Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich, and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye. I've always had an interesting relationship with the concept of a church, synagogue, temple, what have you...
Growing up, my dad and I only attended the synagogue maybe once a year for Yom Kippur, the holiest of Jewish holidays, during which you fast and ask God for forgiveness for all your wrongdoings in the past year. As a kid, I was confused why everyone at the temple was reciting the same prayer. I figured each would talk to God, confess their sins, and promise to do better, but everyone read the same thing from the same book in the same tone.
And the next day, you eat again, and supposedly all is forgiven. It felt very impersonal. When I was 13, my family and I moved from our small town in Israel, where the synagogue was tiny, to San Francisco, where I was to have my Bar Mitzvah, and the synagogue was this massive cathedral with a long aisle and massive altar with pews for days.
By that age, I had already told my father I don't buy into the whole organized religion concept, so we made a deal that if I just do this Bar Mitzvah thing for him, then he'll never make me go to temple again. On the day of my Bar Mitzvah, the double doors opened to the temple, and I saw all the men in the pews on the right side, and all the women behind a dividing wall
on the pews on the left side, all chanting the same prayer. And I had this vision of a massive brain hanging below the tall ceilings with hundreds of tubes running from the big brain, plugging into every person's head. It was a visual of the same concept I had about three years prior, that religion lacked individuality or a personal relationship with God.
Since that was also the year we moved to the U.S. and I found out about all these other world religions, all carrying a similar message but constantly fighting about which one was right or superior.
Later in life, I discovered Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, Centers for Spiritual Living, and I'll never forget how Reverend Sky at Unity of Hawaii explained what they believe: You know how churches have stained-glass windows like massive tiffany lamps, and while each religion's stained-glass window depicts symbols relevant to their respective faith, Unity Church, he explained, celebrates the one light that shines behind those windows.
Unity is about the light, not the windows or the structures onto which the light shines. And there's only one sun; the same light all over the world. It reminds me of the Gospel of Thomas, "The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around "you, not in mansions of wood and stone. "Split a piece of wood and God is there, lift a stone and you will find God."
This beautifully expresses what I had felt as a child. While many people make their church the cornerstone of their faith instead of God, this almost implies the church itself is unnecessary to have a relationship with God, who is apparently in everything and everyone. I understand that the church is a business, and its business is to stay in business,
and many churches do amazing work in the world. And even if it serves no other purpose than a space for community and congregation, it can be a beautiful thing. But the same reason that draws many people to church every Sunday: the hymns, the music, the singing, is the reason I'm not a big fan myself. Give me a sermon any day and let me meditate on it in silence, is more my style. But I get it. Heck, my best friend is in her church's choir and probably always will be,
so I understand the appeal, even if it's not for me. Having said that, as you probably know, I am often invited to deliver the sermon at various churches, and sometimes I'm even asked what songs I want their choir to perform or sing.
Some of these places go all out and have full-on bands. Anyway, there's one song I once heard a friend sing at Reverend Sky's church in Hawaii that has always resonated with me, and no, I'm not going to sing it, but here are the lyrics to it, which might appeal to you as they do to me: There is one power. Invisible, and yet you see it everywhere and every day. It's one power, it's indescribable, and yet you speak of it with every word you say.
It's mysterious until you know the truth, it's as simple as the love inside of you. You can call it God, call it Spirit, call it Jesus, call it Lord, call it Buddha, Bahaullah, Angel's Wings, or Heaven's Door. But whatever name you give it, it's all one power, can't you see? Whatever name you give it, it's the power of the love in you and me. We speak so many languages, we have different clothing, different colors,
different names. But "different" is only dangerous if we forget that in our hearts we're all the same. We will remember once we close our eyes to see that such distances were never meant to be. So call it God, call it Spirit, call it Jesus, call it Lord, call it Buddha, Bahaullah, Hashem, or Heaven's Door. It's Muhammad, it's your mind, it's your soul, it's your sign, it's the Universe, it's music, Mother Earth, or Father Time. But whatever name you give it, it's all one power, can't you see?
Whatever name you give it, it's the very air we breathe. It's the power of the love in you and me. It's the moment of creation, it's an everlasting peace. It's the freedom of forgiveness, it's the sweetness of release. It's the joy of inspiration, it's the sunshine on your face, it's the birthright of all nations, it's the boundlessness of space. It's the beauty of a baby or the serenity of sleep, it's the anger we abandon for it is love that is most deep. It's one power.
The power of the love that lives forever in you and me. Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless and Buddhist Boot Camp. For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com, where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project, watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list. We hope you have enjoyed this episode, and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.
Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏🏼