Tygarjas Twyrls Blog

So, I was thinking about the problems that can arise when one’s focus of study on a certain topic is particularly narrowed by a single line of thought. And that statement is left ambiguous so as not to be rude about it. Anyway, I recently read a book about understanding the solution of Loving in a real way, which I read due to somebody who inspired the same basic teachings to infuse within me organically when she left me staring earnestly at myself some time ago. The phrase that wound up sticking out in the foreground of my consciousness as I read was a typically well known phrase from a particular a book that goes something along the lines of, “Love thy neighbor as you love thyself.” And in this instance this phrase stuck out to me as the obvious cure of how a believer calling themself an adherent of a particular doctrine might be converted by their own hand into a real practitioner of that said doctrine. Let me explain . . .

To know the teachings of a particular group is all well and good. In fact, within the context of, say, Christianity, there may be many perspectives to choose from: Catholic, Baptist, Episcopalian, etc . . . And this can be said of any group with any teaching. But in the case of loving one’s neighbor as one’s self, if one is prone to studying the religion they believe their-self to be a part of, it seems immediately, by the line of thought spoken accordingly, that as one would study one’s own religion, so ought one study those of others.

And here I was reminded of the saying from the book I read because that saying is used to demonstrate that without genuinely loving oneself, it is impossible to genuinely love anyone else. But if the object in this case is the study of the divine, if one studies one’s own named God to the exclusion of all others, then one cannot possibly love other’s as they do those of the same religion; for starters, they don’t know what they’re excluding to begin with!

However, if one can see how others view the divine, as though with their eyes, then they have a basis for comparison, a basis for respect, and a basis for seeing what is similar, and, yes, what is different. They have a basis for discerning truth, and a basis for respecting other faiths as they respect one of their own.

As for myself, and I have studied a few different beliefs, the result is that I can respect the foolishness of believing too strongly in any story in a book, but, I can also see clearly that even believing a fairytale can bring one a richness of existence that can help one cultivate appreciation for existence, even if not always accurately perceived. To see a beauty through another’s eyes is to see beauty, even if it is not the beauty I cultivate my time in seeking. To see the many colors tinting the common truth is to perceive more accurately what truth looks like, and can make clearer how to see past tinting so as to see clearly.

And so, when it was recommended that one love one’s neighbor as one’s self, it was not merely courtesy implied, but that one seek actively love that they may find it everywhere they look. It was implied that what one finds to love in all others is also that which one must learn to love in order to truly be able to love one’s self. That that within all others is too within one’s self.

So, if you are really a good Christian, then also you are a good Muslim, a good Jew, a good Buddhist, a good Taoist, and a good Hindu. And if you want to pull it off without wearing too many different styles of hats and minimizing what you can order off the menu, you will love that others worship, even if they have not fully realized that their God is no different, in truth, than yours.

And a wonderful way to understand this is to study other’s beliefs as you would study your own, or, in other words, to love thy neighbor as thyself.

Salaam!