A New Faith in Classical Music

Nor is spirituality a word you associate nowadays with the Salzburg Festival, a once-modest summer presentation of classical music and theater founded in 1920 by the playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the composer Richard Strauss and others, now grown huge and proud. A product of the economic and cultural despair at the fall of the Hapsburg empire, it is now the summer home of the vaunted Vienna Philharmonic; it’s famous for lavish opera productions and notorious for some of the highest ticket prices anywhere.

But last weekend the festival, with a week added to the front of its calendar, embarked on a 10-day Spiritual Overture. And in doing so, the festival, which has become something of a bellwether since Gerard Mortier shook it up in the 1990s after decades of elegant sameness under the conductor Herbert von Karajan, seems to have caught a wave of spirituality that is surging through the world of classical music (or, given the years of advance planning involved, helped instigate it).

On Aug. 8 the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, which has in recent years been giving increased prominence to sacred music in its Easter outings, opens a summer season called Faith, with repertory including the Mozart and Verdi Requiems and with the spiritually minded Sofia Gubaidulina as composer in residence. Next season the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra expands on its Music of the Spirit weeks, which have so far included dramatic productions of the Mozart Requiem and Handel’s “Messiah,” with a reprise of the Mozart Requiem in the fall and a nine-day festival in the spring. Also formative in all of this, Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, a highly personal creation of Jane Moss, the center’s artistic director, enters its third season this fall.

The Salzburg “overture,” the first in a projected annual series, is to feature a different faith each year. This season the focus is on Judaism, and on Tuesday evening in the Felsenreitschule, the moody auditorium carved into a mountainside, Zubin Mehta conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale (of New York) in the first of three concerts serving as centerpiece.

The inspired program — shaped by Mr. Mehta and Alexander Pereira, the festival’s new artistic director — was framed by Schoenberg’s eloquent “Kol Nidre,” composed in Los Angeles in 1938, shortly before Kristallnacht in Germany, and Noam Sheriff’s brilliantly conceived choral symphony “Mechaye Hametim” (“Revival of the Dead”), written in 1985 and centering on the Holocaust. It also included Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder” (“Songs on the Death of Children”), which, though not ostensibly spiritual and certainly not Holocaust related, took on added meaning from the context: the more so, given the epic cast of the baritone Thomas Hampson’s superb performance.

Abetted by Mr. Hampson’s tour de force, in which he also served as narrator in the Schoenberg and spoke and sang in the Sheriff, the evening’s performances were everywhere excellent. To single out one other individual, Carl Hieger, a tenor, provided a touching cantorial inflection in the Sheriff.

The concert was greeted warmly, even clamorously, by an almost full house. This, in a city with a long tradition of anti-Semitism, came in striking contrast to, say, the Israel Philharmonic’s reception last September at the London Proms, where hecklers, injecting current Middle East politics, disrupted a concert.

“It’s not by chance that we start with Jewish music,” Mr. Pereira, the intendant, or artistic director, of the Salzburg Festival, said in an interview. Asked whether anyone had voiced objections, he responded emphatically, “They wouldn’t dare.”

Mr. Pereira, 64, said that he first conceived the notion of a spiritual festival almost 30 years ago, when he became secretary general of the Vienna Konzerthaus, but could only now implement it.

“There is definitely something in the air,” he said of the current wave of spirituality in classical music. He suggests that people are looking for something beyond rationalism: a kind of idealism, something that speaks to their own values.

He felt vindicated by audience reactions to the opening weekend of the overture, he said. “It’s as if people were expecting something that finally comes,” he added, “even if they didn’t know what they were expecting.”

Mr. Pereira is far from alone in finding the time ripe for spirituality. In Ms. Moss’s case, at Lincoln Center, spirituality is merely part of a larger concern: transcendence, looking inside yourself.

“There is a huge hunger for more human connections,” said Ms. Moss, who describes herself as “a secular mystic.” “People are looking for larger experiences in a cyberworld” that becomes ever more “like eating candy.”

“Music,” she added, “is going to end up being the only live experience left in the world.”

Manfred Honeck, the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony, sees a nascent “spiritual revolution” partly in response to economic crisis. With economies failing around the world, he said, “it is a moment like the collapse of Communism.”

“People feel a lot of things,” he added, “and music helps them to understand. What we are presenting is not just performances but something meant to add context to our time.”

Helga Rabl-Stadler, the president of the Salzburg Festival, while seconding some of what others had to say about the mind-set of the times, also cited a simpler reason for a broadening appeal of spiritual music. The Mozart C minor Mass (K. 427) that she had heard at the festival the day before, she said, “was like opera, with more heart, more soul.”

In addition to the Israel Philharmonic performances the Spiritual Overture has included evenings by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and will include concerts by Claudio Abbado and his Orchestra Mozart and Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus Wien. The Salzburg Festival proper opens on Friday, with Mr. Harnoncourt conducting the Concentus Musicus and Vienna State Opera forces in Mozart’s “Zauberflöte,” and the Vienna Philharmonic takes center stage on Sunday in a morning concert and an evening production of the original version of Strauss’s opera “Ariadne auf Naxos.”

As for the more distant future Salzburg’s Spiritual Overture moves on to Buddhism next year. And Mr. Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic should consider taking the splendid Schoenberg-Sheriff program to New York, where another audience sure to be receptive awaits, festival or no. The chorus, after all, is already there.

A New Faith in Classical Music

Nor is spirituality a word you associate nowadays with the Salzburg Festival, a once-modest summer presentation of classical music and theater founded in 1920 by the playwright Hugo von Hofmannsthal, the composer Richard Strauss and others, now grown huge and proud. A product of the economic and cultural despair at the fall of the Hapsburg empire, it is now the summer home of the vaunted Vienna Philharmonic; it’s famous for lavish opera productions and notorious for some of the highest ticket prices anywhere.

But last weekend the festival, with a week added to the front of its calendar, embarked on a 10-day Spiritual Overture. And in doing so, the festival, which has become something of a bellwether since Gerard Mortier shook it up in the 1990s after decades of elegant sameness under the conductor Herbert von Karajan, seems to have caught a wave of spirituality that is surging through the world of classical music (or, given the years of advance planning involved, helped instigate it).

On Aug. 8 the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, which has in recent years been giving increased prominence to sacred music in its Easter outings, opens a summer season called Faith, with repertory including the Mozart and Verdi Requiems and with the spiritually minded Sofia Gubaidulina as composer in residence. Next season the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra expands on its Music of the Spirit weeks, which have so far included dramatic productions of the Mozart Requiem and Handel’s “Messiah,” with a reprise of the Mozart Requiem in the fall and a nine-day festival in the spring. Also formative in all of this, Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, a highly personal creation of Jane Moss, the center’s artistic director, enters its third season this fall.

The Salzburg “overture,” the first in a projected annual series, is to feature a different faith each year. This season the focus is on Judaism, and on Tuesday evening in the Felsenreitschule, the moody auditorium carved into a mountainside, Zubin Mehta conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Collegiate Chorale (of New York) in the first of three concerts serving as centerpiece.

The inspired program — shaped by Mr. Mehta and Alexander Pereira, the festival’s new artistic director — was framed by Schoenberg’s eloquent “Kol Nidre,” composed in Los Angeles in 1938, shortly before Kristallnacht in Germany, and Noam Sheriff’s brilliantly conceived choral symphony “Mechaye Hametim” (“Revival of the Dead”), written in 1985 and centering on the Holocaust. It also included Mahler’s “Kindertotenlieder” (“Songs on the Death of Children”), which, though not ostensibly spiritual and certainly not Holocaust related, took on added meaning from the context: the more so, given the epic cast of the baritone Thomas Hampson’s superb performance.

Abetted by Mr. Hampson’s tour de force, in which he also served as narrator in the Schoenberg and spoke and sang in the Sheriff, the evening’s performances were everywhere excellent. To single out one other individual, Carl Hieger, a tenor, provided a touching cantorial inflection in the Sheriff.

The concert was greeted warmly, even clamorously, by an almost full house. This, in a city with a long tradition of anti-Semitism, came in striking contrast to, say, the Israel Philharmonic’s reception last September at the London Proms, where hecklers, injecting current Middle East politics, disrupted a concert.

“It’s not by chance that we start with Jewish music,” Mr. Pereira, the intendant, or artistic director, of the Salzburg Festival, said in an interview. Asked whether anyone had voiced objections, he responded emphatically, “They wouldn’t dare.”

Mr. Pereira, 64, said that he first conceived the notion of a spiritual festival almost 30 years ago, when he became secretary general of the Vienna Konzerthaus, but could only now implement it.

“There is definitely something in the air,” he said of the current wave of spirituality in classical music. He suggests that people are looking for something beyond rationalism: a kind of idealism, something that speaks to their own values.

He felt vindicated by audience reactions to the opening weekend of the overture, he said. “It’s as if people were expecting something that finally comes,” he added, “even if they didn’t know what they were expecting.”

Mr. Pereira is far from alone in finding the time ripe for spirituality. In Ms. Moss’s case, at Lincoln Center, spirituality is merely part of a larger concern: transcendence, looking inside yourself.

“There is a huge hunger for more human connections,” said Ms. Moss, who describes herself as “a secular mystic.” “People are looking for larger experiences in a cyberworld” that becomes ever more “like eating candy.”

“Music,” she added, “is going to end up being the only live experience left in the world.”

Manfred Honeck, the music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony, sees a nascent “spiritual revolution” partly in response to economic crisis. With economies failing around the world, he said, “it is a moment like the collapse of Communism.”

“People feel a lot of things,” he added, “and music helps them to understand. What we are presenting is not just performances but something meant to add context to our time.”

Helga Rabl-Stadler, the president of the Salzburg Festival, while seconding some of what others had to say about the mind-set of the times, also cited a simpler reason for a broadening appeal of spiritual music. The Mozart C minor Mass (K. 427) that she had heard at the festival the day before, she said, “was like opera, with more heart, more soul.”

In addition to the Israel Philharmonic performances the Spiritual Overture has included evenings by John Eliot Gardiner and the Monteverdi Choir and will include concerts by Claudio Abbado and his Orchestra Mozart and Nikolaus Harnoncourt and his Concentus Musicus Wien. The Salzburg Festival proper opens on Friday, with Mr. Harnoncourt conducting the Concentus Musicus and Vienna State Opera forces in Mozart’s “Zauberflöte,” and the Vienna Philharmonic takes center stage on Sunday in a morning concert and an evening production of the original version of Strauss’s opera “Ariadne auf Naxos.”

As for the more distant future Salzburg’s Spiritual Overture moves on to Buddhism next year. And Mr. Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic should consider taking the splendid Schoenberg-Sheriff program to New York, where another audience sure to be receptive awaits, festival or no. The chorus, after all, is already there.

Taking a “Should” on our Spiritual Lives

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This week I spent 4 days in the mountains of Idaho on a spiritual retreat. For three summers in a row this trip has profoundly affected my spiritual life. Something exciting happens when church planters and leaders get together to ponder uniting our lives to the life of God.

Over the past couple of months I’ve discovered a bit of a pattern. One of the ways I attempt to connect with God is through lectio divina (prayer-focused readings of Scripture). As I engage in this ancient practice of Christian spirituality, there are times when God shows up in beautiful ways. Lately, this has not been the case as often. It’s almost as if I sometimes take a “should” all over my spiritual life.

One of the things that I’m discovering about spiritual disciplines is that I often take that which is relational in its very nature and turn it into something mechanical. Sometimes I find myself thinking: If I carve out time to engage in lectio divina, then God will reveal Christ to me in a way that almost feels tangible.

The problem with this approach is it assumes an A + B = C sort of spirituality. If I read the Bible and pray, the formula will yield intimacy with the Spirit of Christ. So, all week long as I fail to create space for my personal holiness mechanism, I begin to use words that contaminate any spiritual vocabulary.

The words – fail, success, must, accomplish, achieve, or should – usually demonstrate that one’s faith journey has moved from relational to mechanical approaches to God. When we get to this point we’re basically taking a “should” on our lives as kingdom people.

Certainly, the opposite approach is just as bad. If we have no motivation for connecting with God, something is wrong. Or, to take it a step further, if the only time we connect with God is when we’re going through some sort of “trial” then our perception of God might be dangerously flawed. We must be leery of both extremes.

Someone who I look up to is Jan Johnson. She has led these retreats for the last 2 summers. Her work in spiritual direction and formation in partnership with Renavaré (founded by Dallas Willard) is a gift to the church. One thing she often says is:

“You do the connecting and God will do the perfecting.”

In other words, if we want to engage in deeper union with God we are invited into a posture of seeking Christ while avoiding mechanistic thinking.  As we do so we can trust that God will transform our inner lives so that what we do will be energized more fully by the love of Jesus. But how do we avoid the trap of “should–ing” all over spiritual formation?

A metaphor that she offered last week  (which she cited as borrowing from elsewhere) was looking at the spiritual life as a boat outing. Whenever we find ourselves measuring outcomes and assuming that transformation is primarily mechanical, it’s like we are in a small boat rowing against the wind. The more we row through our effort-driven approaches to formation, the more we find ourselves exhausted, stuck and stagnant. Even though we try and try again to connect with God we just don’t find the sort of outcomes we are looking for. Rowers run the risk of taking a “should” on their spiritual lives.

The alternative, then, is to release the paddles and to give up rowing against the wind. As a result, the air you once were fighting against now becomes the very winds of God that propel your sail. A critical difference happens at this point. Whereas rowing pushes in a direction that we think we need to go, sailing with the wind of God’s Spirit depends fully on recognizing the direction that the current is blowing.

As we discern where the winds of God are already moving we can align our spiritual sales on a course towards the unpredictable life with God. We may not know exactly where we are going, the outcomes may not be instant or foreseeable, but we can trust God to move us at the perfect pace.

What would it look like for us to set sail in a life fully directed by God’s Spirit? The answer to that question will be unique to each individual. To take it further, as the winds of God change we may find it necessary to adjust our sails (spiritual practices) depending upon the unique circumstances to come. As the winds move us, the temptation to take our relational faith and to impose a mechanical rowing system will always be present.

Let’s imagine together lives where we refuse to “should” on spiritual formation and allow the love of Christ to lure us into intimate sailing. This process will be slow and might lead us into uncharted waters at times. Yet we can be assured that if we leave the outcomes of the journey in God’s hands, that mechanical attempts will give way to a surprising relationship with the Divine.

————————————–

LIKE THIS POST? THEN CHECK OUT: “I’m Done With Living Like a Christian“

Spiritual Philosophical Novel examines the nature of consciousness, the causes of suffering, and enlightenment

Author B. Steven Verney writes Sam O’Connor’s intriguing and uplifting story of how spiritual evolution unfolds

Wellfleet, MA (PRWEB) July 21, 2012

According to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation Program, “Transcendental Meditation opens the awareness to the infinite reservoir of energy, creativity, and intelligence that lies deep within everyone. By enlivening this most basic level of life, Transcendental Meditation is that one simple procedure which can raise the life of every individual and every society to its full dignity, in which problems are absent and perfect health, happiness, and a rapid pace of progress are the natural features of life.”

A spiritual, philosophical novel, The Best of all Possible Worlds written by author B. Steven Verney begins in 1973 when Sam O’Connor, a PhD student at the University of Massachusetts meets and falls in love with Amy Sanders who has just finished her MFA at the university. As Sam begins to envision their life together, Amy tells him she’s leaving the following week to study with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Switzerland in order to become a teacher of the Transcendental Meditation program. Crest fallen, Sam resigns to spend part of the summer with his Irish Catholic family in Greenwich Village working at the bakery-café his parents operate and own. Within a week, he receives a call that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has invited him to join the course. He hastily leaves the village behind and embarks on a course that will alter his life forever.

His path to enlightenment as a western man is an intriguing and uplifting story of how spiritual evolution unfolds. Despite the tragic event that occurs which temporarily leads him to retreat from public life, he once again embraces his destiny. Sam’s insight and experience of how consciousness evolves and expands leads him to share this knowledge wholeheartedly with his students and the world.

This novel will allow readers to explore the infinite wholeness that is both within us and all around us. The spiritual awakening of Transcendental Meditation experience enlivens the individual’s creativity, dynamism, orderliness, and organizing power, which result in increasing effectiveness and success in daily life. Indeed, it is The Best of All Possible Worlds, after all.

For more information on this book, interested parties may log on to http://www.Xlibris.com.

About the Author

B. Steven Verney began the Transcendental Meditation Technique in 1974 as a sophomore in college. Impressed by his experiences and excited about the knowledge of spiritual evolution as described by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, he attended the teacher-training course and was made a teacher of the TM program by Maharishi in the summer of 1976. Later, he attended Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa and graduated with a BA in Philosophy in 1981. While at the university, he met his future wife, Kay. They were married in 1982. For the next 24 years, Steve and Kay started and operated three different businesses while raising their two sons. They’ve resided in New Salem, MA and currently live in Wellfleet, MA. This is his first novel.

The Best of all Possible Worlds * by B. Steven Verney

Publication Date: June 20, 2012

Trade Paperback; $19.99; 380pages; 978-1-4691-5783-2

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The Time for a Spiritual Judaism Is Now

A patient lies in a hospital bed, head propped on a pillow and leaning to one side, bare of expression. His breath rises and falls slowly but steadily, the line across the heart monitor geometrically rising and falling, only because he is attached to a machine that keeps him going. His own lungs have failed and but for the grace of the machine that keeps pumping him with oxygen, he would exhale his final breath and expire.

Such is the state of spirituality in much of the Jewish world today. While millions upon millions of dollars are poured into Jewish causes for the sake of the continuity of the Jewish people — may we live and flourish — these lifelines are doomed to failure, flailing attempts that grasp for life from the midst of lifeless carrying-on and the impending doom of irrelevance.

Spending some time in India and Nepal a little over a year ago, I met an amicable 30-something Jewish guy from San Francisco who was spending three months on retreat at a Buddhist meditation center in Nepal. “Want to hear a joke?” he said to me. “Sure,” I replied. “What do you call a Jew in California?” “What?” “A Buddhist.”

He thought that was funny. I thought it was sad. Being just one day before the Passover seder, I asked if he had plans. Not this year, wasn’t going to work out. I started to share with him some of the inner teachings of Judaism about liberation and the seder. He stood dumbfounded, struggling to find words with the shock at the possibility that he could actually feel at home in the tradition he was born into, that it might actually bear some relevance to his life and the spiritual path he felt drawn toward.

A modest estimate reckons there are 100,000 Jewish Buddhists. And that’s not including the tens of thousands of Hindus, Sufis and New-agers, or those who have just dropped out altogether, or even those who live traditional and religious lives, but have no awareness of the teachings and possibilities for deep personal growth and awareness within the Jewish tradition. The vast majority of these people have never been exposed to a spiritual Judaism or Jewish spiritual practice, and you can’t blame them: It is hard to find. I spent some time running an open house for Jewish spirituality in India and met hundreds of Israelis, almost every one deeply thirsting for spiritual nourishment, yet so many deeply alienated and calloused by years of exposure to hyper-politicized, xenophobic, coercive Judaism that has everything to do with what you wear and what you don’t, and little to do with awakening to the Divine and manifesting love for your neighbor. They were shocked and awed that Judaism could speak to their lives.

I have friends whose parents have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in years of Jewish education, camp and time in Israel (all worthy pursuits) only to find them in college and their 20s asking questions which their teachers never raised or knew how to answer, and struggling to understand why any of this matters. Tens of thousands of college students go on Birthright and have wild times and crazy parties and hook up with Israeli soldiers, “bonding” for the first time with the Jewish state, but beyond memories and national pride, have no real sense of why Judaism matters or what role it might play in their emerging adult lives.

I lament from a place of privilege. An array of opportunities and gifted teachers over the years have brought me against all odds into a deep engagement with the sources and practices of a spiritually vibrant Judaism. What’s missing for so many of my peers is a sense of simple relevance, of a path of simple presence. In our pathologically busy society where people are ever-more connected but actually more alienated, isolated, lonely, and longing, there is an enfeebling silence in the face of the ever-asserting question of Genesis: Ayeka, where are you amid all this?

The 2008 National Survey on Spirituality by Synagogue 3000 says 50 percent or more of Jews want to know how spiritual exploration, meditation and sacred text can relate to their lives. Seventy-eight percent want their rabbis to talk about spiritual issues. People are yearning for a sense of context and groundedness for their lives. They want structure to build communities and relationships around intimate connection and caring for one another, having and celebrating joys, and also to have space to share and be supported in their struggles. Like the prophet Jonah, we will evade the call of the Divine at our own peril.

Traditional theology asserts that God is everywhere, but today’s listless spirituality needs more than the mere assertion of theological truths. Rather, we must provide people the tools and pathways to experience the transformative power of awakening to their own deep potential, to the presence of the Divine in all spaces, closer to me even than my thoughts. We must engage questions that are alive and do practices that make us more alive. How do I learn to see the miraculous in the mundane? How do I live close to my soul? How do I deal with anxiety, stress and depression? How do I connect to the confidence that is at my core, beyond failure and independent of accomplishment? How do I come to actually care about the other and feel our unity? What does humility mean? What is my purpose? How do I come to awe? How can I learn to be vulnerable and honest, and despite imperfection to live with the dignity that comes from honoring what is essentially human?

Jewish continuity will only be assured when its organism is connected to a vital, vibrant heart. And then continuity will take care of itself, the natural product of a vital organism. We must expand the way we think about Judaism and transform the way we practice, tearing down the walls that limit its relevance to lifecycle events and so-called Jewish space and making it a fully integrative life practice.

I am heartened by the life-changing reports participants share from their experience in the classes, retreats and workshops we run at Or HaLev, our Center for Jewish Spirituality and Meditation, and the nascent Jewish spiritual renaissance that numerous of my teachers, peers and colleagues are kindling in initiatives around the world. As much of the body of Am Yisrael is mechanically kept alive, the clock is ticking. The question, as in Ezekiel, looms: “Can these bones live?” The answer of prophetic inspiration is a resounding yes. This, however, is a charge, not a guarantee. The whole house of Israel cries out, saying, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost.” Ezekiel speaks the answer of the Divine, as we must now: “I will put My spirit in you, and you shall live.” The time for a spiritual Judaism is now.

Voices of Faith: What is the most challenging spiritual dilemma you have ever had to face?

Q. What is the most challenging spiritual dilemma you have ever had to face?

According to traditional Guru’s teachings, the forgiveness of others is amongst the spiritual duties of the Sikhism believer. Waheguru is generally considered to be the original source of all forgiveness, which is made possible through the sacrifice of Gurus, and is freely available to the repentant believer. As a response to God’s forgiveness, the Sikh believer is in turn expected to learn how to forgive others; some would teach that the forgiveness of others is a necessary part of receiving forgiveness ourselves, and vice versa. In fact, at the end of the God’s Prayer, tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh says, “ Nanak Naam Chardikala, Tere Bhane Sarbat Da Bhala” means all beings be prosper. Unless we forgive we won’t be forgiven.

The person who is forgiven is not necessarily released from any obligation to make material or financial amends. By forgiving someone the person doing the forgiving becomes free.

Amarjit Singh

The Sikh Centre, Anderson

The death of my infant daughter was the most shattering event of my life and caused a dramatic spiritual realignment. The death of a contemporary or an elder can be expected and can be integrated into life after a grieving period. The death of one’s child, though, cuts to the core of spirituality and all the bromides and platitudes offered by well-meaning people do nothing to ease the pain.

We often try to push the reality of suffering away with religious or worldly distractions. However, like all exceedingly painful lessons, there is a glimmer of truth within the pain that if brought to awareness can create equanimity and abiding peace. True internal and external peace comes we when realize that all suffer, all need compassion, and our own pain has merit and meaning when we connect to another.

Compassion is now.

A dewdrop and Mt. Shasta,

Both impermanent.

Dennis Kessinger, Zen Buddhist

Redding

When I was in my late twenties, I had to make the decision to leave the faith tradition I had been involved in since childhood. It meant I had to leave the support system and community I had in place for many years and felt deeply connected to. It was a very difficult decision but I felt to be in integrity to myself and to God I had to leave. It was a crisis of conscious. My faith tradition leaders asked me to ostracize a friend because she was not of the same faith.

I deliberated, prayed and consulted spiritual advisors. Ultimately, I did not feel such action was in alignment with God’s love so I made the decision to leave. It was a decision that radically altered my life, and carried me into a much closer relationship with God. That same friend and I are still very close friends.

Rev. Lynn E. Fritz

Centers Spiritual Living, Redding

I was called to the hospital by the parents of a very young child I had baptized only two weeks earlier. The situation was extremely grave and a teen aged older brother was in both physical and spiritual shock. Ultimately, I was just fulfilling a ministry of presence, staying and praying with the parents when they faced the wrenching decision to withdraw mechanical life support. There is really nothing one can say or do to heal or smooth over the terrible loss of a child from a sudden affliction. Yet it was clear that just being present and in tears with the parents and older brother was graced time. It was Christmas Eve. We celebrated the child’s funeral with the Mass of the Angels on the feast of the Holy Innocents. Our grief was still deep and difficult. We just prayed, held each other and cried together again.

Deacon Mike Evans

Sacred Heart Church, Anderson

For lack of what could properly be defined a “dilemma,” I would submit my journey from Arminian, Dispensational, American evangelicalism to historic, Reformed Christianity. As the many who have made a similar journey can attest, this can be a traumatic time. It was the result of the Lord leading me through much prayer and much study of the scripture, things I have become immensely richer for. It wasn’t easy, though, nor was it without cost. It eventually meant leaving the church that had been my wife’s and my home for many years, one in which we were thoroughly immersed, and it at the time meant the end of my pursuit of the ministry, since I was moving into denominations that not only valued but required serious theological and biblical training; to name just a couple.

It was a dilemma, though, in which the Lord showed himself ever loving and faithful.

Rev. Gene Crow, Pastor

Redding Reformed Fellowship

After a long process of investigation and reflection, having the integrity to leave the religion of my birth. Thankfully, large challenges or dilemmas happen intermittently or rarely. But daily challenges can seem overwhelming in their own way: a case of death by a thousand cuts.

The benefits of daily meditation practice are obvious. But carving out the time while meeting other responsibilities, having the energy, and fending off excuses and distractions to meditate can be challenging. Meditation is simple but not easy.

Beginning by being kind and gentle with ourselves and not becoming discouraged when we inevitably “fail,” we can also reframe challenges, taking a more spacious approach to what we perceive to be problems. The Buddha noted that if we put a teaspoon of salt in a glass of water the water tastes salty. But put a teaspoon of salt in a lake and the saltiness is virtually undetectable.

Chris Carrigan, Buddhist

River Oak Sangha, Redding

Having to leave the denominational church through which I came to faith. The Episcopal Church has abandoned the Word of God as the source of its understanding of who God is and how to live in his world. At the same time I know everything God has done in my life has been done in the Episcopalian context. I know as well that he loves the Episcopal Church with the fire of the sun. He gave his life for her. Walking the tightrope between my deep grief, disillusionment and sense of betrayal by this church and continuing to praise God for all, he has given through her remains a challenge to my spirit. I see God in the challenge.

Rev. James Wilson

PrayNorthState

My dilemma was solved once I humbled myself before a creator/redeemer God. I had to come to grips with the earth was not my mother and that I was not the ultimate authority in my life. Even though I live in this environment, I’m not a part of it nor do I have a second chance at perfection. It’s refreshing to understand that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all one and that through their redemptive love and the cross I will have life after death.

I still struggle with the free will that God gave us. The fact that man can accept or reject the person of Jesus Christ and not know God’s grace is troubling to me. I will however continue to pray for those who wrestle with life’s spiritual battles.

Jim White, lay leader

Weaverville Church of the Nazarene

I’ve pondered, “Is there a God?” I tell myself “God’s presence is wherever I am. I need only to look and be aware of what I see.”

A dying person asks, “Will I be with my dead loved ones after I die?” I reply, “Your memory…call it your consciousness, if you wish…exists as a packet of energy, which cannot be destroyed, still exists after you die. That packet…call it your soul if you wish…enters the cosmos and exists there for evermore. In that state of being, loved ones, present and past, and you exist and interact as in life. Likewise, you exist in the consciousness of people you leave behind and when they die the same process continues on”

I can’t prove this hypothesis; nor do I need to. If the concept brings comfort to a person close to death, I’ve done my job.

George Wandrocke, Lay Chaplain

Temple Beth Israel, Redding

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, we do not face spiritual dilemmas in our Christian walk. Either you choose Christ or you choose the world. However, the believer does go through difficult times which often raises questions in their beliefs. How do you cope with the death of a sister-in-law at an early age who leaves behind two small children or the death of a 12 year old son. Or sometimes it’s the separation between you and someone you love like a son or daughter. These are times of great stress and sorrow. These are also great times for drawing nearer to the Lord for comfort and guidance. Peter in I Peter, spends time instructing the believer that these difficult times are normal for the Christian-we should not be surprised when they happen. Paul tells us further in Romans 5, that these times are beneficial for growth in our faith. We do not face dilemmas at these times but opportunities to grow closer to the Lord.

Gary Strickler

Grace Baptist Church, Redding

In my thirty-three years as a Christian, I have experienced many spiritual challenges and to state the greatest would be difficult, however I will express a dilemma that occurred as a young Christian.

My first real test of faith was to come as a salesman for a major corporation. My manager requested I report him working with me the next day, when he had no intention to do so. Having to reply instantly, I informed him of my Christian conversion and that I could not comply.

He replied, “You will have no trouble with me on this.” However those were empty words and life under him was trying for about seven years until I left the company.

Jesus said in John 15:20, “….if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you….”

The Lord’s words are true, he is also faithful and promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Dave Spagnola

Oak Grove Bible Fellowship, Palo Cedro

I hate spiritual dilemmas. They always seem to gore me with both horns.

Rev. Jeffrey Smith

St Luke’s Anglican Church, Redding

Next week’s question: What is your perspective on psychic phenomena and their source?

View all responses to the weekly question on Redding.com. E-mail jskropanic@redding.com.

Is Yoga A Spiritual Practice? A Community Discussion

A recent picture posted to Huffington Post’s Religion’s Facebook page sparked a passionate discussion over whether or not yoga is a spiritual practice.

The picture was an image from Mind Over Madness Yoga, a Summer Solstice event featuring thousands of New Yorkers convening in Times Square for a free session. The conversation that followed included conflicting views.

Some commenters said yoga a great way of connecting with their Creator regardless of one’s faith. Another said that for them, yoga is more spiritual than church.

Others expressed the notion that the practice is solely a fitness activity that is positive yet isn’t up for spiritual discourse. For instance, one commenter said, “Anything that causes people to relax and get in shape has got to be good thing.”

On the flip side, another person said “Yoga was never an exercise. It is a part of a meditation. It helps you get here and now.”

However, other commenters were leery of the sometimes loose classifications of the spiritual elements of yoga. For example, one person said, “The people are hungry and they will spiritually eat whatever they are fed now.”

Another said, “I think the spirituality within yoga pertains to Hinduism. Take the Hinduism out of it, and you’ve just got exercise, which isn’t spiritual at all.”

On the other hand, some felt yoga’s benefits are equally physical and spiritual. Someone said, “You all need to do some yoga and chill out. Do a hour class with a bunch of skinny chicks and after you lie on the floor in a puddle of sweat tell me it isn’t exercise in addition to a spiritual releasing event.”

The discussion continued on Twitter, with a variety of replies to the question, “Is yoga as a spiritual practice?” A slideshow of reactions is below.

What are your thoughts on yoga? Do you practice it? Is it a spiritual experience for you?

Loading Slideshow

• Jesse Pals

• Lisa Ramsey

• Le Queen of Success

• Adi Nugroho Puspito

• ॐ Metta Meditation ॐ

• Joe Pritchett

• Rodeweeks Sequeira

• BibleHeathen

• Dara

• Natalie

• Serena Jade

• Angela Knappenberger

• Climbing Out Blog

• Lindsay Denise

• Ruth Kendall

• Brent Speiran

• Alyssa Parker

• Jos Tharakan

• Integral Church

• Connor Martini

Related on HuffPost:

Taking part in a riot can be an ecstatic, spiritual experience, says senior Church of England bishop

By
Steve Doughty

PUBLISHED:

18:31 EST, 8 July 2012

|

UPDATED:

01:51 EST, 9 July 2012

The Right Reverend Peter Price said taking part in a riot could be a ‘spiritual experience’

A senior Church of England bishop declared yesterday that rioting could be ‘an ecstatic, spiritual experience’.

The Right Reverend Peter Price said rioters in last summer’s deadly disturbances found spiritual escape as they looted and burned.

He spoke out as the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, approved a report that blamed last August’s four days of disorder on Government spending cuts, inequality and ‘structural sin’ in the rest of society.

Dr Price, 68, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, said it was important to ‘sound a clear warning note about the social consequences of austerity measures which hit the most vulnerable hardest and leave the very rich unscathed. When the nation tightens its belt, inevitably the least resilient are those who suffer most.’

He continued: ‘I have no intention of being sentimental about the people, mainly young people, who took to the streets last August and destroyed property, ruined other people’s lives and walked off with looted trophies.

‘Riots embody appalling evil and criminality and those who get drawn in often display great wickedness.’

But he added: ‘Rioting can be, literally, an ecstatic, spiritual experience. Something is released in the participants which takes them out of themselves as a kind of spiritual escape.

‘The tragedy of our times is that, once again, we have a large population of young people who are desperate to escape from the constrained lives to which they seem to be condemned. Where hope has been killed off and with no prospect of escape, is it surprising that their energies erupt in anti-social and violent actions?

‘In a consumer society, is it surprising that lusting after high-status goods is seen as a way to find meaning?’

The riots caused five deaths and scarred cities. There was also widespread looting from shops of goods such as trainers, mobile phones and TVs

Buildings were burned during the riots in Tottenham last year. Dr Price said he prayed that there would be no outbreaks of disorder this year

Dr Price said he prayed that there would be no outbreaks of disorder this summer, but warned that ‘social tensions will not go away’.

The riots caused five deaths and scarred cities. They saw widespread looting from shops of goods such as trainers, mobile phones and televisions, and in some areas shops and homes were burned in arson attacks.

More than 3,000 people were arrested, while more than 1,000 were jailed for offences including burglary, violent disorder, and theft, receiving sentences that were far harsher than those typically handed down for those offences.

The Church report on the riots, which was produced by Dr Price with the CofE’s Mission and Public Affairs Council, was not criticised by any member of the Synod and they voted overwhelmingly to accept it. It raised the concept of ‘structural sin’, which is based on the idea that society at large is responsible  for wrongs that leave some oppressed or degraded.

The report said that clergy have been ‘working with the concept of structural sin which recognises how people on all sides of conflicts can face moral choices that are not between what is clearly right and clearly wrong but which are necessitated by circumstances in response to situations where much has gone wrong already’.

The report added: ‘Christian beliefs about sin prevent them [churchgoers] from stereotyping others and from dividing the world between good and evil in ways which ignore the complexity of moral contexts.’ It cited Government spending cuts, inequality and family breakdown as causes of the trouble, which were beyond the control of the rioters and determined their behaviour.

The report angered Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley. ‘This is complete drivel,’ he said.

‘Public spending is higher now than it was in the last year of the Labour government. There were a lot of fairly well-off people involved in these riots, and the authors of this report appear to have ignored that too.

‘If the Church spent more time persuading people to take responsibility for their actions and less trying to make excuses, they would find themselves more popular than they are.’

s.doughty@dailymail.co.uk

 

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- L. England., Leics. England., 10/7/2012 10:29

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If anyone out there is in need of an “ecstatic and spiritual feeling”, they know where to go now – the Bishopric of Bath and Wells !!! All you can smash for just a bus ticket away.

- Ishkandar, London, 09/7/2012 21:49

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Good enough for me,well I must dash off , got a couple of church,s to burn and loot . Nothing illegal intended , just need a little spiritual enlightenment

- dougie , Bolton , 09/7/2012 21:37

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You do not have to be silly to be invovled in religon,but it helps.The sillier you are the further you get up the promotion ladder.!

- alexander, england, 09/7/2012 20:40

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Clubbing someone on the head could be charity too!

- JC, Barsoon, 09/7/2012 19:18

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“observer, USSA (where?) 16:33. I’m not anti-religious at all and do my level best to live by the Ten Commandments. Also, how many drug and alcohol abusers go out mugging and burgling to fund their addictions? Are they having a ‘spiritual experience’ every time they abuse other human beings? I think not.
- Sandy, Derbys, 9/7/2012 12:49″_________I was referring to some of the other posters here, not you. Sorry for not clarifying. I also think the bishop was using the word “ecstatic” and “spiritual” to refer to the crowd euphoria people feel when rioting and looting, similar to the high that an alcoholic/drug addict feels when under the influence of alcohol and drugs. (Remember Vancouver last year??) He wasn’t defending wrong behavior, but was making a social commentary about structural injustice and materialism warping peoples moral compass so that rioting becomes a kind of substitute spiritual euphoria. Read ben, rugby’s excellent comment for further clarification.

- observer, USSA, 09/7/2012 18:19

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After reading what this bishop said and the comments I disagree on it being a spiritual experience, it had nothing to do with the spirit (unless out of a bottle) but much to do with the mob mentality and a what can I get for nothing and what fun we are having smashing everything up and hopefully I can get away with it as there are so many more here. It was wrong what ever way it’s looked at and I think this bishop should be ashamed of himself.

- Christian, Wirral, 09/7/2012 18:02

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observer, USSA (where?) 16:33. I’m not anti-religious at all and do my level best to live by the Ten Commandments. Also, how many drug and alcohol abusers go out mugging and burgling to fund their addictions? Are they having a ‘spiritual experience’ every time they abuse other human beings? I think not.

- Sandy, Derbys, 09/7/2012 17:49

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Oh Joy, lets have a riot a week in churches across England. Each Sunday would be a good day.

- Jaybee, bristol uk, 09/7/2012 17:39

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“” Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad “….at least this Prophecy seems to have a ring of truth in it !!! – - Tony Young, Derby, 9/7/2012 11:09″______________Then I would say that Elton John, Bono, and Liz Jones have more to worry about than this bishop.

- observer, USSA, 09/7/2012 17:37

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"Persecution Is A Spiritual Challenge" – says His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda

More than Half Million People express their respects and gratitude on the auspicious day of the traditional Guru Poornima celebrations by visiting the Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam Ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 07, 2012

Tiruvannamalai, 03 July 2012: The celebrations began with devotees welcoming His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda with traditional honors. After paying his respects at the ashram’s temple dedicated to Nithyanandeshwara and Nithyanandeshwari (Shiva and Devi), Paramahamsa Nithyananda hoisted the Guru Poornima flag. This was followed by pada pooja by devotees and the Guru Poornima satsang.

His Holiness Paramahamsa Nithyananda delivered the 2012 Guru Poornima message by reminding his disciples and followers that persecution is a spiritual challenge which almost all revolutionary masters and their followers will inevitably need to face. He reiterated that the strength of a spiritual group lies in its ability to live and radiate enlightenment, not in its wealth or its properties. Paramahamsa Nithyananda said that wherever an enlightened spiritual master chooses to sit down, followers will gather around to receive his wisdom and his grace, and a new spiritual community will sprout at that very spot, irrespective of the place.

The highlight of the morning satsang was the sannyas initiation by Paramahamsa Nithyananda. 34 young people, both men and women, took sannyas initiation on this auspicious day. Sannyas is the only true wealth I have, which I am now offering to these dedicated individuals,’ declared Paramahamsa Nithyananda on the occasion.

Satsang was followed by darshan and individual blessings from Paramahamsa Nithyananda for all the devotees present. Devotees also offered ‘bhiksha’, various offerings made to the guru on this occasion. This year, participants from over 40 countries participated in the online satsang and offered bhiksha online from around the world.

Annadaanam (free satvic meals) was available from sunrise till late night for devotees, visitors ad pilgrims.

Tiruvannamalai – home of enlightened masters: Tiruvannamalai is an ancient temple town and pilgrimage center at the sacred foothills of the mystical mountain Arunachala in South India. A spiritual destination famous for its ancient Shiva temple, as well as for the unbroken 2000 year recorded lineage of enlightened masters like Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi who have graced this land, Tiruvannamalai is also the birthplace of Paramahamsa Nithyananda. Every full-moon day, at least half a million pilgrims visit Tiruvannamalai to circumambulate the holy mountain Arunachala.

1008-shivalinga kshetram: The Nithyananda Dhyanapeetam ashram, located on the mountain path, has a 1008-shivalinga kshetram and a shrine dedicated to Shiva Devi. The ashram is actively involved in supporting the local community, including serving free food (annadaanam) to over 1500 pilgrims and visitors every day and conducting free weekly medical camps and meditation programs.

ABOUT HIS HOLINESS PARAMAHAMSA NITHYANANDA:

Videos on Enlightenment Science:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty1DtDKt-08feature=plcp

Kundalini Awakening videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LifeBlissFoundation/videos?query=kundalini+awakening

Paramahamsa Nithyananda is not only one of the most watched Spiritual Guru on YouTube, he is ranked as one of the world’s 100 most spiritually influential personalities. He has recently inherited the world’s oldest and most ancient Hindu Spiritual Organization – the Madurai Aadheenam, by being coronated as the 293rd pontiff of Madurai Aadheenam.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda is a global leader in yoga, meditation, kundalini awakening enlightenment science. Clear, dynamic and modern in approach, Nithyananda’s teachings have already transformed 15 million followers in 150 countries with the fastest growing spiritual community around the youngest incarnation.

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Global Spirit: The Spiritual Quest With Bob Thurman And Karen Armstrong (VIDEO)

We call Global Spirit the first “internal travel” series, because the topics and the discussions so often lead to a kind of inner exploration. Unlike programming on Animal Planet or National Geographic, Global Spirit is not about discovering anything that is outside of yourself. The opening program in our series, “The Spiritual Quest,” was one of our more exciting and challenging to produce.

Our only chance to have renowned author Karen Armstrong on a program was to meet her in New York, on a particular evening that she was free. It was her last night in the U.S. before she flew back to England to work on a new book for the next six or seven months. Since we so wanted to have Karen on our series, and because Tenzin Bob Thurman lived in New York, we decided to ship the Global Spirit set from San Francisco to New York, and do this program in an auditorium at CUNY. For me, as the producer/director, this show had all the excitement of New York, with a new setting, a new crew and even a live audience of 500 people!

For Karen and Bob, it was one of those “first-time meetings” that we try to achieve on Global Spirit — to bring two people together for the first time, in this case, two highly articulate teachers and authors from distinct religious traditions, who have always wanted to meet each other. You can sense a kind of magic in the air, as they both experience the sheer delight of discovering things about each other they’ve always wanted to know. Yes, it was an uplifting show, with a good amount of spontaneous humor.

As I am originally a filmmaker, on Global Spirit, we typically combine compelling experiential film segments with deep conversation, to let both film and conversation do what each does best. However, “The Spiritual Quest” is one of only two of our programs that doesn’t incorporate what I call “experiential” video segments.

I remember the frustration of not being able to either produce or to find video footage that would somehow illustrate or speak authentically to the personal, spiritual quest of a Karen Armstrong or a Robert Thurman.

“The Spiritual Quest” relies more on the visual power of storytelling and real conversation. The program is full of rich, personal stories including some colorful, surprising, coming-of-age tales like that of the 19-year-old Thurman and his Mexican friend getting turned back from joining Fidel’s revolutionary army by Fidel’s recruiters: “I was 6’ 3” and my Mexican friend was 5’1” and quite rotund. So they said: Ah, here is “Don Quixote and Sancho Panza … but we can’t use you! Quixote, that blonde head of yours will be blown off immediately.”

Our series host Phil Cousineau, a true spiritual seeker himself, who deftly poses the perennial questions, then jumps in to share the occasional hilarity. The personal chemistry between Armstrong and Thurman is stimulating and electric. This is of course something we can never totally predict, or even understand. For a producer, it’s the “x” factor, that mystical psycho-spiritual alchemy between two guests or actors that either ignites or doesn’t. And here we were very fortunate — both Thurman and Armstrong were witty and they connected effortlessly in humorous ways over a wide range of topics, including their shared monastic periods, their triumphs and disillusionments and their admittedly naïve quests for what they thought of as “enlightenment.” Now older and wiser, they are able to look back and share some of those raw spiritual ambitions of their early 20s, now redefined, but still burning brightly, perhaps as a more enduring spiritual quest for a life of true peace and compassion. Robert Thurman meeting Karen Armstrong was a meeting of two oceans.

“Global Spirit” is an invitation to enter some uncharted seas for a unique inner journey. And while this new series might not have the ratings of an Animal Planet Special or a National Geo Explorer, there are for the brave of heart, some uncharted continents awaiting. – Stephen Olsson, Director of Global Spirit

GLOBAL SPIRIT is a unique inquiry into humankind’s belief systems, wisdom traditions, and states of consciousness. Hosted by author and spiritual seeker Phil Cousineau and featuring renowned experts such as Deepak Chopra, Karen Armstrong, Robert Thurman, Riane Eisler and many others, this new critically acclaimed series takes viewers on a mind and soul-expanding journey, exploring the relationships between ancient wisdom traditions, diverse belief systems, world religions, metaphysics and modern science.