3.21 Religion

If you’re interested in how a powerful religious experience feels, or you’d like to understand how worship feels in one religion compared to another, then this Section is for you.

The first technique is based on the Non-Zen Zen riddles approach from Section 3.20 Meditation:

Select a passage from a religious text.
1. It could be one that’s important to you, to a friend or relative, one that is fundamental to the ethos of a particular religion, or maybe just a popular one that you’d like to understand better.
2. The following passage from the Bible is a very good example because it is the foundation of Christianity: ““Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:36-40.
Create a sacred space with candles, incense and music.
1. For music, religious chants from the religion in question are probably best, but if you don’t like those, then use meditation music or something vibrational.
Sit upright in a space with room to lie down if desired.
If you want to, dedicate the session to the religious figure the passage you’ve selected is about.
1. Love or embodiment would also work well.
Either enter Strong Unity, or the Temple of the Heart (Section 3.12).
Read the passage to yourself, visualise the words and feel their weight as you turn them around in your mind.
Allow yourself to feel the meaning of the words as their author or subject intended, and if it makes sense for the passage you’ve selected, try to make yourself feel what the author or the subject of the passage was feeling.
1. E.g. for the passage above, do as Jesus commands and love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind – imagine how it felt for Jesus to be connected to God so completely – the intensity of the love, the emotion of pure compassion, the wisdom He was absorbed in – let go and allow yourself to connect to God in the way Jesus was able to.
Form deeper or philosophical questions about the passage, its meaning to you and the meaning to the author or subject of the passage.
1. E.g. for the passage above: “what did Jesus mean when He said neighbour? People you live with, next door neighbour, people in your town, people in different countries, people belonging to your religion or political persuasion, everyone, everything in the world…?”, “what did Jesus mean when He said “love your neighbour as yourself?” etc.
Answer each question by exploring it and its implications with your mind. Don’t try to be clever and answer questions intellectually, just stay focused, visualise the questions and the passage, immerse yourself in the feelings of the author or the subject of the passage and let the answers appear on their own.
After some time, you will experience answers to your questions as the author or subject of the passage meant them or felt them.
1. When this happens, you may be able to feel a distinct shift in your state of consciousness or perception of reality – allow this to happen in the same way you allow yourself to enter Unity.
Re-read the passage and feel again, the fullness of what the author or subject meant and felt.
1. Let go and let the Pleasure take control.
When you’re finished, thank the author or the subject of the passage for allowing you to experience their love, wisdom and insights directly.

The second technique is based on Section 3.9 Soul Music and uses music as a medium to experience different religions:

Select the religions you’d like to experience.
1. One should be the religion you belong to or know very well.
Select music associated with the religions you’d like to experience.
1. Ideally these should be hymns, prayers or chants.
2. For the maximum effect, try to get some in the language the religions are traditionally associated with (e.g. Arabic for Islamic music), and in your language.
Create a sacred space with candles, incense and music.
Sit upright in a space with room to lie down if desired.
Go into Strong Unity: Expansion or Strong Unity: Internalisation.
Your energy level needs to be high, so if it’s not already, initiate a full body or energy orgasm to bring it up.
Play the music from the first religion that you’ve selected, in the language it’s traditionally associated with.
Reach out with your soul / consciousness and feel the music.
1. Feel the intention of the music and the emotion contained in it.
2. Feel what the music is trying to accomplish.
3. Feel the messages the music is trying to convey.
4. Consider also the social and historical contexts in which the religion was founded.
Listen to the music you selected in the following order:
1. First religion in its traditional language.
2. Second / third / fourth religions in their traditional languages etc.
3. First religion in your language (if possible).
4. Second / third / fourth religions in your language etc. (if possible).
5. Your religion / religion you know very well in your language.
6. Your religion / religion you know very well in other languages it’s commonly associated with (e.g. Christian hymns in Latin, Greek or Aramaic).
All the way through this, continue to reach out with your soul / consciousness and feel the music, its intention etc.
1. Let go and let the music take control.
After having listened to the different types of religious music in different languages, ask yourself deeper or philosophical questions about the religions you’ve experienced.
1. E.g. “how does the music from different religions make you feel?”, “which music made you feel the most joy?”, “which music made you feel the closest connection to God?”, “how do the different religions bring you close to God?”, etc.
Optional step if you have time: ponder the famous Zen riddle “If you meet Buddha, kill him”.
When you’re finished, thank God / the deities / figures / subjects of the religions you selected for allowing you to experience their love, wisdom and insights directly.

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