Why We Need the Eastern Traditions Too

While God of the Desert Books Embraces a Western, Judeo-Christian Foundation, We Still Welcome the Wisdom of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Indigenous Faiths

Photo by Garvit Chaturvedi on Unsplash

One of my Facebook friends offered up just the right Dalai Lama quote for me this afternoon that I really needed as I was struggling to calm down after a stressful and emotional drive in the desert this afternoon:

I fully admit it: I’m very much a “Western chauvinist” when it comes to religion, philosophy, politics, and culture. I tend to regard Western - American, European, and Judeo-Christian as generally superior to Eastern, Asian, African, and less “advanced” tribal cultures. It’s not like I haven’t tried! As I’ve wandered and explored the worlds of faith, mysticism, and ideology I’ve perpetually given Eastern traditions a chance. And try as I might I just cannot embrace them to the degree that Western political values and Bible-based religious traditions and mystical ideas make greater sense to me.

But that doesn’t mean that I can’t still find the value, beauty, and utility in Eastern traditions too. Especially since I’ve had to search for relief from my PTSD symptoms, the strength of Eastern practices has manifested more. Eastern meditative practices make so much more sense now as I’ve perpetually tried to find ways to calm down the intense emotions and high energy which my PTSD has caused. Now I get the zen rock gardens, the yoga mats, the Buddhist chanting music. These are useful and effective tools for calming down a mind in pain and reorienting one’s personality and temperament.

We also need to remember that our Eastern family’s cultural contributions offer much to enrich our lives too, from delicious sushi and Indian naan bread to the incredible cinema of Akira Kurosawa, Satyajit Ray, and Hayao Miyazaki.

(Be sure and check out Ray’s “Pather Panchali,” one of film’s great artistic achievements, which I’ll be podcasting about soon after introducing to my fiancee as part of our ongoing series into arthouse cinema.)

While I do think it is ultimately necessary to make a choice between whether one will base their lives on Eastern philosophical traditions or Western ones, that does not mean that one need completely reject the other. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” is the cliche and it very much applies here. So don’t be surprised that amidst the incoming Bible thumpery we’ll sometimes too be exploring and comparing the valuable contributions of our human brothers and sisters all around the world.