I mentioned in one of my previous articles that I am attending a two and half week long seminar in Berlin. It has been an information overload experience with bits of insightful knowledge in between and that is my own personal opinion. As much as I had a lot of resistance at times, because personally I would rather be doing something creative like preparing an insightful article for you guys. I found that some of the information I was exposed to gave me an interesting perspective on some of our world problems. Some of the topics discussed were about Colonialism, Religious intolerance and missionary work etc. As a spiritual kind of guy I never really like to dwell too much on these topics not out denial but mainly because they can end up serving as a reminder of our differences instead of our commonality. In one of our discussions we were asked what we would do if we were invited to take part in a religious ceremony, ritual or prayer. It was an interesting discussion and one of the things that became apparent is that for people that have a strong attachment to their spiritual faith it is hard to take part or embrace different religious system. Personally such things do not matter to me because I do not care much for these structures, therefor I see no fuss in partaking in any spiritual ceremony as long as it does not go against my own personal values. What do I mean by that? e.g. I would not participate in a ceremony where I would have to kill an animal, I would not condemn the ritual itself rather I would take part only if I personally do not have to take the animal's life. I am a vegetarian therefore it makes no sense for me to kill an animal if I am not going to eat it, this is not based on morality, but just my own personal values with no condemnation or judgement of the previously mentioned practices.
I see religion as a tool, its purpose is to foster spiritual awareness and no more! Too much importance should not be placed on the tool itself but its purpose instead. If the same means could be achieved with a different tool then it would not matter which tool one used, but only that it worked. Humans have created many religions and spiritual systems as tools to develop spiritual awareness, but the goal is a common one, just through different means.
Another important lesson that I have learned during this time is that no matter where I am or what kind of information I am exposed to, I can always find a way to extract meaning and inspiration out of it. It is the alchemy of life, there is gold in everything and all you have to do, is dig it out!
With these words I leave in love and peace!