Namaste

May 21, 2006

Katherine Cates

Let us pray:  Dearest God may the light of your wisdom fill this sacred space.  May we awaken to your presence and may this message reflect your unbounded love for us all.

The Bible readings today explore a topic that is of great importance to me: The divinity of mankind.  Now given the recent uproar surrounding the Da Vinci Code and the questions concerning the divinity of Jesus, it may seem unbelievable that I would even broach the topic of human divinity.  Yet, here I am.

The Book of Acts reading from today’s lesson tells of the Holy Spirit falling upon all those who heard the words of Peter, even the Gentiles.  Remember, at the time the apostles thought they were to spread the news to Jews. All those touched by the Holy Spirit are able to speak in tongues, an activity that seems to be very misunderstood in our times, but was, and still is, seen as an indicator that God had blessed the receiver with a great gift.  Peter believed that even the Gentiles, having been filled with the Holy Spirit, were worthy to be baptized in Jesus’ name.  

The first instance of speaking in tongues happens earlier in Acts, on the Pentecost, (which is celebrated on June 4 this year) when the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and were able to communicate The Good News to Jews from every nation despite that fact that they spoke a variety of different languages.  The Jews in attendance heard the message in their own languages.  It was a miracle made possible through the power of God.   For God is three is one—God, Christ, and Holy Spirit.  The Trinity is a confusing, even controversial, issue for some Christians.  If God is God, and Christ is God incarnate, and the Holy Spirit is one of the three aspects of God, then were the apostles, and later, many others filled with God?  Are we, can we be, filled with God?

The first letter of John tells that every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God.  If we are children of God and Jesus is the Son of God, then he is our brother.  Our wise elder brother, perhaps, but still a brother.  We are, after all, created in the image of God, according to Genesis—whatever that means.

In John 10:34, Jesus speaks to those who are about to stone him over the claim that he is the Son of God.  Jesus says, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’”? Is Jesus saying that we, people, are gods with a little g? Jesus is likely referring to Psalms 82:6, which reads—“I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men, and fall like any prince.’ ” 

Do we really believe we are, or could be, gods with a little g?  Do we really believe any of this at all?

Nearly twenty years ago, at the urging of a friend, I attended a Born Again Christian breakfast meeting at the Holiday Inn in Mt. Kisco.  I watched as several people would gather around one person, place their hands on him or her, and pray loudly and earnestly.  The surge of emotion and energy in the room was palpable as the people who were “prayed over” spoke a kind of gibberish.  It was all la, la, la.  I realize now that it sounded like the Islamic prayer La L’il aha il Allah.  (The Islamic prayer means “There is no god but The God.”  Allah means The God as opposed a god, which is lah.)

I was curious and, at that time, I was becoming familiar with mystical and altered states after several years of meditation. So I decided to go up front and have my turn at receiving the spirit.  The feeling was intense as people tightly surrounded me, with their hands on my brow and back, praying aloud over me.  I closed my eyes and waited.  I felt no impulse to speak aloud, but I did feel a slow expansion of my sense of awareness, an elated fullness growing until tears came to my eyes.  I welled up with love and slowly sank into a chair. 

I had felt this feeling before about a year earlier.  I was in a group led by a man from Israel whose name was Israel.  He was a healer who had been studied by scientists who found that he had an ability to alter the ionic structure of water by holding a glass of it in his hands.  In this group we worked with a partner and were guided by Israel into a deep meditative state where I had the same experience of expansion, love, and connection to my partner.  So, did a Jewish man from Israel facilitate a union with the Holy Spirit?  Sounds plausible in a familiar way, doesn’t it?

A few years later, I joined a Vipassana meditation group, which is Buddhist, and had another experience with the same expansive love.  This time it happened during one of our hour-long meditation sessions.  Strangely, in that case, all the women reported with wide eyes the same sense of a great, full presence in the middle of our circle.  But none of the men did.  My heart was full of wonder and awe.  Was this, too, the Holy Spirit?   

These pinnacle events occurred over fifteen years ago, and as I have continued to deepen my spiritual practice I have come to the conclusion that they are all rooted in the same source.  They were all experiences of the presence of God.  Christian, Jewish or Buddhist didn’t matter.

The title of this sermon, Namaste, is a greeting that I first heard from my kundalini yoga instructor.  It is Hindi, but originated in Sanskrit, the ancient language from the cradle of civilization.  Namaste means “the godhead in me bows to the godhead in you.”  It is variously translated as “the spirit in me bows to the spirit in you,” or “I greet the place where you and I are one” or “I salute the divine in you.”  So, it seems that Hinduism also teaches that the Kingdom of God is within.

The Bhagavad-Gita is the holy book of Hinduism, and the source of the quote I chose for the bulletin today.  The deity in the Gita is Lord Krishna, who is in dialogue with the warrior, Arjuna.  Lord Krishna spoke those wonderful words to help Arjuna overcome his fear and grief over death, the constant companion of a warrior.

Some language scholars trace the origins of the Greek language to Sanskrit, which at an estimated 6000 years old, is the oldest Indo-European language.  Krista, is a Sanskrit word which is literally translated as “all-attractive.”  It is something so wonderful and complete that people are drawn to it.  (Krista is also thought to be the origin of crystal.)  The word Krishna comes from Sanskrit word, Krista.  Evidently, the Greek word Christos also comes from root word, Krista.  So, could the great deity of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Lord Krishna, also be called the Lord Christ?  As we become immersed in our particular stories about our particular religions, we forget that they are often rooted in the same basic ideas and beliefs as other faiths.   

Does this diminish the importance or the power of any one faith?  Not at all.  I think it strengthens the importance and power of spiritual belief.  It gets us to look beyond the dogmatic religious details that we foolishly use to separate ourselves from each other and see that we all come from the same place.  We all are temples of the indwelling spirit, whether we are awake to it or not.  It doesn’t matter whether you call it the Holy Spirit, the no-self, enlightenment, the Atman, or any other name.

As one Eastern spiritual master put it, there may be one pinnacle to the mountain, but there are many paths to get there.  Why do we make the mistake of believing that there is only one correct way to reach the pinnacle of the mountain?  When Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but by me,” I believe he was speaking with the voice of the Christ.  The Christ is God made manifest on the earth.  The Hindus honor Krishna who was the Supreme Person or Godhead.  He appeared in human form and was also considered to be God. Others may honor “God expressed in the earth” as well, but just have a different word for it.  Maybe the Christ is honored everywhere by different names.

Is Christianity your path?  Wonderful.  May the wisdom and love exemplified by Christ Jesus guide you to awaken the Holy Spirit within.  But, if Judaism is your path, that too is wonderful.  May the great teachings of Moses and the prophets help you find your connection to God.  Is Taoism your path?  I love Taoism, with its balance and natural beauty. (Read the Tao Te Ching for its great poetry.)  May the words of Lao Tzu awaken you to your oneness with all life. 

I could go on, but the bottom line is that the purpose of religion is to bring us to a conscious awareness of our connection with God, and therefore, with all of humanity.  If the rules of religion separate us from each other through hate and condemnation, then the religion is failing.  I pray that your religion does not fail you, that you can know that the divine is within you as well as in your fellow human beings, whether they are in touch with it or not.  Sadly, much of humanity has lost touch with their divine center, which has left them afraid, hateful and angry.  The hard work set before us is to help ourselves and others to wake up to our common divine heritage.

Many blessings, dear children of God.  Namaste.