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| FROM THE HEART |
- Spirituality and Religion
A magazine that I picked up recently had the following title on its cover
page: “Towards a Spirituality rooted in Religion”. Without batting an
eyelid, I instinctively said to myself: “Shouldn’t it be the other way
round?” The word ‘religion’ itself derives from the Latin religare meaning
“to bind” or to link. It signifies the outward manifestation of an inner
attitude, the expression of our being “linked” to the divine which we have
experienced deep at the centre of our being. Rituals, it would seem are an
indispensable part of religion and are often identified with it. They serve a
useful purpose as a pedagogical tool, and are meant precisely to keep
alive the initial experience from which they emerged. They are also a
useful way of connecting to the original experience of the divine. The
experience precedes the ritual. It is worth noting that the ritual is devoid
of any meaning once it is separated from the experience. The genuine
ritual is ever self-effacing. It is not magical. It is most effective when one
learns to “pay attention” to the reality that it signifies. It is the door to
contemplation.
- Our spiritual experiences grow deeper in proportion to our experience of
being loved and being able to love in return. The progressive and in the
end complete loss of self in the act of Self- giving enables us to connect
with the divine for whom the whole of creation is just the outpouring of the
Divine self. Truly, in God “we live, move and have our being”. In love there
is no room for fear. One of the characteristics of a genuine spiritual
experience is therefore the absence of fear.
The experience of fear is so necessary for ‘self-preservation’. At the
physical level it enables us to ward off dangers and minimise threats to
life. Yet, we often continue to experience fear long after the threat has
disappeared and sometimes even when there is no threat at all. When
this happens there has been a subtle shift in the origin of our fear. It is the
ego that is struggling to preserve itself. At the physiological level it
manifests itself in stress. It is not surprising therefore, that meditation
techniques are prescribed as the antidote to stress. Stress abhors
unpredictability and it is so easy for one to use the ‘predictable’ ritual to
soothe the pain of the wounded ego. But the ego is not easily deceived. At
this point religion parts ways with spirituality. Religion degenerates into
magic. A spirituality based on such a religion is nothing more than a
caricature. Meditation on the other hand as the art of learning to “pay
attention”, becomes the link between the ritual and the spi-ritual.
In a New Testament scripture text that is familiar to most Christians, St.
Paul describes love, among other things as ‘never quick to take offence’
and ‘keeping no score of wrongs’. Love gives one the freedom not to see
another’s transgression as a personal offence. That knocks the stuffing
out of the other’s aggression – real or imagined. There is no room for fear
because no threat has been perceived. One can then love in freedom. It is
the practice of meditation that enables us to slowly begin progressively
functioning not from our ‘ego’ but from our true Self. The true Self is God
and God is LOVE.
When Religion is based on true spirituality, we are able to understand that
differences need not cause divisions. Returning to our contemplative
traditions and meditative practices is the surest way to eschew violence
in the name of religion. It allows us to restore the original purpose of the
ritual which is to enable us connect us to the experience of God within us.
We need no other security other than the awareness that we are in God
and God is in us. Perfect love casts out all fear.
Christopher Mendonca.
The author teaches the practice of Christian Meditation.
For further information visit www.wccm.org.
