ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

This is the season of beginnings and ends.  So my mind, for a number of weeks and a number of reasons have been thinking of both.

A few weeks ago, I was explaining to my students the difference in the way western and eastern religions see life and death.  From a western perspective, it's like a time line:  we're born, we live, we die, and then, depending upon our behavior in this life, we are judged by God go to a heaven or a hell.  (Judaism is an exception because in Judaism, unlike any other religion I know of, there is almost no focus at all on what happens after death.  "I set before thee life and death.  Choose life" says God, according to the biblical injunction in Deuteronomy 30.19.)  But there's certainly no coming back alive.  It's a straight path, a term used in Islam.

In the eastern religions of Hinduism and Buddhism life and death are cyclical.  You're born, you live, you die, you're born again.  What life form you're born into and the situations you experience  in life are determined simply and only by the actions, good or bad,  you did in previous lives.  That's what karma is, 'your' actions.  There is no judge, no god, no jury that determines your path.  It's simply cause and effect.

All of that is theoretically quite fascinating and plausible.  But the day after I explained that to my class, 20 little kids and 6 helping adults were slaughtered in their school.  And suddenly the theoretical - for either traditions -- paled as answers to this situation. 

The western answer, the promise of heaven, evokes for me the response of Dostoevsky's character Ivan Illych who collected stories of abused children and claimed that if that was the cost of entry into heaven, then he respectfully returns the ticket to God.  He doesn't want any part of it. Nor do I.

The eastern traditions suggest that 'they (or their parents) must have done something in their previous lives' and this is the result.  That, to me, is too harsh.   I cannot and will not blame the victim.  

And yet, when a Hindu scholar, explained it to me in a larger context, there is perhaps some merit.  In answer to my question regarding the Hindu understanding of the death of those 26,  he wrote: 

"In the larger context, our deeds as a Society or  nation on others come back to haunt us, current and future generations. We all as a nation, society, community and individuals are going to remain responsible for the actions on and sufferings of the children and the people in general in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. A peaceful society and even handedness remain the cornerstone of good deed of individuals, community, Society and the nation.

Look at the ending of the leadership of Iraq, Libya, etc that inflicted so much harm to its own people and the way they suffered in their own life time. 

Our children  and the society in general pay the price of our evolving gun culture and mighty fire power of the so called  powerful individuals and Society.

The helpless children and people who lose their life for no fault of their own, are seen to have an incomplete life. However, their souls may become dearer to God and take rebirth or go to heaven  for eternal peace of their soul."

And I must admit that I agree with him, particularly looking at the history of violence and gun use in this country.  Even most recently the subject of, and audience reaction to, Quentin Tarrentino's movie, Django Unchained reminds me that our societal karma of gun violence comes back to bite us and our children in the bottom.  What goes around eventually does come around.

But why those little children?  And for that matter, why any of the children, around the world, who daily are slaughtered by gun violence, war, malnourishment,  disease, poverty, lack of education?  Why aren't we up in arms for those innocents as well?

I don't have answers.  My job is to explain the answers given by religions around the world.  Answers that attempt to provide meaning and context to our lives.  And though the answers may be different in each religion -- and even within each religion -- the questions each tradition grapples with are the same:  what happens after death?  Why is their suffering?  Why me?  Why the innocent?  Why evil?  Where's good?   

Still, I don't have answers.  I just know this is the season of endings and beginnings and I, like most everyone else, am trying to figure out how to make sense of both as I  live life to the best of my ability in between.

May 2013 miraculously turn out to be a year of peace and good will to all children.

WHO KNEW? BODHI DAY, HANNUKAH AND CHRISTMAS

 The celebration of Christmas, the Buddha's enlightenment, and the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah all fall around this time of year.  And while there are significant differences between these three holidays and the religions that they represent, there are also profound similarities. 

Let's call the first the "who knew?" factor.  The instigators of these holidays -- Buddha, the Maccabees and Jesus were not the power leaders of their time.  To the contrary!  The pampered, sheltered prince Siddhartha Gautama was a rebellious disappointment to his powerful father and he wandered aimlessly as an ascetic before he became enlightened.  Who knew that Siddhartha would be able to sit under the Bodhi tree, meditate and find a way to live based on compassion and insight?  The Maccabbees were an oppressed, marginalized group of people in a little corner of Alexander the Great's empire.  Who knew that this rag tag group would lead guerrilla attacks against the largest, most organized army in the world and win?  Jesus was a tiny little baby, so vulnerable because he was a baby and because he was born in a barn of a very young mother and because the authorities wanted him dead.  Who knew this young being would grow up to have such a great impact on people and history around the world?  All three of these revolutions that significantly changed the world started with people WAY outside the "power" base of society.

Another aspect common to all three of the holidays is the role of difficulties, of suffering.  It was recognition of suffering -- from death, sickness and old age -- that caused Buddha to go searching for an answer.  Hanukkah commemorates the end of a terrible subjugation and a long, bitter war.  Jesus was born at a time when his parents were unable to find a comfortable room anywhere and King Herod was out to kill him.  Even we experience loss at this time of the year as leaves; light and warmth leave us.

This recognition that life is difficult is not an academic point: It is central to each of the stories and to each of us personally.  We all have difficulties.

And that leads to another aspect of the three holidays: the role of community.  No sooner did Buddha become enlightened then he went out, found disciples and formed the Sangha or community.  Buddhists around the world say the Triple Gem: “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Sangha, the community, I take refuge in the Teachings of the Buddha.”  The Maccabbees could not have regained the Temple and their way of life from the Greeks unless they had worked together as a community, as a family.  And Jesus with his disciples started his community by sharing in communion.  Some people find community within their church, synagogue or Temple, others in a less traditional place.

On of the most amazing discoveries about community is that it has physiological -- bodily -- effects on people.  A replicated study done at Stanford University on women with breast cancer showed this dramatically.  Women were divided randomly into two different groups.  They all had cancer at similar stages with similar prognoses, the only difference between the treatment of the groups is that one group met once a week to talk.  That was it -- they talked about their lives, their fears, and their experiences.  That group survived twice as long as the group that didn't have a community of supporters.  Community can be a powerful, healing force.  Maybe that's why these holidays are spent in community with family and friends.

And finally there is one other aspect of the holidays that is common to Bodhi day, Hanukkah and Christmas.  That is what the 2^nd step of all 12 step programs describes in this way:  "Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity."  For the Jew and the Christian that "Power greater than ourselves" is God.  To Jews it might have been the ragtag Maccabbees that won the war, but it was not they that were miraculously able to keep the flame burning in the Temple far longer than anticipated.  To Christians it was not just the human power of that little child Jesus that made him so special, it was god's power working in him.  Buddha didn't talk about god.  But he did recognize that there is far more beyond our self's narrow bandwidth of needs, wants and controls.

For some, that power greater than ourselves might be expressed in inspired music, which is part of all three religions.  Or perhaps that power greater than ourselves is illustrated by light, which is why candles are part of these traditions, particularly at this time of the year.  Perhaps that power greater than ourselves is recognized in trees, those magnificent plants with roots in the ground and branches in the sky that give us oxygen to breath and take away our refuse.  They remind us that life is like a tree, constantly renewing itself and evergreen.  Maybe that is why all three holidays use the symbol of a tree to represent its message: Buddha meditating under the Bodhi tree, the menorah in the shape of the tree of life and the Christian use of the Christmas tree. 

Who knew that there is a power greater than ourselves that could restore us to life?  The communities of these three wise traditions that celebrate what they know to be true  - they knew!

HANUKKAH AND ADVENT: SEASONS OF HOPE

I read the paper, listen to the news, look at the bleakness of the sky, and I can get pretty sad!  Things are not good.  There are real dangers out there!  The world needs fixing.  I get scared.  So it is, so it was, so it may always be.

But there is hope.  And for both Jews and Christians, this is a time where both of their stories reflect the idea that as bad as things may be, there is available a small kernel of hope that can flourish, grow, and change the world. And, both stories tell us, it can always start with one, small nobody – like you or me.

Imagine how scary it is to have the largest, most well equipped army attacking you, your family and your way of life.  Imagine that with brute strength this superpower insists that you do things their way or you die.  Everything you hold dear and precious will be taken away from you and there’s not a thing you can do to stop them.  Or is there? 

The Hanukkah story tells us that there IS something we can do.  When the Greek conquerors took over Jewish culture determined to wipe it out, one man stood up to them and said “no.”  He was willing to face terrible consequences for what he believed was the survival of his people. His action inspired others to be brave and to fight for what they believed in.  In the end, a rag tag band of local hicks managed to get rid of the most sophisticated hegemonic power of its day and reclaim their own way of life.  That’s what the Hanukkah lights represent.

We CAN change the status quo.  We DO have power in a seemingly powerless situation.  It might take guts to stand up and fight the powers that be.  It might take courage and persistence that goes beyond the strength we think we have, but it is possible.  And it begins with one small person like me.

Now imagine another situation.  A dictator has taken over your country.  There is no freedom of thought or movement.  There is no hope that life will get better or that there will be times of goodness and love.  Life is bleak, particularly for the poor and the disenfranchised.  Into this situation comes a young pregnant woman, traveling in the dead of winter.  There is no place for her to stay.  She gives birth to a tiny baby in a barn.  Who could be more vulnerable than a homeless baby in the cold?  And yet, that little baby grew up to be a wise, compassionate teacher whose ideas brought love, hope and compassion to many over 2 thousand years and whose followers changed the world – for better and for worse – in his name! 

The advent candles of the Christmas season symbolize the arrival of hope and goodness even when they’re unlikely to survive.  They are the hope that in the darkness of the season and the darkness of bad times, there will be a transformation of the way things are, to the way things can be.  They are the goodness of light that infuses our well-being and dispels our fears.

In both the Hanukkah story and the Christmas story the theme is of hope and deliverance – that there is a G-d who helps us out of a difficult situation.  But even if you don’t believe in such a G-d, the miracle of what one write calls “the potential in small things” can be seen all around us.  It is, as Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed reminds us, the tiniest seed of all that becomes a huge bushy tree.  It is that infinitesimally small cell that became the complicated person you are and that you will become.  It is, as the anthropologist Margaret Mead reminded us: “A small group of thoughtful people that can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.”

Though reading the newspaper can often get me down, it can also often lift me up.  There are stories of people around the world today standing up in their communities and by so doing, begin a revolution of change.  There are stories of kindness and caring for others who are in need.  These are the moments in which the potential of small things become inflamed and spread. 

May the light and the hope of Hanukkah and the Advent of Christmas remind us all of the potential of small things.  And may we in our own small ways find the courage to make big changes in the world.

RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES

What exactly is religion?  Why do religions exist?  What needs do they fill for us?  What constitutes a religious experience?  The answers to these questions are varied, but important.  They set the stage for all the other material in this book.  We won’t answer those questions here.  As the French poet wrote, “live the questions, the answers will come”.  Nothing addresses the questions better than a story.  Here is one my father told me:

The old wise one (Maybe a monk, or a rabbi, a guru, or a bodhisattva), is close to death.  So all of the disciples and every day folks gather round to learn the ultimate truth from the wisest of the wise.  His -- or her -- closest aide whispers softly in the ear saying, “Oh Wise One, tell us, please, what is the meaning of life?  The wise one thinks for a minute and says, “Life?  Life is like a river.”  This great insight flows down through the crowds “life is like a river, life is like a river..." It reaches the last and youngest seeker on the fringes of the group who thinks for a minute before s/he says, “Life is like a river?  What does this mean life is like a river?”  This question begins to surge back to the middle because, after thinking about it, no one else knows what it means either!  Finally, the disciple closest to the wise one ever so politely asks, “Tell us, oh wise one, what does that mean, ‘Life is like a river’?”  There is loud silence as everyone leans forward to catch the answer.  “So --” says the wise one, “maybe it’s not like a river!”

            Perhaps wisdom comes from just this, being able to think about the really important questions in life, reconsider other possibilities (even if they come from the young folks on the fringes) and live with ambiguous and contradictory answers. 

            We do know that religion has been part of the human experience before humans!  Neanderthal graves show that they were buried with objects and flowers indicating some belief in an afterlife. And perhaps that is the source of religion: the awesome wonder of the world around us and the concern for what will happen after this life.  What will become of us?  Where will go?  Why are we here anyway?  What does this all mean?

            The word "religion" comes from the Latin, meaning "to reconnect."  That is to reconnect ourselves to the world around us, to the people around us and to the creative source of all life, whatever we might call that.  When we make those connections and go beyond our self-centeredness, we change ourselves in the process.  We become larger than we were.

The connections take place in a number of ways.  Sometimes they occur formally through community events, rituals, shared stories, meditations or prayers. Sometimes they happen informally through "aha!" moments when the connection just happens spontaneously.  Sometimes it is through the practices, language or shared values of a tradition that we find we connect. Neuroscientists are beginning to study how the practice of religion, through ritual and meditation, affects the connection in our brain and our outlook. 

I find it can be helpful to distinguish between religion with a small "r" and religion with a capital "R".  The small "r" religion represents those experiential moments – often serendipitous -- that connect us to something else.  Religion with a capital "R" is the institutionalized, formal expression of religion.  One hopes that this type of capital "R" Religion, is nurtured by the experience of religion with a small "r".  But there are times, unfortunately, when the formal type seems devoid of immediate or personal experience.  When that happens, Religion becomes dull and rote literally lifeless.

There are some people who blame religion for being destructive because it causes so many wars and so much hatred.  But religions are like any human enterprise -- the study of chemistry or the practice of politics for example.  They can be used for good or evil.  It depends, ultimately, on people. 

Often someone might say about their religion: “it's not a religion, it’s a way of life.”  But any religion that is real must, by definition, be a way of life.  It grows out of and into our life experiences as humans.

            We began with questions.  Maybe that’s where all religions begin as well.  Maybe religions are the answers we give to life’s questions.  And then again, maybe they’re not.

PROPHETS AT TURKEY TIME

“Visit the sick, feed the hungry and free the captives.” So said the prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him.

“Let the oppressed go free…share your bread with the hungry. And bring the homeless poor into your house….” So said the prophet Isaiah.

Recently Muslim observed the month of Ramadan and Jews observed Rosh Ha Shanah. In the U.S., both will celebrate Thanksgiving this week. So I thought it’s a good time to talk about something that’s common to both Islam and Judaism: the message of the prophets. Both groups see the role of the prophets as central to their religions and both groups see that message – taking care of the needy in our midst -- as the central message.

What is a prophet? A prophet is someone who is a messenger or mouthpiece for God. To Jews, Christians and Muslims, the 16 biblical prophets [with the addition of Muhammed for Muslims] used words and actions to try to get the community back into right relationship – with each other and with the essence and power of life which they called God. Said the scholar Abraham Heschel: “The prophet was an individual who said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency…” (Heschel, The Prophets II p. xvii) The prophet Amos said: “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies” (Amos 5:21) because, he felt, they were full of hypocritical posturing.

But they didn’t just “say” no to society, they acted in a way that got people’s attention. Wrote one author about the prophets: “They staged what are known as prophetic acts – wild attention grabbing, God-inspired pieces of performance art. the prophets were the inventors of street theater.” (Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically, p. 88)   Jeremiah went to the equivalent of the Capitol in Jerusalem with a huge vase which he smashes and says this is what will happen to the kingdom if they don’t stop being so materialistic. Isaiah took off all of his clothes and wandered naked through the streets as he shouted his message. Hosea married a known prostitute faithless to him in order to illustrate how faithless the people were to their vows of caring for each other and God. Pretty dramatic ways of speaking truth to power!

But all of them were trying to get across the same message: we are commanded to be good and just to everyone. It wasn’t just a nice suggestions to be nice, we are required to practice social justice all the time. The prophet Muhammed, who believed that the same God who spoke to Abraham, Moses, David and Jesus spoke to him, said “One who tries to help the widow and the poor is like a warrior in the way of God,” “Every good action is a charity.” and “God is not kind to him who is not kind to people.” (al-Bukhari)

For Jews, Muslims and Christians, the prophets’ message of social justice has been heard – sometimes louder than other times – throughout history. It is why so many social action organizations exist in our world today and why so many try to change the world. The reason Muslims fast during the month of Ramadan and Jews fast on Yom Kippur is to experience what it is to be hungry so you can help those who really are.

People often wonder if there are prophets in the world today. I think they still exist. I think MLK was a prophet. His bus boycott, the marches and his sermons agains racism and the war in Vietnam dramatically got the point across that this society must change. In fact, Mr. King’s favorite saying was from the prophet Amos: “But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”

I think Malcolm X was a prophet. In fiery speeches and interviews, in his willingness to put his life on the line he made it clear that his objective was “complete freedom, justice and equality by any means necessary." He said “Early in life I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.” and: “if we don't stand for something, we may fall for anything."

Today? I don’t know. Perhaps we only know who the prophets in our midst are after a bit of time has past. Perhaps it's comedian such as Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert, who always points out the ridiculous but also the need for justice. Maybe it's the young woman, Malala Yousafzai, now in an English hospital, who spoke for Muslim girls getting an education and was thus shot in the head. Maybe it's the person who is organizing a food and clothing drive in our town for those effected by the storm Sandy. But I do know that the message of the prophets – whether from a Muslim, Jewish or Christian perspective is still with us: do justly and love mercy.

So, as we eat our turkey this Thanksgiving,whether  meat or soy, let's remember the message of the prophets. There are plenty of ways to make this world a more just, and caring place. I shall end with the same quotes with which I began:

“Visit the sick, feed the hungry and free the captives.” So said the prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him.

“Let the oppressed go free…share your bread with the hungry. And bring the homeless poor into your house…If you put yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness... and you shall be like a watered garden.” So said the prophet Isaiah

ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSES

As everyone knows, NYC was hit with a devastating hurricane, Sandy, that has left thousands without homes or without power, with flooding and with damage.  And yet, despite the fact that I live in New York, in the very town where a boat washed up onto the train tracks, my life has not been in any way discomfited by the storm.  We’ve had no damage, no loss of electricity, no flooding.  We are warm, well fed, and, because everything else is closed, taking it easy.  I feel like I am – through dumb luck and no other reason – in an alternate universe to that which is around me.

And that idea, that there is an alternate universe going on simultaneously in the same time and place to the one in which any of us presently inhabits, is an idea that often intrigues me. Even in normal times, with no major storm disrupting the lives of those around me, I’m aware that other ‘realities’ happen at the same time as mine.  On a summer’s day, when I’m taking it easy drinking a pina colada at my favorite outdoor restaurant on the river, I remind myself that there is also a war going on at that very moment and that other Americans, and Afghans, are in frightening situations at that very moment.  In my own small town, the Ecuadorian community, which is about a third of the residence in the town, or the African-American community, share the same space as me -- the same stores, the same street, same schools.   And yet, we live very different lives with different circles of friends, different gossip, different challenges and celebrations.

On a more cosmic level, I am reminded of what one author of a world religions textbook, Robert Ellwood, wrote about religion in his introduction.  He said:

”For the religious person there is ordinary reality and “something else.”  Certain visible places, people and events are more in touch with that “something else” than others … Words and people pass through invisible doors and the world is full of places and occasions that are like windows to the other side.  This porous borderline, where the action is, is the realm of the religious.” 

The implication is that there are other worlds, worlds that perhaps we can’t see, but are there nonetheless.  My students have been trying very hard to understand the role of spirits and shamans in indigenous culture.  It is very difficult for them to appreciate that, for an indigenous culture, the spirit world is as real to them as the invisible sound or broadcast waves that we know to be in the air.  If we had never seen a television or a radio, we would find it very difficult to believe that with the flick of a switch, sound or images from another part of the world appear inside the grey glass and plastic box in front of me.  And yet, we know we can see, hear – even respond to – these simultaneous alternate universes from the comfort of our homes.  Shamans, in most cultures, are those who communicate with and learn from the spirits.

But back here in our everyday reality, right now this week, there are people down the road a bit who have lost everything dear to them.  So, my focus and connection --  now – should be to help them as best I can. I need to step out of this comfortable cocoon and lend a hand so that my universe and theirs intertwine.

HOLIDAYS OF HOPE, HOLIDAYS OF COURAGE

The days are getting shorter, the light is getting weaker, trees look skeletal and humans get scared.  Perhaps that’s why we have some of the holidays we do at this time of the year.  There are three happening in the next two weeks – Halloween, All Saints Day, and Diwali – all from different traditions – all about life over death, good conquering evil, and the hope and courage that knowledge brings to us as we face our world.

In all of our fun and flagrancy, we tend to forget the serious roots of Halloween – which is originally the Celtic holiday of Sah-ween.  It is a time, as my Wiccan friend, Grove Harris wrote in the Huffington Post:

“...when some experience the veils between the living and the spiritual realms as thin, [it] is a particularly good time for opening to messages from loved ones who have died and crossed over.”

The lit pumpkins, the bon fires – perhaps even the wearing of costumes of what scares us – help us to deal with and conquer our fears.

On November 13^th begins the Hindu holiday of Diwali, also a festival of lights.  There are candles lit, fireworks, and stories related to Diwali.  One is from the Ramayana, the story of how prince Rama tries to get back the love of his life, Sita, who had been kidnapped by an evil demon.  Even though things look most hopeless and bleak, in the end, the good guy wins. 

In the Catholic Church November 1st is All Saints day.  This is a day to honour those special men and women recognized because at great personal cost – often death -- they stood up for their religion.  The next day, November 2^nd, is All Souls Day which in Mexico is called El Dia de los Muertos.  Like Halloween, it is a time to reconnect with ‘those [loved ones] who have died and crossed over.’

I think the message of all these traditions is that even though it looks like dark days, bad times and death will take over, they don’t.  Life and light, hope and courage win out.  And if you think that’s just a lot of wishful thinking, let’s remember some souls who, despite all odds against them, and at great personal cost, changed the world for the better.

I’m thinking of people like Mahatma Gandhi who took on the whole British Empire, which at that time owned ¾ o the world!  His work led to India’s independence from Britain, the change in the caste system, the civil rights movements in the U.S. AND South Africa, and is influencing environmental sustainability and justice movements around the world today.

Think of Dr. Wangari Maathai, who, despite personal and political problems, threats of assassination and harassment from the government of Kenya, headed an organization that planted 45 million trees in Kenya, empowered women in her country, and became the first African woman to win the Nobel Prize.

Over the summer I read a book that I recommend to everyone.  Written by two NY Times reports, Nicholas Kristoff and his wife, Sheryl Wudunn, it is about the oppression women around the world still find themselves in because of things such as sex trafficking, health inequities, lack of education or control of their own lives.  It is, in that respect, a deeply troubling book.  But it also greatly inspirational as they tell of every day women who stand up in their communities – again, against GREAT odds -- and fight against the injustices around them, there by changing the world. 

No one said changing the world was easy or without fears.  While we celebrate the accomplishments of Martin Luther King, we usually don’t know that he was scared.  In his book Stride toward Freedom, he describes his sitting at his kitchen table late one night, ready to give up on changing the country in order to protect his family after another threatening phone call.  He wrote that he spoke to God and said:

 ‘I am here taking a stand for what I believe is right.  But now I am afraid.  The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter.  I am at the end of my powers.  I have nothing left.  I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”

In 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War, a government whistle blower, Daniel Ellsberg publicized what are called the Pentagon papers leading, eventually to the end of the Vietnam war and the demise of Nixon’s term as president.  With the full force of the U.S. government against him, Ellsberg was on trial and faced 40 years in prison for what he did.  But as his son, Robert Ellsberg, wrote: movingly in a blog for the Huffington Post (06/19/11) about his father:  “he wanted us to receive lessons that might be the only legacy he could leave us: the importance of following one's conscience; the value of a life dedicated to truth; the message that there are things in life that are worthy of the greatest sacrifice.”

So, at when the days are getting darker and colder, when perhaps we might fear what’s ahead – whether with the weather or the political situation –these holidays are there to remind us that good does conquer evil and, as MLK said, the “arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” 

THE BIOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF RITUALS

Ninian Smart identified seven dimensions that he sees as fundamental to all religions.  I would add (at least) one more:  the biological.  Long before developmental psychologists, neuroscientific MRIs or scientists examined the meditating minds of Buddhist monks, religions recognized and utilized biology to transform adherents.

Most obvious is that religions around the world have mark the onslaught of puberty and the higher level thinking of the brains prefrontal cortex with initiation rites for boys and girls.  Traditions recognize that biologically this might be a good time to challenge the changeling physically and mentally to both bring their hubris down a few pegs (think of the 7^th and 8^th grade boys you know!) and make them aware that they are now part of a larger society.  In turn, ritual practices stimulate physiological responses in the adolescents so that -- on a gut (and brain, chemical, limb) level -- they learn their lessons.  Indigenous cultures separate boys from the community with dramatic rituals that trigger biological responses.   Put a boy in a dark, smoky hole such as a kiva for a period of days or months, or use painful bodily scarifications such as circumcision and there will be mind/body altering experiences

There are other rituals that clearly have a biological component to them as well.   Singing, drumming and music certainly affect the arousal system of the body as well as certain parts of the brain.  Fasting creates a chemical change in the body by affecting glucose levels and slowing the metabolic rate.  This can heighten awareness and improve the immune system.  The use of potent plants -- either in the form of wine or hallucinogens -- effects the neural systems and perceptions of the brain and body. The physiological effects of meditation have been studied by scientific researchers for over 30 years now and results show that everything from blood flow to the immune system is improved with meditation.

"Meditators showed greater activation in the left anterior region of the prefrontal cortex, a region that CN researcher have previously found to be associated with positive emotional states….the meditators developed significantly more antibodies in response to a shot of flu vaccine than did the control group.  Furthermore, the meditators who demonstrated the greatest increase in left-side brain activation also produced the strongest immunological response." (Bulkeley, The Wondering Brain p. 156)

But what about holidays?  Could there be a biological aspect to holidays?  I say yes.  Humans are, like most animals and plants, chronobiological creatures.  Our bodies and our minds are affected by time, by light and by dark.  For our health and wellbeing we need both light and dark.  In fact, Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD is a depression caused by the lack of light in the winter months of northern climates.  Our bodies regulate the secretion of mood altering hormones such as serotonin and melatonin through the pineal gland located in the brain (between the eyes and referred to in Hindu yoga as the third eye or sixth chakra/energy center) based on the amount of light we receive optically.

So perhaps it is not just metaphorically that, as the days become shorter and darker in the winter, we turn to festivals of light.  The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, the Christian holiday of Christmas, and the Hindu festival of Diwali all focus on the use of lights.  Perhaps it is for biological reasons.

In late February, early March when the days begin to get longer and trees are juicing up by producing sap, Jews celebrate Purim, the festival when everyone dresses up and tells the story of Esther and goes wild and crazy when Haman’s name is mentioned.  Hindus celebrate Holi, a holiday when everyone goes wild and crazy throwing coloured water at each other.  Latin countries celebrate Mardi gras, also a wild and crazy time of costumes and colour.  In many Asian countries it is the time of the New Year with Fire crackers (except in NYC) and dragons dancing in the streets.

​All of those holidays involve a great deal of colour and movement.  They all involve people “acting out” in ways that they might not normally do or being who they might normally be.  It causes our eyes to constantly be moving and stimulated in different directions and by unusual sights and colours.

​We know our eyes convey to us a great deal of information which triggers physical and emotional responses.  We all might remember that last year a number of people all over Japan went into epileptic-like seizures when they watched a bright and rapid animation scene on TV. Some psychotherapists have begun to use a treatment called EMDR, which stands for 'eye movement desensitization and reprocessing'.  This therapy tool is being used to help people who have experienced trauma -- abuse, war, rape.  By directing the eye to look quickly in different directions, the licensed therapist can help the patient unclog the reenacted experience so that it becomes less fearful and less painful by being more observed and less felt.  Apparently, it is an amazingly effective means of treatment for many people.

​Perhaps when you stimulate the eye through the rapid movement and brightness of colours that come with the holidays, you stimulate the release of internal juices – emotional and biological responses.  Maybe the pineal gland suppresses the melatonin we’ve created during the long, light-starved winter, increases the serotonin which makes us happier and allows our bodies to “wake up” to the coming of spring.

​Even rituals that have become less religious and more commercial, such as Valentine's Day have a biological component.  Studies show that the colour red arouses the senses, increases the appetites, and quickens the pulse.  Chocolate, with over 300 chemicals, contains one that acts in ways similar to marijuana, giving the user something a kin to a pleasantly mild high.   Researchers also claim that male sperm and testosterone levels are higher in February. (Tjoa, Yutaka)  Is it any wonder that February is the month of wooing with red and chocolate?

​New technologies in the neurosciences are allowing us to see and substantiate what religious traditions have long known.  Ritual practices are both a reaction to and a stimulant for biological transformation of human beings.   The more that we "re-cognize" the porous nature of our lives, the more we will appreciate the ancient wisdom of religions.

Bulkeley, Kelley, The Wondering Brain: Thinking about Religion With and Beyond Cognitive Neuroscience, New York: Routledge, 2004.

Morinis, Alan, “The Ritual Experience: Pain and the Transformation of Consciousness in Ordeals of Initiation”, Ethos © 1985 American Anthropological Association

Tjoa WS, Smolensky MH, Hsi BP, Steinberger E, Smith KD.​”Circannual rhythm in human sperm count revealed by serially independent sampling.”

Fertil Steril. 1982 Oct;38(4):454-9., PMID: 7117573 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Yutaka Motohashi, Shigekazu Higuchi and Akira Maeda “Men's Time, Women's Time -Sex Differences in Biological Time Structure”. Applied Human Science. Vol. 17; 157-159 (1998)

WHEN I THINK OF HOME

Synchronicity is when a number of coincidental events take place in time.  Last week I decided I wanted to do a Matters of Spirit on the Wizard of Oz and I downloaded a couple of my favorite women singers with songs to help me out.  Then someone made a reference to the Wizard of Oz, then someone else, and on Friday I found out AP has been studying it!

So… as they say in Yiddish, it is beshert – it is meant to be – that I talk about the Wizard of Oz, the story of a young girl swept away from home to a magical land where everything is strange, and -- with the help of a scarecrow, a tin man and a cowardly lion – faces dangers, kills witches, and finally gets home understanding life quite differently than when she left.  It’s what Joseph Campbell called the Hero Cycle: the leaving home, having adventures, facing challenges and coming home with new wisdom.  

(2:47) Somewhere over the rainbow:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWeF5Zv_pzs

Human beings in different times and places often wish for something like Dorothy:  the longing for something beyond – and better – than what we have.  In religious terms it is the transcendant that which is above and beyond the everyday realities of life – call it enlightenment, or moksa, call it heaven, or the pure land, call it the call.  And like Dorothy, religious people, and spiritual seekers in general, have made pilgrimages, physical and spiritual  journeys that deeply change who they are.  Gilgamesh seeking immortality made such a journey, the Buddha leaving his father’s palace to seek an end to suffering made such a journey.  Jesus, Lao Tzu, Rama and Sita, Muhammed, all made such a journey.  Harry Potter, Stephen King books, Magic cards and even the last seaon of Lost recognize the hero cycle.  

But even us every day people can experience the journey of the hero cycle.  I don’t mean when we take a nice trip or a vacation, I mean when we embark on a journey where we leave our comfort zone, our known world and travel to the unknown.  Because there, in the words of the poet W.H. Auden:

“You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.”

Lions and tigers and bears – Oh my!  Sometimes it’s scary to be out of one’s comfort zone, to be away from everything that’s familiar.  To be alone, to be aware of one’s frailities and vulnerabilities.

(3:44) Janis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYHJ_A8qnXw

It is the trial by fire that tempers the heart.  It is the pain that gives us understanding and compassion.  It transforms us, changes us radically in ways we don’t expect.   And while we ultimately face the challenges of our lives alone and the change takes place inside us, we also recognize the need for support, for community, for friends.

(2:39) Bette Midler: “Friends”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8Iwmcs1hps

Finally, with new knowledge and quite a different view of ourselves, of others and the world, we do go home:

Itunes: (3:30)

WHEN I THINKOF HOME (from The Wiz)

                        by

          Charles Emanuel Smalls

When I think of home, I think of a place
where's there's love overflowing
I wish I was home, I wish I was back there
With the things I've been knowing

Wind that makes the tall grass bend into leaning
Suddenly the raindrops that fall they have a meaning
Sprinklin the scene
Makes it all clean

Maybe there's a chance for me to go back
Now that I have some direction
It sure would be nice to be back at home
Where there's love and affection

And just maybe I can convince time to slow up
Givin me enough time, in my life to grow up
Time be my friend
And let me start again

Suddenly my worlds gone and changed its fate
But I still know where I'm going
I have had my mind spun round in space
Yet I’ve watched it growing

And oh, if you're listening, God, please don't make it hard
To know if we should believe the things that we see
Tell us should we try to stay or should we run away
Or would it be better just to let things be,

Livin here in this brand new world
Might be a fantasy
But its taught me to love,
So its real, real, real to me

And I've learned that we must look
Inside our hearts to find
A world full of love
Like yours, like mine

Like home!

THE TRAIN MOVES ON

Sometimes it’s the everyday stuff that teaches you the most. A number of years ago, I learned that life – life is like a subway car.  Here’s why:

When I lived and worked in New York City, I daily took the local subway from 96^th street down to 42^nd street.  One day, at 86^th St. an older man got on, drunk at 8 am. He made a huge scene. Everyone in the car was pretty rattled by it.  The police escorted him off at 72^nd St. and the train moved on.  By the time we got to 42^nd St, with people coming and going, only a few of us still on the train remembered or even knew about the old man. 

So what did I learn from that ride about life:  that life moves on.  People get on, people get off, we have vivid experiences, momentous experience s and then life moves on.  Some people, some experiences are remembered -- by some, until they leave -- and the rest are forgotten.  It happens in history, it happens in our personal lives.

A student came in to see me a few weeks ago to because he realized that when his class graduates, no students will remember a young man, a year older than they and dear to many of our hearts, who committed suicide in their sophomore year.  Further, he realized that a student from their own grade, also dear to many, would be unknown to any student when the class behind them graduates.  The train moves on.

The same thing happens in history.  Who remembers Charlemagne or Mansa Musa -- only a few and then, only because it's on a test.  Another student of mine, also a senior, came to the shocking realization that the freshman in the school, unlike the seniors, didn’t know where they were on 9/11.  They were too young.  It was a history book event to them, not a lived experience. The train moves on.

And yet, we don't want to forget those who mattered to us, those who made a difference in our lives.  Think of someone who has meant something to you or played an important role in your life.  Think of that person again.  I bet it was someone who was good to you.  Who cared about you.  And I bet you did not choose that person because of their SAT scores, their business acumen, nor what school they went to.

Because we don't want to forget those who influenced us profoundly, and because we want to 're-member' them for ourselves and for those who come after us, humans have memorial services or holidays.  In the Shinto tradition of Japan there's Obon which, like the Day of the Dead in Mexico, honours and brings home the souls of family members who have died.  The Akan in Africa have rituals of libation in which they feed and include the ancestors because they play an active role in the community.  Christians remember the dead on All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Jews light a candle on the Yartzeit, or anniversary of the death of a loved one.  It is our way of keeping them -- or their memory -- on the train with us..

There are people of history who still touch our lives, who still speak to us and are, in a sense, with us, seem to be the ones who started -- or revolutionized religious traditions.   The Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Confucius, Muhammed to name a few.  And why is it that after all these years, and all the bad things that have been done in their name, they're "still on the train?"

I think it's because each in their way was aware of our short time on earth and how best to use it.  Not a one of them was "successful" in the way we usually mean the word.  They were not corporate or empire leaders.  They were not graduates of the top schools of their days.  The Buddha and Moses, both brought up as princes in royal families dropped out and wandered about.  Confucius, successful as a teacher, was never in his lifetime able to market his ideas to a kingdom.  Jesus associated himself with a ragtag group on the lower levels of society and Muhammed, the most successful of them business wise, gave it up, questioned his sanity and put his life in danger.

But each one of them encouraged people to be kind, to be loving, to be compassionate.  Each one had a golden rule and each one spoke of taking care of each other and of those less fortunate.  That, they said, is the essence of real success.  For that they are remembered.  For that any of us will be remembered.

One of the greatest spiritual leaders in my time was truly a modern prophet:  Martin Luther King. And in one of his speeches he said that at his funeral he would want the following:

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. (Yes)

I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. (Amen)

I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. (Yes)

And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. (Yes)

I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. (Lord)

I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity. (Yes)

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. (Amen) Say that I was a drum major for peace. (Yes) I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. (Yes) I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. (Amen) And that's all I want to say.

If I can help somebody as I pass along,

If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,

If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,

Then my living will not be in vain."

                                                                                    (The Drum Major Instinct)

Life is like a subway train.  How are you going to spend your time?  How will you be remembered?

HAVE YOU LOOKED OUTSIDE TODAY?

 In the late 1700’s there was a rabbi known as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.  One day he saw one of his followers rush by and according to the story, the Rebbe said to the man:

“Have you looked up at the sky this morning?” 
The man replied: “No, Rebbe, I haven’t had the time.  I gotta get to the market”
“Believe me, in fifty years everything you see here today will be gone. There will another market —with other horses, other wagons, different people. I won’t be here then and neither will you. So what’s so important that you don’t have time to look at the sky?!”
(The Empty Chair, p. 14)

Taking the time to recognize and appreciate the beauties of the natural world around us is important – in fact, crucial -- to our wholeness and health.   It is something that religions – from the days when Neanderthals put flowers in the graves until now – have always acknowledged. 

For example, soon it will be the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.  It’s a harvest festival and, in remembrance of the bounty of the earth and the days when people worked in the field, Jews eat in a temporary hut outside which is beautifully decorated with fruits and vegetables.  Each person brings the branches and fruit from 4 different trees into the synagogue and waves them as blessings are recited.

In many churches around the world Sunday, October 7th, animals – cats, dogs, birds, rabbits camels, yaks, whatever, will be brought into the church to receive a blessing.   It is based on the teachings of the 13^th century Italian monk, Saint Francis of Assisi who loved and cared for animals.   Furthermore, Assisi in his Canticle of the Creatures wrote of “brother sun, sister moon, sister water, brother fire, and “our Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.”

Many of the religious role models of traditions had an affinity to nature. Buddha became enlightened under a tree and held up a lotus flower. Jesus was born in the warmth of an animal manger and taught with the imagery of seeds, trees, flowers, bushes.  Moses was drawn out of the water of a river and marveled at a bush burning with light.  Muhammed knew the ways of the desert and meditated in the stillness of a cave  Hindu sanyasins wander along sacred rivers and through forests.  All of them recognized their intimate connection to nature. 

There’s something vital to our lives when we’re connected to nature.  Something that quenches a spiritual thirst.  So we need to take the time to appreciate the natural world around us.  But we need to do more than that.  We must also care for it so that it is around for future generations as well.  Unfortunately, we as a species have been doing great harm to the natural world we live in.  We seem to lose and forget – in our daily lives and our societal lives – our connection to the natural world.  We need to remember the words purportedly (though not) of the Native American Chief Seattle:

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.  All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

I wish us beautiful days like today and hope that we will make the time to appreciate them.  And I wish that we will all do what we can to foster and protect the beauty of nature.

REFLECTIONS ON REFLECTIONS

It is September.  Summer seems long ago.  If I were still at the beach or camping, would it still feel like summer?  The answer, I know, is no – even if my teacher's life was as lazy as in mid-summer, it wouldn’t be the same and I know it.  The crickets at night sound different.  The breeze feels less like a reprieve from the heat and more like a gentle message from the winter reminding me of what’s to come.  The trees haven’t changed yet.  They’re still green but it’s a different green then summer green.  It’s not new, tender green, it’s a green that’s been around for awhile, older, experienced.  Does it know that it will fade?  Does it know that soon it will change and die? The light is different too.  A duskier, huskier ripe heaviness of autumn light is beginning to slant and glow as it reflects off the trees and bushes. 

I think it’s the light that has changed the most and changes me.  I feel like a plant leaning towards the sun.  My body wants to soak up as much sun-energy as I can to use during the light starved days of winter.  In some real ways that’s what summer does for us: stores energy.  People often complain that teachers – and students – are lucky because we get to take the summer off.  We are.  What they may not realize is how much we really need that time to recharge our psychic batteries.  Recreation time allows us to re-create ourselves so that we have the energy we need during the school year.  By June we are depleted and need that time again.

Shabbat does that on a weekly basis.  From Friday evening to Saturday evening we have a period of rest: a time set aside during which one is not supposed to work, run errands, get distracted by everyday life.  It’s a time for spiritual re-creation, for reflection like a spiritual summer every 7 days.  And, interestingly enough, it’s marked off at the beginning and the end by light: the light of candles.

At this time of the year Jews will celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the birthday of the world.  It is a time set aside to celebrate the life force around us, to marvel and to reflect on the sweetness of life.  Just as the beginning of a new school year, when you are refreshed and rejuvenated is a good time to ponder on who we are and what is around us, so is Rosh HaShanah

A Hasidic rabbi, Nachman of Bratslau, wrote this following prayer in the late 1700’s:

Master of the universe, grant me the ability to be alone; may it be my custom to go outdoors each day among the trees and grass – among all living things – and there may I be alone and enter into prayer, to talk to the One to whom I belong.  May I express there everything in my heart, and may all the foliage of the field – all grass, trees and plants – awake at my coming, to send the powers of their life into the words of my prayer so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the life and spirit of all growing things, which are made as one by their transcendent Source.

Students often ask me what I think G-d is.  My answer is I don't know.  But I believe I see reflections of G-d every day in every way.  It is in these changes of the seasons and the changes in a person.  That life-energy force that transformed a one-celled water creature into my baby, then into a boy who became a thinking, shaving teenager, is an awesome power.  One day, hopefully, that transforming life force will change my son into a father and finally a shrinking old man with few teeth but many memories.  That changeable energy, that transforming life force that enlivens him is, to me, G-d. 

I used to run a nursery school and some of the things I miss about it are the seasonal projects.  In the fall children made artwork out of collected seedpods and leaves.  In the spring we had caterpillars that built cocoons then became butterflies.  We put fertilized eggs into incubators and watched them change each day until they emerged as cute fluffy chicks (and later became big smelly chickens!)  Those projects reminded us of the wonder-full power of transformation that I call G-d.

When I look at the trees I see G-d.  Roots spreading deep below the surface reaching tentacles down for nutrients that then get sucked up into the farthest highest branches. Leaves waving in the wind and at this time of the year glowing with the reflected light from the slanted sun.  In the winter new growth will begin when the light changes yet again and the sap flows.   These amazing energy exchanges are part of what I call G-d.

The science teacher tells me at the copy machine about a theory that we choose our spouses because their smell is different then our own to better ensure variety in our gene pool.  That to me is the work of G-d.  Particle-wave theory, muons or undersea crystalline structures, are also the handiwork of G-d.  Not because I don’t understand it – but because the more I do understand the intricacies of this world around us, the more in awe of it all I am.

When I think about Moses at a burning bush, the Buddha under a tree,
Jesus at a river, Muhammed in a cave, or Lao Tzu in the mountains, I do believe they have had an experience with that nature-force called G–d.  But I also believe it can happen to anyone of us who sits on the edge of the ocean at night and watches the moon and stars or a group of people who either through song and dance or calm quietude feel the spirit of G-d alight upon them.

G-d can be embodied in each one of us as well. In the Christian experience this creative force becomes personalized in the life and death of Jesus who by sharing human experience, sharing human pain and overcoming human death understands what we go through.  Hindus recognize the divine in each one of us by bowing and saying namaste.  Quakers see a divine light in each one of us.  And the Sufi mystic, Rumi, likened the divine in us to the breath through a flute.  They both make beautiful sound.

I believe G-d is in those moments – sometimes brief – when there is abundant love and kindness.  An old Jewish saying says that the Shekinah, the spirit of G-d is there when a husband and wife embrace.  I think it was there in those times that my mother had her arm around me and read to me, as it is when I have my arms around my children.  It is there when someone helps a stranger, or an orphan or anyone in need.

Does this make me a pantheist, one who sees G-d in everything?  Yes.  And furthermore, I believe in miracles, because the word miracle comes from the same root word as the word mirror does – the Latin word to wonder.  And as I see life’s creative energy reflected in everything in & around me, I do wonder and marvel.

I go to synagogue and I celebrate all of the Jewish holidays.  Both our sons had Bar Mitzvahs.  But for me, the vehicle of Judaism is just that.  It is a way – not the way.  It is a language with a grammar and a vocabulary I can use to communicate, but it’s not the only language.  And like any language, it has its limitations.  We use analogies or metaphors for speaking about G-d in Judaism.  But they are just metaphors and they aren’t the only ones that work and they don’t show the whole picture. 

As we start this new year, as we get into our year's busy schedules and the stresses of work, social lives, errands, responsibilities, set aside some time – each day and each week -- to get in touch with that creative energy force inside of you and outside of you.  Whether you do it alone or with others, through prayer or meditation, with music or with silence, at a communal place or in the woods, be in touch with that spirit.  Whether you call it nature, G-d, Shekinah, Jesus, the divine light, chakra energy, chi, Allah, the Force or simply love and goodness be in touch with that which makes life wondrously beautiful and creative.  Nurture it, share it, and be nurtured by it.  To be aware of and tapped into cosmic energy is like a light bulb using electricity.  If each one of us takes the time to be fed by and to feed the spark of creative energy inside of us, the potent force would be truly awesome.