Polishing the Mirror, Svadhyaya, self-reflection

To this end, the classical means of svadhyaya include using a mantra, reading a text, or sitting with a spiritual master (guru). In fact, the ancients used the word darshana—which means something like a mirror image—to describe the teaching contained in a particular group of sacred texts, and they used the same word to describe what happens when we sit with a spiritual master. In both cases, we can see our neuroses, our small-mindedness, and our pettiness mirrored completely. At the same time, we can also see beyond our current state to something like our divine potential. And that too is who we are.

I am enjoying articles I am reading from Yoga journal. This one especially shows how Yoga practices can enhance rather than conflict with a belief system.

The tradition of svadhyaya suggests that any sacred or inspirational text that offers insight into the human condition can serve as a mirror, reflecting our true nature back to us. Classical texts of this sort might include the Yoga Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, the Tao Te Ching, the Bible, the Talmud, and the writings of the saints of any tradition. But the source might also be any spiritual or inspiring text we use not simply abstractly or academically but as a means of deeper self-understanding.

My daughter picked up The Da Vinci Code while we were vacationing in Italy including visiting the Vatican. I look forward to some opportunities to talk about faith. One came about on the plane home as she was reading it and I was reading a special addition of a magazine on how we descended from apes. I picked up that she was thinking that evolution was incompatible somehow with Christian belief. I don't think she has learned how scientific knowledge does not have to diminish your belief in God or conflict with our faith. I talked about how the belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun was threatening to the church since the created order by God puts earth at the center. No one worries about that now but evolution is a similar issue. If your God consists of things science can't explain, then God gets smaller with each scientific discovery. I hope we have some more opportunities before she leaves for college in August. We haven't had enough talks like this. I wanted to talk more about the wonder that is a God that infuses everything including us.
Maybe I will get a change to read the book so we can discuss.

I was writing in my paper journal about my role in my local congregation and relationship with the Pastor, when I thought about developing a spiritual community there that shares my interests and faith journey concerns. I couldn't remember where I had read about how the left has not addressed the spiritual needs and values while the right has and there are mega-churches to prove it. I looked here and found it to be my first journal entry. I didn't say much about why I posted this interview with Rabbi Michael Lerner but this is where I got that thought.

The political right has gained momentum and adherents in recent years, Lerner says, because only conservative Christianity has been vocally and unapologetically addressing the spiritual needs of Americans, their quest for meaning in a materialist, consumerist culture.

Although I have a developed a respect for other spiritual traditions, I seemed to have retained a scoffing attitude towards Christians who switch to Buddhism or other eastern traditions. Although I had respect for those who grew up in these traditions or converted from non-belief, there seems to have been a defensive mechanism within me. I assumed they switched to the other faith tradition as a rebellion or just to be different. This was not based on actual experience but it seems to be unexamined tenet. Was I defensive because I thought it might happen to me?

For some reason, As I read an article in Yoga Journal called The Heart's Intention, I felt a respect who had found this source of wisdom much earlier than I had. Maybe I am feeling more comfortable with retaining my identity as a Christian after listening to Bishop Spong. I also want to reread The Raft is not the Shore which I read in the early 70's when it first came out. I have been thinking about where I am at in my spiritual journey as I quoted but did not comment on this article about syncretism