Brahman he is and Brahman he goes…
"Aryans had always considered themselves inherently superior
to others; their [religious] rituals had bred within them a deep sense of
entitlement that had fueled their raids and conquests. But the Upanishads
taught that because the atman, the essence of every single creature, was
identical with the Brahman, all beings shared the same sacred core…Everyone
liked to imagine that he was unique, but in reality his special distinguishing
features were no more permanent than rivers that all flowed into the same
sea. Once they left the riverbed, they
became “just the ocean” no longer claiming their individuality, crying “I am
that river, “ “ I am this river.” Such
strident assertion of the ego was a delusion that could only lead to pain and
confusion.
Release (moksha) from such suffering was dependent on the
profound acknowledgement that at base everybody was Brahman and should
therefore be treated with absolute reverence. The Upanishads bequeathed to
India a sense of the fundamental unity of all beings, so that your so-called
enemy was no longer the heinous other but inseparable from you. "
-
From Karen Armstrong’s Fields of Blood Chapter 2:
India: The Noble Path
Herein is something for me to strive for, something worthwhile. It's no secret that I have an affection for Hindu and Buddhist perspectives. Perhaps this attraction started out solely because it was something different, a variant perspective from my own Christianist upbringing. However, even after the novelty had worn off, I continued to find solace and meaning in the readings and writings that I eagerly consumed. It ultimately doesn't matter if these view are "true" in any sense, they can be proven just as easily as other religious text. In other words, they cannot be proven true or false. What I recognize is that the framework given is one that makes sense to me. That is, if any of these religious paths were to be "true", I wish it were these. I like the idea of everything having a divine spark (atman) hidden within. It's a theme that George Lucas carried on with the idea of "midichlorians" - those elusive microscopic life forms that generate the Force. From my perspective, we're all stardust, we're all the Universe. Just because I don't ascribe any supernatural hocus pocus to how we all got here doesn't mean that there isn't meaning imbued within our own fragile existence. From a chance and probability perspective coupled with my ever-growing appreciation for evolutionary change, life is precious if we are the only life forms out there (I doubt this is the case) or if we inhabit a solar system or galaxy teeming with life. I still appreciate it either way.
Oops! Went chasing a rabbit for a second. Going back to the fundamental unity of all beings, even if this is NOT true, I still like this approach as it gives me pause to reflect and appreciate others and other beings (sentient or not). I like the idea of doing no harm. Do I treat everyone with absolute reverence? No, this is a work in progress and some days and weeks and months are better than others. The trick is putting these ideas into a cohesive working system. I'm not sure I'll ever figure that all out. Some areas are consistent and in others, I am sorely lacking. If there is something positive that comes out of religious belief, for me it's this; most traditions advocate for the unseating of the ego in order for transcendence, for the making of a new kind of human being, one not just selfishly living to satisfy the ego, but one who also works for the good of others. Maybe we don't even need the religious aspect of this to influence us. After all we are social animals and these are the sort of things we would do in order for us to survive, that is, look out for one another and help and serve one another. I don't think we would have made it this far had we not done this in our prehistoric past. We're complicated animals and sometimes we do such beautiful things for each other, and then sometimes we just really fuck things up. So with that I sign off saying "Namaste", that is, the divine within me recognizes and greets the divine within you.
Herein is something for me to strive for, something worthwhile. It's no secret that I have an affection for Hindu and Buddhist perspectives. Perhaps this attraction started out solely because it was something different, a variant perspective from my own Christianist upbringing. However, even after the novelty had worn off, I continued to find solace and meaning in the readings and writings that I eagerly consumed. It ultimately doesn't matter if these view are "true" in any sense, they can be proven just as easily as other religious text. In other words, they cannot be proven true or false. What I recognize is that the framework given is one that makes sense to me. That is, if any of these religious paths were to be "true", I wish it were these. I like the idea of everything having a divine spark (atman) hidden within. It's a theme that George Lucas carried on with the idea of "midichlorians" - those elusive microscopic life forms that generate the Force. From my perspective, we're all stardust, we're all the Universe. Just because I don't ascribe any supernatural hocus pocus to how we all got here doesn't mean that there isn't meaning imbued within our own fragile existence. From a chance and probability perspective coupled with my ever-growing appreciation for evolutionary change, life is precious if we are the only life forms out there (I doubt this is the case) or if we inhabit a solar system or galaxy teeming with life. I still appreciate it either way.
Oops! Went chasing a rabbit for a second. Going back to the fundamental unity of all beings, even if this is NOT true, I still like this approach as it gives me pause to reflect and appreciate others and other beings (sentient or not). I like the idea of doing no harm. Do I treat everyone with absolute reverence? No, this is a work in progress and some days and weeks and months are better than others. The trick is putting these ideas into a cohesive working system. I'm not sure I'll ever figure that all out. Some areas are consistent and in others, I am sorely lacking. If there is something positive that comes out of religious belief, for me it's this; most traditions advocate for the unseating of the ego in order for transcendence, for the making of a new kind of human being, one not just selfishly living to satisfy the ego, but one who also works for the good of others. Maybe we don't even need the religious aspect of this to influence us. After all we are social animals and these are the sort of things we would do in order for us to survive, that is, look out for one another and help and serve one another. I don't think we would have made it this far had we not done this in our prehistoric past. We're complicated animals and sometimes we do such beautiful things for each other, and then sometimes we just really fuck things up. So with that I sign off saying "Namaste", that is, the divine within me recognizes and greets the divine within you.
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