James Sire presents a sixth major worldview in his work The Universe Next Door. Buddhism and Hinduism would be the most recognizable religions fostering this worldview.
Lens #6—Eastern Pantheistic Monism
- This philosophy of life assumes that the Soul of the cosmos is made of each human being’s soul, and each person is God. (Essentially, God is all that exists, and nothing exits that is not God.)
- There are many paths that lead to the One (God) and we have to find our own direction or correct orientation for gaining “oneness” with the One. When one realizes oneness with the cosmos, he has passed beyond knowledge, beyond goodness or evil, and beyond time.
- Death ends an individual’s personal existence, but nothing about the person’s essential nature changes. A pantheistic monist believes in karma, the concept that a person’s current fate (whether pain or pleasure) is directly a result of past action, probably in a former existence.
- The belief in reincarnation and the cyclical nature of history are fundamental in this worldview.
Movies with an Eastern Pantheistic Monist Lens
[Note: As with all film listings, please determine each movie’s suitability for your own family. Please do not interpret a film’s inclusion in a list of examples as Zeezok Publishing’s promotion of or agreement with that film.]
- The Star Wars trilogy
- Pocahontas
- Mulan
- The Lion King
- Avatar