Happy Holidays, part deux

People are often surprised that we celebrate Christmas or that I make a holiday music mix each year. After all, what do two atheists have to do with Christmas? For me growing up, Christmas wasn’t about church or Jesus. Christmas was a time when all of our family (even the extended family) got together to celebrate. It wasn’t until much later (junior high) where church became part of the holiday season. As a result, I still think of the holidays as a time for family celebration rather than religious. As to the music- just because I don’t believe in god doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy songs that express joyfulness and hope. Even if it’s inspired by something I don’t share, it’s JOY. And HOPE. If I could find a great holiday song that used the word “namaste” I totally would, because THAT’S what I think the holiday season is about.

“Namaste” is a traditional South Asian greeting which is translated as everything from ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, and ‘thank you’ to its more literal root: The Divine Light that resides in me recognizes and appreciates that same Divine Light residing within you. The last is how I use namaste. Divine Light can mean anything from spirit to God to enlightened consciousness. I choose to believe that that thing – the divine light – is that electrical spark which animates us and the shared human experience. Not the collective unconscious of Jung, but close. We are born, we live, we struggle, we experience joy, we die. Those things are what make us uniquely human and something that all humans – regardless of color or creed- share. And THAT seems like a divine light – we are each alone but simultaneously not alone because millions of others have shared these experiences, even if not in the same time or space. THAT is what I believe in.

That’s what I think the holidays are about. Sharing the good things (and sometimes even the bad things) about our human experience.

Because of that, I also believe in dharma and karma. Not the serious Buddhist reincarnation kind of karma, where your life’s actions determine your path to enlightenment via punishment-by-life-as-an-ant, or the idea of dharma as your life’s path being determined for you.

I believe that we all have a path but I also believe that we choose that path every day. The decisions we make create the life we lead and therefore CHOOSE to lead- dharma is simply the acknowledgement that none of our actions happen in a vacuum. My take on karma is similar- it shares the bones but not the elaborate theory. I think that all of our actions are energy in the world. Putting out positive energy can only lead to good things. That’s not to say that you never do/say/think bad things (because we do) but I also don’t believe that having one shitty day makes a house fall on your head. Sometimes bad things happen to people and they are in no way to blame – the number one reason that Law of Attraction stuff is bullshit. You can’t control the actions of others – only the reactions that YOU have to them. I fail to see how trying to put the positive spin on things, or being kind just to be kind, can ever lead to bad things.

So have happy holidays. I hope for health and wellness for you and yours, an ease to suffering for all, and joy to offset your sorrow.