Religion - its meaning

At the Parliament of World Religions (December, Melbourne), there were 240 religions represented, and many that did not come. I (David) was especially impressed with some about whom I had heard something, but here they were. The Dalai Lama brought the Gyoto monks, who created an intricate sand painting in one alcove, over the course of four days. As the painting was destroyed in one stroke, it was all about enjoying the present moment of a project, while not attached to its outcome. Indeed, I notice that our lives have many completed projects in the form of things in our lives, which have become cluttered. Thus, attuning to the monks who were making the sand painting, and their quality of intention as artists, was the best part of that exercise.

The Gyoto monks were on the general stage a few times, chanting, a group of four to illustrate their skill. They walked on in line, with their large curved yellow fringed hats, the closest thing to a Roman centurion’s helmet that I’ve seen. One of them must have been new, for on stage he had an irrepressible smile. He was dazzled by the audience, seven thousand people in front of him – he widely grinned and waved, as would a ten year-old. It was very sweet to see this kind of simple innocence, also demonstrating the skills that he had learned in toning and overtoning.

Famous spiritual leaders strolled the halls, in groups. Famous? To their own, certainly. In any case, you couldn’t get to the famous leader in the middle of a football formation, flanked by the admirers within the group. So I would sometimes go up to one of the followers, smile, and put forward my hand in greeting. “Hello.” I didn’t need to say my name as it was emblazoned on the name badge around my neck. “Hello, please tell me about yourself.” In most, but not all, cases, the result was a very dear interaction with someone from a completely different part of the world, who freely shared their philosophy. For example, I asked a Sikh, “I hear about the 5 K’s – what is that?” The man explained that this meant the five things that they must wear at all times, each item starting with the letter K – a small dagger (sometimes a sword), a wristband, one’s own uncut hair, a string around one’s waist – I think I got them right, though it’s not important because the man said, leaning over to me, “But the most important thing is the heart.” He pointed to his heart, smiled broadly, and nodded. I smiled back, and said, “yes,” and then he had to hurry to catch up with his group which had moved further down the hall.

The warmth of that encounter, and others like it, was more important than many of the words that were uttered. It became personal and intimate, across geography and dogma... it's all about relationship!!