The more we separate ourselves from each other the weaker ‘WE’ become. –Teresa Funke
I am a Christian-Ecumenist-Perennialist. That is, I am a follower of Christ’s invitation to live a certain way and I believe that there is common ground between and among all faith traditions (there is a Unity that transcends all) and I believe that there are teachings in each faith tradition that are essential to all human beings (I seek to find the teachings – the ‘good’ – in all faith traditions that appear to me to be essential for all of us). So: What is common to all; what is the Common Ground?
Now, I have not explored nor immersed myself in ALL faith traditions, but I have done so in many of them and thus far I have, indeed, found some common ground among them. There are points where all faith traditions meet. Here are a few of them.
Spirit is the first. The mystics recognize and celebrate the wisdom of the spirit that is the life-breath of all. The mystics also tell us that in order to meet the spirit we must descend – go deeper still – or we must journey into the darkness – the deep dark woods – or we must spend time in the desert – the wasteland. While we are there we must be silent (be in solitude) and we must listen (the spirit comes as a soft voice or gentle breeze and is easy for us who are full of noise to miss).
Today spirit, spirituality and spiritual are words we use given the context. For the mystics, spirit is used in relation to that which is deemed holy. Holy begets holy. In religious traditions across time and cultures people have sought via rites and rituals to sanctify places, times and deeds in order to recognize, celebrate and honor holy moments. Depending upon the tradition and culture these will take on different forms and yet they seem to be expressions of a common reality (it might even seem that these are contradictory). The variety expresses for me the diversity that God brings to our world; who am I, who are you, who are we to define how the spirit lives and moves in our world? What right do we have to limit the movement of the spirit? In all faith traditions (the ones I have explored, certainly) we hear a common admonition: welcome the stranger for in doing so we welcome the spirit – the Divine.
The second common-ground connection is our Common Humanity. All faith traditions are not only made up of human beings, they are made up of ‘diverse’ human beings. All faith traditions also have common human concerns which they seek to embrace. At their best they seek to care for human beings, they seek to demonstrate compassion and empathy, and they seek to hold ‘love’ up as a primary virtue. They also seek to bring healing and forgiveness to those who need/seek healing and forgiveness. A goal is to live a life of wholeness – a divided life (beginning with the person and then moving to discrete relationships and then to the community) undermines all.
In 1991 at Cornell University, the Dalai Lama offered us the following: We are born with compassion and love. This is a human quality, not religious, and comes before religion. There is gentleness in basic human nature. Human affection comes from a good heart. And so there is universal responsibility not only for human beings but for all sentient beings. Mental attitude is key to calmness of mind which creates peace and a friendly atmosphere. Anger is an enemy within us, for, when we are angry, that anger finally is destructive to us.
We humans are not all light. Darkness (evil) is also common to our humanity. The mystics of all traditions have reminded us (and continue to remind us) of the internal struggle between light and darkness (good and evil) that we must each embrace. This is often portrayed as a ‘war’ – for Islam it is the first Jihad – the internal war. Aristotle reminded us that we become our habits; others have said that we become what we live out each day and still others have said that we become what we give attention to each day. It seems to me that attending to the movement of the spirit and holy in my life would tip the scales toward the light and away from the darkness. What do I choose each day: love, compassion, empathy, forgiveness, healing or anger, spite, resentment, or envy? Do my daily choices move me toward the light, the sacred or do they move me toward the darkness, the profane? I have choice, the mystics remind me.
Our common humanity is a point of meeting and when we meet we can take steps to build community or we can take steps that will lead us to separation and destruction. We have choice – I have choice, you have choice, we have choice.
Become the change you want to see in the world. –Gandhi
Searcher-Seeker 