What is Rasta

Just a fact before I continue - Ras was title for leader of province and military in Abyssinia. Heile Selassie was actually named ras Tafari Makonen, from what comes the word rasta or rastafari. When he was coronated to be emperor of Abyssinia (little bit bigger area than current Ethiopia), he took himself a name Heile Selassie I. When Rastafarian religious movement started, ras became widely used for anyone who was to be Rastafarian. So in Africa you may meet a lot of people who say ras in front of their name (similarily to Heile Selassie usually not their birth name, but something they just later take for themselves).

Ok, I was supposed to write why I liked when in Kenya people called me a Rasta. It is actually simple. First of all, in Kenya people basically knew only about four religions - Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Rastafarianism. Well yeah, if you ask about their old Pagan beliefs, then of course they remember this too, but usually they don't imagine that someone would still believe something like that. And yeah, actually although I call myself a Pagan, my beliefs aren't anything like Neopagan's or even less like old Pagan beliefs in Estonia, elsewhere in Europe and surely not something like African peoples had before Christianization. With great reservations I could say that my beliefs are something similar to Shinto that would be mixed with very little of Taoism. Anyway, I would say that out of the four religions widely accepted in Kenya, I am more Rastafarian than any other. Rastafarians have pretty good philosophical and ethical side, but what I don't believe is the religious format of it. First of all, Rastafarians believe into hedonism, living well yourself and making all from your side to make also others irie. And rastafarians believe into making world better through simply understanding good values because of positive, constructive reasons, whereas in Christianity, Islam and many other world religions main thing is restrictive ethical codex, understanding of being the subject of higher entity, therefore condmning him/herself to be lower and less worthy and simply obeying, or one more thing is also the lure of promise for some bliss after death. And Hinduism with all the rebirths, pantheon of Gods and whatever else is completely strange to me. When Christians and Moslems see reason in prayers, then for Rastafarians all is about your actions. Christians and Moslems like to say that it is same in their case, that actions are most important, but then why they need to pray all the time. And why I don't see living like it counts then. Rastafarians live... they live good. Yeah, they often say something like: "Praise the Rastafari" or some other things, but this is not like prayer, it is more like cult of personality of Heile Selassie, who actually was a great example of a man and a leader. I don't believe that he was the incarnation of God... same way I believe that Christ was a mortal man who with his ideas and maybe charisma got lot of followers and enthusiasts... but he wasn't the incarnation of God either. Well, I simply don't believe into incarnation. Only perhaps in a way we all are first the part of this great spirit/God/Tao and then our soul incarnates in our body. But then we all are incarnations of God, and not Christ, nor Heile Selassie, nor Buddha, no-one are more the son of God than us all. Some are have simply more illuminated ideas about right/good ways of living and how to make world a better place. Actually, I should be called a agnostic, because I don't know if God exists. I want to believe that it is so, but probably I don't get to know it in my life. Basically I take from religions all that is about us, humans, and don't think so much about mystical side.

But about the cult of personality, I don't believe that we should make it so important. We can pay our respect to great men like Heile Selassie, Gandhi, whom ever you want, much better by simply following their example. Sure, I too may sometimes praise someone, but I understand that this is how it happens - mortal man is likened with the God. Same way also faith is good, but making it material and ceremonial, is not.

Faith and belief are not the same as religion.