Our topic was Mysticism and Zen.
The main part of our discussion was about how mysticism is a part of every religion and not its own philosophy. We felt like it was a part of each religion that not all people decided to abide by. We were particularlly confused on whether Mysticism meant that the person thinks "they are god" or if it was just a sort of enlightenment one reached when they thought they had reached gods level. Either way, I think Christians would have trouble practicing mysticism because they might have trouble or battle with being a follower.
Our discussion question is, At what point is it okay, or is it accepted at all to choose bits and peices of a religion to follow and others parts of a religion to ignore? For what reasons do you believe people do this?
I think all religions connect in some ways. They all seem to have one or more things in common with another. I don't believe a person can pick and choose what they want from different religions, not if they are consider themselves to be a part of one particular religion. People are imperfect and everyone has their own opinion and judgement, I think that's why people believe they can pick and choose.
ReplyDeleteMysticism actually fits into Christianity in its core. Many of the examples in the book did seem to insinuate total control or a transcendence of reality. However, it can also be defined (http://www.frimmin.com/faith/mysticismintro.php) as the spirituality of the direct experience of God. Many who take a more legalistic view on Christianity, as in many other religions, do, then, disregard mysticism. I don't know what makes it "okay" for different members of a religion to believe differently about certain issues, but I do know that it's bound to happen as we all have different perspectives. Is there one truth? Then I suppose there's nothing "okay" about the wide variety of beliefs within or beyond a given religion. Is there one truth for each man? Is there truth? There must be. Does anyone know it with certainty? Well I did at one point, before I realized I was wrong. Everyone has to do and believe what feels right to them. I don't think the question of variety within relgion can be answered without first having some idea about the question of truth.
ReplyDeleteInconsistency in religion deems it irrelevant. If people are allowed to decide what they deem necessary in a religion than it is completely immoral to try and spread your religious beliefs, since they are completely subjective.
ReplyDeleteWhy is it immoral to try to spread your subjective beliefs? Does their subjectivity make them obviously false or incorrect? But maybe we need to define those terms (objective, subjective) before trying to answer...
ReplyDeleteOn Rachel's point: I don't know if all religions "connect" but all religionists clearly do not. Many of them expect their friends, neighbors, and even family members to go to Hell for not believing as they do.
I recently watched a Saturday Night TV Funhouse (Satuday Night Live short)skip where these two kids had the chance to visit the famed Disney vault... it was a great animation short, and the kids saw, along with the great Disney films kept in the vault, all the terrible things Disney has created. The most important dialog I got from that short was the part when mickey said, "Look, he was Walt Disney, take all the good with the bad!"
ReplyDeleteAll this was said to bring up the point that, you really can't take what you want from a religion and chose to believe only what you want to believe, but need to take it all. Though, admittedly, I (and probably no other person on this earth), can't truthfully say they practice the full religion of their choice, because so many times, humans have taken religion out of context... ok, I'm done ranting...
I believe that religion is a personal experience that must be practiced by ones self. Therefore, everyone has to choose for themselves what they want to follow and what to not follow. If someone does not agree with a certain aspect about their established religion then they should not have to believe that. They should not be tied up with trying to fit into a certain label, but should look to find their beliefs by their own doing.
ReplyDeleteI think the confusion here is the difference between religion and spirituality. If you are a religious individual, then by all means you should try to follow and believe in the doctrine of your chosen religion. If someone claims to be Catholic you would expect them to go to mass, follow the pope, observe lent, etc. You would be surprised if they didn't do these things. If someone considers themselves to be merely spiritual, then they choose to believe in whatever feels right to them based on their experiences/emotions/etc (i.e. subjectivity). Whether or not they pick and choose from the various religions around the world is up to them because they are not tied specifically to any one religion.
ReplyDeleteThere is obviously a lot of overlap between the two. Where we as humans go wrong here is in our judgement of others and their beliefs. There is no singular truth. Different people have different pieces of the universal puzzle but no one individual or group has it all. Choosing what you believe in is a completely personal endeavor, but if you choose to say you practice a certain religion then you should by all means practice it to avoid hypocrisy and confusion.