Essay #2: The Essence of the Religious Life

I was raised a Christian.


The ethic of Christianity directs and animates all that I do.


I am also a student of other religions and a respecter of people of all faiths. Additionally, I have respect for people who incline toward humanism rather than theism, attentive in those cases to the ethics according to which such humanists live.


In addition to Christianity, two belief systems have had a big impact on my moral values and personal ethic. Those belief systems are Buddhism and philosophical Daoism.


So in order, let me detail what each of those three religions or belief systems has taught me, and how each of them affects my life:


The heart of Christianity is love. Jesus loved all people, from all walks of life. He brought them love and reserved judgment. Jesus attended to the needs of thieves, prostitutes, lepers, and others whom society had cast the judgment that he refused to render. He said that he “sought not to bring peace but a sword,” and yet he was manifestly a person of peace. His most violent act was overturning the tables of the money-exchangers who were in His view corrupting the sacred purposes of the Temple with the material aspirations of the usurer.


But most of the time what Jesus meant by the “sword” was a propensity to shake things up, challenge those in authority, fulfill the spirit of the Law by elevating love over the technicalities of religious observance, and in so doing face off against any secular or religious authority that put the goals of established institutions ahead of the immediate needs of humankind. He said, for example, that “The Sabbath was made for [humankind], not [humankind] for the Sabbath.”


Jesus was love. He called upon people to “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” The seeming impossibility of that task is mitigated by the reality that as human beings we cannot be perfect--- but that we must try. We must try to do our best every day that our feet hit the ground to be the best people whom we can be. Love must be our guide. If we “have not love,” said the apostle Paul, we “are but a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”


The love of Jesus active in the world is the paramount value in Christianity. Our decisions for employment, volunteer work, and interaction with our fellows in all of our daily activities must be suffused with love--- or we are not Christians.


If salvation is important to us, then we must accept the saving grace of Jesus and then act accordingly. Concern for personal salvation alone entails a selfishness that Jesus could never abide. If we are secure in our salvation, we will demonstrate our gratitude for being under the protective watch of Jesus by acting protectively and lovingly in the best interests of our fellow human beings.


Jesus is Love. Love is Jesus. For the Christian, Love must be the Ultimate Concern.


From Buddhism, I take numerous philosophical notions, some of which original Buddha Siddhartha Gautama inherited from the Hindu tradition.


Buddhism acknowledges the suffering of life; that suffering arises because of our selfish desires; that to end suffering we must extinguish such desires; and that to end suffering, we must act according to eight basic principles: right understanding; right thought; right speech; right action; right occupation; right effort; right mindfulness; and right meditation.


That is, we must understand clearly the essence of spirituality; think thoughts that are pure and wholesome, in accord with our spiritual essence; speak in a manner consistent with our spirituality; walk our talk: do what we say we should do; opt for lines of work that will allow us to make our best contributions to humankind, consistent with our spirituality; always put forth our best effort in the service of our ethics and our fellow human beings; be calmly appreciative of every single moment that we have on this earth; and engage in ongoing meditation that will further our understanding and continually make of ourselves better and better human beings.


The teachings of Buddhism call upon us to look past the triviality of so much of the material world that we see from day to day; into those values that abide in eternity; to that realm of the spirit that recognizes Ultimate Reality beyond this material world. We should therefore not become fixated on the petty concerns that make up maya (illusion); but rather fix our vision on that which has meaning in eternity. When we focus on what is truly important in life, according to our best spiritual aspirations, we achieve spiritual breakthrough (moksha) and attain a sense of eternal peace (nirvana). A person at peace is a person best able to challenge the triviality and the corruption of the world that we have been given, working to replace this very imperfect world with a world that would better reflect the best spiritual goals of Buddhists and Christians alike.


From Daoism I take an awe of nature, and a sense that the most powerful moments are not always obviously so; while great power is often a masquerade for fear and loathing: 


The wet substance of the waterfall is apparently soft in composition; and yet over time that waterfall wears down a rocky cliff that seems so strong and impenetrable.


People of great power often are found to harbor deep self-doubt and to engage in conduct that is appalling, wretched, sinful; while people of seemingly humble circumstances patiently change the world with their consistent daily acts of kindness, and with the love they live in the call to service of their fellow human beings.


So the authentic religious life is that which acts upon the ethic of love; recognizes the deeper realities beyond the screen of everyday existence; and sees in humble, confident, patient dedication to one’s fellow human beings a force far more powerful than any formal position can bestow.


Above all, authentic religion is that which articulates a spirit of love; motivates a person to love all of one’s fellow human beings; and puts the ethic of love into the creation of a world that can be so much better than the one in which we now live.