At various times I've been called a Satanist, Atheist and Freethinker, all because I confessed not to believe exactly the same things as the person with who I was in conversation (usually a Christian), but more importantly that I do not refer to myself as Christian. Instead of asking me what I do call myself and what I do believe, the person prefer to make assumptions. Why is it easier to make an assumption rather than asking a question? I'm sure there's some sociological answer to that. In reality, however, I self-identify as Omnist.
What this means (for me)
An Omnist is, plainly said, someone who believe that there is truth in all religions or that all religions contains something of the truth and no religion have the absolute Truth. In this sense anyone who see themselves as Omnist will probably believe different than the next Omnist. In my humble opinion I think that is true of most religions - place a hundred Christians from the same denominational tradition next to each other and you will find something that someone believe different despite the fact that the main points may be the same.
I believe that God is One with many Names and many Manifestations. What I mean by this is that God does not only have Judeo-Christian Names (such as JHWH, Jehovah, Elohim, El-Shadai, Jesus, Christ etc) but that all Names in the various religions belongs to God and thus Allah, Nam, Krishna, Ganesh and Buddha are legitimate Names for God. I like to try and find the meaning behind the Name or the reasons for the Name, which then clarify why that Name is appropriate as a Name of God. Ganesh, for instance, is the Remover of obstacles and Buddha means enlightened.
As for the Manifestations, God manifested in various ways in different times and places to different people. So God was in the burning bush with Moses or as Jesus Christ for the Christians, or as Krishna and Shiva in India and so forth. These are not many different gods, but as I see it, One God manifesting in different forms and different ways but for the same purpose. That purpose, I believe, is Love. The reason God manifest differently to different people is because people all over the world have different understandings of what life is. So, for instance, Christians cannot understand why God would manifest as an elephant (they do understand a lion though), Hindus do not understand why God would want to die and then live again (in popular culture that is a zombie after all). Another example is Western Christians having an aversion to the Name Allah (because "it is a Muslim god") but Arabian Christians have no problem calling God by that Name.
I will post about this in coming blogs, but please feel free to ask as many questions as you would like for clarity in the comment area below.
The history
So how did I arrive at this point in my spiritual journey? I grew up in a religiously conservative Afrikaans home. As my dad is a pastor, I practically grew up in the church, specifically the Pentecostal tradition. As a big bookworm I was always reading and at one time my dad told me that I should not forget to read the Bible. I end up reading the Bible, from beginning to end, quite a few times. All this reading also gave me a love for thinking and putting ideas together.
When I was in high school I wanted to become a missionary in order to save the "heathen" from the "demons they worshiped". This idea was greatly encouraged in my family, but it also lead to the idea that I should know something about these religions. At first I read books about other religions written by Christians but, much later, I would realise that this is biased and I started to read books about other religions written by those belonging to those faiths.
In the meantime, as a normal teenager, I started seeing differences in what Christians say and what they do. My relationship with my dad was not always good and I acknowledge that the anger I felt send me in different directions. At one stage I was angry with God because of my dad, but would soon realise that people, myself included, make many mistakes. Forgiveness, I read, is setting someone else free just to realise that you yourself were the prisoner. It did help me, however, to see things in a different light. With different perspectives I were able to see other religions in the light they see it and also to look at Christianity from the point of view of non-Christians. Today I can do this without anger or bitterness at anyone.
After school I wanted to study Religions (UNISA offers a course called Religious Studies, many confuse this with Theology). My dad suggested I first study Theology. As I were still very much Christian and very conservative (not to mention bigoted) and because I saw Theology, which is the study of God from Christian point of view, as another aspect of religion - I agreed. Studying Theology made me think even more that there is something wrong with the whole "there is only one way" - "turn or burn" concept. I did later study Religious Studies and plan to take these studies further somewhere in the future.
My search led me from conservative Christianity to a more liberal form, then on to deism, Buddhism, Hinduism, the Baha'i Faith and Unitarian Universalism. After a while I realised that there is no one religion with which I am able to agree with completely. I continued to read widely and even started to collect the Holy Scriptures of various religions. While reading I was always praying and thinking and while doing that I decided at each new point what I believe and what I disagree with. In reading and studying religions I came upon such terms as syncretism, eclecticism and universalism as well as the concept of the perennial philosophy. Each of these describe a different form of comparison or similarities or mixing of religions.
At last I came upon the term Omnism and in that found the term with which I am most comfortable to identify and within which I continue to develop my thinking. With this term I also grow spiritually every day. Spirituality, how we get closer to God, is a choice each of us have to make daily. As with everything in the world there is things that work for one person but not at all for another. Therefor it is not wrong to stay within one religion, you can even be an Omnist while only practicing one religion. Those who say they are more spiritual than religious like to say - "Religion is following the ideas of others, spirituality is experiencing for yourself".
Omnism is not a religion as such but more a believe system. One or other spiritual leader, I forgot who, said: "If you are a Christian, be the best Christian you can be. If you are Muslim, be the best Muslim you can be. If you are Hindu, be the best Hindu you can be". For me that is to grow spiritually as much as I can, to practice as regularly as I can, to accept that my views are not the only right views and may well be wrong and to always live the love of God towards all beings.
Where
I am today
The spiritual journey is one that never ends (it might
even continue after this present life is over). Whichever road you decide on,
whether that is one which has been walked for millennia by millions of
practitioners or one yet to be discovered - give it all your energy.
Much of my thoughts are still very much influenced by
Christianity but a large part of my spiritual practice includes Hindu and
Buddhist ideas and practices. I meditate and pray regularly. I love going on
meditation retreats. I visit churches and temples. I worship, listening to the
songs sang in different traditions. I read various Holy Scriptures, I’ve never
stopped reading the Bible but I also read the Koran, the Bhagavad Gita, the
Book of Mormon, the Tao te Ching and various others. And above all I try to live the love of God towards all beings.
My ideas around religion and spirituality constantly
change and I may look back on this blog in a few years and totally disagree (or
not). God however, as Christians love to remind us, is the same yesterday,
today and forever. But think about this – if God is greater than we can ever
imagine, is it not possible that we still have much more to learn about Him (or
Her or It) than what is possible to know in any one religion?
