Spryte, Part III    What do we DO about religion?

and also, Mmm -mmmmmmm  Sausage Links:
 
 

Religion/ Spirituality? right here V

email clubs of people of different religions online

In explaining the distinction between religion and spirituality, my friend Tenzin Gyatso says:

" Religion I take to be concerned with faith in the claims of salvation of one faith tradition or another, an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of metaphysical or supernatural reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or nirvana. Connected to this are religious teachings or dogma, rituals, prayer and so on."  [and so on and so on and so on ... .]
 
 "Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit -- such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony -- which bring happiness to both self  and others.   While ritual and prayer, along with the questions of nirvana and salvation, are directly connected    to religious faith, these inner qualities need not be, however.

There is thus no reason why the individual should not develop them, even to a high degree, without recourse to any religious or metaphysical belief system. This is why I sometimes say that religion is something we can perhaps do without. What we cannot do without are these basic spiritual qualities."

                      ~ Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama. Ancient Wisdom, Modern World. pb.ed. (22-23)

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People like to DO something with their religions.

They want or need to re-enforce their beliefs.
They like having occasions to get together with like-minded people.

One thing they do is perform rituals.

Rituals are re-enactments of myths.  [A myth is a sacred, traditional, explanation; usually in the form of a story.  Too bad that some people use the word myth to mean a lie.  I guess you can figure out for yourself how that happened!]

Usually, everyone already knows the story, and so they can follow the "script" and the "directions,' easily.  For example, in Christianity the Mass or Eucharist replays Jesus' remarks before his death.  The ritual re-enacts events surrounding his crucifixion.

In the some sects, one person performs the lead and the others are like the chorus.  In others, everyone participates equally, but if the group is a large one, usually there is a leader to help keep everyone in the same "place."

One kind of ritual is a subordination:

"A queer but symptomatic narrative was heard during field work in regions near Dehradun. In olden times, an English Officer
used to live in a bungalow in Dehradun. He had employed an Indian cook. After Independence [of India, from Britain] that English Officer went back to Britain along with his family, but that cook used to live in the same cultural memory of subordination till death. He did not discontinue his routine activities even after the English Officer went away, e.g. he used to tie up apron, put the plates, knife, fork etc. on the dining table in the previous manner.

Instead he also copied his officer's daily activities.

For instance, he used to sit on the chair and eat food with knife and fork in a way similar to the English Officer. Thus he daily used to repeat that subordination memory. In the process of that repetition, now he had to play both the roles, that of the cook and that of the English Officer. This typical example of a memory of subordination is confirmed by old people of the countryside of Dehradun as a true event. "
 

Yahoo runs email lists for members and for visitors like us.
On  that  V [look down sign]  page, you can see all the Religion groups (and Spirituality) and also get to visit their archives.

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Religion_Beliefs/
 
 
 

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