The Tripod of Spirituality

I'm in the last 2 weeks of my two World Religion courses. We've worked our way through Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It's a lot to cover in a single semester.

At the end of the course, I ask my students, "What do these world religions have in common?" I get a wide range of answers: a commitment to peace, an ethical code, the Golden Rule and more.

My own view is that there are three spiritual values that can be found in all of the above religions. These are: compassion, humility and gratitude. I call these values, the "tripod" of spiritual life because they uphold and support it.

Compassion is the ability to not only empathize with another's pain, but to act in a compassionate way. Humility is the ability to see yourself as you truly are and to recognize your commonality with humanity. Gratitude is the ability to see all of life as a gift and to give thanks for this multitude of gifts.

It's impossible for me to comprehend a healthy spiritual life that lacks any of these values. Obviously, we can't perfectly embody these values. However, when it comes to the spiritual life, progress trumps perfection. To strive to internalize and to live by compassion, humility and gratitude is to live the best possible life. As the Dalai Lama once said, "The purpose of religion to make us better people."

The Blessings of a Crisis

Nobody welcomes a crisis. Crises are usually negative events, causing suffering and upheaval. Yet, a crisis can be a catalyst for positive changes. This was the case in the weeks following 9-11.

After the devastation of 9-11, Americans came together in mutual grief and a spirit of cooperation. There was a sense that "we're in this together." The partisan politics of congress was transformed into unanimous passage of legislative bills relating to 9-11. Courtesy replaced road rage on our highways. American flags became as commonplace as mailboxes. Compassion, courage and cooperation reigned.

But look where we are nine years later. The solemn 9-11 observances were marred by protests for and against an Islamic Cultural Center being built in lower Manhattan. A lunatic Florida pastor threatened to burn the Qu'ran. Congress is as divided as it has ever been.

I know we can't go back to those days after 9-11, but can we go forward to find ways to work together for common purposes? I hope it won't take another crisis to remind Americans that we have a common good to pursue and common goals to work on. Actually, we have suffered a crisis in the form of the Great Recession. Where is the compassion, courage and cooperation that we so desperately need? I believe these spiritual values are within each of us. However, we need to reclaim them and put them into action.

Affluence and Ease

Old Testament scholar Walter Breuggemann says that the first stage of prophetic criticism is embracing grief. Prophets were able to see the other’s loss as their loss. They hurt for the poor, the downcast and the outcast. They were able to put themselves in the place of the lost and least. Hence, their righteous anger at the neglect of the poor. They felt the pain of the poor.

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 15:19-31), we see a man who is blind to his neighbor’s plight. The rich man feasts each day, but he doesn’t really see the poor soul that lay at the gate to his home hoping for a few crumbs. Of course, this is a classic parable of reversal. For after death, their situations are reversed. The parable says that the advent of God’s kingdom means the turning upside-down of the present social order.

Luxury itself is not the problem. Neither the Old Testament prophets nor the rest of the Bible advocates asceticism, the idea that giving up comfort and pleasure will make one a better person. But the comfort of luxury becomes a problem when gained at the expense of others’ misery and when it deadens us to a sense of compassion and responsibility.

For the prophet Amos, it was the effect of luxury on one’s mind that is the real issue. Being “at ease” had led the affluent of his day to adopt the attitude: As long as I’m comfortable, that’s all that matters. Why disturb my comfort by worrying about the plight of others? We need to recognize the dangers of affluence, how it can diminish our compassion and how it can shift the focus of our lives onto self more than others.

"Many Faiths, One Truth"

In today's New York Times, there is an article by Tenzin Gyatso (the 14th Dalai Lama--leader of Tibetan Buddhism) by the above title. In this article he argues that compassion is the common thread that weaves together the religions of the world.

The Dalai Lama attributes his understanding of the centrality of compassion to a meeting he had with Trappist monk, Thomas Merton in 1968. Merton said that he could be faithful to Christianity while learning in depth from other religions, including Buddhism. He believed that studying other religions enriched his own.

The issue of religious intolerance is also addressed in the article. The Dalai Lama sees a "virulent" strain of religious intolerance in today's world that has led to conflict, violence and even war. This situation "demands that we promote peaceful coexistence and understanding across boundaries," he writes.

Compassion in the antidote to intolerance. When compassion is practiced, understanding and empathy are nurtured. Fostering tolerance among the religions of the world is essential if humanity is to thrive in a peaceful way.

We need to listen to this wisdom of the Dalai Lama. Religion can be a force for mutual understanding or intolerance. When we embrace the common value of compassion, we tap into the power of religion to unite rather than divide.

Capitalism: A Love Story?

Last night I saw Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story. As you might expect, it touched on typical Moore themes: fairness, the gap between rich and poor, corruption, greed and injustice.

Although I liked some of his earlier movies ("Roger and Me" and "Bowling for Columbine") more, I felt that "Capitalism" was well done and provided Moore with a bully pulpit on some important issues.

Much of the movie focused on the misery of job losses and home foreclosures as a result of the recent economic collapse. You couldn't help but be moved by the heart wrenching interviews with families evicted from homes. This was contrasted with those who were profiting from this dire situation.

The spiritual message I took from the movie was "be compassionate." Compassion is probably the highest spiritual value in the major religions. Compassion is called by many names-- charity, love, alms giving, justice for widows and orphans-- but the common thread is empathy and the willingness to act to relieve suffering.

The word compassion comes from two Latin words that mean "to suffer with." When we are compassionate, we feel the pain of the other and enter into it for the purpose of helping alleviate it.

Because of the huge volume of pain created by the Great Recession, I find myself experiencing "compassion fatigue." The needs of those suffering seem so overwhelming, it's hard to know where to begin. I believe that we're not called to solve all problems, but to do what we can where we are. Compassion provides both the empathy to see the need and the motivation to act.