| Subject: Diversity |
Author:
Giovanna
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Date Posted: 14:05:49 04/28/03 Mon
Yesterday I went to my local health food store. When i parked my car
a man walked up to me from out of the blue and commented that he
really liked my Buddhist "OM" decal on my rear windshield. We began
a conversation about the day we were having in relationship to
enjoying being in the present and the Buddhist sign that we loved to
see. I asked the man if he was a Buddhist, and he said, "No, i'm
just a person." That was the end of our conversation and he went
back to his job and i walked into the store.
This brief conversation lead me to think about our diversity and in
the ways that we share spirituality with others whom we don't know.
This man and i, for five minutes in a parking lot, shared something
of the spirit by expressing ourselves in Buddhist philosophy, though
neither of us are Buddhists. By bridging our differences we found a
common ground in the "OM" symbol and two strangers explored
something of the sacred. I have had people ask me about other
religious symbols that i have, and have found that they either are
members of that religion or they are very interested in the
teachings.
Although we need no symbols in our lives in order to converse with
the soul of matter and outer matter, spirit has given to us a myriad
of doorways in which we can communicate with the landscape of the
world of spirit through the language of the signs, sigils, prayers
and glyphs.
It is also true that unity of spirit does not necessarily
mean "white-washing" religion into a homogenous abstraction, as the
richness of cultural symbology has a deep of vast role. Bridging our
differences means bringing in who we are and where we came from, our
religions and spiritual inspirations and sharing those on a common
ground where we can learn and expand our understanding of the human
family, our potential to generate similar perspectives using
similar symbology, though we live on opposite sides of the globe.
How similar are the Tibetans to the Navajo? How similar are the
Moarie to the Native American? How similar are indigenous peoples
around the world? Perhaps we are not so different as we may think,
and it is only politics and land issues that separate us. Perhaps
our differences are not differences, but an elaborate illusion
fabricated through the misuse language -- the written as well as the
spoken word.
Symbology transmits knowledge as does a global handshake that can
say much with so few lines or actions. The OM sigils, the Star of
David, the Ichthys, the key, the heart of sorrows, and so many
beloved artistic connections to the world within all contribute to
the family of spirit. It may be argued that we need no symbology to
touch the universal life current. It is with joy, however, that i
display the little Buddha's in my home, and pictures of saints with
their auric bloom. Why does the soul call up the signs and lift us
to the heights they were meant to be used for? My guess is that the
Merkaba of the infinite calls us to create some such vehicle to
touch us, to taste us, while traveling the current of consciousness
inward in our meditations. I would also guess that when we use
symbols of various faith traditions, they act as a call card that
asks if we can entre into that place or realm, and that we belong
there, as we understand the name of the one whom we call to be by
use of the sign.
The fountains of knowledge and wisdom of Joseph Campbell and Carl
Gustav Jung, two of my gurus in this life time, have taught me much
of the passion, love, and employment of signs, symbols and the myths
that have guided our lives and carved the stairways into the depths
of our psyche. Today in our investigation into the scriptures of the
past, let us not forget those who lead the way to the release of
wisdom from a depth psychology standpoint. There is a scripture that
is scattered that these two men faithfully transcribed by their life
work. The issue is with interpretation, and in this regard we may,
in fear of misuse, resolve to dissolve the rich fabric of our
cultures and remove everything refined and ornamented by hand and
heart of origin. Part of the present day problem is with the
perceived ownership of wisdom. Take the fish symbol. Deep study into
most symbology removes a beginning time when this symbol was first
extracted from the artistic mind and spirit. We find its use in
Egypt before its use as a Christian motif. We find the use of the
Mother and Child before the birth of Christ. These things we need to
resolve and put an end to the disturbing trend to own wisdom as if
it could be intellectual property that can be copy writ by a
multinational franchise -- it cannot.
Symbology touches the flame the artist succumbs to, and we borrow it
for upliftment. We employ it for our use in order to be close to the
life force that it projects. Religion produces art and has a unique
connection to that cultural system through the artwork that it
produces. We cannot own the wisdom that is produced by its use,
though a culture can and does identify itself with the use of its
religious and spiritual symbols. The sand painting of the Tibetan
monk is unique to that culture, however, it is closely akin to the
Navajo and various African sand painting as well.
We are all connected, we are all one. Through the use of this
investigation into the written scriptures as well as the lineage of
artwork and symbology that our ancestors produced, we will see how
the story goes, and it goes, from one hand to the next, in many
tongues throughout many lands. The songs are sung to the same God of
many names, the same spirit, the same Mother.
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