"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." ~ Lhamo Dondrub, The Dalai Lama
In this country we have created industry and institution surrounding religion and religious books and teachings. We have created theories and hypothesis pertaining to the who what when where how and why of our religious beliefs which obfuscates the very simple truths. We become so inundated with dogma, letter and law that we forget the very thing that is the substrata our existence. We become distracted with edifices and the money needed to maintain them. We build bigger buildings to corral ourselves and conduct our rituals. We complicate our thoughts with what our spirit already knows without teaching and we call it religion.
I've chosen this quote because it closely relates to how I feel regarding religion. The only difference is that my philosophy is love and I see kindness as an extension of that love. To bring it into biblical perspective Jesus did not pastor a body of believers in an edifice. He traveled with an understanding that people are in fact the temple. People are the dwelling place of God. He led his disciples in practices that were directly beneficial to those who were hurt, downtrodden and outcast. He showed them that the value in this earth is not in structures but in service to people who need help. This is where the philosophy of kindness is made manifest.
The simplicity of Jesus' teaching tells us that we are to love God with all our heart, mind soul and strength and that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. He goes on to state that the law hangs on love. By this example we see that if we are operating and leading from a place of love or ever kindness that we cannot violate the law because if we truly love or extend kindness then our internal moral barometer would not lend itself to such violations. Kindness is an energy that draws, builds relationship and creates buy-in. There is an old adage that say you can draw more flies with honey that with vinegar. I believe that if a leader approaches leadership from the perspective of love and the extension of kindness then leader others would be less rife with push-back or resistance. People would feel that they have a leader who cares for them and their well-being. This is the crux of ministry in my opinion.