I love you and Buddha too :)

In procrastinating for my finals, I stumbled upon a delightful song called "I love You and Buddha Too" by Mason Jennings-check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbSOPuN7OhE

Not only is the music upbeat and catchy, the themes behind the lyrics are excellent. The words so simply and elegantly summarize my feeling about religious differences.

"Oh Jesus, I love you
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed"

I researched some of the religious figures I was unfamiliar with and had some surprising discoveries.

Although I have heard the word 'guru' countless times, I found the definition far different than what I previously conceived. From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Dev):
"A guru (Sanskrit: गुरु) is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher)...
Guru is composed of the syllables 'gu' and 'ru', the former signifying 'darkness', and the latter signifying 'the destroyer of that [darkness]', hence a guru is one characterized as someone who dispels spiritual ignorance (darkness), with spiritual illumination (light) -as per Advaya-Tãraka Upanishad (verse 16)"

To save you the time of inquiring after the other mentioned religious elements. Tao Te Ching is an ancient Chinese text written in 6 BC by Laozi, a record keeper from the Zhou Dynasty. The book describes the fundamentals of Taoism; philosophical and religious traditions and concepts that have influenced East Asia for thousands of years. This book is a central part of the Chinese religion and Buddhism as well.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_te_ching)

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa is considered a saint from India in the 19th century. He preached the universality of religion, promoting individuality in the seeker's approach to God, contrasting to the religions of the West like Christianity and Judaism that both had exclusionary elements. Ramakrishna appealed to Hindus by activating and demonstrating their values of education and helping the poor; characteristics often just associated with Christians. One of his famous sayings is:
"Every religion is a path to God."
(http://www.om-guru.com/html/saints/ramakrishna.html)
(http://www.cosmicharmony.com/Av/RamaKris/RamaKris.htm)

I am more familiar with Mohammed, Buddha, and Jesus, however, if you are not I encourage you to read up on those important characters as well.

Cheers to Mason Jennings, if only the ignorant could be persuaded with melodies.

Happy studying
-Mikaelyn