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  2020-08-10

  Three questions for religions and Individuals of the World in 2020

  Within my contribution to the Covid-19 Archives project, I wanted to reflect on how my beliefs have changed over the year of 2020. In best coming up with where my thinking has been, I developed a few xelect questions which could be asked, or answered by anyone in contemporary settings and are highly relevant to any life, spiritual or secular. I will reflect on insights I have internalized from both secular and religious texts. It is my underline perception that all religions strive towards a union with a divine principle, In this way they are all equal. As famously spoken by Swami Vivekananda “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.” So long as a heart has a desire for God; In whichever form the seeker finds. The desire of man is grand, and will not stop on this side of infinity. Therefore, so long as the desire of an individual is to expand one's own awareness to ever greater extents, one will always be prepared for a wider more complex existence. How does your faith address the issue of ‘evil’, ‘suffering’, or ‘sin’ within the world? This question is a common contention of every faith, particularly with wide evidence of natural disasters and illnesses, culminating in widespread suffering within the human and animal world. As many ideas have been put forward through faiths and philosophies, many such explanations leave much to be desired. For instance; theories such as character building or developmental and growth theories. Ideas that God is ‘testing us’, or preparing us for something in the future. Such answers are unsatisfactory in that a God deemed as all loving would not Inflict suffering. Similarly freewill is given, or a deviation from moral principle. Yet the same question arises. What suffering is experienced because of ‘freewill’. To give a lit match to a child is dangerous because they do not know the burn of the fire. In a similar fashion, ideas which argue the fault of man do not give justice to the hardships of life in any given society. It is my belief, similar to what might be seen in non-dual Vedanta, that issues of suffering facing the world are a result of ignorance. That an individual, as a single focal point of reference is never isolated, yet rather synonymous with the whole of conscious awareness. What does your belief have to say of the relationship between the individual and the world? I am a centre of Thy golden light And I its vast and vague circumference, Thou art my soul great, luminous and white And Thine my mind and will and glowing sense. Thy spirit’s infinite breath I feel in me; My life is a throb of Thy eternity. - Sri Aurobindo Personally, this is one of my favorite short poem reflections by Aurobindo. It is my understanding that I am not alien to this world, yet rather emerge into it. As a tree produces a ripe fruit, the planet has produced the human brain as the most ‘conscious fruit’. I appreciate the idea that we are to be shepherds of the earth and do right by the planet, as it is no different than us, and will be the ingredients of future generations. What do your teachings define as a moral and ethical life? I believe in the concept of doing unto others as we would have done to yourself, or the idea of doing right by one's neighbor just the same as one's enemy. It is because I know that who I define as an enemy defines myself. Rather, the Idea for me is to dissolve conceptions of enemies or friends alike. That all may have the opportunity to be admired with fresh eyes as pure and worthy of love and respect. Once the obsession of noticing the wrongs of others has been observed, we may slowly begin perceiving our own wrongdoings. Thank you for all and any who took the time to read over this! I hope you too felt compelled to consider such questions. This year has left all with tremendous insight.