by Heath Cleaveland

Created on: July 10, 2009

As D.T. Suzuki, a Japanese Zen priest, used to say, I believe all the world religions are as "so many fingers pointing to the moon." He used this perspective to justify his beliefs in harmonious living and to play his part in attaining the goal of world peace. Suzuki was not one to choose easy goals.

In contrast, those involved in the Judeo-Christian religions (including Islam) have a tendency to insist that theirs is the one right path. How can Christianity be the one right path if Jews and Muslims believe stalwartly that their religion is so? The argument of the Christians makes those involved in other religions "incorrect" in a distinct way and that breeds conflict.

When people discuss which religion is "right" above all others, they are actually taking a step backwards in my opinion. Most people don't recognize that religion is simply a part of culture and not some formal absolute that may be debated on absolute terms. The idea of Jesus as Messiah vs prophet is not such a great distinction until you recognize that Christian claims to "being the number one religion" rest on Him being Messiah. If Jesus is simply a prophet, does that really take away from his heroic act?

You'll find people in the world wanting to know where to place their trust, in who is "right" vs who is "wrong". They will want to see evidence and proofs. In religious matters, there is no concrete proof to speak of so they take to circumstantial evidence instead. "Look at how the others live," they are told, "and know that our ways are better." Even the idea that you might be able to tell EVER who is right is subversive. For instance, the Jewish people suggest that a Messiah has not yet come whereas the Christians suggest that another one will come. Won't both be right if another Messiah does sprout up?

You can't convince me that any religion is more than a "way of living" in the sense of the Tao. The followers of the Tao believe in the quintessential harmony of nature and the need for man's place within it to be harmonious as well. Needless to say, the Taoists are not often the founders of mechanical factories! Each world religion constructs a set of rules, moral codes, and ways to praise the mighty object of their adulation, be it God, Yahweh, or even the Buddha. There is no real difference that cannot be traced to the culture of the area in question which is itself largely dictated by the environment (natural as well as social).

D.T. Suzuki forces us to recognize that there is some truth in every religion, they can all point to the moon. But none of them ARE the moon. It is up to the followers of every religion to identify the moon and cultivate their real relationship with it. Could one religion be right for everyone? No, only a view which adapts to the hectic state of current affairs will ever have such a hope. Most of all our lives these days is led within a schema that allows us only so much time to reflect. I know that in America, spiritual leadership is marginalized compared with political leadership and cultural leadership (actors and musicians). That could be because religion itself is being marginalized, relegated (for most) to a weekend morning.

You live in a world where the one rule is that there are no rules. You can twist anything you can think into whatever shape you need for that moment and then in the next moment twist it into something else like a balloon animal. You do it to escape your pain, to make your point, or to get ahead. Just like we need a new Constitutional Convention to bring our laws into the current reality, we need a spiritual convention to reassess what we can do to help people realize the truth of the hard to perceive.

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