Saturday, May 14, 2005
The Harvard Gazette is reporting on a conference on evangelical theology held recently. In the linked to article, a three way split of Christians is discussed with the three classes being i) "spiritual shoppers, who make up "25 to 30 percent of the American public"", ii) "Christian inclusivists, who "take the Christian tradition seriously but also accept the validity of other religions and feel it is important to learn from them" ... at 35 to 40 percent of the American public"", iii) "Christian exclusivists, who comprise about a quarter of the population and are most likely evangelicals. Christian exclusivists, ... "believe that only Christians are saved and that the Bible is the unique revelation of divine truth.""
In the many Buddhist meditation retreats that I've attended, I've been struck by the lack of curiousity of most of the people toward Buddhism/Hinduism as it is actually practiced in other countries. When I mention that I was raised Hindu in India, there just isn't that curiousity that you'd expect of people who are actually interested in what they're doing. My conclusion and I'll be the first to admit that it is brutally unfair, is that more than 95% of the people at these Buddhist retreats are not really interested in spirituality at all. I've had better conversations with fellow geeks about spirituality and more specifically, spiritual experiences than with the people who come to retreats.
Now you can counter that there's no reason for these people to be interested in the mainstream version of the religion whose practices they are sampling. But that is so wrong. First, the level of ignorance is astounding. Second, these people confuse the mainstream version of Hinduism/Buddhism with spirituality which is absurd. I'd guess that perhaps 99% of the Hindus and Buddhists in whatever country they're in are not spiritual at all. It is only a small percentage that wants/craves spiritual experiences and a framework to accomodate them.
The situation at present regarding spirituality is therefore very bleak and more so it has always been bleak. The likelihood of you and I coming across sane, level headed people who seek to go beyond themselves and approach the divine in some fashion is vanishingly small. The likelihood that you'll find spiritual experimenters who approach spirituality with the heart of a scientist is abysmally low. The good news is it has always been the same.
In the many Buddhist meditation retreats that I've attended, I've been struck by the lack of curiousity of most of the people toward Buddhism/Hinduism as it is actually practiced in other countries. When I mention that I was raised Hindu in India, there just isn't that curiousity that you'd expect of people who are actually interested in what they're doing. My conclusion and I'll be the first to admit that it is brutally unfair, is that more than 95% of the people at these Buddhist retreats are not really interested in spirituality at all. I've had better conversations with fellow geeks about spirituality and more specifically, spiritual experiences than with the people who come to retreats.
Now you can counter that there's no reason for these people to be interested in the mainstream version of the religion whose practices they are sampling. But that is so wrong. First, the level of ignorance is astounding. Second, these people confuse the mainstream version of Hinduism/Buddhism with spirituality which is absurd. I'd guess that perhaps 99% of the Hindus and Buddhists in whatever country they're in are not spiritual at all. It is only a small percentage that wants/craves spiritual experiences and a framework to accomodate them.
The situation at present regarding spirituality is therefore very bleak and more so it has always been bleak. The likelihood of you and I coming across sane, level headed people who seek to go beyond themselves and approach the divine in some fashion is vanishingly small. The likelihood that you'll find spiritual experimenters who approach spirituality with the heart of a scientist is abysmally low. The good news is it has always been the same.
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