If someone had told me during my senior year of high school that I would minor in religious studies when I went to college, I would have thought that they were crazy. Even if I had been told that just a few months before arriving at Naz, after I had begun to have more interest in spirituality, I still wouldn’t have believed them.
Like many other students, I entered the exploring world religions class thinking it was just a credit that I was required to fulfill. I was taking both religious studies (RES) 101 and meditation and mindfulness with Dr. Bishal Karna during my first semester here, and I quickly realized that while I had expected to enjoy and benefit from the course of meditation, both classes were actually having a true impact on my lived experience. Like so many who embark on a path of spirituality these days, I hadn’t expected religion to be of much benefit for me. I had wrongly assumed that religions and those who followed them were highly dogmatic and lacking practical tools and insight that could truly be applied to the challenges I was faced with.
What I soon discovered was that beyond the benefits that religions offer to those who follow them, there is a lot of value present even for those like me who don’t observe any one in particular. Through taking courses such as meditation and mindfulness, meaning of death, and religion and psychology, I have been surprised to find that the things I was learning in the classroom went far beyond explicit understanding. With topics such as self-compassion, finding comfort with uncertainty, and finding value in adversity, the views of different religious teachers and traditions have begun to offer answers to some of the questions I am struggling with the most. Beyond offering answers, they are provoking more questions, and are encouraging me to continue learning, to continue growing into my highest potential all the while staying connected to who I am and what I have going on around me in this moment.
The religious studies department, faculty, courses and events that I have attended have not only expanded my understanding and appreciation of religions, but they have also expanded my own worldview and perspective of life as a whole. If there is one thing I could say to anyone considering studying religious studies or even taking a class in the department, it is that your decision to do so will have more of an impact than you know. I would encourage you to remain open minded and to be willing to learn from different perspectives and traditions, it might just bring you closer to a fuller understanding of yourself and your experience of life and consciousness.