From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sat Mar 20 2004 - 21:56:56 GMT
Wim, Sam and all MOQers:
dmb said previously:
'If the task of religion is to guide a soul toward the point where he or she
can hear the music for themselves, (and I think that IS the primary purpose
of religion.) then surely the quality of each religion should be ranked and
measured by how well it achieves that task. By that standard, Western
religions have failed. If there is one that can be said to function at all,
I would very much like to know about it.
Sam replied:
If 'hear the music for themselves' is a snappier substituted for 'allowing
DQ to flourish' then I'm happy with that too. Disagree with pretty much
everything else DMB wrote though.... :o)
dmb says:
I don't know that the two phrases can be substituted because I don't know
what "allowing DQ to flourish" means. I'd also ask you to be specific about
your disagreements. I'd ask you to respond to the quotes, the main idea of
which explains what its means to hear the music for yourself. You know,
Pirsig heard the music that day in the teepee when he ate peyote. We're
talking about an experience that transforms the consciousness, a mystical
experience. Anyway, I guess I just have to wait for you to explain.
Wim replied:
I agree with your criterium for good religion. In my presentation of
Quakerism I hope to show that not all Western religions have failed. If you
disagree: what keeps you from nominating a non-Western religion?
dmb says:
I'm waiting for you to show us how Quakerism succeeds in getting people to
hear the music. I'd be quite surprized to find mysticism in any Christian
church. I might even join it if I thought it were true.
As to the other question, why not nominate a non-Western religion? The short
answer is simply that I'm a Western person. I think we can all learn from
primitive religions and Eastern religions, but as modern Westerners I don't
think those alien forms can easily be adopted. Jung puts it well...
"What has taken China thousands of years to build cannot be acquired by
theft. If we want to possess it we must earn the right to it by working on
ourselves. Of waht use to us is the wisdom of the Upanishads, or the insight
of Chinese yoga, if we desert our own foundations as though they were errors
outlived and settle with thievish intent on foreign shores like homeless
pirates."
When it comes to religion, I do the only thing I can think to do, which is
be a student of religion rather than a practicioner. This is why I like
mythology, mysticism and metaphysics. Its an intellectual approach to
religion, one that does not require me to believe that the earth was made in
six days or that people come back from the dead. That way I can nourish my
soul a little without completely starving my brain. But, hey, like I said,
if there is a functional religion I'd very much like to know about it. That
would be the end of a twenty year search.
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