)O( Hytegia )O(
New Member
Now, I don't have to tell you much about myself - I'm a pagan, in the most loose sense that the word comes from. But, recently, I had been interacting with a majorly-Asian community and been presiding in their religious ceremonies by simple happenstance of invitation and the level of adorableness that Japanese lass' combined presence tends to be.
It was during these interactions that I began thinking and observing rather odd and alien concepts towards both religion and religious practice in general. Let me explain:
To me, as someone from the Bible Belt, the majority of a congregation of people seemed to be bound by the service and drawn to common principles espoused by the preacher. Walking in and listening to general discussion, prayer, and the like tended to shift in a one-minded way towards things of holy nature and during the time expressed the shunning of Earthly problems or, at the very least, the pressing of these Earthly problems into the will of God to handle.
But, in here, it was nothing like that. The atmosphere was totally different and materialistic in nature. The people sitting there were people I had not seen the last week I was present there, and there was no massive group-think involved with the ceremonies. There was no general discussion involving the deities nor expoused notions from the shrine head of ideals through practice. I asked the lady next to me "What does this chant mean?" and she expressed that it was to invite a specific deity to the shrine in order to preside over our wants and needs during this time and to make the season fruitful.
(This was at a Shinto Shrine).
In the whole sense, the latter was very open yet very closed about the whole procedure. I even waited until after the worshipping was done to sit down with the Shrine Head and discuss what was done. Through the discussion and as he answered my questions, I asked him simply: "So, what are the goals of going to ths service as opposed to going to another religious service?"
His answer was simple: "There are none over another. But, there's a problem with your question: it is as if you are implying that the goal is different from any other religious group. You should focus on bettering yourself at all times, and that's all there is to it."
It was then that I was perplexed. You see, this gentleman believed that the goal of religion was, genuinely, to better one's self and personal lives instead of to seek religious sentiments of the afterlife. It was so strange hearing a holyman say such a thing, so I determined that I should try to see if any other religions held this viewpoint. And, off I went to a Buddhist Temple the next week.
After participating in the ceremonies, I felt that strange, alienated feeling once again as I participated (though the atmosphere did, very much, put me at peace). There was no discussion about religious principles, doctrine, or anything of that matter. It was people discussing things they had overcome, and people relaxing in humble meditation.
Afterwards, I sought out one of the monks, and his answer was similar to the one I answered above: That Buddhism isn't about an afterlife, nor concentrated on those notions. It's about reaching peace within yourself and finding calm in an otherwise chaotic life, but it was not required.
In both instances, I had found that the two most prominent Eastern religious practices seemed to be incompatible with my first-taught-Christian mindset on a fundamental level. I couldn't seem to grasp my mind around the fact that an afterlife wasn't the first and foremost concern in religious practice. It was then I began to disect the differences between the Judeo-Christian dominated Western religious principles vs. those I had been told about the Eastern religious principles.
The foundation from the Judeo-Christian ideals seem to be that man is an imperfect entity, and due to this fallen nature he is unable to overcome that and better himself. In it's stead, he must have a divine entity intervene for him to overcome this fallen nature. That fate is out of man's hands and must be placed in the will of this entity. That means that most of the service is spent in humbling themselves over this entity and begging on it's hands and knees to attend to their good will and comforts.
However, in the eastern religious practices, it seems to have the exact same thing: except with the fact that mankind itself is able to overcome their fallen, imperfect nature through simple practices and meditation. Fate is a natural ordeal, and the only thing that changes is how you handle it and the decisions you make towards others. This focuses the services towards personal goals, meditation, and concepts such as humbling one's self to obtain peace with one's self.
Is this an accurate examination? Hopefully.
It was during these interactions that I began thinking and observing rather odd and alien concepts towards both religion and religious practice in general. Let me explain:
To me, as someone from the Bible Belt, the majority of a congregation of people seemed to be bound by the service and drawn to common principles espoused by the preacher. Walking in and listening to general discussion, prayer, and the like tended to shift in a one-minded way towards things of holy nature and during the time expressed the shunning of Earthly problems or, at the very least, the pressing of these Earthly problems into the will of God to handle.
But, in here, it was nothing like that. The atmosphere was totally different and materialistic in nature. The people sitting there were people I had not seen the last week I was present there, and there was no massive group-think involved with the ceremonies. There was no general discussion involving the deities nor expoused notions from the shrine head of ideals through practice. I asked the lady next to me "What does this chant mean?" and she expressed that it was to invite a specific deity to the shrine in order to preside over our wants and needs during this time and to make the season fruitful.
(This was at a Shinto Shrine).
In the whole sense, the latter was very open yet very closed about the whole procedure. I even waited until after the worshipping was done to sit down with the Shrine Head and discuss what was done. Through the discussion and as he answered my questions, I asked him simply: "So, what are the goals of going to ths service as opposed to going to another religious service?"
His answer was simple: "There are none over another. But, there's a problem with your question: it is as if you are implying that the goal is different from any other religious group. You should focus on bettering yourself at all times, and that's all there is to it."
It was then that I was perplexed. You see, this gentleman believed that the goal of religion was, genuinely, to better one's self and personal lives instead of to seek religious sentiments of the afterlife. It was so strange hearing a holyman say such a thing, so I determined that I should try to see if any other religions held this viewpoint. And, off I went to a Buddhist Temple the next week.
After participating in the ceremonies, I felt that strange, alienated feeling once again as I participated (though the atmosphere did, very much, put me at peace). There was no discussion about religious principles, doctrine, or anything of that matter. It was people discussing things they had overcome, and people relaxing in humble meditation.
Afterwards, I sought out one of the monks, and his answer was similar to the one I answered above: That Buddhism isn't about an afterlife, nor concentrated on those notions. It's about reaching peace within yourself and finding calm in an otherwise chaotic life, but it was not required.
In both instances, I had found that the two most prominent Eastern religious practices seemed to be incompatible with my first-taught-Christian mindset on a fundamental level. I couldn't seem to grasp my mind around the fact that an afterlife wasn't the first and foremost concern in religious practice. It was then I began to disect the differences between the Judeo-Christian dominated Western religious principles vs. those I had been told about the Eastern religious principles.
The foundation from the Judeo-Christian ideals seem to be that man is an imperfect entity, and due to this fallen nature he is unable to overcome that and better himself. In it's stead, he must have a divine entity intervene for him to overcome this fallen nature. That fate is out of man's hands and must be placed in the will of this entity. That means that most of the service is spent in humbling themselves over this entity and begging on it's hands and knees to attend to their good will and comforts.
However, in the eastern religious practices, it seems to have the exact same thing: except with the fact that mankind itself is able to overcome their fallen, imperfect nature through simple practices and meditation. Fate is a natural ordeal, and the only thing that changes is how you handle it and the decisions you make towards others. This focuses the services towards personal goals, meditation, and concepts such as humbling one's self to obtain peace with one's self.
Is this an accurate examination? Hopefully.