THE SPLASH OF WORDS

The next meeting is on September 7th when we are delighted to welcome Canon Mark Oakley from St Paul's Cathedral. He will lead an interactive session on poetry and faith, anticipating his new book, The Splash of Words: believing in poetry.  Some time ago he wrote The Collage of God, a treasure trove of thoughts and quotations which resonate with the modern reader with even a passing interest in spiritual things.  

On October 5th, our title will be: WHY ATHEISTS ARE BRIGHTER THAN CHRISTIANS. We will base our discussion on an article by Edward Dutton whose book, Religion and Intelligence: An evolutionary analysis, was published recently. Copies of the article will be available from the library or by emailing david.soward@gmail.com. 

November 16th (note - the third Sunday) sees another guest speaker in the form of Imam Monawar Hussain, Founder of both Oxford Muslim College and the Oxford Foundation. His title will be THE GREATER JIHAD. 

SOIL, SOUL AND SOCIETY; an inclusive and holistic trinity

"Human aspirations have often been expressed in trinities..." - What's yours called?

Satish Kumar prefaces Part Two of his book with a quotation from T S Eliot: 

The only wisdom we can hope to attain is humility; humility is endless.

In his continuing 'Quest for Wholeness' (the title of Part Two) Kumar refers to the Bhagavad Gita, according to which "nature, society and self should form a triangle, an interconnected whole. Every day we need to take care of these three aspects of our lives," he says. These are the grounds of his own thinking and he has chosen the words Soil, Soul and Society to describe his version of this trinity. He compares it to other, better-known, trinities, such as the Christian Trinity, the French revolution slogan ('Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite'), and the new age trinity of 'Mind, Body, Spirit'.  

It is hard to disagree with much of what Kumar writes in this book: even the varied participants of the Wychwood Circle discussion on this topic showed an unusual degree of agreement. Kumar sets out his own stall, travelling via Jainism and Hinduism, with more than an obeisance to Buddhism, and a nod in the direction of Islam. Christianity, oddly enough, hardly gets a mention - which made a refreshing change for our discussion group but is odd when writing for a Western readership. 

This 11th chapter in Part Two is a case in point. He wants to emphasize the superior merits of his own trinity which 'brings nature, humanity and spirituality together' and has little trouble dismissing the humanism of the Enlightenment because it seems to discard spirituality. Similarly what he calls the new age trinity is too personal, he says, ignoring social justice and ecological sustainability. And Christianity is written off in a sentence: 

'Father, Son and Holy Spirit' is a spiritual trinity, but it takes no note of the social and ecological dimensions.

Reading this book for refreshment and a good dose of 'Eastern wisdom', one can happily move on swiftly as he does.  But coming back to this, it is striking what a narrow interpretation this suggests for the Christian trinitarian faith. Whatever one makes of it in practice, it is a recurrent theme in scripture and the liturgy, not to mention two thousand years of theology, that the Trinity is - at least for some - precisely a way of formulating the sort of vision that Kumar recommends.

Maybe more of us are Celts

In classical theology, God the Father is creator and sustainer of the universe and we are to worship and adore him for that role; can we possibly do so without reverencing nature as it speaks to us of God and his creation? Kumar refers to nature and creation in chapter 25 on dualism, where he acknowledges that 'the Celts saw the presence of God in creation itself'.  But he is convinced that the 'dominant Judaeo-Christian influence' has been that God told man to 'subdue the earth and multiply'. He is quoting Genesis and taking a not untypical interpretation of it as the 'dominant' one. He may be right, but maybe more of us are Celts nowadays. 

Similarly, Jesus as the second person of the Christian Trinity is usually understood as God's self-expression as a human being, who as flesh and blood goes round Galilee preaching the establishment of 'the kingdom of God', a community which foreshadows an ideal which may be called heaven: is this anything other than the 'humanity' or the 'society' which Kumar wants us to take seriously? 

Finally, the Holy Spirit - well, that's your spiritual or 'soul' bit, which Kumar does not question, even quoting Thomas Aquinas as referring to anima mundi - the soul of the world. But the whole point of the Trinity is surely to understand the three persons as one God and therefore to separate or play down one element of 'soil, soul or society' goes against even orthodox Christian teaching. Or so one could argue. 

Humanity, humanism and human-ness

In practice Kumar has a point in that Christians have seemed to see and talk about their faith as a personal journey, individualistic rather than social, largely about self-fulfilment and reaching towards a future goal of 'eternity'. But it's hard to follow the Jews through the Egyptian desert or listen to the Sermon on the Mount (Blessed be... etc) without realising that this is a very human, not to say humanistic, faith and a very social lifestyle. 

As for the ecology, maybe we should be looking for a few more references in contemporary sermons to sustainability and symbiotic relationships. Or we should be singing more psalms (or the Canticle Benedicite, omnia opera in the Book of Common Prayer) where the glories of nature are cited as evidence of 'All ye works of the Lord'; and then we should go home and think hard about our own responsibilities. 

Of course, Kumar is right in his conclusions - as was TS Eliot in his prescription. Unless we can bring together compassion and humility, concern for the environment, and (however we interpret it for ourselves) spirituality, then maybe we are missing something and the whole balance of our world is under threat:

Without reverence there can be no ecology, and without spirituality there can be no sustainability.

The next open forum is on September 7th when we are delighted to welcome Canon Mark Oakley from St Paul's Cathedral. He will lead an interactive session on poetry and faith, anticipating his new book, The Splash of Words: believing in poetry.  Some time ago he wrote The Collage of God, a treasure trove of thoughts and quotations which resonate with the modern reader with even a passing interest in spiritual things. 

LIFE IS NOT A BATTLEGROUND

"MUTUALITY AND RECIPROCITY ARE THE UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF EXISTENCE" 

Excerpts from chapter 25 of Satish Kumar's You Are Therefore I Am

‘I think, therefore I am’,  proclaimed René Descartes… As I learned more about Western culture, I realised how Cartesian dualism was an essential feature of a thought process which divided mind and matter, separated soul and body and looked at the world as a collection of objects…  This Cartesian subject-object dualism or mind-matter split has become the dominant paradigm of Western culture…

These theories [the dominant Judaeo-Christian influence, Newtonian physics, Darwinian biology and Freudian psychology] are, in my view, at the root of the ecological, social and spiritual crisis of our times.  The dualistic world-view gives the illusion that I exist independently of the Other…

This is Separational Philosophy.

The whole beyond the parts

There are other philosophies which seek the whole beyond the parts… Here are examples of such Relational Philosophies: [those of the Jains, the Buddhists, parts of Africa where they use the word ‘ubuntu’ (‘we are’), Native Americans, Hindus]…

There is no separate, isolated, disconnected self.  Things appear separate if we see them as separate, they appear related when we see them as related.  It is all in the seeing.  Seers see the whole.  Unlike Descartes, who believed the soul to live in the pineal gland, St Thomas Aquinas saw that the soul is not in the body, but the body is in the soul.  We are part of the anima mundi, the world soul…

The consequences  of Cartesian dualism is to put individuals in opposition to each other and the world at large, making life a battleground. … Individualism gives birth to exploitation of the weak by the strong, fights for power and wealth, subjugation of animals and nature, and the ultimate frustration of an unfulfilled and meaningless life.

In Separational Philosophy the individual is encouraged to take, take, take, and this ceaseless taking leads to nothing but anxiety…

Relational Philosophy

In the relational paradigm, the individual receives from the universe at large. … We are all givers and receivers. This leads to caring for each other, and nurturing the earth, because ultimately there is no distinction between the Earth and ourselves.

Separational Philosophy leads to a position of either ‘one’ or the ‘other’.  Either individualism or collectivism, either materialism or spirituality, either art or science…  Relational Philosophy equips us to recognise the reality of ‘both… and …’  Individual and society are two sides of the same coin. Matter and spirit exist together; art and science complement each other…  We need rationalism in balance with intuition and emotion.  Life is not a battleground …  Rather, life is a ground of symbiotic relationships, where even battles and conflicts have a place, as do compassion and harmony…

What is the fundamental cause of conflict, highlighted by 11^th September but in evidence all around the world? It is the paradigm that all individuals, families, communities, classes, societies and nations must seek their own, separate self-interest.

The Marxist class analysis is very much based on dualism …

Even the environmental movement … is often driven by a pragmatic, utilitarian, dualistic and anthropocentric world-view.  This is a kind of selfish ecology…  The unity of life is not just about human survival, it is about deep respect and reverence for all life… This is Reverential Ecology…

A Reverential Ecology

Without reverence there can be no ecology, and without spirituality there can be no sustainability. Unless we are prepared to make a radical shift in our thinking and act accordingly, we will not be able to bring an equilibrium between conflict and harmony, and attain wholeness. 

(Ed:) And just for comparison, with no explicit connection whatsoever, here some words of Pope Francis in November 2013:

“The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.  Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interest and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor.  God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt, and the desire to do good fades.”

And Roger Scruton:

"By remaking humans and their habitat as objects to consume rather than subjects to revere we invite the degradation of both." (Gifford Lectures, 2010, published as THE FACE OF GOD, 2012)

Join us on August 3rd as we discuss Satish Kumar's philosophy at Wychwood Library in West Oxfordshire. 

QUEST FOR WHOLENESS and A RELATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

Sunday 3rd August sees our discussion move on to Parts 2 and 4 of Satish Kumar's book (see earlier post). Do join us at Wychwood Library at 7pm. 

Part Two begins with the philosophy of Soil, Soul and Society. In Part Four Kumar reaches the real goal of this spiritual journey: 

You Are Therefore I Am : A Reverential Ecology

The eye of the imagination, the eye of intuition, the eye of the spirit

"TRUTH IS SUBLIME ... AS THE MIND EXPANDS, TRUTH EXPANDS"

Excerpts from chapter 3 of Satish Kumar's YOU ARE Therefore I AM 

Gopalji (a Hindu scholar): 

Language can only approximate a particular aspect of truth. And beyond that, one can only remain silent.

A frog in a pond who has never seen the sea may dispute with a fish that there is any such thing as the sea… A frog may even, in its preference for a particular pond, ridicule another pond. …  Why waste time in disputation, one truth against another truth, or one religion against another religion? Why not open the third eye and see multi-faceted reality?

The third eye sees the connections, the relationships, the patterns, the mutuality.  The two eyes see three-dimensional reality – the gross and the obvious.  But to see non-dimensional reality we require the Third Eye – the eye of the imagination, the eye of intuition, the eye of the spirit. The third eye perceives unlimited reality, the eternal, the infinite, the whole, the complete. 

Kumar's mother (a devout Jain): 

In the Jain tradition … there are truths, and they are always contextual;  a text can only have meaning in its context.  Truth is sublime. Truth is not a ‘correct’ belief system.  It is not a point of arrival: it is a continuous process, a continuous search and a continuous way of being. … As the mind expands , truth expands.  Therefore Jains attempt to live without trampling on another’s life and thoughts, and practise generosity of spirit. 

Join our discussion tomorrow (or next month) at Wychwood Library - even if you've only read the extracts on this site. 

SELF-REALISATION IS NOT SOMETHING FOR TOMORROW

PART ONE: ENCOUNTERS WITH MEANING

Some excerpts from the early chapters of Satish Kumar's YOU ARE THEREFORE I AM: 

Ch 1 – Learning from Nature

“Nature is the greatest teacher,” said my mother while we were walking from home to the farm. 

Mother believed that the whole of life should be lived as a spiritual practice, as a meditation. Self-realisation is not something for tomorrow, not somewhere in the distance;  it is here and now in all our actions, guided by reverence for matter, reverence for work, reverence for life.

[Mother:] We human beings have to let go of our pride, our separateness, and not bother about our individual identity.  If we immerse ourselves in the process of life, and trust in the process of the universe, and identify ourselves with others, we can become the tree of a thousand branches and a million plums.

Bees go from flower to flower, taking only a little nectar here and little nectar there, and doing no harm to the flower.  How gentle and restrained they are. … But what do human beings do? When we start to extract the bounties of the earth, we know no limits, we go on taking and taking until the earth is depleted.

[Satish’s father said:] “ I am in business to make friends, and serve the community.  Profit for me is by the way.  One has to make profit and balance the books, otherwise the business will go bust, but profit is not the main motivation. … Profit is necessary but not primary. Making friends and forming relationships is much more fun.  This is why I am in business.”

[Mother:] Too many possessions take too much of your time. You have to clean them, look after them, use them, store them;  if you are busy with material things, when do you have time for reflection, meditation and service to the community?

For Mother, walking was much more than physical exercise, it was a meditation.  …

Mother was not self-centred. That is why she was out and about, flowing with the wind and finding spirit in nature. …

As I walked with her, Mother would teach me to breathe properly, and ask me to pay full attention to breathing. “Paying attention is meditation,” Mother would say.  …

Breathing connects you with the world.  You are sharing the same breath of life, the same air, with all humanity. You are connected with everyone through this invisible medium…

Ch 2 – A Hindu Mind

Why is “Aum shanti shanti shanti” universally recognised as the supreme mantra? 

[Satish’s mother asks of Gopalji, Satish’s brahmin teacher, a forty-year-old philosopher:]

If you chant this mantra, the very sound of it is enough to make you return to your centre.

Aum is an affirmative mantra.  It simply means ‘yes’ – yes to existence, yes to the sun and the moon, yes to trees and rivers, yes to our friends and families, yes to you and me, yes to this brew we are drinking, yes to life and its beauty.  It is a mantra of acceptance and openness, a mantra of positive thinking. We should chant it as often as we can.

‘Shanti’ in Sanskrit simply means peace. …

First of all we have to make peace with ourselves by accepting who we are. … Without inner peace no outer peace can be realised. …

Once I have made peace with myself I have to make peace with the world. … So we need to recognise the essential and intrinsic goodness of the world, and build upon it the ideal world of our dreams. Then we will have world peace.  …

When there is world peace, then we make peace with nature, with the cosmos, with the gods – with the universe. … We send our noble thoughts of peace to all corners of the universe, and we let noble thoughts of peace come to us from all corners of the universe. …

Personal, political, and planetary peace are to be pursued together.  One includes and reinforces the other. 

YOU ARE Therefore I AM

On July 6th, we turn to a book by Satish Kumar, subtitled 'A Declaration of Dependence': 'YOU ARE Therefore I AM' (Green Books, 2002), focusing on Part One, Encounters with Meaning. This first part gives a flavour of Hinduism and Jainism and hints at Kumar's own particular brand of Eastern wisdom. Join us at Wychwood Library from 7.00pm to no later than 9.00pm. 

Satish Kumar wrote an autobiography, also published by Green Books, called No Destination. You can read more about him on the goodreads.com website here.