"I suddenly found that I was learning a great deal from other religious traditions. From Judaism, I learned to never stop asking questions -- about anything! -- and never to imagine that I had come to the end of what I could know and say about God. Jews even refuse to speak God’s name, as a reminder that any human expression of the divine is so limited that it is potentially blasphemous. From the Eastern and the Russian Orthodox Christians, I learned that Jesus was the first human being to be totally possessed by God -- just as Buddha was the first enlightened human being in our historical era -- and that we can all be like him, even in this life. From the Quran, I learned that all religious traditions that teach justice, compassion and respect for all others have come from God. And I was enthralled to find this quotation from the great 13th-century Sufi philosopher Ibn Arabi:
Do not praise your own faith so exclusively that you disbelieve all the rest; if you do this you will miss much good. Nay, you will fail to realise the real truth of the matter. God the omnipresent and omniscient cannot be confined to any one creed, for he says in the Quran: "Wheresover ye turn, there is the face of Allah."
So hopefully this can be a week of learning and respectful sharing. Directly below is a guide to some of the spiritual festivities occurring this week:
Monday - Maghi (Sikh), Seijin-no-hi (Shinto/Japanese)
Tuesday - Mawlid-al-nabiy (Islamic), Makar Sankranti (Hindu)
Thursday - Tu B'shevat (Jewish), Mahayana New Year (Buddhist)
Friday - Baizhang Memorial (Zen Buddhist)
Saturday - Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Christian), Hakuin Ekaku Memorial (Zen Buddhist)
Sunday - Eihei Dogen Kigen Birth date (Zen Buddhist), World Religions Day (Baha'i), Theophany (Eastern Orthodox Christian)
To keep up with the many spiritual celebrations occurring throughout the year, you can check out this Multifaith Calender. The image below is a painting of the great Sikh womyn warrior Mai Bhago from the late 19th century Punjab Plains, now in the Government Museum & Art Gallery, in Chandigarh.
episode download available: [coming soon]
00:02:18 - station id: by Amy Goodman
00:02:34 - psa: vegetarianism
00:02:54 - The Caulfield Sisters - 'Phoebe's Song'
00:07:09 - talking: about holy days and Seijin-no-hi (Shinto/Japanese holiday)
00:09:47 - Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - 'Furisodeshon'
00:13:52 - Kuldeep Manak - 'Mai Bhago'
00:17:34 - Antipop Consortium vs. Matthew Shipp - 'Stream Light'
00:21:15 - ad: senior's centre
00:21:45 - promo: Below The Decks (radio show)
00:22:16 - KK, Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, Damayanti Bardal - 'Kai Po Che'
00:27:18 - talking: about woman leader Mai Bhago and Maghi (Sikh holiday), Makar Sankranti (Hindu holiday)
00:29:08 - Julianna Barwick - 'Sunlight, Heaven'
00:33:01 - Abida Parveen - 'Saahib Mera Eik Hai (Naat)'
00:40:16 - Philip Glass - 'Lhasa at Night'
00:42:15 - Dorothy Carter - 'Tree of Life'
00:48:02- Merzbow - 'Kibbutz (Part 1)'
'"":"":""' - talking: naats and Mawlid-al-Nabi (Islamic holiday), Mahayana New Year (Mahayana Buddhist holiday), ecological justice and Tu B'shevat (Jewish tree new year) [1]
00:52:30 - Wild and The Fox - 'Moonlands'
00:55:30 - Shokokuji Monastery (Rec. by C.A. Kennedy for Smithsonian Folkways) - 'Hymn To Dhyana'
00:58:15 - Hakuin - 'Quiescence'
'"":"":""' - talking: about Baizhang and Hakuin Ekaku memorials (Zen Buddhist holidays), Prayer for Christian Unity
01:03:17 - station id: by yo la tengo
01:03:27 - ad: paradiso's pizza
01:04:04 - psa: Noam Chomsky on community radio
01:04:49 - The Innocence Mission - 'Prayer of St. Francis'
01:07:30 - Gillian Welch - 'I Made A Lover's Prayer'
01:12:32 - Julien Boulier - 'Dogen Keza'
01:18:17 - The Gateless Gate - 'The Realization of Dogen Zenji'
'"":"":""' - talking: about Eihei Dogen Kigen Birth date (Zen Buddhist holiday), World Religions Day (Baha'i observance)
01:24:13 - Buffy Sainte-Marie - 'God Is Alive, Magic Is Afoot'
01:29:05 - Archie Shepp - 'All God's Children Got A Home in the Universe'
"When Christ utters the precepts: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," he gives for a reason: "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." One might therefore be tempted to explain both the humility as to one's self and the charity towards others which characterize spiritual excitement, as results of the all-leveling character of theistic belief. But these affections are certainly not mere derivatives of theism. We find them in Stoicism, in Hinduism, and in Buddhism in the highest possible degree. They harmonize with paternal theism beautifully; but they harmonize with all reflection whatever upon the dependence of mankind on general clauses; and we must, I think, consider them not subordinate but coordinate parts of that great complex excitement in the study of which we are engaged. Religious rapture, moral enthusiaism, ontological wonder, cosmic emotion, are all unifying states of mind, in which the sand and grit of the selfhood inclide to disappear, and tenderness to rule."
- William James (The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature)
Further Info (if you're interested):
[1] Werner Herzog's 'Wheel of Time' (Documentary Film)
[2] Video Lecture: 'Religious Pluralism' by Marcus Borg (Video Lecture)
[3] Interview: 'The Roots of Religion' with Karen Armstrong (Video Interview)
Show Corrections
1.) The Ethiopian mezmur track, one of the tracks I was most looking forward to, didn't make it into this week's episode, but it will be opening next week's episode! So tune in next week, haha.
2.) I mispronounced everything basically. I tried really hard researching pronunciations on forvo and youtube videos and writing pronunciation side notes but I'm still a little nervous behind the mic and struggled to pronounce many thing correctly. I sincerely apologize for that though. I'm working on ways to better ensure that I don't horribly mispronounce things from unfamiliar cultures and traditions.
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