Raiders of the Lost Spark

This holiday season was different than seasons past. It was fabulously different – challenging, inspirational, filled with love and cheer, thought-provoking. For the first holiday season of my life, I didn’t eat turkey and only missed it in the slightest. Granted, I certainly gorged on many of my (non-meat) favourites (although it resulted in something of a stomach ache for my relatively healthy state of being). I took a bit of a break from the tech world, turned off my brain, and enjoyed some earthy and enlightening activities. Now, I’m ready to get back into the swing of things – to eat an apple, write some code, and do a bit more yoga. I’ve had enough eggnog to last me until the next holiday season, and I’m looking forward to consuming a large amount of vegetables once again. Raw food, php, yoga, and inspiring books – this is the stuff that the next week of blissful holidays will contain!

I have a wonderful friend who lives in Vancouver. This summer, I popped into Thunder Bay for a day (on Rebecca’s “All-You-Can-Fly Ontario” adventure) to visit him while he was there with family. His father gifted me with a book upon my departure – Thank God for Evolution. Save for my initial excitement over a new book, I set it aside and didn’t think much of it until recently when I felt compelled to pick it up and leaf through it. Written by Michael Dowd, a pastor who believes that understanding and accepting evolution can deepen one’s relationship to God, it is the first time I’ve really seen (read) a digestible synthesis of Creation and Evolution. Whether a person is an atheist, Buddhist, pagan, Christian Fundamentalist (etc. etc), this book is non-partisan and inspirational. Whether or not a person is adamant about their beliefs (or lack thereof), I believe this wonderful book has something to offer! A big thank you to Peter V. in Thunder Bay for gifting it to me this past August!

In recent months, I’ve taken to renting documentaries instead of the constant stream of the Hollywood cheese that usually piques my interest (not that I don’t still enjoy these on occasion!). My main interest is in films of a religious, health, or planetary (healing planet earth!) nature. In particular, as of late, I would like to make mention of both Zeitgeist and The God Who Wasn’t There.

One of the particular features that stood out to me in both of these films is the fact that the Jesus Christ of the Gospels is strikingly similar to other ancient heroes and leaders of pagan cults. Whereas my initial inclination was in agreement with the hypotheses presented, upon further reflection, it occurred to me that perhaps the commonality of these persons could actually be used as an argument in favour of God, rather than against.

I am happy to have something to believe in.

I have had a long-standing fascination with many of the gurus from India.

It started when I first read Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. It filled me with hope and joy, made me laugh, and left me scratching my head in confusion at several intervals. Once of the questions is raised in me is: Why are some religions all-encompassing while other are very exclusionary?
	Sri Yukteswar, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda. He wrote a book entitled “The Holy Science”, which was a comparison of the similarities between Christianity and Hinduism. His views were quite similar to Swami Vivekananda, “to show as clearly as possible that there is an essential unity in all religions; that there is difference in the truths inculcated by the various faiths; that there is but one method by which the world, both external and internal, has evolved; and that there is but one God…”
Swami Vivekananda brought Jnana Yoga teachings in Vedanta form to North America in the early nineteenth century. After the death of his guru, Sri Ramakrishna, he renounced the world and spent the remainder of his days as a wandering monk. Most interesting were his viewpoints on religion: “All narrow, limited, fighting ideas of religion have to go. All sect ideas and tribal or national ideas of religion must be given up. That each tribe or nation should have its own particular God and think that every other is wrong is a superstition that should belong to the past. All such ideas must be abandoned.” “Religions must also be inclusive and not look down with contempt upon one another, because their particular ideals of God are different.”

My question thus remains: Why is it so much easier for the East to accept such notions than the West? Obviously it is easier to bring monotheism into a polytheistic world view (than the other way around), but the wisdom of these gurus seems much more likely to promote world peace and thus I find it perplexing that more people are not willing to be inclusive with their religious views. Now, more than ever, people need to come together and work toward the greater good of everyone, and the greater good of the planet – not separating ourselves from our fellow human beings.