Speech among different religions

While reading the chapters from Shulman's More than Real, when I wasn't trying to comprehend the complex systems of origination through (what Shulman translates as) imagination, I was thinking about how differently Indian religions view language, as opposed to Western views of language. Before I start, I just want to point out that my knowledge of Western religion is pretty much only based on what I've observed around me growing up, and the purpose of this blog post is to simply write out a few (most likely misguided) thoughts. Also, If I'm completely wrong about something I'd definitely love to learn more about it!

As we've talked about in class and as Shulman mentions as well, language in the Vedas plays a huge role in shaping the reality that we perceive. Whether that reality is constructed during a Vedic ritual or during a performance, such as the one Shulman describes on page 13, speech remains an extremely powerful tool and works closely with the mind in each of these examples. In the passage on page 12 describing the step-by-step formation of the cosmos, the distinction formed between the Speech that Death unites with, and the Speech that the child (of the union of Death and Speech) creates, is another instance of how certain forms of language hold power in the Vedas.

In Western religions, there doesn't seem to be nearly as much of an emphasis on any supernatural abilities of speech at all. Certainly the writings of the Bible are considered holy by Christians, but I'm not sure that the language of the Bible holds the same transformative power that the language of the Vedas holds. Of course these are two very different religions, and language is not at all the only point in which they differ. But I do find it interesting that Western religions don't seem to focus on speech even nearly as much as the Vedic traditions do.

(I feel it's necessary to reiterate that I really don't have much of a background in religion, Western or otherwise, if that's not already painfully obvious. I am always interested in learning more though!)