On some levels, this holiday season has been a contemplative one for me. Minus the “dance off” I engaged in NYE. Anyway, R spent so much time picking the perfect gifts for me and one was a fantastic, inspiring book called, “Thou Art That.” It is a collection of Joseph Campbell lectures focusing on how the Christian tradition confuses literal/historical aspects of the bible as being objective truths. For example, he finds it absurd that people go out and want to find the *actual*, physical Noah’s Arc when the myths of the Arc live within us today. Christ’s Passion and Resurrection is a process that rings true to our collective humanity–we all must die and experience rebirth on several levels to reach our highest potential. Campbell invites us to contemplate on all the wonderful religious stories throughout time and their many, many mythological similarities.
Like me, Campbell grew up Roman Catholic. Post-reformation, Campbell felt that Christianity broke into several forms of spiritually deprived, man-made religious scripts. Later in his life, he did come to appreciate the rich symbolism in the mass and the Biblical stories that revealed deep human truths. He had always revered the Latin mass and its uncompromising reinactment of the passion of Christ.
Campbell’s respect and love for Hindu stories is abundant thoughout his work. He suggests strong linkages with Christ’s passion and the Hindu notion of karma and rebirth. I am drawn not only to his perpective on Catholicism, but his love for rich Hindu stories, symbols, and traditions.
Of the things R and I have to work out across our cultures, religion has not been a big thing. When I started learning about lives of the gods like Ganesh, Kali, and Parvarti something in me clicked right away: they were similar to the Catholic Saints! The gods felt like a different version of my spiritual home. When the reformers told us we worshiped idols in the form of Mary and other saints, Catholics remained rooted in their family of saints. The saints, much like the gods, speak to our inner and sometimes opposing aspects. The Hindus have strong, feminine gods, as do the Catholics. Both traditions boast an entire family of those who seek or represent god often in human ways. These characters tap into what Carl Jung called our collective, human unconsciousness. The gods and saints represent archetypes that speak to the core of not just Catholics and Hindus…but to the core of humanity.
Sometimes R and I get all crazy and talk about having kids and how we would introduce spirituality to them. I have this idillic fantasy of having tens of children’s books scatted on the living room floor featuring various stories of the gods, Jesus, and the saints. In each of these stories our kids would get to learn the great truths through vivid characters who soar through the air, sacrifice their body and blood, and take on superhuman powers to defeat the evils of the world. Not one story threatens the other because often, they inspire the same things: duty, sacrifice, responsibility, love, and nobility. Of all these incredible stories, people, and gods, our kiddos would get the chance to choose what character attracts…who or what inspires them. What a grand thought!
I do not mean to make religion sound like a Lord of the Rings movie…but after all…the best things our hearts connect with are born out of great mythological truths and characters we want to be like.
So whenever I think that Hinduism is far beyond my understanding, I just reach for my Joseph Campbell book and contemplate the heroic and noble stories of the gods. They aren’t so unfamiliar afterall. And, I’m excited for my children to be able to draw from these two giant pools of tradition. What could be better than having this rich family of saints to guide one on their spiritual path?
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***This post is dedicated to CT, an enthusiastic Campbell fan. 
Also, I forgot to mention a few other gals in an earlier post in terms of people who are super positive in the area of intercultural relationships: sf and GoriGirl. Hope you are still reading out there!
January 6, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Thank you for sharing about this book! Sounds like an interesting read! I have a similar fantasy about the children’s books. I already have some books about the different notions of “god” and it amazes me how interested my 3 1/2 year old is in them. I was raised in a very fundamental (Christian) household, and it is important for me to instill in my kids a sense of spirituality but one that remains open to whatever rings true for them. I am so glad that my husband and I are on the same page about this!
Your post also reminds me of a paper I wrote when I was in Guatemala about the syncretism that has occurred between the Catholic church and Mayan spirituality there. It sounds very similar to what you’re talking about the Catholic saints being so similar to the Hindu gods and goddesses. It’s all very fascinating to me.
January 6, 2009 at 6:09 pm
I’m still here – and now I have time to think and write!
Joesph Campbell is such a great author. Typically when I read him I don’t feel like he’s saying something startling new – perhaps because his ideas have already seeped in or were there to begin with – but I enjoy how he says it, and the different examples he gives to support his theses.
When it comes to faith, I think it’s most important that a couple have the same general outlook and feelings, rather than the same details. Catholicism and some forms of Hinduism are very similar in this regard, and I suspect that the same sort of people are drawn to them – in particular, people who appreciate ritual, enjoy the continuity of prayer in ancient languages, and like concrete ways of worship. (If you know the Myers-Briggs personality typology, then I’m referring to Sensing-type people.) That’s not to say that only those sort of people can be drawn to these faiths – just that it seems to me that they would be particularly suited that way.
Aditya and I have the same general outlook on religion too, although it’s more of the “atheistic as far as the Judeo-Christian god is concerned and we don’t really worry about the rest” than “traditional” Hinduism.
January 6, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Cool! So glad you are back GG…now I’m looking at PhD programs though!
I am an ENFP, so is R… it actually makes for a nice like-minded combo!
January 6, 2009 at 10:19 pm
Ha. I think GG and I differ on theology more than she realizes…
January 6, 2009 at 10:26 pm
That’s fine. I’m still right.
January 7, 2009 at 6:33 am
LOL… us women are always right ;o)
January 7, 2009 at 1:50 pm
January 9, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Thanks for dedicating this post to me, NK! I love it! I was not raised a particular religion but grew up reading and loving Greek and Roman mythology. I remember how disappointed I was to learn as a kid that not many people practice ancient Greek or Roman religion anymore. To me, the stories of love, sacrifice, etc. still seemed so interesting and relevant. I think I connect the Greek Gods to the Hindu Gods in the way you find parallels between the Hindu Gods and Catholic Saints. I picture reading my future kids stories and myths from many different sources too, and I hope they also pick their favorites (Pandora and Ganesh are mine!). And I must be a sensing-type, because I absolutely love ritual. When I studied theatre, I found that creating rituals was hands down the best way to get a group of unique individuals to feel connected and work together as a community to accomplish goals. Somehow a simple game we’d play together at the start of every rehearsal became so much more than just a game – it was a shared link and a common foundation from which we all would grow. That’s what I think about storytelling too – all these common threads connect us and remind us that at the core we are all human and that it’s a very human desire to want to understand and make sense of this crazy world. Campbell is so amazing at connecting the common threads of wisdom that emerge from so many different stories and cultures. M and I will definitely have to get a hold of a copy of “Thou Art That”. It sounds wonderful!
January 11, 2009 at 11:20 pm
CT, a friend of mine actually does still believe in ancient Greek/Roman religion. I was surprised to learn that, but I understand her reasoning behind it once she explained it.
January 13, 2009 at 5:30 am
I loved this post because I’m an ardent lover of Joseph Campbell. I was raised Catholic and frequently joke that Hinduism and Catholicism are very similar – just that the gods have more arms in Hinduism!
Unlike other branches of Christianity, I had a goddess figure, plus a whole pantheon of saints and martyrs to aid me and whom I could petition with prayer and draw inspiration from.
I just read The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (a retelling of the Mahabharata) and was struck by how similar it was to Greco-Roman mythology. Good times…