Otherright
Otherright
How did your parents influence your world view, especially that of religion? It is common that we adopt our parents world views, but this is obviously not always the case. I ask because of a response I made in a thread, and it made me wonder how your parents influenced your world view and religious views. Why do you see the world as you do, and how did they influence it?
My Mothers Influence
As for me, my mother was Christian, but she was somewhat of a hippy. She was a language arts teacher, spoke fluent French, and was generally one of the wisest and most compassionate people I've ever met.
She taught us how to think, not what to think. In questioning God, she had her beliefs, but told us to explore possibilities. That is something you will have to decide for yourself, she would always tell us.
We would engage in long discussions on the nature of things, and she would introduce me to new ideas, and always quick with an adage. From her, I attribute my love of philosophy and theology, my ability to write and tell stories, and my obsession with linguistics. She cultivated my writing skill, well enough that I was first published at the age of twelve. I also attribute to her my Buddhist thought from the method of how she insisted on exploration to find ourselves.
Out of fear that I may become my father, my mother enrolled me in my first martial arts class. For years, I studied Tae Kwon Do, Tang Su Do, & Kung-fu. When I got to college, I boxed for two years. Ive gone on to study Jujitsu, Krav Maga, and Aikido. I teach at an MMA gym on the side. The discipline and focus I learned by her decision, has lasted me a lifetime.
My Fathers Influence
This was more of a learning what not to do experience for me. My father was a brilliant man, holding degrees in psychiatry, mathematics, and theology. He was also completely insane. Ive always likened him to Cyrus the Virus in Con Air.
I can remember walking into a blood-soaked bathroom at the age of five. I can remember delusional thought and dissociated talk. He beat someones skull in with a hammer and butchered a woman in front of her three children. He was schizophrenic and delusional and resides in a place for the criminally insane.
Id say from him, I get my love of math. From him, I learned a need to be grounded in the real world; a place where Gods and myths dont influence our thoughts to the point of delusion. From him, I attribute my Buddhist identity. Because of him, I am in the now. My focus is on what I can do to stop my suffering and the suffering of others. He, through his actions, heavily influenced my moral basis, at least in my mind.
The end result is a writer who loves science, math, theology, and language; a person who speaks German, Latin, Japanese and English (although only one well). A guy who is obsessed with the study of philosophy, neurology, and physics, views fighting as a sporting competition, and believes in reincarnation. Thats me in a nutshell generalized, of course.
My Mothers Influence
As for me, my mother was Christian, but she was somewhat of a hippy. She was a language arts teacher, spoke fluent French, and was generally one of the wisest and most compassionate people I've ever met.
She taught us how to think, not what to think. In questioning God, she had her beliefs, but told us to explore possibilities. That is something you will have to decide for yourself, she would always tell us.
We would engage in long discussions on the nature of things, and she would introduce me to new ideas, and always quick with an adage. From her, I attribute my love of philosophy and theology, my ability to write and tell stories, and my obsession with linguistics. She cultivated my writing skill, well enough that I was first published at the age of twelve. I also attribute to her my Buddhist thought from the method of how she insisted on exploration to find ourselves.
Out of fear that I may become my father, my mother enrolled me in my first martial arts class. For years, I studied Tae Kwon Do, Tang Su Do, & Kung-fu. When I got to college, I boxed for two years. Ive gone on to study Jujitsu, Krav Maga, and Aikido. I teach at an MMA gym on the side. The discipline and focus I learned by her decision, has lasted me a lifetime.
My Fathers Influence
This was more of a learning what not to do experience for me. My father was a brilliant man, holding degrees in psychiatry, mathematics, and theology. He was also completely insane. Ive always likened him to Cyrus the Virus in Con Air.
I can remember walking into a blood-soaked bathroom at the age of five. I can remember delusional thought and dissociated talk. He beat someones skull in with a hammer and butchered a woman in front of her three children. He was schizophrenic and delusional and resides in a place for the criminally insane.
Id say from him, I get my love of math. From him, I learned a need to be grounded in the real world; a place where Gods and myths dont influence our thoughts to the point of delusion. From him, I attribute my Buddhist identity. Because of him, I am in the now. My focus is on what I can do to stop my suffering and the suffering of others. He, through his actions, heavily influenced my moral basis, at least in my mind.
The end result is a writer who loves science, math, theology, and language; a person who speaks German, Latin, Japanese and English (although only one well). A guy who is obsessed with the study of philosophy, neurology, and physics, views fighting as a sporting competition, and believes in reincarnation. Thats me in a nutshell generalized, of course.
