What is religion

What is Religion
This topic is explored in three sections:
Part One – Religion and Me
Part Two – Religion in Action
Part Three – The Great World Religions

Lead-In
The following sixty slides come from my
‘Reflections On Life’ Slide-Show – Part 1,
timed to give a ten-minute ‘count-down’ to the first
part of four which make up ‘Two Questions.’
This is just to provide a reflective atmosphere to
the workshop which explores two questions –
What is Religion?
And
Who or What is God?
In this first part we explore the subject of
Religion and Me

…Aum ~
Shanti ~
Shanti ~
Shanti ~
Aum…

“Music gives soul to the
universe
wings to the mind
flight to the imagination
and life to everything"
Plato

In the beginning was the Word. And
the Word was with God and the Word
was God….

“The unexamined
life is not worth
living.”
Socrates

There are two ways to live:
you can live as if
nothing is a miracle;
or
you can live as if everything
is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

About the author
DurgaMata Chaudhuri has been absorbed by the subjects of God and
religion all her life. Born into a Quaker farming family, on leaving home
she lived in Ulster, during the height of ‘the Troubles,’ which intensified
her own search for Truth.
Not long after returning to England to study in Birmingham, she met the
spiritual Teacher Sri Chinmoy who subsequently gave her the spiritual
name DurgaMata.
Inspired by worshipping with her Hindu in-laws and with friends from
many different religions, DurgaMata took a degree in Theology and
Religious Studies (twinned with mural art) at Roehampton University and
trained as a specialist teacher in RE and Art. She has taught for more
than 20 years and now works as a free-lance RE Consultant and silk-
paint artist.
DurgaMata believes that there is no such thing as a neutral viewpoint. As
a Theist, she respects all faith positions including agnostic and atheist,
but her own love for God both underpins and is reflected in this resource.

Many of the images in Two Questions come
from our own photographs. Others have been
gathered from many sources. A full list of
credits is being prepared.
We hope that all whose photographs have been
used will be happy and proud to be included
in this slide-show - but should any
copyright questions arise we will be happy
to make any adjustments necessary.

The unexamined
life is not worth
living.
– Socrates

What is Religion?
What do you think ?
Religion is something we
all have views about.

Activity 1
Think about the question What is religion?
Working on your own,
What are the most important words or short phrases
that you would want to include in your answer?
How would you answer the question
‘What is Religion?’
How would you answer the question
‘What is Not Religion? – or What is Religion Not?’
Write your views on a ‘postit’ and stick them on the
flip-chart at the front of the room for later discussion.

Religion is about me
• Religion is a subject that you have to think
about.
• Everyone has a point of view on this
subject.
• And in the subject of religion, your views
are important. So are mine.
• We may not agree but all our views matter.
• Religion is about you.
• Religion is about me.
• Religion is about everyone.

We asked reception children .
They gave lots of answers and they did not
all agree - but their answers followed a
pattern. They all could be grouped by the
ideas they expressed. There were four main
ideas.
The children said that
• Religion is about what I believe.
• Religion is about doing things.
• Religion is about Jesus and Christianity.
• Religion is about God.
Here are some of the answers they gave -

Religion is about Belief?
• Your own opinion.
• A belief in different countries.
• What you believe in.
• Believing in everyone.
• Believe to do something.
• What I believe.
• Person who believes.

My favourite answer here is:
„Your Own Opinion‟
This is a very insightful answer
because Religion is about
each person,
what we think and what we believe,
our own understanding of life.
Religion is about the way that each
person makes sense of the amazing
reality that we call life.

Religion is about doing things?
• A thing you do at least once a week
• A religion is if you pray to God and
other people.
• Believe to do something
• Vegetarian
• Someone who helps people
• Believe to help another person
• Something you've forgotten to do!

„Believe to do something‟
This is a very insightful answer because
Religion is about each person and what
we do, how we live our lives.
Our religion affects
the choices we make
which are guided by our beliefs –
and all our actions.

Religion is about Jesus (Christianity)
• Believe in Jesus and God and their
friends
• Something to do with Easter
• … if you read the Bible
• Lots of people who pray to God or
Jesus
• Something left over from a long
time ago!

‘Believe in Jesus and God and their friends’
This is a very insightful answer because Religion
is about people like Jesus who inspire others to
follow their example. People who follow the
teaching of Jesus are called Christians.
Christianity is one of the great world religions.
The Great World Religions are sources of wisdom and
authority for millions of people. These religions have a big
influence on their members but they have more influence
than that. The great religions affect individuals,
communities, society, national politics, and the whole
international scene.
How many religions can you think of?

Activity 2
Make a list of all the different World Religions that you can think of
Working in pairs
Brainstorm all the different ways that
the great World Religions influence –
their members, local communities
society in general, national politics
world affairs.
Working in groups of 4 – 6 people,
Share your brainstorms and discuss in your groups the ideas you have inluded.
Underline items that more than one pair listed.
Circle items that are unique to your brainstorm.
Think about religion as a power.
Which items show the power of religion adding quality to people’s lives, helping people or
working as a force of good in society?
Which items show the way that religion can be a force of division or harm?

We asked reception children .
The fourth thing that the reception children
mentioned in their answers to the question
‘What is Religion?’ was the concept of God.
The children said that
• Religion is about what I believe.
• Religion is about doing things.
• Religion is about Jesus and Christianity
(which we have seen means a powerful, often unifying but
sometimes divisive source of authority and direction)
and
• Religion is about God.

Religion is about God.
• I believe in God
• Someone who believes in God
• Is someone who loves God
• Believing in God and his friends
• If you think God is real
• Someone who talks to God in their
prayers
• I don’t believe in God.
• Believe in God to do something for Him

‘Believe in God to do something for Him’
I think that this is a very insightful answer because
Religion is about
the relationship that someone can develop with God,
not just a rather empty ‘belief’ in God.
If you have a strong relationship with someone, then
you want to please them and do things for them.
And again, like in the previous answer which mentioned Jesus
and introduced the great world religions, this faith or belief is
reflected in the way that people live –
in their actions –
in what they think and do –
and in how they relate to each other and the world around them.

Did anyone get the right answer?
If so, Which answer is right?
Religion
is not a simple subject
like maths
where you learn a rule
and use it to get the right answer.
Religion is about us, who we are and what we think.
We are all different. We have different parents, different
histories, different experiences
and different ways of seeing the world.
So our thoughts are different and
we answer the question in our own way.

What does that mean?
Does that mean none of the answers are right?
No.
Does that mean all of the answers are right?
Perhaps.
Does that mean that all of the answers are right but only in
part,
- Each one only gives part of the answer?
Many people would say that this is true.
But not everybody.
There are many different views.

The Best Answer
Well, you’re the RE teacher. You know more about the
subject of religion than we do. So which answer do you
like best and why?
I like this answer best:
‘Religion is something you do, something you believe in
and Someone you believe in.’
Why? -
Because the person who wrote this, even though they are so
young (in reception class) - can understand that religion is
complicated and can’t be explained in a short way.
They have said that religion is about the way you live your life
(actions - what you do) – about your own beliefs - and about a
source of wisdom - you believe in. This last idea includes both
God and the great world religions. So this one answer covers all
four basic ideas.

The Jigsaw of Religion
OK, Miss, since you are so clever, how
would you answer the question?
How would I explain what religion means?
That is an excellent question.
I would start by saying that
Religion is like a jigsaw made of millions of pieces.
It is not something simple and easy to understand.
Each person is a piece of the Religion-Jigsaw
Without each person, the picture of religion is
incomplete.

Part 1
Religion and Me
We start by thinking about the way
religion is made up of different
individuals, all with their own
understanding of who they
are and what life
is all about.

If this red piece represents me.
What colour would you choose
to represent you?

No Religion
“But I don‟t believe in anything. I‟m not
Christian or any other religion. I don‟t have
any religion. I‟m a „none‟ so I‟m not part of
the jigsaw of religion, am I Miss?”
Well, the different religions in the world are only part of
the religion-picture.
Everyone’s views, ideas, thoughts, experiences,
hopes, dreams and beliefs are important in religion.
The picture is only complete when it includes everyone.
Your views are just as important as anyone else’s
So there is definitely a piece of the jigsaw for you.

Difference is natural.
You see difference everywhere.
No two leaves on a tree are the same.
No two snowflakes in a snowstorm are the same.
It is natural that we all have different views, ideas and
beliefs.
The religion-picture includes them all.
If we want to see the complete picture we need
everyone’s views.
In my view, truth is not Truth if it is incomplete.
(We will explore different views about religion and God later.)

I am unique
• Unique is a very important word in religion. It means
absolutely special and different from anything else that exists.
Just like everything else in nature, each human being is
unique.
• I am unique. You are unique. We are absolutely special and
completely different from anyone else who has ever lived
before. Also we are completely different from anyone else
who will ever come to live on earth.
• Even identical twins are different. They may share exactly the
same DNA, they may look similar, but they have their own
thoughts and experiences, their own ways of understanding
life, their own hopes and dreams.
One goal to aim for is to try to be true to who we are.

Activity 3
Working in pairs
Talk to a partner and take turns to explain what your views, ideas and
beliefs about religion are and why.
See how many things you can think of that you agree or disagree about.
Do you agree that everyone is part of the jigsaw of
religion even if s/he does not actually believe in God or
practise – any religion such as, Hinduism, Jainism,
Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Sikhism, Bah’ai, Rasta etc?
Does this challenge your own understanding of what
religion is?
If so, how do you feel about that?
Do you have a favourite way of explaining religion or model of religion’ which you find helpful to
use when teaching? Make a note of any ideas or questions that you would like to discuss later
and put them in the basket at the front.

Reflection in a mirror?
Since everyone is part of the religion-jigsaw,
one good place to start is by asking
what it is to be a human being,
what it is to be you.
You look in the mirror in the morning and see your reflection
looking back at you. You may think „I look great today.‟
But is that who you really are?
You may show a friend a photo of when you were young,
and say, „look how cute I was.‟
But a reflection in the mirror or an image on a photograph
Do not begin to show who you really are.
You have a body and external features that can be seen
but there is more to you than that.

Who Am I?
I have a strong body
which is solid and warm.

Who Am I?
I have the five senses – sight,
hearing, smell, taste and feeling .

Who Am I?
I have clever hands that can
make things and hold things.

Who Am I?
I have a mind
that can think and dream,

Who Am I?
I have feelings, moods and
emotions.

Who Am I?
True I have a body and a mind –
but is there more to who I am than that?
Many people – including many great teachers of religion -
would say that you are not the body or the mind –
They might say -
- that your body and mind belong to you.
- You own them and use them.
• - that you need your body and mind – you can’t live
without them - but they are not who you really are.
• Many – probably most – people in the world
believe that who we really are is the spirit or soul.

Who is speaking?
I am the owner of my body.
I am the captain of my mind.
I am the lover of my heart.
Sri Chinmoy

Activity 4 - reflection
Like all models which represent something different, the jigsaw
model of Religion is useful as a starting point but it is not perfect.
There are difficulties.
We are not like a ‘jar of paint,’ the same ‘colour’ all the way through.
Human beings are complicated.
There is a lot to who and what we are.
Working on your own -
• Shut your eyes and feel what it’s like to be who you are.
• Feel how solid and warm you are.
• Listen and see how many things you can hear.
• Watch your thoughts. Are they thinking about the past, the present,
the future or in the world of pure imagination?
What is your own view of who you are?
Do you believe in mind, body and spirit?
Do you think we have or are the soul?
Thinking of religion as a jigsaw is useful
but can you think of a better model for religion?

The soul?
When you think about the soul you have to
use art, music, symbols or poetry because
the soul has no visible shape.

Each soul
Is a leaf
Of God’s
Universal
Heart-
Tree.
Sri Chinmoy

Invite Your Soul
Invite your soul
To enter into your mind-jungle
To clear it up.
Invite your soul
To enter into your heart-insecurity
To strengthen it.
Invite your soul
To encourage you
in all that you do
and say.
Your soul will inspire you,
Fulfil you
And
Immortalise you
by Sri Chinmoy.

Is death the end?
Many people – including many visionaries, poets
and great teachers of religion (who claim to know
about these things) say that we are not the body
but the soul which experiences life. They also say:
that death is not the end and
when the body dies, and the brain is dead,
the soul – which is the real you, lives on.
- Few people have personal first–hand
experience of this,
so there is a lot of argument
about the soul and life-after death.

A butterfly is
often used as a
symbol of life
after death
because it starts
out as caterpillar
and then turns
into a chrysalis
(as if it had died)
but after some
time it
emerges
as a beautiful
butterfly

Activity 5
Working on your own
Think not just about whether you believe in God, the soul and in life after death,
but also where these beliefs come from.
Have they changed significantly over the years since you were first aware
enough to think about them?
If they have changed, what caused these changes?
Do you practise a religion? Have you ever belonged to a religion? What is your
‘Faith Journey’ Reflect on this for a few minutes.
Working in a group of three people.
This is an exercise in Active Listening.
Give each member of your group a number.
Number 1 tells number 2 their life-story while number 3 listens at a distance of a few feet
away. S/he can write down any questions that occur while listening.
Number 1 talks for five minutes and nobody interrupts in any way. Number 2 has to listen
very closely as s/he will have to re-tell number1’s Faith Journey to number 3 afterwards.

two ways
You can live as if
nothing is a miracle;
or
You can live as if everything
is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Life after Death?
Unless we have special vision, we do not know, from personal
observation, what happens when we die or whether or not we have or
are the soul.
There are people who speak – and who have spoken in the past - on
subjects like this, with such clarity and authority that people have
been drawn to follow them and believe that what they say is true.
Such ‘visionaries’ can be found in all the great religions.
Christianity and Islam tend to view life as linear, with a
beginning and end. They speak of
‘judgement’ and of heaven and hell,
while
Religions which have their origins in the
Indian region tend to speak of ‘karma’ – cause and effect -
and view life as cyclic, birth and death
being linked by reincarnation.
All religions agree that there are consequences to our
actions here on earth, and death is not the end.

'sixth sense'
Some people claim to see 'beyond' the physical. They
speak of a 'sixth sense' and may know things or see
things that most people are not aware of. They may
have encountered a ghost or been strongly aware of
the presence of God in some way, for example.
People sometimes have surprising experiences, which
are outside the 'normal pattern' of life, when they see
things in a new way. Rudolf Otto studied this and found
it is common. He called this encounter with the
‘Numinous.’
Research into reincarnation and Near Death
Experiences offers some interesting insight.

Evidence?
Some people speak of
 encountering ghosts,
 speaking to spirits of the dead,
 past life experiences and
 Near Death Experiences - of ‘continued
existence’ when they have died and been
resuscitated again.
Each person will have their own reasons to support
their beliefs in life after death – but as with all
religious questions, these can never be proved in a
way that is going to convince everyone.
Most people who do not believe in God, reject
the idea of life after death, too.

insight
All the religions agree that our physical
death is not the end of our existence.
Sri Chinmoy
in meditation,
One of countless spiritual
teachers who has spoken
with authority and insight
gained in meditation -
about God, the soul, life
after death and many
related subjects,
Sri Chinmoy combined
Eastern and Western
approaches to life in a
particularly clear and
dynamic way.

The spirit or soul
Spirituality and religion are interested
in who and what we are in our inmost
selves, deeper than our physical
appearance and mental thoughts.
Spiritual awareness suggests that at
the deepest level we are all one.
Sri Chinmoy (a prolific poet and spiritual
Master of our time) has written much
about spirituality. The following poem is
about the meaning of spirituality. It is all
about this sense of oneness:

Spirituality
My Supreme, my Supreme,
my Supreme!
My true spirituality is
the love of Your Breath
In every heart,
My Supreme, my Supreme,
my Supreme!
--------- by Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy uses the name Supreme for God. What does ‘Supreme’ mean ?
Do you know any other names for God?

Activity 5
How would you explain what spirituality means?
Human beings are not islands separate from everyone else. We
are tribal, social animals. We tend to like it if we find people with
similar views and can find opposing views quite challenging.
Have you ever got into an argument about a ‘religious’ issue?
What other subjects or views do you feel strongly about?
Where do you look for answers to the great questions in life?
What are your own favourite poets or sources of inspiration?
With members of your group
Discuss these questions
… and if there are questions or issues you would like to discuss further,
note them on a ‘postit’ and stick them on the flip-chart at the front.

Inside and outside
I am complicated. I am part of the jigsaw of religion but I am also
like a jigsaw myself - because I am made up of many different parts.
I can think of myself as a piece of the jigsaw of religion, but I am
also like a flower with lots of petals.
I have a physical body. On the outside there are all the features that
you can see: the colour of my skin, my hair, my eyes, the shape of
my nose, how tall I am, what I see when I look in the mirror....
But then there is who I am on the inside, all the things that I think
and feel. I have a mind – but I am also more than that.
I am the one who experiences, observes and learns – could that be
the soul?
There are many different ‘petals’ that make up the ‘flower’
which is ‘me.’ I need a model for my life which recognises all
the different things that go into making me who I am.
I can use a flower as a model to illustrate
the complexity of my own life.

A flower is made
up of many petals

A human being is like a flower
with many petals.
What ‘petals’ would you include in a
flower-diagram of your life?

The Flower of my life
Like all models which represent something
different, the jigsaw model has difficulties.
We all have a body that you can see, but we are more
than that. We have an ‘outside’ and an ‘inside’. Some of
the most important parts of us are on the inside –
including our thoughts, feelings and experiences…
We grow from a tiny baby to a child and adult, then we
grow old and eventually we die. Flowers also bloom and
fade away.
The model of a flower is better, as a representation
of my life, than a piece of a jigsaw because - just
like each flower with all its petals - each person is
complicated with many parts and just like a flower,
we change with time.

The Garden of Religion
I can think of myself as a flower with many petals, growing
in the Religion-Garden.
Like a flower, we change. We grow from a baby into an
adult and at the end of our life we die. We have family,
friends and neighbours and our lives overlap.
Flowers are like that too. You need many different flowers
to create a beautiful garden.
This model of Religion as a garden, helps us to
understand that we are complicated and there are
many parts to our nature. It also reminds us that
religion is about many people, not just one.
What sort of flower would you choose
to represent your own life?

"I find one vast garden
spread out all over the universe.
All plants, all human beings, all higher mind
bodies
are about in this garden in various ways ,
each has his own uniqueness and beauty.
Their presence and variety give me great
delight.
Every one of you adds with your special
feature
to the glory of the garden.“

Change
A flower grows from a seed. It is nourished by the rain and the sun.
It grows and blossoms, fades and dies, just as we do,
but it stays where it was planted. Flowers don’t move about.
Flowers don’t think – at least not as we do.
People are more complicated.
A human baby grows up in a family and is nourished and protected
by its parents and other people. Our family, our community is not
fixed in one place like a garden.
I have a family, friends and pets. They are part of who I am, too.
I am part of a community, a neighbourhood, a nation – a ‘human
race,’ the world of nature and Planet Earth itself.
I am part of many groups, many patterns and these patterns are
constantly changing.
My thoughts, feelings beliefs and ideas change with time, too.
A good model for religion needs to be able to show the way we
are part of patterns which move and change all the time.

Activity 6
On your own
 Watch your thoughts and see how they change. Can you
stop them from moving about?
 Imagine watching birds fly across the sky. You see them
pass but you do not follow. Try to do the same with your
thoughts.
 Observe your thoughts and see if they are in the present,
past or future – or are they in the land of dreams and
imagination.
 Can you detach your awareness from your thoughts, watch
them without getting caught up in them?
 Can you stop your thoughts and make your mind
completely still and clear, awake, aware but silent and
watchful?
It is not easy, but that is the aim of meditation. Try for yourself.

Watching your breath can help in meditation.
Let your breathing be gentle and slow, not forced
in any way.
With each breath, feel you are taking pure peace
and stillness into your heart.
As you breath out, feel you are breathing out all
your restless thoughts, anything that is worrying
you or making you feel tense and stressed.
The Buddha was an expert in meditation. He said
that everyone can become enlightened, fully aware
and awake, experiencing perfect peace and bliss.

• Using the power of imagination is also helpful
when you meditate.
• Imagine a flower bud is growing in your heart-
centre, in the very centre of your chest.
• The flower is slowly opening, petal by
petal and growing in size until it is fully
blossomed and you are nothing but this
flower.
• The fragrance of the flower fills you and
spreads out, sharing its sweetness with
everyone around.

Activity 7
On your own -
• Think about changing emotions, about times in the past few
days when you have been particularly happy or sad, loving
or angry or full of inner peace.
• In silence, think about all the changes that you experience –
each day, each week, each month, each year and at
different stages of life.
• What about your family and community – can you think of
ways that they have changed?
• Has anyone you know given birth to a new baby?
• Can you think of anyone who has moved away or moved
into the area.
• Has anyone you know died?
Share your observations with a partner.

The beauty of life
Has deepened my love.
The beauty of death
Has deepened my wisdom.
Sri Chinmoy,
Ten thousand Flower-Flame series ? Part 1

Activity 8
 Our views ideas and beliefs are invisible and private – unless we choose
to share them. They are not fixed. They grow and evolve over the years.
 They are influenced by our experiences, by all that we learn, each
conversation we have, each book we read or film we watch.
On your own
 Think about your relationships with other people, friends, family, pets and
other animals etc. Then there is the whole panorama of romance.
 In what ways have your relationships changed over the years?
 Think of your own views and your experience of faith. What has shaped
this and how has it changed since you were a young child?
 Can you think of any models for religion that can include this quality of
diversity and change which is so important when we think about who we
are?
with a partner -
Share something of your faith story
Share some experiences that have changed your views on life.

Community
• We are born into a family.
• Our family is part of the wider community.
• We belong to the local district, where we live.
• Families and individuals who practise a religion belong
to a community of faith.
• When we start school or join a club, we become
members of a new community and make new friends.
• When we go to work we belong to another community
and are part of a team of colleagues.
• When we get married we join another family group.
• All these different groups are like patterns in our lives
and communities themselves are full of patterns which
change with time, just as our own lives do.

Patterns
If you think of just one community that you belong to, you
can picture it as a flower.
Who or what would you place in its petals?
Think of people – family, friends and neighbours – your
local district, your nation, continent and the whole world.
Think of pets and all the birds, animals and other creatures that
share this world with us.
Then think of all the different people in that community and
how they all belong to other groups, just as you do. You
could draw these as interlocking circles, but the patterns are
too complicated to represent on the petals of a flower.

Moving and Changing
Religion is like a jigsaw with many pieces.
Each person is part of the picture.
Each person is complicated with many parts
like a flower with many petals, so Religion is like a garden.
Just as there are many flowers in a garden, and they can be
grouped in different flower-beds, so people live in groups.
We have families, neighbours, villages, towns, districts,
nations and continents.
But unlike a garden with flowers that stay in one place,
our communities are made up of interlocking and overlapping
patterns of people and events that are constantly
moving and changing.
We need a new model for religion
which has ‘space’ for that.

The Kaleidoscope of Religion
Religion is not just a picture which is complicated
like a jigsaw, made of many pieces which are
solid and fixed.
Religion is not just like a garden where plants
tend to stay where they’re planted. Religion is not
fixed.
Religion full of beautiful colours and
interlocking patterns which are constantly
moving and changing.
It is more like a kaleidoscope.

The Kaleidoscope!
Have you ever used a kaleidoscope?
It is like a tube.
You look down the centre and turn the barrel at
the bottom. Light comes through the bottom
where there are small pieces of translucent plastic
or coloured glass, all shapes and colours.
These are reflected by mirrors running the length
of the tube. You can’t describe a kaleidoscope,
you have to see it to know what I mean.
Here are some kaleidoscope images.

Religion is inside us
A Kaleidoscope, colourful patterns that
move and change, now that is looking more
like religion!
But religion is not just something you see from
outside. Religion is not just something you look
at from a distance. Religion is inside us. It is
part of who we are.
Religion is how we make sense of the world
we live in, how we understand ourselves,
who we are and why we are alive.

Activity 9
On your own
Just reflect on who you are and what it means to be
you, what things, people, places and experiences
matter most to you.
How would you answer the questions
‘Who are you and why are you alive?
Listen to the following poems about identity.
Reflect on these poems and the pictures and ideas
that they explore.

• From a song about
myself
….. He ran away to Scotland
The people for to see -
There he found
That the ground
Was as hard,
That a yard
Was as long,
That a song
Was as merry,
That a cherry
Was as red,
That lead
Was as weighty,
That fourscore
Was as eighty,
That a door
Was as wooden
As in England-
So he stood in his shoes
And he wonder'd,
He wonder'd,
He stood in his
Shoes and he wonder'd.
• John Keats

I Am - by Rose Tremain
I am the ragged fur coat my English Literature teacher wore
in a cold boarding school classroom
And all the stories she encouraged me to write
I am a publisher's rejection letter
I am five publishers' rejection letters. Then six, then seven…
I am the white boots I wear in 1975 to meet
the eighth publisher, Penelope Hoare
And her devastating smile of acceptance
I am Robert Merivel, and all my characters who
came before and after him
I am the eyes of my readers on the underground
I am Lev, wounded hero of The Road Home
I am Rose Tremain,
winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008
I am all these things and all these people.
I am who I am because of everyone.

I AM ALONE
I am alone
I wonder who I really am
I hear everyone around me and yet I know I am alone
I want to trust once again
I am alone
I pretend that I'm fine but
I feel lonely and afraid
I touch my reflection and feel trapped inside myself
I worry that I'll forever be this way
I am alone
I understand that I have to find someone to trust
I say to them, I'm fine but I hope they know I'm not
I dream of one day feeling secure
I try to put my faith in others, but I can't
I hope that one day I'll trust again, but for now
I am alone.
Student – exploring wishes, dreams, hopes and fears with poems.

Imago Dei
Ciara Regan, age 13
Here I stand,
Looking at the cold sheet of glass,
Watching a stranger mimic my every move
I think of all the time spent
Trying to create the perfect face of beauty,
To no avail.
What was the point?
Why the waste of time?
Why the waste of effort
I realise now that I am perfect in my imperfection,
I am – we all are – what God intended.
We are his creation,
Through his spirit we live,
We are him and he is us,
Imago Dei

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the star-shine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.
Mary Frye

Within - part 1
WITHIN
I am the sound of the wind rustling through feathers
As the eagle soars between mountain peaks.
I am the space between the last breaths of the dying
As they leave life behind for the next and grow weak.
I am the grey that floats in the fog when changes arrive
Holding the potential for new choices; neither black or white.
I am the eye of the storm where it is quiet and I set its course
Yet having no motion I am the measure of the hurricane’s great force
I am the silence that the birds sing to in the night
I am the blood coursing in their veins and
the will that gives them flight

Within - part 2
I am the homeless woman on the corner
whose eyes you look through.
I am the dark and the light that revolve within you.
I am the proton, electron and neutron at play,
The saints in their glory and the one who betrayed.
I am without bounds and wear time as a cloak,
With my hand I spin the cosmos with one brief stroke.
I am a bug on a leaf on the bamboo tree
Look within yourself if you wish to meet me.
--------------- by Katherine Wyatt

Long long ago
When nothing was there
And God got bored with himself
He made everything
Then he got bored
With everything that was perfect
And so planned to make some distortions
So he made some like me
Who as they say have lost their minds
As I sat on the swing in the playground
The teachers words tossed in the air
Like bubbles of soap all around me
I did not play with them by waving them away
But I tried to feel them by waving them in and out
When I walked out of the classroom
The tail of words followed me
Words made of letters
Crawling like ants
In a disciplined row.
Tito Mukhopadhyay
(the author is severely autistic. He uses words to communicate his world.)

"I am dust particles in the sunlight.
I am the round sun.
To the bits of dust I say, Stay.
To the sun, Keep moving.
I am morning mist,
And the breath of evening.
You the One in all, say who I am.
Say I am You.“
Sufi poet Rumi.

Activity 10
• Make a list of the experiences, things and people who
have influenced you, which you might include, like John
Keats and Rose Tremain, in writing about yourself.
• Think about your relationships and how you feel, your
dreams, hopes and fears, like the student in ‘I Am Alone.’
Add more ideas to your list.
• Think about life and death, the world of nature and all the
amazing things that make up your world, which you might
include, like the poem on remembrance and the poem
‘Within.’
• Think of how your own understanding of life, death and
God affect your sense of who you are, like the authors of
Imago Dei and the poems that followed ‘Within’.
Now write your own poem entitled, ‘I Am.’

Emotion
We have seen that religion includes everyone and how each
human being is a very complicated thing made up of body,
mind and spirit. But in the poems, the dimensions of
experience and emotion were added to this mix of
ingredients that makes us who we are.
When some people feel very happy, they start to sing.
If you feel sad or upset, you can change that mood and cheer
yourself up, by listening to music you love – or by singing.
What is so special about music that can express our
emotions and change our moods like this?
We need a model of religion which includes
experience and emotion. Music is an answer.

Sing or listen
• Some songs are hymns and carols. They are religious
songs which are not about ordinary human things. They are
about spiritual or religious subjects. They are sung as a way
of worshipping, praising or thanking God. They may take
you on a journey of faith.
• But many non-religious songs can also take you on
an inner journey. The song ‘Windmills of Your
mind’ is like a jigsaw or kaleidoscope. It is full of
different images about life.
• Many kinds of music can expand your emotions and make
you feel as if you are flying, but unless you play an
instrument in a band or an orchestra you can’t join in easily.
But everyone can join in a song.

Windmills of Your Mind
- some of the lyrics –
Like a circle in a spiral or
A wheel within a wheel never
ending or beginning on an ever
spinning reel
Like a snowball on fountain or a
carnival balloon
or a carousel that’s turning
running rings around the moon
Like a clock
whose hands are
Sweeping past the minutes
on it’s face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find in
the windmills of your mind
Like a tunnel that you follow
to a tunnel on it’s own
Down a hollow to a cavern
where the sun has never shone
Like a door that keeps revolving in a
half forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble someone
tosses in a stream
Like a clock
whose hands are
Sweeping past the minutes on it’s face
And the world is like an apple
Whirling silently in space
Like the circles that you find
in the windmills of your mind.

Religion the Song
Religion is often described as a code of life or way of life.
It is not silent and distant like the patterns in a kaleidoscope.
It is more like a hauntingly beautiful song.
~ if you think of religion as a song ~
Each person is one of the notes of the melody.
And the music of religion flows in and through you.
You are part of the song of religion
but it is bigger than any one individual.
If religion is a song, the song is part of who you are,
you are part of it – and at each moment,
one of the verses is recording
the story of your life.

Activity 11 part 1
Talk to the people in your group.
Can you think of times when you have sung
something that has changed the way you feel?
What are your favourite songs?
Can you think of a song you sing that ‘takes you
out of yourself,’ that makes you feel exultant, as if
you are flying or soaring above the earth?
Can you think of any songs which use words to
create a feeling or an impression, words used as
symbols, not to describe the actual subject of the
words (Windmills of Your Mind is a good example.)
If you have any ideas to share or questions to discuss, write them on a ‘postit’
and stick them on the flip-chart at the front of the room for later discussion.

Activity 11 part 2…
• Can you think of a time when you have sung or played music and
the result has been bigger than you, bigger than any one
musician?
• Each person has been important, like a note in the song – but the
song itself has been bigger than all of you.
Talk to those in your group
...about music and the part it plays in your lives.
• How does religious or spiritual music compare with popular
music? Can you think of examples where they overlap?
• The subject of religion is like music. We are all part of it
- but it is bigger than all of us together.
Talk to those in your group about the idea of religion as music.
How does this help us understand what religion is?

“Music gives soul to
the universe
wings to the mind
flight to the
imagination
and life to everything"
Plato

Religion the music
You can’t write a definition of music or explain
why music changes the way you feel. It is an
inner experience, a mystery.
Religion is like that. You can’t prove that your
beliefs or your way of understanding the world
is right. You can’t prove that God exists or
does not exist to someone else.
Religion, like music, simply is. It’s part of
our experience, part of who we are.

Activity 12
• Think of examples of things that you find
mysterious or amazing about the world.
• Are there certain books or films that you find
explore the mystery of life in an insightful way?
• ‘There are many more things to life than we can
know for sure or understand. If we can embrace the
mystery of life, just as we accept music, then many
problems and arguments simply disappear.’
in your groups-
Discus your responses and thoughts
about the concept of religion as mystery
… and if there are questions or issues you would like to discuss further, note
them on a ‘postit’ and stick them on the flip-chart at the front.

Religion the mystery
When we come to the subject of religion, spirituality and the soul,
we are a bit like ants looking up at a human being and trying to
know who human beings are. It‟s amazing that we can think of all
these things, but it is not surprising that there are things we simply
don‟t understand.
Our little brains have evolved over millions of years,
from the nervous system of a mud-worm,
from the „primeval soup‟ in the primordial ocean
from nothing but star-dust –
and before that (to use religious language)
from the „dreams‟ or „Word‟ of „God‟ our „Creator.‟
Sometimes we just have to fold our hands,
in all humility and honesty, and admit
there are things that we simply do not know.

Shakespeare?
There are more things
in heaven and earth,
Horatio,
Than are dreamt of
in your philosophy.
Hamlet Act 1 scene 5
Shakespeare

The Outer World
Science explores the physical or material world.
Scientists have discovered amazing things about
our world. They have worked out how atoms
build into molecules, how the different chemical
elements build up this amazing planet.
Some people think that science can explain
everything. But in reality science does not
hold all the answers. Science and Religion
are both important.
There is an outer world that science explores.
But there is also an inner world. If you want
to know about that, science is the wrong
discipline, the wrong tool to use.

Science and Religion
Science can calculate the age of the earth and show that life
has evolved - but it can not tell us what life is or how to live
a good life.
We need two eyes to see clearly, to see in perspective. In a
similar way we need the insights of both science and
religion to understand our lives.
Science and religion are sometimes viewed as opposites,
competing with or contradicting each other. But actually
they are just different ways of seeking truth about the same
world.
How would you ‘define’ life, love, beauty, hope,
peace, happiness or the colour blue?
Can you look at love under a microscope
or write a formula for it?

The Quest for Truth
In their common quest for truth,
science and religion, science and spirituality,
though at opposite ends of the knowledge-
‘spectrum’ are drawing closer,
as both delve deeper into
the nature of human consciousness.
Some quotations and aphorisms are as rich and
meaningful as spiritual poems – The great scientist
and mystic, Albert Einstein declared:
“Science without religion is lame,
Religion without science is blind. ”

Spirituality and Religion
There is an aspect of life which is invisible, subtle and elusive.
You can not define it or explain it. But it is just as important as
the outer physical world. It is the world of our inner feelings,
experience, and imagination, sometimes called the ‘Inner
World.’
Spirituality and religion are two related subjects that explore
this 'inner' aspect of life. Spirituality is impossible to define, but
it includes the sense of everything being infinitely precious and
the feeling that we are all part of a Whole.
Spirituality is rooted in our experience of life and especially in
the deep emotions of wonder and awe, when the mind stops
thinking of anything and we just ‘live in the moment.’
Religion can be viewed as our human response to this
subtle, inner or spiritual experience.

Poetry and Symbolism
• When you want to explore the outer world, things that
you can see and touch, cut up and examine in detail,
science can help you. If they are very small, you can
look at them under a microscope. If they are far away
you can use a telescope. You can analyse them in
chemistry to see what they are made of – or use the
laws of physics to see how they work.
• But when you want to learn about subtle, elusive
subjects, about our inner lives, about life itself then you
need to explore them with the tools of spirituality and
religion. It is impossible to approach them directly.
Here we need to use different tools.
• Art, music, poetry and symbolism are some
of the tools often used to express the truths
found in religion. They have to convey ideas
and emotions rather than simple facts.

A poem
Upwards
Towards the heights
Towards the stars
Towards the Vast Silence
By Ibsen

The analytical mind
• Can you understand the poem?
• Why do you think the poet uses capitals for V and S?
• Do you think poets want you to try to analyse their
poems?
• Poems are words that take you beyond the mind, to
explore realities that are without walls.
• Poems are often intended to convey their meaning on
a deeper level, to give you a sense of understanding
which is not limited by the analytical mind.
• Instead of trying to analyse a poem, just hold it in
your heart and ‘feel’ its truth.

Aspiration
Upwards
Towards the heights
Towards the stars
Towards the Vast Silence
By Ibsen

Going Beyond the Mind
What is this mind?
Who is hearing these sounds?
Do not mistake any state for
Self-realization, but continue
To ask yourself even more intensely,
What is it that hears?
Bassui

Searching for God: Hide and Seek
Patrick Corley, age 8
I counted to ten, and then I looked,
Behind the office door, on the top floor.
For half an hour, I searched the shower.
Then the cupboard under the stairs,
But he wasn't there.
I checked behind the sofa, and out in the street,
But if he had been outside, he would have been a cheat.
I looked under the table and under the bed.
Then I checked the bathroom instead.
I looked in the mirror, and what did I see?
Then I realised, maybe he is in me.
Should I look for him in my heart?
Okay! Let's make a start.

Realisation
The Absolute
No mind, no form, I only exist;
Now ceased all will and thought;
The final end of Nature's dance,
I am it whom I have sought.
A realm of Bliss bare, ultimate;
Beyond both knower and known;
A rest immense I enjoy at last;
I face the One alone.
I have crossed the secret ways of life,
I have become the Goal.
The Truth immutable is revealed;
I am the way, the God Soul.
My spirit aware of all the heights,
I am mute in the core of the Sun.
I barter nothing with time and deeds;
My cosmic play is done.
From ‘My Flute’ by Sri Chinmoy.

Infinity is this
Infinity is that.
When infinity
from infinity
Is taken away
Infinity remains…
The Upanishads

Activity 13
Think about the question
What is religion?
Having worked through this slide-show
and perhaps thought about religion in new
ways, write your own poem or create a
mind-map or collage of images entitled -
what religion means to me.
We will then share our ideas and
enjoy an open discussion.

In Part One - we have seen that -
religion is about questions and answers,
in religion everyone matters, everyone has a place.
The picture of religion is not complete without all of us.
Religion is like a jigsaw and
each person is part of the picture.
Religion is like a garden
and each person is a flower with many petals.
Religion is like a kaleidoscope,
full of beautiful colours and patterns
that are always moving and changing.
Religion is like a song, like music. It ‘flows in and through us’ so each person
is a note in the melody, a verse in the song. The music is bigger than any one
person but each person contributes to it, adding their unique character, beauty
and fragrance to the whole.
Religion is a mystery, a subtle and elusive subject
Religion explores the inner worlds, dealing with truths such as love, hope,
compassion and happiness that are ‘felt’ inwardly, using the spiritual ‘heart’.
Religion does not conflict with science but explores a different aspect of life.
Religion and spirituality often use art, music, poetry and symbolism to inspire
and communicate, because they explore an aspect of life which can not be
examined or analysed by the intellectual mind.

By Durga-Mata Chaudhuri
Blue Lotus Enterprises
Blue Lotus Enterprises is a company which creates
products and offers services which educate and
inspire.
All our Slide-Shows can be ordered from our website
on DVD or in book form –
see www.bluelotus.co and www.bluelotus-art.co.uk
Contact dcbluelotus@gmail.com
This work is copyright and can not be copied without
permission of Blue Lotus Enterprises
This Slide Show is good for increasing understanding and
encouraging discussion / reflection with all ages.

Images
Many of the images in Two Questions come
from our own photographs. Others have been
gathered from many sources. A full list of
credits is being prepared.
We hope that all whose photographs have been
used will be happy and proud to be included

Poetry
The poems used in Two Questions come from
many sources. They include two from the RE
Today Spirited Arts Competition, 2011.
http://www.natre.org.uk/spiritedarts/poetry11/1_where_is_god.php
We hope that all whose poems have been used
will be happy and proud to be included

What is religion

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