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.