Religion Vs Spirituality

Annyeonghaseyo!

 Today is my religious/spiritual focus day. I haven't decided what i plan on studying yet even though i've been reading a really great book called "The Complete Buddhism for Mothers" by Sarah Napthali.   I am learning a lot about buddhism in it but i hardly ever make time to read it so I hope to get a few pages read today.

 Something has been bothering me about what a person once told me i was. She said I was spiritual not religious. At the time i shrugged it off not thinking much of it, but i heard something like that recently elsewhere and i realized how insulting that is. It may not be an insult to some but let me share some of the differences in the two i've heard said. These are not my personal beliefs, just descriptions of how i've heard religion and spirituality described.

 Religion - Fake spirituality due to following the herd. Doesn't have actual faith. Ritualistic and structured. Belief in a deity. Belief in a specific system. Traditions created by others. Mindfulness to follow path. No free thinking. Superstitious.

Spirituality - Personal thoughts. Faith in a holy entity. No belief system.

     I'm sure i've heard others and read others too but my point is that these little definitions can never be fully 100% accurate. I am a very spiritual person but i am religious. I just believe in having faith, for what ever holy entity there may be is too omni-everything for us to comprehend. If we can't comphrehend it but have a loving and hateful being (as one) then it may wish to be in our lives. In different cultures we do not even equate colors the same way so how could one being help us grow all the same. We are individuals after all. Modern day it is seriously what if god was one of us? So yes if you didn't figure it out, I believe all gods - good or evil - are one in the same.

    For me to believe that means I truely do accept all beliefs, even when man has twisted them for his own desires. My specific way though of showing my faith is more the way of wicca minus several things. I'm not wiccan though I am religious. I pray. I celebrate the changing of the seasons, I am even ritualistic with how i do it.

   I saw on yahoo answers a man say that you were not religious if you were a buddhist monk. I think that is a terrible shame for that man. Those monks are more religious than most can ever even try to be. I also saw a woman say that religion has no rituals and she would leave any church that had them, i pity her. A ritual is not specifically lighting candles and making a circle. In fact marriage ceremonies are rituals, as well as baptisms and regular services. More so depending on the specific belief system like catholicism and hinduism.

I will always try and be more accepting of other faiths that i do not understand. I wish others could see it that way too. I also sometimes wish i were simply a christian so that i could have that powerful network of support.


Gamsahabnida!
A Non Asian Omma

The Abraxas Dragon

Annyeonghaseyo!

 Today is my specified Craft/Paint day. On certain days while my son is napping i like to have things to do, otherwise i will simply sit at the computer and play video games like the nerd i am. =)
  I have so very many craft projects lined up that this will never end i'm sure. My current project is for my son's birthday in June. For his first birthday we wanted to celebrate it in a korean style but that has been thrown aside as we are trying to save money for moving in August. So I decided we would do just pictures and a dolgabi plus some korean clothes. Not the whole traditional dol-bok but parts of it. One piece i can't wait to come in is his belt that was $63. Crazy right?! Well I'll explain and post pictures of his stuff from South Korea when it comes it. I love it though!!!

So my project that i'm working on is a background drop for some of the pictures. I could be super simple and just buy props (which i will still do) but i also wanted to make something to keep.

 This is a baby water dragon in honor of him being born as such to the chinese zodiac.

It'll be on an off white mulsin fabric with my son's name above it. Abraxas is my son's name. I guess i should go into that one now lol. Well Abraxas is an old Greek/Gnostic word of a God. To be more specific "Abraxas a God higher than the Christian God and Devil, that combines all opposites into one Being". Since i haven't talked about my beliefs i should explain even more.

 Some name their children after people in the bible, it was the way things were for many years around the white race of the United States. I named my son after a being above good and evil. My son is also a gemini, while i'm not very big into astrology, eastern or western, i believe in energy strengths in combinations. By naming him Abraxas I've given him a strong energy that is reinforced when the name is recognized as well. I maybe one of the only people to recognize it like that, some may actually know is as a demon's name or a precusor to Abra Ca Da Bra. I give him strength to be balanced and be blessed with an honorable and hallowed name.

Had enough of that? Lol. There's always more to something where you look or not. That is just one reason for his name. Like i said i believe in the strength of energy when used in combinations. It's not spell work or anything it's merely using the energy that is natural and endless in correlations.

Well i have a lot of work to do on this cute little dragon before my little dragon wakes up, better get running!

Gamsahabnida!
A Non Asian Omma

Starting this madness

     I'm not sure why i feel the need to blog but here i am. Wanting to chronicle my family's adventures, challenges and just our life in general. I am a pagan mother with a half korean/half white son who is nearly 1. I figured out awhile back that the blogs that related to our parenting and lifestyle choices were majorly christian and those that weren't had no religion in them noticeable.

   My husband, the korean Appa, and I knew before having children that we wanted to put all the extra effort into their schooling we could and for me that includes my beliefs.  For now we are trying to do a variety of things to encourage his growth that are Montessori, Waldorf, Doman, and trying to communicate in different languages. I only fluently speak English but I'm currently learning Korean and Sign Language. I also practice some Spanish with him but that is the least important to me til he is 4 or 5 then we'll focus on Spanish more. When he gets older(10+) I'd like for him to study another possibly or if we aren't using ASL to relearn that. I had also wanted to do the Suzuki ECE classes I've read about online but they aren't available in our area so we've allowed him to play with a floor drum and Appa(my husband)'s electric bass lays on the floor. It gets plugged in to the amp daily. We haven't agreed on his first instrument to learn to play yet though to start at 4 or 5. Appa wants him to play drums and start on a recorder. I'm more wanting the piano, guitar, or electric bass.

   How do I help him be the best he can be but not be the tiger mother I know i am? Well for one thing we aren't planning on sending him to public or private schools, homeschooling is what we are considering the best option unless we can find a charter school that will accept him and even then we very strongly feel that the education must continue in home just on a different priority of subjects. I don't know or believe i can make my child a very intelligent person but i can help them love learning and make it fun so that he'll be able to grow as much as possible. My problem other than everyone's normal concern about homeschool (socialization) is sports. I dearly want my kid to enjoy sports all through their education years and i know nothing about finding programs in the future years.

My primary challenge is staying on budget, keep social, lose weight, make my paintings and craft projects, keep the house clean, make my husband and son feel loved and well fed.

Gamsahabnida!
A Non Asian Omma