Illusion
Imagine
a drop of water falls out of the sky over the ocean. While the drop
is falling, it is an individual drop with unique characteristics—a
weight, density, shape, and color all its own. There is no drop like
it in the world until it hits the water. When it hits the ocean, in
less than a second, it loses all individuality as all its atoms are
dispersed throughout the ocean. Does the drop still exist? Yes and
no. No it doesn't exist as an individual drop, but the molecules of
the drop are still present in the larger ocean...there is no
distinction between the drop and the ocean.
Gerald
R. McDermott (The Baker Pocket Guide to World Religions)
In
the Hindu religion there is only one essence in the universe and that
is Brahman, that which we in the West call God. All the individual
people, plants, animals, fish, insects, water, elements, planets,
stars, galaxies, everything that we can name, exists within the vast
oneness of Brahman. To see otherwise is to experience Maya, the human
perception of separation. It is a veil over our eyes that keeps us
from experiencing wholeness.
It
was announced yesterday that the Montgomery County Board of Education
in Maryland would no longer refer to the December break as “Christmas
Holidays,” but as “Winter Break.” Likewise, they will no longer
reference Christian holidays (Christmas, Easter) only in the school
calendar. Nothing else changes. The scheduled breaks are still the
same; the number of days remain the same, the only thing that changes
is the title of the break. The system acknowledged that there is
enough diversity in its student population to warrant the change. I
think it extremely courageous for this school system to take one step
toward acknowledging that we are not, and actually have never been, a
one-religion country. We are one country in which all religions
exist.
The
veil of Maya clouds our vision. It encourages us to put all things
into hierarchies of importance, and to separate ourselves
accordingly. It affects us in ways both large and small. Rejection of
all religions but one's own is one manifestation of Maya. Underneath
ideology, we are all human beings, we are all drops in the vast ocean
of God.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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