What I Believe

I have been asked what my plans are, why am I considering a Masters of Divinity as opposed to a Masters of Arts of Religion or Philosophy (or, well, anything else).  I think these questions relate to my core beliefs.  In addition, I am making drastic changes in my life to better take care of myself, body and mind.  So what exactly do I believe?

I believe that yoga, not only the asanas (poses), but also pranayama (breathing exercises), meditation, Yama and Niyama (basics of living a good life) (see this basic intro to the first two of the “Eight Limbs of Yoga” or the Yoga Sutras), has been an important part of my personal recovery from a very difficult couple of years.  

Yoga is not a religious path, contrary to some assumptions.  It is a tradition of practices that dates back to at least 200 B.C, when historians say that a guy named Pantanjali first put already established and developing ideas into writing as the Yoga Sutras.  The purpose of the practices is to bring the individual closer to a realized connection with something far greater than themselves.  For yogis this has usually been the divine nature of everything, including ourselves.  Yoga today is truly an interfaith practice, helping individuals at any level of belief to explore themselves and their beliefs more intimately.  Even if you are a strict realist, a good long session of asanas and the almost-meditative state of the final pose, Savasana (corpse pose), can serve to clean the mind and body by forcing one’s focus to intimate realization of where each (the body and the mind) goes while exploring a pose.  It can be incredibly effective for relieving stress!

I believe I need to continue and deepen my yoga practice to continue a healthy life and to make healthful decisions for myself.  

Once I accept that as an important decision and one which I’m willing to embrace with necessary life changes, then I must examine other aspects of my life that may undermine this decision if neglected.

One area that I believe requires nurturing to further improve the health and balance of my mind/body health is my spiritual beliefs.  My spiritual beliefs are both simple and wonderfully wide-open.  

I believe in something greater than myself.  I do not believe that any text written by humans captures what this “greatness” is because humans are inherently limited in what we can know, understand, and communicate.  (Scientific discoveries prove that time and time again.) I do believe that Jesus provided the best example (for me) of how to lead one’s life and that God intended for him to be an attainable example.  Meaning: Jesus provided steps on a path to honoring, protecting, and celebrating the created world and all life in it...steps that each of us can follow.  I believe that most Christians, for centuries!, have not and do not follow Jesus’s role model because it requires major life changes that are not conducive with the dominant social status quo. 

Am I Christian?  Yes.  But I will not “look” like many other Christians my reader may know.  I do not believe in, nor do I subscribe, to the Christianity of the so-called mainstream Christian Church.  So, perhaps “Christian” is a misnomer for them or me.  

Is that confusing?  I don’t think so.  I believe that our feet were meant to be walked on.  And thus our brain and its amazing faculties for logic and reason were meant to also be used.  I believe more of us should read, research, explore, show respect and open minds to discover how others believe they exist in our shared world.  You can learn about others, learn about our differences, with no need to be defensive of your own beliefs.  Education and research is not the same as mind control or brain washing, contrary to many religious people (of any faith).  

Mutual respect is a basic human condition that I honor (unfortunately not a universal condition) and I hope that other Americans would honor, considering that Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams, Madison, and others helped craft our nation to engender some level mutual respect.  They sought to protect non-puritan protestant denominations from persecution.  

Did you know that American Baptists in colonial Virginia were killed and persecuted for their beliefs and were staunch church/state separatists?  Did you know that the “founding fathers” had originally envisioned the First Amendment as only applying to the Federal Government?  They didn’t know we’d eventually have public education that might be touched by federal law.  They left local communities to create their own (or not) faith-based organizations without Federal interference.  

Too many of us, including our text book writers, put the “founding fathers” on pedestals and neglect to delve into how (the dreaded p-word) politics forced some of the decisions they made to get the results they wanted, either for their personal careers and agendas, or for the crafting of the Constitution and the First Amendment.  They were simple men(yes, incredibly smart and thoughtful men) and politicians.  Yes...the same politicians we curse in our living rooms.  Yes...there were new Americans who cursed them, too.

I have no “agenda” in discussing the “founding fathers”, except to encourage my reader to read, research, question, open their mind and heart to the possibility that aggression and rudeness is not the best way to approach difference in our world.  Jesus showed that sitting and dining with “sinners” won’t kill us.  He practiced the non-violence he preached.  He left judgment, far out of his hands, to God.  Would he have killed or persecuted a gay person, an abortionist, the Religious-right politicians that get caught committing adultery, the so-called Christians that kill in his name?  Nope.  I believe he would have spoke to them.  The same way he spoke to any other “sinner”...that is, any of us.

That’s what I believe.

Now, as to why I’m pursuing a Masters of Divinity.  That will be my next post!