www.UsHumans.net: Chapter 13
The religions of the first farmers, the beginnings of today's moral religions and summaries of a few of them
The first section of this chapter contains a description of the religion of the Mesopotamian farmers as explained by Thorkild Jacobsen in The Treasures of Darkness, A History of Mesopotamian Religion. This is followed by summaries of some of today's major religions so that we can begin to see their similarities and differences. Visit http://www2.etown.edu/vl/worldrel.html for more information about a particular religion.
At first, many of us big-city dwellers think of a myth as some soap-opera-like story that gives a funny explanation of nature in terms of gods having random attributes. Here is a sample.
One ancient Mesopotamian deity was Dumuzi–the god of grain, beer, springtime, newborn lambs, and fertility. His sister Geshtinanna is the goddess of wine. Inanna, also known as Ishtar, is the goddess of the storage house. (You might visit http://classics.unc.edu/courses/clar047/BabGtRest.JPG to see the Ishtar Gate in Babylon, www.mythfolklore.net/3043mythfolklore/reading/gilgamesh/images/ishtar_gateparade.htm to see more details, and www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/images1/asmarfigs.jpg to see some Tell Asmar religious figures.) She meets Dumuzi one day and it's love at first sight, so they decide to get married right away.
That night, Dumuzi has a bad dream about being attacked and killed. To be safe, he tells Inanna that he will hide in the small pastures in the desert and in the last remaining grassy spots of early summer. Dumuzi hides but a circling bird and a buzzing fly reveal his location to his attackers and he is killed.
Inanna decides that she will go to the underworld and attempt to become its ruler so she can release Dumuzi. (The underworld is not "hell;" it is the place where the buried dead go.) Inanna is allowed to pass through the gates of the underworld but the gatekeeper tells her that she must be naked and crouched when she meets the underworld's ruler. Unfortunately, Inanna dies and so cannot overthrow that ruler. She is turned into a piece of green, decayed meat and hung on a peg on the wall.
Dumuzi's sister then goes to the underworld to search for her brother's fiancee. Inanna is told she will be released from the underworld only if she agrees that Dumuzi and his sister take turns replacing her throughout the seasons of the year. Dumuzi must stay in the underworld during the fall, Inanna must stay during the winter, and Dumuzi's sister Geshtinanna must stay during the spring.
Sounds like a soap opera to me. How could Dumuzi get such a funny list of attributes involving grain and beer and such? In Chapter 10 we saw a description of the "power in the bush." As humans began to be full-time farmers, it meant that we had become dependent on a single source–our crops–for most of our food. Our survival now depended on the "whims" of the weather. We began to give human form and personalities to our deities.
The three ancient deities of this mythical tale were the humanized representations for the power in wine, the spring, and the storehouse. They were not worshiped. People did not give lifelong devotion to them. They were not Creators. The deities never ask, order, or demand anything of anyone. They have nothing to do with moral rules of behavior. They were not worshiped in the same way that modern Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the single omnipotent god.
Dumuzi never demands anything of anyone. He is simply the power in the spring. He is there during the spring and then he is not there. He is not "everywhere." Dumuzi represents fertility as it occurs in the blossoming spring. In the shepherding areas he is the newborn sheep, while in the farming areas he is the grain and the beer. The grain used to make beer dies when it is harvested. Dumuzi, the blossoming spring, dies as summer develops. Mesopotamia’s green, winter-grass turns brown by the end of spring. The last signs of spring will be the little sections of green grass that haven't yet died. Dumuzi said he would hide there from his attacker: the coming summer. (We can imagine an ancient Mesopotamian walk past the last small patch of green grass and say "Dumuzi is hiding there.") As the desert summer arrives, some animals begin to die. The location of their bodies is revealed by flies and circling birds, as occurred in the story.
The food in the storehouse enables people to eat throughout the winter. Inanna embodies the sense of awe people feel as they gaze at the life-preserving storehouse that is full of food. The storehouse begins to be filled when the spring arrives and becomes empty–in other words, it dies–near the end of the winter. Inanna thinks she can trick the ruler of the underworld and take it over but instead she is tricked. The ancient Mesopotamian people buried their dead naked and on their side in a crouched position. When she met the underworld ruler in this manner, it meant to the Mesopotamians that she was already dead. The storehouse dies in the late winter when it becomes empty–that is, when the wall pegs hold just one last piece of green, decayed meat. As the newborn lambs are killed–this is Dumuzi dying–the storehouse becomes full again–is alive again–and Inanna has returned from the underworld of the dead.
There is love at first sight because that is all they have time for. They pass each other at the simultaneous moment in which Inanna is reborn and Dumuzi is dying. The grain is harvested in the spring–that is, Dumuzi has died–and is placed into the storehouse, which means that Inanna then comes to life. Also, a storehouse is an underground pit just as is a grave. Geshtinanna is the goddess of wine. Wine grapes are harvested–that is, they die–during late autumn. This story is about three deities taking turns dying and reliving as the cycle of the seasons repeatedly occurs. The deities represent the power in the seasons and in the storehouse.
Dumuzi's seemingly random list of attributes occurred as sheep herders and grain-growers were merged under one social and political system and so combined their ideas of fertility and of springtime. Whenever we see a list of the gods of a particular community then we are seeing a list of the aspects of nature most important to that community. The most important phenomena are those that provide life–for example, the rain and the sun–and those that provide the area's economic basis, such as herding, farming, or fishing. Now we see that myths describe specific aspects of nature. There was a sacred myth to explain each aspect of life and society, each tool and procedure, and the origins of each of these things–including the origin of the group.
Mesopotamians believed that the temporary presence of the gods could be obtained by saying their names. For example, since Heaven and the Earth were considered to consist of purity, when you are ill you should say "I am the heaven and Earth." If you are like Heaven and the Earth then you must consist of purity and be free of disease. This was taken as seriously by a Mesopotamian as an ill Christian today would take the statement "The Lord is in me and will make me well." Mesopotamians also believed that the presence of a god could be made permanent by possessing a picture or statue of it or by building a house or temple for it to live in. Writing the name of the god on its temple would result in the permanent presence of the god.
Ancient Mesopotamians soon developed the idea that each person should have their own personal god who would protect them, and these personal gods began to be passed down from parent to child. The bible mentions “the god of my father." Having good luck was due to being in the favor of your personal god. Having “no god" meant having no luck and that there would then be no god to stick up for you and present your case to the other gods.
Irrigation projects were among the first activities that required a manager. As managers appeared, it was soon decided that the gods must have a manager or leader–a head god. Usually, the sun, thunder, lightning, and wind were considered to be the most powerful of all forces. The Greeks and Romans also believed these deities were the leaders of the other, lesser gods. Those of us humans who are Hebrew, would develop the idea of a single, omnipotent god.
Our modern religions of moral behaviors
Shortly after the time of the first large cities containing 300,000 persons and the time of the first warring empires, "religion" began to mean moralistic behavior. When we lived in bands of fifty persons, it was not possible for a person's behavior to get far out of line. The rest of the group members would let the person know that their behavior was incorrect. A few thousand years ago, cities were developing into substantial sizes. For the first time ever, a person would encounter strangers on a daily basis. People may feel less connected and less impelled to behave properly with a stranger than they do with their band-mates. Empires begin to form by waging war on their neighbors, and war occurred with an unprecedented magnitude. For the first time, power-hungry leaders managed to convince people to attack and destroy entire cities and kill the people who lived there. Today’s religions began as our responses to the troubles of big cities and warring empires.
In response to the troubles developing at this time in our past, the first leaders of morals appear, including Zoaster, Plato, Aristotle, Moses, Jesus, Confucius, Buddha, and Mohammed (surely the timing is no simple coincidence). This means that these people were the first teachers to reemphasize our list of biologically innate behaviors. We all agree about the proper behavior between family, friends, and neighbors–to do as the other did, and to expect the other to do what you did. Each of today's major religions agrees with each other in emphasizing this Golden Rule; this Rule is universal human knowledge. For the rest of time we will always refer to the teachings of these people. They did not invent these behaviors but were the persons who came around at the time that the cities and empires of us humans needed to have these behaviors brought into discussion. Religion begins also to mean "moral behavior" instead of just the "power in the bush." We humans also began to discuss our ideas about the ways leaders should behave and properly rule. Each of our religions today satisfies our need for security and protection and provide guides for moral behavior.
As described in Chapter 10, the form of religious expression is as diverse as the number of peoples who have lived. Biologically, each of us humans are the same as every other human. All humans share the same feelings, emotions, and mental states. Religion is universal because these experiences are universal. All peoples have identical religious appetites. Each group of persons takes their own religious view very seriously. This is important. It is the reason that all peoples should take the religious views of other persons to be a serious and sacred part of the lives of the practitioners. No group should view any other group as "toy people." A newborn baby would become equally at home with any group of us humans.
It is difficult to understand the religious practices of other peoples; however, you should realize that your practices are seen to be just as different and incomprehensible to other peoples. When you hear of another religious practice, you might get that feeling of "how strange." The practitioner of that other religion will have an identical feeling when hearing the details of your religious practice.
All of the peoples of the earth agree on the ideals of behavior. Each of today's major religions stresses the same list of proper moral behaviors. Every youngster knows what is right and wrong and how to behave, but even as an old person we still have trouble living in a perfectly proper manner. The major religions differ only in the details of the suggested road that should be taken to obtain fully proper behavior.
Each group of persons and their religion has unique view points to offer to each of the other groups and religions. The outlook of each of us is widened when we come to understand something of these other viewpoints. We should welcome the added insights. Instead of being limited to the views of the local peoples of our birthplace, we are enriched when we combine the views of all the humans of the Earth. For this reason, we will look at some of the religious views of us humans, beginning with one aspect of the Amish.
Those of us humans who are Amish believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. An example of a viewpoint that one group of us humans has to offer to all others is given by the following. A big-city dweller might drive past a group of Amish people seen to be cutting grass with hand sickles even though they have a tractor sitting nearby. A particular city dweller might say "Look at those people; why don't they just use the tractor?" Those of us humans who are Amish believe that a single person working with a tractor is a lonely person and that everyone is happier when they combine their efforts to accomplish things. It is better when several friends get together and work with each other because they feel much better about the result. We all prefer to be with our friends and we all know that feeling of shared accomplishment, so this makes sense. Those of us humans who live in the big city rarely think of working together in such a way. Instead of being totally ignorant of the ways of the Amish, the city dweller can be enriched by coming to understand their viewpoint. This also means that whenever a person laughs at other people then that person has simply revealed his or her ignorance of the lifestyle of those other people. We all want to think that our way of life is the best and that all others are silly but each of us is better off when we can come to understand the lifestyles and cultures of other groups of people. We become more tolerant persons and are enriched as we learn additional viewpoints.
An example of not taking the religious views of another group seriously, is given in the article Reflections after Waco: Millennialists and the State written by Michael Barkun and found within Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion An Anthropological Study of the Supernatural Edited by Arthur C. Lehmann and James E. Myers. Barkun explains how the religious views of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas formed the basis of their lives. It was their world view to which they attached ultimate significance. Their religious views were not taken seriously by the officials of the United States government who thought the Davidians were "toy people." The officials expected the Davidians to "come to their senses" and abandon their religious beliefs. The branch Davidians and the officials each regarded the other's views to be erroneous. The officials thought they could get the Davidians to accept a different viewpoint through negotiation. Everyone knows that you cannot negotiate religious views. The Branch Davidians believed that their religion was the most important aspect of their lives–just as all peoples feel about their own religion.
Each of today's major world religions agrees that we should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill and that it is sometimes hard not to stray even from the simplest rules. These religions differ in the details of how to attain this proper moral behavior in our everyday lives. They can also differ in their view of whether society or religion is more important. Some believe that the society is what's important and that the purpose of religion is to encourage a well-functioning society. Others believe that religion is more important and that society should serve the purpose of religion. Some of us try to separate religion from government while others feel that these two activities are not separate aspects of life.
Science and Religion differ in the following ways. Scientists study how people operate the way they do. Science does not instruct people about choosing the proper behavior in each of the countless social situations in which we find ourselves. Scientists do not often attempt to influence the behaviors that an individual chooses to do. Religion doesn't investigate the details of the chemical reactions between the atoms and molecules that influence our behaviors but does give recommendations for behaviors under differing social situations. Scientists want to understand how the universe operates because part of being human is attempting to understand the world. This understanding also allows us to build useful machines and medicines. Religion is not concerned with machines or medicines: our ancient and sacred documents are not engineering texts. For example, they do not contain blueprints for medical x-ray devices.
Some views of the people of the Hindu faith
Those of us humans who are Hindus believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. (For Hindu art and architecture, visit www.orientalarchitecture.com and www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in.) In Our Religions, Arvind Sharma describes Hinduism as a philosophical, spiritual, and experiential system. It is a method for discovering spiritual truths. Hinduism is more a way of ethical life than a school of thought. It gives no restrictions on thought but has a strict code of behavior. Hinduism is tolerant and accepts all other religions as true; there is no heresy hunting in Hinduism. Hindus believe that religion is universal and are displeased when another religion tries to make its particular brand of religion universal. Hindus believe that religion is not correct belief but correct behavior. Hinduism is also separate from a state; Hindus wonder how a religion could use a state as an instrument of its expansion. Hinduism does not want to convert all humanity to a single belief; instead it wants to convert everyone's conduct into proper form.
Most of the following summary of Hinduism has been taken from The Hindu View of Life, by S. Radhakrishnan. Radhakrishnan explains that in feudal society, warriors are the most important persons while in capitalistic society it is the money makers. In Hindu society, cultural artists and spiritual persons are more important than those who pursue economic matters. The persons of highest regard are those of self-sacrifice and devotion to the world; they are called Brahmin. The Brahmins see themselves as a part of the whole and would rather die than act against others. You become a Brahmin by doing good deeds.
Hinduism has been developing and adding new doctrines for 3,000 years. It has no single historical founder but many prophets and a mosaic of doctrines. Hindus work, worship, pray, and seek well-being in this world and the next for themselves and for their family and friends. Hinduism is an array of techniques for establishing links between the human world and the transcendental world beyond it. The path to the realm is characterized by the reasons behind your actions rather than the benefits of your actions and is rooted in ego-lessness.
There are divine potentialities in even the worst persons and we retain the power within us to raise ourselves. We are born with a large number of characteristics but choose which ones to use. Karma is the idea that many of our characteristics can be traced to our past. The worst sinner has a future just as the greatest saint has had a past. The past does not determine the future but only conditions its development. God has not planned the details of our future. Show charity for sinners because they are merely weak; they are not evil or wicked of heart. The descent into hell is easier than the steep ascent into heaven. (Hindus do not believe in a hell because there cannot be a place where God is not.)
It doesn't matter if you have this view or that. It only matters that you perform good by being kind, honest grateful, and sympathetic. Wealth and power are natural desires but must be obtained righteously. Fulfilling the spirit is more satisfactory than fulfilling the desires for wealth and power. The fact that the goals of our hearts do not perish with this body inspires one to live with a present sense of eternity.
Each individual possesses knowing, feeling, and willing. Each of our acts is weighed by God's justice. The day of judgement is not in the future but in the present. God put natural laws into the universe and moral laws into our soul. Sin is a denial of soul not a defiance of God. God also expresses His justice with forgiveness. Guilt is atoned by sorrow. Prayer cannot be used to obtain your every desire.
Radhakrishnan explains that the sacred, epic tales or Vedas describe proper moral conduct. They contain the spiritual experiences of historical persons whose souls were more-strongly endowed with the sense of reality. There are three parts to the Vedas: the Upanishads tell the experiences of the sages, The Brahma Sutra's logically interpret the conclusions of the Upanishads, and the Bhagavadgita describes how to attain the truly religious way of life. The Hindu attitude toward the Vedas is trust with criticism. They trust that what was useful for their parents will also be useful for themselves. They are critical because all generations must ask their own questions and make their own conclusions. They feel that if a religion stops growing then its adherents have become spiritually dead.
Dogma is subordinate to experience and outer expression is less important than inward realization. Hinduism is a kind of life experience and an insight into the nature of reality. It is not an emotional thrill or an acceptance of academic abstractions. It relies on the labor of being religious rather than on a mechanical acceptance of an authority's version of religion. Blind belief in dogma is not faith. Two important Hindu principles are respect for all humans and devotion to truth.
All of the people of the planet are God's offspring. They all have the same religious goal but achieve God-realization in different ways. For this reason, Hindus recognize all religions to be valid. This has been part of their tradition since its early days. About 3,000 years ago, Hinduism united the many peoples of the Indian subcontinent. (It also kept peace by assigning each new group a place in the caste hierarchy.) It united many different tribes of peoples, each having their own ancient deities. It also united tribes who believe in a single, omnipotent God.
Each Hindu is free to make his or her own conclusions about deities, deciding for themselves the number and reality of the Gods. He or she may decide there is one supreme God, many gods, or no gods at all. There is no limit on intellectual beliefs for the simple reason that there is only one reality; it just has many names and faces. (Notice that no two Christians have an identical idea of Christianity.) Each Hindu chooses the kind of God or gods that he or she wants to worship along with the spiritual method they think is appropriate for that worship. Hindus are not the "chosen people" but the "choosing people."
One Hindu scholar said there are 3,306 Hindu deities, but they are all one Brahman. The representations of God do not tell us what God is, they only tell us what God is to us. The infinite, supreme being cannot be described in everyday terms. It is beyond our imagination. Our world does not exist independently of its ultimate cause: the Supreme being. Hindu scholars debate whether God is separate from the universe, if the universe is a part of God, if God chose to be transformed into the universe, or if God is more than the universe. Samkara scholars deny the reality of our temporary and finite world because it is not independent of its ultimate cause. That is, it does not independently exist on its own but is a collection of other parts. Since each possible answer about God brings many other questions, it is unlikely that we can logically deduce the answer. Radhakrishnan says that, since each postulate about His characteristics leads to logical inconsistencies, agnosticism would be wiser. We cannot rest in the idea that the Absolute is incomprehensible, but the Supreme being cannot be both infinite and comprehensible.
Some Hindus believe in an infinite God while others believe in a personal God. Some polytheists worship ancestors and deities, while others worship forces and spirits. (This covers the entire spectrum, from the power in the bush to the power of the sun and of the Supreme Being.) Some Hindus believe that the deities live in the water and sacred rivers, others see them in the heavens, and still others see them inside themselves.
Humans have four goals: a moral life, the earning of wealth, enjoyment of the pleasures of the senses, and the seeking of liberation. In, for example, a 100-year life span we should spend the first twenty-five years learning morality and vocation. During this time, a plastic youth becomes molded into a person capable of duty. During the next twenty-five years we earn wealth and enjoy sensuous pleasures. We create the perfect marriage through hard work. Divorce is a confession of defeat and is done too often in today's hurried life. (Radhakrishnan wrote this book in the 1920s. He is talking here about the hurried life of the 1920s. Ancient Romans and modern peoples also curse the hurried life.) For the next twenty-five years we should live a virtuous and pious life while we slow down to ponder higher problems and our own soul. Our soul makes us more than our possessions and social position. What do we gain if we own the entire world but lose our soul. Materialism falsely claims to bring a better life. We seek liberation in the remaining twenty-five years while we attain a state of spiritual freedom, untempted by riches or honors. At any moment in a person's life, he or she is in one of these stages of life, pursuing a particular goal consistent with one's humanity as expressed in universal values such as charity, purity, and virtue. Devotion through prayer, petition, fasting, sacrifice, communion, and self-examination along with wisdom through realized experience are concurrent paths to God.
In 1927, Radhakrishnan described that thanks to science, the world was becoming a much smaller place and that we are realizing that everyone in the world is a member of a single cooperating group. He wonders how some religions will be able to live together and says that we cannot have religious unity as long as some assert sole possession of truth. The political ideal of the world is not one empire with a homogeneous society and a single communal will; it is a fellowship of free nations that differ profoundly in life and mind. The just organization of the world's societies will be based on political equality, economic fraternity, and spiritual liberty.
There is no hope for our world unless there is a fellowship of our religions. As in Hinduism, the religions of the world should seek unity in moral conduct rather than unity in sect. The world would be much poorer if one sect absorbed the rest. God wants diverse harmony not colorless uniformity. All religions curb excess and promote ethics. He is confident that Hinduism's tolerance of others is the answer to the conflict of religions. He points out that Jesus did not say that it is wicked to be Jewish. He didn't tell other people to drop their bad religion and accept his.
Radhakrishnan says that government was made to protect us from the overly-greedy business person but today's money making obsession has erupted into an uncontrolled greed that has never before been seen. The love of wealth is disrupting social life and suppressing the spiritual. Greed is the cause of much of the world's meanness and cruelty. Working people deserve more comfort for their role in providing both the labor and the market for the industrialists. He says that workers should receive the highest wages because their work is their only reward. Thinkers and advisors should be paid the least because these actions are reward enough.
Radhakrishnan also warns nations not to view others as inferior. Julius Caesar had such insults for the uncivilized, animal-skin-dressed savages of Europe and then four hundred years later they sacked his capital. The political and military leadership of a region is always temporary. All peoples contribute to our thought, moral advancement, and spiritual growth. All peoples will develop to their full potential in due course. All peoples show considerable ingenuity when pressed by external forces. Today's less industrialized nations will choose to create capitalistic industries and economies whenever they have a need to do so. These things do not make people any happier. The industrialized nations can't see how others can be different from them.
Even in the last two hundred years, the "superior" nations have performed a long list of atrocities in Asia, Africa, and America. Civilization is not the suppression of less industrialized peoples. God does not give any group the right to destroy or enslave others. Our highest ideals require that we give every group its own future. The greatest Hindu heroes are those who tried to bring together the different peoples of India into a more-just society. It is much more difficult to fight injustice than it is to fight soldiers. (This is also the reason that Martin Luther King is such a hero in the United States today.)
Those of us humans who are Jewish believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. (For virtual reality views of the Temple Mount, visit www.ust.ucla.edu/ustweb/Projects/israel.htmand for a panoramic view of a synagogue, visit www.jgb.ch/jgb_virtual.html.) In What Jews Believe? The Spiritual Foundations of Judaism David S. Ariel, explains that Judaism is an evolving, adaptable, continuous tradition of shared values and rituals that mark the celebrations and tragedies of life. It emphasizes ethics, justice, and the community. A recent example of the way in which Judaism changes with the changing world is that they used to emphasize self-denial but now esteem self-fulfillment. In fact, belief in ourselves is becoming important, just as the belief in God has been important. He points out that each person's religion used to be an inherited tradition but is now becoming a matter of personal choice.
Judaism is not a religion of fixed doctrine or dogma but a complex of evolving beliefs. The beliefs are not dictated by authorities, instead each member is allowed to come to their own conclusions. Each Jew can define Jewish belief as he or she sees fit within the framework of Judaism. In the past, the institution commanded loyalty but now Jews are skeptical of institutions, authority, dogmas, and claims about the possession of exclusive truth. Judaism is the longest tradition in Western civilization to ask fundamental questions about life, its purpose, and human destiny. It is a spiritual process that attempts to find answers to the perennial questions of human life.
The sacred myths of Judaism form the framework for each Jew's ongoing search for personal meaning in his or her own life and in the life of the Jewish community and society. For each group of people, scared myths tell of their most deeply held beliefs and are truths not subject to verification. The myths are not fairy tales, no matter how literally or metaphorically we choose to interpret them. Every generation retells the sacred myths and has many personal interpretations of each story. For example, one recent view of the Jewish story of the Exodus sees it as a statement about universal human freedom and equality, while another view sees it to mean that Jews must defend against the Pharaohs and Hitlers of each generation. Each culture presents its understanding of the world in the language of its sacred myths, which might not instantly make sense to an outsider. Religion can be viewed as a formal set of beliefs and behaviors one follows as part of one's attachment to a particular tradition.
Judaism teaches that humans are created in the image of God and that God is within each of us. Everything has a purpose: the purpose of human life is to refine the image of God that is within us. God has also given us the freedom to choose right or wrong. Our fate is not predetermined from birth but is affected through our actions. This implies that suffering is the result of our own wrong actions and choices. God has not revealed the answer to the question of why the innocent are sometimes made to suffer. Some Christian sects say that humans are sinful by nature and cannot change their fate except through faith in Jesus. Some Christian sects believe that sin is a fact of birth, whereas in Judaism, sin is a matter of choice.
Jews have spent more than 3,000 years continually debating and refining the idea of God, the Supreme Being. It began "during an age of disregard for human life." God does not change through time but our idea of God does change through time. The older idea of God becomes more elaborate, more than a "strawman of a simplistic idea." Our view of God is still changing today in view of the new scientific explanations of the world that no longer require heavenly metaphors.
Different Jews have different ideas of God. Each person's idea of God is due to their own life experiences: we hear of God from childhood, we ask questions, experience religious moments, and think about our own beliefs. The common idea of God is that He created and presides over everything in the universe and that He is a benign, moral, watchful ruler. Like a good parent, He provides reassurance and comfort and can be called upon during times of distress. Some say God is a transcendent, otherworldly being, while other say that He is everywhere. Some are more concerned to feel God's presence in their daily lives.
Ariel explains that the Jewish belief in God is far more spiritually compelling than the generic idea of God. God tries to avoid interfering in the daily affairs of His people, just as a good parent tries to intervene minimally and only when necessary in the life of a maturing child. He let's His children direct their own affairs and fulfill their father's wishes as best as they can. They are responsible for their own actions and their destiny is in their own hands.
Ariel says that the Gods of the Greeks were indifferent creators who did not monitor or care about the universe after having created it. The Biblical God causes the rains and seasons and causes crops to grow. Medieval Jewish thinkers tried to reconcile the Jewish moral God with the indifferent God of Plato and Aristotle. They decided that God does not have the same feelings or emotions as does a human. Maimonides concluded that we can know only that God exists and not anything else about Him.
In the thirteenth century, Kabalah again emphasized that God is a personal deity who is knowable and comprehensible by a mere person. Scholars then distinguished between the unknowable and the revealed aspects of God. The knowable aspects are those that He chose to reveal in the Bible. The Bible did not try to explain His infinite and unknowable aspects, only those that are knowable. The unknowable and the personal God are two portions of His whole. God's infinity resides within His knowable personal nature, just as our unknowable soul resides within our body.
Barvah (Benedict) Spinoza (1632-1677 ad.) said that God is the source of all reality: God is identical with nature. God is all, and the universe is one living being. He took the God of Aristotle and Maimonides to its logical conclusion. From that time on, Judaism tolerated a wide range of beliefs in God's attributes. The idea of the unknowable God made agnosticism intellectually respectable. If God is so infinite that you cannot know or understand anything about "Him" then it is ok to decide that you cannot know if He even exists. Since we know nothing but the characteristics of mere humans, how can we extrapolate any of this knowledge to the divine?
In the Ukraine in 1735 ad, Eliezer said that you could achieve oneness with God through ecstatic prayer and transcendence of the material world. You will then become intoxicated with God. The world is not a separate reality; it exists only within God. Only God is real; the world is an illusion. Everything you see contains the divine light but has no reality of its own. Zalman said that nothing exists except as a thought in God's mind. The world is nothing and is meaningless in relation to God. Our meager view of the world is based on our limited understanding and perception of God. Their goal is to see the divine in everything and to recognize the difference between illusion and reality. When we see the world, we are seeing a tiny fraction of the infinity of God; we do not understand or perceive the entire thing. It is also their goal to transcend the limits of human existence by annihilating our sense of self and separateness from God. This can be accomplished through a meditative process in which you consciously concentrate your mind on your insignificance in relation to God.
In 1988, the conservative Jewish movement issued a statement of principles. Instead of presenting a specific notion of God, they described Him as the act of asking the right questions: does God exist? If so, what sort of being is He? Does God have a plan for the universe? Does God care about me? Does He hear prayer? Does God allow the suffering of the innocent? Conservative Judaism affirms the critical importance of the belief in God but does not specify all the particulars of that belief. For the conservative, belief in God means faith that a supreme, supernatural being exists and has the power to command and to control the world through His will. God's existence can be known through the testimony of Scripture and the fact that there is something rather than nothing.
Some other modern Jewish ideas of God include the following. Modecai Kaplan views God not as a being or entity but as a power and a process. God is the impulse for goodness that exists within human beings. This inclination to do good, justice, and peace is God itself. God is that which generates the discoveries and creativity that give rise to human meaning. This is not a supernatural power but a natural power that literally exists. Buber says that God is the thing that gives meaning to each personal encounter between two humans. When two persons experience each other, God is there. God is the wholly other and is present in the experience of human relationships. He can be experienced only through other persons. You cannot reach the divine by reaching beyond the human. He is the eternally present being who invokes awe and love in those who experience Him. God does not watch over individuals or command them. He is not sought through ritual. God does not reveal a message or law to humanity, only a presence.
Ariel further explains that, in Judaism, the endeavor to understand God is never finished. The search for the answer to the question "What is God" produces answers but the answers are never final. What matters is the search itself and the struggle to understand His place in our lives. Each person and each generation will have new views. Most important, each of us must arrive at our own answers, just as did those who came before us and those who will come after us.
Those of us humans who are Muslims believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill, as described by Suzanne Haneef in What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims. Her book was the source for the following summary of Islam. Christians and Muslims both believe in the God originally described in the Jewish faith; these three religions are closely related. We will go into a bit more detail about the Muslim view of the world than we did about the others because it is important to dispel Western misconceptions about Islam. After carefully comparing your own views with those given here, you will better understand your own views and those of others. (Visit www.islamicarchitecture.org and http://isfahan.apu.ac.uk for Islamic art and architecture. Also see www.islamicity.com/culture/MOSQUES/Europe/TMp105b.htm. You might like to watch the PBS documentary on Islam, see www.pbs.org/empires/islam. For a list of numerous websites involving all things Islamic, visit www.coe.ohio-state.edu/globaled/display.cfm?parent=70&child=76.)
Islam means "submission and peace." Submission to the will of God means obeying His commands concerning moral and spiritual behavior and results in a life of inner-peace. A Muslim is one who believes in God, that God is the only deity, and that Muhammad was His Messenger. God does not appear in front of mere humans because His infiniteness would overwhelm their senses. Instead, he has made His wishes known through a series of messengers that included Abraham, Moses, and Jesus and ended with Muhammad, who is the last messenger and who God caused to write the Koran (or Quran), which means “recitation.” It contains the final and complete message for us. The details of Muhammad's life were recorded while he was alive. He lived from 570-632 ad. He was a father, husband, friend, ruler, statesman, and was a descendant of Abraham's.
The Quran expressly forbids certain things. Anything that leads to a forbidden thing is also forbidden. If something is not expressly forbidden then it is allowed. The Quran is also a source of Islamic legislation. The Quran is still written in its original Arabic language; it has not been repeatedly translated or altered through time. The message from the prophets was that God created the universe and made laws that govern our conduct and that we are accountable to Him for the way in which we live our lives. Muhammad also gave practical examples of how to behave and interact with family, friends, and neighbors in a book of his own writings called the Hadith.
Islam teaches that mere beliefs will not change a person: for a religion to be effective it must demand something of you. Your daily life must be affected by its obligations. Islam strives to instill an attitude toward life, family, manners, and worship and thus free a human from domination by his or her animal aspects. Islam governs the total person and the community of persons. Islam says that there is another realm that you cannot perceive. You came from this realm and you will return to it when you die. God is that other realm. You are in this world to be tested.
Islam believes that God is the supreme being who created and sustains the universe. He made the laws that govern the way the universe functions. He created humans to acknowledge, worship, and obey Him and to take care of our society in His just and righteous manner. He also made permanent laws for the moral and spiritual guidance of humans. People cannot change these laws, only God can. He knows what is good for his creatures. The laws apply to each individual and to society as a whole. There is no separation of church and state because you cannot separate a person into two pieces.
God didn't create the world and then simply leave it to function on its own. He watches over each minute portion of His world and over each person, too. He decides what will happen to you from moment to moment. He likes to see you striving to do your best–this is your duty–rather than sitting back and letting "fate take its own course." Humans do not know their own destiny; they must strive to attempt all possibilities. After you have made all efforts then God will decide what to send for you. A Muslim has belief in the meaningfulness and purposefulness of all that God decides to make happen and has trust, dependence, and submission to the creator.
Even if you find your life being threatened by another person, you do not have to worry. That person is not going to harm you unless God decides you should be harmed and causes that person to harm you. The decision will be God's, not that other person's, and you should submit to His decision. Each person has the free will to submit to God. Muslims have inner peace, certainty, and confidence even in the face of affliction because they know that God controls everything. Muslims are constantly aware that God is watching in judgement of their actions. This also means that they do not have to be concerned with any lesser authority.
When people obey and serve God then they are freed from obeying and serving anything less than God. God gave us freedom of choice, judgement of right and wrong, an immortal soul, and the abilities to feel, think, and act, and to pass knowledge to others. He did not give these things to the other creatures. God wants humans to use the minds He gave them. He wants them to use the freedom of choice He gave them to choose voluntarily to act in the manner God has instructed in order to fulfill the entrusted responsibilities and to choose not to follow random desires.
A mere human cannot figure out God's purpose for humankind, the reason that humans have been placed on this Earth, the role and destiny of humans, the meaning of life, the reasons for pain and suffering, nor God's nature, attributes, and relation with humans. These things can only be revealed to humans by God, as He did for Muhammad. A significant part of Islamic faith has to do with the acknowledgment that Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
In the past, we were mainly farmers who were more directly dependent on God's sun and rain and such. There had been less range in our goals for life. With today's technology we feel farther removed from the natural world so that it is harder to see that God is directly involved in each moment of our life. Remember that no one but God controls your heart, lungs, aging, and even your career. We see the utter powerlessness of humans and our machines when faced with a crises that only God controls. In fact, He controls every atom within your body and within your machinery. At the moment of death, each person realizes that no one but God is in control of his or her destiny. Death is the return of the soul to the One who gave it.
The Muslim must worship and pray at least five times per day: at sunrise when you would like to be sleeping, at noon and again in the afternoon while you would rather be concentrating on work, and at sunset and nighttime while you would be preparing for sleep. This act of worship is more than a prayer in the Christian sense because it includes supplication to God and glorification of Him. God does not need your worship; prayers are meant to keep you in contact with God, to strengthen your submission to Him, and to solidify your character. The timing of daily worship is meant to build discipline and to mold you into a faithful servant who lives according to God's prescribed manner. Daily worship is done in large groups to reinforce the ties of fellowship and affection among Muslims. At any moment of the day, the time of worship and prayer will be occurring in some region of the world.
For one month per year–the Ramadan month–the Muslim must fast from food, water, and marital sex during the daylight hours. This is also a time for reading the entire Quran, restraining the tongue and temper, and for doing other devotional exercises. The Ramadan month cycles throughout the twelve-month year.
Once per year you must donate about 2.5% of your assets either to help the poor or to further the cause of Islam. You should donate the things that are a source of your profit and are not needed for your immediate needs. You might choose to donate to church construction or operation. You can also give a meal to another person or forgive a debt. Do not brag about your gifts. The wealth belongs to God, not to you. God has temporarily entrusted it with you to share with your family and others. You should give whatever is beyond your needs. This helps to eliminate the bitterness between rich and poor and equalizes wealth without banning private property or requiring that all persons have equal wealth.
Do not spend for luxury or to impress others: materialism is to be avoided. If you managed to obtain every material possession then what would you do. People need something more significant with which to be concerned. The most precious things are never material things. The dog-eat-dog pursuit of self-interests, as is occurring in many parts of the world today, has no real benefit. It is all right to spend a reasonable amount of money on yourself and your family but love of wealth and luxuries is forbidden. Material things should never become the primary goal of your life.
It is a sin to be lazy and to ask for a handout. Instead of simply giving a handout to a person, it is better to pay them to work. God likes for everyone to strive to do their best and to utilize all of their talents. God will judge you by how much you accomplish with your talents. Muslims must strive for self-improvement, to fulfill their obligations, and to utilize their talents.
Muslims have a responsibility to improve society and must also strive to end injustice and to fight tyranny, corruption, and evil. You must help others against injustice and refrain others from doing injustice. Striving is the path to God. The word Jihad means "a striving" and is often mistranslated as "Holy War." Throughout the world, we all strive to end poverty, hunger, and hopelessness: this striving is a jihad.
It is a religious duty to seek knowledge, including knowledge of Islam, secular knowledge, and the knowledge of other cultures. You should seek knowledge for its own sake, and you have an obligation to teach your knowledge to others. There is a religious obligation to improve and administer society and to develop science, industry, technology, and human potential.
Muslims must also strive to make a pilgrimage to Mecca (see www.ucd.ie/islamic/mosques.html) at least once in their lives. Everyone dresses alike during the pilgrimage and while at Mecca. This means that you bring just your own character and personality and not your trappings of wealth and social position. This makes everyone feel as Muslim fellows.
The five acts of worship, described in the previous paragraphs, must be performed by every Muslim. The Muslim must declare faith in the one God and acknowledge that Muhammad was His final messenger. The Muslim must worship and pray five times per day, pay the annual poor-due donation, fast during daylight hours one month per year, and have a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime. These five acts of worship strengthen your sense of submission to God and require your soul, mind, feelings, body needs and appetites along with your time, energy, and possessions. In this way Islam demands something of you and strives to improve your behavior.
Ownership of property and engagement in trade and business are encouraged but it is prohibited to gain wealth by charging interest. You must directly work for your income; you cannot make a living off the efforts of others. Since it is forbidden to act in any manner that harms people or society, a business cannot manufacture goods that are harmful to society, such as alcohol or drugs, or promote non-marital sex. Advertising that promotes excessive materialism is not allowed.
Society is to prosper by cooperation and mutual assistance–not by the exploitation of one group by another. Whenever there is a group of two or more persons, they should select one to function as the leader. The leader has no special privileges and is accountable to God. He is not in office for his own interests but to serve the people. He must consult the people.
The State guarantees the right of protection of your person, property, honor, business, travel, and education. Justice must be impartial and blind to race, religion, wealth, social status, and governmental position. Islam does not force anyone to follow Islam: only God can grant or deny this choice. A person cannot promote atheism, violence, or communism because these things are harmful to society.
There has been some recent tension between Muslims and Western nations. Islamic peoples object to the injustice of those Western governments and corporations who interfere within Muslim lands in an attempt to control their assets and economic activities. One Islamic friend explained to me that politicians manage to do some underhanded things to the people of other countries even though they have somewhat to operate in public view. Imagine the bad things they could do if nobody knew what they were responsible for having done. But corporate executives are free to operate entirely behind closed doors. They believe nobody will find out about their improper business tactics. They feel free to do anything to obtain wealth, to force out a competitor, or to obtain a monopoly. My friend says that if a person or a group of persons is mad at you then you should find out why. You will then learn something about yourself and perhaps become more just in your actions.
All peoples also agree on the sorts of things that make for good personal character. These things are often summarized by our Golden Rule that says "treat others as you would have them treat you." The following paragraphs contain a list of specific character traits that Islam views to be representative of a good person.
Treat others as you would want to be treated. This includes family, friends, other Muslims, non-Muslims and enemies, too. Love for your brother what you would love for yourself. If you help or forgive another person, then God will help and forgive you, especially on resurrection day. These guidelines include your daily behavior with others, your daily business relations with others, and the behavior of every organization, including the State.
Life is sacred: do not kill except in self-defense, in a righteous war, or for the State after due process. Resist injustice, tyranny, and oppression by all means, even when it is done by the State. If your brother acts with injustice then stop him from doing that. Have respect for property: do not steal. If you are starving then it is ok to steal, but with widespread charity, stealing due to starvation will not occur.
Avoid hypocrisy, greed, selfishness, envy, and the desire for reputation and power. Be sincere, and be open and straight forward by expressing complaints directly to the offender's face rather than by talking behind this person's back. Have integrity, be truthful, and honest. Keep your commitments and practice fair-dealing. Control your temper. Exercise self-control by not indulging in excessive pleasure or luxury. Make allowances for the faults of others. Retaliation in kind is allowed but you are urged to forgive and to show mercy and compassion. Islam discourages asceticism and excess. Practice humility, patience, endurance, courage, dignity, honor, respect, and thankfulness. Wealth and social status are not as important as are faith and god-consciousness. Don't gossip, pry, be suspicious, or interfere in the lives of others.
Exercise purity, modesty, and chastity. Do not dress to attract attention to yourself because your character is more important than your dress. A woman's beauty and sexual attributes are not for public display; they are reserved for her husband. She should dress such that only her hands and face are visible. Western flaunting and sexual innuendo are shocking to Muslims. When a woman dresses modestly then her interactions with men will remain with the business at hand. If she dresses for show then every interaction with men is reduced to attempts at sexuality. A Western ideal states that one should love a person for their internal beauty because outer beauty is only skin deep. If one can see nothing except the eyes of a woman, then a man’s love for her can be based on nothing but her internal beauty. Keep men and women apart–in schools, workplaces, hospitals and such–to avoid temptation. Islamic womens' dress follows the Islamic concept of womanhood just as Western womens' dress follows the Western concept of womanhood. The aging Muslim woman becomes increasingly respected instead of being treated as a person of decreasing beauty and sexuality. Sex dominates Western life; this blind physical desire disrupts society.
A marriage is based on the common belief in God and in Islamic ways, not on romance. Premarital dating is prohibited. This provides a strong foundation for building together the lives of two spouses. We strive to maintain harmony with our spouse and to show proper care and training for our children. Babies sleep with their parents. Parents should show their children that the rules were not invented by them but are God's rules and that parents, and society as a whole, follow the same rules, too. A child should be praying five times per day by the age of ten. By their middle teens they should be aware of their future roles and responsible for their own actions. (This is the reason that Iranians vote at age fifteen.)
Do not show cruelty or irresponsibility toward family members. Show obedience and respect to your parents and relatives. Family members can never break their ties. Take care of all family members, especially your aged parents. No aged family member should live alone. Marriage, building a home, and raising a family is the completion of your faith. God does not like divorce but He will allow it after the other family members have been unsuccessful in their attempts to reconcile the two spouses. Orphans are to be raised by family members instead of being adopted to strangers. Babysitters should be other family members, not strangers.
Be helpful and kind to everyone, even to non-Muslims, because all persons are equally God's creations. Be charitable, generous, and show hospitality. Be polite, considerate, and well mannered. Tell visitors that your home is their home. While visiting, understand that it is impolite to stay longer than three days.
Eat in moderation. The food meant for one group of persons can easily feed twice that number. Since it is rewarding to share food, give left over food to someone else rather than throwing it away.
Islam is a way of life involving the entire person. It demands effort from you rather than just asking you to behave properly. A person will have respect only that for which they strive. Seek knowledge and develop your skills and talents.
Show children love, security, warmth, and affection so that they will become cheerful, good-humored persons with loyalty in relationships. They will then be able to develop their own warm ties with family and friends.
Muslims believe that Jesus was the son of the virgin Mary and that God can cause a person to be born in any manner that He chooses. God is infinite. Because He is much more than a mere person, He cannot have a son who is a mere person. For this reason, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was the son of God. They believe Jesus never said that he was and that he didn't want to become the basis of a new religion; he thought he was just one in a series of messengers. Jesus wrote about God's revelations. After he had died, the later prophets began to write more about Jesus than about the revelations of Jesus. Muslims say that after Jesus had died, the new Christian Church decided he was divine. Muslims believe in one God, not two. They feel that in some ways they have remained closer to the teachings of Jesus than have the Christians.
Muslims do not believe in the Catholic idea of original sin: that you must be saved from eternal damnation by accepting Jesus as your savior. Instead, Islam teaches that we are born innocent and sinless and that we are responsible for our own actions through which we add to our character. Islam does not have an equivalent of the Papal authority. Islam has remained a single entity while Christianity has broken into factions through time due to conflicts between the Papal authority and local regions. Muslims share much in common with Christians and Jews. Some Muslims feel that Jewish Zionists are acting in an unjust manner.
Some views of those of us humans who are Christian
Those of us humans who are Christian believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. (For Christian art and architecture, visit http://www2.art.utah.edu/cathedral/index.html. For panoramic views of Amiens Cathedral, visit www.learn.columbia.edu/Mcahweb/Amiens.html.) Christianity developed from Judaism and continues the belief that God is the all-knowing and all-powerful deity who created the universe. In addition, Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Some Christians believe that Christ was God taken human form. In the Old Testament, God told the Jews that He will send a messiah to establish God’s kingdom on Earth. Rather than a political kingdom, Jesus came to build a spiritual kingdom–to show us how to behave. He suffered, died on the cross, and was resurrected. In his suffering, he atoned for the sins of mankind. He came to save sinners and to give eternal life to believers. One achieves salvation by having faith in Jesus; after death, your soul will then go to heaven. The souls of bad people go to hell. Some Christians believe that God is at once the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy spirit is experienced as the spiritual power of God within oneself. (See 101 Key Ideas, World Religions by Paul Oliver.)
In Guide to Cults, Religions, & Spiritual Beliefs, A User-Friendly Approach, Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz explain that Christians take truth from the Bible, which is God’s Eternal Word, and that they follow Jesus. Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus. Christians also believe in the equality of humans and emphasize the importance of family relations. Bruce and Stan relate the apostle Paul’s explanation of Christianity to Greek Philosophers: God is the infinite, self-existent Creator of everything, and He is Lord over all. He has always existed, and He will exist forever without changing. God does not live in man-made temples; buildings can not contain Him. God is the source of all life, giving it breath. He doesn’t need anything from us but we need everything from Him. God knows everything that is going on. He is involved with His creation and directs the affairs of people and nations. He wants to have a relationship with the beings He created, and He wants us to seek Him–not an idol of Him. He is personally interested in you and knows you intimately. God is transcendent in that He exists apart from His creation, which is the universe, but he is near to us. We know He exists because we see His creation along with evidence of His involvement through His son and His Word given in the Bible. One day God will bring everything to conclusion by sending Jesus back to Earth to Judge everyone. He proved this by resurrecting Jesus from the dead. God’s judgement will be fair and unbiased.
God is love. He loves every person, good or bad. Accept it and let it flow through you to others. He has shown how much He loves us by sending His only son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. He did that to reestablish His relationship with sinful people who had rebelled against Him. He wanted to save humanity from spiritual death. Salvation is God’s gift to humanity. Those who accept salvation through Jesus become a member of the spiritual body of Christ that is the Church. Members unite to worship and follow God.
Jesus said that a relationship with God happens within one’s heart not in outward, public performance meant to impress others. Don’t pray or fast in public just to be seen doing so. Don’t brag when giving to the poor. He had a few insults for the hypocrites but mostly he taught of love for others. To understand something of the teachings of Jesus, we’ll next quote several of His comments given in the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
Jesus said that what ever you want others to do for you, you should do for them. Have compassion for others and help those who need it. Give them as much help as they need, not as much as they can repay. Feed those who cannot feed you. Give to those who ask and forgive debts owed to you. Lend to those who cannot repay.
Love everyone, including social outcasts–even the tax collector. It is easy to love those who love you, but you should also love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. If someone sins against you, rebuke them in private. If someone attacks you, do not resist their attack. If someone slaps you, do not slap them back; instead, let them slap your other cheek. If they take your shirt, give them your coat, too. You should pray for those who persecute you. If you love only your family, you are not doing anything unusual. Be as perfect as your heavenly Father. Forgive people and people will forgive you. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Correct your own shortcomings before pointing out the lesser flaws of others. Do not insult others. Do not harm another person or even be angry at them. Reconcile immediately. The gentle will inherit the Earth. Be merciful and you will be shown mercy. Blessed are the peacemakers because they will be called sons of God. God knows your heart. Be humble. Ask for the least of what is available.
Don’t collect treasures; you cannot be the slave of both God and money. What will benefit a person who gains the whole world yet losses his or her life? There is no material item worth so much to you that you would purchase it with your life. Don’t worry about what you will wear, eat, or drink or about your body or continued life. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Life is more than what you eat, drink, and wear. There is no need for anxiety. Seek first the kingdom of God and He will provide these things for you.
Do not break these rules, practice and teach them. And practice what you preach. Don’t be a hypocrite. Be a light so others can see your good works. You will then enter the kingdom of heaven. Hunger for righteousness and you will be filled. Those who are persecuted for their righteousness will enter the kingdom of heaven. The road of life is broad and full of destruction but the gate into heaven is narrow. Give glory to your father in heaven. Have faith and you can do anything.
In The World’s Religions, Huston Smith says that faith in the resurrection of Jesus is a powerful belief that does not merely concern the fate of a worthy man but extends to the status of goodness in the universe–contending that it is all powerful. In the first century bc, outsiders said that Christ’s disciples showed an immense love for each other and that there was a total absence of social barriers. The conventional barriers of race, gender, and status meant nothing to them. They were equals and lived as though they meant it. They possessed an inner peace radiantly expressed in an exuberant joy. They said of their own radiant joy: “God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts.”
The love and joy they had were desired by everyone. They achieved it because the burden of fear, including the fear of death, had been lifted off their shoulders. They were relieved of guilt for their shortcomings because they knew that God loved them anyway, and they were relieved of their self-serving ego. These three reliefs came about because they knew they were loved. Within every human is a store of love that partakes of the divine and is activated through the love received from others. This can be described in terms of the love between mother and child: at birth, as we begin receiving the love contained in our mother’s smile; in turn, it awakens the love within ourselves. Love is a response. When we feel love, the world is beautiful and we will give anything to anyone without wanting something in return. We ache to give to the world that has given so much. If one feels love, not abstractly but vividly and personally, from the One who unites all power and perfection, then we are relieved of fear, guilt, and self-serving ego. Jesus taught people of this love. Jesus taught more than just of the greatness of God. Christians feel God’s love and know that Jesus is God incarnate. The love they receive from Christ cultivates their own love for others.
The apostle Paul said that this love was patient and kind, not envious, arrogant, rude, irritable, or resentful. It never insists on its own way. It rejoices in truth not in wrong doing. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never ends.
Some views of those of us humans who are Buddhists
Those of us humans who are Buddhists believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. Buddhists acknowledge that it is hard not to be selfish, not to be angered when slighted, and not to abuse one's authority. Buddhists believe that suffering occurs and that it is common and that selfishness and ignorance are the roots of every person's troubles. When we mistakenly believe the universe is something it is not then our resulting expectations cannot be fulfilled and we will cause our own suffering.
The following description of Buddhism is taken from Zen for Americans by Soyen Shaku. Shaku explains Buddhism to a Christian audience. For Buddhist art and architecture, visit www.orientalarchitecture.com and www.museeguimet.fr/gb/pages/page_id18569_u1l2.htm. For a video clip of the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, visit www.vagabonding.com/gallery/archives/000076.html. This temple is located at the place where Buddha first attained enlightenment. You might like to view Computer Reconstruction: Temple Site at Phimai at www.archaeologychannel.org/content/video/phimai_300kR.html.
At the heart of Buddhism is the story of Buddha's realization. Buddha is a teacher not a prophet. The teachings of Buddhism are those of a human being who speaks not for God but out of his own experience. Buddhism offers teachings and instructions; it does not proclaim dogma. A statement derives its value from the help it provides in attaining enlightenment, not from its source. Buddhists believe conduct counts for more than belief. Buddhism emphasizes proper behavior and salvation here and now, not in an afterlife.
The Buddhist does not say God but instead says Oneness. Buddhists believe in the Oneness of things–that there is a unifying principle in all phenomena. Buddhists also believe that all things are different and that all things work on all other things. This is karma. In How to Practice, the Way to a Meaningful Life the Dalai Lama says that karma is a tendency created by previous actions.
Buddhists do not believe there is a supernatural deity but will talk of persons of extremely virtuous behavior as if they are gods. This is a done as a tool to teach moral excellence. Buddhists reject the idea of an omnipotent being. On a first reading of this section, Christians might choose to replace the word Oneness with God. Where some of us say nature, others say God, love, Oneness, Allah, Jehovah, or Jesus. We are all really talking about much the same thing: the idea of a unifying love between all of us. These approaches differ in whether or not this is deified.
Oneness is the highest reality and truth. Oneness abides in all things and is infinite. Oneness is in all of us and is the world. We are one with all, not separate from each other. Oneness is within each of us. Everyone is within everyone else; there is universal Oneness. We are all together. Since every person is within each of us, you should treat everyone as if they were you–because they are. I am within you and you are within me. Seeing that we are all basically the same may help you feel oneness with every member of humankind, and help you see that the group is what is important, not one individual. We should all work to improve the group. If you regulate your thoughts and deeds according to the feeling of Oneness then a wondrous spiritual truth will be in your heart and you will then treat all others as family and friends, not as strangers.
When you see Oneness in everyone and in everything then you have attained Nirvana. A person who has attained Nirvana will know truth. The heart is then cleansed of all egoistic impurities and will practice loving kindness to all. This will be your reward on earth; there is no heaven. You will be a good person who is above bigotry, intolerance, hate, vanity, and conceit. You will be humble, practice forgiveness, and have compassion for others. Your spiritual insight will penetrate into the depths of your existence. Attaining Nirvana means becoming a good person because you have realized that Oneness is everything and that everyone is one in the same.
Buddhists say there is no heaven nor is there a coming reward in heaven, so do not sit in tranquility of mind relying on God. You will not sit in happy, inexpressible bliss forever at the side of the creator. Instead, you will instantly be reborn, not as another person but within another person who is taking up where you left off. Your life’s deeds and your contributions to the world's understandings are their own reward and are what will live on after you have left. Let your life's work make you live forever. Just as a house is composed of its pieces and does not have a soul, when you gather the pieces of a person then it is a person and does not have a soul. The body turns to dust.
Buddhists see that ignorance is the root of all evil. We are selfish only because we are ignorant of the true nature of the universe. Perfect peace occurs when egoism goes away; egoism goes away when I recognize myself in you because I have come to understand that we are all one–that we are each a part of each other. I then will love you and treat you right. The divine love in our hearts is now unobstructed. When this truth becomes understood then we are enlightened. This is why Buddhism is called the religion of enlightenment. The Dalai Lama says that enlightenment is a state in which mind and body are fully developed to be of service to others.
Buddhism recognizes the reality of the phenomena of the world, the existence of ultimate reason, and the imminence of this reason in the universe. The universe is this ultimate reason. Oneness is this universe and is this ultimate reason. Within each of us is the indwelling reason for the universe.
The Dalai Lama explains that a coiled rope looks like a snake but it is not. It is a snake only while it is supposed to be one by a person who is ignorant of its true nature. One may think that a piece of furniture is real but that too is just a mental construct. That piece of furniture consists of a tree and the labor of a carpenter. In fact, it also consists of atoms, nuclei, and elementary particles. It does not exist independently of its components. It is a mental construct just as is the coiled-rope “snake.” Those things that do not independently exist and are not permanent, are not real; they are mental constructs. You are also a mental construct in that you do not exist independently of your parts, which include limbs, liver, mind, and atoms and such. What you construe to be “you” at this moment is different than “you” of the past or future. The “wisdom of emptiness” is the knowledge that things do not exist independently of their parts. We exist but do not independently exist. Other things exist, but everything is a construct and so do not independently exist. Hate and greed and such do not exist because they too are constructs. Misconceiving the independent existence of phenomena, including ourselves, is what allows hatred and greed and such to occur. Understanding the true nature of reality removes suffering. Between the two extremes of thinking that everything exists or that nothing exists is the truth of the Middle Way, that the existence of everything depends on its parts and on other items.
The practical part of the religion is its efforts to stop wrongdoing. You must start being a good person, promote goodness, and enlighten the ignorant. This is a simple faith. There are no mysterious superstitions or supernatural deities, just good behavior toward all. It is said that every three-year-old knows how to behave but even a silver-haired person still has trouble living that way. However, life as a saint is not enough: the mind must also know the meaning of life and the true significance of existence.
Life has good and bad things but we should be above both. Life is worth living because it gives us a chance to work, to apply ourselves, and to realize moral and spiritual aspirations. Life is not meant just to enjoy passing pleasures while we are here.
There are both natural laws and spiritual laws in the universe. When an evil act is committed, the entire universe is sorrowful because the act slows both progress and the attainment of goodness. Life is not for mere living but is the path that leads to goodness and oneness. When you feel a noble feeling or do a self-sacrificing deed then you'll see that the spirit of oneness is making itself felt within you, including the spirit of all who have come before us and have contributed to the goodness of the world. Reincarnation means that your life’s contributions are reused forever.
The Fourfold Noble Truth is that life is suffering, that ignorance causes suffering, that nirvana transcends pleasure and pain and is the goal of our life, and that moral laws must be put into practice to reach Nirvana. Truth isn't revealed to us by a supernatural force but is discovered ourselves through a faculty that can be acquired by all beings. Buddhism is not to be believed blindly but to be believed rationally. It is to be believed because it is true not simply because a mystical person has proclaimed it to be true.
Buddhists are tolerant of other religions and do not have the bloody past of some of the others. There was no holy war nor an inquisition. Truth is universal and the same for all races and nations. Buddhists believe that Christ's words are truths. In fact, Buddhists and Christians–and the followers of every other religion, too–agree that each person must love all other persons. Christ and Buddha taught the same things. The Dalai Lama says that as long as hatred dwells in our minds there will not be peace among peoples and that the weapons-backed attempts of one nation to dominate another is counterproductive. Our common humanity must call us to action in ridding the world of weapons and armies.
To describe something of the daily practice of Buddhism, I next summarize The Art of Happiness, A Handbook for Living by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler. Cutler, who is a psychiatrist, interviewed the Dalai Lama extensively about the steps needed to obtain personal happiness and then compared the Buddhist approach with that of Western psychiatric practices. Their discussion makes it clear that Buddhism is a lifelong internal reflection rather than a faith in an external agent. Cutler explains that many of the observations, conclusions, and personal improvement techniques of Buddhists are well matched to those of psychiatrists that resulted from scientific studies of human behavior. Cutler and the Dalai Lama’s book has been aptly described as “An intriguing encounter between East and West.”
The Dalai Lama says that the meaning of life is to seek happiness. The level of our happiness is not genetically preset but is to be pursued. It can be obtained through years of concerted mental effort by cultivating positive mental states and rejecting negative mental states. When you are unhappy, identify what has caused your unhappiness and don’t do that again; avoid the situation that caused your suffering. Similarly identify and repeat those things that make you happy. Each night you might evaluate the actions you took that day to decide if they did or did not make you more happy. Do not rate an action to be positive or negative based on an immediate feeling of satisfaction but on its long-term consequences. The temporary pleasure of food or sex is not happiness. Don’t ask if this feels good, ask if it makes you happy. For example, consuming to satisfy instead leads to greed and unhappiness, especially when you find you don’t have enough money to buy everything. In the long run, consuming leaves you depressed, not happy. The true antidote to greed is a commitment to appreciate what we have.
Our happiness level is closely related to our perception of our current situation and how satisfied we are with what we have. Some feel happy while having wealth but we all agree that love, health, friendship, affection, closeness, and compassion bring much happiness. Various things make us unhappy. For example, we might be unhappy if we think others are better off. If you look inside yourself, you might agree that we are most unhappy when we are not moving toward our goals. But our general mental attitude takes precedence over these things because one might be unhappy even while having plenty of money and being surrounded by friends.
The Dalai Lama says that we are happiest when our actions are socially accepted; this is not a self-centered happiness. We are fundamentally nurtured by the affection of others. Each person needs to feel a sense of dignity and a sense of worth to the other members of the community. Just relating to fellow humans and feeling a mutual bond satisfies that sense of worth. A despot can own everything and rule the world but will feel that life is lacking if he or she does not have affection for other humans or feel a connection with them. We are happiest with ourselves when others like us.
Suffering is universal and begins on the day you are born. It enters every person’s life–and it enters often. Do not take the view that bad situations are rare and are due to “bad luck.” Instead, expect bad times to occur–and to occur often–for it is a natural part of your existence. Be tolerant of its occurrence because everyone suffers bad times. You are not alone in your suffering nor are you a special target of suffering “because you deserve it.” Many others are going through the same situation, and some have it far worse than you. You gain nothing by thinking your troubles are unfair to you. Face your troubles head on and tackle them by spending your efforts on the solution, not the problem that has already occurred and cannot be undone. The Dalai Lama says that he personally uses the following approach to deal with excessive concern about a problem itself. If a situation can be remedied then there’s no need to worry about it. If the problem has no solution at all then you can’t do anything about and so again, there’s no reason to worry about it.
While feeling pain say to yourself “May I help others not to experience this pain and not to be in the same situation that caused the pain.” Be grateful for the privilege of pain because you’ll then know what to help others avoid and you’ll be better able to empathize with others having pain. Cutler explains that biologically, pain effectively alerts us when something to avoid is happening. Without pain, harm would grow because we wouldn’t end the cause of the pain.
Hard times build determination and inner strength. Without hard times, our character would only maintain its level. We may feel we are suffering during hard times but they rarely bring failure. Failure is caused only by hopelessness.
Notice that the best time to prepare oneself for bad times is during the good times, while being satisfied with your situation and condition. We get through tough times by developing and maintaining a steady, even-keeled attitude toward life. One should strive to restrain all mental extremes. Developing a calmness of mind is a Buddhist’s goal. Such peace of mind is rooted in compassion and affection for others.
Don’t cause your own suffering by dwelling on a bad event or by trying to ignore the fact that a change has occurred. Life is change, so expect it to occur. Do not think you can stop change from occurring. For example, you will only make yourself unhappy if you do not accept the fact that you will grow old and have less beauty and ability. As another example, do not divorce at the first sign of change in your relationship with your spouse. Initially, you might feel that the most important element of your relationship is your shared passion but, in time, find that true love is being committed to the change and growth of your spouse.
Don’t cause your own suffering by having an excessive ego. Notice that worry and pessimism are fought with reasoned and positive thoughts and attitudes. You might overcome anxiety about a past action by reminding yourself of your compassionate motive and your tremendous personal talents, accomplishments, and potential. For example, after losing a job or failing a class you might feel you are worthless unless you remind yourself of the difficult jobs and courses in which you have done well, plus you have a nice singing voice and have been a good friend to others.
How do you achieve liberation from suffering? Upon reflection, you will see that you have caused much of your own suffering through craving, ignorance, or hatred. This means that you can liberate yourself from suffering by liberating your mind from those thoughts.
Compassion is a state of mind that is nonviolent, non-harming, and nonaggressive. Most of all, compassion is a deep sensitivity to the feelings of others–especially to the suffering of others, be it another person or any other sentient being. You’ll agree that you are a human being who wants to be happy and does not want to suffer. Recognize that all others are also human beings who want to be happy and do not want to suffer.
To cultivate your compassion, you might practice mentally envisioning someone in pain or in a bad situation. Reflect on that person’s suffering for a few moments and then remind yourself that that person has the same capacity for experiencing pain, joy, happiness, and suffering as do you. Do you then feel compassion for that person and wish strongly for the suffering of that person to end? Now resolve yourself to help end that person’s suffering. For a few moments, try to hold your mind in a state of compassion. Imagine being surrounded by the suffering people of the world and then try to move their suffering to yourself. Imagine all six billion persons on the planet thinking simultaneously about ending each other’s pain. This would soon put an end to war. Isn’t it part of our nature to care about our fellow beings. Without compassion, one is not human.
Have a feeling of compassion and loving kindness for fellow humans. Your warmth will be both received and returned. Possess a spirit of openness and friendship and others will trust you. Anger, jealousy, and hatred are harmful. Be patient. Even when pushed, yelled at, hit, embarrassed, or insulted do not return that action.
The Dalai Lama describes other specific, mental exercises to help you cultivate your own character. Imagine an egotistical version of yourself who is ignoring a group of people in need. You know that both you and the members of this group want to be happy and do not want to suffer. It is simply not good to be egotistical. Since all persons have an equal right to be happy, you can see that the needs of a group of many persons has priority over the needs of a single person. Since you will make temporary sacrifices in hopes of obtaining a greatly improved future for yourself, notice that it makes perfect sense for you to make sacrifices in order to help a group of persons. You must serve and help others. Further imagine a field of all the people in the past who have done good. Tell them of your bad deeds and then restrain from repeating those deeds as if they were poison. From the depths of your heart, admire your own good deeds. Take joy in the knowledge of the good deeds of others. Think again and again and again: “May I become able to help all beings.”
A moral authority is not required to teach you right from wrong; you naturally feel good or bad while doing things. You know which things make you happy and which do not. We don’t have to be trained to know right and wrong but with experience become better at pursuing wholesome behavior. The resulting inner peace is well worth striving for. It also takes some experience to learn that small acts can have large consequences.
Parents who control their emotions, model caring behavior, and set limits on the behavior of their children often produce caring and compassionate children. Help your child see the consequences of their behavior by discussing their effect on other people, and ask your child to reflect on how they feel when another person is kind to them.
During a dispute, reduce your own anger toward others by taking the viewpoint of every involved person. Patience and tolerance are the antidotes for anger and hatred. Have love and kindness for everyone. Be grateful for the occasional person who acts against you because they give you a chance to put yourself in their place and to see the situation from the viewpoint of an antagonist. Without enemies, we would not get the opportunity to better ourselves. Enemies give us a chance to practice patience, tolerance, compassion, and our calmness of mind. If you build and maintain a calmness of mind, even your enemies cannot disturb you.
Our life is meaningful, peaceful, and happy when we practice warmth, kindness, and compassion. We live for only a few decades. If you cannot serve other human beings then at least refrain from harming them.
We are linked to the efforts, cooperation, and compassion of others. Everything you use, from pencils to cars, is made by somebody else. The efforts of numerous persons went into making your shirt. We are not self-reliant but are interdependent and interconnected. We require others. If a person feels he or she is self-sufficient and does not need or care about others then he or she does not understand our actual interdependence.
Do not cloud your good nature with the negative emotions of conceit, arrogance, jealousy, desire, lust, closed mindedness, anger, or hatred. These are not overcome by simply suppressing them. Beware of them as they are developing within yourself during the moments in which some situation is unfolding and you will be better able to thwart them at their onset by combating them with the suggested antidotes. Analyze your behaviors later to decide if they were appropriate and if they were constructive or destructive.
If you become angry, it will diminish your ability to distinguish right from wrong. This ability is one of the highest human attributes. While being angry, you’ll experience a “temporary insanity” and even look ugly. People–even your own pets–will avoid you. You will loose sleep and your appetite will be gone. Anger and hatred arise from dissatisfaction and discontent and are combated by building inner contentment and cultivating kindness, patience, and tolerance. To meditate on anger, you might imagine an angry person’s physical ugliness and choose not to be that person again. Say to yourself: “I will never do that again.”
Notice that it takes a strong, self-disciplined mind to respond with patience and tolerance while someone is harming you. Humility is having the capacity to take a more confrontational response but deliberately deciding not to do so. Forgiveness results from patience and tolerance.
Cutler and the Dalai Lama say that bringing about discipline within one’s mind to do wholesome things is the essence of Buddhist teaching. Human nature is fundamentally good, gentle, and compassionate. We are like clear water occasionally muddied by bad thoughts that soon settle out to again leave the water clear. This is referred to as our “Buddha Nature.” We are fundamentally good but must strive to obtain a calm, affectionate, and wholesome mind. A concerted and prolonged internal evaluation of oneself –meditation–develops this inner state and also helps to change the way we conduct our daily life and interact with others. See others as fellow human beings. Each of us has the marvelous gift of human intelligence and a capacity to develop determination and to use it in positive ways. A warm heart respects the views and rights of others. Seeing others as basically good and compassionate instead of hostile and selfish allows us to relax, trust, and live at ease. For example, approach strangers assuming they are good people; you will then be happier.
It has been mentioned in previous chapters that scientists will first try to guess how nature behaves in a specific circumstance and then are often surprised when their measurements reveal how nature actually does behave. For centuries, Buddhists have been looking internally at the state of mind of a person having relationships with other human beings. Cutler makes numerous and fascinating comparisons between the practices of Buddhism and psychiatry. Psychiatrists conduct scientific studies of people, including such things as the chemical basis of behavior, the effects of mental health on physical health, and the interactions of pairs of individuals forming a social system. They test methods in which unhealthy behavior can be altered to regain one’s mental and physical health. Buddhists have looked inside themselves and correctly identified naturally healthy behavior and ways to correct unhealthy behavior. People have trouble correctly guessing the behavior of nature but are able to look inside themselves and see their own nature. We know what makes us happy or sad and we know what sort of interactions with others will make us feel good. We just aren’t good at guessing specific aspects of nature–for example, whether or not ashes will float on water.
We see that the daily practice of religion for a Buddhist does not involve deity worship. Buddhism is a lifelong, internal evaluation of one’s outlook, efforts, and actions in order to feel compassion and loving kindness toward others, obtain internal peace, maintain a calmness of mind free of extremes, keep a positive outlook even during the times of suffering that will occur, face trouble head on, acknowledge and accept change, have caring relations with others, receive approval from others, and have a sense of commonality with and respect for all other living creatures. Have a belief in the goodness of all human beings because we share much in common; don’t instead search for and emphasize our fewer differences.
Those of us humans who are Confucianists believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. In The Wisdom of Confucius, Lin Yutang explains that the strongest doctrine of Confucianism is that the measure of people is people. It is a humanist system that believes in the good of each human, and it has a certain viewpoint concerning the conduct of life and of society.
Our human nature includes right and wrong, respect and piety, righteousness, wisdom, and moral consciousness. Sometimes we ignore or neglect them but if you look inside yourself you will see them. A great person is one who has not lost the heart of a child. Each person can begin to be a moral person by simply following the instincts of his or her own innate human nature because people are moral by nature. You do not have to look for perfection in divine ideals: it is within yourself. Confucianism is interested in human relationships, not in mysticism nor spirits.
The love of humanity is a state of mind that, when attained, makes one feel at peace. All persons are created equal in goodness of heart. The Golden Rule is to put yourself in the place of others. You will not act badly toward others if you first imagine this act being done to yourself. Confucius explained that this was the definition of a true person. He said that before you act you should apply the personal test: "How would you feel yourself? You can find the answer within yourself." Everyone knows these rules because they are within each of us, but it is difficult to live a totally pure life.
Confucius was the founder who lived in China 2,500 years ago. During his lifetime, the empire was collapsing and many small states were warring. There was great inequality in wealth. It was another case of a time and place in which injustice had reached an intolerable limit. It was a period of moral and political chaos, but it was also a time of great intellectual freedom of thought. Many persons were thinking of a way to bring peace and order to the chaos. Some thinkers, like Laotse (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laotse) and Chuangtse, (see http://mindmatters.no/tao/ChuangTse.html) suggested that we abandon civilization completely while others, like Buddha, taught the oneness of the universe.
A child learns to be humble by having respect and courtesy for its older siblings and parents and learns to be a good citizen by obeying its father. While we are children, if we acquire a habit of love and respect for our parents then we will extend this mental attitude toward the authority of the state. Good sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters cannot help but comprise an orderly and peaceful nation. When the family knows kindness then the nation will too. Being a kind parent is preparation for being a kind ruler. By the way, in Watching the Tree, A Chinese Daughter Reflects on Happiness, Tradition, and Spiritual Wisdom, Adeline Yen Mah explains that for the last 750 years, school children have been learning respect for elders by reading the very same book.
In this way, political and social order develop naturally from the proper behavior of the family. Confucius taught that society consists of fathers, brothers, friends, and the sovereign. Confucianism seeks to build a rationalized social and political order by duplicating the order of the family. The nation is ordered by the family and the family is ordered by a proper personal life. Do you think that this outlook would improve your own life and government, today? It is a positive outlook with a sense of responsibility toward all other humans and toward society in general. The teachings of Confucius are most comparable to the teachings of Moses. Each considered their teachings to be both religious and civil and that both these things are aspects of a whole life. (We saw above that religion and the state are inseparable in Islam, also.)
In the fullest realization of Confucianism no laws or government would be necessary because everyone would be living in moral harmony. If you threaten people with laws and punishment then they will stay out of jail but they will have no sense of honor, only shame. If you govern people by virtue and propriety then they will have honor and respect. Propriety, respect for elders and for authority, love for other humans, and a daily practice of simple good manners will result in social and political order. Still today, this philosophy of essential human relationships is the foundation of the Chinese ethos.
Confucius believed that authorities should govern by example and that moral people make moral government. He said that emperors are human and that anyone can be an emperor. The emperor must rule by virtue not by force. The authorities must be kind and gentle, possess moral principles, love learning, be calm and at ease, have contempt for material luxuries, and be careful of their own conduct because they know that they provide an example to others. He said that the sovereign should be a cultivated gentle person–like Plato's philosopher-king. The power of moral example is illustrated by giving money to thieves so that they don't have to steal it. If the authorities choose what is good for humans then there will be general confidence and peace. Choosing what is bad for a human results in a struggle for profit, robbery, or murder. The character of the ruler determines the fate of the nation. Poverty and suffering should be avoided.
The Analects is a collection of moral maxims. Some of us who live in the Western world have a mistaken idea that Confucianism is a collection of little sayings. A Christian is most concerned with Jesus and God and has many sayings to develop this concern; a Confucian is most concerned with behaving right so that the nation will be right and has many sayings to develop this concern. The sayings of the Analects are properly read at a rate of about one per day to allow one time to ponder its truth and to see its application in daily life.
Education civilizes the people, establishes good social customs, and brings order to the country. People have a good nature; a force is needed to make it otherwise. Education and culture prevent a clouding of our good nature. Confucianism understands the crucial role of the teacher and has many guidelines for schools and teachers. People have a small self-concern for food and material possessions but a great self-concern for ideas. When we nourish our ideas then we lose interest in material possessions.
Confucius knew that rituals have a unifying and respect-generating effect on participants. Music comes from the heart and produces a sense of joy. Ritual and music set the heart straight. Everywhere on the planet, at all times and places, all of us humans agree with this.
People who are humanists celebrate humanity
Humanists believe that people should not lie, cheat, steal, or kill. Proper behavior is what matters. Humanists believe in the capability, responsibility, and dignity of people and in the worth of human personality. Humanists have respect for all other humans. People are what matters. This concern for people is not affected by national boundaries. The priorities and goals of our civilization simply involve the lives of us humans.
Those of us humans who are humanists celebrate the capability, creativity, cultures, and accomplishments of the humans of the world. The views of humanists are not restricted to the details of a single culture or of a single religious or philosophical viewpoint; they celebrate them all. Humanists enjoy all aspects of the human experience, including art, science, literature, and the ideals of the world's religions.
In The Humanists Alternative: Some Definitions of Humanism, edited by Paul Kurtz, the authors explain that people are good by nature and that we are responsible for ourselves and for the details of our own way-of-life. The details comprise our culture and our civilization. We humans have built our own civilization and are responsible for every aspect of it. We cannot expect a supernatural being to create or to modify our civilization for us: we must do it for ourselves. By the way, you will find each of these elements of Humanism in Carl Sagan and Ann Duryan's book and movie Contact.
In The Way of Positive Humanism Gerald Larue states that "sanctuaries built to honor a god are really statements honoring the humans who designed, built, and contributed to them." Humanists believe that truths matter, not dogma or ritual or membership in any particular organization. Humanists feel that we cannot cherish a truth above the evidence on which it rests. The strategy for living is to "learn and adopt and improve" not to "obey and conform." All persons are free to choose their own pursuits and to find meaning in their own lives.
The Humanist magazine is published by The American Humanist Association (for their website, visit www.americanhumanist.org). The Humanist describes humanism as "a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society, standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings as a part of nature and holds that values–be they religious, ethical, social, or political–have their source in human nature, experience, and culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny."
Since we are parenting mammals and social primates, it is in our nature to care for our children, family, friends, and society. We can tell that this is true because it is seen that we do not live as solitary animals. It is our nature to form a mutually be
