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Pastimes : History's effect on Religion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: exdaytrader76 who wrote (194)	7/29/2005 12:27:37 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 520

Interesting...I guess there are shades of grey all over. Buddhism is more individualistic and more "selfish" than Christianity...Christianity more so than Islam. All 3 have branches that cover the extremes of their spectrum, each shaped by social and political forces of their time. Sufism for example, believes in oneness of the universe, a continuity of God into all that is (one imagery used is that just as you look into the mirror and see "yourself", God looked upon himself and this world was his reflection). Sufism is one of the most humane doctrines one can ever come across. But the "golden" age of Sufism was at a time of extreme political upheaval and mass brutality and chaos. Sufism made the world bearable for the masses caught in a sea of political turmoil. It emphasized personal progress in the path of God (meditation, good conduct, and general detachment from a world that was mostly beyond control of its inhabitants)...Incidentally, Sufis did make it to power, eventually, and some formed very formidable armies...though it is debatable how "Sufi" those monarchs and their troops were. This is somewhat similar to the course of Buddhism in the Orient. Buddhism made it to Japan at a most chaotic time where the country was consumed by warlords and peasants could be beheaded just as an example to others. There Buddhism metamorphosed into Zen, and with very similar precepts as the Sufis...and again, eventually formidable warriors sprang from it in the form of Samurai. At least the Samurai acknowledged they were not living a very Buddhist life (Samurais are cursed to be reborn as Samurai, the saying went). If you go to Latin America, the Church is very active in many social projects. Being a good Christian is synonymous with feeding the hungry, sheltering the weak, setting up hospitals, and doing social good. Not so in America. Here Church is a very individualistic personal feel-good thing...I wonder how much of this individualization of religion is a function of American culture and how much of it due to the faithful feeling powerless against the world at large and having to leave it up to almighty to do His thing while the faithful praise Him. ST