In a class I am taking at my church, I am learning to see my life and spiritual views in terms of race. I am a white American who has some advantages that other minority groups are not always as fortunate to have. This is not my fault nor is it something to be guilty for, but it is an inspiration to stand up for the oppressed so that they, too, can have the advantages I have as a straight, white male. I am also looking closely at the white Jesus. Personally, I do not know that it is wrong to portray Jesus as white, since cultures tend to portray religious figures in their own likeness. I think the problem comes when that becomes so normative that any other representation seems “wrong” or “out of place.” I enjoyed looking at the pictures of Chinese Jesus, black Jesus, likely historical Jesus (as portrayed in Time Magazine), and Indian Jesus, as these allowed me to see Jesus as a figure who is relevant to all cultures. Furthermore, I am learning to see life as a school in which we are growing our spiritual nature, and I am becoming more aware of beauty, nature, and the spiritual nature of reality.

I believe that solitude and contact with others need to be balanced. Solitude is useful for learning new ways of innovating and thinking for the benefit of the world. It is where ethical ideas, sparks of compassion, and intellectual ideas that can help people arise. At the same time, contact with others is important so that we do not confuse ourselves with our own ideas. Listening only to ourselves leads to confusion about life, while only listening to others leads to conformity. It must be a balance of thinking and then hearing the ideas of others. As Confucius said, “He who learns without studying will be unorthodox; he who studies without learning will be a conformist.”

I always enjoy nature. Not only is it a great stress reliever; it reminds me of what a blessing it is to be alive and to be a part of the evolution of life. Running can also be tons of fun. Sometimes, on an easy or medium run, I like to think about size relativity and imagine that anthills on the ground are mountains and that I am an airplane going very far. Sometimes, just driving and appreciating that we are able to travel so fast today can be pleasurable. Sometimes, eating food and thinking about the history behind how it got started in the United States can be a fun way to celebrate popular culture. In general, anything simple can be pleasurable if you have the playful child’s mindset.

I have compassion for animals so as to give emotional, nurturing care to anyone’s animal who is sick or hurt, as well as knowledge to inform people about alternative options for people who consider putting aggressive animals down; coping mechanisms to help people with anxiety; a deep awareness of the beauty and spiritual nature of the world that I can lead others into; tools and knowledge to help others forgive and set themselves free from blame and anger; insights that can help others to develop compassion in themselves and others; wisdom that will help others lead better lives; tools for being joyful and grateful for the small things in life; esoteric wisdom on the Law of Attraction and positive thinking; the money I will gain at my on-campus jobs, God-willing, that I can share with those in need; tools for thinking and working in ways that will allow cross country and track athletes to improve; and advice on preventing getting sick (for those reading, take zinc everyday, but preferably in the afternoon after a meal).

What an interesting question! I think something I could work on more is looking at where my inner work and work in the real world intersect. For instance, I believe part of my dharma is probably to study world religion/spirituality. Perhaps, to tie this to social work is to look at the teachings of religions and spirituality that are helpful and apply them into some kind of service project. Christianity, for instance, teaches the Golden Rule, so I, if focusing on this, could start a project that I know will help those who have had similar desires, needs, and struggles that I have had.

I am currently looking at graduate schools with three semesters of college left (which is going fairly well thus far); I am no longer in the misery of constantly worrying about an angry God or eternal damnation but in a loving relationship with the Reality behind reality; I am making progress in coming to deeper levels of understanding on my spiritual journey; I am now free from previous ideas that no longer serve me; I am entered into a new level of awareness as of recently; I am improving in my running speed; and I had a law of attraction fulfillment experience this year after attracting a vacation to Boston through prayer.

I stand for clean air, clean water, new energy resources, the rights of all sentient beings to thrive, and the sacred value of Mother Earth; the right to freedom of religion, spirituality, or no religion/spirituality at all; the duty to remain grateful for the many blessings of life; the duty to live in harmony with nature; the importance of helpful thinking, rather than impure thoughts; the right and duty for humans to manifest the inner spark of divinity within themselves; the right and duty to have a right relationship with Spirit and to offer helpful prayers, affirmations, thoughts, and visualizations; the duty to submit to Spirit; the right for all people to be heard, including the so-called “insane” of society; the duty to develop empathy for all sentient beings; and the values of freedom, justice, and equality on which the United States was founded.

Interestingly, many people seem to have misinterpreted this passage as saying that learning and doing inner spiritual work is more important than service, but the author of Luke-Acts is very concerned with lessening gender roles. Most biblical scholars say that Martha’s problem is not that she serves too much, rather than learning, but that she is too concerned with her social “gender role.” Mary was listening at the feet of Jesus, cultivating a rabbi-student relationship, something radical for women in those days.