Aaron Stein - Choices

Everything I’ve ever done I’ve consciously made a choice to do because I understand that doing it would provide me with some benefit.  This might not sound good but I believe it is, and I believe it is something we are all guilty of.  For instance the example I’d like to give here is that of donating to charity.  Donating to charity is usually in most cases perceived to be a selfless act; you give up what you have so that another may have more.  However, if you obtained no benefit whatsoever from this then why would you do it?  The act is still selfless, however you have assigned the feeling that you will obtain by helping another more value than the money itself.  Anyway, the point I’m really trying to make with this is a question “Is it possible to complete act above oneself?” I firmly believe man can be good, and I firmly believe man can act selflessly, however I could never imagine a situation in which any person would ever make a choice consciously or sub-consciously without any perceived benefits.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Repetition

What is the role of repetition in sacred communication?  Life is repetitive, over and over we are faced with the same problems under different circumstances and we must constantly adapt ourselves to act appropriately in these new circumstances. Ultimately as the problems continue to confront us we start to fear we may never solve them but merely find new ways to postpone them.  Many cultures even are very cyclical in their nature and the practice of their religions and traditions.  The question that I am really asking here is, “Is it better to use our spirituality to accept and embrace life’s repetitiveness or do we use it to attempt to transcend it by bringing ourselves non-linear or circular experiences?”  I think both are valuable but I feel more inclined to believe that embracing the repetition is better. d Personally I am much more fond of the ideas that things must be done over, and that we must have the same consistent successes and failures in our spirituality as we do in our lives.  I would much rather use my religious experiences to enhance my mortal life rather than to defend or escape from it.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Sacred Place and Time Travel

What kind of connection can we truly forge with the past?  A couple of years ago I traveled with my grandfather to Vienna, Austria; the place of his birth and of his youth.  As we toured the city more and more of his story unfolded and I found myself trying to picture what things were like when he was young.  It was amazing to me how the apartment building he grew up in was still there.  Walking around in it almost felt like a time portal, as he told the stories I saw them happening.  In a weird way I guess this really demonstrated to me the concept of sacred place that we learned about in class.   He could have told me the stories anywhere and I could have tried to put them into place but as he told me them in the space in which they actually took place I began to feel like I was a part of them.  This was more than just the visual association I was able to make with the place but the strange feelings that my presence there began to give me.  My grandfather was forced to leave his home during the holocaust.  Yet by going back to it with him it felt as if nothing had ever changed and that he was exactly where he left off, and I was right there with him.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Holy Family

The role of family in regards to religion and spirituality is tremendous.  Even if we do not practice the same religious views as other members of our family the influence that they have on what we are spiritually able to become is undeniable.  Whether they have shunned us or kept us they without question make us.  The reason I make this seemingly obvious point here is because I cannot help but think about the connection of man to the holy in terms of family.  Is the holy an over looker and protector of man just as parents are to a child, or is the holy more like a brother or sister to man that grows up with it together, shares the experiences and acts as a complement?  Whatever our actual relationship with the holy it is one that we must never forget and we must be the ones who choose where to hold it.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - What Have I Done?!

I have a book that was recently recommended to me by a friend titled Fifth Business by Robertson Davies.  This is a narrative novel that deals with an interesting subject matter; the importance of people in our lives that we never even know.  As explained in the book, fifth business is the character in an opera completely unrelated to the main story.  This character however ultimately does something that changes the entire course of events for all of the characters.  In this case the main character of the book is the fifth business of a greater story.  In his youth Ramsay is with his friend when they decide to throw snowballs at a couple walking home, his friend however puts a rock in the snowball he throws and hits the woman in the couple causing her to be sent to the hospital.  This woman is pregnant and the rock to the head puts her into a forced early labor and causes permanent brain damage.  A few years later Ramsay teaches a small but curious boy in the town how to do some card tricks.  About 20 to 30 years after that a strange magician comes to town and murders his friend who was with him in the incident with the snowball throwing. Then as a reader you realize that this magician was the boy who Ramsay once taught card tricks too. While this situation is extreme it does make you wonder what (if any) major events in other people’s lives you may have been a part of.  This book reminds me of a part in another book, Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet In Heaven.  In this book the first person the story’s protagonist meets in heaven is a man who he inadvertently killed when running into the street to get a ball as a child.  He never knew that the man died because of him, or even that anything had happened at all.  I wish there was a way to know whom I’ve truly affected in this life.

 

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Questioning Authority

Who is to tell a man what they are and aren’t to do?  Where does authority come onto play in the religious context?  All of today’s power must have some original source, but where is that source?  Many religious people would argue that the source is in the holy so where does that come into play regarding man?  As there is no clear universal definition as to what exactly the holy is then how can it control or assign power?  Obviously this means that at some point man took power for him and has backed this up through interpretations of doctrine they may work particularly in the favor of a select few rather than the many.  I do not denounce religion nor do I advocate the disrespect of authority, however I can answer the question that began this whole tangent.  Who is to tell a man what they are and aren’t to do?  No one.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Talking to the holy through the Taoist I Ching

I own a copy of the Taoist book the I Ching and in preparing for this post briefly looked through it.  The I Ching has spiritual meaning and importance when taken in as a reading, yet it is often used as a tool for predicting the future or seeking advice. This way this works is through a series of drawing bamboo sticks of varying lengths (or as the case may be in America; flipping coins) and it essentially works as a cosmic spiritual magic 8-ball.  Oddly enough upon using it in the past I’ve had often startlingly accurate results (it called that the Steelers would win the Super Bowl in 06).  It is in many ways looked at as a way of questioning the holy and being given an answer, from this answer we must find meaning and from this meaning we must make our resolutions.  This has made me wonder though, is all communication with the holy really within us?  Virtually any definition in the I Ching can be appropriated to fit circumstances and that is where its effectiveness lies.  Maybe we are not communicating with the holy but instead communicating with ourselves.  Furthermore what about the possibility that not only did man create the holy, but that man is the holy!  While I do not necessarily believe these conclusions I do believe that they are all relevant in man’s search for answers.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Bhagavad-Gita

The classic Hindu text of the Bhagavad-Gita is a fascinating book with spiritual value that has been able to transcend Hinduism.  As Arjuna reconsiders the war he is about to lead his men into, the Hindu god Krishna speaks him to and tells him not to reconsider.  Throughout the book Krishna expresses to Arjuna the oneness of everything and explains how regardless of his decision the unity of the universe will continue.  This clears up a western debate over what the meaning of unity is.  Many western traditions believe unity is found in a homogenized world sharing a culture and beliefs.  This argues that as beings we are already unified and that existence itself is the unifier.  The world could not be what it is without everything being exactly where it is, and the Gita teaches us that we will make decisions that may go against perceived plans and morals yet ultimately that is what we are meant to do.  I do believe there is a difference between this and destiny though as I feel that destiny forces us to oblige to a certain future; I feel the precept displayed in the Bhagavad-Gita instead teaches us that our future will actually submit to us.

 

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Candide, Job, and Resilience

In the classic French novel Candide by Voltaire, Candide is depicted as an individual who does not have the world on his side.  His story plays out like the book of Job without the happy ending as he and everyone he loves is mercilessly tortured and/or killed; yet Candide lives through and endures all of it and embraces the philosophies of optimism.  The books message was at the time political one and it was one that was a strikeout against optimism as a lifestyle criticizing it as being stupid and worthless.  But what does a faithful person do when they endure such tragedy?  Furthermore why does such tragedy exist in the first place?  These are not new questions by any means but they are still relevant.  In Candide Voltaire strongly leaned towards an encouragement of accepting what has happened and forcing yourself to change your fate rather than letting your fate change you.  I wonder now what kinds of things can be done in situations of such constant crises and how important it is that we learn from them.  The book of Job suggests resilience in faith as the best answer; Candide suggests the abandonment of it.  Ultimately if it is faith that keeps one going then it should be held onto but having read both texts and putting thought to both their philosophical viewpoints I feel situations such as those can only really be attended to on an individual level, and to generalize them is ultimately misguided.  

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Authenticity in relation to sacred communication

I recently read a book titled The Man In The High Castle by the author Philip K. Dick.  This book depicts a modern world in which the allies had lost in World War II, obviously there are many things different but one of the more interesting points investigated within the text is the value of authenticity.  Antiques have become a big business in the new America as many Japanese have moved over to the country and are trying to immerse themselves in the culture.  One of the story’s many sub-plots involves antique dealers and resellers and the products they sell.  A maker of fake antiques describes: “I mean a gun goes through a famous battle, like the Meuse-Argonne, and it’s the same as if it hadn’t, unless you know.”  Such an argument in fact completely denies the possibility for authenticity to exist as it suggests that authenticity is completely man-made and in all actuality has no productive or real value at all.  This may sound cynical, but he may be right.  This is different in religion though as many groups and tribes believe certain objects and artifacts do possess mystic powers solely because of their authenticity.  But which is more important, the reality without the meaning, or the perceived reality with meaning? 

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Sense of Place

In the article “People Speaking Silently to Themselves” Martin Ball examines the philosophy of Keith Basso in regards to how he believed native peoples viewed place.  Many Native Americans with their mindsets dependent on ritual and the importance of place put special emphasis on certain areas to help themselves maintain the cosmos.  I suppose any religion with any sort of sanctuary does this as they assign a spiritual value and give the place a certain necessity.  In modern times a good question to ponder would be whether or not one can actually find a spiritual connection to a place, or merely chase a feeling that they feel the place has to offer them?

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Aaron Stein - Myth Became Fact

In his short essay “Myth Became Fact” C.S. Lewis makes some brilliant points when he discusses the choice man must make in whether to know or to experience.  I do not understand in my own life which of these is more valuable.  It could be argued that perhaps you know what you’ve experienced but as Lewis implies in his essay; you only really know of it.  You may remember the delicious taste of a fruit, but unless that fruit is on your tongue, then you cannot taste it.  Does this mean we take what we have for granted?  Maybe; but the largest dilemma I see here is the one of making the choice; is knowing or feeling more important?  I crave knowledge, yet (to put this in a more religious atmosphere) I have felt things that I don’t understand before, and it is those moments that motivate my pursuit of knowledge. I say these things are impossible, but I believe that is only because we want them to be.  There are moments when we feeling and knowledge come to be one.  And it is these moments that are what keeps us interested in both.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - Literate vs. Non-literate

An interesting passage on page 226 of The Holy Book in comparative Perspective contains a quote from a member of the carrier tribe in British Columbia in which the tribe-member discusses the importance of oral cultures.  He makes the implication that people involved in literate traditions are in fact promoting forgetfulness and dminishing experience, suggesting that writing things down allows us to forget them whereas passing them down forces us to remember them.  Furthermore, this instillment of knowledge within us means that we are forever more involved with our world as the information we know is strictly ours, the traditions and meanings we pass on are kept nowhere but within ourselves so unless our message is passed on, then when we die so to does our history and our meanings within the world around us. I had never thought of things in this way before and instantly have become enamored with the wisdom of the quote.  I do however find irony in the fact that it was something I read and in fact this irony has also made me realize the importance to an intellectual community of the ability to so freely exchange ideas on a massive scale.  I do not know whether a literate or non-literate tradition is better, but I can’t help but wonder now what the answer to that question is.

Aaron Stein

 

Aaron Stein - The Singer

There is a passage on page 49 of the book A Time Before Deception by Thomas W. Cooper that reads: “It seemed far more important to the elder that the song be sung by one who would faithfully remember each part of it, who would actually provide an accurate conduit for the gods to enter the earth, than that the singer had a talented or trained voice.”  I read this quote and thought about how important it was for many indigenous tribes to obtain complete control of their cosmos, and how the idea of one singing for our human pleasures was completely ludicrous to them.  I then on a related tangent began to think about how modern pop music would be if the songs had such spiritual meaning and if it was the message that exceeded the importance of the messenger’s ability to pleasantly convey it for humans.  Further thought on this brought me to the conclusion that as much as I love a good singer maybe sometimes we should sometimes focus on the song itself.  At my temple on the high holy days we bring in a cantor to sing the whole service, she’s obviously a great singer whose technical ability is unrivaled, however I honestly just can’t stand her, I long for the parts of the service where the congregation chimes in just so I don’t have to focus on her voice.  Yet an example of maybe a less talented singer but who has songs with an important message is Bob Dylan who I could listen to all day just because no one could ever convey his messages any other way with the same effectiveness.

Aaron Stein

Aaron Stein - The Resurrection of the Dead

I was just reading over the passage from Corinthians that Dr. Redick gave us the other day and in the days since last seeing this I feel that my prior conclusions may have changed.  Initially I had believed this was strictly about the resurrection of the dead and the actual powers of Christ.  Today though as I look over the excerpt I see it almost as a stance on religion in general, perhaps there is so much uncertainty in the excerpt because there is so much uncertainty in death itself.  Paul is clearly suggesting here that the Christ was in fact raised from the dead, yet his denial of man’s ability to do so resonates just as loudly.  “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” Paul says.  Perhaps this means that as all is to go under Christ it is an enemy we can never fight, and we must accept it’s uncertainty until it too has fallen under the rule and lordship of Jesus Christ.

Aaron Stein