Working With The Gold-Thoughts on Spiritual Freedom. Part 3 of 3: Relationship to Other Beliefs. The Balance Between Withdrawal and Engagement.

8 minutes reading time

Relationship to Other Beliefs

If we experience a particular teaching or religion as liberating then there is no cause for feeling threatened by other beliefs.

We can rejoice in somebody else’s faith, even if it is not the same as ‘ours’, when we see that the teachings they follow lead to more happiness in their life.

We can appreciate that core values (such as not killing/harming, not lying etc) are very similar in all ‘religions’ and that the upholding of ethics matters more than the question ‘Which religion do you follow?’

Exploring a certain spiritual tradition might in fact lead us to be more interested in ‘other’ spiritual directions and being open to what these might have to offer us. The closer we get to the core of spiritual teachings, the more we might see similarities to other traditions, rather than superficial differences.

In recognising the value of religious traditions which uphold ethical values, we can appreciate their existence without necessarily being enthused about every single ritual/rule they offer – granted these are in themselves ethically sound, of course.

For example, in following the teachings of the Buddha, I don’t have to chant or recite mantras every day if I don’t experience it as beneficial to my spiritual development. I can still value the bigger picture of what the tradition has to offer. In this case, the immense, unchanging importance of core Buddhist values – such as not killing, not lying, not stealing, not harming others through our sexual behaviour – is a lot more important than my preference for chanting or not chanting.

I believe the western world in particular has become somewhat of a ‘spiritual desert’, with consumerism replacing religion.

There are many aspects of religion which are worthy of criticism and in desperate need of reform, e.g. authoritarian approaches, abuse of power by individuals (with sexual abuse being a particularly horrendous example), lack of engagement with pressing social and environmental issues, to name only a few.

However, it is concerning that disenchantment with institutional forms of spirituality has lead to vast parts of western societies disregarding anything labelled ‘spiritual’, including the upholding of core values and ethics in many areas of life, and cynicism taking over.

A sincere spiritual practice, no matter of which tradition, reminds us of what truly matters in life and of the importance of ethics. Our task as spiritual practitioners must hence be to break free from dogmatism, bridge division between different spiritual traditions and focus on what we have in common rather than on what keeps us apart.

Looking at the current state of the world, there is simply no time to waste on mulling over what divides us. People of all faiths must join hands and focus on embodying and upholding core ethical values.

The Balance Between Withdrawal and Engagement

I sometimes hear views like ‘How does it help anybody sitting on a cushion doing nothing?’ or ‘Meditation is only a way to escape what is going on’.

I strongly disagree.

In the process of spiritual exploration, it is certainly helpful and necessary to withdraw at times. It is a precious capability to be able to be “an island unto oneself,” as the Buddha instructed his monks in one of his last teachings before his death.

This is not a ‘selfish’ act. On the contrary, if we create times for solitude and introspection in our lives (like meditation, for example), we offer a service to others. The more we are able to establish and return to an ‘inner refuge’ when things are tough, the less likely we are to feel the need to attack, shame or blame others.

Through cultivating more calm and steadiness in our life, we increase our ability to stay steady in the storms of life, and when confronted with harsh opinions from others.

I believe that in these times we live in, practising remaining calm is one of the most valuable things we can do, not only for ourselves but for the good of everyone around us.

The first step towards more peace, no matter on which scale, has to be to practise non-violence in our own mind.

However: Having a spiritual practice and working on diminishing the forces within us which contribute to suffering, like greed, self righteousness, anger, fear, confusion, etc. does not mean we should simply accept everything as it is. This is one of the most common misapprehensions about spiritual practice.

When confronted with injustice in any of its many expressions, we do not have to ‘meditate our irritation away’ – on the contrary.

Yes – equanimity, one of the four ‘heart qualities’ which the Buddha encourages us to cultivate, is the capacity of remaining calm in the midst of difficulties. A precious skill.

However, there is no contradiction in speaking up against what we perceive as unethical and staying equanimous. Born of Jewish origin, Bhikkhu Bodhi, a highly regarded scholar monk in the Buddhist Theravada tradition, recently wrote a great essay titled ‘No time for silence’ on this topic, in the context of the ongoing cruelties afflicted on civilians in Gaza.

He writes:

‘In my understanding, equanimity should not stifle our capacity to make wise moral judgments or negate our obligation to act on the basis of clear ethical convictions. Equanimity can easily coexist with compassion and accompany conscientious action intended to rectify moral wrongs.’ ¹

Equanimity must be at the basis of cultivating skilful actions, and this includes not to remain silent when confronted with views which justify immoral acts.

We can use our practice in two ways here: The first is to develop clarity and moral integrity.

Secondly, when confronted with strong, violent views, which we passionately disagree with, it can help us to remember: This is the expression of one view. This person’s view has been created through many causes and conditions – just like my own.

No matter how strongly we might disagree with somebody’s view, it is crucially important to remember to distinguish between the view and the person expressing the view. As spiritual practitioners, we must aim to develop the ability to question a problematic view, without condemning the Person expressing it.

If we harden against a specific person/group of people and shut them out of our hearts, then we become blind to the fact that this kind of divisive thinking is not a consequence, but in fact one of the root causes of suffering. This kind of reasoning is not only the source of all arguments between two individuals, but more importantly also the very essence of the distorted view justifying every war and injustice committed: ‘We have a right to do this, because we are right and they are wrong.’

This is why it is essential to nip these tendencies of justifying hatred in ourselves in the bud. There are always causes and conditions which have led to anger – this includes the fury inside ourselves. There is no need to beat ourselves up when we find ourselves angry. But what we can do is to do our best to prevent this anger from taking over and to dictate the course of our speech and actions.

There are ways to speak and act with fierce compassion and yet without a trace of aggression.

Reminding ourselves often of the causes and conditions leading up to a situation/ a view is very helpful in staying engaged without becoming cynical and angry.

Another useful thing to remember is that we don’t have to start with ‘loving’ everybody if we just don’t feel capable of doing so. It is enough to start with the important Buddhist principle of ‘non-harming’, which to me seems a much more realistic goal than to ‘love everybody’, including those which inflict a huge amount of suffering onto others.

A realistic practice with those who challenge us in daily life – this might be our next-door neighbour or a high-ranking politician – is to establish an attitude of: ‘I strongly disagree with you. But I do not wish you harm.’

In these times we live in, I can’t imagine a better use of our practice than creating a stable base which enables us to speak and act in such ways, helping to overcome divisions in our communities whilst caring deeply for justice on many levels.

As Martha Postlewaite puts it so beautifully in her poem ‘Clearing’, spiritual practice helps to ‘create a clearing in the dense forest of your life’ and from that spaciousness ‘you know how to give yourself to this world so worthy of rescue’.

May we create plenty of those clearings.

And may we use our gifts and voices in skilful ways, in this world so worthy of rescue.

I imagine this is certainly part of the ‘gold’ the Buddha spoke about.

1 https://oneearthsangha.org/articles/no-time-for-silence/