Nope. Not even a little.
PROMPT: Religion
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Tag Archives: religion
PROMPT: Sacrifices
What sacrifices have you made in life?
I’ve thrown coins in a fountain, and I once went to a pig roast where someone prayed out loud before we ate, but I’ve never pushed anyone into a volcano — if that’s what you’re getting at.
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“Have you ever made a just man?” by Stephen Crane [w/ Audio]
"Have you ever made a just man?"
"Oh, I have made three," answered God,
"But two of them are dead,
And the third --
Listen! Listen!
And you will hear the thud of his defeat."
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BOOKS: “A Short Stay in Hell” by Steven L. Peck
A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. PeckMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site: Strange Violin Editions
If you enjoy books like Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 or Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy this book will probably be right up your alley. It may not be as unrelentingly (and hilariously) absurd as H2G2, but it’s clever, amusing, and thought-provoking.
The premise is that a devout Christian finds himself in hell because it turns out that Zoroastrianism was actually the one true religion. Fortunately, Zoroastrian hell is neither as grim nor (perhaps, ironically) as fire & brimstone-oriented as the Biblical version, but it is tedious, demoralizing, and — while it might not last forever –it lasts long enough to seem like forever.
Jorge Luis Borges fans (such as myself) will find a nod to his work in the shape of said hell.
I’d highly recommend this book for readers of irreverent and humorous literary fiction. It’s funny. It’s clever. And it’s a quick read.
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BOOKS: “The Varieties of Religious Experience” by William James
The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by Dr. William JamesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Project Gutenberg — Free Online
This book is now more than 120 years old and yet is still widely read and is still provoking thought about the nature of religious experiences and how they should be considered by academia. The book is a write-up of a series of twenty lectures that the famous American Philosopher-Psychologist, William James, delivered at the University of Edinburgh in 1901-02.
There are a few things that impressed me about this book. First, James was skilled with language and clever in conveying ideas, resulting in a good bit of quotable material and stimulating ideas.
Second, James’s writings about Eastern practices and philosophies were impressively clear and faithful. In those days, there wasn’t a lot translated from Sanskrit, Pali, etc. and what had been translated was frequently done by outside academicians with no firsthand experience with Eastern systems — e.g. Hinduism or Buddhism. This meant that the writings about Eastern Philosophy and practices from those days were often contorted by a Western / Abrahamic frame in a way that distorted the true nature of those traditions. James seems to have gained at least some of his understanding from someone with enough practical experience to produce accurate descriptions. Furthermore, James avoids spewing myths and misapprehensions by being humble in stating what is merely his understanding. It should be noted that James does write much more about Abrahamic traditions (as one would expect given his direct experience,) but it’s hard to plumb the depths of mysticism without looking to the East where such practices reached such advanced states.
Finally, I was impressed with James’s ability to walk the line of believer and scholar in a way that was fair both to religion and the religious but also to the scientifically-minded rational sceptic. So much of what I read on the subject takes a vitriolic tone of strict opposition and often unfairly depicts the positions of the other side (to be fair, usually this seems to be because the critic doesn’t understand the views of the other side and so produces an interpretation of the opposing ideas conforming to their own worldview, rather than just lying to win.) [As was attributed to James as well as others, “…people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”]
I’d highly recommend this book for readers interested in philosophy of religion and the psychology of religious experience.
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BOOKS: “Original Tao” by Harold D. Roth
Original Tao: Inward Training (Nei-yeh) and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism by Harold D. RothMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher site – Columbia University Press
This book is built around a translation of an old Taoist manual called “Inward Training” (i.e. 内业,) and the book serves not only to elaborate the meaning of the twenty-six poems that make up the manual, but also to put this work in a context with respect to its place in early Taoist mysticism — which raises further questions as to what constitutes early Taoism and early Taoist mysticism. (Just as the earliest followers of Jesus didn’t think of themselves as “Christians” – at least not as we understand that term – it’s an open question as to when people started to think of themselves as Taoists and how that start relates to when people began holding a set of proto-beliefs that formed the basis of the school(s) of philosophy.)
“Inward Training” presents breathwork and meditational exercises that Roth calls “inner cultivation” — or what some have called “inner alchemy.” The book does contain the entire manual both in Traditional Chinese and an English translation, as well as a much more extensive elaboration of the teachings of the manual. The latter is necessary because, like many old manuals, sparse description, archaic language, and assumptions about common knowledge du jour make it difficult for the layman to get any depth of understanding from the manual, itself.
This is a scholarly work, which means that its readability isn’t the highest and it does dive into matters that will be arcana for non-expert readers. That said, particularly as works of academic philosophy go, its readability isn’t bad. The book is heavily annotated and offers and extensive bibliography.
If you are interested in Taoist practices of breath, meditation, and alignment, this book is well worth investigating.
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BOOKS: “Magic: A Very Short Introduction” by Owen Davies
Magic: A Very Short Introduction by Owen DaviesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher Site – OUP
The first thing that a potential reader should be aware of is that this book isn’t about stage magic or sleight of hand, and that form of magic — in which all parties are aware that techniques are being used to exploit perceptual limitations so as to create the illusion of a supernatural occurrence — doesn’t even really come up as an aside. This book is about magic that (at least some) people believe is a demonstration of actual supernatural happenings in the world.
The book looks at the topic largely from a historical viewpoint; though special emphasis is given to the relationship between religion and magic, in both its congruous and adversarial aspects. That said, for the most part, it’s not arranged historically but rather topically. It does have one chapter on historical perspectives (ch. 3) and one that addresses the ways and degrees to which magical thinking still exists in the modern world (ch. 6.) But it also has chapters on the anthropology of magic (ch.1,) the shifting landscape of thinking about what magic actually is (given that it’s clearly something to many people but isn’t likely the actual exploitation of loopholes in the laws governing the physical world that believers feel it to be — ch. 3,) the role of language in magic (ch. 4,) and the practices of magic (ch. 5.)
The book does focus heavily on the Abrahamic world (Judeo-Christian-Islamic) and its Janus-faced relation to magic over time, but not exclusively so. It brings in African, Chinese, Caribbean, and Native American traditions here and there as well.
I found this book interesting and thought-provoking and would highly recommend it for anyone looking to gain a better insight into how humanity has thought about magic over time and how those beliefs have aligned – or conflicted with – religious beliefs and practices.
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“Some keep the Sabbath going to Church –” (236) by Emily Dickinson [w/ Audio]
Some keep the Sabbath going to Church --
I keep it, staying at Home --
With a Bobolink for a Chorister --
And an Orchard, for a Dome --
Some keep the Sabbath in Surplice --
I, just wear my Wings --
And instead of tolling the Bell, for Church,
Our little Sexton -- sings.
God preaches, a noted Clergyman --
And the sermon is never long,
So instead of getting to Heaven, at last --
I'm going, all along.
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BOOKS: “Taoism: An Essential Guide” by Eva Wong
Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva WongMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site
This book offers the reader clarity about the scope of Taoism, a daunting challenge given Taoism’s long history and how it overlaps with other schools of philosophy as well as with Traditional Chinese Religion, more broadly. The book is divided into three parts: history, specialties (magic, divination, ceremony, inward training, and karma yoga,) and practices (meditation, somatic practices [e.g. qi gong and taijiquan,] and rituals and ceremonies.) The history section covers a period from pre-Taoist shamanic practices of 5,000 years ago, practices that would inform early Taoism, to a period during which Taoism became entwined with Buddhism and Confucianism. The specialties and practices sections attempt to give the reader a broad overview while avoiding discussion of “how-to.”
I found this book to be informative and interesting. It did feel more effectively geared toward someone with an interest in Taoism as religion rather than Taoism as a philosophy. The discussion does sometimes get into the weeds on issues like ceremonies and talismans (again, not in a how-to fashion, but with some arcane detail nevertheless,) but — at the same time — besides some discussion of the teachings of the Tao Te Jing and some exploration of Taoist metaphysics in the Divinational Taoism chapter, there’s not a lot of insight into Taoism as philosophy. That said, it does end each chapter with a “Further Reading” section that can point readers interested in a specific topic elsewhere.
If you’ve ever been overwhelmed at one of those bright and complicated Chinese temples and would like some insight into what Taoists do and how it’s different (or not different) from what Confucianists, Traditional Chinese Religion practitioners, and Zen Buddhists do, this is a good book to check out. If you’re solely interested in Taoism as a school of philosophy or otherwise have a specific focus such as qi gong and breathwork practices, you can probably find books that are better tailored to your needs.
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BOOKS: “Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction” by James R. Rush
Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction by James R. RushMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher Site
I’ve been to most of the eleven countries of Southeast Asia, but still my questions are many. This short guide answered some of them. The book takes a largely historical approach, breaking the timeline into periods during which these countries were pre-nation-state kingdoms, then colonies, and then independent countries. While the guide is written by a historian and is organized by governance (i.e. who won the wars,) it does not solely address politics and regimes.
The guide also explores subjects such as religion. This was fortunate for me because a lot of my questions involve this topic. Why is the northern part of the region mostly Buddhist while the southern part is mostly Muslim? Why did Hinduism and other Indian religions (not inclusive of Buddhism, which virtually died out within India) almost entirely give way to other religions in this area, except for spotty exceptions (most notably Bali?) Incidentally, the former question is answered more than the latter, which makes sense as this is small book for a relatively large area, but more importantly for a long history. Southeast Asia has been a strategically and economically important place for centuries.
As a traveler, I found this book well worth reading as a way to gain insight into the region. It doesn’t dive deep into cultural questions (except a bit into religion,) and so there is much more to learn from other books. It does explore who governed these countries and how, and the last chapter brings the question up to date — reflecting on the political and economic changes in the last couple decades. If you’re curious to know more about Southeast Asia, in a way that doesn’t get too deep in the minutiae, this book is worth checking out.
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Tiger Riding for Beginners 