Introduction to Eastern Spirituality for Christians and Its Benefits

Dear Christian friends,

From left to right: Krishna, Jesus, Buddha, Laozi

I have been interested in religion for some time now. I probably understand Christianity better than the others I have studied but most recently I have focused my studies on Buddhism, Taoism, and a sprinkling of Hinduism and Confucianism. First off, I think there is nothing in these other religions that has to conflict with your Christian faith (although they might at times depending on your interpretations). I think the spiritual benefits of meditation and studying these other philosophies can be quite enormous so to the best of my knowledge, I will attempt to lay out the connections between Christian theology and Eastern religious beliefs (mostly focused on Buddhism).

In Christianity, Jesus Christ is the son of the one and only God who created the universe. A Hindu could accept this belief fully. To the Hindu, Jesus was an avatar, a human incarnation of Brahman which can be described as the highest or ultimate universal reality. In this sense, a Christian could interpret the concept of Brahman as God. One could say they are the same thing depending on one's interpretation of God or Brahman.

However, a Hindu (or a Buddhist) could also say to you, "Of course, Jesus was God. He got it. He woke up. The truth is YOU are God as well. You just don't know it and don't believe that truth. You're asleep." That is when a Christian could be taken aback and even offended. However, let's analyze that to figure out exact what he might mean by that statement.

Who are you? You say you are a Christian and you believe in the resurrection of Christ and read the Bible and attend church and spread the Good News and pray and so on. But this notion of self that you have when you say, "I believe" or "I love", this "I", self, or ego, what is that?

Buddha just riding the wave

Well, aren't you a child of God, borne out of His Creation which encompasses His Being? His Spirit or essence moves through and with you and, in a fundamental sense, that is really what you are. If it helps, think of the waves moving in the ocean. What is a wave? A wave is a part of the ocean that peaks out with the crest on top and a peak underneath that you can surf on. That wave is you and the ocean and all the energy within it is Brahman or God. That is one interpretation and is one of the key concepts of Buddhism.


Let's shift gears slightly and discuss salvation, or more simply, finding peace and happiness. Jesus told his disciples to leave all worldly possessions behind to join him on their spiritual journey and said that it is harder for a man attached to his abundance of material goods to enter the Kingdom of God than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. This is actually the same teaching of Siddharta Guatama (the "Buddha") who lived between four hundred to six hundred years before Jesus' birth. Let's explore this crucial concept.

If you think about it, we are often very miserable and at unease because of our worldly desires (e.g. good food, cars, nice houses, attractive mates, the hottest new gadget). What can be harmful about this mindset of "not-enough" and "more consumption" is that the cure is not "more stuff". It is very much a mindset and although you may be satiated briefly, you will then want more and move on to the next thing you desire. In fact, the pursuit of more consumption is endless. It's an interesting peculiarity of human psychology.

What, then, is the key to happiness? The ultimate key to happiness is within YOU all along, not "out there somewhere" like we are often inclined to think. You get into Harvard and think that is where you will be happy or get into a romantic relationship with that person with whom you are infatuated and think life will be like in fairy tales. But the truth is that there are people who are rich, have beautiful families, own many fancy homes and vehicles, and are adored by millions around the world and are deeply unhappy.

Kurt Cobain in NYC, five months before his suicide at the age of 27

Personally, this shift in mentally has benefited me well. I have chronic lower back pain, below-average kinesthetic ability, tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt, a very tiny "bedroom" in Bushwick that cannot fit a proper bed, many of my closest college friends who were in my freshman class do not live in NYC, and a whole host of other "problems" I can mention. However, I am relatively healthy, do improv and sketch, have a great family, have ready access to food and water, can access vast amounts of information via the Internet, and live in a fantastic city in a wealthy, diverse country with enormous opportunities. When I think about the important things in life and what I already have, I am able think in perspective more clearly and really appreciate life. Perhaps being grateful precedes being happy and not the other way around.

There are other topics we can discuss like the nature of consciousness, morality, meditation, spiritual experiences, death, etc. but I wanted to highlight what I think are the core concepts in Eastern spiritual teachings as I currently understand them. I may write about other related topics later based on interest.

Sincerely,
Lester

What Makes a Good Improviser?

Del Close (cofounder of ImprovOlympic) was an
influential improv instructor who helped develop
what long-form improv is today.

I have been studying and performing
improv since August 2013. I have been fortunate enough to have had great teachers, coaches, classmates, and partners in New York City. Like many people, I started at The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), but I have also ventured out to The Annoyance, The Magnet, and The People's Improv Theater (PIT). I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey, although it has been a slow one. At least for me, my development as an improviser has been very gradual, but I am quite certain I enjoyed every moment of it. Improvising scenes rejuvenated my interest in performing and has even given me significant peace of mind with what happens onstage and in life.

I often contemplate on how to improve as an improviser. Here are some thoughts on my research into what makes someone a good improviser. I find that these are good to reflect upon when there are often different philosophies on what makes improvised scenes work.


WHEN YOU ARE IN A SCENE:

1. Listen. Listen to your scene partner. Listen to yourself. Listen. Listen. Listen. This is probably the best skill you'll develop as an improviser. Pay attention to the words, the inflections, facial expressions, posture, body language. Be aware of everything that's going on in your scene, including your own self. Eye contact is great for this.

2. Be present. That sounds like meditation instruction because improv is arguably a form of meditation. Don't think so much about what is going to happen two minutes from now and where you think the scene will go. That's when you can get too caught up in your own head and get weighed down with useless thoughts.

3. Be active. Show, don't tell. Do object work. Talking heads can be fun to watch but don't forget that you can be doing the activity instead of talking about it.

4. Commit hard. You are making up scenes so make what you do and say believable by committing hard to whatever you do. Good acting will often go a long way in improv.

5. Make strong choices. Strong emotional, character choices can help you a long way here. There is no "wrong" choice so don't be afraid to make one.

6. Give and receive gifts. Christina (Gausas) phrased this well when she told me that your gift is only a gift if your scene partner receives it. Too often, gifts are dropped by not listening or not accepting them.

7. Agree. No one likes it when a scene partner denies the reality you help to establish. Agreeing will help move your scenes along a lot more smoothly. Argument scenes between characters can work as long as the improvisers are in agreement about what is going on in the scene. That said, beginners should usually avoid argument scenes since they often still need to practice agreement.

8. Have fun. This may be the best advice. After all, why else would you be doing any of this?


MORE GENERALLY:

1. Find good teachers. A good teacher will inspire you and can lead you in a good path for you to develop. Reputation can help but you will ultimately have to find out for yourself which teachers' teachings resonate with you.

2. Be nice. It is somewhat of a small community and it is full of great, kind people. Let's keep the vibes positive. Improvising is so much more enjoyable when we all like each other's company.

3. Practice a lot. There's the 10,000-Hour Rule. You'll get there if you practice 20 hours a week every week of the year for ten years.

4. Learn as much as you can. Know how to just play yourself. Know how to play characters very different from yourself. Can you do a 30-minute scene in one location with only one scene partner? How about a one-hour form with group games, walk-ons, tag-outs, edits, split-scenes, call-backs, and time-dashes? Can you play organic? Premise-based? You can always have preferences and what works best for you, but I think having some range at least initially can help you. Also, the more you try, then the more you know what you do enjoy and don't.

5. Live life. We each have our own unique life experiences from which we can draw. The knowledge we acquire from them fuel our improvisations and help us find our own voices as artists.