The Variety of Spiritual Traditions

By Rev. LeRoy E. Zemke
Pastor, Temple of the Living God

What then do I mean by the ideal of a universal religion?

I do not mean a universal philosophy, or a universal mythology, or a universal ritual, but I mean that this world must go on, wheel within wheel.

What can we do?
We can make it run smoothly, we can lessen friction, we can grease the wheels, as it were.
By what?
By recognizing variation.
Just as we have recognized unity, by our very nature so we must also recognize variation.
We must learn that truth may be expressed in a thousand ways, and each one yet be true.

We must learn that the same thing can be viewed from a hundred different standpoints and yet be the same thing.
Swami Vivekananda

Amongst the kaleidoscope of human experiences that offers some revelation into our spiritual nature, the doorway of religion reveals some of the most penetrating views.

Across the known span of world cultures, some 12 major religions have emerged supported by vast numbers of peoples around the globe. These world wide collections of teachings give insight into the unique nature of our inner spiritual journey.

In his famous book, Varieties of Religious Experience, William James, Ph.D., (1902) broadly categorized the kinds of religious experiences and major groupings of psychological phenomena as well as collective involvement that he witnessed in his exhaustive study of the major religious peoples from societies and cultures around the world and their codified beliefs and their spiritual practices to fit their needs.

He skillfully languaged what he discovered as an important part human being’s need to discover a spiritual reality. As this discovery unfolded, he came to realize that religion fulfilled some specific kind of meaningful connection to God or the Divine, or to that which is considered sacred.

Religions as they develop and unfold, emerge in unique and in simple and complex societal settings, environments, and locations. As we examine our distinct spiritual heritage, it reveals that America like many countries in the world is home to a richly diverse mix of religious beliefs and backgrounds.

In metaphysical environments, an open religious view is generally held amongst the Christian interfaith community.

1. We believe in the Infinite Being, beyond language and form, immanent and transcendent.

2. This Presence is holy, sacred and interpenetrates all life. Indeed, one might say it is the Life Force, Principle, the life essence as we understand or perceive it.

3. We embrace the spiritual teaching of all sacred wisdom traditions as significant revelatory expressions of a Universal Divine Being and we seek to understand their relevance in our modern world.

4. All people are on a path to awaken to their spiritual purpose, place and/or mission. Some are more aware of it and participate consciously in their lives in order to genuinely enter into this internal relationship to Life more directly.

5. Since all human beings carry a sacred purpose in the larger, universal scheme of things, there are no “lost” souls or “saved” souls. All men/women and children have a spiritual essence that places them as children of the Almighty. (Romans 8: 16,17)

6. We believe in the Higher Power as being available to us through prayer, meditation and what is often called the “voice of intuition”, one of the gifts of the Spirit as mentioned in the 13th chapter of Corinthians (Bible).

7. We hold that all religions invite their adherents to discover their personal relationship to God. Thus, we believe that each person must find their own path toward internal fulfillment.

Spiritual teachings offer an order and structure and a specialized language that gives form to the beliefs of any one system. In Christianity, we have the Bible. In the Jewish tradition, we have the Talmud and Torah. The Moslems have the Koran. The Hindu writings of antiquity are the Aphorisms of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita, etc.

In order to really discover how the various traditions meet the needs of the peoples of the world, one could spend a lifetime explaining and studying the sacred texts.

My intention in this very abbreviated commentary is to include some of the basic ideas inherent in and germane to the broad metaphysical views that I feel are becoming part of a new and larger world view. Metaphysics, as such, is still too diverse in its embrace of teachings to be considered a religion. I would say it is more a way of life centered within the beliefs outlined previously.

What makes metaphysical teachings appealing, I suspect, is that they hold a very large container in which to focus upon specific ideologies. One can be Buddhist or Christian, or Taoist or Hindu or Jewish or Moslem, one can embrace Shamanism, Native American spirituality, New Thought, or esoteric ideology such as Numerology, Astrology or the Kaballah, the practice of Yoga and meditation, belief in reincarnation (or not) and be a metaphysician.

The varieties of all the ancient and modern spiritual traditions confirm that while there may be many forms of religious practice and faith, there is no one road that leads to God. God is at the center of all spiritual traditions; For example we may approach God through Jesus Christ or through Gautama Buddha. God is at the core of our life, is indeed the center from which we spring forth.

We can genuinely study to discover our belief and explore the many approaches to God, the Infinite Being. However, the Infinite cannot, in my opinion, ever be contained in the finite. Basically beliefs, teachings and practices allow us to get a glimpse of what some teachers interpret as the truth. I would submit that truth is relative to our inner understanding and is not contained in an exclusive sense in one system alone.

It is rather to be seen as a part of the whole. Think of a giant cosmic wheel with many spokes. All the spokes are connected to the one center to the outer rim. Each spoke is a way to know of, learn about, discover or realize the nature of the whole. One is neither bigger, better, or more important than the other. All carry equal weight and significance. In a related manner all teachings carry a way to know of Spirit-God the Infinite.

Many writers, theologians and philosophers have said that the time will come when the world religions will fade and become irrelevant. While some systems like Zoroastrianism (from Persia), Osirisism (Egyptian) Shintoism (Japanese) the Greek Pantheon, have largely faded from the world view as having a major impact, they still form a foundation upon which we stand or have looked to in our current time and place with respect to religious views.

America as a country founded upon religious freedom has become a melting pot of people whose religious views come from nearly every country and culture in the world. Thus, here we are a springboard for a mix of old and new and the incredible variety of spiritual traditions that contribute to our larger view of the Almighty.

Imagine a “smiling God ” as we struggle to find human words to speak of the unknowable, the unseen, the genuinely ineffable.

Ghandi once said if man reaches the heart of his own religion he has reached the heart of others.

In conclusion, I submit that we are attempting in the current age to redefine our collective and personal understanding of how we each may come to know, experience or at the very least have an understanding of God through an awakened understanding of the spiritual traditions which have preceded us. And will surely follow us into the future.