Spirituality, Ignorance and Sin

continued from my examiner column, http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-ignorance-and-sin

Matthew Fox, theologian, features a chapter on the meanings of sin from perspectives of theologians and biologists with citations from both communities, and present day examples. He says one of the issues in contemporary society is that ‘we have lost the drama of a sense of evil and sin- angels, demons, powers, principalities’ (of earlier religious/mystical thinking, and) ‘We have substituted psychology for spirituality-a psychology that, like our religion, lacks cosmology (as much of the Protestant and modern era has) is a weak substitute for the quest for the sacred as a wrestling with cosmic powers.’ [Thus,] ‘morality easily gets reduced to moralizing.’

There is a terrible price to ‘reductionism committed on sin itself’- Fox cites 20th century genocide as an example. This brilliant discussion expands upon personal and social sin. p 31 Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Lessons for Transforming Evil in Soul and Society

One of the central charges against people of faith, is that too often our religious traditions became bogged down in doctrine, heady theologies with no proof, rules and regulations, an insistence on correct belief and moralizing which stifled any attempt at creativity, justice, love and reform. This was tackled head on by the brilliant poet and mystic, Rumi, in a similar vein to what native Americans and Chinese peasants alike had to say about self-righteous Christian missionaries. He sings,

‘They say you bring the word of God

Yet all I hear is talk of good and bad-

Nothing of love and truth.’

from A Garden Beyond Paradise: the mystical poetry of Rumi by Jonathan Star

Twentieth century theologian Karl Barth addressed our failure to love and even to comprehend or acknowledge our complicity in systemic sin as a root cause of great misunderstanding in human religious thinking, and it is that which condemns us. ‘The wrath of God is the judgment under which we stand in so far as we do not love the Judge; it is the ‘No’ which meets us when we do not affirm it; it is the protest pronounced always and everywhere against the course of the world in so far as we do not accept the protest as our own; it is the questionable-ness of life in so far as we do not apprehend it . . . . The judgment under which we stand is a fact, quite apart from our attitude to it. Indeed, it is the fact most characteristic of our life. . . .’ p 116 Karl Barth, Theologian of Freedom ed. Clifford Green

It would be too easy in Barth’s view to reduce the profound religious-spiritual dimension to a consideration of mere ‘social justice’ or legislating morality through the political process as is often attempted. ‘Belief in God is revolutionary, he argued. In one published sermon he said that ‘the vile’ of capitalism was the consequence of a world without God (and) he contrasted this with the Christian hope of a new world brought into being by the ‘living God.’” ‘We should expect more of God,’ he wrote in another article, and look for something better ‘beyond war and capitalism.’ p 14 Theologian of Freedom. This strikes at the heart of those who would align any religion too closely with the state and its economic interests.

The Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hahn addresses one of the 'conditions' humans suffer, that of 'anger'. (note the change in emphasis- he did not call it 'sin'.) He says ‘According to the Buddha’s teachings, the most basic condition for happiness is freedom. Here we do not mean political freedom, but freedom from the mental formations of anger, despair, jealousy, and delusion These mental formations are described by the Buddha as poinsons. As long as these posons are still in our heart, happiness cannot be possible. In order to be free from anger, we have to practice, whether we are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish. We cannot ask the Buddha, Jesus, God, or Mohammed to take anger out of our hearts for us. There are concrete instructions on how to transform the craving, anger and confusion within us.’ For Nhat Hahn we need to 'take care of' our own suffering and help others do the same.

It is, an enlightened view apart from the cycle of punishment-revenge-condemnation and subsequent guilt/remorse/shame. He offers five mindfulness trainings in Appendix B of the book ‘Anger’. My hope is that someday, we seek to understand the root causes and solutions to the pain in life in order to transform it.

(photo is from St. Mathew's Church, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi, India and features a Calvary Scene behind the Altar of a catholic church, artwork by Anuragk Gupta Medium Resin and Epoxy. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons by Agtingeart.)

Spirituality and simplicity

Continued from my examiner post . . . http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-and-simplicity . . .

As we approach the end of a chapter, there is a sense that we know a change is approaching, though there may be a general sense of confusion and/or anxiety. That is a time to examine the situation, setting aside one’s emotion, coupled with relaxing into understanding and compassion.

Thich Nhat Hahn instructs on what the Buddha taught on his ‘Discourse on Mindful Breathing.’ He explains, ‘Breathing in, I recognize my feeling. Breathing out, I calm my feeling.’ He says, ‘Mindfulness helps you be concentrated and look deeply. This is true meditation. The insight will come after some time of practice.’ You are approaching a change. Become friends with yourselfyou’re your situation, before you turn the page. Ask, ‘what are you teaching me, now?’

You can put that book down for a time, returning to it mindlessly, forgetting what came before. You can stay with it, angrily, anxiously turning that page to find out what happens next, in a state of anxiety. You can approach the new chapter with relief. You can skip ahead to try and peek at the ending before realizing you have to pay your dues and live through each chapter first. It is a lesson in mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hahn tells the story of a woman who meditated on the name of the Buddha for years only to become angry when a neighbor interrupted her. The neighbor suggested how angry the Buddha might be if she had been calling his name repeatedly for so many years. He suggests that when one prays without being present or follows rituals mechanically it does not allow for spaciousness of spirit or openness of one’s heart. In this way one never touches the living essence of the life and teaching of the one whom they follow. It’s like living one’s story without being aware of what is happening.

Lord knows, there is plenty of mindlessness all around. Meditation is helpful in this. Practicing ‘the essence’ allows for a sense of joy and clarity; a deep sense of communication. Oh, that is where I am. It is an awakening. When one turns the page in an awakened state, the next chapter is a totally different thing. The key to approaching any change, in fact, living with where we are, is entering a stage of mental refuge, a place of mindfulness.

Thich Nhat Hahn reminds us that nothing is permanent within the constructs of what we call our ‘self.’ He says, ‘The Buddha taught that a so-called ‘person’ is really just five elements (skandhas) that come together for a limited period of time” our body, feelings, perceptions, mental states, and consciousness. These five elements are, in fact, changing all time. Not a single element remains the same for two consecutive moments.’ P 133 Living Buddha, Living Christ. How beautiful that is. And how meaningful each moving, ever-changing storyline, intersecting with every other.

[photo from painting by Frederic Remington, American Artist. Titled, 'The Belated Traveler']