Religion « The VeganGeek!

November 12, 2011

Seven

Filed under: Ramblings,Religion,Travel — Jason @ 4:38 pm

That’s now how many years have gone by since my Dad passed away. Time has worked on the wounds from that day, and now the memories I hold are softened, less painful, blurred by the hour glass. Like looking through a lens with a gel filter, maybe. I still remember the last time I saw him. It was in the driveway of our home in northern New Brunswick, and it was one of the very few times he’d ever given me a hug. I’m still not sure why he did that. He and I had grown apart, I’d been living in Halifax, and we had rarely seen one another. It is so interesting how a singular moment, an embrace that lasted all of 5 seconds, had evolved into a memory that now spans almost a decade. That is one moment that has not become blurred, and I do hope that it never will. He is my moral compass, and while I am fairly agnostic about the whole concept of religion and spirituality, I do often ask myself what he would think about things I’ve done or was about to do.

The photo for this also ties into my recent travels to the Middle East. This row of candles was burning in Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Church in Cairo, otherwise known as the Hanging Church. It is the oldest church in Egypt, dating back to 3rd century AD. The candle at the far end of the row was one that I had lit for my Dad when I was there about a week and a half ago.

May 21, 2011

Giving up Hope

Filed under: Religion — Jason @ 11:27 am

A friend of mine recently blogged about perhaps not hoping for certain things to happen, believing that this was a better approach in many situations. I was going to reply directly on that blog post, but then remembered that it had been almost a month since I’d blogged, myself. I may as well make my reply into my own post.

Perspective and Hope are two topics that factor heavily into Buddhist discussion. Changing perspective, first of all, is a key component in the concept of a Zen garden. The idea is that there is no single spot in the garden where you can stand and see all of the garden’s beauty. You move, you adjust, you examine. You keep moving, you keep changing your perspective. Life is about this. So, yeah, your perspective does need to change. All the time.

On Hope. The first noble truth in Buddhism is that life is suffering. And we suffer because crave, or hope for things. And the way you stop this self-inflicted suffering is to stop craving, to stop hoping for things. The way you stop? Well, then there is the whole eight-fold path to enlightenment, but that’s a different blog post entirely.

It sounds bleaker than it is. Buddha didn’t mean that one should not look towards the future with a sense of positive outlook. He meant that there is little we can do to adjust the course of many of these events, and wishing for a particular outcome is not going to make it any more likely. When the outcome arrives and it is not what we want, we feel let down by Hope, and therefore cause undue suffering in our lives. Best to nip that in the bud before it gets going.

I’ll probably have a real blog post in a few days, but there hasn’t been much to write about. Given the nature of this post, I will throw in a track for it. Woods of Desolation is an atmospheric black metal band from Australia, of all places. They do some great stuff, and have just released a new album. Very little in the way of vocals, which makes it great to write code to. Not that I dislike black metal vocals, but vocals can be distracting. Anyway, The Inevitable End is a track from their new album. Enjoy.

June 30, 2010

Hooks in You

Filed under: Ramblings,Religion — Jason @ 8:31 pm

It’s Wednesday, but not really. Tomorrow is Canada Day, and I have the day off work. I am hoping to spend at least part of it outside on the bike, maybe finish the second book in the Foundation series, and get out with the camera a bit. The weather is supposed to cooperate.

It has been a good week so far. The last few weeks have been quite productive at work. We’ve some new hires, and they are really gelling nicely with the team. The cool thing is that everyone is learning, not just the new folks. To me, that sort of thing is proof that you made a good decision when you hired who you ended up with. I have been writing code, and mostly sticking with a single project, which is what makes me most productive. It’s difficult for me to multitask. The code is flowing, and at this point it’s a question of whether I will have enough time to get everything in a usable state before I head off to Vietnam.

On the subject of Vietnam, I’ve been really getting into the idea of giving Buddhism a serious go. Much of it appeals to me as far as a simplified lifestyle goes, and I figure I may have a head start on some of the fundamental precepts. Some things will have to wait. It’s difficult for me to justify potentially visiting a Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia when one of the tougher precepts is to live a life that requires no money. There is a temple here in town, but it is not anywhere near central to the city and getting out to it with no car is practically impossible. We’ll see.

Anyway, it is dinner time. Time. Always time. How about Somewhere in Time, then? Yes. Agreed.

November 27, 2009

Finding My Religion

Filed under: Ramblings,Religion,Veganism — Jason @ 6:09 pm

Wow, okay. First, the walk home tonight was a real slog. It’s wet, blowing, and generally quite onerous to be outside. I had a few errands to run after work which meant that I was out in it more than I wanted to be, but I am home now, mug of licorice tea in hand, and all is forgiven. Or is it?

Heh.

In the middle of my walk, just before getting to the train bridge, two guys said hello to me, and then proceeded to attempt to hand me a card. I didn’t get to really read what was on it, but I generally got the idea. I told them that, while being spiritual, I wasn’t really interested in examining an organized religion at the moment, and thanks, but no, thank you.

We parted ways, and I started thinking about it. Is being Vegan my religion? What is a religion, anyway? Am I following a set of rules laid out by a leader? Veganism certainly has ideals and goals, but is it a religion? I don’t know. I consider life sacred. I put all animals on an even footing. I believe they deserve the same treatment, whether they be a dog, or a cat, or a cow, or a pig.

Hmmm. I must give this some more thought.

I did notice one thing, though. Christmas lights look miserable in the rain. Especially at night, when there is mud on the ground, fog every where, and the glow from the lights is trying unsuccessfully to brighten the surroundings. You need snow to do Christmas lights properly, I think. They need the crisp white backdrop to reach out into the night and pull you into the Spirit of the season.