Dillan Lee

Mrs. Intawiwat
ENG 112
November 19, 2015

Self-exploration through religion.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines Self-exploration as the examination and

analysis of one's own unrealized spiritual or intellectual capacities. and also defines
Religion as an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a
god or a group of gods. I hope to accomplish my mission to discover the answers to
three questions. The first of them being Why do people feel the need to find
themselves in religion? the second, At what point in life do people turn to
religion? last but not least, what journeys do people take?
Many people seek fulfilment through work, education, marriage, religion and
even drugs. Religion is one of the most common paths people take when finding
themselves. Why do people feel the need to find themselves in religion? Chris
Vincent believes all people are or have religious beliefs. Based off his experience
with self-exploration he writes in his blog, as follows:
One way or the other, all of us are religious or have some sort of spiritual
belief. To me, being religious is about having a belief and also, not having a belief.
So if you believe there is God, you are somehow religious and if you do not believe
there is God, that is also a religious/spiritual statement. For you to come to the
latter conclusion, you must have considered the former. When it comes to self
discovery, experimenting with spirituality is the key. We are to a large extent shaped
by religion and we have accepted various religious answers as the ultimate. You can

only find yourself when you make a conscious decision about the things that define
you instead of having been indoctrinated into it. When it comes to self discovery,
those who are by default ahead of us all are those who have changed religionsthose who have experimented and have decided what they think is good for them. I
always ask, how do you know what is the best for you when all you know is just
one? You can start your journey to self discovery through spiritual enlightenment by
visiting a church, a mosque, synagogue, or another place of worship-to learn about
their side of things. Seek answers to spiritual questions. Do not accept answers
because the Bible or Quran says so. Remember, self discovery is about forming
your own opinions, living by your own terms and see things in your own eyes?
(Vincent)
In Charles Halliseys journal on Buddha, He writes about the Buddha in his
time and ours. He describes the events that prompted Gautama (Buddha) to leave
his life of luxury as a prince to find his purpose in the world.
Because of his father, Gautama had a protected youth, experiencing only
comfort and pleasure in the royal palaces. He married at age sixteen, and his wife,
Yasodhara, gave birth to a son when he was twenty-nine. It was at exactly the same
time, however, that Gautama decided to become an ascetic.
What prompted his decision was the fear of the inevitable that he experienced when
he realized that he, too, was subject to disease, old age, and death. This realization
occurred in stages, through four encounters that Gautama had while he was being
driven through his palace's pleasure parks. In the first encounter, he saw an old
man and asked his driver what this sight was. When he was told that it was merely
someone aged, Gautama asked the driver whether he, too, were subject to aging.

When told that he was, he became discouraged and returned to his palace. The
same thing happened when he encountered an ill man and a corpse. On a fourth
drive around his pleasure parks, Gautama saw an ascetic, and when told that this
was a person in search of "the Deathless," Gautama decided to imitate his example,
resolving to leave his palace rather than return to it. That night, he left home,
including his wife and newborn son, and after a period of trial and error under the
instruction of other teachers, he discovered a path of his own that resulted in his
awakening under the Bodhi "Awakening" tree in Bodh Gaya in what is now Bihar
state in northern India. He was thirty-five when he became the Buddha. (Hallisey)
At what point in life do people turn to religion? Many people turn to religion
after a tragic event that makes them question life. Some people experience
religious awakenings during middle age. People like Sara Wess who was raised
atheist and raised her children atheist turned to religion after her painful divorce
and loss of promised employment. She claimed she was so unhappy, miserable
and really broken from the divorce after attending a synagogue her friend attended
she said the Torah portions we read and the sermons the rabbi gave were just
fantastic, and thats what got me to thinking about affiliating with organized
religion (S. Vincent) Physcologist Richard Schaub who counsels clients searching
for spiritual answers believes that there are two main triggers for a spiritual search
later in life. They suffer from a loss that changes their world or shakes up their
perspective of how things were going to be. Some revisit their traditional religion ...
others begin a search to seek out a way of looking at things. It's basically a way to
balance the mind, to bring solace and balance to the mind to take in the reality of
loss. And really what's underneath that is they become aware of their own limited
time. The other reason is less defined, Schaub said. "Something creeps up on them

and they start to ask classic midlife questions: 'Is this all there is? Isn't there more
to life? Am I wasting my life the way I'm living my life now?' Basic questions about
values begin to crop up. What happens along with that, they begin to feel more
discontent, more listless. They go into a quiet crisis, and it can be quite extensive."
(S. Vincent)
What journeys do people take? There are many paths in which people take to
find themselves. Religiously speaking there are pilgrimages and coming of age
paths that are most common. In Islam, many Muslim followers of Muhamad
participate in the Hajj. Hajj is a pillar of Islam, a spiritual and physical journey. For a
Muslim, its a journey of a lifetime. It's a series of rites and rituals that follow in the
footsteps of Prophet Abraham and Prophet Muhammad. The pilgrimage is required,
once in a lifetime, of every Muslim who is physically, mentally and financially able.
The reward for a properly completed hajj is monumental: the wiping clean of your
slate of bad deeds accumulated over a lifetime. You emerge without sin, as on the
day you were born. (Yaqub) It is believe that Hajj is one of the largest annual
gatherings of people of earth. Attracting 2 million of the worlds 2 billion Muslims to
southwestern Saudi Arabia.
Christopher Mccandles choose isolation and exploring the world as a way of
finding himself. In the movie into the wild Chris grew increasingly disturbed by his
families past. He began to question himself and the life his family had been living.
Unable understand and accept his past, he left his hometown in Virginia to explore
the American great out west. While he was away he visited many places, Nevada,
Alaska, Arizona and even Mexico. It wasnt long after his adventure gone wrong in
Alaska that he soon discovered, love and family was all one needed in life.

Christopher Mccandles Diary from the time he spent in Alaska describes his
experiences vividly.
Day 2: Fall through the ice day. Day 4: Magic bus day. Day 9: Weakness. Day
10: Snowed in. Day 13: Porcupine day.... Day 14: Misery. Day 31: Move bus. Grey
bird. Ash bird. Squirrel. Gourmet duck! Day 43: MOOSE! Day 48: Maggots already.
Smoking appears ineffective. Don't know, looks like disaster. I now wish I had never
shot the moose. One of the greatest tragedies of my life. Day 68: Beaver Dam.
Disaster. Day 69: Rained in, river looks impossible. Lonely, Scared. Day 74: Terminal
man. Faster. Day 78: Missed wolf. Ate potato seeds and many berries coming. Day
94: Woodpecker. Fog. Extremely weak. Fault of potato seed. Much trouble just to
stand up. Starving. Great jeopardy. Day 100: Death looms as serious threat, too
weak to walk out, have literally become trapped in wildno game. Day 101-103:
[No written entries, just the days listed.] Day 104: Missed bear! Day 105: Five
squirrel. Caribou. Day 107: Beautiful berries. Day 108-113: [Days were marked only
with slashes.] (Mccandles)
There are many ways to find oneself within religion. Some seek help from
others while some travel alone. When choosing the right faith, one should do their
research. Visit churches, synagogues, mosque and temples. Ask yourself questions,
even ask your friends and family questions on why they believe in their religion. The
most important aspect to finding the right faith for you is self-acceptance. If you are
not at peace with yourself, you cannot be at peace with the greater world. In order
to grow and become the person you aspire to be, you must be aware of the person
you are today.

In conclusion, many people choose to find themselves within religion because

of a tragic loss or event that causes them to reevaluate their life. Everyone is
different and some people experience spiritual awakening at a younger and others
during their middle ages or even later. With every religion there are different,
pilgrimages, and comings of age journeys that followers take. Although exploration
is one of the most common way people choose to find themselves, others like
Christopher Mccandles who choose exploring the world. Always remember that
Happiness is only real when shared (Mccandles)