I was trained very well on my academic journey. Critical theory, intellectual debate, and rational arguments have been part of the warp and woof of my own personal development. These are all things which I still value.
And yet...my heart has yearned for other ways of knowing, other truths that offer a more integrated and, in my view, expansive relationship to the other, to life, and to the cosmos. Intense childhood experiences which made me feel a deep, abiding sense of the interconnectedness of all life, as well as the presence of some mysterious, unknown Other, have also marked my personal development. Yet these are often unmentionables in a culture such as ours - a culture that seems primarily divided between religious fundamentalism and secular atheism.
The truth which rationality paved a path towards involved the understanding that no one religion could possibly be 'the one.' The irrationality of religious wars and the important documentation and critiques of the horrors perpetuated in the name of a "God" expose that something is terribly amiss in how we approach our relationship to one another and to the world. Yet the road leading to a condemnation of a spiritual dimension has not been a path I have traveled - not because I have not been willing to consider all the 'arguments', but because life experiences have revealed that it is neither "good, useful, or beautiful" to do so. These were the criteria my ancient ancestors, the Greek philosophers, implored us to use as a measure of what is right or true.
Among the more powerful cosmologies which have supported my personal understandings of spirituality have been those of diverse Indigenous peoples . A profound First Nations traditional teacher has mirrored the criteria my ancestors established when she speaks of the "Beautiful Path" or "Following the Sweetgrass Trail." The acknowledgment of a spiritual dimension to life does not necessarily make life easier or suffering disappear, but the meaning it provides is "good, useful and beautiful." The acknowledgment of our deep interconnectedness and humility in the face of life's mystery opens doorways of understanding, builds bridges between difference, and offers insight, comfort, and inspiration in the midst of despair, uncertainty, and alienation.
In a culture where spirituality is often subject to blistering critique or is exploited as a 'cure all', the deeper essence and stories involved in engaging with a spiritual dimension of life are drowned out in the fury and the snickers. It takes cultural courage to stand in one's deeply felt spiritual beliefs in the din of such ever-present noise.
In honouring a greater silence, we may remember to hear - one another, the symphony of creation, and the essence of what is.
And yet...my heart has yearned for other ways of knowing, other truths that offer a more integrated and, in my view, expansive relationship to the other, to life, and to the cosmos. Intense childhood experiences which made me feel a deep, abiding sense of the interconnectedness of all life, as well as the presence of some mysterious, unknown Other, have also marked my personal development. Yet these are often unmentionables in a culture such as ours - a culture that seems primarily divided between religious fundamentalism and secular atheism.
The truth which rationality paved a path towards involved the understanding that no one religion could possibly be 'the one.' The irrationality of religious wars and the important documentation and critiques of the horrors perpetuated in the name of a "God" expose that something is terribly amiss in how we approach our relationship to one another and to the world. Yet the road leading to a condemnation of a spiritual dimension has not been a path I have traveled - not because I have not been willing to consider all the 'arguments', but because life experiences have revealed that it is neither "good, useful, or beautiful" to do so. These were the criteria my ancient ancestors, the Greek philosophers, implored us to use as a measure of what is right or true.
Among the more powerful cosmologies which have supported my personal understandings of spirituality have been those of diverse Indigenous peoples . A profound First Nations traditional teacher has mirrored the criteria my ancestors established when she speaks of the "Beautiful Path" or "Following the Sweetgrass Trail." The acknowledgment of a spiritual dimension to life does not necessarily make life easier or suffering disappear, but the meaning it provides is "good, useful and beautiful." The acknowledgment of our deep interconnectedness and humility in the face of life's mystery opens doorways of understanding, builds bridges between difference, and offers insight, comfort, and inspiration in the midst of despair, uncertainty, and alienation.
In a culture where spirituality is often subject to blistering critique or is exploited as a 'cure all', the deeper essence and stories involved in engaging with a spiritual dimension of life are drowned out in the fury and the snickers. It takes cultural courage to stand in one's deeply felt spiritual beliefs in the din of such ever-present noise.
In honouring a greater silence, we may remember to hear - one another, the symphony of creation, and the essence of what is.
