It's time for a post on religion.

OK...I need to get my religious house in order.

I consider myself a Latter-Day Saint. I have no connection to the LDS church, nor do I actively seek one. I believe that the weirdo polygamists will prove to be the center of the Latter-Day Saint movement in the future, because their commitment is by far the strongest (at least compared to the mainstream LDS church).

Not that I would disavow membership in the mainstream LDS church, but I wouldn't actively seek it, either.

I strongly identify with the Peyotist branch of the Latter-Day Saint Movement. It's true, they're intertwined, especially down Arizona way. Like, Southern Arizona. Tucson-ish. I follow the Word of Wisdom - no alcohol, tobacco, tea, or coffee.

Further, I am a Zen Buddhist. Or is it lesser? This is what I am having trouble figuring out. My Zen Buddhism is definitely an American form -- yes, I don't see the trouble with also being a Zen Buddhist. Soto Zen, Shunryu Suzuki lineage (through Zentatsu Baker). If I live in Santa Fe (which I hope to), there is the Upaya Zen Center there. I kind of see Zen as a daily-life religion for this early part of my life. In the end I should gravitate more towards the Latter-Day Saint Movement, and even the LDS church proper.

Zen...what is there to say about it? I feel like philosophical Taoism is the highest of teachings (this comes from John Gray, my fav philosopher). Chuang Tzu, in particular. And yet--the practice of Soto Zen, which comes directly from Southern Chinese (Taoist) Ch'an traditions--I just don't know. Is it more or less important than Peyotism/LDS? Is that even the right question to ask? I suppose it isn't, because I honestly can't answer it. It isn't about religions, or especially cultures; it's simply about practices (namely, Upaya, Crestone, & peyote). Insofar as it is about cultures, I have most affinity with the Mormon world, I think -- including Polynesia. Or do I? Why not Japan? Well, maybe I do have more affinity with Japan. Why not? I suppose certain aspects of Japanese culture scare me. Namely hara-kiri. But yeah given all that is good and great in Japanese culture, it seems unnecessary to single out a few bad practices. Or does it? I suppose I can't help it. I am a creature of the North, as are the Japanese people. Everything else will have to work itself out. Japan scares me, it's true; Polynesia doesn't. But that fear may be irrational; it may not be. Either way, nothing proposes an answer so I'll have to feel my way out.

On the whole, I'm safe with Japan. But to check myself, and because it simply makes sense, I also follow the Leviticus and Deutoronomy books (where applicable) and have taken the Nazerite vow -- all of this through the eyes of the Rastafari movement, though with help from Hasidim/Kabbalah where necessary.