* Spirits In Harmony * finding unity in diversity: Blessings from many traditions

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Blessings from many traditions

Tibetan Prayer Wheel - hand held style

Every spiritual tradition includes the concept of Blessing, asking the favor of the Divine in personal, family, and business endeavors, and expressing thanks to the Divine for the good luck and prosperity received.

I happened to be searching today for a blessing to deliver to a rather diverse group of spiritual people some of whom practice eclectic traditions, and I found this wonderful website: Worldwide Blessing Generator

The main page says:

"In an effort to balance the negativity of the world, we have created the WBG. It mixes blessings and prayers from all world religions and gives a random hybrid of spiritual goodness. We think of this as a digital version of a Tibetan prayer-wheel a "device for spreading spiritual blessings and well being." Our intent is to mix the wisdom of all cultures to create blessings in a spirit of religious tolerance that applies to all faiths and are truly worldwide in origin.

"The first three lines are taken from various sources as diverse as "The Irish Blessing", Buddhist writings, The Bible and African prayers. See the sources link for a complete listing. The fourth line comes directly from "Daily Necessities -Tips & pointers for building a spiritual life from scratch" from Awakening The Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das. It is a random combination of two words from his list of several dozen positive actions to take. It is used again as the subtitle of this page. The single line of benediction at the bottom is a translation of Peace, Love, Om or Amen in various languages."

Isn't that fabulous?! I just love it.....what a great way to bring together and honor a diversity of spiritual traditions!

Following are two blessings I generated today:

"May knowledge and intuition combine to guide you in thought and deed, and may you attain the completion of inward peace.
Breathe in, cherishing yourself; and breathe out cherishing others.
Listen and radiate."

"May peace abide with you, and forgiveness be your silent secret gift.
Allow yourself to feel the love and appreciation that already exists in your heart.
Love and give thanks."

Wouldn't this be a great way to begin your day, with a visit to the Worldwide Blessing Generator for words of wisdom and spiritual blessing! I plan to make this one of my first internet stops in the mornings.

I will leave you with these words from the Worldwide Blessing Generator:

"May the blessings of love be upon you, and wisdom illuminate your heart.
Grace comes to us as an unmerited favor. Be all ways gracious and you will be all ways favored.
Play and enjoy."

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The "Golden Rule" is found in almost all traditions

Bahá'í World Faith: And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself.

Brahmanism: This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.

Buddhism: Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.

Christianity: And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.

Confucianism: Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.

Egyptian (Ancient): Do for one who may do for you, that you may cause him thus to do.

Hinduism: This is the sum of the Dharma [duty]: do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you.

Humanism: Humanists acknowledge human interdependence, the need for mutual respect and the kinship of all humanity.

Islam: None of you [truly] believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.

Jainism: You A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated.

Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. This is the law: all the rest is commentary.

Native American Spirituality: All things are our relatives; what we do to everything, we do to ourselves. All is really One.

Roman Pagan Religion: The law imprinted on the hearts of all men is to love the members of society as themselves.

Shinto: The heart of the person before you is a mirror. See there your own form.

Sikhism: Don't create enmity with anyone as God is within everyone.

Sufism: The basis of Sufism is consideration of the hearts and feelings of others. If you haven't the will to gladden someone's heart, then at least beware lest you hurt someone's heart, for on our path, no sin exists but this.

Taoism: Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.

Unitarian: We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent of all existence of which we are a part.

Wiccan: An it harm no one, do what thou wilt.

Yoruba: (Nigeria): One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should first try it on himself to feel how it hurts.

Zoroastrianism: Whatever is disagreeable to yourself do not do unto others.

Classification of Religion into Seven Major Types

Defining religion must take into account the fact that there are several different types of religion in the world. They are all similar enough to come together in the category called religion, but they are also different enough that exploring these sub-categories is helpful in understanding religious beliefs and religious phenomena.

One thing which is important to note is that these categories are not all mutually exclusive. This means that it is not the case that a religion must be a part of one and thus cannot be a part of any of the others. Quite the opposite is true, actually - it isn't unusual for a religion to be a part of two or even more groupings. These aren't so much means to divide religions into different categories as they are means to understand the ways in which religion manifests itself in human society and human psychology.

1. Nature Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
Those systems known as nature religions are often considered among the most primitive of religious beliefs. "Primitive" here is not so much a reference to the complexity of the religious system (because nature religions can be very complex); rather, it is a reference to the idea that nature religions were probably the earliest sort of religious system developed by human beings.

2. Revealed Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
Also commonly described as Law-giving Religions, the Revealed Religions are those which find their symbolic center in some set of revelations handed down by a god or gods. These revelations are normally contained in the religion's holy scriptures which, in turn, have been transmitted to the rest of us by specially revered prophets of the god or gods.

3. Salvation Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
Salvation religions are typically founded by a prophet or religious leader who creates a basic doctrine which explains to people how salvation might be achieved. The legitimacy and long-term authority of these prophets is often dependent upon possessing a high degree of personal charisma and, sometimes, the ability to work miracles - presumably a sign of divine favor and sanction.

4. Sacramental Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
A sacramental religion is one which emphasizes or focuses upon the idea that the divine is thought to be present in some fashion in physical objects in the presence of believers and the mystery-laden ceremonies which believers participate in. Indeed, contact and communication with the divine is sought principally through those objects and ceremonies.

5. Prophetic Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
A Prophetic Religion is strongly associated with Revealed Religion and there are times when the two terms may be used interchangeably, but they aren't exactly the same. In a prophetic religion, the role of prophets over and above the actual divine revelations is given a special status. The prophets exist to guide and warn society when it stumbles - thus, they are thought to play an ongoing and dynamic role which the static text of a revelation cannot readily achieve.

6. Mystical Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
A Mystical Religion is one in which mystical experiences play the most important role in terms of understanding nature, learning about the divine, and becoming a religiously devout person. At its most extreme, it excludes all other concerns with life, society, and fellow believers - it is unsurprising that mystical religions which remain mystical religions alone do not often result in coherent and long-lived religious traditions.

7. Tribal Religions: Characteristics, Beliefs and Practices
A Tribal Religion may be best understood in terms of what it is not: it is not one which claims to have a religious message for all of humanity, it does not offer any means of universal salvation, it does not purport to have a unique insight into the will of any gods, and it does not expect anyone else to care very much about what it has to say.

From Austin Cline,
Your Guide to Agnosticism / Atheism.

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* Spirits In Harmony * finding unity in diversity

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Blessings from many traditions

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The "Golden Rule" is found in almost all traditions

Classification of Religion into Seven Major Types

A temple display in Thailand

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