I, I DIDN'T KNOW I HAD A SOUL

In the 1980's I read a book by a young female of dual heritage, Indian and British. While living in Britain she wrote Karma Cola, a study of the major influences that the west and east have exported to each other in the recent centuries. With colonization and chartered companies being established by the British in the east and then the later influence of the American brand of capitalism, she felt that the east considered the most characteristic quality from the west had been the markets opened for the sale of Coca Cola in the eastern half of the globe. A sugary drink mixed with caffeine and early on the presence of cocaine made for a powerful physical stimulant. In an alpha world obsessed with sales, sales, sales, it was the perfect aphrodisiac to raise the west's libido for selling. The drink that refreshes.
In contrast the principle contribution from the east to the west appeared to be the introduction of the concept of Karma, that larger idea of an eternal cycle of what one might describe as "what goes around comes around." More of a consideration regarding the eternal and the ultimate rather than just what's in my stomach. To paraphrase, soul over matter.
In a World Religions class I took during the Spring of 2012, we discussed how the west first influenced the east during colonization. But now after many nation states have seen self determination their influence is now being exported to the west. Both of these exchanges have brought difficulties for both regions when the others' characteristic essence has arrived on the shores of a new world.

"In the East there is an everyday mysticism," states Mathewes-Green. She also states the split between heart and head is not as prevalent in the Eat as in the West. How do you accept this different approach as valid in your own experience?

The Christian world split into East and West fairly early in its development and inherited much of the environs in which they matured. Mathewes-Green speaks of the difference between east and west in the veneration of the icons. Of course the west has the veneration of the saints. Regarding her comment on an icon being a passageway, did you find that interesting?

She also speaks of the icon as being a cause or catalyst for the believer's change from within. What is the role of symbolic entities in our faith, in our physical lives? How does that help us to understand the faith and lived experiences of others?

Walter Morton for Terra Incognita