Early Papers and Projects

Personal Stance

I was so gratified and grateful to have read the article by Freya Secrest and Suzanne A. Fageol. While I realize that labels are just a useful laziness; I am so pleased to find my own journey so beautifully articulated and given a name. It is always nice to have a mental coat hook for one’s ideas.

My stance is very much an interspiritual journey. I have been fighting the “shoulds” and “oughts” about committing to any one practice, and this article gave my disinclination to settle for any one thing some validation as a path to be taken. I am just independent and crabby enough to preserver on my present journey regardless of what others say but nice nonetheless to find that there are many others actively seeking their own interspiritual stance.

I am becoming more secure in my seeking and am beginning to understand that spirituality, for me, is more joyous and light-hearted. I am reveling in the learning about other traditions as a great adventure. I am working on finding my own version of a practice that fits more seamlessly into my life and does not always feel like work. This acceptance of the way my spirituality manifests is, I believe, a sign of my transition to a higher stage. I am still working hard at eradicating my distaste for organized religions, generally. This is still an area of work for me. What has changed is my attitude toward the work: it is still an adventure and a glorious one albeit a hard one of possibly some duration.

I believe that interspiritual spirituality is another word for a world centric vision of how humanity can co-exist. I do not think the barriers to complete tolerance and acceptance will come down unless information and knowledge of various traditions are shared by all. Ignorance breeds fear and fear creates “bogey men” out the unknown, perhaps that is why people can justify killing in the name of God and religion—our minds make things so much bigger and more frightening than they actually are and then…justifications for behavior.

I have no answer as to how to instill interspirituality or integral spirituality in the established, organized world religions. It is such a huge endeavor. Thinking along those lines—that I must make some huge change—can be and often is, I think, paralyzing. For me, the answer seems to be working on myself and how I manifest outwardly in the world. My favorite image is that of a stone thrown into a still pond: my actions and how I live my life will create ripples that touch untold and unknown people. With this image in mind, I find that I am making the effort to actually be the change I see in the world as Mahatma Gandhi encouraged us all to be. I am more often kind without thinking about it, more often helpful without thinking of a reward, and more often happy when I wake up. Of course, I have moments when it all falls away and I veer off my course in the middle way, but those moments are fewer and farther in between, and I recover quicker.

I suspect that more consistent “being” in a spiritually accepting place is what Wilber means by stages and stations—always hopeful of moving higher if one chooses but accepting those who stop on platforms or stations at a lower stage. Embodying an ethical and simple lifestyle might be one way to incorporate integral and interspiritual spirituality and direct humanity away from “my way or the highway” exclusive and narrow thinking around religion and spirituality. But, honestly who can say what will bring a paradigm shift to a wider perspective?

So, my personal stance is one of learning with a light, joyful heart of as many traditions and ideas as I can, taking what works for me from each and then letting the rest go. I cannot seem to find the will to “beat” myself up for lack of commitment to any one path as I have in the past: that is simply not my journey. For me:

All the names are good names

All the paths are correct paths and

All the journeys are beautiful.

Be well and travel happy.

This is how I start my prayers in the family-style Lakota sweat lodges I have attended. I think it sums up how I feel about my spirituality. Because I do not adhere to any one practice, I cannot truly take refuge with any one teacher or with any one community; they are all mineJ. However, I can and do take refuge in myself and my connection to the Divine.