Christ and the Ego - St. Thomas More Catholic Parish - Salt Lake City, UT - August 31st, 2014

     Today was a day that captured a lot of the good that can happen in religion, and Christianity specifically. Both came from expected and unexpected sources. I started out the day with a visit to Saint More Catholic Church, it is one of the easiest for me to visit, since they have a lot of service times and are really close to my house. This was good since I'd be spending time with family later. 

     The church is beautiful, it is surrounded by trees and has an interesting design, it's like a pyramid almost and has a school right next to it. The building was packed and I was lucky to find a seat in the back. When I arrived the Hallelujahs began, confession and the readings...which were the same as Saturday based around carrying the cross for Jesus and giving ones own desires up. What I noticed this time though in the Matthew reading were the similarities to Eastern thought. 

   Depending on the interpretation, and I'll be taking that Eastern philosophy interpretation in this post. Jesus wanted the apostles to put their own desires aside and to be as he was. It was similar to the Buddha and the giving up of possessions. He also calls Peter Satan when Peter says he wants him to stay around. Whether Jesus saw the Crucifixion coming or not this line is good at establishing that his teachings were bigger than him as well as his actions. Which makes sense why his followers would see him as God later. How Satan was used here too was as the ego, don't remind me of the things that make me want to live for me...let me live for others, which you should do too. Here God is like Enlightenment, complete understanding and perfect action. 

     Of course this was taken literal, and though I don't agree with that interpretation if it brings you to good action in the world than do it. If you take inspiration from an undefined outside source, than I am happy for you...if it leads you to do good. Which it clearly has done for quite a few people throughout time and up to current day. 

    Late I would head to City Church in Sandy which would have a different theme that is universal while also emphasizing the second interpretation of Jesus as a deity. 

University Temple United Methodist Church - Seattle, WA - October 27th, 2013

      The University Temple United Methodist Church is a church I've been meaning to go to for a while. It is a beautiful church I pass every time I visit University of Washington. The church sits right across the street from campus and on my visit up to Seattle I planned to go with a friend who I've done church visits with in the past.

      What I knew about the church before hand was that it was highly involved in social justice in the area. It hosts a needle exchange to help addicts recover, a thrift shop and coffee shop that is extremely cheap and made for those who have little, and at one point they hosted a GLBTQ Church in their building. Suffice to say I had a lot to admire going into this.

    Well I was not disappointed, though there were two things that turned me off from the good I experienced. The first was the greeters felt too eager. It was hard to really just have time to self and let everything sink in, since there is a lot to see in the church...most churches this big and this beautiful tend to be High Church churches like Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, Episcopal and Lutheran. Every greeter greeted me more than once and even asked if I could wear a name tag. For a guy who likes being anonymous during these kinds of things, that was not something that was all that comfortable. 

    The second factor was money. In the talk about the churches goal for what they needed to raise a main focus was on how generous the congregation was before most of the members went up to give their pledges, this does not include the basket being passed before the sermon. I know churches need money to support themselves, but they've never mixed very well to me. 

      There was a lot of positive though. The message was Christian while at the same time remaining universal. The premise is confronting the Burning Bush within yourself (Holy Spirit, confronting ego, etc.) you can be transformed and that it is difficult. He talked of his own experience with this doing street ministry for drunks and homeless and how God forced him to confront his prejudices and grow through them and become more Christ like in the process. I liked it because confronting the truth about ourselves is how we grow. Weather that is an outside being inside of us, or just us facing ourselves is beside the point, the outcome is the same when truth and honesty are involved. It was one of the best sermons I've heard since doing this blog. 

      Lastly, the music was beautiful...there were many songs that I knew from Handel's Messiah, to Our God you Called to Moses and Joyful, Joyful we Adore Thee. I do like all the good the church does, and it was an overall great experience with a wonderful friend. 

 

Olympia Mahayana Buddhist Center - November 3rd 2010

        What do Mahayana Buddhism and Catholicism have in common? As I discovered in China, my readings and today at the Olympia Mahayana Buddhist Center...quite a lot. What I discovered today was more of the common themes that many religions share who have the ideal of perfection or near perfection, and the belief that it is possible to reach that state through help from outside powers.

       The Kadampa Mahayana Buddhism at the Olympia Buddhist Center came out of Tibetan Buddhism, which explains the many Buddhist deities and living and past masters as guides to attain Enlightenment. Certain Gurus have attained Enlightenment and are there to guide their pupils to achieve Buddhahood through worship, much like honoring the Saints in order to get closer to God and more Godlike. The main difference is in Mahayana Buddhism it is taught that you can become a Buddha, in Christianity a person cannot become a Christ. As it turns out both depend on outward salvation from a higher power in order to attain goal of living virtue.

      How to describe the Center? The Center was a small building located near the park by the Capital building. Once inside there was a shop, an area to get tea and the worship area where Golden Buddhas sat with offerings, as well as a picture of the Guru who had come from Tibet.

      The prayers reminded me of the Lord's Prayer.
Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. They Kingdom Come thy will be done on earth as is Heaven. Gives us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not unto temptation but deliver us from all evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever.

    The prayer that the two nuns lead us in was the "Heart Sutra" which involved praying to the guide and protector Je Tsongkhapa to lead us to virtue and protect the disciples from straying from the path and the temptations of Samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth). It involved confessing mistakes and how living virtuously had not been done and to help bring virtue upon the disciples and to be like the Master Kelsang Gyatso (who is the founder of the New Kadampa tradition of which the Center is based on) and past Buddhas in mind, heart and body. The prayers were based in praise and submission while asking to be made better and Buddhas. The Pure Land was referenced as the place where the Buddhas were which is similar to Heaven in the Christian tradition since it is a place of bliss, happiness and an end to suffering.   

      It was an interesting experience and reminded me of my experience in China where the Buddha and Bodhisattvas/Deities were prayed to. I think was this reveals to me about us humans is our desire for salvation outside ourselves. We can seek out Allah, God, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, the Gods of past religions or other honored teachers or symbols in order to better ourselves or to have the peace of mind that maybe death, really isn't the end and that there is something or someone out there watching out for us and helping us reach paradise in this world and the next.