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AM I A WAYIST?
This introduction to Wayism will help you decide if you are truly of Wayist conviction. As with any way of life and practical philosophy that is more than two millennia old, it is not possible to tell it all in a few pages. This introduction therefore focus on that which we think makes Wayism different from other worldviews and religions.
We include a section or two that contrasts and compares Wayism to other religious philosophies, not as a criticism of those systems of thought, but as a tool to facilitate comparison.
Wayism gets its -ism from The Way, the oldest extant (in existence) religious movement known to humankind. Wayism served as a foundation for religious revivals and new religions over the ages. Many reformers of religions come from Wayist ranks. History attests the champions of Wayism over the years and mentions persons connected to it, working within its Tradition, from diverse cultures. To mention just a few: Melchizedek, the Prince of Salem, was a minister and a spiritual father to Abraham [1700 BCE ]; Mithra, who worked among the Persians and was a spiritual father to Zoroaster [1400 to 600 BCE ]; Arjuna, who ministered to King David and convinced him to build the temple of Jerusalem [1000 BCE ]; King Solomon was connected to The Way and was trained in Kashmir [900 BCE ]; Lao Tzu, who worked among the Chinese and wrote the Tao Teh Ching (The Way and its Virtue)[550 BCE ]; Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha, who worked among the North Indians [500 BCE ]; Cyrus the Great of Persia, who saved Judaism from extinction and reformed Zoroastrianism [400 BCE ]; Our Lord and Saviour Yesu who was expected by Wayist seers to come and rekindle the religions of the world (most of them were nurtured by Wayism for ages) and worked among the Romans, the Persians, Parthians, Indians, and Chinese –to mention some. What do the names we mentioned have in common? History attest to them working within the Tradition of The Way.
Wayism is one of the few core religions active in the world. Let's explain this. Lord Yesu (Jesus in Latin, Iesous in Greek) and the twelve apostles worked in the Wayist Tradition – the movement was called The Way (see Acts of the Apostles 9, 19, 22). Initially Paul (Saul of Tarsus) persecuted members of The Way but fourteen years later he joined them at the behest of Barnabas. Paul then worked in The Way for some years and later on made a request to the Jerusalem Council to start a popular cult he would called Christianity. Siddhartha Buddha gains enlightenment and aligns his teaching with The Way. Initially the Buddhist movement operated in Wayist Tradition but soon broke with it and started popular versions by different names – Therevada being the most successful. When the Lord reformed Buddhism in the 1 st century, the reform movement was called The Great Way, or The Encompassing Way, because its grace encompassed women and children and even slaves – who were left out in the old religion. We cannot use this space to tell the other stories or go into more detail here-this is supposed to be a brief overview of Wayism and not a book on history.
There are more than a few so-called Wayist creeds they do not succinctly ‘explain' Wayism as the Nicene Creed explains Christianity. Wayism never faced the same crisis of identification that Christianity had during the 3 rd and 4 th centuries and therefore never needed to define itself as narrowly as the Christian creeds do. The lack of a primary definitive creed is something we share with the majority of people on earth – the Hindu, Taoist, Shinto and Buddhist religions. However, below is a Wayist creed from the 3 rd century. It has been in use all this time and can be seen on stone inscriptions from the 4 th century in China . Our Tradition prefers to remember it as originally written by St. Siphor.
To penetrate the mysteries, to bless with a good conscience, to be great and yet empty, to return to stillness and be forgiving, to be compassionate and to deliver all people, to do good deeds and help people reach the other shore these are the great benefits of our path of cultivation. To calm people in stormy times, to help them understand the nature of things, to maintain purity, to nourish all things, to respect all life, and to answer the needs of those whose beliefs come from the heart these are the services Wayism can offer. |
Our Five Principles of Faith however goes a long way to defining Wayism but it is not exhaustive since there are many culturally sensitive expressions of our Way. You will find that every expression of Wayism incorporates at least 99% of the Five Principles of Faith.
Five Principles of Wayism
1. We believe in One Power, One Source, One Ultimate, One God.
2. We believe in the Potential Divinity of Humankind.
3. We believe in finding the knowledge of Good and Evil.
4. We believe in the Laws of Nature.
5. We believe in Love. |
Our leadership structure is not hierarchical in that we have a pyramid of levels, it has only one Council that guards theology and licenses ministers, called Senior Council. At least five representatives serve Senior Council, at least one from each world district, or each area that is culturally so distinct from the other that it requires its own representative. The task of Senior Council is to oversee training of ministers and to licence them to teach Wayism. One famous example of Senior Council at work in history (and there are many examples) was when Senior Council, at that time meeting every three years in Kashmir, had to find the child Yesu and guard His life and fund and organise his education – they were the so-called Magi, or Wise Men, mentioned in the New Testament and other sources. Devotional communities organise themselves, own their property in their own name, and hardly contribute financially to Senior Council. The only task that Senior Council has is to ensure the purity of the doctrine taught to ministers. Senior Council cannot vouch that a minister or group actually follows the pure teaching, it can only vouch that the minister(s) received the pure teaching.
Wayism accepts the Eastern Bible as primary Scripture. A number of secondary Scriptures exist but their teaching is always tested against the authority of the primary Scripture.
Following are some tests of authenticity. The proof of the pudding lies in the tasting – even theologically ‘pure' movements do not always practise what they preach, or manifest in their lives what the doctrine aims to do for them. The problem with humanity is that it consists of humans who are all too human. Humans are prone to mistakes of excess, slant, or slight – and that is exactly the reason we need Wayism, to overcome our human nature and learn how to channel its immense powers of creation to beautiful, positive contributions to all things.
Following are some elements you will ALWAYS find in ANY Wayist organization:
The most common types of organizations are:
Christians are so called because they adhere to a certain set of teaching regarding the person of Christ, and they hold the Western Bible as primary Scripture. Christians confess the Lord to be:
• The Son of God
• God incarnate
• One of the three male persons in the Trinity, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
There are numerous doctrines of Christianity that Wayists cannot agree with because it is contrary to what we believe. Three examples are:
Most Buddhists hold to a worldview that comprise a magnificent number of heavens, hells, deities, and thousands of rites and rituals that have to be performed in the process of being a Buddhist. The Pali canon, the bulk of Buddhist holy Scripture, numbers several hundred books, most of which have not been translated into a living language.
One example of ethical differences between Wayism and some forms of Christianity, Buddhism and Islam lies in the sacredness of the senses. We believe in Sacred Sensuality while the other three generally regard sensuality as sinful (with a special sinful place for sex) and something to withdraw from. We believe that God makes us perfectly the way we should be (with six and more senses) in order to sense creation and sense the divine in all things, and thereby develop into full authentic beings absolutely aware of the presence of God within, without and throughout all. We do not believe that we can ever ‘hide' from God. God is Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient – therefore all that we are, all that we do, think, feel, experience, dream about, fantasize about – is in God and is potentially a Sacrament. We do not feel shame associated with the way God made us, rather, we embrace it and joyously seek its Sacrament (sacrament = meeting the presence of God in the moment).
Because we believe God to be the One Almighty, we believe God is our Father and Mother, not a gender specific being but the One Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient force that underlies all that is and is not in all the universes. There is obviously then, no place for another force, another power, in this scheme of things because all powers and presence is taken up by the One. There is therefore no place for a Devil or Satan deity, or any ‘opposing' force which operates without God's power, Knowledge and outside of God's presence.
Here are some links to a web site of a Wayist organisation, to learn more about Wayism.
Primer on the Yoga of Jesus: http://churchoftheeast.ca/yoga_of_jesus_(1).htm
Liturgy: http://churchoftheeast.ca/liturgy.htm
Basis of Meditation: http://churchoftheeast.ca/essentials%20of%20meditation1.htm
Purpose of Life: http://www.churchoftheeast.ca/catechism1/purpose_of_life.htm
Culture: http://www.churchoftheeast.ca/catechism1/culture.htm
Acts of Thomas and Sensuality: http://churchoftheeast.ca/archive/reading_acts_of_thomas%202.htm
Chances are that you are a Wayist at heart. Many people are. Wayism is a core religion, the golden thread that runs through all religions. However, if you would like to be a practising Wayist, exclusively a Wayist, the best way would be to join a Wayist organisation and start living authentically.
What does living authentically mean ? The answer to this question is a long lifetime study and practise but it boils down to freeing your mind and refusing to be the puppet of culturally conditioned thinking. Most Wayists find it easy to ‘rebel' against the Western religion of Consumerism and they free themselves from its shackles. This is often a very good start, but it takes nurturing and nourishing – and fellowship in Wayism helps one along in the many challenges along The Way.
What can you expect to receive from a Wayist organisation? Wayist organisations are not all the same in this but generally, we found one thing in common – Wayists are not out there to convert members, rather they are out there to convert themselves into authentic human beings and to help other understand life a bit better. Chances are you won't receive much in terms of being fed– you will probably have to seek things out for yourself and take what you need, and share what you have. Our Way is mystical – it happens inside of each one of us and that is where we encounter the presence of the Lord as we change from restlessness to peacefulness and joy. Each one of us walked this path in our own way according to our own challenges and its not easy (or the proper thing to do) to shove our experiences on another person who faces her/his own existential challenges. We are existentialists in the original, oldest, sense, even before the heroes of the 19 th century named it.
If you feel that you need Wayism in your life – please be assured that Wayism needs you as much. The need for this authentic Way is growing so fast during these enlightening times that we cannot train enough people to serve the needs of the new seekers coming into The Way.
What will it cost to become a Wayist? In terms of money paid to the organisation you join you are probably looking at very little, perhaps too little – probably the price of a Burger and Fries every month.
How will my life change when I become a Wayist? It really depends on whether you will walk the walk or just talk the talk. Either way you will change. You will spend less on material things, you will see life differently than others, you will be different (perhaps weird), you will have more money to put away safely for your retirement, you will be more satisfied with life, you will sense more things-learning to taste what you eat, feel what you touch, sense your loved ones, etc. You will learn to love, find love and give love, and become because of it. You will read more and your mind will expand and become more enquiring. You will learn to sense God, and be with God's presence. However, that's a generalisation. Each one's walk is unique.