Europe and its struggle 2

The early adopters of Christ also included certain sects who were influenced by Buddhism, paganism and other ideals. Some of these sects, e.g. the Gnostics believed in reincarnation and many of their notions and practices were influenced by Eastern ideals of Vedanta (monism and dualism) and Buddhism. However some of these sects, being persecuted by the Church and the Holy Roman Empire, later fled to Persia and under Islamic influence many of them converted to Islam. Their original ideals helped them in forming a separate sect called Sufism with divine communion and love for God as the central theme. Others who remained in Europe, preserved the main teachings of Christianity and gave rise to what came to be known as Christian mystics who also believed in direct communion with God. Needless to say, in the middle ages, with the growing influence of Church, some of these Christian mystics were persecuted as heretics because their teachings and messages were not in sync with the preaching of the Church. Meister Eckhart was one such mystic. Others like Ignatius Loyola, St Francis of Assisi however were more fortunate as they had a larger following and the Church accepted them in the mainstream, albeit grudgingly, although the label “mystics” distinguished them from the Catholic mainstream Christians.

Apart from frequent warfare, class conflicts and rise of religious conflicts and persecution, Europe at this time was also afflicted by several calamities, like the Black Death and the great fire.

However with the decay of Arabic Islamic rule in the near East which had been a great patron of art and culture, and with the rise of the less liberal Islamic Turkey, Europe had a great opportunity to rise. The European nations at this time became great sea farers, a legacy of the Romans, Phoenicians and the Vikings. They discovered new worlds, some of them travelled to various countries in the Far East including India, their dreamland. Treasures were discovered and old civilizations were destroyed but European monarchies started becoming rich. The discovery of the colonies and their riches resulted in mutual warfare over the booty but ordinary people remained as poor as ever. Only the ruling class and the adventurous class prospered. Wherever colonies were established Christianity also spread its wings, sometimes through the help of sincere teachers but most often by force and repression and subjugation of the local culture.

The golden age at this time was ushered in through the opening up of new realms – in art, literature and science.