I want to introduce you to the concept of interspiritual practice. I will briefly tell you what it is and why it’s very relevant for many of us today.
Most of the major religions began with one person having some type of religious experience. As a result of the insight gained from that experience he begins to teach a particular message, students and disciples are attracted and a movement begins. If the movement grows large enough then it will develop an organizational structure to maintain itself. If the structure endures over time it may become an institutionalized religion.
The term inter-faith usually means religious groups coming together at the organizational level.[1] This term generally refer to a number of various religious organizations coming together for a specific purpose, usually it is to better understand one another and to promote harmony in the world. Most of us are aware of inter-faith activities and inter-faith dialogues.
The term interspiritual refers to personal spiritual practice rather than to the activity of an organization. The purpose of spiritual practice is to help individuals have the same type of experience and insight as did the founders of their religion. The purpose of interspiritual practice is to unite us at the soul level, which is a much deeper bond than organizational cooperation. The purpose of inter-spiritual practice is to experience the deep reality that is the very core of every human being.
An interspiritual practitioner may be a monastic or a clergy person in a religious denomination. As such he or she may be committed to the practices of the denomination, but her loyalty goes well beyond the denomination itself; her ultimate loyalty is to the divine within herself and within every human being.
Today most who participate in interspiritual practices are laypersons—some are members of an organized religion, but many are not. A growing number of individuals fall into the “Spiritual But Not Religious” (SBNR) category.
Some SBNR folks may look like the “New Age dilettantes” who seem to be endlessly window shopping for spiritual entertainment. This is not always a bad thing--but it can become a spiritual cul de sac. There is a significant danger that if we are not held accountable to some standard or principle we can “pick the low hanging fruit from every tree in the orchard without being responsible for tending to any one of them”. When the going gets tough-- as it will in any spiritual practice—the dilettante simply turns to the next tree for another juicy plum. This is NOT authentic interspiritual practice.
To mature in our spiritual journey we need another person, a community and some gguiding principles to hold us accountable for our choices and to reflect back to us the blind spots that we may never otherwise see.[2]
If you are not a member of a community or group that can do this for you then it’s important that you find a spiritual mentor or a sponsor who can and will give you the feedback that you need—even if your ego gets her hair messed up!
Another reason to consider interspiritual practice is that spirituality—like most everything else—is going global. Evolution is uniting us—whether we like it or not. Beverly Lanzetta, an articulate voice in the emergence of feminist theology, expresses it this way:
I use the term global spirituality…to emphasize the emergence of a new planetary consciousness breaking through traditional religious categories…. Global consciousness is revealing a new type of religious experience—what we might call multi-religion or Interspiritual—that is giving rise to novel forms of spiritual practice, and new ways of living…. [3]
Other authors prominent in the Interspiritual movement are: Mirabi Starr, Matthew Fox, Fr. Thomas Keating, Brother Wayne Teasdale, Fr. Bede Griffiths, Andrew Harvey, and Rabbi Zalman Shacter-Shalomi.
I invite you to explore this emerging spiritual path that is an integral part of the transformation unfolding within and among the citizens of our planet.
[1] The term ecumenical generally refers to interfaith activities within and among various the Christian denominations.
[2] My family has sometimes teased me about a bald spot in the back of my head. In jest, I will deny its existence by telling them, “I look in the mirror every day and have yet to see that bald spot!” We all do the same in so many different ways!
[3] Bucko, Adam and McEntee, Rory; The New Monasticism, 57