Last weekend I attended my dad's funeral back in Pennsylvania. One of the things that struck me most was the fact that religion permeated every aspect of life. The minister's proselytizing message both at the gravesite and at the memorial service reminded me vividly of this fact. It was a dualistic religion, one that emphasized the divisions between things: the "right" way from the "wrong" way, the boundaries separating creation from Creator, an evil humanity from a perfect God, a savior from the saved, the correct religion from the incorrect, a soulless natural world from an ensouled humanity - and so on. As I became an adult, I realized that the dualistic philosophy underlying this religion simply didn't fit with my personality. I was - and am - more of a unitive person; I like to be adventurous and explore the ways in which all things blend together and unite into One: person with person, religion with religion, landscape with humanity, one philosophy with another. I realized this weekend that the excessive dualism I experienced growing up PUSHED me in the opposite direction, toward radical Union. As a result, I am perhaps unbalanced at times - something of a contemplative extremist, unable to tolerate any disharmony. For example, I sometimes fail to see the less-than-perfect intentions of other people. I have a tendency to idealize others and to castigate myself when I do something that disrupts a sense of Unity. As a general rule, I focus on emphasizing the positive aspects of the various world religions - and of the two competing political parties in this country - which makes me sometimes naive to the negative aspects. Isn't it fascinating how our early life experience affects so radically who we become as adults?
Photo: The Needles loom and blend into one another in the fog; Canyonlands National Park, UT; December 1, 2013
If you'd like to make a donation to help fund Nature Photo-Quotes, please go here. Thanks!
No comments:
Post a Comment