Both of my eyes are not the same. Each perceives color just a little differently. When I look through one eye, I see slightly more red, the other slightly more green. Not enough that my brain has trouble integrating the two, just detectable if I allow myself to notice.In my mind, if my own two eyes can't agree on how to see the world, how can I expect anyone else to agree with the way I see it. Each of our perceptions, memories, life events, manners of viewing and processing the world, are different. They become our touchstones on the journey, the markers that guide us along the way.
We walk together on our separate journeys, supporting each other when the path gets steep, finding water when one of us is thirsty, sharing our food with anyone who is hungry, sheltering together when there are storms or danger, tending the sick and the wounded until they can continue, laying our companions to rest when they cannot. We do these things because they are the right things to do, without asking whether our companions are Jewish or Muslim, Christian or pagan, Hindu or Buddhist, atheist or Daoist. It is enough that they are human.
Many paths, one mountain. I hope you find the one that is right for you and gets you where you want to be.
© 2009 Edward P. Morgan III
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ReplyDeleteNotes and asides:
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I wrote this as a comment to a friend's note on Facebook title "Religion." In it, he reflected on where he was with his Christianity. I'm not sure if his note was a crisis of faith or an epiphany. For me, it's difficult to turn away from someone seeming to struggle without at least acknowledging them, regardless of how well I know them, regardless of how their religion might feel about mine.
The thing that struck me was his saying that in the past he had limited his contact with people of other faiths than his own. That was heartbreaking. As a Daoist, I don't have that luxury and I'm not sure I'd take it even if I did. Interaction provides the only opportunity for understanding and acceptance.
Most of us are seeking whether we recognize it or not. I can only say what's right for me, and no one else, based on my experiences. "Many paths, one mountain" is a Zen Buddhist saying that encapsulates that belief.
What I said about my eyes is not just symbolism or metaphor, it's true. My eye doctor found it amusing as it was not something he'd run across before.