Idaho faith: Keeping open heart, mind to other religions, cultures enriches your life

From a young age I loved to read books, all types of books. My favorites were tales and stories from all over the world. These books and their fables allowed me to discover unknown worlds without ever leaving my home. I learned to appreciate the customs and traditions of peoples far away. Most important was the fact that I learned to respect them without fearing them or despising them.

It is likely that this openness to other cultures and traditions prepared me for my interfaith involvement later in my life. This column is a short reflection on two decades of such activities in the Treasure Valley, and how these associations have enriched my life. I did not mention below every congregation that I have met during the past two decades, but I will do so in an upcoming column.

I have learned a lot from my interaction with the Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel. We have organized educational panels on Abrahamic characters including Abraham/Ibrahim, Ishmael/Ismail, Noah, and others. I was fascinated to discover both similarities and differences in all of these, which expanded my perspective on how I viewed them in my own scripture.

Another takeaway of my interaction with my Jewish friends is the concept of Tikkun Olam, which roughly means repairing or healing the world. This phrase with kabbalistic roots has come to connote social justice in the modern era.

When a vandal threw a brick at the Islamic Center of Boise right after the events of 9/11, Rabbi Dan Fink wrote me a check to repair our window. Years later, I reflect on his gracious gesture in the context of Tikkun Olam, and how it made something broken whole again. The unintended consequence of this hateful behavior was to bring our congregations closer in our quest for social justice and social action.

A couple of years later, after the Synagogue and the Greek Orthodox Church on 27th and Bannock streets were defaced by vandals with swastikas, the Islamic Center sent its members to help clean both houses of worship. In addition to performing Tikkun Olam, we were also sending a message to these wannabe haters: If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.

I have occasionally worked with friends at the Hare Krishna Temple in Boise.

After finishing his degree at Boise State University, one of my previous electrical engineering students continued his education at Oxford University, where he received a doctor of philosophy in science and religion.

In my discussion with him, he corrected my view of Hinduism and argued that it is not a polytheistic religion, as many would assume, given the large number of divinities. Instead, he argued that these divinities are just different manifestations of the same omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful) and omnipresent (all-present) God. His interpretation would realign Hinduism as another monotheistic religion.

Without delving further into a theological discussion, another Hindu friend of mine taught me about the four stages of life as viewed in Hinduism: Brahmacharya (student life), Grihastya (householder life), Vanaprasthi (hermit life) and Sanyasin (sage, ascetic life).

In the Brahmacharya stage of life, the student lives in the house of a guru who is their teacher and guide in the study of sacred texts. In Grihastya, the graduated student becomes a householder who marries and settles down in ordinary family life. The householder provides for his family needs and serves as a guide or teacher to the family. In Vanaprastha, the man retires and lives a hermit life. Away from all pursuit of worldly materials, this person devotes more time meditating and striving to know God better.

In Sanyasin, the final stage of life, which only a few adepts can reach, the ascetic sage overcomes the flesh and senses, and experiences true enlightenment. There are parallels between these stages of Hinduism and those practiced by Sufis and dervishes in certain branches of Islam.

I have met Buddhist friends of different denominations, as there are several types of Buddhism. Some do not accept heaven or hell as eternal places. Buddhists believe that there is no fire equal to anger, lust, greed or ignorance. According to the teachings of Buddha, there are 11 kinds of physical pain, and mental agony and anguish: lust, hatred, illusion, sickness, decay, death, worry, lamentation, pain (physical and mental), melancholy and grief. In this religion, some people are already living in the middle of their own hell or heaven, depending on their behaviors.

If I had not been open from a young age to the different cultures and faiths around the world, I would not have met and married my wife, who is of a different faith and culture. I have learned a lot about Christianity from my wife and her family. What I have learned is that our core values are very similar. I may pray a certain way to God, and my wife prays in her way. I am pretty sure that God hears us both.

Keeping an open heart has also allowed us to meet wonderful people in the interfaith community. We have broken bread together, talked respectfully to one another and learned much from one another.