Supplemental entry: All December entries were lost in a disk crash. In their place, I'm placing my final exam for that incredible religion seminar:
Religion 103: Self and Community in Western Traditions
Professor J. Morris
December 20, 1991
Final Exam
Part one:
Religion is an integral part of modern societies, and exposure to religion, religious symbols, or religious teachings is almost unavoidable. There are, of course, varying definitions of “religion”. There are many people who are considered religious due to their involvement in their respective religious communities. There are still many other people who consider themselves religious, despite little involvement or interaction with established religious institutions. The emphasis in modern societies, perhaps due to their visibility and public presence, is on the institution of religion rather than its spirituality. Religion as the basis of spiritual or personal quests is overwhelmingly overshadowed by the normative and social character of religious institutions.
All through history there has existed a tension between dominant religious institutions against sub-cultures striving for a deeper spiritual commitment. Religious institutions regularly have involved themselves in extra-religious practices and activities, which reinforced their institutional legitimacy, but which arguably deviated from their spiritual mandate.
The readings of this past semester emphasized the personal and spiritual component of religion. Instead of an external force that is presented and given to people, religion is something found within individuals. Individuals are the source and vehicle of religion, rather than a vessel for religion. Individuals are established as the source of religion because people primarily listen to themselves. People are bombarded by external stimuli and when something has meaning or when an individual learns something, it is more that the individual realizes something from within, rather than taught something from the outside.
Three of the readings of the past semester which illuminated the spiritual path are the Ibn al-‘Arabi essays, particularly “What the Student Needs”, Bahya Ibn Pakuda’s Book of Guidance to the Duties of the Hearts, and The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar. All three works suggest that the ultimate form of human perfection is being on the spiritual path. The Conference of the Birds portrays the spiritual path through a journey parable, while the other two works are more direct and concrete discourses on the spiritual path.
In The Conference of the Birds, the spiritual path is portrayed as a journey that each individual must decide to take or not take. Each of the representative birds has an excuse not to undertake the journey, however the guide-bird, the hoopoe, has a response for each excuse. The collective excuses of the birds represent attachment to earthly desires, passions, and vanity. All of the birds have it within themselves to be on the path, and they understand that the spiritual path is the way to God, the Simorgh, their true king. However, the attachments to the pleasures of the material world are strong, and the ease of remaining within the material world overshadows the suffering involved in human existence. The hoopoe sheds light on their hypocrisy and encourages them to leave behind their petty attachments to material things.
The Ibn al-‘Arabi essays and the Bahya readings discuss the spiritual path in more concrete terms. They are moral works in that they present actual prescriptions for following the spiritual path, but they do not tell how people should act. Instead, the morality is expressed through an investigation of how people want to be and behave. By having people recognize how they want to be, they show people that they want to be on the spiritual path.
Upon self-reflection, humans find moral behavior within themselves, it is not something imposed on individuals. The realization of innate moral behavior and desire for it leads to spiritual discovery. Moral behavior, as one component of the spiritual path, leads to happiness and spiritual fulfillment.
A major difference in The Conference of the Birds and the other two works is the goal of the spiritual path that Attar presents. The journey’s end in The Conference of the Birds is a meeting with the Simorgh, who is a reflection of themselves. At the end of the journey, they find that they themselves are the Simorgh, they are their own true king. Unlike the Ibn al-‘Arabi and Bahya essays, Attar implies that God is not at all an entity outside of us, judging and being worshiped by us, but is an intimate part of our natures. Self-realization is a central component of the spiritual path and being nearer to God. If the spiritual path implies “service to God”, then “service to God” involves an intense introspection into the Self and the nature of the Self and its behavior.
All three works suggest that all people have what is needed to follow the path, and all people have the potential to want to be on the path. But in truth, not all people want to be on the path, and not all people who want to be on the path find their way onto it. There must be gradations to the path since it would not seem reasonable that the authors are presenting the spiritual path as an all or none option. Attar does not consider gradations, however the Bahya reading makes the different levels of the spiritual path most clear.
It would be too difficult to discuss why individuals end up on certain levels, but the Bahya makes it clear that there are many different levels of the spiritual path, ranging from simple moral action to the ascetic lifestyle, and that there are many levels of aptitude for realizing the desire to be on the spiritual path and approaching it. However, in the reading excerpts, the attainment of the purpose of the spiritual path only suggest the final stage of entering God’s presence. There is little discussion of what happens to individuals who have lower levels of aptitude and who are on lower levels of the spiritual path. In The Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan deals with the issue in a cursory manner by stating that some people are turned away from the Gates even though they have spent their entire lives reaching them. It is unclear what is said about attaining merit and aptitude to reach higher levels.
If the ultimate state of human perfection is to attain the highest level of the spiritual path as aptitude allows, then whatever means is taken in pursuit of that path is religion. The spiritual path is an individual path, one that must be accomplished by oneself. No one else can attain aptitude for someone else and no one can find it for someone else. Religious leaders, prophets, teachers, etc. can only point the way and give clues.
Part two:
What is the role or meaning (if any) of human suffering in religion? What do your sources understand to be the source(s) of human suffering? Is that suffering “evil”, unjust, and something that can/should be eliminated from the world?
Without suffering, there would be no religion. Likewise, as a result of suffering, religion exists. From earliest times of human existence, humans have suffered through physical hardships of survival in hostile natural environments and death. Out of those two sources of suffering, two concepts essential to the development of “religious” thought can be derived. The concept of powers beyond human control, or “gods”, can be developed out of the first, and the concept of a “soul” or the “self” comes out of the latter. Furthermore, religious concepts naturally develop from suffering as a source of comfort to help explain the unknown and to offer the idea of a divine purpose to misfortune.
There are many definitions and perspectives on human suffering. There are obvious forms of suffering which occur intermittently and affect people directly. Then there is a general type of suffering which is the basis of Buddhist belief; the first of the Four Noble Truths in Buddhism states that “life is suffering”. This concept that suffering is inherent in human existence is tied to the transient and impermanent nature of everything in the material world.
In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust, there is the idea of suffering as divine encouragement. Bunyan portrays it more simply in the form of Christian’s amorphous “burden”. Book One of The Pilgrim’s Progress starts with Christian’s recognition of his burden. Just as with the first Noble Truth, Bunyan is presenting the recognition of the need to transcend earthly suffering as the starting point of the spiritual path. The actual source of Christian’s recognition of his burden was the Bible. When Worldly-Wiseman asks how Christian first came across his burden, Christian replies, “By reading this book in my hand” (p. 61). Also in Christian’s exchange with Worldly-Wiseman, Christian states that the burden placed on him by reading the Bible is greater than any earthly burden or suffering possible. It is only because of the suffering caused by the recognition of his burden that Christian devotes his life to the spiritual path.
The suffering endured historically by the Jews is the direct kind of suffering which is manifested in actual occurrences, but a divine dimension is attributed to their experience and persecution. The stories in Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust detail the suffering inflicted on Jews merely because of their religion. The sentiment of divine purpose is frequently expressed in trying to find an explanation for their suffering. Their suffering is perceived to be all the more reason to have stronger faith in God. The idea being that it is only the truly faithful who can maintain faith in a God who can inflict such suffering and it is they who are the most deserving of His grace. In this case, human suffering is a test of faith and a reminder to be humble as a human being and before God.
To be religious is not necessarily to be humanitarian. In a religious cosmology, suffering is a part of human existence and a necessary encouragement to follow the religious path. A strict religious reading perceives suffering as positive. Unfortunately, though suffering is often requisite for religiosity, religiosity is not necessarily the result of suffering. It would be considered heartless to suggest to a homeless person that their condition is divinely sanctioned and that they should perceive their plight as positive and that following a spiritual path is the best alternative to alleviate their burdens. It is also heartless to suggest that their plight is their religious station in this life and they will gain merit in the eyes of God because of it. It is difficult to reconcile the utility of religion when those who most deserve it find themselves without the spiritual aptitude to embark on the spiritual path.
It is difficult to account for the mass suffering which renders daily life a misery for so many. It is only when social consciousness is suspended that religion can offer any explanation. Religion would suggest that the world is perfect just the way it is, and that there is a reason for all the suffering and imperfections.
The films “Tender Mercies” and “Bagdad Café” portray suffering as an integral part of human interaction and as part of the perfection of the world. Suffering is necessary for realizing the value of life and appreciating it. In “Tender Mercies”, it is after Mac’s daughter dies that he breaks down and questions why things happen the way they do. Suffering offers a contrast to complacency and drives people to search for intangibles. But suffering is a part of life and life itself goes on, Mac breaks down and rants and then goes and plays catch with his stepson in the final scene.
In “Bagdad Café” the suffering people cause one another is the background of much of the human interaction. Jasmene ends up in Bagdad only after fighting with her spouse. The fight itself, which begins the film, is incomprehensible (in German) and is complete with petty unkindness, violence and abandonment. The cuts within the scene are sharp and disjunct and the camera angles are askew. As for Brenda, her character is introduced as verbally and emotionally abusive, but she gets little reaction or recognition from the people around her. Her husband leaves, but practically shrugs while leaving. It is her vicious treatment of Jasmene, further into the film, that opens her eyes. Only after the self-realization of being abusive towards a person who at worst was only trying to help does a transformation begin. Humans inflict suffering upon other humans, and in the course of daily lives it is the lack of questioning one’s actions that perpetuates that suffering.
The human world may be perfect, but it is not the Garden of Eden where there is no suffering. To be in the Garden of Eden is to be within God’s grace and “religiosity” is built into the fabric of existence there. The human world is a classroom filled with suffering, and it is through suffering that we approach the intangibles that lead us to spiritual questioning and realization.
Are all human beings equally “alone” with God, or are there other spiritual “intermediaries” between them? If so, who/what are they and what is their religious importance for us?
The spiritual path must be traveled alone. The distance between any person and God is a personal distance and closing that distance is a personal endeavor and does not affect the distance between anyone else and God. However, any number of sources indicate that there are intermediaries between individuals and God who are closer to God and help point the way. The Western religious traditions generally accept the notion of saints, angels, and prophets of God who serve such a function, and they are generally presented as necessary for bringing people closer to God.
The Pilgrim’s Progress begins with Christian recognizing his burden, and in his anguish he implores heaven for help. The next step in putting Christian on the spiritual path, on the second page of the narrative, is the entrance of Evangelist. Evangelist acts as the intermediary between Christian and God. He is already closer to God and he knows of the path. However, he cannot bring Christian to God and he cannot travel the path for Christian. He can only point in the direction that the path leads. Without Evangelist, as is Bunyan’s suggestion, Christian wouldn’t have found the path or embarked on it.
In the story of Teresa of Lisieux, Teresa feels that many people have the potential of realizing the spiritual path, but they need help. She recognizes herself as an agent of that help and she wishes death upon herself in order to transcend her limited terrestrial existence in which she can only help people one person at a time. From a higher level of existence, she could help people en masse and without physical limitations.
One portrayal of that higher existence is in “Wings of Desire”. Although “Wings of Desire” is more of a metaphysical portrayal, rather than a religious one, the ideas can be translated into religious contexts. “Wings of Desire” portrays two levels of existence on the same physical plane, and they don’t physically interact. One level of existence is tangible, the other, on which the angels exist, is intangible. The angels on the intangible level of existence are there by virtue of their command and understanding of the nature of the tangible level of existence. They have transcended their physical existence. They can observe us, but we can’t see them. They can influence us, but they cannot command us.
An analogy to the different levels of existence is dimensional space. A being existing in two dimensional space simply cannot see anything in three dimensions. It can see an object in three dimensional space, but it can only see a two dimensional cross section of it; basically something very, very flat. In the same way, a three dimensional being cannot conceive of how something looks in four dimensions. We cannot point into the fourth dimension in the way we can point into the three dimensions of height, width and depth.
To follow through with the analogy, angels exist as if they were in the fourth dimension. We cannot even conceive of their existence, but it does not mean that they are not in the same physical space that we occupy. They understand our existence in the way beings in a higher dimension understand beings in a lower dimension. To keep with the analogy, the ability of angels to interact with us is limited in a similar way to a fourth dimensional being interacting with a three dimensional being. The interaction that we feel is intangible and incomprehensible.
The angels in “Wings of Desire” are intermediaries between humans and God. They can wish to guide us, but they are powerless to interact. The potency of their guidance relies on each person’s spiritual aptitude, their sensitivity or receptiveness to the angel’s wishes or guidance. They whisper and we hear, but we choose whether or not to listen. God is not portrayed explicitly in the film, but the role of the angels as intermediaries may be interpreted from one of the final scenes when the circus performer exhibits great depth and insight to the angel who has come down to earth. Just as the birds in The Conference of the Birds find the Simorgh and it is suggested that they are the Simorgh, the angel in “Wings of Desire” fulfills his role as intermediary by opening her heart and leading her to her own insight.
The concept of intermediaries is an integral part of all major religious systems. In Buddhism, the description and role of bodhisattvas are surprisingly congruent with “angels”. Bodhisattvas are enlightened beings who have transcended the physical world, however because of their boundless compassion, they will not enter nirvana until all beings can enter at once. There is much potential for the concepts of bodhisattvas and angels to inform one another.
There is no proof that there are intermediaries between humans and God, but their prevalence in religious belief systems and the popular psyche leaves no doubt about their importance. Evidence is not required, as with religion and God, the existence of intermediaries, whatever they may be called is a matter of faith.
