Q; What gives life meaning?

By Erica Brown

Life is meaningful when transcendent moments are shared with others, when waking up each morning is an act of purpose and when we feel that the world is animated by forces that are greater than we are. Life is meaningful when we read, study and grow and realize that there is depth in all things when we give them time and attention. Life is meaningful when we give love and receive love and feel embraced by human relationships. Every once in a while, we each benefit from some small act of remarkable kindness. Suddenly we feel that an otherwise hostile world, often beset by random acts of destruction - how can we not think this when we look at pictures of Haiti right now? - becomes a place of meaning and solace.

--Dr. Erica Brown, Director for Adult Education at The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning..

Q: Is there such a thing as karma?

By Ramesh Rao

I remember, way back when I was still trying to figure out Americana, reading a bumper sticker with this message: "Sorry, my kar-ma ran over your dog-ma". I chuckled over the pun and the double entendre, but thought that somewhere between being clever and sounding philosophical the message had fallen through the cracks to become incomprehensible!

The concept of karma, unfortunately, has become or been made incomprehensible either through popular usage and misinterpretation, or deliberate mischief by those seeking to label Eastern religions, especially Hinduism, as fatalistic. Thus, Hindus are accused of believing in fate, not believing in free will, and of being therefore sluggish and lethargic in their response to life's exigencies. One cannot dismiss such an assessment or accusation of Hindus/Indians as pure balderdash and mischief, because indeed a misinterpretation of the concept of karma, and/or a simplistic notion of karma peddled by many ignorant people, as well as the very harsh 1,000 years of foreign occupation of India, has led sometimes to sluggish if not catatonic responses to some of the societal evils plaguing Indian society, or of individuals copping out of facing a problem fair and square, and energetically.

If that is so, what is or are the right meaning/s of karma, and should we believe in karma?

Q: Is there such a thing as karma?

By Wendy Cadge

Karma is the idea that our actions have consequences. The idea comes from classic Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh teachings that say we are part of an endless cycle of birth, death and reincarnation or rebirth. It is our karma - the sum of all our actions in this life - that influences how we will be reborn in our next life. People whose actions are good and right will be reborn in a better life. People whose actions are bad will be reborn in a worse life. Action includes both physical and mental acts. While many religious traditions teach that actions have consequences, eastern religious traditions are unique in the idea that those consequences carry across lifetimes.

The idea of karma was first popularized in the United States in late 19th century and has become better known since the late 1960s - especially in songs by John Lennon and David Bowie. People today often use the word karma, like fate, to explain why things happen or to describe the essence of things - usually focused more on this lifetime than a previous or next life. About a quarter of Americans believe in reincarnation according to a recent survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

--Wendy Cadge is a sociologist at Brandeis University who writes about religion and medicine in the contemporary United States.

Q: How does one "talk" to God?

By Anne C. Brower

There are many people who talk to God. For example: "I'm having a bad day--could You let up a little?" or "I need a parking place close to the grocery store because I can't walk very far--could You find one for me?" Actually, "talking" to God is a form of prayer.

There are basically four forms of prayer: 1) ritual prayer, which many denominations engage in every Sunday; 2) conversational prayer, when we talk to God; 3) petitionary prayer, which is specific and goal oriented; and 4) meditative prayer, when we listen to or feel the presence of God.

How do we pray? We probably talk more about how to pray than we actually pray. There is no right or wrong way to pray as long as we pray with love and intention.

Everyone has a story of how prayer saved someone's life--equally everyone has a story about how prayer did not work. Though prayer is our relationship with God, one must understand that prayer does not change God, but prayer does change us. Thus, we grow in our relationship with God.

--The Rev. Dr. Anne C. Brower, senior chaplain and director of the Healing Ministry at the Washington National Cathedral.

Q: I've recently come to realize that I no longer believe in God. Does this make me a bad person?

By Albert Scariato

I suppose a helpful way to respond to this question is to ask, "If I believe in God does that make me a good Person?" As someone who is around many people who claim to believe in God, the answer is, "No, belief in God--by itself--does not make someone a good person." That statement is a truism that transcends religious traditions and denominations.

Just think of what people who believe in God do: clerics abusing children, mismanaging congregational funds (heard about the priest who spent $80,000) on plastic surgery and a glamorous lifestyle?), ethnic cleansing, suicide bombers, vandalism (just this week a Russian Orthodox priest in Moldova destroyed aHanukkah menorah five-feet tall), and snide jokes about people of other faiths and people with no faith. Just consider what goes on in the life of most religious congregations: pride, arrogance, chronic complaints (mostly about other people of faith), lack of generous financial support to the needy and to their own house of worship, envy, strife, self-importance, and then, of course, there is always gossip--identified by my fist Bishop as "the greatest sin of the church."

Q: I've recently come to realize that I no longer believe in God. Does this make me a bad person?

By Ramesh Rao

God, the Divine, Brahman, Allah, Paramatman, Yahweh, Lord, Shiva, Ishwara, Vishnu, Bhagavan - which of these terms have I used to label the Supreme, and which of them don't I believe in now? And if I reject all of these terms for the "Supreme" or "Divine," am I rejecting the concept of the Divine or the Supreme? How have I or how do I define or conceive Brahman or God? Is my definition of God the same as the definition of Brahman? Do I describe Allah in the same manner I describe Ishwara? Is God the Omniscient, Omnipotent other from whom/which I am separate, and therefore I either fear Him/Her or love Him/Her but because I now no longer believe in God, I neither fear nor love, anyone or anything? And if God is all loving, does it even matter whether I believe or not? And if God is a fearsome schoolmaster who wields the stick if I dare ever stray, what horrors are in store for me, and will belief in such a God make me a good person?

In the first verse of the Purusha Sukta in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest extant texts, the Supreme Being, Purusha, is described as having a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet and enveloping everything and extending by ten inches. Humans tend to imagine the Divine given our human capacities and limitations. Thus the Rig Veda is also a text of skepticism, acknowledging human limitations.

Q: Do you see any difference in the health of people who belong to organized religions/churches compared to those who say they are spiritual but don't belong to a particular church? Let me know what you think.

By Connie Domino

Several research studies have discovered that people who belong to religious organizations or spiritual communities report better health and more happiness. I believe this doesn't mean that this religion or that religion or some other spiritual belief system is better compared with others. I believe it means that this person is gaining health benefits by being a member of a "community of caring and support."

I encourage everyone to become a member of group of people who love and support you. Some people even refer to this group of caring individuals as "family." My mother calls the people she attends church with her "church family." This means there is a group of people who care about you, when you are sick, when you experience trials and tribulations, when you get married, when you die, and when someone you love is sick or dying. They cry when you cry, and laugh with you when you laugh. They may visit you in the hospital and attend your baby and bridal showers. Some of these people may be your closest friends.

Belonging to some type of community of caring is so important to most people, they would form such attachments even if there was no such thing as religion. However, for many people belonging to an organized group with similar religious or spiritual beliefs provides them with a feeling of safety and security and gives their life meaning and purpose. For others, it connects them to a sense of history and tradition they can pass from one generation to the next. The one constant is feeling loved, and supported can lead to increased happiness and better health.

Connie Domino, MPH, RN, teaches public health nursing at the University of North Carolina.

Q: Why do I always get depressed around the holidays?

By Erica Brown

The holidays can be a very lonely time for people precisely because we freight them with so much expectation: family dinners where we don't gain any weight, rosy cheeked, well-behaved children who show deep appreciation for all their presents, living rooms filled with tinsel and good friends enjoying each other's company. Our consumer society has created visual and mental images of what the holiday season looks like with a Norman Rockwell-like gusto. Very few real people ever experience the holiday season this way. The holidays often spark huge financial anxieties, fear of being alone and the glut of gift-giving which can lead to greed, resentment, entitlement and jealousy. We've created a holiday season bereft of meaning and purpose and wonder why we feel empty.

Perhaps the best remedy for seasonal sadness is to start volunteering in a shelter or a soup kitchen, to reach out to a few good friends and to cut back on the materialism. The cold weather and early darkness of the season can also exacerbate moodiness. Staying in small, warm and well-lit rooms can also be a balm. A hot-chocolate with whipped-cream works wonders for instant cheer. But if the sweep of the season passes by without any significant improvement in well-being, it may be time to seek professional help. Depression is a serious illness, and if it's more than situational, it should be treated properly.

--Dr. Erica Brown, Director for Adult Education at The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning..

Q: Studies have shown that prayer does help heal people, but not all the time. Why?

By Anne C. Brower

The real question is not the one above, but why does prayer not always lead to a cure. Prayer for healing will always be granted. So the difference between the two terms --"cure" and "healing"-- must be understood.

"Cure" is returning your body to the same state it was in before it was attacked by a disease. You, as a patient, desire to be cured. I, as a doctor, wish to cure you. But essentially, there is no cure. Pneumonia leaves a scar on your lung. A broken bone, knitted together, is never the same bone as before you broke it. We, as physicians give you medication or perform surgery to help you function more fully with your disease. You will always have your diabetes, your arthritis, your heart disease, your cancer. The real question is can you live with your disease, through it and beyond it to a higher health and fuller life. Doing this is actually called "healing."

Healing is calling on that God within you to help you to live with your disease, through it and beyond it. By doing this you are in communion with God and have a desire to be closer to God. God desires your desire for at-one-ness. So when you pray for healing you are asking God for exactly what God wants. God will always grant you healing, even when there is no cure.

The Rev. Dr. Anne C. Brower, senior chaplain and director of the Healing Ministry at the Washington National Cathedral.

Q: What do you do when you're depressed and your prayers don't seem to be answered?

By Ramesh Rao

When we are well, and happy, the sun seems to shine even when it is cloudy outside. But when the world troubles us, when our head and heart hurt, and when our prayers seem to fall on deaf ears what can we do? What should we do? The first and most important act would be to consult a good doctor, for modern therapy and modern medicines do provide the necessary correctives to the physical, mental, and emotional imbalances in us.

However, we cannot reduce human beings to their chemical and physical components in search of cures and palliatives for all of our troubles and aches. There is indeed a difference, as Devdutt Pattanaik says, between "the world" - the rational, logical, physical, linear world that we can measure, take some control of, and manipulate - and "our world" - the spiritual, emotional, psychological, cultural, interpersonal, and circular world that edifies and energizes us but which can also enervate us and, if we are not attentive, defeat us. The balms therefore cannot always be chemical-based. We then seek recourse in our gods and deities, beseeching their grace, and seeking solace. But what if the gods ignore us?

Q: I have heard some people say that they loathe the statement that "God only gives you what you can handle." I have to say that I am not fond of this statement myself as there are people who feel that they may not be able to "handle" what is currently going on in their life. And then they feel unworthy of God. But for others this statement brings comfort. Can you tell us from your perspective, is such a statement a part of faith?

By Albert Scariato

That statement is derived from 1 Cor: 10:13, where the reader is reminded that God does not tempt us beyond what we can avoid. In any event, its is related to the authority of scripture. There are many verses in scripture that we rightly find anachronistic or even abhorrent: slavery, silence of women, massacre of entire cities including children, and many others. If a Christian were truly a literalist, s/he would never consume meats that were rare (or even medium) in order to observe the ordinances in Acts 15: 29. Anglicanism in its early days declared, "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary for salvation." This is a far cry from the fundamentalist belief that could be summed up as, "All of Holy Scripture is necessary for salvation." The nuanced Anglican approach to biblical authority allows for interpretation in light of reason.