I haven't mentioned it but every Monday night since January has been my class in World Religions. Though not very challenging, the class is informative, entertaining, and worth the $. We covered religions that I hadn't even heard of before (e.g. Jainism, an offshoot of Hinduism and a formative religion for The Buddha).
The primary assignment in the class was to visit a place of worship and write a report. I was amazed to hear the prof's list of places: there are dozens of little places in St Louis (and any urban area) that are below our radar. For example, there is a Zen center in Kirkwood, and a church in St Louis City where they channel spirits! We were not allowed to visit a site that pertained to our religion.
I chose the Vedanta Society, located near Wash U on Skinker. The Vedanta Society is derived from Hinduism (the "Vedanta" are the concluding portion of the Vedas, the ancient Hindu scriptures), but is very inclusive: they recognize eternal truth in all of the major religions. In fact, as shown on their website, they celebrate the symbols and rituals of all the major faiths. There are a dozen or so "Societies" in North America; they form a federation of monasteries that are headquarted in India. In the StL monastery, there are 2 swami's who give sermons and teach their students, who live in a nearby building. It was definitely a new experience...
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