Transcript for May 17, 2009 by Ian Lawton

Namaste. I honor generosity and acceptance within you. When one person greets another from this space of wide open acceptance, the relationship becomes a beacon of forgiveness and grace. When a group of people greets another group of people with this level of acceptance, the love and peace becomes contagious. When religions and nations greet each other from this shared spiritual heart, it becomes a beacon of hope for the world.

Does that sound like a pipe dream? It’s not. It’s doable. All you need to do is let go. Let go of the need to be right. Let go of the need to have all truth. Let go of the idea that difference is a threat. Let go of any sense that your preferred tradition is superior. Let go and let love loose in the world.

Imagine the peace, as you let go and greet the world with oceanic love. One humanity, grounded in a celebration of diversity, united by the common virtues of peace and compassion that are shared at the heart of all traditions. Imagine the gentle reverberations of peace that will spread throughout the world from a shared spiritual heart.

Are you with me? Could anything be more important? Could anything be more exciting? Then why do we find it so hard? It probably has something to do with misunderstanding and possessiveness.

Why is it so hard?

The pope and the Chief Rabbi walked into a bar. The bar tender said, “What is this, some kind of a joke or something?”

In any case, the Pope had some of his cardinals with him, and the Rabbi had his own entourage. Some by standers called for the Pope and the Chief Rabbi to have a debate about which was the greater religion. The problem was the Pope only spoke Italian and the Chief Rabbi only spoke Hebrew. They really couldn’t understand each other, so they agreed to have a ’silent debate’ using sign-language.

The Pope and the Rabbi looked intently at each other. After a long pause the Pope raised his hand and showed three fingers. The Chief Rabbi thought for a moment then raised one finger. Next, the Pope circled his hand around his head. The Chief Rabbi pointed down to the table where they sat. The Pope then placed some bread next to his wine on the table. The Chief Rabbi reached into his pocket and pulled out an apple. With that, the Pope stood up and said, “I concede the debate.”

They separated to different tables at the bar. 

”So what happened?” asked the Cardinals. 

”For every point I made the Chief Rabbi had the perfect answer,” said the Pope. “First of all I showed him the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but he reminded me that there was still one God common to both our faiths. Then I demonstrated that God was all around us, but he insisted that God is with us at the table, here and now. Finally I produced the great Christian symbol of the Mass, but he countered with the Jewish story of original sin.”

On the other side of the bar the Chief Rabbi was also telling his cohorts about the debate.

”First of all the Pope held up three fingers to show that there were three times more of them than us in this bar so I’d better watch out. I immediately said to him ‘Up yours buddy’. Then he tried to say that they were going to take over the whole bar, but I made it clear that we were staying put.”

”And then?” asked one of the Jews. 

”Then it got confusing?” said the Chief Rabbi. “The Pope pulled out his lunch, so I did the same.”

A lot of interfaith conversation breaks down because our language and symbolism is at cross purposes.

Cross Purposes, The Purpose of the Cross

Symbolism is often at cross purposes, like the confused purpose of the cross.

During the week, Pope Benedict gave a speech where he referred to holocaust victims as having been killed. He was criticized for not saying that they were murdered. Jon Stewart thought that a little overly sensitive, suggesting it was anti semantic.

Jokes aside, this is a reminder of how sensitive interfaith relations have become. The silence of Christians during the Holocaust still hurts. The symbol of the cross, which has been used as an anti Semitic weapon by saying that Jews sent Jesus to his death, has for many become a symbol for indifference in the face of unjust suffering. Pope Benedict was even asked not to wear a cross while visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

How might we redeem the symbol of the cross so that it can be a tool for healing rather than division and offense?

Here’s one interesting connection between the Christian cross and world culture. Have you ever noticed the prevalence of the T shape in Mayan architecture; doorways and windows in the shape of a T? You can think of a T as half of a cross. In Mayan culture, the T represents the doorway into new mysteries. It is the Great Tree that stretches out to the entire world. It is an inclusive symbol, embracing and connecting all things. If that isn’t enough meaning, in the Mayan tradition, Breath is drawn as a T.

Our breath is a doorway from that which is deep within, and connects us to all that is without. Breath is a universal symbol for life and co-creation. Many traditions have their own way of expressing this universal concept. Breath indicates pervasive acceptance and shared consciousness.

Instead of using crosses and language and cultures as a way to divide and make enemies, imagine if we could recraft the essential images of each tradition so that they bring people together and open a doorway to shared consciousness.

Once we reshape our symbols and language so that it is universal rather than divisive, much of the sensitivity will cease. It’s very liberating when you can move beyond offense. I learnt this lesson the hard way.

One of the most embarrassing moments of my life took place when we had just moved to Auckland, New Zealand. The Maori culture presents some pitfalls to a young Aussie immigrant. I was due to meet a very prominent Maori hip-hop dancer, who also happened to be gay. I hadn’t yet learnt the Maori greeting etiquette. I approached him with my hand outstretched, until I realized that he was moving in straight past my hand. I thought to myself, “he is going to hug me.” That was okay, friendly for a first meeting but okay. So I raised my arms to hug him and realized he was moving straight towards my face. This surprised me, but I didn’t want to appear cold so I gathered myself for a kiss on the cheek. As his face moved directly towards mine, with no sideways offering of the cheek, I realized that he was coming straight in for a direct kiss on the lips. This really took me aback, but I was not going to be the uptight one. I puckered up and kissed him right on the lips.

He laughed hysterically and explained the Maori custom of the Hongi, where two people rub noses as a greeting. Well that certainly broke the ice. I think the color of my face subsided just after I left the meeting.

The beautiful symbolism of the Hongi is the sharing of breath. Two people come together, really close together and become one in shared breath and the beating of a shared heart.

Maybe the sharing of breath in that moment was more profound than the cultural faux pas.

Unity in Diversity

There is nothing wrong with having your preferred tradition and culture. It’s even healthy to find some common identity in shared practices and language. However, there is no need to make this difference a cause for division.

I like the idea of creating a new form of reverse evangelism; a reverse missionary position if you will. It’s a little like the old joke about the humanist who goes knocking on doors. When people answer thinking he is an evangelist come to convert them, he says, ‘What do you believe?”

Just picture it; Christians going into the Middle East as reverse missionaries, not to teach Christianity, but to encourage people to be more deeply Jewish or Muslim. Imagine Christians saying, “Teach us about Islam. Tell us about Jewish culture,” and allowing the commonalities to emerge.

What the world needs is more humanity across the religions, less attachment to religious particularity, greater compassion and genuine inter religious harmony.

Who is at this Table of Shared Heart?

When I was a kid, it was a major achievement to have Anglicans and Presbyterians at the same table without kicks under the table. Then we moved beyond that, and it became an accomplishment to have Catholics and Protestants at the same table without name calling. We moved beyond that, and it became a victory to have Christians and Muslims at the same table without a food fight.

The time has come for partnerships beyond denominations and even beyond interfaith dialogue. The time has come for a sharing of a universal heart. As Obama called for in his inaugural speech, lets seek a signature moment in history where people come together as Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus…… and non-believers as well.

Last week I shared a table at a local inter-faith conference with a Muslim, a Bahai, and a Christian. There was also a Shaman and a Native American leader at the table. This is the sort of table the world needs. The commonalities aren’t restricted to those within religion. The spiritual but not religious share much of the same vision for a gentler world, steeped in love and acceptance.

The profound thing about the Shaman and Native American was that they spoke directly out of a lived experience, rather than mediating their experience via religious language. What I find exciting about the spiritual but not religious path is that it is a lived experience. It is grounded in everyday life, like a Mayan T, stretching into the mysteries of life but not needing to name or possess those mysteries. SBNR appears to me much like Native wisdom, and earth wisdom.

There is so much to learn, from within religion and outside of religion.

Rumi once said, “Christian, Jew, Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be judged”

Reaching Beyond Familiarity

I end with a radical call to open hearts in the interest of greater world peace.

In May of 2001, the Taliban destroyed two of the world’s oldest Buddha statues. For more than 1500 years, the Buddha’s towering figures had stood on the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley on the ancient Silk Route that linked Europe and Central Asia. A year later, Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan’s new leader and a Muslim, announced that the people of Afghanistan would rebuild the larger of the two Buddha statues that had been destroyed. When you consider that Islam is deeply opposed to religious idols, this is staggering that a Muslim nation would rebuild a Buddhist statue. Karzai understood that an action of profound embrace was necessary. The rubble of the smaller statue remains as a reminder of the devastation of religious bigotry. The rebuilt statue stands as a reminder of the shared heart of diversity.

We live at a time of great opportunity. The spread of knowledge and the relative ease of travel, means that greater understanding is at our finger tips. Tolerance is not enough. What is called for now is a radical and genuine embrace of diversity. Beneath the names and cultures and symbols, lies a shared heart; a heart so large and accepting that no one and no thing lies outside of its pulsating power.

Do you feel the power? Your breath connects you with the Breath of life. Your heartbeat connects with the heartbeat of life. Breath and heart beat in me greets the same in you.

Namaste.