Something that is a bit uncomfortable to acknowledge, but is also very empowering, is that God and Satan seem to be incahoots at times. Looking back to the Old Testament, for example, God and Satan discuss Job’s righteousness. God is very pleased with Job, and when He and Satan disagree on the motivation for Job’s upright character, God grants Satan the power to essentially wreak havoc on Job’s life. He experiences extreme hardships and we (along with God and Satan) watch to see if Job will stay faithful to God during hard times or if he will break. Looking forward in the New Testament, we can see something similar in Mark Chapter 1. At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “you are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well … [Read more...] about Satan and Suffering as Teachers
Cain and Abel
Jewish thoughts on Cain and Abel are far more extensive than you’d think, given how short the story is. Thanks to Midrash, creative ways the ancient Rabbis explained, understood, and expanded on various biblical themes, we can see stories like Cain and Abel through new eyes and discover a lot of different morals that we otherwise wouldn’t have seen. Cain v. Abel is a fantastic book on this subject written by Rabbi Dan Ornstein and it combines many Midrashic views with his own modern Midrashic spin as well. It’s worth noting that the story he presents is not meant to be taken literally. Jews tend to read the Bible both through surface level reading and by finding the hidden meanings and morals of the stories. As far as midrashic works go, accuracy is far less relevant than the moral teachings underlying them. Another great source for understanding Cain and Abel is the book Messengers of God by Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who wrote extensively about Judaism. The Story of … [Read more...] about Cain and Abel
What Is Hinduism?
Hinduism is an extremely complicated religion to explain, mostly due to the fact that it is not a religion, but rather a family of religions. The word “Hindu” was actually a Persian word meant to describe the people of India, not a specific religion. This brings up the point though that Hinduism and India go hand in hand. India is unbelievably diverse in every way; ethnically, geographically, religiously, you name it, and this diversity is celebrated, not feared. India is so diverse that there are 16 major languages spoken and hundreds of dialects, bringing it up to an estimated 850 languages spoken daily. This often makes it difficult for Indians from different parts of the country to talk with each other without a harsh language barrier, typically requiring English to be spoken as the lingua franca. This is all relevant to Hinduism because the family of religions practiced amongst this diverse people is equally diverse, and this diversity is again celebrated, not scorned. … [Read more...] about What Is Hinduism?
Should Westerners Convert to Buddhism?
Conversion can be a touchy subject, especially since it can be extremely bothersome being on the receiving end of someone trying to convert you. We have probably all encountered, or at least heard stories, about people very intrusively trying to force their religions upon others. Other times conversion can be extremely natural, for example, someone stumbles upon a teaching from a great mystic and ends up falling in love with the faith. But where do Buddhists stand on this topic? The Dalai Lama, who is the face of Tibetan Buddhism, and honestly Buddhism in general for most of us, has a bit to say on this subject. But for starters, it’s useful to understand how he views other religions. The Dalai Lama strongly believes that we should accept the diversity of religions around us. He accepts the fact that for many people, Buddhist philosophy is very effective in developing their spiritual qualities, but for other people, he is humble enough … [Read more...] about Should Westerners Convert to Buddhism?
The Materialist Worldview vs. Unbounded Consciousness
The materialist worldview is one that I find particularly depressing. It basically states that consciousness is nothing more than a product of brain function, and it dies out when the brain dies. This is sort of the “lights out” approach to what happens after death. We just stop existing, end of story. But is consciousness attached to the brain? It doesn’t look like it. As with so many things that once seemed scientifically absurd, quantum mechanics can help us understand how something immaterial like the mind can affect the physical body and even survive the body’s death. One tiny example is the fact that photons, for instance, act like a wave when they aren’t being observed. And as is the case with waves, the photon sort of goes out in all directions without a particular location. In this situation, several different possible realities can actually be present at once. The photon can be in multiple places at the same time. But once we observe the photon, however, it stops acting … [Read more...] about The Materialist Worldview vs. Unbounded Consciousness
Is Islam a Tolerant Religion?
What Does Islam Mean? To understand Islam and to understand your Muslim peers, it’s helpful to know what the word Islam means. It means “submission” or “surrender,” and Muslims generally understand this to mean that individual people and communities will fully submit to God, which is very different from submitting to one’s own personal will. From this, one also hopes to spread an Islamic order and create a socially just society. Are Muslims The Only Ones Who Are Considered Submitters? No. Submission to God in the Quran is far more universal than to just be confined to Muslims. Abraham and Jesus, for example, are also considered submitters in the Quran because they too fully submit to God. The second verse in the Quran is very helpful in understanding what submission means. “Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.” Although there are many interpretations of this verse, Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī explains that the “worlds” refer to all existent things. There is infinite space … [Read more...] about Is Islam a Tolerant Religion?
Who Is The Buddha? God or Man?
When Westerners think about the Buddha, we often fall into the trap of thinking that the Buddha is God. This makes sense for us considering there are Buddhist shrines, the religion is called Buddhism, and through our association with Jesus being considered God, it is natural that we would fall into this line of “God” thinking. That’s why it’s important to clear up this misconception. The Buddha (properly known as Śākyamuni Buddha) was simply a man who transcended cyclic existence. He was actually a prince named Siddhārtha Gautama, born in approximately the 5th century BCE most likely around the India-Nepal border. As a prince, Siddhārtha Gautama was kind-hearted, intelligent, very sheltered, and never really left the palace. At one point he does leave the palace and he sees real suffering in town with his own eyes. He sees a sick person, an old person, and a dead body, which truly shakes him. This causes him to very seriously contemplate suffering, which in turn leaves him … [Read more...] about Who Is The Buddha? God or Man?
Neanderthals, Spirituality, Fertility Gods, and Quantum Physics
Neanderthals and Their Brains: Spiritual beliefs aren’t new, and honestly they aren’t even close to being new. To really help us think about this, Jesus lived about 2,000 years ago but the earliest evidence we have of spiritual activity was found within Neanderthal burials dated to about 70,000-100,000 years ago. The fact that burials were taking place was significant enough, but to add to that, the dead were often buried with tools, flowers, and were even sometimes found with painted bodies. All of this possibly suggests that the people performing these burials thought that their loved ones were going somewhere after death where they might need these things, which points to signs of a belief in the afterlife. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that compared to the human ancestors who were around prior to Neanderthals, the Neanderthals had larger brains, specifically the cortex, which is responsible for higher thought processes. The evolutionary jump may have had a … [Read more...] about Neanderthals, Spirituality, Fertility Gods, and Quantum Physics
Tamas and Reincarnation
Tamas, and the gunas in general, are not widely known concepts, but they are worth putting some thought into. The Bhagavad Gita, India’s most famous scripture, goes to lengths to explain the concepts, and we can do well to take note. The idea is that every state of mind and matter is a combination of the three gunas. This is extremely vague and doesn’t quite do the concept justice, but hopefully as this story goes on, the pieces will come together. The three gunas are 1.) Tamas or inertia 2.) Rajas or activity 3.) Sattva or harmony/equilibrium. We will go over all three but Tamas is what we will focus on here the most. Tamas: Eknath Easwaran explains tamas in terms of consciousness (as opposed to matter) as being like the basement level of a house. The basement tends to be piled up with a bunch of old junk and tends to be very chaotic. So too with the mind when we are full of tamas. Our minds tend to be cluttered and we ride the wave of inertia, not trying to do anything to … [Read more...] about Tamas and Reincarnation
5 Basic Facts About Islam
Sources: The Great Courses Series: Great World Religions - Islam Lectures 1-3 … [Read more...] about 5 Basic Facts About Islam