Descending Babel: Chapter 20

The 11 ^th Step: Eastern Religion & Philosophy

Lotus It was during my continuing exploration and study of different religions that I began reading an eclectic assortment of books by Alan Watts, Franklin Merrell-Wolff, Walter Starcke, Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Krishnamurti, Bubba Free John, Joseph Chilton Pearce, George Leonard, Abraham Maslow, Fritz Perls, Aldous Huxley, and Sheldon Kopp. While many of these books were mostly concerned with transpersonal (or transformative) psychology, they also addressed systemic elements found in Christian Mysticism (e.g., Francis of Assisi, John of the Cross) and Eastern Philosophy. Underlying the message of all these books was not only a calm 'knowingness' but also a tacit sense of humor, a commodity missing from 99% of the Christian books I'd read. I purchased a few Alan Watts lectures on cassette tapes from the Alan Watts Journal and listened to them in my car. I found them so vibrant and amusing I bought a couple dozen more. A friend mentioned that Ram Dass also had lectures available on tape and I bought a few of these as well only to turn around and order three dozen more. Through my readings and the lecture tapes I began to get a real sense of what Eastern Philosophy was all about, karma and dharma, the Wheel of Death and Rebirth (Reincarnation), Oneness, and meditation.

Studying Hinduism I read through the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Mahabharata (abridged), several of the Vedas, and Shankara's Crest-Jewel of Wisdom. For Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, I read the Tao te Ching, Chuang Tzu, the Dhammapada, the Analects of Confucius, and several books on Zen. Working my way through Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zen, I finally settled on Taoism as a path of discovery (although kept the lessons of Zen very close at hand). I considered myself a 'Zen-Taoist' for several years before loosening up enough to be able to question the underlying presuppositions of all religions pursuant to dedicated research, rational inquiry, and critical thinking.