Presently, I'm relaxing at one of my regular haunts in Vancity, the Cornerstone Cafe (4th and Stephens). It's a nice place (and my coffee is always just the way I like it), though it could use a couple more leather armchairs and plugs for laptops. For those unfamiliar with this part of town, this is right in the heart of Kitsilano. This is a neighbourhood composed foremost of young, well-to-do, Lululemon wearing, Beamer driving, latte sipping, stroller-jogging, wanna-be-Californians. Its other main demographic is the less-than-wealthy crowd of students jammed twelve-a-piece into basements and run-down houses. This is the part of town that in the 60's was home to Vancouver's hippies (or is at least not afraid to acknowledge the fact). Since then Kits has undergone massive gentrification (good luck buying into this market if you make less than $100k/an.) and is now home to Vancouver's yuppie crowd. So it's an interesting / entertaining sort of place to go people watching (if your subjects don't annoy the hell out of you, that is).
Anyway, whether it's because this is Vancouver and it's one of the city's idiosyncrasies or whether this is true of all former hippy (read "yuppy") enclaves, this is also the focal point of the New Age / eastern mysticism / vegetarian / organics / higher-conscioused-than-thou crowd in the region. Not a ten minute walk from where I sit is Banyen Books, a dependable stockpile of half-baked super-baked mish-mashes of Hinduism and quantum mechanics, crystal therapy instructions, pendulums, and books about how your intentions really do alter physical reality. On the very next block from where I sit is the venerable NAAM, serving 24-7 vegetarian yums since the 60's. And let's not forget that seemingly ubiquitous institution, the yoga studio.
Which brings me around to what's on my mind. There has been a tremendous explosion of interest in the trappings of "the East" in a spiritual sense. This is evident merely by looking at our urban landscape. A new Yoga studio opens every day, it seems. New Age bookstores are sprouting up in some of the most unexpected neighbourhoods (at least, unexpected to myself). Even mainstream booksellers like Chapters have New Age, Buddhist, Hindu, and Taoist selections. Nor has this explosion of interest in the spiritual been limited to "Eastern" forms of "mysticism"; Wicca and Kabbalah are becoming popular in their own right. Curiously enough, this is taking place simultaneous to plummeting rates of attendance at traditional Christian and Jewish services.
So what's going on here? The obvious answer is that the traditional (Judeo-Christian) faiths are less and less capable of satisfying people's needs. There are a whole hell of a lot of reasons for this phenomenon. Science, by demonstrating that virtually every claim the Bible made regarding the physical world was erroneous, and archeology, by doing the same for history, have left people (rightly) wary of Christianity's metaphysical and spiritual claims. The advancement of democratization and secularism, spurred on by better and more widespread accessibility to education, immigration and the easy availability of information have resulted in a (generally) more tolerant, open-minded attitude, greater diversity of viewpoint, and better critical thinking. These changes have left the demands of adherence to dogmas, illiberal organizational structuring, and outdated moralities unacceptable to an ever greater cross-section of society, which has resulted in the advancement of atheism and agnosticism, as well as the "spiritual but not religious" crowd.
This is the group of people primarily responsible for the current explosion in popularity of Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. in "the West" (with all due apologies to immigrant communities) and the group which I personally find so confusing. As a self-professed atheist, this boom of popularity is very difficult to understand. Not because I'm not brought to awe and terror by this world we inhabit. Not because I don't have an appreciation for the mystery of life. Not because I don't understand the need for meaning in human life. No, it's difficult for me to understand because I don't need superstitions.
No doubt, the demonstration of the incredibility of Christian doctrine has resulted in a "religion hole" for those that would likely have found in it what they sought. That they would try to fill that gap makes sense. Still, I find it difficult to wrap my head around why one would no longer be able to accept one absurd set of claims (seven days of creation, immaculate conception, virgin birth, heaven, hell, etc.) and then jump right into bed with another (reincarnation, universal consciousness, levitation, or a pig-faced god with a bajillion arms). Isn't this all rather much? Isn't the simplest solution always the best? That they're all plain wrong?
Sure, I suppose one cannot prove by their absence that Yahweh / God / Allah / the Flying Spaghetti Monster / Invisible Pink Unicorns do not exist, but it certainly cannot be proven that they do (and faith is no argument). Yes, I'm convinced that they do not (and try to prove it). But isn't this world enough? Is life really so impoverished of magnificence and beauty that we need to seek it out in some distant hereafter? Do we really live so free of pain such that we need to invent eternal punishment just to spice things up? Are humans really so incorrigible that we cannot be decent without perpetually being cowed by the divine parent's magical stick and carrot? And are we so cowardly that we cannot think for ourselves, imagine our own good?
Sure, the world is scary. Crazy shit happens all the time and if you get through being only moderately scarred, I think you've blundered into a formula that's worth sharing. And hell yes the prospect of un-becoming is unsettling. But should we run away from it? Should we hide our heads in the sands of some imaginary shore? And should we rob what's good in life, our only life, because we're afraid? There's way more enjoyment to be had, many more smiles and tears, more richness to life when we face it as it is. Like watching a movie in colour. And it's even more beautiful when we're OK with not knowing all the answers ahead of time and let them reveal themselves to us.
That's how it seems to me, at any rate, while I sit here, sipping on a coffee looking at the sunny streets. It's all so beautiful and ugly and absolutely absurd. And that's exactly how I like my coffee.
No doubt, the demonstration of the incredibility of Christian doctrine has resulted in a "religion hole" for those that would likely have found in it what they sought. That they would try to fill that gap makes sense. Still, I find it difficult to wrap my head around why one would no longer be able to accept one absurd set of claims (seven days of creation, immaculate conception, virgin birth, heaven, hell, etc.) and then jump right into bed with another (reincarnation, universal consciousness, levitation, or a pig-faced god with a bajillion arms). Isn't this all rather much? Isn't the simplest solution always the best? That they're all plain wrong?
Sure, I suppose one cannot prove by their absence that Yahweh / God / Allah / the Flying Spaghetti Monster / Invisible Pink Unicorns do not exist, but it certainly cannot be proven that they do (and faith is no argument). Yes, I'm convinced that they do not (and try to prove it). But isn't this world enough? Is life really so impoverished of magnificence and beauty that we need to seek it out in some distant hereafter? Do we really live so free of pain such that we need to invent eternal punishment just to spice things up? Are humans really so incorrigible that we cannot be decent without perpetually being cowed by the divine parent's magical stick and carrot? And are we so cowardly that we cannot think for ourselves, imagine our own good?
Sure, the world is scary. Crazy shit happens all the time and if you get through being only moderately scarred, I think you've blundered into a formula that's worth sharing. And hell yes the prospect of un-becoming is unsettling. But should we run away from it? Should we hide our heads in the sands of some imaginary shore? And should we rob what's good in life, our only life, because we're afraid? There's way more enjoyment to be had, many more smiles and tears, more richness to life when we face it as it is. Like watching a movie in colour. And it's even more beautiful when we're OK with not knowing all the answers ahead of time and let them reveal themselves to us.
That's how it seems to me, at any rate, while I sit here, sipping on a coffee looking at the sunny streets. It's all so beautiful and ugly and absolutely absurd. And that's exactly how I like my coffee.
1 comment:
Hey Mister Smartypants, it's your favourite barista here. I enjoyed your post and am anxiously awaiting another!
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