The Buddhist Witch & The Jesus Freak
Recently during one of my weekly video chats with my sister, who is a self described "Jesus Freak", we were discussing the phenomenon that seems to plague many people of faith, fear of alternative spiritual knowledge. Among many religions, there seems to be this fear that if someone studies something outside their faith it will lead to the corruption or betrayal of one's religion or God. This perplexes me and my sister and as well.
My sister, Angel, is a "born again" Christian and I am a Buddhist Witch. From the outside, our belief systems may seem to be at the complete opposite ends of the metaphysical universe. However, through our weekly chats where we share our ideas, struggles, and exchange personal wisdom, we have both come to realize that this couldn't be further from the truth.
Our conversations are deeply spiritual as we often draw upon our own, very personal experiences. We discuss everything from the mundane to the magical. We are not always in agreement but often find that many of our core beliefs are auspiciously similar. She reads excerpts to me from her Christian women's devotional, "Encouragement for the Day", and I tell her everything that came up in my tarot card reading that morning. It feeds my soul. These conversations have been such a profoundly transformative experience for me.
During one particular chat, I was telling my sister about this book I was reading, "Botanical Curses and Poisons: The Shadow Lives of Plants", by Fez Inkwright. On the surface, the topic of this book may seem nefarious and/or evil. Which I'm sure deters just about all the muggles from even cracking the spine. Sadly, the reason why so many people hide from the dark and mysterious parts of the world (and themselves) is actually quite simple. They fear what they don't know or understand.
I shared with Angel that I felt this was an unfortunate mistake for how can we truly become enlightened if we don't explore everything? Shouldn't we look into the nooks, crannies, and crevices that lay before us to ensure we uncover all that's hiding in the shadows? To ignore that such things exist would make us vulnerable and would put us at risk for being blindsided. She agreed and ultimately we came to the conclusion that only someone tremendously weak in their own faith would fear learning about the beliefs of someone else.
On my own spiritual journey, the first non-Christian class I ever took was on Mahayana Buddhism at the Shambhala Meditation Center in Washington, DC. In the opening remarks, the Acharya, or teacher, said to us, "One of the first mantras of Buddhism is to question EVERYTHING". What?! I nearly cried at this concept. I immediately knew I was on the right path.
Coming from a life-long stint in Christianity (I too was "born again" for over a decade), this concept lit up my brain like fireworks. The Christianity I had known and practiced basically operated under the opposite mantra. I mean, there was no questioning God!? I was expected to just accept, in complete blind-faith, that everything taught to us was true. For me, that was nearly impossible and even at a very young age I had a hard time swallowing a lot of Christian lore. I have always thought many of the stories in the Bible to be quite beautiful and I fully understood the overall messaging, but to expect me to accept every word as 100% truth???? Nope. Sorry. Uh uh. Couldn't do it.
As a Buddhist, it was nearly the opposite. I was always encouraged to read and study as many different points of view as possible. I was taught not to let fear and intimidation deter me from seeking Truth. I was taught to approach everything with a mixture of childlike curiosity and caution. To paraphrase the Shakyamuni Buddha, everything in life should be held not too tight and not too loose.
My sister has found a way to approach Christianity with this type of balance. For me ultimately, Christianity is still, well, too tight. However, my sister and I both agree that learning the beliefs and varying points of view from others is how we gain meaningful perspective and wisdom. As for those who are afraid to learn anything about the beliefs of others because it may not mesh with their own beliefs I have but one thing to say, "Oh ye of little faith..."