Something that I noticed is that people really are all the same. I think I've been in the Harding Bubble a little too long. Nah, I won't blame Harding- make that the Church-People Bubble. I've been in the Church-People Bubble for the past 20 years, basically nonstop. But really, all of the people outside of these bubbles are the same too.
Because no matter what religion you are, you have beautiful children. They cry or throw a fit and have to get taken out of worship service, synagogue service, the room with the Buddha shrine. They love to learn, to practice, to participate, to help. They love to receive love, to ride on Daddy's back during Friday evening prayers, and wear the prayer shawl that Daddy wore on his bar mitzvah. They love to show love, to pass out forks to all of the guests that don't know how to eat the food without them, to wave goodbye to every single person who walks out the door of the temple. They are beautiful.
Everyone is looking for solutions to the problems in the world and inside themselves. Whether you look for it in chanting or praying, in Baha'ullah or Christ, in five pillars or four noble truths.
Everyone has something right. God is Holy. God is One. God is Just. God is merciful. Incarnate God exists. All people are created equally. There is a possible end to all suffering.
When I was at the Hindu temple on Friday morning, I was retold a legend that I had also been told several times before. It seems like everyone has a version, Hindus, Jains, Sufis, Buddhists, everybody. It goes something like this... A king puts five blind men (who have never before seen or heard about an elephant) in a room with an elephant. He asks each man to explain to him what he perceives an elephant to be like. One feels the elephant's leg and responds, "An elephant is like a tree trunk". Another feels the elephant's side and responds, "An elephant is like a wall". Another feels the elephant's trunk and responds, "An elephant is like a tree branch". Another feels the tusk and responds, "An elephant is like a pipe". The final blind man feels the tail and responds, "An elephant is like a rope."
I think the story is supposed to point out that everyone is a little bit right (although it seems to me they were all mostly wrong), and they at least did the best that they could, considering their circumstances. They all had something right.
Everywhere that I went on Friday, I heard four speakers, or four different religions, say that they felt that their religion and their faith made them a better person. That is one of the reasons that these individuals claimed to have stuck with their faith. I started to wonder if my faith makes me a better person. I wasn't so sure it did, but I think it's supposed to. Then I realized that all the things I was hearing about, the praying the meditating, the worshipping with the community, those are all things that my faith involves as well. I suddenly felt my faith being stretched. I wasn't doubting, I just felt like I had been stretched, perhaps just a tad too far. Maybe instead I should be asking myself what a "good person", a "better person" actually is. I mean what does that even mean? Is there something that is missing from my faith, or something that I am just not doing? Or an I a good person, and I just don't feel like I am?... I felt very confused by Friday evening- not about my faith or other faiths, and not even about my salvation. I was just wondering if these people who see themselves as better people because of their religious practice would see me as better because of my religious practice.
This weekend, our teacher talked a little bit about how if you are willing to genuinely listen to someone, they will be willing to listen to you. This is always something you hear, but after this weekend, it actually seemed like a possibility. These people were willing and able to confidently share their faith with others. I want to be able to do that, but with the Truth! How much of a flop would I be if I tried to share why I do what I do with them?! I don't know, maybe I wouldn't flop, but that's just it; I don't know what would happen, because I don't know that I have explained my faith to someone who didn't share it or at least sympathize. I'm out of practice.
When we were studying Jainism, our teacher mentioned the elephant parable. I remember him telling us that, luckily, the real king doesn't set his blind subjects loose on an elephant and demand to hear their descriptions... He tells us ahead of time what he already knows, what the elephant really looks like. Then He guides us through the elephant room. So even though we can't see the big picture and can only feel out one part at a time, the elephant is not something we have to be scared of or confused about.
To sum things up, this weekend gave me a new sense or urgency to practice sharing my faith and find out how to do it in a loving and respectful, but also confident and effective way. I also have a stronger desire to keep seeking God- to test the spirits and examine the teachings. To make sure that my faith remains something that I actually have faith in.
The largest statue of the Buddha in North America happens to be located in Keller, Texas, of all places!
At the Hindu Temple, we witnessed a couple performing a puja.
