Among all the major world religions, Hinduism claims to have no beginning.  Though it can be traced to around 2,000 BCE it may have always been around because it’s not so much a religion as it is a lifestyle.  It has many offshoots.  The major one is Buddhism, founded by Siddhartha Gautama in the fifth century BCE; the original buddha was a Hindu.  “Siddhartha” means “one who has found meaning or achieved purpose.”  Hinduism and Buddhism are prototypes of Eastern spirituality that search for truth.  Those who discover truth can also recognize wisdom, which is a godly trait.  When truth and wisdom meet within an individual, the recipient realizes that for every truth there exists an opposite truth that keeps the world in balance.  Therefore, those who reach this level of enlightenment are nonjudgmental towards others and not condemnatory of opposite views. 

It’s tough for western minds to grasp this.  During election season when tensions run high, many of us want to find a path that elevates us to rise above partisan politics, vitriolic attitudes, and divisive stimuli.  It’s awfully difficult, and may be impossible, for those who are wed to a particular ideology.  Pope Francis, in his pastoral letter, Evangelii Gaudium, wrote about our Catholic Social Teachings and proposed principles to guide us in expressing them.  Among them is that the real is more important than the idea and that the whole is greater than the parts.  Like most Jesuits, he was exposed to Eastern spiritualities which challenge us to soar beyond western thought that differentiates this team from that team or winning and losing in favor of seeking the common good together and realizing that those who think opposite from us are not our enemies but ones who hold a different truth that helps keep balance and bring completeness.  This understanding helps us to exist in, and deal with, reality rather than ideology; it also helps us desire the whole rather than its parts or partisan attitudes.

I don’t think that many of us find the truth because most of us don’t seek it.  Those that do, I believe, are more likely to receive the divine gift of wisdom that allows us to rise above partisan thinking and judgmental attitudes.  Our own Judeo-Christian history can be traced back to Abraham around 1,800 BCE, though its origins were with the first humans, Adam and Eve.  Whether we consider it religious myth or literal history, it, like Hinduism, has been around from the beginning.  The Christ was a lot like the Buddha in that He taught us, followers, a lifestyle more than a religion.  He instructed followers to seek divinity, to discover meaning and purpose, and to search for the truth so that we can be one with, and within, completeness and the common good.  Our faith tradition beckons us to realize that our truth does not negate other truths.  When we come to know Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life—and not just know about Him—we touch wisdom, a grace that enlightens us to not condemn the opposite or make it our enemy.  This invitation has been here from the beginning of time.  It is ours to receive. 

So how do we love those who think or vote differently from us or who hold on to their truth as an ideology that divides parts rather than works to complete the whole?  Just as the bitter cold of winter has a polar opposite in the brutal heat of summer that is not the enemy but the contrasting reality, we can reverence antithesis because it keeps balance.  If we view it this way, we are likely to exist more in the fresh spring or crisp autumn and not be tormented by extremes.  This attitude or spirituality will also lead us to deeper peace and greater goodwill toward others.