i-Religion - spirituality as a playlist

CLARK STRAND 

"i-Religion" - Fifty million Americans are now religiously unaffiliated, and the trend is growing fast. Last week a new study revealed that 30-40% of young people don't go to church -ever. And yet most say they're not atheists. What's happening to religion in America, and what does it mean for our spiritual future? Clark Strand thinks the answer to both questions is i-Religion. "People today download spiritual beliefs and practices just like songs onto an iPod, assembling an individualized play list, rather than just passively accepting the whole-CD approach of organized religion. Today, you can practice yoga without becoming a Hindu, and you don't have to be a Jew or Christian to believe in God. We're on the brink of a global spiritual revolution, assembling the best of everything to guide us on the path ahead." Strand is a former Zen Buddhist monk and the founder of a weekly inter-religious Bible study group. His new book is "How to Believe in God: Whether You Believe in Religion or Not." - www. WholeEarthGod.com

From: www.xzonearchives.com

STROLLING DOWN THE "STRAND"

I hadn't realized it until recently, but Clark Strand and I have intersected many times in my search for spiritual "truth." I had read Clark's columns in Tricycle Magazine many times and found them informative and helpful in weeding through all the various "schools of practice" and "teachings" that clutter the spiritual pathway. I wouldn't say that I specifically sought out Clark's writings, but I almost always found them to be among those that I was drawn to regularly.

I had first read about Soka Gakkai International and Nichiren Buddhism in one of Clark's column, and I'd ultimately found SGI to be a little "cult-like," I did find out a lot about other Buddhist practices and teachings that proved to be very helpful in my search and, in hindsight, beneficial to my spiritual growth.

Several years ago, Clark wrote an article about Shin Buddhism, and the practice of Nembutsu (Remembering the Buddha), which I found fascinating - especially in how he related it, and integrated it with the Jesus Prayer of Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

LOADING UP THE PLATE

I've heard the term "Salad Bar Spirituality" before, and in fact, I'd criticized it here as a "litany of relativism." As if we were picking and choosing Truth (with a capital "T") like a choice of dressings or toppings. However, after hearing Clark make the case for something that is already happening, throughout the world, as a grass-roots movement, with no common origin, I am changing my evaluation.

Clark's concept of "I-religion" is not about picking and choosing Truth. It is about availing ourselves of the capabilities and freedoms that our technologies and ideologies provide for us in our democratic and pluralistic society. Truth is one, but we are unique individuals with free will. Therefore, it is quite natural to assume that God or Truth can be experienced in many, many ways.

There is a famous Sufi saying: "The Ways of God are as many as the breaths of Human beings."

I have heard many people express the sentiment that they are "spiritual, but not religious" - and when pressed they will admit that God and spirituality play a significant role in their lives, while the membership in a single formal institutionalized religion does not. There are people everywhere who practice a meditation (formal sitting, or just an informal period of quiet) without being Zen Buddhists, or pray to God (formally through written prayers, or more spontaneously at moments throughout the day) without being admitted Christians of any particular denomination. These people are practicing "i-Religion;" creating a "playlist" of their favorite spiritual practices from a variety of religious sources, in just the same way as they might pick selective tracks of a variety of different artist's CD's to build a favorite playlist.

THE CRITICS WILL RISE

The criticism of this practice will come from many angles; not just the fundamentalist ones. For example:

There will be accusations that this approach leads to a shallow understanding, or knowledge of deep doctrinal truths.

• This criticism is based on the view that people are shallow, and I don't think that's always the case. I'd count myself as someone who practices this approach and, although I know that I've been tempted to do so, I have tried never to compromise the truth for my own convenience. 

• The other problem with this criticism is that it denies the real possibility and probability that God will guide the seeker (as promised in ALL religions.) Jesus reportedly said: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matt. 7:7-8)  Also, it was the act of seeking of that reportedly led to Muhammad's encounter with Gabriel that resulted in the revelation of the Qur'an, and that same attitude of seeking led to Buddha's enlightenment under the Bodhi tree.

In fact, if one were to review the revelatory history of most religions, I think you'll find that the attitude and actions of a sincere seeker brought about various encounters with the Divine that changed the world. Seeking might well be the "best practice" of the spiritual minded.

THE FRUIT FOR RECONCILIATION

I agree with Clark Strand. The concept of "i-Religion" could be the next global religious revolution. As humanity has evolved, through technology, from narrow physical groupings of slow-moving ethnic tribes to global virtual communities that communicate across time and space in milliseconds, isn't it appropriate that we should share our understandings of God and Truth, as freely as we share our menus and cultures? This may be the first "fruit" of religious reconciliation.

It may be God's little joke that the underlying background concept (of i-Religion) comes from a company with a familiar piece of fruit as it's logo!!!!