This was the first time I took an online discourse with the ULC Seminary. I have been a practicing Witch/Pagan for the past 10 years and am at a place in my learning and working where I am ready to take my spiritual development to the next level. Since starting this discourse back in July 2007, I have received my Mastership in Usui Reiki, plus have taken a few spiritual development classes. In my own personal opinion, in order to know spirituality in its entirety, it is very important to have a broad view of spirituality and religion. In college, I had taken a Philosophy course in comparative religions and the philosophy of faith. When I saw the ULC Comparative Religion class, I was quick to sign up for the discourses based on my own views that knowing about many religions and faiths can broaden your own personal faith and spirituality.
I really enjoy that the discourses are very “do it yourself.” I could read at my own pace, supplement some of the suggested readings and other activities where I needed to, but I liked that I wasn’t required to do so, because I have already read a few of the suggested readings mentioned and have done similar activities that were described.
I really enjoyed that this class was more about the theory of faith and religion. It wasn’t so much – This is Hinduism. These are the tenants of the Hindu faith system. This is Buddhism. These are the tenants of the Buddhist faith. I liked that it was more generic – this is what defines a sacred or holy text and these are examples of such. These are some theories about death, dying and the afterlife. I enjoyed the broadness and generalities. After All, this is a comparative religion course, and many times faith is easier to compare from a general perspective, instead of putting each piece of the belief structure under a microscope.
Specifically, I think that the actual discourses I enjoyed the most were the Sacred Space and Architecture. I was happy that someone finally put it out there that sacred space is more than just a place where you light incense or a candle or pray. There are specifics that most sacred space is picked for – celestial alignment, feng shui principals, etc. I also enjoyed the discussion of the significance of certain parts of architecture such as spirals, pillars, etc. I also think that the discourse on religious titles was very informative and interesting. I also particularly liked the flow chart of the structure of the development of religions and faiths. This reminded me a lot of a previous model that I like to use of a tree – where the oldest religions are the first branches off of the trunk and also the thickest. All of the offshoots of the faiths are depicted as sticks and twigs. I liked seeing this pictured in a different way.
Because I took this class for spiritual enrichment, I don’t really have any negative comments. I took this class to gain further knowledge and clarification on a wider variety of faiths groups. I feel that I have done this, and also have gained new examples and explanations to use to help others understand the wide spectrum of religions in the world. I am the facility director for a New Age/Holistic store in Maryland and I feel that I have a better knowledge base to answer customer questions on a multitude of different topics. I have already signed up for another Masters discourse through ULC Seminary because I really enjoyed the format and structure of this one. I would be willing to take a class from Rev. Kythera again, depending on what the class was on.
Rev. Jacob Perdue
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