We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

Some religions (e.g., Buddhism, Jainism, Taoism, Confucianism) are non-theistic. God is not at the center of these religions but the self is. Although theistic religions are focused upon God, it is still the self which is the center. It is the self which seeks a positive relationship with God. Thus, what all religions have in common is not God so much as the self.

What all religions, theistic or not, seek is a transformation of the self. Be it transformed through contact/association/relationship with God (Christianity calls this "conversion" [change], "redemption," "repentance" - a "turning around") or through some other means such as meditation which leads to "self-realization" or enlightenment, transformation of the self seems to be a more basic element, the defining factor, of religion.

• Eastern religions tend to go to and through the self to find the Ultimate Truth about reality (e.g., Hindu Brahman identified with personal Atman, Buddha Dharma through understanding of self/consciousness)

• Western religions tend to find Ultimate Reality (i.e., "God") coming to and through the self and on into society (e.g., through prophets or the person of Jesus Christ)

Ultimate Reality <-------------------------------------> Self
                west --->                                     <--- East

Thus:

• In the East people go to God - spiritual life is an active search for Truth ("enlightenment").

• In the West God comes to people - spiritual life is a passive reception of Truth ("revelation").

• Devotion (emotional) - "Faith righteousness" (Bhakti)

• Behavior (physical) oriented: practice (service and ritual) - "works righteousness" (Karma, orthopraxy = "straight practice")

• Knowledge and wisdom (intellectual): a search for truth (philosophy) - "The truth shall set you free" (Jnana, orthodoxy = "straight ideas" [doxology])

• Asceticism - self denial (of physical needs): fasting, poverty, chastity/celibacy - retreat (hermitage) from the world of man and society

• Meditation: (introspective) Hindu Raja Yoga & Eight-fold path of Buddhism (notes from Rel 231) (Huston Smith video on yoga [20 min]) (handout "Practice Makes Peaceful")

• Real magic is not stage illusion, not the magic we see on TV and movies (e.g., Bewitched, Charmed)

• Magic seeks to control impersonal powers while religion seeks to relate to personal deities

• Magic is a way to connect with the powers that be, to harness those energies and redirect them for practical purposes

• There is an element of magic in religion: both are ritualistic in that they use special words (incantations or prayers), gestures and formulas (ritual actions) to accomplish the desired end result. When a religion believes the correct performance of ritual is extremely important for success is when that religion appears most magical.

• Magic itself is not bad. There is "black" magic and "white" magic. Black magic, designed to harm others for personal gain, is bad because it is self centered not because it is magic. Wicca stresses good magic: "do what thou wilt but harm none"

Website: www.open-sesame.com

 

The psychology of spiritual development

James Fowler’s Stages of Faith Development: (transparency)

• Early childhood (ages 4-8): "Intuitive-Projective" faith, faith is imitated: watching, intuitive, wonder-filled, mood sensitive, imaginative, parents as authority

• School years (ages 8-12): "Mythic-literal" faith, faith is learned: marked by: collecting information, lore, concrete thinkers, joiners, learners, ritualists, self-aware, literal, identity conscious, rational, parents and teachers as authority

• Adolescence (age 13+): "Synthetic-conventional" faith, faith by assent: abstract, conceptional thinkers, theorizers, idealistic, visionary, romantic, inconsistent, vulnerable, "they say," borrowers of beliefs, yearning for approval, admired others (peers) as authority

• Young adulthood (if ever): "Individuative-Reflective" faith, faith is self-constructed: searching, questioning, doubting, exploring, defining, theologizing, debating, clarifying, boundary-building, self as authority

• Mid-life and beyond (if ever): "Conjunctive" faith, faith is expansive: poetic; mythic; tolerant of ambiguity, mystery, paradox; searching for reconnections with formerly disavowed traditions, welcoming of all human expressions of faith in Ultimacy, interdependence, creative interchange as authority

• Very mature adult (if ever): "Universalizing" faith, faith is universal: saints and bodhisattvas, unified, integrating, totally encompassing faith, faith is life-connecting

Bob Kegan: stages of faith transition back and forth between inclusion and independence; between the "truth of love" (trust) and a "love of truth" (beliefs):

• Faith imitated is inclusive ("Faith ought"): "this is how I ought to be"

• Faith learned is independent ("Faith taught"): birth of a role, of "me"

• Faith by assent is inclusive ("Faith bought"): conformist, we are relationships

• Faith self-constructed is independent ("Faith sought"): autonomy, we have relationships

• Faith expansive is inclusive ("Faith fought for"): reciprocity, we are in relationships

• Faith universal is independent ("Faith wrought" - fully constructed)

"Faith naught" (no faith): authority is secular society and science