It wasn’t about their religion or who they believed in. It was simply that they believed.
The other day I was speaking to a man who was talking about this Gregorian Monk CD he had just purchased. He was so happy to share it, he had never heard anything like it before and asked if I had. Actually, I had. The summer last I had the opportunity to see and hear the Tibetan Buddhist Monks, and they were also incredible. Then it started. He said we do not put the Tibetan Buddhists in the same category as the Gregorian Monks. I disagreed, I most certainly would put them in the same category. He continued to argue “a Buddhist? They don’t even believe in God! How can they be in the same category as the Gregorian Monks? They can’t. What do they even believe in? A fat man who sits on a stool?” I didn’t know how to respond to that. Thankfully another co-worker intervened and somehow ended the conversation with a “let’s agree to disagree” comment.
Last night I was reflecting on this. It wasn’t until then that I realized why I was comparing the two. It wasn’t about their religion or who they believed in. It was simply that they believed. It was the vibrational intensity their voices were able to portray as they expressed their love for their faith, whatever that faith was. The fact that a division was being placed between these two groups simply because of where they pull that faith from is an example of how our society forms divisions in the simplest ways – yet we as a society tell ourselves that we will not judge.
Then I asked myself, what do I see when I think of these two groups – Christians and Buddhists? Keep in mind, that I have not spent my life studying or conforming to any religion, I have only taken the pieces that resonate with me, and therefore this is simply from my view, and in no way a complete definition of either.
I do believe in God as our creator, our source. I also believe in Jesus. I believe many of the stories are to be taken metaphorically, and through different interpretations of those metaphors we have developed different sectors of the Christian religion making none of them right or wrong, just different.
Jesus isolated himself to sit in periods of meditation. He then brought the messages back to share with all who would listen. He was charged with a purpose to offer proof that God exists and that his love is limitless and unwavering. Jesus succeeded at this job – to those who allowed themselves to feel that particular belief. And to this day, people continue to preach and talk about how to love him, and how to live in his love, and that, if accepted, all of our wrongdoings are wiped clean.
Like Jesus, Buddhists isolate themselves into periods of mediation. But instead of trying to spread the message to others, they focus on learning what it means to them, personally. They have acknowledged that the society we are exposed to does not nurture their soul. They sit and wait for lessons to be delivered, they come from within, and from the higher consciousness. They spend their days trying to live in the truth of what their soul has said, while being consciously aware of all their interactions both good and bad with all things living. They hold themselves accountable, and strive to nurture their soul and the souls of those around them.
Is either belief system better or less than the other? No. They both stem from a place of belief and love. One person’s view does not discredit another’s. Our differences balance each other. It is when we as a people feel the need to become defensive and attack another’s beliefs that animosity is created.
What does it take for us to sit back and listen to another’s viewpoint as just that – their opinion? Is it respect for another being? Is it the all-encompassing love we are supposed to be searching for? Is it the acceptance that all of our beliefs have been built by individual experiences and that makes each unique in its own way? Or is it the security in one’s own self-knowledge and living a self-truth?
If we can just put aside our head-strong ways for a short period of time and listen to what others have to say and hear their stories… maybe we might learn something new… and maybe, just maybe, our narrow views will be expanded, and we can share in the vibrational intensity heard in the voices of those who sing.
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