With Experience Comes Knowledge

Over the last few months while I have been at school, I was able to visit some of the different religious and spiritual groups on campus. Of course, I was only able to visit four of the groups, but each one gave me an interesting experience.

I visited the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, which is the UU meeting house just off-campus. Here, I learned about the merger of the two separate religions. Even though I am a Unitarian Universalist, I did not know about this until that day. Since then, I have joined MUUSE (Massachusetts Unitarian Universalists for Spiritual Evolution), the UU group on campus. Although I am sure any one of the members would have been willing to be interviewed for my blog, I wanted my posts to represent as many different groups as possible, as few of a number as that turned out to be. The UUSA meets every Sunday at 10am at the meeting house (121 N. Pleasant Street, Amherst, MA 01002). This semester, MUUSE meets every Wednesday at 8 in the Campus Center. However, next semester the group will meet at that time on Thursday.

I was able to observe the Muslim Student Association. Here, I was able to listen to the stories of prejudice and how the members planned to overcome it by educating the UMass community about Islam. I was able to talk to a lot of the members and hear the different backgrounds, including members that are here from Pakistan and Malaysia. It was interesting to hear about the religion from the inside, rather than just the biased stories heard from outside. The MSA meets Tuesdays at 8pm in teh Campus Center.

When I observed the Soka Buddhist Club, I was able to hear the different experiences that brought out the members' real beliefs of Buddhism and who they were. It was interesting to hear how each of the members got into Buddhism and how they practiced it in situations in their everyday life. The Soka Buddhist Club meets every Wednesday at 7pm in Herter 301.

Not only was I able to observe Spirals, but I was able to participate in the energy workshop. I know that many people do not believe that this could actually work. I used to be one of them. However, I do believe that energy can be controlled if you know what you are doing. I cannot really describe how it felt, but I was definitely able to fully participate. Although I am not shy when it comes to experiencing new ideas and beliefs, I never would have guessed that I would have come away from the meeting with the experience that I did. Spirals meets on Thursdays at 6:30 in the Campus Center.

Each meeting that I went to was unique. Each religion or spiritual gathering was different, but the one thing that could be said of all of the groups was that the members were passionate about their beliefs. Each group gave me something to think about, and each group intrigued me in different ways. The experiences that I have gained from visiting these groups will stay with me forever. Thank you to the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, MUUSE, Muslim Student Association, Soka Buddhist Club, and Student Pagans Integrating Religion and Life Spiritually for allowing me to take part in or observe the groups.

Unitarian Universalism

Last Sunday, October 3, 2010, Unitarian Universalists all over the nation celebrated 50 years of the merger between the Unitarians and the Universalists. I went to the service of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst, a UU Meeting House on North Pleasant Street in Amherst Center.

Picture of the UUSA courtesy of the UUSA website.

According to the Unitarian Universalist Association website, Unitarians and Universalists merged in 1960 when 70% of the nation's Unitarian Societies and Universalist Societies soundly approved the merger.

This is a picture of the stain glass window inside Unitarian Meeting House in Amherst, MA. Photo courtesy of Google Images.

50 years later, Unitarian Universalists still have many of the same ideas and values. Whenever I am asked what Unitarian Universalism is, I say that it is a religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, rather than worshipping Jesus Christ or some form of God.

Photo from the inside of the UU Meeting House in Amherst, MA. Photo courtesy of the UUSA's website.

The Rev. Alison Wohler, of the UU Society of Amherst, said "I often refer to Unitarian Universalism as 'the institutionalization of religious freedom.' It's a powerful idea that for so many centuries was impossible."

This is the major symbol of Unitarian Universalism, the flaming chalice. Courtesy of the UUSA's website.

"I particularly love the ability to doubt and question and explore ideas that Unitarian Universalism not only allows, but provides," said Reverend Wohler. "I also love the fact that UU provides the opportunity to be ''religious' in a different way- that we can have faith without specific beliefs. (Faith [as] in the sense of knowing we are held and known in the universe, not faith in a supernatural deity.)"

50 years ago, the Unitarians and the Universalists merged to make the religion known today as Unitarian Universalism. The religion is practiced all over the nation, and all over the world. For more information, visit the Unitarian Universalism Association's website (http://www.uua.org/).