Characteristics of a Post-Religious Spirituality
April 19, 2009
Filed under Buddha's Teaching, Buddhism, Buddhist Dharma, Celtic Christianity, Chan, Change Your Life, Compassion, Contemplation, Contemplative Spirituality, Cosmic Christ, Creation Centered Spirituality, Culture, Dao de jing, Daoism, Divine Mind, Divine Potential, Emerging Christianity, Global Church, Inner Light, Interspirituality, Issues in Transformation, Jesus, Jesus' Teaching, Kingdom of God, Laozi, Metaphysical Christianity, Mindfulness, Morality and Values, Mystical Experience, Mystical Spirituality, Mysticism, Native Amercian Spirituality, Nature Mysticism, New Thought, Optimism, Personal Epiphanies, Personal Growth, Personal Renewal, Personal Vision, Positive Faith, Renewal of the Mind, Sacred Center, Sacred Character, Sacred Mind, Sacred Silence, Sacred Study, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Practices, Spirituality, Vision, World Religions, Worldview, Zen
Tags: Change Your Life, Global Religion, New Wineskins, Post-Religious Spirituality, Spiritual Growth, Spirituality
As I have discussed before here on Wellsprings of Light, the western world is clearly moving into an age in which humankind’s divine pursuits are increasingly taking place outside the confines of traditional religious institutions. As is now said so often the phrase is becoming trite, “We are spiritual, not religious.”
Even if it seems trite, that well-worn phrase contains more than a germ of truth. More and more sincere seekers of the sublime aspects of reality are finding what they are looking for in “new wineskins,” which are often far different from the old models of religion. This is, indeed, a positive trend and one that creates great hope for humankind as we shake off the shakles of false religion and begin to get a foretaste of what authentic spiritual reality is like.
With that said, what follows is a listing of characteristics that one often sees in the “New Spirituality.” Keep in mind that this listing is far from complete. In fact, it barely skims the surface of the rapidly evolving spiritual scene in western culture. Some of the common and not so common characteristics are as follows:
It is post-religious in the sense that there is a recognition that genuine spirituality in this era will most likely evolve outside the parameters of traditional systems of faith.
Focused on increased understanding and application of universal spiritual/mental laws.
Seeks to facilitate a decreased dominance of the Small Mind.
Brings about an increased capacity to operate out of Sacred Mind.
Promotes discovery of our true spiritual identity.
Is far more experiential in pursuits and content; less emphasis on conceptual knowledge and doctrine.
As a result of the preceding point, it is oriented toward disciplined spiritual practice.
Pays honor to the reality and the sanctity of “Sacred Silence” and, as a result, is contemplative.
Focused on spiritual growth and the development of Sacred Character.
It is purpose driven (universal and personal).
Exhibits an engaged spirituality that seeks the betterment of life for all beings. In the fullest sense, the post-religious spirituality is “Socio-Spiritual.”
It promotes a deep ecological consciousness, flowing from reverence for and compassion for the planet.
Fosters the spiritual practices of a “Mysticism of Nature.”
Views the body as the Temple of the Spirit and seeks to promote positive health based on holistic practices.
It is at vanguard of the study and application of Energy Healing and working with the Divine Light.
Although community based, it maintains a global focus based on the interconnectivity of all things.
© L. D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved
The Essence of Spirituality: Radical Compassion
March 14, 2009
Filed under Bodhisattva, Buddhist Dharma, Celtic Christianity, Christian Kindness, Christian Meditation, Christian Mission and Calling, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Church Renewal, Church and Culture, Compassion, Contemplation, Contemplative Spirituality, Cosmic Christ, Creation Centered Spirituality, Culture, Discipleship, Divine Mind, Emerging Christianity, Global Church, God's Kingdom, God's Love, God's Story, Gospel, Grace, Holy Spirit, Inner Light, Interspirituality, Issues in Transformation, Jesus, Jesus' Teaching, Kingdom of God, Meditation, Ministry, Mission and Calling, Missions, Morality and Values, Mystical Experience, Mystical Spirituality, Mysticism, Nature Mysticism, Paul's Teachings, Personal Epiphanies, Personal Growth, Prayer, Purpose, Quaker Spirituality, Sacred Center, Sacred Mind, Sacred Silence, Service, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Spirituality, World Religions, Worldview
Tags: Christian Mysticism, Compassion, Interconnectivity, Kahil Gibran, Mysticism, Personal Ethics, Quantum Physics, Service, Spirituality
L. Dwight Turner
Jesus Christ was not a man of compassion; he was a man of radical compassion. From his voluntary mission to this broken world, to his mysterious ascension back into the heavenly realm, there was no theme he stressed more in both word and deed. From his opening salvo quoting Isaiah about bringing release to the captives and good news to the poor, to his dying plea of, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” Jesus exemplified a compassion far beyond what the world had seen before. Indeed, it was and is a radical compassion.
Jesus’ stories about the Prodigal, the Good Samaritan, and his treatment of the woman caught in adultery all point to the need for a compassion that transcends the normal boundaries defined by contemporary culture, then and now. Indeed, it was and is a radical compassion.
Radical compassion is compassion with legs; radical compassion is a verb. Just as the Bible tells us in the Letter of James that faith without works is dead, also, compassion without concomitant action is a lifeless phenomenon. Many sincere aspirants have the mistaken notion that the ultimate goal of the spiritual path is enlightenment. Although a sincere desire for motivation is one of our most treasured possessions, it is actually penultimate. The real aim of the spiritual journey is simply this – Sacred Service. All that we do is dedicated to the greatest good of all beings in all the worlds. Our gain is their gain, our loss is their loss, our advancement is their advancement, and it is to this sacred reality that we offer our benedictions at the end of our times of meditation and prayer.
In the Christian faith especially, personal enlightenment takes a back seat to serving others, spiritually and materially. Perhaps no where in the sacred writings of the world is this reality presented so directly as in the 13th Chapter of the Gospel of John.
Imagine for a moment that you are one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and you, your band of rag tag friends, and the Master arrive at the Upper Room after a long, tedious, dusty day going about your business. You sit for a moment to catch your breath and unwind a few moments before you go wash up for the evening meal. You close your eyes for a few minutes, only to feel something or someone taking off your sandals. And to your utter disbelief, kneeling in front of you is the Master Jesus with a basin and a towel. Incredible….
The Master taught his disciples, and all of us who have read of this amazing episode, a clear and concise example of the essence of spirituality: selfless service with a heart of humility. If only more of us, especially those who claim to be followers of Jesus, would take this lesson to heart, our world would have much less pain.
The Kingdom of God is a divine realm of proactive compassion. This is the message that Jesus came to deliver and through his actions as well as his words, he delivered it consistently. In all that he did and he said, Jesus revealed to us the nature of God. This incarnational revelation was hinted at in the Master’s magnificent prayer in John 17. In the 21st verse the Master says:
I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
In the Bible’s most well known verse, John 3:16, it is stated that for God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life. (NLT)
Now, to make this even clearer, let’s look at one more verse in John 17. In verse three John records:
And this is the way to have eternal life, to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. (NLT)
Putting all this together, Jesus gave us a powerful but very real theology in this prayer and his disciple, John, fully caught its significance by saying in 3:16 that God loved the world so much that he sent his Son to save it. On God’s part, this was a perfect example of “proactive compassion” or what we often call “grace.” Motivated by the purest form of love, God was moved to have compassion on we fallen creatures, even in our blind ignorance, and he literally gave that compassion flesh by sending us the Master Jesus.
In order for compassion to become more than just a nice idea or a sentimental feeling, it must flow out of the internalized wisdom of the ages, particularly as related to the reality of “interconnectivity.” The idea of interconnectivity, now confirmed by the field of quantum physics, has been around for many centuries and is at the core of interspiritual mysticism, that one aspect of world religion that seems to transcend culture, time, and especially theology. It is a mystical connectedness that promotes compassion and engaged action to make the world a better place for all who dwell here. In essence, it is a deep wisdom that gives flesh to grace. The great spiritual writer Kahil Gibran spoke of this interconnected reality when he said:
Your neighbor is your other self dwelling behind a wall. In understanding, all walls shall fall down. Who knows but that your neighbor is your better self wearing another body? See that you love him as you would yourself. He too is a manifestation of the Most High.
In India, for example, we have the story of Indra’s Net, which is strung throughout the universe with a precious jewel at the places where the cords of the net intersect. These jewels, in turn, reflect all of the other jewels. Similar to the modern discovery of the hologram, the image of Indra’s Net is filled with symbolic wisdom depicting the interconnectivity of all that is. Gary Zukav, in his groundbreaking book entitled, The Dancing Wu Li Masters tell us:
…the philosophical implications of quantum mechanics is that all things in our universe (including us) that appears to exist independently are actually parts of one all-encompassing organic pattern, and that no parts of that pattern are ever really separate from it or from each other.
In the Christian tradition, the writings of the great mystic teachers echo these same truths, often in symbolic and metaphorical ways. Julian of Norwich especially comes to mind as well as Hildegard of Bingen and Madame Guyon. The writings of Saint Theresa of Avila and the life and work of St. Francis also point to the interconnectivity of all life and the necessity of having a heart of radical compassion.
The great Romantic poets like William Wordsworth and Percy B. Shelley have voices that ring loudly with the sense of the interrelated aspects of the natural world and their American counterparts, the Transcendentalists, in the writings of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, also echo this theme of divine connectivity. And then there is the work of that master of the arcane, William Blake who spoke of the mystic’s ability:
To see a World in a grain of sand,
And Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour.
The world that we interact with each day only appears to be solid. In point of fact, it is an intricate dance of sub-atomic waves and particles that obey none of the traditional or expected moves of predictable choreography. At its core level, our apparently solid, material world is less like classical music and more like jazz. Just when we think we have a handle on how things are, these very things change, morphing into something totally unexpected and often totally mysterious. Someone wise, I forget who, once said the life is not a riddle to be solved but a mystery to be lived. How true, and the sooner a person grasps this fundamental truth, the less frustration will appear in his or her life.
It is not my intention to travel too far down this road of quantum physics at this juncture. Suffice to say that contemporary science is increasingly coming to grasp the same fundamental truths that mystics and shamans have voiced for many centuries. Simply put: Everything is interrelated and interdependent and when one part is affected by something, at a very core level, every other part is also impacted.
In teaching about the interrelated aspect of the universe, I often use a simple analogy that explains these principles in a basic way. I use the example of raisin Jell-o. Imagine you have concocted a delicious tub or raisin Jell-o. Choose your favorite flavor if you like. The raisins are the important thing, here. Now, what happens when you take your index finger and thump one of the raisins? All the raisins move. Crude as this metaphor is, it makes the point that all the raisins in the bowl are connected and if one raisin moves, they all move. This is what the mystics, and the quantum physicists, are talking about when they speak of interconnectivity.
It should not be too difficult of an intellectual jump to see why this concept of interrelated reality should lead to a true and radical sense of compassion. What happens to me in the ultimate sense, happens to you and vice versa. When a child dies of hunger or disease in a poverty stricken nation, some part of each of us dies. We may not feel it, understand it, or even recognize it. Still, it is a fundamental spiritual and quantum truth. It is wise to remember the words of the 17th Century poet John Donne as he spoke of the custom of the time which involved ringing the town’s bell whenever someone died:
Any man’s death diminishes me, for I am involved in mankind;
Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved
Meditation and Living From the Sacred Mind
February 1, 2009
Filed under Buddha's Teaching, Buddhism, Buddhist Dharma, Celtic Christianity, Christian Meditation, Christian Mission and Calling, Christian Mysticism, Christianity, Church, Church Renewal, Church and Culture, Contemplation, Contemplative Spirituality, Cosmic Christ, Creation Centered Spirituality, Discipleship, Divine Mind, Emerging Christianity, Gospel, Grace, Inner Light, Interspirituality, Issues in Transformation, Jesus, Jesus' Teaching, Kingdom of God, Meditation, Metaphysical Christianity, Mystical Experience, Mystical Spirituality, Mysticism, Personal Discipline, Personal Epiphanies, Personal Growth, Prayer, Quaker Spirituality, Renewal of the Mind, Sacred Center, Sacred Character, Sacred Mind, Sacred Silence, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Practices, Spirituality, World Religions
Tags: Buddhism, Christian Meditation, Discipleship, Discipline, Interspirituality, Meditation, Mysticism, Practical Spirituality, Spiritual Formation
Lead us from darkness to light;
Lead us from illusion to wisdom;
Lead us from death to the deathlessness.
Lead us from conflict and suffering to harmony, peace, and happiness.
These brief words from the Upanishads, one of India’s spiritual classics, gives a brief but comprehensive view of what the spiritual journey is all about. As I meditated on the principles here, I became aware of the opposites that exist within the words and how these polarities in many ways describe the basic difference between living from our lower mind and our Sacred Mind. For example, when we operate in the confines of the lower mind, here is what we get:
Darkness
Illusion
Death
Conflict
Suffering
In contrast, living from the limitless position of our Sacred Mind, entire vistas open to us that we most likely overlooked before. When we arrive at a space where we can consistently allow our Sacred Mind to be in the driver’s seat, we encounter:
Light
Wisdom
Deathlessness
Harmony
Peace
Happiness
I have consistently found that practices such as meditation, prayer, mindfulness, silence, and service help us acquire the ability to live more consistently from our Sacred Mind. It is because of this reality that here at Lifebrook International we spend so much time stressing the importance of spiritual practice, especially the practice of meditation.
Meditation is one of the most significant and beneficial practices in which we may engage. Putting aside the deep spiritual benefits derived from its utilization, there are numerous highly practical benefits as well. Medical science has discovered and verified the fact that regular meditation practice reduces stress and its resultant complications, lowers blood pressure, improves memory, slows aging, and aids in healing from both illness and injury. Mediation’s use as a stress reduction technique alone is ample reason to give it a fair trial, given the hectic lifestyle each of us maintains. The benefits, however, are far more than physical and psychological. As all lasting faith traditions have maintained, meditation helps us to find the Sacred Light that exists at the core of our being and provides a tested and proven method of making that Light an integral part of our daily living.
What I have discovered in my personal practice of meditation is that it is a way to deepen my contact with God and to make the power of divine energy more of a practical, pragmatic resource to use for God’s purposes. As countless mystics have asserted across the ages, meditation helps us know God as opposed to knowing about God. In so doing, regular meditative practices put is in contact with the very creative power of the universe.
As you expand your awareness of meditation, you will find that there are many techniques, each with its own goals and procedures. The trick is finding the method which may serve you best, then sticking with it in order to attain the deeper, more subtle benefits of the technique. While it is interesting to flit from one practice to another, much like a Humming Bird going from flower to flower, the most profound and lasting benefits of meditative practice comes from deepening your connection with one practice. As an old Buddhist adage implies, if you are looking for water, it is usually better to dig one hole 50 feet deep, rather than digging 50 holes one foot deep. Author and meditation teacher Jack Kornfield tells us:
To deepen our practice further, we must choose a way to develop our attention systematically and give ourselves to it quite fully. Otherwise we will drift like a boat without a rudder. To learn to concentrate we must choose a prayer or a meditation and follow this path with commitment and steadiness, a willingness to work with our practice day after day, no matter what arises. This is not easy for most people. They would like their spiritual life to show immediate and cosmic results. But what great art is ever learned quickly? Any deep training opens in direct proportion to how much we give ourselves to it.
Although finding our particular meditative practice is highly important, for many of us this is a difficult process. For some, this indecision is due to a general personality issue about making a commitment to anything. For most, however, it may be something else – it may be the result of having too many options to choose from.
Without a doubt, America has rapidly become a spiritual smorgasbord. A sincere spiritual aspirant has a wide variety of menu items to choose from ranging from the highly spiced cuisine of Hinduism to the bland austerity of Zen. While this far-ranging religious buffet has numerous benefits, it can also present several significant problems.
First, this plethora of spiritual options creates an army of metaphysical nibblers. Although well-meaning, these folks take a bite of this and a taste of that – a smidgen of Tibetan Buddhism and a morsel of Theravada. As a result, these seekers are always running from one sample to another without ever getting a real sense of what these various paths are about.
Related to the above described spiritual nibbling are other seekers who take a larger sampling of one of the available options, but never go too far. These are the aspirants who satisfy themselves with spiritual finger-foods but never get around to eating the whole meal. Content with the appetizers, this group seems capable of discussing the many spiritual paths that are available, but cannot speak to the deeper issues of any faith.
During the years that I taught regular workshops on spirituality, meditation, and Buddhism, I often encountered these individuals. I don’t mean to make light of their sincerity. The majority of these seekers were desirous of spiritual growth, but were unable, for whatever reasons, to get past the bombardment of what can legitimately be described as America’s Spiritual Circus. Whenever I would ask, “What is your spiritual practice?” they would respond:
“Well, I have done some Vipassana and some Sufi dancing, and last summer I went on a vision quest and, oh yeah, I did a sweat lodge.”
More times than not, these aspirants resembled the folks we just talked about, searching for water by digging 50 holes, one-foot deep, rather than one 50 foot hole. The results, of course, were predictable: superficiality, lack of wisdom, and spiritual confusion.
With the myriad spiritual options available to us today, it becomes increasingly vital that we learn to be discerning in terms of choosing a spiritual path. Moreover, it is equally important to be able to make a firm commitment to our chosen path and stick with it long enough to encounter difficulties, work through them, and come out the other side. Only then will we begin to make true progress.
Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Sampling the spiritual options available to us is not a bad thing. In fact, without such sampling we will most likely never discover our best path. The point I am making is each of us must eventually move beyond mere sampling. We have to, as the Buddhist principle states, “take our one seat.”
In his insightful book, A Path With A Heart, Jack Kornfield speaks to the necessity of choosing one spiritual practice and staying with it:
Spiritual transformation is a profound process that doesn’t happen by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path, we need to commit ourselves in a systematic way….Until a person chooses on discipline and commits to it, how can a deep understanding of themselves and the world be revealed to them? Spiritual practice requires sustained practice and a commitment to look very deeply into ourselves and the world around us…
It has often been said that there are many ways up the mountain and this is most certainly true. However, the existence of numerous ways to advance toward our goal does not mean that each of these ways is best for us. After a period of sampling, it is imperative that we select a practice and get on with the process of making this discipline a regular part of our daily living. To continue dabbling here and there can be exciting, but in the end will not produce lasting results.
If you happen to live in an area where there are several centers that teach meditation, I would encourage you to visit more than one and experiment with the various techniques, then select one that seems to resonate with you. If no such center is available, look around on line and try some of the myriad techniques available there. The point in the beginning is not so much which technique you select, but that you establish a disciplined practice. Experience teaching meditation over the years has taught me that the setting of a disciplined spiritual practice is the most important lesson a seeker can learn at the beginning of their spiritual journey. Unfortunately, discipline is not such a popular word these days.
As each of us continues on our spiritual journey it is vital to understand that the foundation of our growth is the establishment of a disciplined spiritual practice. Without such a practice, much of what we do will, in the words of that great sage Solomon, be “chasing after the wind.”
For many of us living in the contemporary culture, this reality is sometimes tough to swallow. There are many reasons that we are resistant to this cardinal principle of spirituality. Space doesn’t allow for a full treatment of this theme, but I would like to give at least a brief overview of two primary reasons we tend to skirt the issue of establishing a firm spiritual practice. These are: Lack of time and lack of discipline.
Whether teaching spiritual principles to workshop participants, business professionals, or college students, I have found the most frequent reason offered for the absence of regular spiritual practice in a person’s life is lack of time. I understand this all too well because it is a reason (read excuse) that I have often offered myself.
Granted, life in today’s hectic society is filled with seemingly overwhelming tasks and myriad obligations. I frequently find myself wishing for 28 hours in a day, rather than 24. And, at times, even those extra four hours would be insufficient. I know many of you can relate to what I am saying. However, I have found that in my life, if I am truly committed to growing spiritually, I can find a place to carve out the time. Will I have to sacrifice something I enjoy doing? Perhaps. Will I have to change my schedule around? Most likely. Without belaboring the point, suffice it to say that rarely have I found an individual who couldn’t find the time to establish at least a short daily session of meditation, prayer, Scripture reading, or another spiritual undertaking.
Think of it like this. If you honestly believe that your spiritual evolution is a high priority in your life, then regular spiritual practice is essential. One cardinal truth of the spiritual path is the fact that you are not going to get to the other side of the river unless you get in the boat. The important principle here is to just get started. Don’t plan beyond that. Begin with only five minutes. After a brief time, double it to 10 minutes and eventually work your way up to whatever you believe is right for you.
Often, our lack of setting aside part of our day for spiritual practice is not so much a lack of time as it is a lack of discipline. “Discipline” is not a politically correct word these days. This is unfortunate because without discipline, you are not going to progress in any area of living, especially your spiritual life. You may be desirous of advancing in your spiritual walk, but that is only a fantasy. Like the “Beauty School Dropout” in the movie “Grease,” you have the dream, not the drive.”
I wish I could tell you that there was an easy way to develop more discipline in your life, but that’s not the case, especially if you have a long pattern of being undisciplined. The fact is, you’re going to have to work at it. Without discipline, one’s life devolves into a chaotic mediocrity. Without discipline, there isn’t the slightest sliver of achieving a life of vital spirituality.
In closing, I hope it is obvious how connected lack of time and lack of discipline are. It seems each one feeds the other in an endless cycle that results in paralysis of action. Because we do not take the time to establish a regular routine of spiritual practice, we are not able to develop discipline; and without discipline, we never find the time to practice. And on it goes.
What is clear is the fact that we need spiritual practice that is disciplined, focused, and productive. Without such a practice, we wind up like a dog chasing its tail, or, in the words of Solomon, chasing after the wind.
© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved
