I was asked to tell a little about my my spiritual pilgrimage and my conversion to Catholicism. In this installment I will discuss very briefly my investigation of Eastern religions. I don't intend to go into them too deeply. Only to discuss the basics and why I found them wanting. In fact I believe a Christian who is grounded in his Christian faith can even benefit from a study of them. As the Magisterium has stated:
"The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men." (NOSTRA AETATE, Pope Paul VI, 1965)
During my time in the U.S. Navy I really didn't think a whole lot about religion. If anything, as I have said, Harley Davidson motorcycles had become my religion, and riding my devotional. But after I left the military and started attending a community college, for some reason, I became interested in Eastern religions, perhaps inspired by my study of philosophy and world history.
I remember distinctly, like it was yesterday, sitting in my car reading The Tao of Physics: An Exploration of the Parallels Between Modern Physics and Eastern Mysticism by Fritjof Capra.
"The Tao of Physics, Capra's first book, challenges much of conventional wisdom by demonstrating striking parallels between ancient mystical traditions and the discoveries of 20th century physics. Originally published by a small publisher with no budget for promotion, the book became an underground bestseller by word of mouth before it was picked up by a major American publishing house. Since then, The Tao of Physics has been published in 43 editions in 23 languages."
(fritjofcapra.net)
I'm not sure I really understood what I was reading, but it was fascinating nonetheless. And the pseudo-scientificness (I think I just invented that word) of it made it even more credible. There was certainly the scent of the exotic about the Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism discussed in this and the other books I read on this subject.
When my ships pulled into Hong Kong or Singapore I might generally be coerced by my shipmates to accompany them the pubs and bars for an evening of alcoholic libations. If, as often happened, we were to get a trifle unruly, there were gigantic men with full beards and turbans who acted as bouncers. On occassion I was persuaded by them to leave these establishments. When I say "gigantic" understand that I am 6 feet and 4 inches tall and these fellows towered over me. These men were Sikhs, members of the religion founded in Northern India by Guru Nanak.
Most Sikhs would probably be offended if I described their religion as a synthesis of the better parts of Hinduism and Islam, but that is essentially what it consists of. Sikhs believe in one ultimate God or "Guru", while leaving space for the existence of all the lesser deities of the Indian religions.
The religion started out as rather peaceful, but after constant attacks from Hindus and Muslims, and several martyred gurus, the tenth Guru Gobind Singh decreed that henceforth all Sikh men would take the surname Singh (meaning lion) and stand prepared to fight at all times. The symbols of this readiness are the "Five Ks": Kesh, unshorn hair (they are, like the biblical nazirites, never to cut their hair), hence the turban; Kangha, the comb with which they keep their long hair and beard clean and neat; Kara, an iron or steel bracelet; Kacchha, a pair of short pants to aid movement (worn under outer clothes in practice); and Kirpan, a steel sword (Most Sikhs today wear small replicas in order to keep this precept). From that time also the Sikh Scriptures, or Guru Granth Sahib, were to be the only "Guru".
Needless to say their martial aspect was attractive (Khan Noonien Singh, played by Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek's Space Seed and Wrath of Khan was also a Sikh!). I saw the Sikh religion as a perfect meshing of monotheism and Indian religions. After studying the religion for a time I considered accepting baptism into the religion, and had even gone so far as to locate the local Sikh gurdwara (The Sikh temple or church building). Of course that long hair thing and turban, I thought, might be a bit of a problem!
And then it struck me (I now believe it was the voice of the Holy Spirit), I had done all this research into Eastern religions and was ready to take the plunge! Hadn't I better investigate the religion of my own culture before I reject it?
Before I go into my initial investigations of Christianity I should probably summarize why exactly I rejected these Eastern religions. The religions of the East are generally monistic. To quote the dictionary definition:
"(in metaphysics) any of various theories holding that there is only one basic substance or principle as the ground of reality, or that reality consists of a single element. Compare dualism."
Basically the understanding is that everything IS God. You, I, that tree over there, everything is God. We simply don't know it. Coming to an experiential knowledge of that fact liberates one from the perpetual cycle of reincarnation and the suffering that accompanies it. Essentially my problem with this paradigm is that it suggests that God Himself is suffering from illusion and therefore imperfect. Why someone would want to worship such a God I could not and still can't fathom.
No comments:
Post a Comment