CAMP Spirit

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending a series of lectures by Karen Armstrong, the highly-respected historian of religions whose books include A History of God, The Battle for God, and biographies of Buddha and Muhammed. Her latest book is called The Great Transformation and discusses the crucial period of 900-200 BC (known as the Axial Age), when all of the world’s major religions were birthed— Confucianism, Hinduism (from which grew Buddhism and Jainism), and Judaism (which in turn birthed Christianity and Islam). Additionally, this was the time of the flowering of Greek philosophy, which of course has affected western spiritual traditions ever since.

One of Armstrong’s major theses is one that I have espoused for many years: That if something is a great spiritual truth, it has universal validity, even though it may be expressed differently because of cultural context. Thus, we see what we call "the Golden Rule" ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") expressed first by Confucius, who said, "Look into your own heart, find what gives you pain, and avoid doing this." For Armstrong, and for many progressive students of spirituality, this is the key to a genuine spiritual path.

Relating empathetically to others means remembering first our own pain and then applying it to the situation of those we meet. This interpersonal relating gives rise to compassion, the greatest and most necessary prerequisite to the spiritual and religious life. If we only regard our own pain and our own needs without regard for others, we remain stuck in our "ego," which Armstrong calls the enemy of religious life. Ego is an exercise in self-absorption; those who profess an exclusively inward spirituality concerned with their own self-actualization have only traveled part of the journey to transcendence. Self-awareness must be coupled with action for and toward others; this is the essence of true religion, as expressed in the world’s great faiths. This action springing from compassion is what all of the great philosophers and spiritual guides have taught, and so we see compassion being discussed by such disparate folks as Confucius, Moses, Jeremiah, Socrates, Jesus, Muhammed, and Buddha, as well as modern-day saints such as the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, and Abraham Joshua Heschel.

As we here at the beach prepare for another summer season, we would do well to consider Armstrong’s advice. If we make summer merely and only a hedonistic me-centered adventure, we will be the same at summer’s end. However, if, in addition to enjoying ourselves, we try being compassionate to others, learning from others, and treating our visitors gently, then in September we will have moved further along our path toward transcendence and fulfillment. Think about it: The times we are really the most content are the times when we are not thinking about ourselves but are bound up in the excitement and stimulation of relationships with those beyond ourselves. And when we realize that, we can bridge gaps that divide us from others. It dawns on us that what we hear in that annoying Disneyland jingle is true: "It’s a small world after all!"