Hallelujah, Praise the DJ

In my ongoing quest for spiritual enlightenment I always seem to come back to the Buddhist philosophy as the model which sits most comfortably with my inbuilt natural ethics. Not answering to a certain God but to yourself, doing everything with a positive outlook, ensuring your actions do not harm other people, animals or your environment, loving everyone regardless of race, age, religion or background (comment if I’ve missed any or got anything wrong here), are, in my opinion, a pretty perfect set of answers for any situation.

In my limited understanding, Buddhism is a fairly solitary philosophy, with wisdom and inner peace sought through quiet meditation and vows of silence. But I can see why more organised religions have taken precedence, there is something thrilling about lots of people with a common belief system coming together to celebrate a mutually adored higher power.

You can see examples of mass worship in the most unlikely places if you look at things in a certain way. Take a football match for example. The pitch is the altar, the stadium is the church, players are the gods. They even have their own hymns (football songs) and a lively debate about the sermon afterwards (breakdown of the match over a pint). Not being a football fan myself I don’t really get it, but you can’t deny the sense of euphoria in the congregation when one team wins or scores a goal.

We had our regular bi-annual child free party this weekend. It’s the only time when we get the opportunity to come together in the same way as before we became parents and sensible overtook silly as the default setting. As I was throwing questionable mummy shapes on the dance floor, seeing nothing in the black light but the grinning teeth and sparkling eyes of my most beloved friends, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of spiritual energy, connecting us all like a holy light. We were worshipping the God of bass or maybe music, at the altar of the decks, with a DJ minister presiding over, providing a path to utopia through some seriously uplifting music.

Maybe it’s just me but it’s in those situations when I feel a total affinity with the smiley happy-clappy people on telly, grinning and raising their arms and shouting “Praise the Lord!” Because, ultimately, finding spiritual peace is as much about a connection with other people as it is about finding that connection within your inner consciousness.

Research suggests that spiritual people are happier, live longer and have better health than their atheist peers, which are good a reasons as any to seek some form of divine understanding. And it is times like Saturday night when I’m surrounded by people I love, bathing in the light and glory of a truly breathtaking sermon (set) that I feel most at peace, blessed and likely to raise my arms in a gesture of praise.

Or maybe it was just a group of people teetering on the brink of middle age, dancing to old tunes and reliving the glory days of their misspent youth.

Either way it’s the closest I’ve ever come to spiritual nirvana. God bless you father DJ(s).