Alongside discovering the world of Islam for the first time,
I decided to embrace other Eastern religions for the very first time. I
originally discovered the religion when I was 13, discovering the music of
George Harrison as it was influenced by the Hindu world and the sitar playing
taught by Ravi Shankar. He eventually retreated to Sri Lanka where he spent
much of his time playing sitar and learning classical Indian music. Needless to
say, I was hooked on the concept of Hinduism then and there, and the peace that
is stood for, but I still ate red meat at that point in time. I Revisited the
religion years later, alongside Buddhism, when I was about 20.
I started my journey in these worlds by visiting a Buddhist house in Harrisburg, meditating and chanting sutras underneath the statue of Siddhartha Gautama. We were taught by an ordained Monk, and it was all inspiring 2 listen to her lessons. A couple weeks later, a Buddhist group opened up in my Unitarian Universalist Church, and I soon found myself going and meditating every Sunday.
After that, I found myself going to a Hindu church for the first time. It was a Christian Church that was converted into a Hari Krishna Meetup Group, and one that had at least 50 devotees then that every Sunday from 2 until 6. There were a lot of traditions and Rites of Passage that were performed by everybody at the service, and a lot of Hindi scripture is being chanted and recited buy kids of all ages. Most of them came from Pakistan and Northern India, with a few exceptions, including one European American who went to the group. It was very interesting to see everything that went on there, and we even got some free food out of the deal there was traditional home-cooked Indian food
Although going to a Hindu Church in Harrisburg a couple of times was very exciting, I know I still needed something more to supplement me spiritually. A Buddhist Meetup Group started at my church one day, being a new installation of a Sangha (community) they had already been established. I started going on and off for a couple of months, which turned into a couple of years, and I learned a lot in the process as well. It is important, regardless of religious affiliation, so always have time and a method for which to clear your head.
Having grown up in a Catholic and Lutheran household, I never really realized until later in life how important it was to acknowledge and participate in faith ceremonies of other religions. There really is no way to learn that this problem it's then to experience it first-hand. Anthony list to say, I felt very welcome and very at home in all of the effort mention settings. This is more proof that it is important to experience other religious backgrounds firsthand to find truth for yourself. After all, and Unitarian universalism, that is the biggest principle that we preach, is the responsible and free search for truth and meeting.
So that being said, if you really want to experience a different world view, and dispelling myths from the media and learning the information for yourself, go check out a service rub a different religion. I even went so far as to visit a synagogue, a Quaker Meeting House, and a Presbyterian Church, just to see how they stacked up against. And I have come to conclude, that in spite of everything, we are more alike than we are unalike.
I started my journey in these worlds by visiting a Buddhist house in Harrisburg, meditating and chanting sutras underneath the statue of Siddhartha Gautama. We were taught by an ordained Monk, and it was all inspiring 2 listen to her lessons. A couple weeks later, a Buddhist group opened up in my Unitarian Universalist Church, and I soon found myself going and meditating every Sunday.
After that, I found myself going to a Hindu church for the first time. It was a Christian Church that was converted into a Hari Krishna Meetup Group, and one that had at least 50 devotees then that every Sunday from 2 until 6. There were a lot of traditions and Rites of Passage that were performed by everybody at the service, and a lot of Hindi scripture is being chanted and recited buy kids of all ages. Most of them came from Pakistan and Northern India, with a few exceptions, including one European American who went to the group. It was very interesting to see everything that went on there, and we even got some free food out of the deal there was traditional home-cooked Indian food
Although going to a Hindu Church in Harrisburg a couple of times was very exciting, I know I still needed something more to supplement me spiritually. A Buddhist Meetup Group started at my church one day, being a new installation of a Sangha (community) they had already been established. I started going on and off for a couple of months, which turned into a couple of years, and I learned a lot in the process as well. It is important, regardless of religious affiliation, so always have time and a method for which to clear your head.
Having grown up in a Catholic and Lutheran household, I never really realized until later in life how important it was to acknowledge and participate in faith ceremonies of other religions. There really is no way to learn that this problem it's then to experience it first-hand. Anthony list to say, I felt very welcome and very at home in all of the effort mention settings. This is more proof that it is important to experience other religious backgrounds firsthand to find truth for yourself. After all, and Unitarian universalism, that is the biggest principle that we preach, is the responsible and free search for truth and meeting.
So that being said, if you really want to experience a different world view, and dispelling myths from the media and learning the information for yourself, go check out a service rub a different religion. I even went so far as to visit a synagogue, a Quaker Meeting House, and a Presbyterian Church, just to see how they stacked up against. And I have come to conclude, that in spite of everything, we are more alike than we are unalike.
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