I started my ‘gleaning insights from holy books’ challenge last September, but got derailed and ended up finishing it up in 2024. The next few posts will be excerpts I found interesting or informative from these ancient works.

I used Kindle Unlimited for the challenge, which I highly recommend for anyone wishing to extract notable quotes or stories from a book. There is a handy highlighter tool which allows you to quickly mark the parts you find interesting. These notes and highlights stay available even if you later cancel your subscription.

Let me start with the first text I read: The Quran. I am not going to give the specific location of these passages, because honestly I do not care. If you really want the exact reference, feel free to copy and paste the quote into google and you can probably locate it fairly easily.

Observe the ˹five obligatory˺ prayers—especially the middle prayer—and stand in true devotion to Allah.

I don’t believe the words ‘five obligatory’ are in the original Quran, but this is the principal passage from which the second pillar of Islam, Salat, is derived. I completed a challenge based on this practice. I found it to be a very grounding ritual and would like to install a modified version into my life going forward at some point.

Let there be no compulsion in religion, for the truth stands out clearly from falsehood.
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They wish you would disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so you may all be alike. So do not take them as allies unless they emigrate in the cause of Allah. But if they turn away, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them.

I found quite a lot of this in the Quran:  two injunctions that seem to be diametrically opposed to each other. It is similar to the Bible in this respect. Maybe texts this large that are compilations of smaller segments are bound to clash in this respect – I don’t know. I guess this is why depending on which passage you quote, you can say that Islam is a religion of peace, or a religion of piece – as in ‘there’s a piece of you here, a piece of you over there’ (pun borrowed from Bill Maher).

And whoever rejects the faith, all their good deeds will be void ˹in this life˺ and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers.

This word ‘loser’ was used quite a lot for a holy book. Maybe it was the nature of the translation. There seemed to be quite an attachment to being ‘the winners’ and ‘vindicated’ throughout the book. I find the attachment to ‘winning’ to be a major factor in causing suffering, so I avoid framing life in this context whenever I can.

As for male and female thieves, cut off their hands for what they have done—a deterrent from Allah.

There can definitely be progressive Muslims. In fact, Muslims in America are one of the religious groups most likely to be tolerant and accepting of the beliefs and practices of others. However, passages like this do their cause no favors!

Indeed, the worst of all beings in the sight of Allah are those who persist in disbelief, never to have faith.

Really? The worst of all beings are not the Hitlers and Pol Pots of the world. No, it is those that don’t believe in a deity? Give me a break (and this is from someone who DOES believe in transcendence)! The Quran and other holy texts like it can yell at its readers all it wants to, but that doesn’t make what it says true. You’d need actual evidence for that.

Inform My servants ˹O Prophet˺ that I am truly the All-Forgiving, Most Merciful, and that My torment is indeed the most painful.

The phrase All-Forgiving, Most Merciful or something similar was used in almost every chapter of the entire book. But what followed in the passage would often directly undermine this in its content. It was almost as if they had to keep saying this over and over again, because it is the only possible way you could believe it.

So whoever believes in Allah and does good, He will absolve them of their sins and admit them into Gardens under which rivers flow, to stay there for ever and ever. That is the ultimate triumph. As for those who disbelieve and reject Our revelations, they will be the residents of the Fire, staying there forever.

I find the Muslim concept of Heaven and Hell to be slightly superior to the Christian one since it isn’t entirely about belief, but also requires “doing good.” However, this dichotomous afterlife framework in general is deeply disempowering and frankly (to me at least) the most unlikely of all possible scenarios.

CONCLUSION: So, all in all, the Quran was a very uninspiring and heavy-handed tome, but sprinkled with the rare progressive idea or enlightening thought.

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For the second text I want to review today, we will switch gears and look at Shinto. I read an introduction and not the actual Kojiki, so this will be much briefer.

However, the reality is that Kami is an omnipresent existence in Shinto. Kami is present inside the water and the air. It blends in with Nature. It is an existence which does not need to be emphasized nor highlighted.

Shinto embraces a version of pantheism or animism. Though I don’t subscribe to either of these philosophies, my perspective is closely related to them, so I feel a kinship with a lot of Eastern religions that seem to adopt this concept in some fashion. I believe the most empowering belief in transcendence is much more of a visceral sensation or feeling than a spoken belief or argued thought.

One senses the existence of Kami and receives intuition through gratitude.
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One should check that the intuition is not expressed in a strong imperative tone, and that it is not detrimental nor threatening to others.

I powerfully resonate with this! Not suprising I suppose considering my New Years intention is choosing gratitude. I think I used to view gratitude as a response to intuition, but I think the reverse is the more proper relationship. However, these intuitive insights are not infallible and should be calibrated with humility and empathy.

It starts with the repetition of the words “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you”, said with a compassionate intention to the inner child as if to comfort a baby. This leads to the dissolution of core memories that are at the origin of issues, and enables to create a perfectly balanced state. This method’s advantage is that one is able to work directly on the core reasons of issues without wasting time.

This is an excerpt dealing with a process in Shinto of “cleaning” the mind.” Consciousness is divided into 3 phases: regular (surface) consciousness, sub-consciousness (deep), and super-consciousness (divine). By utilizing the 4 phrases above, one can bypass the subconscious and directly tap into Divine inspiration and healing. I am definitely interested in trying this out!

CONCLUSION: Shinto seems like a lovely, if somewhat quaint religious tradition. I’m fairly certain I would hit it off well with its followers and would love to meet some. Maybe I already have and just didn’t know it.

More reflections to come soon.

Namaste.