Last night, WUSF/PBS (Tampa, FL), premiered The Asian and Abrahamic Religions: A Divine Encounter in America, a documentary about the commonality among six of the world's religions.   Typically, we think of the world's five major religions as Hindu, Judaism,  Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam.  This film adds Sikhism to the list to round out what one contributor refers to as "the two daughters of two of the oldest known religions: Hindu and Judaism.

Tracing the origins of Sikhism and Buddhism to Hinduism and Islam and Christianity to Judaism, this two-hour epic exploration opens by answering many questions about Asian and Abrahamic religious traditions such as:

• Why ritual is so important to religious worship;
• Why Sikhism is a religion of song; and,
• Why American non-violence is based on Hinduism

It lays out the age-old debate about the contradiction between worshipping many gods and the divinity of Oneness among  Hindu-based religions by highlighting how equally idolatrous the wailing wall, temples and the Christ crucifix is within Abrahamic traditions.  All done with great ease and poise throughout, contributors conclude part one by discussing the emphasis upon the inner path in Asian religions, and the importance of the outer demonstration of one's faith in Abrahamic religions as basically two sides of the same coin.

Mystic traditions

Sufism, Kabballah, Hindu sacred dance and even the Transcendalist Movement in America ushered in by Henry David Thoreau and Walden, his protégé, are given due credit for their role as bridge builders between religious ideologies.   However, like New Thought, they are categorically categorized as 'Non-Traditional' because 'traditional' religions have these three pillars:

• A Law - be it the Jewish Path of the Law; Buddhism's 8-fold path, or Islam's Sharia
• Karma or Judgement
• and, Grace through meditation and/or contemplation

New Thought teaches that we are perfect as we are, born into grace and mercy; and our journey to realizing it must include wisdom from many paths to teach us valuable lessons about ourselves and the world we live in; but, the ultimate life lesson is to know ourselves as the Christ, the Buddha and the Sacred Song.

Part-Two:

Part-two offers insight from followers of each path in America with emphasis on how citizens of Asian origin practice their faith in everyday life.  It is noted that Buddhism and Hinduism promote the unity of mankind in religious practice, and Americans could learn a lot more from these traditions about how to achieve our aspirations for a more just society.

In short, The Asian and Abrahamic Religions: A Divine Encounter in America does a good job of retooling the Golden Rule to include all people in "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

Air dates: Today, April 11 - Friday, April 15, 2011 on Channel: WUSF TV*
Monday - 1:00pm; Tuesday - 8pm, 11pm; Wednesday - 2am; Thursday - 2am; Friday - 3pm
 

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*(Don't live in Tampa?  Get involved in the Take Action I 170 Million Americans for Public Broadcasting to learn more about  your PBS station and how to keep it strong!)