It's official! As of about 11:00 this morning (9:30 pm at home), I have been in Auroville for 2 weeks. I have been gone for a bit longer than that now thanks to a long plane ride over, but I have been in Auroville for just over 2 weeks now. Sorry to say, I think I'm more confused than when I got here ... in some ways. I have definitely hit something of a nice, even stride now, at least, as even a stride as one could have given the total difference in lifestyle, schedule, weather, food, surrondings, philisophical encounters, people, internet connection, and so forth. Like always, I love it here, and I want to go home really badly at the same time. I miss home and am so excited for what awaits me there when I get back. All the while, there are so many things about this place that confuse, frustrate and challenge me to grow.
There are petty things, like the fact that the food is so different and I long for some of the delights I get to have when I get home but that aren't available here, and the fact that the internet can be so stinking difficult here. But hey, I have plenty to eat and I am able to use the internet pretty much every day. There are plenty of places I could be where I wouldn't be able to say that. I don't really care about food and the internet much anyway. It's other, deeper issues that tire my mind out and both compell me to try hard to understand and make me want to escape back to Spokane at the same time.
I am having such a hard time with the philosophies/spiritualism/religions I am encountering in this place. On Tuesday, I went to the Tibetan Pavilion (Bharat Nivas) to see his holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama. I wasn't actually all that impressed with his speaking abilities, but then he's speaking in a second language ... or more likely a 5th or a 6th language. People there reveared him so much that they laughed and were overjoyed at anything he said that made him sound like a normal person, an average Joe (er and average Nirmalraj?). I know so little about his holiness that all he seems like to me is a sort of superstar in the religious/spiritual world. It was strikingly similar to being at a concert. The musician can say anything, witty, silly, demeaning, hysterical, whatever, and people find it amazing. I do the same thing. I was a bit underwhelmed I think for two reasons: I went into it with a fairly negative attitude (but at least I went in). I am not really keen on gathering wisdom from spiritual leaders who deny the truth of Christ. I probably should be because wisdom is certainly not confined to Christians alone. If that were the case, we would live in a much more barbaric world. The second reason I was so underwhelmed by what his holiness had to say was that I am used to appreciating those speakers in church who base their sermon firstly on the Bible and secondly on personal experience. I am used to scholarly, intelligent, articulate speakers who are very knowledgable of the truth of the Bible. By the same token, I am used to being overly critical of those speakers who make their point mostly or solely based on personal experience, emotional manipulation, and common sense alone. I know their is a higher truth than that which stirs us, that which sounds cute, and that which seems to be true. I know that the Truth has been written by the Author of all Creation, and I respect most those who proclaim that Truth with clarity and humility.
I do not mean in any way to say that the Dalai Lama was not intelligent, on the contrary, he is brilliant from what I can tell. I also do not mean to say that his message was trite, silly, emotionally manipulative or just plain bad advice. Quite the opposite, he stated that his three main goals in life are: 1) Universal Human Unity - that humans should love others before themselves, be them friends or foes. 2) Universal Respect for all religions as different paths to love, to human unity. 3) Respect for one's home culture and the spreading of those parts of one's home culture that will benefit humanity. I read, on the back of someone's shirt, a quote from the Dalai Lama that went something like, "The greatest goal of man is to add to the happiness of another person." These are things that, generally, I desire to live by. That's part of what bothered me so much. If I can live by the Dalai Lama's words and live in the way Jesus tells me to live, then why is Jesus the only way to God (or Human Unity/the Divine/whatever is the ultimate goal of life). I have thought, journaled, prayed and talked much about this over the last couple of days. It has really bothered me, but I think I have at least partially figured it out.
Firstly, it is cold, but the second point of the Dalai Lama's big three can be easily dismissed. In my life, I strive to appreciate other faiths and views of life (not tolerate ... to tolerate is to allow while knowing that the other is a lower form or perhaps is annoying. I do not want to be so arrogant in my faith. God is the only one who deserves to be arrogant, and we can see just how arrogant He is through His life on earth). I want to learn from wisdom of other beliefs, read the Bible, see if it matches up with the Truth of the Bible, and add it to my own faith. For instance, research that we I have seen in my teacher education program says that students will perform much better in class if the teacher can successfully communicate that s/he cares about her/his students and actually works toward making genuine connections with them (more on this later). Did they look in the Bible to find that? No. Does it go against my faith? Absolutely not! As a Christian, it is my greatest privaledge to love and to serve those who God puts into my life, so why not look to serve my students?!?
His holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama also says some things which are not contrary to the Bible and actually help me to serve God. In fact, Jesus' says that the most important command in all of the Bible is to love my neighbor as myself. Well, that's not the whole truth. He first says that the greatest commandment is to love God, the Creator of all, with everything I am. That's what the Dalai Lama was missing. Still, how exactly do I love my God? At first, all I could think of was that I love Him through my actions and thoughts here on earth. In that case, it would almost seem as though Jesus and the Dalai Lama desire for me to walk the same path. But, that's not the whole truth. I have been reading the Old Testiment for the past 3 years or so, and I have really discovered just how deeply God loves his people. He loves them. HE LOVES THEM. It's a deep, intimate relationship, deeper than the most beautiful marriage. Jesus demands that I love my Lord, not that I am infatuated with Him, not that I dream about Him, not that I desire Him, but that I actively LOVE Him. Loving his creation (other people and the earth) falls short of that. It is true that in my life, I am in love with God because He loved me, and as a result of that, I actively love Him. A good husband serves his wife. A great husband serves his wife because he loves her, because she comes before himself. I am still struggling with the difference, but what I do know is that loving God's creation without giving Him the credit is futile. It is absolutely backwards.
The other thing that has been bothering me is the way that people naiively believe whatever beautiful philosophies or ideas come their way here. Not everyone does this, but I have seen so many people hear some kind of nice sounding, warm, friendly, intelligent philosophy or spiritual idea, and accept it because it is so wonderful. Just last night, someone I deeply respect here told me that that the guru (teacher) of the Dalai Lama was found to be reincarnated in a boy of about 16 years of age. It kind of shocked this friend of mine when he saw this boy pretending to play with guns (the Dalai Lama is staunchly anti-violence). Someone told him that this was a picture of the divine. The divine doesn't want us to be like her/him/it. The divine wants to be like us, to play, to be in us. This was so profound to him. Sure, it may be profound, but shouldn't we measure it against something? How do we know it's true. I don't think many people care to analyze whether it is "true" or not as there apparently are no universal truths (um ... except the things that are non-negotiable like non-violence and conservation of resources and human unity ... er ... wait, now I'm confused ... those aren't truths, they're ... er ... ideas? I'm confused.). The thing that bothers me is that much of what I've heard here and on the way here to Auroville is not measured against anything. In the teaching profession, we would never just take something as true because it sounded nice, or because it was positive thinking, or even because common sense told us it was true. We measure it, we work to prove it, we try to understand it better so that others can use it. We certainly would not accept an idea because it sounded nice in a science context, math context, or really just about any context. So why is that okay here?
Okay, this needs to end. It's too long already. I'll tell you about one more struggle. I have been having difficulties really connecting with my students (especially in 8th grade). There is so much going on in their heads, and I want to figure out what it is. I want to tap into them, make connections, really begin to understand them. I did not fully understand how important this is to me, connecting with and understanding my students. I'm getting there. Jean gave me an idea that rocks. I am just pulling them aside one at a time and asking them some questions about themselves. I am also giving them some time to ask questions about me. I talked to three students today and it was amazing. I think a big part of the problem is that I don't know their names yet. I'm getting there though ( :
Okay, that's all for now. No new pictures today ... sorry. My goal for next time is to have a bunch of pictures of the neighboring village so I can give a sense of what it's like.
6 comments:
There are truths and good advice and even truths about God and the divine in many religions other than just our own. It seems to me that hinduism has a lot of truths that over time got twisted. The idea that you'll be re-incarnated could come from the idea of being resurrected in Heaven. The idea that you move up or down in the system based on how you lived your previous life makes sense as we seek justice for the wicked and desire to be treated well for doing good. We believe that we will be rewarded in heaven for doing as the father asks, but if you were going to be resurrected here instead of heaven, would not there be rewards on earth, in your next life instead? There are many parallels. Remember that in the beginning there was only one religion, and that muslim, jews, christians, hindus, etc all branched from that over time, got slowly twisted and lost every time people didn't listen to the lord close enough. God wont condemn his children who are living good lives just because their ancestors didnt get it quite right. Everyone will know the truth and have a chance to accept it.
Is the school you're at a Christian based school? Are you encouraged to speak of Christ to the children or just to speak of your own beliefs and not try to convince them of any false doctrine of their own?
Wow Matt! That was so interesting! What exactly do you mean by how "He was arrogant here on earth"? You don't mean Jesus, do you?
It's the faith in the truth of God's word that saves us... living without believing in truth would be so confusing! The problem with other religions is that they require the followers to be perfect... in whatever... being nice, being ritualistic, whatever. I don't understand how so many people can keep on with that when they know that they fall short. We all do! Holy cow! We need a savior!
Thank the Lord Jesus Christ for giving us exactly what we need!
Thanks for your thoughts Matt... Keep them coming. I'll be praying.
Matt Mulder! Nice to hear from you. It's good to hear a fellow Matt's thoughts. You have pointed out something that I have really failed to do in my time here (really, ever). That is, to understand other faiths in the context of where they came from - from the one Creator, the one Savior, the one Truth. It is interesting to think about how other faiths parallel my own and think about what they are trying to accomplish in light of what Jesus tells me is true.
What do you mean when you say, "We believe that we will be rewarded in heaven for doing as the father asks?" Explain a little further. As in, heaven is better for those who obey the Father more fully or heaven is only for those who obey God or by proclaiming that Jesus is the only way to the Father, we are rewarded with heaven or something else?
Sometimes I don't understand how everyone will know the Truth and have a chance to accept it. That's one of the ways I struggle. How could people here know? For someone who has grown up in Auroville and only known these philosophies, how could they ever know? And yet, that is something that I give to God and continue to wrestle with, knowing that God is the Author of perfect justice. I don't want to just say, "Oh well, God'll work it out some way," I more think that I am just too little to understand how He does it just now in my life. All that really matters, though, is that I humble myself and obey Him, telling people what the Truth is and loving and serving them as Christ did and does.
Man, it's good to hear from you X!
Jen,
I said we could see through Christ's life just how arrogant He was on earth. How arrogant was He? He was arrogant enough to live a life totally unselfishly and sacrifice every last freedom that He has as God for the sake of His creation. It was a silly way for me to say, "How arrogant is God - the only one who deserves to be arrogant? Not at all! He was, in fact, the most humble person to ever live on this earth."
Sorry for the confusion. I pretty much write stream-of-conscious and often make things more confusing than they need to be. And I'm right there. I just visited an unbelievable temple yesterday. They had a bunch of quotes up around the place, and even just those quotes were confusing. One said that people are not sinners. Another explained what sin was in our lives. One explained that we must give up all of our desires. Others said that we must put all of our energy toward serving the Divine and that we are the Divine.
???
"What do you mean when you say, "We believe that we will be rewarded in heaven for doing as the father asks?""
The Bible talks about building up treasures in heaven instead of on earth by following the father's commandments/suggestions/example. There is also a section (and I dont have my scriptures with me, but I think Paul wrote it in Corinthians) that talks about three degrees of glory in heaven. One as the sun, one as the moon, and one as the stars. Those who live righteously and follow the Lord will have a glory like that of the sun, while those who did not will have lesser degrees of glory.
"Sometimes I don't understand how everyone will know the Truth and have a chance to accept it."
Well there are a lots of different views on this one, so I wont tell you what is right necessarily, just what I believe. The scriptures state that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord and savior. We certainly know that there are people who have died without ever hearing of Christ. Would a loving Father in heaven give them eternal damnation? No, of course not. He loves us very much. I believe that when we die we go to a spirit world where those who know Christ teach those who do not know Christ. Everyone will have the opportunity there to learn the truth and get into heaven. Only those that refuse to accept Christ's forgiveness there would end up in hell. There is a verse in the new testament, again I dont have my scriptures, but I think it's still Paul who talks about doing baptisms for the dead. Mainstream Christianity has no doctrine to offer about this, perhaps Paul wrote more in other letters which are long lost. But I believe this relates to getting baptised in place of those who are dead and learning about Christ in the afterlife, before they go into heaven. The Catholics believe in purgatory, which would essentially be the same thing place I guess. God would prefer that all his children be able to come home to him, and gives them every possible opportunity to make the right decision. My $0.02
X ... I'm a little worried about you. These past few months I have been studying Mormonism, and what you're saying directly matches with a couple of doctrines that I have encountered. What I worry about is that rather than you believing in a spirit world where people teach those have not heard of Christ and baptism for the dead is not so much the doctrines themselves. I will not say to you that your ideas are wrong, nor will I say that Mormonism is wrong. What is more important to me than telling you this or that is that you decide for yourself! I am worried that rather than these being your own ideas, you are being told certain things and believe them because they make sense without actually researching them for yourself.
Mainstream Christianity is not great in this regard. For the majority of my life I have been told what Truth is and have been offered little chance to discover it for myself. Only in the last five years or so have I really poured myself into understanding my faith. I have been reading through the Old Testiment especially and getting to know who God is, who He really is, not what other people say about Him, but what His Word says about Him directly. All I ask is that you do the same. Don't let anyone, not even me, tell you what the Truth is. Read the Bible, PRAY to God for wisdom as you do, weigh it, and discover the Truth.
For instance, that passage you are referring to about baptism of the dead is found in I Corinthians 15:29. It says, "Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized for them?" Paul does not in any way condone baptism for the dead. He asks a question about it. This is because, at this point, the Corinthian church has held strong in their faith, but nonetheless they have allowed outside fources to convince them to tweak their beliefs a little bit. They did not hold to the Truth of the Resurrection of those who were dead. Paul is making an argument in chapter 15 that if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised and therefore Christ came to earth for nothing. "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied." What a silly thing to believe in Christ and live for Him, but not believe in the resurrection of the dead. In verse 29, Paul is trying to demonstrate just how backward the thinking of the Corinthians is. If you don't believe in the resurrection, then why are you being baptized for the dead? It doesn't make any sense.
Baptism is a symbol of our commitment to Christ. It is a proclamation of our faith. People would be baptized once they accepted Christ as their Savior as a way to shout out to the whole world that they were sanctified by Christ's blood and that they would now live differently. It makes no sense to be baptized for someone who did not make that commitment, just as it makes no sense to baptize an infant who does not have the capacity to make that commitment.
Matt, no one told me all of this. I have heard pieces of it in church, but it all comes from me, from my own studies, from my own understanding of the Bible and of my God. Please do the same. Please make sure to really read the word and understand it. Don't believe what other's tell you - me or anyone else. The choices you make and the beliefs you hold have eternal consequences. It is so important for Matt's like us to really check out Christianity, Mormonism, and everything else. We have to figure it out for ourselves. There is a God and it only makes sense that He wants us to know the Truth. God does not say, "Be patient, listen carefully, be trusting and you will find the truth." God says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
Matt, I have no idea, I could be way off base, but the things you are saying sound really similar to what I know of Mormonism. If I'm wrong, I apologize. I still mean everything I said; you should always explore and learn your own faith. I hope what I said makes sense. What do you think?
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