Interestingly enough, there is a "rainbow" going from East to West that underlies much of the human culture. Like the rainbow, it is hard to say where one color stops and the other begins, and yet we know there are different colors. For example, while rational thought may underlie the western approach to religion, Zen emphasizes direct experience, and Islam (if we limit it to say around Iraq and Iran, i.e. geographically in the middle) puts equal emphasis on both. What is more, Christianity is relatively silent about your day to day life (I know this is going to get me into trouble), Islam tries to create 5 broad categories (as in "No way", "better not", "neutral", "it would be nice", and "you should") with the majority of life's events falling in the "neutral" place, and Zen (as in Japan) takes over one's entire life from flower arrangement to martial arts to architecture.
Naturally then, "faith" means very different things to different people as you move afar from your comfort zone. |
