El Camino Real and My Spiritual Influences: LalithAnanda

Описание: I have had two different influences growing up in a Buddhist home and a Catholic neighborhood in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

I went to two Franciscan schools - St. Sylvester's and St. Anthony's College.

Yet the Buddhist influence was strong through my parents - father who practiced mindfulness and both lived a Dhamma influenced life.

I also loved going to church on a Sunday - tagging along as a kid - to watch the rituals, the beautiful hymns, the sound of the pipe organ and the sense of community.

Later I learned about the religion and the faith based practice - which I realized was in contrast to the personal responsibility and the mindfulness based practice dictated by the law of karma - cause and effect - co-dependent - co-arising - based on living an ethically grounded life - from the Buddhist teachings.

What was common to both was the advocating to live a life based on love, compassion and empathy and I feel privileged to have had both influences - which has enabled me to accept other faiths, religions and practices by finding common ground - rather than focus on the differences.

Driving up the California Hwy 101 following the El Camino Real for the second time - I enjoyed the nostalgia of visiting the quaint mission of San Juan Bautista - one of the 21 missions built by Spanish from San Diego to North of San Francisco.

I also acknowledge that in the colonisation they caused a lot of harm to indigenous people and their way of life - which has left lasting impacts to those communities.

Understanding the history makes it important to put all this in perspective and learn lessons to live in harmony among each other in a diverse world.