Although the communist regime in Romania sought to completely eradicate religion and build an atheist state, 20 years later statistics tell a different story: Romania is one of the most religious countries in Europe, with less than 1% openly declared atheists. So it is not unusual to meet people quite keen on sharing with you their views on life and their answers the some of the deepest existential questions one might have.
I was having a long discussion with some of my best friends who hold some clear and strong religious views (one of them is a protestant minister, so he doesn’t have much choice, but stick to those views). Their beliefs, right or wrong, painted a very clear image of the world, all pretty much in black and white. And since just the idea of someone (even my friends) having the absolute truth gives me shivers, I had to point out that our dearly held viewpoints, philosophies and values are to a certain degree culturally dependent, hence they can’t be all that absolute. Surely if I were born in India, there is quite a good chance I would think quite highly of my dad’s cows, whereas now the poor bovines are just hundreds and hundreds of tasty burgers.
For a moment listening to my friends it was just like seeing myself about five years ago, before I left Romania. But being exposed to a different culture and interacting with people with such different backgrounds can put things in a totally different perspective. And this is exactly what my friends haven’t experienced. So I proposed a journey of spiritual and cultural enlightenment where we travel together for a year in order to understand the diversity of this world. The aim of this trip is to meet people, learn about their lives, their history and their beliefs and live with them for a while, not like a tourist, but like one of them. And my hope would be that at the end some conclusions would come naturally and that my friends would repaint their black and white picture of the world into something very colourful.
To make this cultural shock even more dramatic, I suggested we go East.
1. The starting point would be somewhere in the Middle East, the birthplace of the largest monotheistic religions in the world: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. I guess Jerusalem isn’t bad for a start.
2. Then we would go south to Saudi Arabia (Mecca not to be missed) and experience Islam at its core.
3. The next stop would be Iran, home for Islam (Shia Muslims), but also Zoroastrianism (my favourite)
4. India will have a lot to say in this journey, as Hindu beliefs vary widely bringing some very unusual concepts of God and strange and fantastic ideas and practices. It’s also a good place to practice Yoga.
5. Moving further South-East, as far as Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines, etc., a mixture of tribal religions can be found as well as Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.
6. In China one can meet hundreds of millions of communist non-believers. Taoism is quite significant as well, and so are some Chinese folk religions (including Confucianism).
7. To really understand Buddhism, Tibet will be a good place to stop and maybe Mongolia as well.
8. South Correa has an interesting religious mixture as well. Apparently the largest Christian Church is in Seoul. Very odd.
9. And finally the last stop is Japan, a highly developed country with a taste for spirits. A good place to understand Shinto.
I thought it was a good plan, but my friends were not impressed. Instead one of them (the pastor) proposed a different journey: Go West! They would start again in Jerusalem, but this time their journey would follow the spread of Christianity throughout Europe: visit the ruins of the first Christian churches in Turkey, then go to Rome and follow the spread of the new religion throughout the Roman Empire, go further North and West with the Reformation and eventually cross the Atlantic and see the very popular evangelical churches at work in United States.
To my disappointment I couldn’t convince any of my friends to join me. They will all follow my friend and go West. Only my dearest wife will be by my side, which is more than enough to get me going. It’s just that I don’t think that she needs this journey as much as my friends do.
