Many Western people are intrigued by Buddhism and Hinduism. These Eastern philosophies seem to provide answers to the problems posed by Christianity (and monotheistic religions generally), like exclusivity for example. The Christian God is love, but he chooses some people and lets others burn in hell. He's also jealous and vengeful. As Daisetz Suzuki once said, "Nature against Man, Man against Nature; God against Man, Man against God; God against Nature, Nature against God; very funny religion!"
The superiority of Eastern spiritual ideas seems obvious although I think the shift is much harder for folks to make than is commonly assumed. But the hours I recently devoted to Joseph Campbell's taped lectures gave me something to chew on. Campbell is a good source for insights; he spent many years studying the East, traveled to India and Japan, was friends with gurus and roshis, and had great respect for the traditions. Here is one point that he makes that I find provocative and want to pass along. Eastern religions or philosophical systems are about identity, "thou art that." Western religions are about relationship, the relationship between the Creator and the created, God and human. Mystical experience is the heart of the East and borders on heresy in the West. Okay, we probably all like this part. But here's the rub. There is no place for personality, for the will to "be" anything, in the East. The prescription is to fit into your assigned social role and then proceed to erase yourself by eliminating all longing--that is, all that is idiosyncratic, what we call authentic. We want to approach the mystery all right, but it's the mystery of our own being as a singular event that compels us.
I'm not purporting to speak for everyone here, I don't know the secrets hidden in every Western heart. But this rings true for me and I agree with Campbell when he suggests that our dilemma is in learning to hold both ends, to experience union without complete dissolution, if that is possible. The individuality that we treasure and wrap meaning around is the proverbial double-edged sword.
