I finished reading the Bhagavad Gita for the second time today...
I can relate to the character Arjuna way more than I can with any character in the Quran or the Bible. He articulates his fear and compassion so well.
I'm finding the dichotomy between western and eastern religions strange lately. Western religions seek to preserve individuality at all costs. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam teach that there will be individual judgment, that rewards and punishments will be dealt out, and that these individuals will then remain individuals in the afterlife. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, often seek the goal of giving up individuality, at least partially. They say to view everyone as One. They teach to remove all desires and to remove all ego so that one can flow into the cosmic consciousness like a river flows into the ocean.
It's interesting to me that humanity would come up with two final goals that are so opposite in nature. Is individuality a curse or a blessing? Should we be rivers, or should we all just be the ocean? I don't know...
I can relate to the character Arjuna way more than I can with any character in the Quran or the Bible. He articulates his fear and compassion so well.
I'm finding the dichotomy between western and eastern religions strange lately. Western religions seek to preserve individuality at all costs. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam teach that there will be individual judgment, that rewards and punishments will be dealt out, and that these individuals will then remain individuals in the afterlife. Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, often seek the goal of giving up individuality, at least partially. They say to view everyone as One. They teach to remove all desires and to remove all ego so that one can flow into the cosmic consciousness like a river flows into the ocean.
It's interesting to me that humanity would come up with two final goals that are so opposite in nature. Is individuality a curse or a blessing? Should we be rivers, or should we all just be the ocean? I don't know...
