I believe that the search for the sacred is an innate drive within all human beings. And perhaps today more than any time in history we are needing to find a sense of the sacred in our lives.
The experience of the sacred is not confined to religious practices. I am defining the word sacred to mean that which connects us with a greater reality. The word sacred is like the word love: it's difficult to define, but we all know it when we experience it. Experiencing the sacred carries with it a feeling of awe, wonder, and deep meaning.
Archaeological records indicate that the desire to connect with a greater reality existed within virtually every culture and civilization in the ancient world. Many of the ancient cultures turned to the sky and to celestial objects to find the sacred. From mythologist Joseph Campbell:
he mystery of the night sky… delivered the revelation… about a cosmic order, and in response, from the depths of the human imagination, a reciprocal recognition had been evoked. A vast concept took form of the universe as a living being in the likeness of a great mother, within whose womb all the world's, both of life and death you, had their existence.
In Europe in the Middle Ages the sacred was found primarily in the Church. Even though the Church was often corrupted by unscrupulous leaders, there was still the recognition the sacred was at the center of their life. The church building was typically the tallest structure in the region and usually resided at the center of each village.
While religion doesn't have nearly the influence today as it did in medieval times there are still some individuals who find a sense of the sacred by participating in sacraments, ceremonies and pilgrimages. These rituals intend to bring the worshipper closer to the divine, the origin of all that is sacred.
For the past sixty years religion has been rapidly declining as an influence in the US and other developed nations. Traditionally religion has been a shaper of values and morality for most people in our nation. The decline of church attendance has left a vacuum in meaning and an absence of the sacred in our culture.
Science and technology have allowed us to understand and control nature in ways that would appear magical a few centuries go. We have separated ourselves from nature so that we may study it objectively. But this power has come at a price. Our modern culture tells us that human beings are essentially sophisticated primates living on a dead rock hurtling through a lifeless universe. Recently I heard a renowned astronomer say, “We are a but a speck of dust on a speck of dust drifting through an immeasurably large universe that is oblivious to our existence. Contrast this with, “The universe was a living being in the likeness of a great mother,”
I am not implying that everything from the past was better than it is today. We have benefited tremendously from developments in science and technology; but we have paid a great price for it: we have lost our sense of the sacred. In the words of Dr. Carl Jung, “Modern man has lost his soul.”
Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that we do not realize that we've lost it. As organized religion has rapidly diminished its impact on our culture many people today believe that there is nothing greater than themselves, and that happiness lies in acquiring more possessions and finding new ways to entertain ourselves.
I see three trends emerging in response to the missing sacred in our culture. One trend is a cynicism towards anything that deemed religious, spiritual, or sacred. Anything considered sacred is often discounted as superstition or naivete.
A second trend I see is that the void is being filled by the shadowy, distorted side of the sacred. It appears in the gross distortions of the sacred such as white supremacy groups using Christianity as their banner, and in some militia groups taking on a religious fervor and in some secret conspiracy networks elevating their ideologies to a quasi-sacred level. This was Hitler's strategy as he made unquestioning loyalty to the “Fatherland” a sacred virtue.
A third trend that is healthier and more promising than the above is the growing search for the sacred in nontraditional ways. A large number of people refer to themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” This is one of the fastest growing demographics in our culture. A growing number of people are finding the sacred in nature, music, or poetry and in the practices such as yoga or Tai Chi.
There is also a marked growth in the number of people turning to Eastern spiritual practices, primarily to Buddhist meditation. We now turn our attention to this practice and look for the sacred within it.
Unlike the Western religions, Buddhism looks for the sacred by focusing the attention inward. We turn our attention to the experience of the self. As I persistently explore the experience of “me” I discover that there is no substantial “me.” Searching beyond the conditioned sense of self, I find a sacred emptiness. Abiding in that sacred emptiness I realize that everyone and everything is profoundly sacred as well.
Here is a beautiful summary of the process from Dogen, a Japanese luminary who developed the practice of Soto Zen.
To meditate is to study the self.
To study the self is to dissolve the self.
To dissolve the self is to be intimate with all things.
And this teaching from the Tibetan master Kalu Rinpoche:
You live in illusion
and in the appearance of things.
There is a reality.
you are that reality.
Knowing this you see that you are nothing.
Being nothing,
you are everything.
That is all.
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The search for the sacred ends when there is no longer a searcher.
there is only the awakened mind.
RB