ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/09/84)
(an offering to the great line-eater god) i'm getting bored of Bible thumping and Scripture spouting. i don't like to be told that there is ONLY ONE SPIRITUAL PATH, because i KNOW that it just isn't true. having studied anthropology, art history, religion, folk lore & mythology, (among other subjects from an early age, both within a structured university setting and in my own time), i can easily see how, throughout time, one cultures's beliefs have been degraded by other cultures as mere superstitions. (to others, firm in their cultural/religious beliefs, Christianity is just another superstition or way of unbelievers) i have practiced zazen (Zen/Ch'an Buddhist meditation), been involved in several Tibetan (Tantric Buddhist) initiations, practiced hatha yoga and have done a lot of reading, both for university courses and on my own. meditation is useful to people on any path. you merely sit quietly and visualize thoughts/beings/places suitable to your chosen path. personally, i like many aspects of the Buddhist path, but i'm not much of a group-joiner for several reasons i will mention later. another drawback to me is the sexism inherent in many religions. i refuse to believe that women are not men's spiritual equals. this sexism can be found at the core of Judaeo-Christian-Islamic religions, although there are some variations which are less sexist than others, and less rigid, by which i mean that they are more adaptable to the changes within humankind's social and cultural structures. the way Buddhism is practiced in the US leaves off some the the sexism at its core, but once one gets to the higher levels, it becomes apparent; that is, within the texts themselves, it ultimately becomes clear that Buddhism says to be liberated, one must be born in a male body. i'm sorry, i can't buy that. one other quibble i have is the separation of body-mind -spirit, tho' mind & spirit can get pretty close to each other within Buddhism. instead, i want a spiritual path which teaches/seeks UNITY of physical/mental/emotional/and spiritual aspects of being human. as i said, i'm not much of a joiner. for two reasons i can think of off-hand. *ONE* there gets to be too much guru-worship. this is true of Christianity, not just in the worship of Jesus, who was certainly a fine teacher and a worthwhile guru to follow, but many contemporary Christians seem to be taking So&so's words as having THE "direct link/ the spiritual telephone" to `God' instead of being able to think/see/ feel for themselves. and of course it's true of Eastern paths as well (Sri Rajneesh, for example, or the gone and nearly forgotten Guru Maharaj Ji). it becomes worship of the teacher, instead of seeing the teacher for what s/he really is, someone with knowledge to impart/share. *TWO* rigid hierarchies drive me away. it seem to me that everyone has spiritual potential. having a spiritual boss-at-the-top passing down the rules of the game, establishing THE ONLY WAY to worship, and generally dictating to one how to live, is my idea of the way governments work, not a spiritual path. why do religions end up as corporations? so, being basically feminist (which to me means that women are EQUAL to men; it does not mean that women are the same as men, better than men or should avoid/hate/destroy men) (and besides, i LIKE men), i wanted to find a path (it does help to have some discipline to follow; hacking off through the bushes without a map or a guide or even a compass may lead around in circles)... as i was saying, i wanted to find a path that wasn't a rigid hierarchical structure run by men (see, that's a lack of UNITY again - i don't like divisions of male and female, as if men are the only ones with the HotLine to the Great Cosmic Energy, whatever that is). Well, i have found something that works for me - a path of sharing and caring, without sexism (well, mostly so), without hierarchies (well, mostly so), joyous and humorous, silly and serious, rich and symbolic - and that is in the current renewal of Western Pagan paths. There are many "flavors" of Paganism, yet they are not into mutual exclusivity - they share holidays, get together to celebrate, and are not so insecure, rigid, or narrow-minded as to find it necessary to say that only THEY (meaning one particular variety) has the ONLY RIGHT WAY, and any others are wrong. Christianity is an acceptable path, if only some of those raving Christians (certainly not all are like this) would allow others their own paths and accept the fact that there are many suitable ways to find the Godly nature in oneself. (the same goes for any flavor of religion which is exclusionist.) Homogeneity in religion is no more desirable than homogeneity in food, clothing, music, art, job, in essence, culture, ultimately humanity. Most Pagan paths want both men and women, and share the navigational chores (of course, there are some groups that are exclusively female/feminist/lesbian, which is only to be expected after the way men have treated women for at least 5,000 years.). Most Pagan paths worship male and female principles and do not see the world as having been created in man's image (here you may insert male-humans or just humankind in general), as most established and hierarchal religions do. There is no separation of body from spirit - what our bodies do and need to do are not inherently bad; sex for example, can be a joyous way to celebrate our spiritual nature; but one must remember to take responsibility for one's actions, however, and to respect one's partner. that means that consideration for one's sexual partner goes along with the pleasure one derives. Therefore, mindless sex-for-the-sake-of-sex- itself is not the way (forget the garbage about orgies open to anyone), but one need not be in a "committed" relationship with one's partner. Rape is bad, using living beings without consideration is not good, injuring others selfishly is not acceptable. Remember that Satan is a Christian deity, NOT a Pagan one. There is no devil, only the evil that one chooses to do oneself, and one is responsible onself for harm done to others. Satanism is merely mirror-image-Christianity and NOT a form of Paganism. Witchcraft is NOT Satanism, but a rebirth of an older religion predating Judaeo- Christian-Islamic religions, predating Jain-Hindu-Buddhist-Taoist-Tantric paths, and one which does not preach use or abuse of others, but the unity of all beings in the birth, growth, death, and rebirth of the cosmos/universe/whatever else is out there beyond our knowledge or imagination. It is not some funny kind of Magick, limited to selfish spell casting for control of others for the purposes of love or harm; while some people may use spell, most of that is superficial or sensationalistic. there is a much deeper core of beliefs, as full and rich as any other religion. All people who do not believe as you do are not going to burn in Hell, or freeze eternally, or whatever. That particular hell is the burning of them (or yourself, if you cannot accept your normal humanity/humaness) that you are doing in your own mind. Christians (or Jews or Moslems or ___fill in the blank with your group___) are not the only people suitable to make ethical/moral judgments. There have been and still are plenty of people who truly believe themselves to be good representatives of their chosen religion, who do not live truly moral/ethical lives; who believe that because someone is different than they are is reason enough to treat those others are less than thoses of the group with which they identify; who believe that a few moments of worship can make up for days of improper behavior. frankly, i do not believe in the biblical/koranic "GOD". and i sure don't believe that only Man was created in God's image, more than any other life forms around. what ridiculous humano-centrism! all beings reflect the energy that creates, continues, destroys, and creates again. why should man be the only one? i do think that there is definitely some organizing principle in the cosmos, or there wouldn't be so many of us people around, and so many plants, and animals and rocks, and stars and planets and atoms, etc. life is full of paradoxes. rather than fear and reject them, we must learn to see through them. ask a physicist...while seeking to discover the "order" of the universe, there are so many exceptions to every rule that get formulated/postulated. and these seeming exceptions lead to still further discoveries if they can only be integrated rather than rejected. AND, if you are at all interested, i can recommend some books which are NOT sensationalistic, but sensative and intelligent, and even some which are humorous to read, if you'd like to know about other paths, beyond those of the so-called Major Religions.
rsk@pucc-h (Rich Kulawiec (Vombatus Hirsutus)) (10/11/84)
Thank you, Ellen, for providing some much-needed fresh air.
I'll recommend two books on one particular path of self-realization:
"The Way of Zen", by Watts; and "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" by Suzuki.
You might also try "Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain" by Huang.
--
---Rsk
UUCP: { decvax, icalqa, ihnp4, inuxc, sequent, uiucdcs } !pur-ee!rsk
{ decwrl, hplabs, icase, psuvax1, siemens, ucbvax } !purdue!rsk
"It'll definitely improve our reputation as a party school."
--anonymous Purdue student, on TV-18 (local) news, Saturday, 10/6/84
after a Friday night of spontaneous rioting.