Lovely piece - thanks, (fellow) Michael. I don’t mind religion as a balm for anxiety. Though I think there are better comfort blankets, like books! It’s when anyone’s religion is forced on anyone else that problems arise.
sifting out the holy from our bones..." - Chelan Harkin
At the core of Abrahamic religions (Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) is a duality, a split between the sacred and the profane. It is the "fruit of knowledge" that precipitated our fall from Grace and our exile from a sense of natural sacredness. Spiritual bypassing by using religious symbology may bring short-term relief but only masks the core wound of sacred banishment.
Spirituality, or more specifically "soulfulness" as author Thomas Moore describes, strives to repair the schism between mind and body with a pragmatic sense of compassion and acceptance. God is not in the sky, but deep within our bodies, a sacred birthright rather than an "original sin".
Asian atheistic philosophy, Taoism and Buddhism, bring our spiritual search down from the clouds and focus our attention on a felt sense of balance and harmony between our mortality and our innate divinity. Our spiritual longing finds a more humane solution, and a sense of compassion and calm emerges.
The "holy is in our bones", not in thoughts and words. We have taken the wrong road to enlightenment and are reaping the tragic results. "Insanity is repeating an action and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
Lovely piece - thanks, (fellow) Michael. I don’t mind religion as a balm for anxiety. Though I think there are better comfort blankets, like books! It’s when anyone’s religion is forced on anyone else that problems arise.
Superb essay
"The worst thing we ever did
was put God in the sky
out of reach
pulling the divinity
from the leaf,
sifting out the holy from our bones..." - Chelan Harkin
At the core of Abrahamic religions (Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam) is a duality, a split between the sacred and the profane. It is the "fruit of knowledge" that precipitated our fall from Grace and our exile from a sense of natural sacredness. Spiritual bypassing by using religious symbology may bring short-term relief but only masks the core wound of sacred banishment.
Spirituality, or more specifically "soulfulness" as author Thomas Moore describes, strives to repair the schism between mind and body with a pragmatic sense of compassion and acceptance. God is not in the sky, but deep within our bodies, a sacred birthright rather than an "original sin".
Asian atheistic philosophy, Taoism and Buddhism, bring our spiritual search down from the clouds and focus our attention on a felt sense of balance and harmony between our mortality and our innate divinity. Our spiritual longing finds a more humane solution, and a sense of compassion and calm emerges.
The "holy is in our bones", not in thoughts and words. We have taken the wrong road to enlightenment and are reaping the tragic results. "Insanity is repeating an action and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
James operated in a pragmatic tradition, going back to Emerson. The experience of the transcendent leads to faith. Doesn’t much matter what wrapper.