The Things We Worship

In Exodus 20:3, it reads, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This one of the 10 commandments, and one which I always interpreted to mean that God is a jealous God who has to be worshipped at all times or else his fragile ego would be scarred. It means something much different to me now.

Let’s break this down. God is going to mean something different to everyone. To some, God is a white male in a robe living in a castle in the sky. To others, God is a woman. God may be the name one uses for the universe, for the earth, for human-kind, perhaps even for science. God may be considered oneself; God is in them and they are in God and all is One. Whatever interpretation a person has of God, the command to “have no other gods before me” has a much richer meaning than simple jealousy.  Having other gods means we have distractions, things that keep us from transcending and reaching beyond this existence. Even more simply, and more pertinent to today, having other gods creates divisions, they keep us from knowing ourselves, loving ourselves, and in turn loving one other.

What are some of the gods we worship?

Some worship laws, to the point that they are willing to uphold and support laws that are inhumane and cruel, in the name of justice.

Some worship religion. Specifically, they worship the rules and the commandments of their religion, and the men who create and up hold those rules, to the point that people exclude, disown family members, persecute, lack basic compassion, and even kill in the name of the religion they worship. Let’s be clear: this is not a worship of God. It is a worship of rules to the point of needless rigidity and cruelty.

Some worship alcohol, pills, any type of substance which numbs them and makes it easier to reach a happy state, only to hit a low the next day.

Some worship celebrities; when they get married, when they break up, when they get pregnant, the pictures of their twins, and so on.

Some worship TV, binging, binging, binging, escaping reality.

Some worship fashion and outward appearance, placing all stock in their looks, other people’s looks, constantly criticizing themselves and others based on physicality, never fully satisfied.

Some worship sports, investing time and money into paying athletes and building huge arenas instead of investing in things like education, using it as a distraction from what is happening in the world.

Some worship their own moral code, a code they have made up based on their upbringing and/or their experience in the world. They expect everyone else to live up to the code they have created, and when others don’t, they judge, gossip, and exclude.

Some worship their countries and the imaginary lines that have been drawn as a way to keep anyone who is different or seems threatening from stepping over these lines.

Some worship money, home, cars, and other resources, big or small, to the point that they have built armies as a way to protect their wealth and built armies to take away the wealth of others. Some kill for wealth. Some are unwilling to share their wealth, and would rather have people homeless, without healthcare, and even detained instead of having to share.

Some worship power, and not their own power, but people they perceive to be powerful. They perceive power to be audacious and crude, so they worship the bully, the one who speaks loudest and rudest.

Some worship ethnicity, to the point that they enslave, beat, or kill anyone who does not look like them.

Likewise, some worship sexual orientation and hurt those who don’t identify in a way they would consider normal, usually in the name of God, which is another tragedy all its own.

The list goes on. These are the other gods, the things that distract, the attachments we build which make it almost impossible for us to love each other and find common ground. These are the gods that keep us from knowing and loving ourselves. We turn to these gods to find love, identity, purpose, forgetting we are whole and complete already, just as we are. Happiness and peace already lies within us. Ultimately these gods keep us from truly communing with whatever form of God we believe in.

I am not saying all these things are bad. A good sports-ball game never hurt anyone. There are some relevant, beautiful, or even just entertaining TV shows that can lift us up. There is beauty, art, and creativity in fashion. Religion, when practiced in humility and tolerance, can be very beneficial to those seeking that kind of guidance. And so on. In moderation, and with detachment, all things can be good. It’s when we cling so tightly to the things we like and dislike that they become problematic, when the gods we worship are used to define ourselves and define others, thus creating divisiveness ("that person is a Democrat, I am a Republican; I am Muslim, they are Christian; I love country music, they hate it," etc). Our attachments create an “us against them” scenario.

I’ll get a little deeper into this, but before I do, I want to delve a bit deeper into the folly of attachment. Let me preface this by saying I have many, many attachments I am constantly in the practice of letting go of, I am not perfect at this by any means. On to my point. Ram Dass gave this analogy: “Did you ever see a really beautiful woman, like a top model who is just getting to that point where her looks are changing into what could be an internal beauty if she hadn’t been so busy with her external beauty? She is caught in the beauty of time, which withers.” Like beauty, all things wither. All things die, nothing lasts forever. Even philosophies and religions change and progress with time. Nothing remains the same. So then why do we hold so tightly onto everyone and everything we feel defines us? It is foolish to let ever-changing things define who we are. What happens when what we define ourselves as or against withers? Who are we then? We experience a loss of identity and grieve that loss. This is completely normal, but if we hadn’t been so attached to that god in the first place, perhaps it would not be so excruciating when it is lost.

In Siddhartha, our hero “saw people living in a childish or animal-like way, which he both loved and despised. He saw them toiling, saw them suffer and grow gray about things that to him did not seem worth the price—for money, small pleasures and trivial honors. He saw them scold and hurt each other; he saw them lament over pains at which the Samana laughs, and suffer at deprivations which the Samana does not feel.” How often do we suffer pain and hardship because of our attachments? This suffering, then, keeps us distracted from the divinity within us. Focused on what we don’t have, we forget that we have all we need, right inside of us. When we forget our divinity, it is impossible for us to see the divinity in others, and so we keep fighting.

How do we detach, then? For me, meditation, yoga, running, spending time in nature, service, and ecstatic dance have become important Sadhanas (practices) for me.  In meditation, I am actively practicing letting thoughts run through my mind, and then letting them go. “Drag and delete,” as it was explained to me. In yoga, I am focusing so deeply on my breath, and the movement to breath, that I forget what is on my mind. I am totally present. This is the same with running. I focus so much on the rhythm of my feet and the rhythm of my breath that everything else falls away. In nature I am surrounded by the beauty of Pachamama and her music, so I forget any sadness or attachment I may feel. In service to others, I forget about myself. In ecstatic dance, I am freely letting my body move as it will, in a room full of beautiful souls of all ages, races, and backgrounds, who are doing the same. We are individuals, but we are one. Another thing I have done and should do more often is fast. Fasting causes me to learn that I can do without and still be happy, still be filled. These are things which keep me balanced. I am learning a lot of self-love through these practices, and am learning to be still, let go of what defines me, and just be.

Feel free to adopt any of these practices, if they feel good to you, or figure out what brings you peace, causes you to focus on your divinity, and causes your mind to clear.

Once we let go of attachment and find divinity within ourselves, then are we more apt to find love for others, no matter who they are.

In the Andean culture, they have a concept called ayllu, which is our group, or social bubble. In our modern world, the ayllu is huge, as it extends from our small physical communities into the cyber world, thus connecting us to almost everyone. When first meeting anyone in anyway, tinkuy happens, which is the initial energetic meeting. In person it might be a physical energy, online it is much less concrete, but nonetheless energy is exchanged. Following tinkuy, tupay occurs. Tupay is the initial judgement we have of another person based on this energy. It is the conscious or unconscious assessment, or “checking out” of another person we all do. Usually the energy exchange will stop here. Based on tupay, we decide if someone will be our friend or not, because of how we perceive their energy. Within the Andean tradition, however, it is asked that we reach taqe, which essentially means that we take the time to get to know another person regardless of our judgements and find common ground. Taqe means we learn from others and they learn from us. We respect one another and find that we are not so different after all. Once taqe is reached, then pukllay, or play, begins to happen. We begin to find camaraderie, we laugh and joke with one another. This then leads to ayni, or cooperation, love, and reciprocity. Then we have community.

We cannot achieve ayni if we are so attached to things that we cannot find love for another. But this is the point and is why the world is cruel and hard. This is why America is divided, why families are being detained at the border. This is why our homeless population is ever-growing and are healthcare system failing. This is why there are wars, violence, hatred. We have placed all other gods before peace, love, divine nature, and God, thus making us unable to achieve ayni, and this is why God commanded to have no other gods before him/her/it/they.

Today I came across an Instagram post by Chani Nicholas that sums all of this up perfectly: “Care is revolutionary. Love is disruptive. Connection corrodes injustice.” You want to change the world? Love yourself, love God (whatever that means for you), and love others. Love is a rebellious act. So be a rebel.