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Tuesday is 6th January and in the mainstream Christian churches they will celebrate the feast of the Epiphany - a celebration of the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus. It is a very symbolic feast day. The Jewish scriptures had foretold the birth of a Messiah- a saviour for the Jewish people, who would initiate the return of a Golden Age to the Jewish nation. Christians accept Jesus as being the Messiah they believe that Jesus as the Messiah and by his death on the Cross on Calvary was a saviour not just of Jews but for all nations and peoples. The death and Resurrection of Jesus opened the gates of heaven to all peoples. The word Epiphany means the sudden comprehension of the essence or meaning of something. So the feast of the Epiphany celebrates the realisation or knowing that God had directly intervened in human affairs. Epiphany is like Archimedes Eureka moment when suddenly and without any doubt Archimedes knew the solution to his mathematical problem. The 6th Jan celebrates the knowing of the reality of the relationship between humanity and God. Humans by sinning had broken their relationship with God; because of God’s unfailing love for humanity God sent his Son Jesus to be the Redeemer of the world. I find this type of theology impossible to accept. It was constructed retrospectively- a few hundred years after the events and so it has a dubious foundation. In the early years of the Christian era there was no single set of beliefs. It was because of the different beliefs that Councils were called to discuss differences and votes taken as to which ones were true and so orthodoxy was established. Christian Orthodoxy grew gradually and was put in place by people far removed from the events they adjudicated upon. It is complicated and if a single part is removed the whole edifice comes tumbling down. My honest inability to believe Christian Theology could mean that I am heading for a fiery end. Yet I do believe in Epiphanies – plural -and I do believe that God intervenes in the affairs of humans. When I use the word God please stop thinking of Elderly Bearded Gentleman – my God is more Spirit of the Universe, more internal than external. My Epiphanies are not blinding flashes of realisation of the truth of any singular particular event e.g. the sudden knowing that Jesus was God in human flesh. My Epiphanies are not red letter events- they are less grand more moments quiet confirmation of an intuition - they wouldn’t warrant a special feast day. When God intervenes in my life it is not by way of Angel in a burning bush- it is far more likely to be meeting someone I needed to meet at just the right time or finding a piece of writing that helped me make sense of a problem or which lead me to a religious community where I found a home. Perhaps it’s a matter of taste or of personality but I have found that the philosophies of the East provide me with Epiphanies- moments of insight about our human nature and the world. I make no claim to an expert on The Hindu scriptures but those that I have read are packed with what I regard as organic wisdom. The Christian Theology says “This is what you must believe” believe it now this minute or you will be forever damned to hell Accept our word that we know “the truth”. In contrast Hindu writings are the work of wise people who have thought long and deeply about human nature; they invite you to make a spiritual journey – to discover your own truth and to do so at your own pace. In eastern philosophies the spiritual journey is not confined to the approximate seventy years of the human life. Hindu tradition says that it extends over many, many lifetimes. To-day I want to share with you a few nuggets of wisdom or epiphanies that I have found in Eastern Philosophies. Western religions tend to emphasise that human nature is essentially sinful or evil, Eastern Religions attempt to bring us to an understanding of what underlies our human nature. When we have an understanding of our nature then it is easier to change behaviour, so that we live in harmony with the world. Hindu Philosophy identifies four distinct stages in human existence. In the early stage of our development humans seek sensual pleasure and beauty. This pleasure seeking is not to be condemned but it should be pursued in an ethical manner. Because mere pleasure is too trivial to provide lasting happiness for our human nature; eventually humans will seek a more meaningful path. The next stage is the pursuit of worldly success through the acquisition of wealth, fame and power. Again given time these also will lose their allure. The third stage is the stage when human beings seek fulfilment by way of Service to the Community. I regard this as the Unitarian stage. This is where we begin to reach out to others to give rather than follow our own rather selfish agenda. The fourth and final stage is the realisation that true happiness for a human soul is only achieved with moksha - unity with God. This fourth stage seems somewhat un-Unitarian perhaps most of us are still at the third stage according to Hindu philosophy. I think this description of human nature and development rings true, I also think that it has a very pertinent lesson for us in the current economic situation. In the last few years the majority of us were deeply immersed in the pursuit of Wealth, fame and power. Like children in the sweet shop we wanted everything. We may have had an inkling that all our newfound wealth was not bringing us real happiness. The present recession means that our pursuit of wealth has been brought to a premature end. Instead of us coming to the realisation that Wealth, fame and power are not making us happy, we may be forced to part with some of our wealth and power before we are quite ready to do so. We can take heart from what the Hindu scriptures tell us that these things will never bring lasting happiness. Given time we will come to renounce them because our nature is such that wealth and fame do not provide a lasting happiness. This knowledge should help us to keep a calm perspective during the current economic events. The traditional Religions that we are familiar with and to a large extent have rejected all have in common the belief that they alone have knowledge of Truth. They have set out in words their understanding of Spiritual reality; this reality is ring-fenced, unchangeable, not to be questioned, it is something separate from humanity. Unitarians reject set creeds; in describing ourselves we like to say that we are encouraged to “find our own spiritual path”. For Unitarians spirituality is a journey and an exploration and the journey and exploration is the important part. We make no claims about a destination. If our Unitarian journey is to make progress rather that settling into permanent meanderings, it may be useful to take a look at some of the spiritual maps already in existence. Let’s be practical; it may not be necessary for each of us to reinvent the wheel. Having a deep appreciation of human nature the Hindu Scriptures also describe four different types of spiritual path- the one choosen will depend on the personality of the individual. It is never one size fits everyone. The Hindu spiritual paths are the path of thinking, the path of worship, the path of action and the path of meditation. All of the paths are called Yogas, the root of this word comes from yoke i.e. as to yoke two animals together. So whichever Yoga or path you chose seeks to unite human self into harmony with the nature of the Universe. In general I think that Unitarians will be attracted to either the path of thinking or of action. Someone has called the path of thinking as the path of discussion groups and “build your own theology classes”. That sounds rather familiar. The path of action this is the work of charity the work for social justice, activism and social care. A very important part of Hindu teaching is that whenever we undertake an action - be it work to earn our living or an act of charity – the action should be done to the best of our ability and without any thought that we should benefit from the action. This is a very profound teaching. Very often we undertake actions with a motive- the hope of a reward to feel good or with some end in view. This is not the right attitude we should act to the best of our ability and let the act go. I said at the beginning that I believe that God intervenes in human life. I think that many of you may disagree with me on that point. Perhaps the instances of what I regard as Divine intervention in my life can be explained as merely co-incidences, I can offer no proof of Divine intervention at all, I have a hunch or a feeling that they amount to more than coincidences. The Bhagavad Gita – one of the significant Hindu Scriptures – agrees with me. The Bhagavad Gita says that every time humanity loses its way, God sends a messenger to set us back on the right track. In the Bhagavad Gita God says “I am born in every age” My God who is born in every age comes in the form of humans with names like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jnr., Mother Theresa. The Eastern Religious texts have the disadvantage that their language is unfamiliar to us. They must to be translated and as in every translation there will be words that don’t translate easily or that require detailed explanations in order for them to make sense; they are foreign to us. Yet for all their difficulties they do contain a wealth of wisdom and an understanding and acceptance of our human nature that is joyful and accepting. They are like a teacher who succeeds into getting the student to learn willingly and with enthusiasm rather that the teacher who uses strong arm tactics to get the message across. They are indeed a source of great wisdom.
Amen |