Centuries before the common era, people were gripped by a malaise that had spread to several far-flung regions of the world. They were becoming aware that the spiritual practices of their ancestors were flawed, that the animistic-influenced spiritual hierophanies were kept to the elite few and never shared with the masses. People had enough of their transient, awry and contingent lives. And their only solace was inaccessible to them. Thus, a world-wide spiritual crisis manifested, which triggered massive efforts to reinvent religion. These efforts became real phenomena, having in mind that entire new social classes appeared like mushrooms after rain. For example, Bhikkhus (meaning “almsmen”), who basically were mendicant monks appeared in Northern India; they were even revered (it was an honor to give alms to a bhikkhu), because they were looking for a ‘cure’ for life’s suffering.
This great transformation that the Axial Age implied marked the appearance of Taoism and Confucianism in China, Greek rationalism in Europe, Zoroastrianism in Iran and the Middle East and Buddhism and Hinduism in India - all between 800 and 200 B.C.E. These religions, albeit very different in appearance, share the same fundamental impulse, the Axial impulse. The sages which brought forth and led these movements, systems of thought, religions - whatever you want to call them - all tried to teach common human beings how to transcend their misery, their weaknesses, how to cope with their seemingly dreadful lives and live in peace.
People who participated in this great transformation were convinced they were on the brink of a new era and that the world would never be the same again. During this period, men and women became conscious of their existence, their own nature and their limitations in an unprecedented way. The ethos forged in this [couple of centuries] has continued to nourish men and women to the present day. (Karen Armstrong - Buddha)
Alas, if only that ethos had remained untouched by ignorance, profane lust for power and egotism. Religions and beliefs now are one of the main contributing factors to conflicts, whether inter-religious or intra-religious. It is amazing how different persons or entire groups of persons manage to reinterpret, rethink and reform original principles, documents, beliefs etc. It is a perverse, heinous phenomenon that brings such a bitter after-taste. Al-Qaeda stated that it was simply continuing an ancient conflict, an ancient crusade. In Sri Lanka, buddhist monks support Tamil sepparatists. Conflicts between different forms of Christianity have stormed Northern Ireland and the Balkans. Turkey is one step away from its 24th banning of a ruling party, due to an Islam-impregnated trend. Like I said, the best two adjectives to describe the current situation are ‘perverse’ and ‘heinous’. It is a sad view to watch, how the world looks on religion and how it was supposed to.
But how are we supposed to look at it? I believe the answer is rather straightforward and quite familiar. All that humans have ever tried to do is understand themselves and the cosmos. We can easily eliminate the cosmos out of the equation, by simply looking at what quantum physicists are pointing at more and more: space is directly influenced if mind enters into it (and thus space is a reflection of the mind, more or less accurate). So what it all comes down to, is knowledge of Self. Whether we are talking about Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or Zoroastrianism, in essence, the same message is being transmitted: are all saying that understanding God is understanding yourself. A message that has sadly been lost somewhere beneath all the DO’s and DON’T’s.
What most people do not realize is that understanding yourself means more than meets the eye. It means more than knowing you are altruistic, narcissistic or handsome. Knowledge of Self implies that you meditate at all times, but I’m certainly not talking about the esoteric-kind of meditation (e.g yoga). To meditate one needs an amazingly keen mind; meditation does not mean controlling one’s thoughts and one’s thinking processes; when controlling is tried, conflict between different instances is automatically triggered. But when thoughts and thinking are understood, when one becomes aware of them, that’s when a deep, profound silence sets in. You become conscious of your thoughts, but they do not have the upper hand anymore. You objectively choose your next actions. You no longer see things as good or bad, you see what is. You enter a state of mindfulness. And that’s just the beginning.
If you feel like you already knew bits of the last two paragraphs, I’d like to ask you to think again. I’m sure you know about how religions merge, why the understanding of Self is so important etc. But are you wise enough to do something with what you know? :) We should all keep in mind that knowledge is just knowledge. Wisdom is applying it, “wisdom is doing it”.
