New favorite song: Mason Jennings' I Love You and Buddha Too

Mason Jennings photo from mtv.com

Almost two years ago i first found Ziggy Marley's song Love Is My Religion. Immediately i loved the song and thought it was the best expression of my own spirituality and religious beliefs. That inspired me to share that song, and also to share such a spiritually wise or personally relevant song every Sunday. This collection of Sunday Songs are meant to be open reminders to myself to develop my own health and spirituality.

Now i've found a new favorite: Mason Jennings' song, I Love You and Buddha Too.

It is performed here together with Jack Johnson and Matt Costa. Check it out, give it a listen, enjoy it. Then find the lyrics and my commentary here below.

* * *

"I Love You and Buddha Too"

Oh Jesus, I love You
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed

Why do some people say
That there is just one way
To love You, God, and come to You?
We are all a part of You

You are un-nameable
You are unknowable
All we have is metaphor
That's what time and space are for

Is the universe Your thought?
You are and You are not
You are many, You are one
Ever ending, just begun

Alright, alright, alright
I love You and Buddha too

Oh Jesus, I love You
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed

Why do some people say
That there is just one way
To love You, God and come to You?
We are all a part of You

Alright, alright, alright
I love You and Buddha too

Oh Jesus, I love You
(I love You, Jesus)
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed

Why do some people say
(I love You, Jesus)
That there is just one way
To love You God and come to You?
We are all a part of You

You are un-nameable
(I love You, Jesus)
You are unknowable
All we have is metaphor
That's what time and space are for

Is the universe Your thought?
(I love You, Jesus)
You are and You are not
You are many, You are one
Ever ending, just begun

Alright, alright, alright
(I love You, Jesus)
I love You and Buddha too
Alright, alright, alright
(I love You, Jesus)
I love You and Buddha too

Alright
* * *

(Thank you to AZLyrics.com for publishing the lyrics online:-)

i love the wisdom and openness of the lyrics. i don't know anything at all about Mason Jennings' background or life. But he respects everyone here. Instead of going with the New Athiest style of slamming Christians, this songs makes it clear: "I love You, Jesus." 

The next word here is important to me: "And." Not "But." "But," would almost negate or excuse the previous statement, the love of Jesus. But here, wisely, Jennings sings that he loves Jesus AND Buddha. (In fact, there is not a single negative word in the whole song, which i also really like.) 

And there are other important characters given homage as well: Ramakrishna refers to an influential Hindu teacher of the 19th Century, Gurudev is a polite way to address any Hindu teacher but may also refer specifically to Gurudev Singh, an important healer among the Western Sikh movements, Tao Te Ching (variously also referred to Lao tse, Lao tzu, etc., due to the difficulty of translating Chinese characters into Latin letters) is the founder of Taoism, Mohammed (also various spellings) of course is the prophet of Islam and the idea of calling God unknowable and unnameable reminds me of (correct me if i'm wrong..) Jewish tradition.

i haven't seen such an inclusive spiritual pantheon since South Park Episode 201!!

Image of Shiva, Tao Te Ching, Jospeh Smith, Stan, Jesus, Mohammed, Buddha and  Sea Man from  "Super Best Friends," the 201st episode of South Park :-) (Since there is no Jewish character in this image, i list the characters from right to left to represent Hebrew language:-)

My personal beliefs suggest that the various religions of the world are simply translations of themselves, cultural adaptations each to help the various peoples of the world all understand the universal truths about God and the universe. i happen to love the sound and feeling of this song, but the message is really of the greatest value to me. Thank you Mason Jennings!:-)