We live in a time in which dialogue with religions other than our own is almost unavoidable. Such dialogue can be nurturing to us and can also build cooperative relations for social action among the most progressive practitioners of this wide array of very different religions.
The downside of this opportunity is what I call “religion hopping”—jumping from the most shallow portions of one of these grand religious traditions to the next, to the next, to the next, but never following any religious practice to the depths of that profound humanness that valid religions come into being to express.
Here is a metaphorical picture that I will use to distinguish shallow from deep in our interreligious dialogue. Imagine a planet in which there are about six cultural regions each of which digs a hole down to the hot core of that planet. Let that hot core represent profound humanness. And let the hole-digging represent the practices that each religion uses to experience that profound humanness. On the surface of the planet, each religion does reflections, theoretics, theologizings and the like that support that particular community and its hole digging. Also on the surface for each religion are moralities, styles, mode of association that support that particular hole digging. And finally there are institutions and organizations with their economics and politics that are also needed to support sustained hole digging across the centuries. Got the picture? Each religion is digging holes into the same profound humanness, but the holes and the support structures can be very different, and emphasize different aspects of this overall digging.
So what is this hole digging that promises assistance in reaching the hot core of profound humanness? It is religious practice. For example, one of those holes is called meditation practice. On the surface of that hole digging is theoretics, styles, and organizations of a religion called “Buddhism” perhaps. In any case, much Buddhism is a set of teachings for the sake of supporting effective meditation practice. I love the story about the student who ask his meditation teacher if doing meditation causes enlightenment. “No,” said the teacher, enlightenment is an accident, but meditation makes one more accident prone.” Meditation practice is just one of many useful religious practices that makes one more accident prone to realize that hot core of Reality called by many names, including “enlightenment.”
In another cultural area, another hole is being dug to the hot core of Reality. Let’s call this hole-digging the religious practice of “dialogue.” Everyone is in ongoing dialogue with other people: parents, teachers, authors, scriptures, mentors, gurus, art pieces, artists, dancers, singers, novelists, fictitious characters, and more. These dialogues go on constantly in our inner beings. The religious practice of dialogue consists of giving intentionality to that natural dialogue, thereby assisting one in digging a hole down to the hot core of Reality. Metaphorically speaking, we seat our dialogue partners in a set of concentric circles. In the inner circle we seat those who nurture us in our descent into the hot depths of Reality. We intentionally listen and talk back to them. We view their art, sway to their songs, dance to their music, etc. This hole-digging can also make us accident prone to the accident of authenticity, salvation, sanctification, or whatever name points us to that hot center of profound humanness. Whatever we name it, and however we describe it, that hot core of profound humanness is the same humanity being opened by the Buddhist meditators.
The point of this spin is simply to point out that the thinking, beliefs, styles, moralities, and the organization of a religion are only its surface features, useful for illuminating and sustaining its practices. It is the practices of a religion that are digging a hole to the profound humanness that every valid religious practice can assist us to discover. So being deep in our interreligious dialogue means doing dialogue and cooperation with other religions near the profound humanness heat, not at the surface level of beliefs or moralities, thoughts, actions, organizations, etc. It is our awareness, our being, and our doing of our profound humanness that reveals to us the valid gifts of a religion. A religion’s thought, action, and practices are good to the extent that they are expressions of that profound humanness that can happen to each of us.
There are many other religious practices than the two described above. See chapter 19 of The Enigma of Consciousness: A Philosophy of Profound Humanness and Religion for a full development of the topic of religious practices. For more information on this book and how to order it, click here for full-color flyer:
http://www.realisticliving.org/PDF/Consciousness/EnigmaFlyer.pdf