Lost Parents and Professors

Many years ago the Cultural Center of the Philippines conducted a nationwide writing contest for children, and I was invited to be one of the judges. A day after the results were announced, a woman called me on the phone and tried to convince me to change my decision, claiming that her son deserved to be a winner. She offered to take me out to lunch, among other things, but I declined. I spent an hour on the phone trying to convince her that, while her son's entry was good, there were others that were much, much better--something she could not accept--and that it would be in her son's best interest to teach him that it is all right to lose contests. She wept, she ranted, she told me how much she loved her son and how high her expectations were for him, but I did not give in. I had to terminate our conversation. I didn't even bother to ask her how she was able to reach me; she must have done extensive research and called up all the judges on the panel.

Also many years ago I taught an elective course titled North American Indian Shamanism for the American Studies Department at De La Salle University. Some time in mid-semester a mother of one of my students called me on the phone and complained about my assigning her daughter the construction of a simple dream-catcher. She also offered to take me out to lunch and tell me about her born-again Christian faith. I declined, and said that REAL EDUCATION IS NOT EXCLUSIVE TO ANY RELIGION.

I note, however, that, when I enrolled for my M.A. in Religious Studies, my professors were just as bigoted and as biased to Christianity. They did not believe in tolerance and they became very upset at the slightest contradiction to doctrine presented in class. When I chose, as the topic for my public lecture, the divination stones Urim and Thummim from the Old Testament, the president himself went out of his way to assign me the most fundamentalist nuns and priests in his roster as consultants. I went to them one by one, listening to their condemnations of my topic, but I remained unfazed. I thought that it was such a cheap strategy--and a waste of time--to send me to those "consultants" and show them my outline. They might as well have changed the title of the course from "Religious Studies" to "Christianity Studies".

Thankfully, I did conduct my public lecture on the topic of my choice. A year later I graduated magna cum laude. My thesis, Pagsubok Sa Ilang, was published and later won a National Book Award for Best Religious Publication.

However, now, at the age of 64, I am completely convinced that there is only ONE religion of peace, and that is Buddhism. I don't practice it, though. Perhaps, the warrior in me prevents it.