Power of Understanding -- Both Intuitive and Intellectual

On Unity.org's main website, a short article on Spiritual Understanding was recently published by Gail Dobert who is director of Silent Unity's Telephone Ministries. This article is very appropriate and timely since Unity Worldwide Ministries (formerly the Association of Unity Churches Int'l) has declared the month of July as having the theme of understanding -- one of Charles Fillmore's twelve spiritual powers found in each human individual.

In this brief overview of spiritual understanding, Dobert makes the claim that there are essentially two different kinds of understanding -- spiritual/intuitive understanding and intellectual understanding -- and the spiritual/intuitive kind is actually that which reveals true insight into the Divine and is the true source of inspiration and spiritual growth. She sees intellectual understanding as limited and quite inferior to the intuitive type of understanding. She states, "Spiritual Understanding wells up from within through intuition and inspiration. Spiritual Understanding is different from intellectual understanding. While intellectual understanding is important in life, there are things we simply cannot intellectually understand. We must seek to find greater understanding and meaning by seeking Spiritual Understanding."

Though I agree with her when she says that there "is a bittersweet mystery about life" and that we as humans aren't meant to understand everything, this principle must apply to both our intuitive and intellectual natures. Indeed, even our intuition or "gut-feeling" faculty of our being is limited in ways and has certain boundaries. Neither our intuitive nor our intellectual sides are limitless, unbounded, and completely free from mistake or misunderstanding.

With this in mind, through my own personal experience, I believe our intellectual nature is just as insightful and conducive toward spiritual growth and experience of truth as our intuition. In fact, dichotomizing intuition and intellect is failing to take into account the interrelatedness, interdependency of all faculties of human existence. I view our human nature as holistic -- faith and reason, heart and mind, intuition and intellect are cooperatively and harmoniously integrated such that they play off of one another in mutual support. Neither is superior or inferior to the other. They are reciprocally up-building in efficacy and activity.

I've found that some of the most insightful and inspired moments in my spiritual experience about God, Truth, Christ, my Self, etc. have been through intellectual reflection and study. Now, this has most definitely been corroborated and resonated by times of contemplation in the Silence. My point is simply that neither intution nor intellect is necessarily greater than the other and both fall short of fully and totally grasping the eternal, infinite, and ultimate Reality we name God or Truth. We may experience flashes or moments of spiritual insight into the Absolute Nature of Reality or God, but in the end we are individual creations within the Mind of God, part and parcel of God's Mind. In the end, words, concepts, language, categories and understand of any kind falls short of fully experiencing the eternal and infinite Mystery of the Divine in which we live, move, and have our being.

Unity Lecture - "2012: Birthing a World of Unity and Compassion"

On Thursday June 24, 2010 from 7-9pm, Christine Page, M.D. will be giving a lecture at Unity Village about the upcoming and much talked about 2012 prophecies.

Join Christine for what ought to be an exciting lecture, where she'll explore 1) The Mayan prophecy that speaks of a future world of peace and unity; 2) Why it is so important to stay present during these times of change; 3) Why this life, more than any other for the past 26,000 years, is so important for the manifestation our unique soul's destiny; and 4) How to safely surf the waves of change that accompany any birth.

Though I'm not a huge proponent of making too big of a deal of the Mayan calendar and what it might mean, I'm certainly interested in what Dr. Page has to say concerning the hype and oftentimes fear surrounding these "prophecies" and the implications it has for our individual and collective spiritual growth into the future.

Should be interesting. For more info on Dr. Page, the event, and tickets, go to Unity.org's webpage.

Online Teleseminar Series from Integral Enlightenment

Integral Enlightenment, EnlightenNext, among other sponsors, are hosting a free online teleseminar series called Awakening the Impulse to Evolve. The purpose of these online speakers and interactions will be to explore what it means to consciously participate in the process of evolving and developing ourselves, relationships, the culture, and the world.

Visit the teleconference website to register for free.

It should prove to be a compelling inspiration for spiritual growth, no matter what faith path you might be on.

Humanist and Atheist Chaplaincy

"The nonreligious population is exploding, and somebody has to minister to them. Harvard’s humanist chaplain is on the road, sharing a vision of the common good, hoping his message will resonate with theists and atheists alike." (Religion Dispatches, Oct. 30, 2009)

With millions of people identifying as "non-religious" or "non-theist" in the U.S. there is a growing and often unrecognized need for spiritual or emotional counseling of those that fall into this group. Greg Epstein is one who has stepped up. He is a "humanist chaplain" at Harvard University who has recently published a book called Good Without God: What a Billion Non-religious People Do Believe (William Morrow, 2009) which discusses the reality of an atheistic spirituality.

I've been curious about this relatively new distinction people oftentimes make between 'religion' and 'spirituality.' When I ask people about the difference between the meaning of the two terms they usually retort that religion has something to do with institutions, social gathering, doctrine, dogma, etc. whereas spirituality has more to do with a personal, individual pursuit of meaning and truth. Thus, on this distinction, the notion of an atheistic spirituality would make sense, I suppose. Atheists can consider themselves spiritual but not religious; they have a personal quest for meaning and truth but not one that involves a particular institutional affiliation, doctrine, or belief about God, deity, divinity, or the like.

Since atheists do often consider themselves spiritual persons, then it is crucial that the spiritual service of chaplaincy address their particular needs as well. Thus, we must have chaplains that are trained and prepared to meet the emotional and spiritual needs of atheistic worldviews and lives, chaplains that can make that modern/post-modern distincition between religion and spirituality when working with atheist persons.

I like the idea of the work that Greg Epstein is doing. This kind of activity needs more public attention. This is an area of chaplaincy that is not much talked about but is crucial for servicing the spiritual needs of a now significant population of the U.S. and the world.

Read a review article of Epstein's new book at Religion Dispatches.

(Above image from Religion Dispatches.)

Patheos Launches Interfaith Dialogue on Religion and Education

Patheos.com, one of the world's foremost online forums for global dialogue on issues of religion and spirituality, recently launched a "Public Square" examination of the challenges and issues facing religious education from the perspective of the world's seven largest religious traditions.

To read a review of the recent dialogue forum see this article of the Religion News Service.

To find out more go to Patheos.com.

Religion and Ethics Newsweekly Interviews Jazz Musician Dave Brubeck

Bob Faw of PBS's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly traveled to Washington, D.C., for an enlightening interview with jazz icon Dave Brubeck. Known for his widely inventive, often revolutionary time signatures, what is less known by even jazz listeners is that Brubeck has also composed religious scores for much of his career.

For Dave Brubeck, jazz not only embraces and encompasses but also enhances and augments religion. Raised Presbyterian by a Christian Scientist mother, the 88-year-old Brubeck always strives to convey the same message in his music: love your enemies.

Check out the show on Friday, July 10, 2009 at Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.

Muslim-Christian Musical Integration

Recently, musicians from the Muslim and Christian traditions have been amalgamating two spiritual musical styles important to both religions. Qawwali, a mystical Islamic music that aims at dikr -- bringing the players and listeners in closer proximity to experiencing God, remembering God -- has been combined with many kinds of music, such as local musics from around the world, rock, reggae, hip-hop, and electronica.

At the latest Muslim Voices Festival musicians married Qawwali and an influential Christian spiritual music - Gospel. Hussein Rashid, who regularly attends the Muslim Voices Festival, provides a short commentary and review of the experience at Religion Dispatches.

Though I wasn't there, I would imagine that, having listened to both styles separately and understanding the deep spiritual feelings and inspiration behind these types of music, this would be an intriguing and fruitful cross-fertilization. Each has its own unique contribution of musical power, so experiencing them together with any amount of mutual influence must be an exhilarating and heartening.

Since music speaks a language all its own, one that transcends words, musical interaction can be a beautiful and advantageous way of interfaith dialogue conducive to peacable co-existence.

PRAMECO "Love in Action" Theme Today

Today is another PRAMECO (prayer, meditation, contemplation) day, the final in the series of "Love in Action" theme. Today, take a few minutes each hour to pray, meditate, or contemplate about acting through love and willing lovingkindness to permeate our daily lives.

This month, the network of people affiliated with PRAMECO will also start having intentions for particular places of current conflict or civil unrest. We will be keeping the well-being of the people of Iran in our thoughts, prayers, and meditations -- with the neutral intention of peaceful co-existence and resolution to violent conflict and suffering.

Visit the PRAMECO website to learn more about the organization and the monthly contemplative cooperative activities.

Integral Life Monthly Newsletter

Integral Life's monthly newsletter is out and interesting as ever.

Check out this month's issue here.

Jazz and Spirituality

This past week's show of the Interfaith Voices radio program features a piece about the great jazz singer Mary Lou Williams who pioneered a style often termed "sacred jazz" which, in turn, greatly influenced pianist Duke Ellington and saxophonist John Coltrane. Catholic jazz artist Deanna Witkowski introduces listeners to this often overlooked genre and talks about her new album that sets Christians prayers, contemplations, and hymns to music for a jazz quartet context.

As a jazz musician myself (for those who don't know, I'm a bassist), I've always experienced both listening to and playing music as sacred activity. When one mindfully listens to music, one is opened up to the possibilities that inherently lie in the creative expressions of the musicians. The ability music has to evoke emotional power is part and parcel of its spiritual nature. The playing of music also touches the depths of human spirituality and expresses the inner being of the musician. As for me personally, I've always felt that playing music (whether alone or in a group) is a meditative activity, cathartic and communicative of one's soul. So playing music centers me on the deepest part of my being and focuses my attention on the Divine; it cleanses me of the hardships and troubles on my mind and brings forth what's within me through musical vocabulary. As the jazz drummer Art Blakey once said, "Jazz washes away the dust of everyday life." Music draws out that which is most real within and puts one in touch with the transcendent, making daily discontents seem menial and transitory.

In jazz, individuals forward their spiritual-musical expression in the context of a group, especially the small 3-5 person combo. In this milieu there are three different intimate relationships occurring simultaneously -- 1) the interaction between the individual and the group, 2) the interaction between the ensemble and the audience, and 3) the interaction between the individual musician and his/her own self. These interrelationships create a complex of dynamic musical articulation that push the individual and collective experience to profound levels of spiritual participation and understanding that simply cannot be expressed with normal linguistic structures. Rather, these experiences occur via the language of music.

Listen to the interview with Deanna Witkowski about "sacred jazz" and the spiritual dimension to music on Interfaith Voices.

(Above photo from Interfaith Voices website.)

New Psychology and Religion Journal

A new journal, Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, has been launched earlier this year which publishes articles using experimental and correlational methods, qualitative analyses, and critical reviews of literature pertaining to topics of religion and spirituality. The editor is Dr. Ralph Piedmont and is published (and thus approved) by the APA.

This journal is a significant move in the relationship between science and religion, particularly from the scientific side of the issue. That is, since the European Enlightenment and scientific revolution, which centralized and standardized the use of reason and empirical methodology, scientists have largely been reluctant to attempt to study humans concerning religion and spirituality. However, this journal represents an attempt by science (specifically, psychologists who have been for decades trying to attain increasing credibility in the "hard" sciences) to better understand what religion and spirituality are about from the perspective of the cognitive and behavioral scientific perspective and using these methodologies. As the first academic peer-reviewed journal to treat how faith affects human behavior, it is a monumental step in the direction of greater learning among scientists about the benefits of religion for humanity and will boost the dialogue between scientists and people of faith.

See more info about the journal at the APA website.

Listen to the editor Dr. Piedmont in an interview on Interfaith Voices.

(Above image from APA journal webpage.)

Bridging the Gap Between Religion and Psychology

There are two conferences on spirituality and mental health scheduled for early next month: Northern California Mental Health and Spirituality Conference, June 1-2 2009 in Oakland, CA; California Conference on Mental Health and Spirituality, June 4-5 2009 in Los Angeles, CA.

The basic purpose of these conferences is to increase the awareness of the possible ways that spirituality can and has played in the prevention, treatment, and recovery of mental illness, and to promote interaction and collaboration among religious organizations, mental health services providers, those with mental illness and their families, and the general public in learning more about the issues and combating stigmas that are associated with both religion and mental illness.

Important in these conferences is that they are presenting methods that integrate spirituality into mental health treatment that are both client-driven and respectful of the separation of church and state. These meetings provide research to educate the public on the important role spirituality has played for many people in recovery from trauma and mental illness.

Since there has been a rift or barrier between religion and the psychological/mental health community in the past and continuing today, these types of conferences are significant in taking steps in the direction of understanding, cooperation, and collaboration in fighting mental illness. Mental health service providers often have misguided and uninformed stereotypes about religious practices, rituals, disciplines, and beliefs and religious organizations oftentimes don't have concrete ways of offering themselves as a friendly outlet or community for those suffering from mental illness. I trust that the more we can initiate conferences and experimental/experiential meetings like the above the more able we'll be to tear down the walls separating the integration of spiritual practices and beliefs into mental health prevention and treatment.

As a Unity student and chaplain in training, I feel that spirituality does play a significant role (if not a primary role) in dealing with any illness or problem being experienced in many people's lives. Addressing the spiritual dimension of the human condition is important because without taking it into account we're missing an integral part of the whole. Treating only the physical and/or emotional while neglecting the spiritual can be greatly detrimental to one's well-being since spirituality is an essential element of the entire human being.

However, it's important to recognize that not every individual wants to bring spirituality or religion into their treatment. Thus, the integration of spirituality into treating illnesses must be initiated and guided by the patient so that spirituality isn't being forced into their lives against their will -- this wouldn't be conducive to growth or well-being at all.

Unity, as a movement, has always promoted a "whole-person"-oriented method of addressing well-being and health and has a strong history of advocating the coordination and integration of the spiritual with the scientific (or vice versa). Unity communities have been involved in building relationships with local health professionals and internal programs focused on actively dealing with mental and other illnesses with a whole-person mindset and methodology. One prominent example would be the Unity Church of Hawaii, ministered by Rev. Sky St. John, but there are many communities and individuals involved in this kind of work.

Let's keep up the good work and further it by supporting and initiating conferences such as these that bring together the disciplines of spirituality and mental health.

"Activists and advocates have launched an initiative to further the understanding of the role of religion and spirituality in mental health. Conferences next month will bring clergy and mental health workers together to break new ground." Read more by Gale Bataille and Bill Berkowitz at Relgion Dispatches.

Repossessing Virtue: Wise Voices on the Economic Crisis

This past week's Speaking of Faith program is a continuing series on spirituality and finances:

"This ongoing series explores the moral, spiritual, and practical aspects of the economic downturn. Former guests and you, our listeners, share their wisdom and insight from first-person perspectives, and stories of transformation that may help you in these unpredictable times." (Speaking of Faith)

Go to Speaking of Faith website to listen to the program.

(Photo: "Walking the Sky" by Thomas Brown/Flikr at www.speakingoffaith.publicradio.org)

New Book About Spirituality of Sex

A new book is out by J. Harold Ellens entitled The Spirituality of Sex (Praeger, 2009). It is about the interplay of sexuality and spirituality through the use of anecdotes, observation, and reflective analysis. Ellens describes the psycho-spiritual facts of life about the ubiquity of sexuality in all facets of human life.

This book seems not to be an instructional manual of any kind so much as an informed description of the deep meaning that can be found in the experience of sex. It is structured to give insight about the human individual and his/her sexuality as it concerns the spiritual side of human nature. It is an interesting inquiry into the possible spiritual character of sexual play and sexual union.

Read a brief review of the book at the RNS.

Science, Consciousness, and the Soul -- David Chalmers article

Author David Chalmers writes an article for EnlightenNext magazine about science, consciousness, and the soul -- a look at new theories of awareness that embraces both the spiritual/mystical and quantum physics/neuroscience dimensions of the issue.

Check out Chalmers's article on EnlightenNext.

Mahatma Gandhi -- World Spirituality on Unity.fm

Listen to WORLD SPIRITUALITY on Unity.fm this week when host Rev. Paul John Roach discusses Mahatma Gandhi with guests Andy Fort and Mark Dennis. In this program, they will look at some of the myths surrounding Mahatma Gandhi, his message and power, and his meaning for us today.

Listen to World Spirituality on Tuesday at 11am PST/2pm EST on Unity.fm.

Webcast Seminar With Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber

Living Evolutionary Spirituality and an Integral Life:

Tomorrow May 9, 2009 from noon to 5:00pm Eastern, Andrew Cohen and Ken Wilber, two defining voices in the field of spiritual and cultural transformation, will bring their unique combination of spiritual experience and theoretical knowledge to an exclusive live event on EnlightenNext Webcast: a four-hour virtual seminar that comprehensively examines what it means to live an integral, evolutionary life. In this unique forum, Cohen and Wilber will explore how each of us can become a fully awake, purposeful, and integral human being who demonstrates that a more enlightened future is possible, even in our uncertain times.

See the EnlightenNext event page to register for this important event.

(Photo from EnlightenNext.org)

Spiritual Discernment Christian Leadership Conference at George Fox University

The George Fox University Congregational Discernment Project announces two dozen Authors and Experts Workshops on various aspects of spiritual discernment as the key to effective Christian leadership. The conference will be held this May 31-June 3 at George Fox University in Newberg, OR.

"Authentic leadership is seen as a function of truth rather than power, and this conference explores the theory and practice underlying that reality. . . This conference features leading authors and experts who will be sharing how discernment-oriented leadership works." (RNS)

Check out the conference details on GFU's website.

New Book by Henri Nouwen, My Thoughts

The Henri Nouwen Society has just released a new book, Home Tonight: Further Reflections on the Parable of the Prodigal Son, a collection of writings on the parable of the prodigal son by the late Dutch priest and contemplative Henri Nouwen. This new volume is edited by Sue Mosteller.

Fr. Nouwen was a profound spiritual thinker and writer, and has had an indelible influence on Christian spirituality. His writing was clear, cogent, and easily comprehensible, appealing to a wide audience well beyond his Catholic roots. The most important marks that Fr. Nouwen has left are 1) his ever-present emphasis on what I like to call the "belovedness" of God, that every human being is a unique and beloved child of God with inherent worth, and 2) his insistence that God's Love is an ultimate justification to preserve life and cultivate peacefulness (he said no to both Vietnam and the Nuclear War).

In my own spiritual journey, Fr. Nouwen takes a place alongside other Christian contemplatives with mystical and pastoral bents such as Thomas Merton, Thomas Keating, M. Basil Pennington, William Meninger, T.S. Eliot, Teilhard de Chardin, George Fox, Emanuel Swedenborg, Phineas Quimby, William Blake, among many others who have taught me much and have inspired me to continue with my contemplative practices. His discerning insights and gentle pastoral tact have influenced my own conceptions of ministry, and his writing about his own internal conflict with identity and emotion are real struggles with which I can relate.

I know a few in Unity circles who have also been touched by Fr. Nouwen, but more should be introduced to his thought. I think his spiritual understandings easily resonate with Unity teachings, especially the underlying conviction that every person is a child of God meant to exude God's Love in ourselves and in our relationships. Sure, his Catholic commitment prevented him from speaking of humans as individual expressions of the one God, but his contemplative leanings show his place firmly within the contemplative tradition that is a solid part of the Catholic faith. So I'm willing to ventue a guess that he'd be able to relate to Unity principles of One Presence and One Power, the Indwelling Christ, the power of our intention, the efficacy of prayer activity, and the practical engagement of these truths in everyday life.

Indeed, for those of you who haven't read Fr. Nouwen's material check out the new book and go to the Henri Nouwen Society website.

Science of Mindfulness - Jon Kabat-Zinn, Meditation, and Spirituality

Recently American Public Media interviewed Jon Kabat-Zinn, founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He explores how, through both science and experience, mindfulness practice in one's life mitigates stress and thus plays a key part in the prevention and treatment of illnesses.

Due to the character of the times (what with economic instability, the fast-paced stride of American daily life, and over-inundation with information) Americans experience a huge amount of stress in our lives. What Kabat-Zinn has done is researched and published significant findings on the positive affects of meditative techniques on mental and physical health and de-mystified (or clarified might be a better term) the practice of mindfulness.

The chief import of Kabat-Zinn's work is that it shows, using scientific methodologies, that how one chooses to view life and what one pays attention to can have demonstrable influence on one's well-being. Also, it makes these traditionally spiritual or religious techniques much more palatable to the non/a-religious in the modern/post-modern West. People who would normally never touch these practices due to the religious, cultural, or linguistic baggage that they often come with are now presented with scientific evidence that they work and in a linguistic universe that isn't threatening to their sensibilities.

We in Unity have always acknowledged the reality of the affects of contemplative techniques on the mind and body (I'm thinking of even early works of our founders - for example, see C. Fillmore's Atom-Smashing Power of Mind [1949]), and have readily pointed to past scientific research that has suggested this is the case (such as Andrew Newberg's work on prayer and neuroscience).

Kabat-Zinn's research can be added to the growing list of scientific corroboration of ancient mystical-spiritual truths. However, his work is interesting also because, though it recognizes that many people link mindfulness with religion, it doesn't propound to be dealing with explicitly "religious" or even "spiritual" techniques; he argues that these techniques don't have to be associated with religion or spirituality.

Though I thoroughly respect and admire his work and feel it's doing much good, I feel he's dissociated these practices from religion too much. They are historically and culturally grounded in religious contexts, which speaks to the role religion plays in their actual engagement and effectiveness. That is, because these practices emerged from religious individuals and communities with explicitly spiritual concerns, these meditative techniques are intrinsically geared toward and infused with spiritual aims and purposes. I think that stripping them of their religious connection is somewhat degrading to the religions from which they've come and prevents a full experience of what these techniques were created to do - experience the Ultimate and live according to these insights.

I'm not saying that using them for the purpose of stress-relief is unwarranted. To the contrary, I think it's wonderful that people can benefit from these mindfulness practices without recourse to religious concerns. The non-religious may think that meditative techniques only have non-spiritual benefits, but I'd want to ask for a definition of spirituality here. I view spirituality as the human being's process of making meaning, discerning value, and bettering oneself through specific practices to this end (religion has more of an institutional or social form of spiritual concerns). Thus, according to my understanding, spirituality and religion are not the same thing and aren't mutually inclusive to each other - they can occupy different spheres. Mindfulness is spiritual in at least the sense I've suggested. This, coupled with the intimate historical-cultural connection, leads me to believe that it is almost impossible to say that there is absolutely no spiritual aspect to these techniques. My argument is probably grounded in semantics or word usage, but it's something to think about.

Nonetheless, Kabat-Zinn has done some great work at the Stress Reduction Center and I highly commend him for his efforts in helping people to live better, more health-ful lives.

Listen to the interview with Kabat-Zinn on Speaking of Faith on American Public Media.