ve experienced both sides to some extent. I know that money contributes to your livelihood when you use it to pay your mortgage, or buy food and clothes. But being poor makes you grateful for the things you take for granted when you do have money, like your family, the sunshine and the rain. Money may make life more easy, but being poor may make it more meaningful.
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