20 - Towards a New Approach

Unless one is prepared to reconsider, restructure, innovate, one is not part of the evolutionary process. In fact, the outdated religious beliefs and practices of those who have not made the contemporary leap in thinking are largely instrumental in fostering the intolerance which inevitably triggers off the violence and wars that afflict our times.

We know that, having made the step required to be in sync with present thinking, there is no turning back; the paradigm shift is irreversible. But is it not foolhardy to devalidate or dismiss hackneyed attitudes and purport to start from scratch, when in fact, our present is an organic sequence to the achievements of our predecessors? Martin Buber relates the metaphor of the Golem; each man stands on the shoulders of another so that one of them may see beyond. I consider it my duty to explore with you the features of the spirituality in keeping with our time. Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan was a great precursor and trailblazer, and I feel the call to pursue the tidal wave that he set into motion.

What then would be the features of an updated spirituality? Purely off the cuff, I venture: a spirituality without a belief system, without a set of prescriptions, and without authority figures (that is, gurus or established ranks).

It is wise, however. to avoid throwing the baby out with the bath water. One overlooks easily what was the wisdom in time-consecrated procedures which one wishes to discard. On one hand, the remarkable progress of science, technology and social organization was only possible by questioning and updating previous thinking or methods or procedures. On the other hand, we are beginning to discover the drawbacks: pollution, acid rain, the depletion of planetary resources. cancer, the population explosion, violence, decadence.

Re: "belief" As one evolves, one questions belief founded upon authority and seeks direct experience. Yet one needs to take into account that experience is interpreted and our assessment is questionable. Moreover, we preclude and prefigure experience by our assumptions. Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan calls upon a totally different dimension which is faith rather than belief, based upon a kind of precognitive, proto-critic knowledge beyond the mind which he calls the knowledge of the soul. Imagine - this basic human intuition gets blurred and devalidated by mind-games that prove totally inadequate and misleading, so that people replace faith by belief or skepticism.

Yet, while opinions are relative, enlightened insight can reveal new vistas. Hence, people need guidelines, landmarks, bearings, azimuths rather than goals.

Re: "do's" and "do not's". One will never lime to take responsibility for one's actions if one bases them on the opinion of a person. however enlightened, or upon public opinion. Non conformism to these prescriptions most often instills guilt complexes which obstruct genuine soul searching. When freed from this moral imposition. people are able to discover their conscience as their ultimate criterion.

Re: "counselling" Guides will have to make a policy of abstaining from advising, at the same time, acting as facilitators in order to help people untangle the incongruities in their own assessments and discover their real motivations. Undoubtedly. even as there are people who are more skilled than others in violin making or piano playing, or cabinet making or in physics, there will always be a need for teachers in every field including that of meditation or in that most lofty of all skills, helping people to get in touch with the sublime dimension of their being.

           

Re: "gurus" Leadership, guidance, pioneering are essential to human evolution, but our human expertise is not up to evaluating a person's degree of spirituality. Admittedly, there are certain norms. A person with a doctor's degree in medicine is allowed to practice medicine, but there are enormous differences in the skill of doctors. The world is graced with beautiful people without any pretense to spirituality, often more inspiring than those purporting to hold a spiritual rank.

While I recognize the need for organization, institutions. schools, we will need to be wary in the future, of claims to any established rank. Spiritual guides will have to prove themselves by the inspiration they communicate and by their radiance. This is the meaning of the Islamic formula; Khatum Rasul il'llah. Claims to being 'divinely special' may have had their place in credulous societies to establish credibility. Such claims are no more acceptable in our time. Islam announced a landmark, which, in fact, defines democracy. The prophet marked the transition by disclaiming any divinity, announcing himself as the servant of God. But the followers carried this teaching beyond its purpose, denying the divinity in all beings which is the very implication of La ilaha illa 'lla!
