One of my readers, an educator who is particularly attuned to the process of my quest, sent me an article by Joseph M. Felser, Ph.D., entitled "The New Religious Consciousness" (THE QUEST, Summer 1995). Dr. Felser and I were on much the same wavelength, using a similar definition of spirituality, looking at the sciences for clues that point toward ultimate reality, comparing ways of knowing that move beyond the senses and rationality, finding in the Jungian approach the Self as the locus of inner wisdom that may be thought of as an expression of divinity, finding affirmations of wholeness, and emphasizing the search rather than final answers. He writes, "In sum, what I am calling the new religious consciousness satisfies many, if not most, of the requirements of the new religion as set out in the first part of my discussion. These include: cultivating an inward mystical and visionary experience independent of dogmas and institutions; treating the experience as initiation, or as a potential catalyst for personal transformation; recognizing a deeper human identity and power upholding the truth of the connectedness of all things and the values of harmony and unity; and overcoming the dualisms of subject/object, experience/knowledge, etc. But I submit that the principle of inquiry is the central thread which binds these various elements together."

We have corresponded, and in his letter of June 4, 1996, he says that "As for the traditions, I am afraid that while both east and west have given us much in the way of rich spiritual treasure (and there is much to learn from both sources), I am concerned more with the future evolution of the religious spirit than with conserving its past. We can and must learn from our history. I am concerned, however, that at this historical moment especially we do not lose our nerve and attempt to escape from the challenges of the present by retreating into an imaginary past of Certainty and Virtue. 'Tradition' must not become an idol. Yet, there are many today who would make it so."

I think he and I each found encouragement in the other's thoughts. He has an agreement with a publisher for a book as an expanded sequel to the article, and I look forward to reading it.

* * * * *
As I refine my theology, the key words are oneness, energy, flow, process, creativity, love, intelligence, healing, order, principle. What follows is my latest attempt to summarize that view:

* * * * *
I believe that creative, intelligent love is the vitalizing, healing, binding energy force that brings wholeness to the lives of individuals and to humankind. It is the essence of the individual and of the universe. It is analogous to the presence and the power of gravity and electromagnetism in the physical world. It resides within us, awaiting our openness to becoming an expression of that essence. Thus, Ultimate Reality is immanent, i.e., within us.

Ultimate Reality is also transcendent, not in the traditional terms of a supernatural being, but in its universality, as wholeness, totality, the sum of that allness of which I am an individual expression, an eachness.

The Ultimate Reality which is both immanent and transcendent has been called, in various times and places, God, Goddess, Allah, Brahman/atman, Tao, Ground of Being, First Cause, Father (Father-Mother), Lord, King, and many other names. Some names assume personal/parental embodiment of infinite beneficence; others do not. Whether Ultimate Reality takes the form of some supernatural being is not within my knowing; I am at peace with the concept of my involvement, my participation, in the principle/process of infinite, universal love.

I have had a spiritual experience of my oneness with the physical and organic universe, with all humanity, with all facets of myself, and with all that is ultimately real. For me, everything flows from the truth of that Oneness -- my sense of self, my way of relating with nature and the environment, my relationships with others, my understanding of the situations in which I find myself.

Wholeness is a sacred concept for me. It is a wholeness that negates the duality of human/divine, sacred/secular, self/other, self/environment, male/female, rich/poor, etc. Just as I am more than that which can be weighed and measured, so is the universe which is my home more than the senses and the instrumentation of the sciences can disclose. The "more than," in me and in the universe, is of infinite possibility and mystery, but accessible. Thus my ways of knowing, if I am to find wholeness, must be not only sensory and rational but also intuitive, creative, imaginative and compassionately active.

Just as our capacity to measure cannot do justice to more than a portion of reality, so my capacity to define reality reaches its limits. And just as one turns to other ways of knowing -- intuition, dreams, meditation and other means of tapping inner and universal wisdom -- one moves from rational discourse to the more spiritually adequate expressions of poetry, metaphor, writings of the mystics, music, visual arts, and dance.

So the task that I have now set for myself, and to which I invite your participation, is to collect and share those bits of poetry, metaphors, and images that are healing, that re-unite us with our roots, that remind us of who we are, that surround us with radiant beauty, that return us to wholeness. (Use the "hot button" or the e-mail address, and please don't be too modest to share your own writing.)

Traditional expressions are welcome, but I hope also to find materials that will feed the souls of those who do not find nurture in the traditional expressions of faith, those for whom reality may reside in the vibrant dance of sub-atomic particles, in the beauty and order of fractals and holographs, in the cosmology toward which modern physics points.

Here are a few expressions that speak to me:

   I have lived on the lip
   of insanity, wanting to know reason,
   knocking on a door. It opens.
   I've been knocking from the inside!

                              -- Rumi (1207 - 1273)
          
           I ask all blessings,
           I ask them with reverence,
           of my mother the earth,
           of the sky, moon, and sun my father.
           I am old age: the essence of life,
           I am the source of all happiness.
           All is peaceful, all in beauty
           all in harmony, all in joy.

                               -- Anonymous Navajo



           To see the World in a grain of sand
           And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
           Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
           And Eternity in an hour.
                    
                               -- William Blake

When the Buddha was wandering in India shortly after his enlightenment, he was encountered by men who recognized something quite extraordinary about the handsome prince now robed as a monk. They asked, "Are you a god?" "No." "Are you a deva or an angel?" "No." "Are you a wizard or magician? "No." "Are you a man?" "No." "Then what are you" He replied simply, "I am awake."

  My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
  but I'm in total harmony with them.
  I don't hold on to anything, don't reject anything; 
  nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
  Who cares about wealth and honor?
  Even the poorest thing shines.
  My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
  drawing water and carrying wood.

                             -- Layman P'ang (c. 740 - 808)

There is a marvelous saying in the Talmud that God created the universe with the words, "Let us hope it works!" It is a godlike quality to let life be what it will be. It is a natural capacity in children, who are not bored, cynical, or depressed. Let that attitude come back into your life.

        I have just three things to teach:
        simplicity, patience, compassion.
        These three are your greatest treasures.
        Simple in actions and in thoughts,
        you return to the source of being.
        Patient with both friends and enemies,
        you accord with the way things are.
        Compassionate toward yourself,
        you reconcile all beings in the world.

                                 -- Lao-Tzu

Self is everywhere, shining forth from all beings,
vaster than the vast, subtler than the most subtle,
unreachable, yet nearer than breath, than heartbeat.
Eye cannot see it, ear cannot hear it nor tongue
utter it; only in deep absorption can the mind,
grown pure and silent, merge with the formless truth.
As soon as you find it, you are free; you have found yourself;
you have solved the great riddle; your heart forever is at peace.
Whole, you enter the Whole. Your personal self
returns to its radiant, intimate, deathless source.

                                         -- Mundaka Upanishad

I cannot fix the world, but I can offer an island of calm.

                                         -- Stuart Wilde