Well on a Sunday morning maybe it’s natural to be thinking of all things Divine. Childhood habit, I guess.
It’s possible that reading my blog or tweets one might assume I’m Buddhist. I’m not. I just find Eastern philosophy right on some times.
Breeding Arabian horses - such as this young foal looking over the burst of antique roses that graces my driveway - has provided opportunities for getting to know people of all faiths from all over the world.
Actually I don’t really put any particular religious label on myself. In fact, I know from personal study that most of the world’s major religions include more beliefs and teachings that are the SAME than they are different. The late Joseph Campbell was one of my favorite geniuses and did more for the conversation to bridge cultural differences than anyone I know of. And whether or not you agree with me isn’t the study of what your brother believes the first step in understanding and embracing him?
You can see from an earlier post that I grew up learning the teachings of Jesus. These will be with me the rest of my life. You’ll see in that same post that I already, at a young elementary school age, knew that my friend’s family’s Jewish way of life was just as valid a path to the Divine as mine was to me. And I’ve truly immersed myself in the concepts and cultures associated with my Arabian horses, including the basic tenets of Islam.
Years later when I was learning meditation and eager to find anything that would help me manage my energy and my health I studied a lot about Buddhism and several other Eastern schools of thought. Although many Buddhist’s don’t consider Buddhism a religion, but rather a set of beliefs and practices, for me they compliment my own religious foundation very naturally. Apparently I’m not the only one that has realized this, as evidenced by the bestsellers by Deepak Chopra and Thich Nhat Hanh among others. (There are actually over 7700 results if you search Amazon for “Jesus and Buddha.”)
This natural light portrait of Elder Sun is one of my favorites and about five years old.
For me, the integration of Eastern and Western thought provides the structure and practice for creating the highest level of balance in my life. And I find great comfort in the fact that the beliefs that I hold dearest are affirmed by so many different expressions of religion. And since my personal church has always found in nature, not in a sanctuary, not having a place to sit with others who believe as I do has been a bummer, but not enough to make me give up what I believe just to experience community on Sundays.
So taking all of this into consideration it might not surpise you that Elder Sun and I have been discussing Mohammed lately. He’s reading a Reza Aslan book called “No god but God” and – like we have since he was a young boy – having really deep conversations about what he’s learning. Elder Sun has always resonated with the Spiritual Warrior archetype without any help from me, thank you very much. It rose up from within him. And it has never expressed itself as agression like the more traditional idea of “warrior.”
I’m proud of the young man that my Elder Sun is becoming. I look forward to sharing more of the journey that being his mother, as well as mother to Best Birthday Gift Ever, Dazzling Daughter, and Nuclear Sun, has been for me.
My journey as a mother is truly a blessing that gives every day meaning.
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I love this and agree whole heartedly. Glad to have connected.
Thanks, Hilary. I’m glad to have stumbled upon your site, too! It reminded me so much of my younger days when I owned an organic baby clothing company and spent most days immersed in the bliss of raising young children. If you ever need a “senior” adviser in living mindfully don’t hesitate to holler.