Post by Admin on Sept 17, 2014 7:32:48 GMT -7
Below are some definitions I usually send out this time of year. Perhaps, it can serve as a basis to shift this exchange back to a refection of Interfaith Dialogue. In my presentation Saturday on Interfaith Dialogue, I opened with the following quote by Howard Thurman, "I always wanted to be me without making it uncomfortable to be you". This quote sets the tone for how people of faith should conduct a dialogue. No one should be asked to defend what they believe. No one should be forced into an 'Apologetic' position. 'US vs Them' discussions are never productive. They increase tension and further enemy thinking.
RELIGION, SPIRTUALITY,MYSTICISM- SOME DEFINITION
Notes From ‘Encyclopaedia of Spirituality’, Timothy Freeke, pg. 152-153.
Religion Religion is concerned with rituals, observances, creeds, and codes of social morality. It marks the transitions of life, such as birth, marriage, and death, with appropriate rites that bind together a community. Religion is the outer form of spirituality. However, it is perfectly possible to be religious but not spiritual. Many people piously participate in religious customs without ever undertaking a personal journey of spiritual transformation. Fundamentalism of all persuasions, with its insistence on blind faith in dogmas, is religion without true spirituality. This is why it so often divides people instead of uniting them.
Spirituality Spirituality is the inner content of all religions, but it does not necessarily have to have a religious context. Spirituality is about setting out on a personal search for answers to the most profound questions in life. Spirituality is a journey of awakening to who we really are; a journey of opening the heart to the love that permeates the universe; a journey from confusion to meaning; a journey from fear to faith; a journey from feeling alone in a hostile world to being at one with everyone and everything.
Mysticism Mysticism is the deepest level of spirituality. It teaches that reality is an indivisible Whole appearing as many parts. Although we think of ourselves as separate individuals, this is an illusion. There is only the constantly metamorphosing Totality. We are not the transitory mortal beings we take ourselves to be. Our immortal and eternal Self is one with Oneness. Seeming, Becoming, Being , to go beyond religion we must realize that it is not enough to seem to be good, rather we must set out on the spiritual journey to actually become good.
To reach our destination we must realize that it is not enough to be continually becoming a better person. Rather we must relinquish the idea of ourselves as a person altogether. We must dissolve the separate self into the impersonal Oneness and be the Goodness that is God.
The Paradox of the Spiritual Path Spirituality takes religion to a deeper level. It teaches us that it is not enough simply to accept religious dogmas. We must undergo a process of personal transformation so that we directly experience the truth of these teachings ourselves. Mysticism takes spirituality to a deeper level. It leads the seeker to the ultimate goal of spirituality, sometimes called ‘liberation’ or ‘enlightenment’ or ‘communion with God’. The enigmatic riddle at the very epicentre of spirituality is that, to arrive at this experience of Oneness, we must realize that the idea of being a ‘someone’ walking the spiritual path is itself just a fantasy produced by the illusion of separateness.
My questions for Interfaith Students
Does our Interfaith Approach meet any of the above definitions. The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs. Some interfaith groups have more recently adopted the terms interbelief dialogue[1][2] or interpath dialogue, to become more welcoming to and inclusive of atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other non-religious people without religious faith but with different ethical or philosophical beliefs, and to be more accurate concerning many world religions that do not place the same emphasis on "faith" as do some Western religions.
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RELIGION, SPIRTUALITY,MYSTICISM- SOME DEFINITION
Notes From ‘Encyclopaedia of Spirituality’, Timothy Freeke, pg. 152-153.
Religion Religion is concerned with rituals, observances, creeds, and codes of social morality. It marks the transitions of life, such as birth, marriage, and death, with appropriate rites that bind together a community. Religion is the outer form of spirituality. However, it is perfectly possible to be religious but not spiritual. Many people piously participate in religious customs without ever undertaking a personal journey of spiritual transformation. Fundamentalism of all persuasions, with its insistence on blind faith in dogmas, is religion without true spirituality. This is why it so often divides people instead of uniting them.
Spirituality Spirituality is the inner content of all religions, but it does not necessarily have to have a religious context. Spirituality is about setting out on a personal search for answers to the most profound questions in life. Spirituality is a journey of awakening to who we really are; a journey of opening the heart to the love that permeates the universe; a journey from confusion to meaning; a journey from fear to faith; a journey from feeling alone in a hostile world to being at one with everyone and everything.
Mysticism Mysticism is the deepest level of spirituality. It teaches that reality is an indivisible Whole appearing as many parts. Although we think of ourselves as separate individuals, this is an illusion. There is only the constantly metamorphosing Totality. We are not the transitory mortal beings we take ourselves to be. Our immortal and eternal Self is one with Oneness. Seeming, Becoming, Being , to go beyond religion we must realize that it is not enough to seem to be good, rather we must set out on the spiritual journey to actually become good.
To reach our destination we must realize that it is not enough to be continually becoming a better person. Rather we must relinquish the idea of ourselves as a person altogether. We must dissolve the separate self into the impersonal Oneness and be the Goodness that is God.
The Paradox of the Spiritual Path Spirituality takes religion to a deeper level. It teaches us that it is not enough simply to accept religious dogmas. We must undergo a process of personal transformation so that we directly experience the truth of these teachings ourselves. Mysticism takes spirituality to a deeper level. It leads the seeker to the ultimate goal of spirituality, sometimes called ‘liberation’ or ‘enlightenment’ or ‘communion with God’. The enigmatic riddle at the very epicentre of spirituality is that, to arrive at this experience of Oneness, we must realize that the idea of being a ‘someone’ walking the spiritual path is itself just a fantasy produced by the illusion of separateness.
My questions for Interfaith Students
Does our Interfaith Approach meet any of the above definitions. The term interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e., "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions or beliefs to increase acceptance of others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs. Some interfaith groups have more recently adopted the terms interbelief dialogue[1][2] or interpath dialogue, to become more welcoming to and inclusive of atheists, agnostics, humanists, and other non-religious people without religious faith but with different ethical or philosophical beliefs, and to be more accurate concerning many world religions that do not place the same emphasis on "faith" as do some Western religions.
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