It's been a sketchbook summer. It's been a downloaded movie summer. It's been a sleep in while you can summer. It's been a traveler's summer. It's been a good summer.
Sometimes I wish I knew everything about a person. Crawl
around in their brain for a while,
and really know what perspective they're from.
Would that make them boring, or more interesting?
I guess that's what relationships are about- figuring out the most you can
about a person.
Would that make us Jesus, if we could do that?
Maybe that's what his appeal was- he knew everyone he met.
If you can't tell, I've been chewing the cud of religion for a bit.
I'm trying to figure out who this Jesus person was.
Because even spending some time away from "church" or "organized
religion" as it's sometimes known...
I'm still drawn to this Jesus person.
I'm trying to figure out who he was, what his purpose was. You know.
I've been told that Jesus = Buddha, which is an interesting concept.
I'm researching whether Jesus actually taught reincarnation or other principles
of Buddhism, and what I've found is fascinating and mind-blowing.
Now, I don’t claim to know very much about Buddhism at all (though I studied only
Christianity for 18 years of my life) - these are just some basic similarities
I found.
Tidbits:
"The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will
people say 'Here it is' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within
you."
= Nirvana?
Jesus taught that material possessions were unimportant
compared to the search for righteousness (right living). “Do not worry, saying ‘What
shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or What shall we wear?’ For the pagans
run after all these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given
to you as well.” 1 In
fact, he once told a rich young ruler who came to ask how he could attain
eternal life “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 2 Similarly, when monks dedicate their lives to the
study and practice of Buddhism, they often abide in monasteries with very few
material possessions.
In John, when Jesus and his disciples came across a man born blind, his
disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he
was born blind?" 3 Jesus
did not correct them on this odd statement, which seems to suggest that this
man had committed some act before he was born that caused his condition
(karma?). Instead, he told them that no one had sinned, but it happened to
display the work of God.
There are also many references to John the Baptist as Elijah reincarnated. For
example, Jesus says about John: "From the days of John the Baptist until
now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay
hold of it. For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you
are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. He who has
ears to hear, let him hear." 4
I have always been bothered by the fire-and-brimstone approach to salvation. I
think now that it's because Jesus didn't bring that sort of message to the
world. In fact, he rarely mentioned an afterlife at all (beyond the vague
references to "eternal punishment" and "eternal life",
which could just as well be the cycle of life/death/reincarnation until
enlightenment). I think it's been inferred, and the real focus of Jesus'
message was creating a better world for others. The Dalai Lama has been quoted
as saying that the Buddha's message can be summarized in these two sentences:
"Benefit others. If you cannot benefit others, at least don't harm
them." This is very similar to Jesus' teaching that the entire Old
Testament law can be summed up into two commands: "Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the
first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.'" 5
I think their messages are very similar, because the end purpose is the same.
When you love others, you get closer to God. Jesus said once in a parable,
"Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me." 6"God"
is a universal concept, and so is love. John, a disciple and follower of Jesus,
wrote this: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is
love." 7
I do not think that the salvation that Jesus taught is as cut-and-dry as many
followers of his message would have you believe. I think Jesus taught a much
more universal message, one that existed for thousands of years before his
birth. One that encompasses many “religions” into one beautiful, complete
truth: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Notes:
1.
Matthew 6:31-33
2.
Luke 18:22
3.
John 9:2
4.
Matthew 11:12-15
5.
Matthew 22:37-38
6.
Matthew 25:40
7.
1 John 4:8
How this turned into a two-page dissertation on religion, I have no idea. Oh well. Opinions?
I'm afraid... that I don't care about anything important anymore.
I'm starting to think that everything is relative. perspective determines everything.
Does truth even exist? According to the world, there are 126,435,345,789,239,353 versions of the truth out there. Jesus Elvis Buddha Darwin Mohammad Marley Descartes ... string theory? I was telling Matt yesterday how horrible it would be if someone died, and no one knew and no one cared. That seems like a common purpose to life: being known for something when you die or just being cared for. [Even if it's Henry Earl's record of being arrested 1,000 times for public intoxication.] But really, in the grand, cosmic scale of things. Will it matter?
I suppose the grand mystery of life is not knowing why we're in it.
I had a dream about miniature things last night. There was a very small kitten in it. :] Pizza diffuses hard feelings. Fact. I really need to do dishes. Fact.
I've felt so empty of inspiration lately. I've gotten up early to sit in panera and sketch funny-looking people around me, hoping it will spark some sort of idea or desire to paint and create. I suppose the best way of retaining creativity is just to paint. Thinking about painting won't create paintings.
Schoolstartswednesday. Nervousment. I hope all my art classes won't murder me. But a 4-hour studio at 8 am 4 days a week? Oh my. I don't even think a coffee shop around here is even open that early. I might have to wean myself off of caffeine. Or make my own coffee, which is much more likely.
Nothing is much better than granola in the morning, I've decided. When the morning starts leaking in through the windows, and Thom Yorke is crooning away in the background. I think happiness is one of the things that inspires me to create. I receive happiness from the strangest places- from said granola, driving home during a sunset, reading something beautiful and true. It's that bubbly happiness that makes me feel like everything is all right with me and the world, even if it only lasts for 5 minutes. (A plus of being a romantic).
And also, running through the woods taking pictures. Which is what I'm about to do now. Peace.
I had a sort of revelation on the way home today... unfortunately, I can't remember what it was. I hope it wasn't too important.
I've been a little spacey recently. More than my usual bump-into-things, zone-randomly personality. Maybe I'm losing brain cells. Every coffee I drink to reduce the tiredness zaps one of those little buggers. Dependency is no good.
Recently I've been wondering what attracts people. People say "opposites attract", but I don't think that's so true. Maybe it's lifestyle- if two people enjoy doing the same things, why not do them together? So when lifestyles change, is that the reason people drift apart? I think how people "click" is funny. Un-clicking takes longer, and is less obvious until 2 years later, when you see each other only maybe during summer vacation and spend all your time catching up instead of chatting about presidential nominees and carrot cake.
So it goes. [I've just read Slaughterhouse Five. Fantastic book. Find a copy and read it now- the rest of this entry isn't as interesting as that book].
School sign seen on the way home: "Happy 50th Birthday Mr.Gasper!"
That strikes me as morbidly funny. (Does that make me a bad person?)
Also, just so you know. It's illegal to get a fish drunk in Ohio. Though I just don't know how you would go about doing that. :\
