Blessed greetings.
In my twenty-five years of life on Earth (seven of these so far spent as a Bahá’í), I’ve had the blessing of meeting and befriending people from a variety of different cultures and religious backgrounds, as well as doing some rather voracious reading and exploring. I discovered many priceless jewels within many religious teachings and practices, and continue to the more I read and ask questions.
In my spiritual practice – in addition to reading my own religion’s Holy Writings, saying my daily prayers and chanting ‘Alláh-u-Abhá’ 95 times – I meditate on the Asma ul Husna (the 99 Names of God in Islam), I practice Mindfulness meditation, discovered shining pearls in the wisdom of Bruce Lee about martial arts and religion, I’ve found my soul set ablaze by Rumi’s Masnavi and The Qur’an, gained amazing new insights about God from The Hebrew Bible, contemplated the mysteries present in the Tibetan Buddhist Wheel of Life, and I’ve currently begun reading the Chinese classic Xiyouji (Journey to the West) about a Buddhist monk who travels to India in search of Buddhist sutras. Each one of these jewels has given me new perspectives on my own religion and myself as a person.
Though, I suspect that I’m not alone here. I know of various Christians who practice yoga or Buddhist meditation; there are Hindus who have various images of Shakyamuni Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Guru Nanak on their altars in addition to icons of various deities; people in China engage with Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism all at once; and in Japan, they practice Buddhism alongside Shinto.
What about you? What sources outside your own religion do you engage with, have inspired your path or given you different insights?
