Holy words can empower or harm, depending on the user’s motivations and understanding. Sessions titled “Interpreting the Text: Apostasy and Homosexuality” and “The Holy Scriptures and Questions of Intended Use” both addressed the delicate issue of how holy words should be studied and followed in the face of changing human conditions.
It seems to me that all religions and the texts upon which they are based attempt to understand and relate to fundamentally unknowable transcendent truths. It behooves us to read these texts with a compassionate and flexible attitude. Fortunately, this attitude is shared by many at this interfaith gathering.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, it is clear many of the world’s religions carve out a special place for condemning homosexuality, often using sacred texts as justification for their intolerance. Looking at the Hebrew Bible, for example, we see Jews, Christians and Muslims adamantly standing by some laws while taking flexible attitudes toward others. As a gay man, I am particularly frustrated that some people will leverage holy words to condemn me but excuse away their own behaviors.
Interestingly, out of several hundred sessions at the Parliament, only two dealt with human sexuality. Both were packed to overflowing. Sexual expression is a fundamental part of the human condition and I am perplexed by the unwillingness of many religions to address the subject with an open hand.
Much attention is being paid to indigenous spirituality. I attended one session on Sioux spiritual traditions and their application to the Australian landscape, and another session on deep listening, or “inloquence,” by which we can more closely embrace Earth spirit. Combined with several sessions on pagan traditions, I am increasingly eager to investigate the indigenous spiritualities of my European ancestors.
As an aside, one of the most profound spiritual experiences I have enjoyed in recent years entailed hugging a tree. Although a hippy stereotype, it really helped me feel connected to a transcendent non-dualistic spirituality.
I have been waiting all week for the session titled “Substance & Soul: An Exploration of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the Worlds Non-Dual Religious Traditions” to be rescheduled. It finally was held today. I am keenly interested in the role of transcendence as a tool for fighting addiction. Twelve-step programs traditionally are interpreted from a Judeo-Christian perspective but more and more people are interested in non-dualistic spirituality as a mechanism for recovery. Addicts seem to use substances as both a means for simultaneously attaining transcendence as well as anesthetizing the fear of surrendering ego clinging.
Dualistic faiths provide external references that remind me of my own divinity. Non-dualistic faiths allow me to dwell in that divinity and feel connected to all others. It seems to me that addicts get stuck in the process of looking outside themselves for a sense of connectedness, ultimately becoming stuck in an artificial metaphysical space.
It seems to me that all religions and the texts upon which they are based attempt to understand and relate to fundamentally unknowable transcendent truths. It behooves us to read these texts with a compassionate and flexible attitude. Fortunately, this attitude is shared by many at this interfaith gathering.
As mentioned in an earlier blog, it is clear many of the world’s religions carve out a special place for condemning homosexuality, often using sacred texts as justification for their intolerance. Looking at the Hebrew Bible, for example, we see Jews, Christians and Muslims adamantly standing by some laws while taking flexible attitudes toward others. As a gay man, I am particularly frustrated that some people will leverage holy words to condemn me but excuse away their own behaviors.
Interestingly, out of several hundred sessions at the Parliament, only two dealt with human sexuality. Both were packed to overflowing. Sexual expression is a fundamental part of the human condition and I am perplexed by the unwillingness of many religions to address the subject with an open hand.
Much attention is being paid to indigenous spirituality. I attended one session on Sioux spiritual traditions and their application to the Australian landscape, and another session on deep listening, or “inloquence,” by which we can more closely embrace Earth spirit. Combined with several sessions on pagan traditions, I am increasingly eager to investigate the indigenous spiritualities of my European ancestors.
As an aside, one of the most profound spiritual experiences I have enjoyed in recent years entailed hugging a tree. Although a hippy stereotype, it really helped me feel connected to a transcendent non-dualistic spirituality.
I have been waiting all week for the session titled “Substance & Soul: An Exploration of Drug and Alcohol Abuse in the Worlds Non-Dual Religious Traditions” to be rescheduled. It finally was held today. I am keenly interested in the role of transcendence as a tool for fighting addiction. Twelve-step programs traditionally are interpreted from a Judeo-Christian perspective but more and more people are interested in non-dualistic spirituality as a mechanism for recovery. Addicts seem to use substances as both a means for simultaneously attaining transcendence as well as anesthetizing the fear of surrendering ego clinging.
Dualistic faiths provide external references that remind me of my own divinity. Non-dualistic faiths allow me to dwell in that divinity and feel connected to all others. It seems to me that addicts get stuck in the process of looking outside themselves for a sense of connectedness, ultimately becoming stuck in an artificial metaphysical space.
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