From October 16-18, 2021 I attended virtually the 8th Convening of the Parliament of World Religions www.parliamentofreligions.org This mother organization of modern inter-religious dialogue was founded during the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893 by some progressive white Christians (not including luminaries such as the then Archbishop of Canterbury.) Only a handful of representatives of non-Christian faiths attended. These included the abbott of the Engaku-ji Buddhist monastery in Kamakura, Japan, Shama Shaku whose letter of acceptance was written by the "preeminent cultural translator of the Zen Buddhist tradition from Japan to North America," D. T. Suzuki (see Eck, Encountering God, p. 25.) The sole Muslim was a New Englander who was a convert. The Hindu representative was Swami Vivekananda who greeted participants by noting that he was representing a religion "that has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance," Eck, p. 26.) Over the years, the Parliament became increasingly representative of the religions it sought to engage in dialogue. Heightened diversity of gender, race, tradition, and indigenous contemplative traditions has been notable from one "convening" to another. International human rights and justice issues have shared the stage with liturgical and contemplative practices from every corner of the globe. Due to COVID-19 this year's gathering went virtual. Some thousands of participants from all over the world participated in vibrant and inspiring plenaries and an endless buffet of more than 500 workshops and breakout sessions (as of this writing, I do not have exact figures but participation was claimed to be as high as 8,000 individuals.) The theme of the event was: Opening Our Hearts to the World: Compassion in Action. For most, including me, it was a singular experience, made possible only because of the powerful technology of the Internet. Throughout the meeting, I heard other participants remark that they never could have afforded to attend this meeting if it had been in-person. I expect that a hybrid model is now emerging for future Parliament meetings. Over the years, I have been blessed to be able to attend some grand international events including the World Council of Churches 1998 Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe. In spite of the memories of those in-person events, on the morning of October 16th, I was very excited and could hardly wait for the opening plenary of a virtual event that I could participate in from my work station at home! My prayer was that my computer would not choose October 16-18 to crash! I was not disappointed. In my Christian cocoon or silo, I never witnessed a Zoroastrian invocation or ceremony . . . or a traditional Taiwanese ritual . . . . or Xhosa elder Nokuzola Mndende's reminder that "I am because we are." The cumulative beauty of all of these reverent acts and words was stunning. The Parliament's CEO Steven Aveeno observed that at this year's convening, additional planks of inclusion and advocacy were included, including heightened attention to the climate, race, and LGBTQ populations. Jane Goodall, renowned English anthropologist and primatologist reminded participants that it is crucial to "reconnect and make peace with the natural world before it is too late. Religions have a key part in this!" Pope Francis sent a letter of greeting and papal blessing. Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee www.ajc.org made striking remarks that stayed with me long after the opening ceremony. He noted that in Hebrew theology God is seen as the Compassionate One. By practicing compassion, we manifest the Divine in our lives. Rabbi Rosen gave two examples appropriate for an inter-faith setting: One example was the people of Albania during the Holocaust. This majority Muslim nation welcomed Jews to their country and at the end of WWII there were more Jews in Albania than before the war. Because of this, Albania was designated a Righteous Nation. The other example was that of the Jewish (son of a rabbi) Ari Mahler who treated the killer of eleven worshippers at the Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh, PA in 2018. Ari Mahler treated his patient with professional care and compassion in spite of the killer's rant of "Death to the Jews" https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/nation-world/ny-news-nurse-synagogue-trump-love-20181104-story.html?00000168-c155-df9b-adfc-cb55faa70000-p=8 During the convening, I attended a number of workshops on different topics that were of interest to me personally or because of their relevance to my spiritual companioning practice. Following are some nutshell descriptions of just three of the workshops that I found most impactful. If you read the summaries and follow the links, you will get a flavor of what I experienced . . . and there was so much more that no single person could even hope to savor!
Why are these matters relevant to spiritual companioning? They all organically impact the development of our spirituality and global connectivity: care for nature and creation; ability to live with or distance from sacred texts; the desire to worship with others; the search for the common good. All of these topics come up in spiritual companioning conversations. During the gathering I gained perspectives on these issues and was helped with a functional vocabulary to express them at appropriate moments in spiritual companioning conversations. Spiritual direction can be inner work but it eventually migrates outwards. As the slogan goes: Inward, Outward, Together If you have read this far and have explored one or more of the links, please share your thoughts with me and with others in the comments box below.
1 Comment
10/26/2021 11:50:42 am
Thank you so much for sharing your insights from the Parliament here, Dan! It was lovely to have you in our Interfaith Congregations session. I'm glad you appreciated it and found it helpful. I love your description of the "spiritual non-binary experience!" We have several folks in our respective communities who are "braided" into multiple faiths as you describe, and even for the ones who only identify as one faith, they come to learn about and take part in the spiritual practices of others. What a lovely way to grow, both as individuals and as a community. It's great to see what you're doing in your spiritual direction practice. Blessings on you and your clients, and I hope our paths cross again!
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AuthorDan Hoffman is an Indianapolis USA based spiritual director, supervisor of spiritual directors, and workshop/retreat leader. This occasional blog discusses things he is thinking about and wants to share. Comments are always welcome. |