Though Yoga, Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism are increasingly permeating Western culture and thought, there are still strong elements of resistance, usually coming out of fundamentalist Christianity, which describe Eastern spirituality in negative ways. That's a holdover from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In her book, Singing Bowls: A Pratical Handbook of Instruction and Use, Eva Rudy Jansen explains:
"Before the beginning of this century, travel abroad was the privilege of merchants, soldiers, missionaries, anthropologists and the rich in search of adventure, in roughly that order they would return home with reports that were colored b their own view of ht world. Thus, for many years, people who lived in foreign lands were usually described as 'barbarians, savages, heathens,' and their views on life, their philosophies and religions were often labeled as 'superstitious', 'idolatrous' and sometimes even 'childish'. However, there were some travelers who learned to respect the beliefs of the cultures they visited. However, people like this were the exception rather than the rule."
With amazing speed, these false views of Eastern spiritual teachings are crumbling especially as world wide travel is so readily available along with access to information via the internet. It's no wonder that Yoga, meditation, Buddhism continue to expand, grow, flourish while the Western spiritual paradigms struggle to remain accepted.
"Before the beginning of this century, travel abroad was the privilege of merchants, soldiers, missionaries, anthropologists and the rich in search of adventure, in roughly that order they would return home with reports that were colored b their own view of ht world. Thus, for many years, people who lived in foreign lands were usually described as 'barbarians, savages, heathens,' and their views on life, their philosophies and religions were often labeled as 'superstitious', 'idolatrous' and sometimes even 'childish'. However, there were some travelers who learned to respect the beliefs of the cultures they visited. However, people like this were the exception rather than the rule."
With amazing speed, these false views of Eastern spiritual teachings are crumbling especially as world wide travel is so readily available along with access to information via the internet. It's no wonder that Yoga, meditation, Buddhism continue to expand, grow, flourish while the Western spiritual paradigms struggle to remain accepted.
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