THE CRISIS OF THE HOLY

THE SECOND MEETING OF THE ELIJAH

BOARD OF WORLD RELIGIOUS LEADERS

November 28-December 2, 2005

Dharma Master Hsin Tao, the Meeting’s host and the founder of the Museum of World Religions and Global Family for Love and Peace, welcomed the gathering by recalling the first meeting of the Elijah Board in Seville, Spain in 2003, and stating that this meeting set the stage for future interaction and cooperation. Master Hsin Tao then spoke of Taiwan, and how the different religions all respect one another.

Concerning The Crisis of the Holy, Master Hsin Tao emphasized that to explore this issue we must return to the nature of religion: spirituality. The function of the Holy is to find one’s true, pure nature, to serve society, and to achieve social, interdependent harmony. Our over-exploitation of Mother Nature is causing great ecological damage, and in the future the natural disasters that we have seen this year will become more frequent and more severe.

The human community is an entity where the Holy is manifested in everything, where the interdependence of the human being is directly related to the cosmology of the universe. In light of this interdependence, when one part is destroyed, it creates a crisis of imbalance.

The answer is to love each other, the earth, and Mother Nature with a pure mind. We must promote the concept of interdependence to solve the controversies of modern society and religious beliefs. Cooperation in this age of globalization is essential if we sincerely want to promote the social value of love. The holy nature of religion along with mutual learning and open-minded religious education is necessary to transform ourselves to be peaceful human beings. To this end, religions must develop practical projects for the mutual benefit of all.

Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Director of the Elijah School for the Study of Wisdom in World Religions, before introducing five religious leaders to share prayers and reflections spoke about how wonderful it is when friends visit from afar, enjoying the hospitality of their host and of each other – to greet each other by cultivating hospitality. From the experience of Seville, friendships have been built to foster a network of growing.

The vision of Elijah in 1996 was to create a framework where the world religions could share their wisdom and to create the first interfaith academy to reflect upon the world’s issues and discover how to talk to each other to deal these issues. What became apparent was the necessity for a group of world leaders to guide the interfaith academy and its work of scholars. In this way it will be possible to disseminate our shared wisdom, taking it to the communities with practical strategies to generate a greater impact.

Sri Rishi Prabhakarji then offered his prayer and reflection. This meeting is to create the platform to share the wealth of ideas from the different religions and speak with one voice to our communities. In India, all religions have been welcomed as the truth is not anyone’s property.

Seville allowed for a unique experience for interfaith meetings where there was a profound willingness to open up and to share. Religious belief and practices often are expressed in ways that are appropriate for the particular environment. Most of the living principals of religions come from agriculture, but as we are taken away from the land, those traditional family structures are broken. What is left, and what should be transferred to new environments is the knowledge. For Rishi Prabhakarji, the nuclear family of the past is no more, and new structures of living will become the commune where children can become aware of the larger, social community.

Chief Rabbi Shear Yashuv Cohen, the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, also spoke of the unusual gathering of religious leaders where the are obvious differences in traditions, dress, looks, and sounds. Nevertheless, in bringing a message of respect, harmony, and peace through these differences we can find common ground.

What we face is not a Crisis of the Holy, it is a crisis of the believers who do not understand even their own holy being and respect the sanctity of life. There is no crisis of God; the crisis is ourselves. The path of righteousness is reached through acknowledging the sanctity of life by showing love, peace, understanding, and the purity of behavior. The Holy is the devotion to ideals, respect and understanding of suffering, and being ready to serve God and our community. We must teach Holiness to ourselves and to others, giving us the ability to approach each other with patience and respect.

Dr. Adamou Ndam Njoya described the problem as one of knowledge and understanding at the level of the individual, the community, and the nation. Each person of our own community must be able to experience the self, where we can share activities and come to learn and to teach. We can teach by silence, and a new world can be achieved through the actions of each of us.

Cardinal Shen of Taiwan spoke about the secularized society where the crisis is against human nature. Each life is Holy, and suicide, killing, and the violation of the environment creates this Crisis of the Holy. By combining efforts through wisdom, compassion, and joy we can solve these issues to protect what is Holy and engender respect for the holiness of life.

DAY ONE – SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS – GROUP 3 – JOY

After introducing each ourselves, we spoke about the topic of the Crisis of the Holy. The Holy is the source of our common humanity, contributing to the dignity of life, but it is being desecrated by, among other things, separating and categorizing holy places, holy persons, and setting apart times for rituals and prayer. With this continued way of seeing ourselves and the world we are separating ourselves from the Holy.

We have horizontal poles of differences but vertical poles of one consciousness and our relative truths are all so unique but all affirm the vertical pole of one consciousness. Nevertheless, we must appreciate the differences while media tries to make everyone the same. In addition, globalization creates a greater burden on religious groups in its “be like us” mentality. In this type of environment, we cannot judge others by our own standards – the cerebration of diversity is an important factor in overcoming the Crisis of the Holy.

The goal of every religion is to allow man to become closer to himself. In this regard, the Crisis of the Holy must be addressed by more self-analysis, with an understanding of the holiness in crisis.

THINK TANK PRESENTATIONS

During the afternoon session of the first day summaries of the think tank presentations were offered. To begin, Alon spoke about the crisis as a realty in all of the religions, that each has some dimension of commonalty in crisis. Now we have the possibility of dealing with the crisis in a collaborative way.

The Holy in the ultimate sense is not in crisis, it is an interface of religion and humanity that are in crisis. What we can see in this context is a crisis of purpose: are the goals of religions being met in the sense of religions serving as a vehicle for the Holy?

Contemporary life is creating difficulties in achieving the goal of religions. Thus, the dimensions of the crisis consist of a loss of comprehensiveness, a loss of a total way of making sense, external pressures, and changes in religious structures particularly with the advent of the concepts of equality and individuality. In many cases the religious responses to this fast changing world is fundamentalism and the quest for spirituality outside of the traditional religious structures.

Yet, while the crisis contains threats and challenges, it also contains opportunities and potentialities. These are the reasons we are gathered together as a board of religious leaders. Alon then set forth the critical moments of the crisis:

1. Integrity and change of religious traditions

2. Individualism

3. Religious authority

4. Women

5. Youth and education

6. Technology

7. Secularism/Modernity

8. Media and image

For Buddhism, the crisis comes from inside. When one clings to anything it creates suffering. One must find the realization in oneself for liberation from ignorance. In Buddhism, the Holy is in the potential in oneself to become a Buddha.

Today, the influence of the material culture and the danger of the integrity of the leaders are at the center of the crisis. Detachment goes against the values of materialism, and this is what is stressed by Buddhism.

For Christianity, the Holy is God, and the crisis comes about within the human community. In today’s secularism and materialism, the focus in on more immediate values that detracts from the sense and awareness of the Holy. And in another context each religion is facing the challenges of how to respond to the close presence of other religious communities.

For Judaism, the crisis is as a result of history. In the 20th century the Jewish people experienced the holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel. The crisis within Judaism are that many see themselves as different from one another and coping with Israel and Jews in other countries, particularly in the West, that focus on individualism. It is a crisis of identity – how can an individual integrate into their communities?

In some sense the issues are controlled by others outside. To be sure, the media loves polarization and oversimplifies many of the issues. In reality most people are in the middle.

Hinduism is a relatively new phenomenon, and within Hinduism there are few unifying characteristics. Hinduism grew out of a geographic term, so there is clearly a problem of identity – who really speaks for Hinduism?

Islam is in a state of siege between modernity and the traditional religion. Within Islam, the crisis is misconstrued as a crisis of culture. For many, only the traditional religion of Islam contains the truth, resulting in a self-contained community that remains separate.

DAY TWO – SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS – GROUP 3 – JOY

Group 3 essentially combined the topics of technology and media for its discussion with the consensus that technology and today’s media offered both challenges and opportunities.

In the West particularly, the Internet has made great changes, especially with the young people. On the Church of Sweden’s website, mostly young people participate in a forum that generates more than 2,000 questions and concerns a day on theological issues, including the classical questions and those seldom asked. Some of the interaction is very spirited about the meaning of life. Before the Internet, only a small circle of young people within the Church were involved in similar interaction.

Most of the questions and concerns come from the individual point of view – what can religion offer me? There are new openings for religion but the old traditions can be undermined as, for one thing, the youth are not interested in hierarchies.

The advantages and disadvantages of the Internet were discussed with the agreement that the Internet is a double-edged sword. As was mentioned, there have been studies that 80% use of the Internet is for pornography and violence. How do religions face this challenge?

On the Internet there is no authority, there is no hierarchy. For Jews and Muslims, this presents an interesting opportunity because Judaism and Islam have no clergy – the rabbis and Imams are guides. In Christianity, Catholicism in particular, there is strong institutional authority.

Another advantage of the Internet is that it gives access to the entire elements of the religious traditions, giving people more personal empowerment and allows people to build community with others not only from their immediate environment but from all over the world. Users have the opportunity to see more and to choose what most interests them. The Internet also gives those who are seeking identity and stability in today’s society to embrace spirituality and explore the different religious traditions in an individual context.

Some disadvantages discussed were that the forums and the Internet in general cater to the lowest common denominator and that the forums and chartrooms are solely an intellectual experience where the true religious or spiritual experience is experiential. There is also a question of who is posting the answers, and are the qualified to make statements about religion and spirituality. In other words, there is no discernment and there is an inability to provide a true experience. Finally, the Internet is mostly a young persons’ activity, who speaks a different language – it is important for religions using the Internet to learn the language of the Internet and of young people.

The key to use of the Internet is to bring people away from the computer and into a human experience within religion. Thus, religions must use the language of the new technologies to transport users with experiences that motivate them to discover their own personal relationship with the religious experience, always keeping in mind that young people generally will not accept absolutism.

Whatever the technology, it is clear people are looking for something that is not readily available in their lives. They are seeking answers to the questions of what is the meaning of this life, of this existence. Religions must explore in what ways are its promises are not being kept. Is religion accepting people as they are, as human beings? What is clear in this regard is that if questions are not being answered, people will go elsewhere to find what they want and need.

Today, the media covers the fundamentalist and the charismatic, and focuses on large events. The youth are event oriented, they go from one to the other, and these events are drummed up by the media. Combined with a growing individualism, this event-oriented culture takes little time to fully experience any one concept or idea.

How can religions help collaborate for awareness to grow? There are many examples of religious and spiritual organizations using technology and new media: films are one vehicle, and Conversations with God, is being made now, and will be released next year; the Art of Living Foundation has a channel on the WorldSpace radio satellite service; the Spiritual Cinema Circle is a monthly subscription service that sends spiritually-oriented films each month to its 20,000 subscribers; beliefnet.com, a website with information about all of the religions has millions of visitors. Other general uses of the media include DVDs, CDs, and Internet radio.

All religions are founded on direct connections with the Divine. What the media must show is a model of awakening that displays the best of the religious traditions. The media offerings must be of high quality, deal with life issues, and present personalities that are attractive and inspiring to audiences.

One suggestion was to invite media personalities to special programs and retreats so that they can personally experience what each religious or spiritual tradition has to offer. Once the media personality has a positive experience with the offering, then they are more likely to present it in the media. Another suggestion was to offer the media the ability to use members of an interfaith group as consultants to enable media to have access to expert opinion and information as the need arises. Such a concept already is being established by Elijah through its rapid response team, a group of representatives from the major religions who are available to the media as critical events are happening.

It was also emphasized that alternative and local media are excellent opportunities for religions, rather than attempt always to access and influence the major media organizations. The religious traditions cannot change the media, but it can be used creatively and positively, with humility and discernment. This is one way to combat the negative images in the media, as media will cover suicide bombers but will not be interested in such programs as interfaith dialogue, or members of different religions working together to achieve positive results. The religions need to connect with people, meeting their everyday needs as well as their spiritual ones.

Using media must come with the understanding that in some ways technology has disempowered people. Thus, use of media should bring intimacy back to the religious experience, especially with the youth, and make religion and spirituality relevant to everyday life. Now, young people using the Internet are creating their own networks, and are speaking a new language and looking for simple answers.

Materialism and individualism are a common enemy -- through media, can young people find a religious identity? How can religions share the accumulated spiritual wealth and wisdom with the youth? Perhaps they are more interested in knowing how to speak with God than speak about God, encountering the Divine presence through their own experiences.

DAY TWO – LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

For Jews, there is the love for creation, and love cannot come without sacrifice. Then love contains forgiveness. Forgiveness, along with mercy and compassion, is essential for faith. Love must come from the inside – if you love the stranger then you will love God. We can only give and share with others what we possess. There can never be peace without justice, and never justice without forgiveness. In this crisis of ego and selfishness there is the lack of love for God – yet, it is love that truly brings the possibility of transformation.

Buddhists teach the love of God through non-hate and non-greed, knowing the nature of karma, impermanence, and suffering. The opposite of love is apathy, the absence of values. How you reach love is through compassion.

For the Hindu, we must move people toward human values, move toward a meaningful definition of love. For Islam, action is more powerful than words, with love, mercy, and justice.

All traditions have the teachings of love and forgiveness. How do we offer a meaning of love to address the continuity of the religious and spiritual traditions? To show loving kindness is to open one’s heart. We must teach love by obtaining peace within ourselves.

DAY THREE – SMALL GROUP DISCUSSIONS – GROUP 3 – JOY

The topic for Group 3 was Women. The hierarchy of religion has been shaped by patriarchal traditions in which women have been totally under represented. Today the image of religion is male orientated, and there exists an alienation of women to traditional religions. However, in many instances this is not only a problem of religions it is a social and cultural questions as well.

For the Brahma Kumaris, women are the doorway to heaven. All centers are run by women, and they have become empowered to become spiritual leaders. Inspired by female energies, and with no rituals, Brahma Kumaris is built of the qualities of women, particularly the quality of sacrifice.

In Judaism much of the ritual is gender based, yet Judaism is making serious efforts to create equality. Indeed, the leading role of women in the Jewish family reflects how well women are accepted. In traditional orthodoxy, the Rabbi is only a guide. Years ago women could not attend the seminaries

In Islam, God created man and woman, and as human beings man and woman are equal. Learning and teaching is a right for both man and woman. For rituals, there is a tradition of men leading prayers, but women also can lead prayers. For Islam, the issue of gender had not been raised until recently because of the West. On the spiritual side there is equality, however, on the cultural side there are differences. Similarly, in Christianity there is spiritual equality between men and women.

It was stated that we cannot take our own culture and oppose it on God or on others. Nevertheless, God has both the attributes of man and woman, which these attributes come from within. What is important is to become aware of the holiness in each of us. God is the Holy, is beyond male and female yet every person is a reflection of the holiness of God.

Traditions and cultures in many instances dictate the roles played by men and women. Thus we have the same values but different roles, particularly from the ontological perspective. Today, in some Christian churches women are ordained; in the Jewish religion women are Rabbis and lead congregations; in Korea, women comprise 50% of the Buddhist teachers.

In shaping roles and changing traditions, this cannot be imposed from the outside. Change must come from the grass roots, and leaders should allow development according to the desires of the members. We must distinguish between culture and gospel, keeping what is important and permanent while allowing that which is non-essential to change according to the time and environment. To spread the knowledge of God and spirituality, then people have the courage for change.

We have the capability to change those traditions bound in culture through self-inquiry and by taking the longer term vision. As was pointed out, looking through the prism of time, changes that took place years ago, and seemed to be almost catastrophic events, now in today’s light are readily accepted. Indeed, many do not even recognize the situation that existed so many years ago, and that change can happen through women. The religious traditions must understand that change is inevitable, and face these changes with integrity, always addressing the question, are we really changing traditions or renewing them?

One viewpoint espoused was that each of us are souls that have no identity or role – it is only society that imposes such identities, roles, and sexual identities. Interestingly, the Internet provides the exchange of ideas and thoughts without attachment to gender.

In the end, all religions move slower than society. Yet, religions must address the context of today. When trying to conserve all things, there is a risk of losing all things – the control attempted to be exercised by religious traditions can result in the less opportunity to grow in context with the times. Reading sacred texts must be always be done in the newer societal context – what is essential and what is contingent. It is not how we can regulate people’s lives; it is how we can make them independent so that they can make choices to benefit themselves and others in the society. God is the Holy one, not the religious traditions.

The goal of all religions is to empowerment of the self, to help people grow, to feel self-sovereign. Religions cannot be an obstacle to these goals and to the opportunity for us to assist others to open to the Divine presence. Empowerment is necessary in order to be free, to feel the full spiritual presence and grace of God.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, GROUP PLANNING, ISSUES FOR FUTURE WORK

In what way can we as spirit help facilitate the changes that must come? We must encourage gentleness, sensitivity, and clarity as reach out to others. Many expressed the view that what is most important from such meetings is that the participants change, and with that change they are able to create change in their communities.

By facing the challenges together, we are better equipped to renew and revitalize our religious traditions through collective spiritual regeneration. All religions understand that the language of the heart is what transforms – peace, love, understanding will create the harmony necessary to meet this crisis without having to change the other. Indeed, it is each individual’s change through the inspiration of being with the other that creates the foundation to deal with

A crucial element of taking away the spirit of the meeting was to insure that everyone can stay in contact with each other. One way is to become a resource for interfaith dialogue – to model the program that everyone experienced in Taiwan so that it can be used for local dialogues. Other suggestions were:

• promote non-violent education;

• prepare information about the basic tenants of all religions that can be shared;

• establish rapid response teams that can interact with the media in crisis situations, placing the authority of religious leaders behind local issues;

• invite Elijah to host similar meetings around the world;

• promote spiritual missions to troubled locations;

• every three months prepare a simple questionnaire with which everyone can update recent activities; and

• each year sponsor a pilgrimage to a different sacred site where discussions of global issues will be held, open to all.

At the end of the meeting Michael Weil provided an outline of Policy Conclusions and Recommendations that follow:

POLICY CONCULSIONS AND PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS

Women and Gender

Policy

• Distinguish between religious and leadership roles

• Understand that the soul sits in a body

• Understand non-sexual identity

• The internet is non-gendered

• Leaders should act as living models

• Leaders need to develop qualities of gentleness and sensitivity

• Awareness that men's roles also are changing

Practical

• Religious leaders should address issues of sexuality in a modern context

• Campaign against female mutilation (circumcision)

Youth

Policy

• Determine their needs through them

Practical

• Invite young people to participate

• Develop materials in the language of youth

• Consider multi-faith schools

• Help the young not be disempowered by technology

Violence

Policy

• Education against violence

• Cultivate an attitude of gratitude for what we as humans receive

• Find ways of reducing anger

• Stress difference between fictional and actual violence

Practical

• Work with media to reduce exposure of children to violence

• Encourage activities that minimize anger and ultimately violence

• Encourage non-violent ethics based education

Technology and Media

Policy

• Use popular culture to promote religion

• Learn about the positive potential of technology to enhance religion and faith

Practical

• Develop interfaith media channels, and websites

• Train religious people how to use the media

• Offer consultants to the media

• Invite the media to special programs that teach about the specific religious traditions

Integrity and Change

Policy

• Renewing rather than changing traditions

• Education and knowledge will permit both integrity and change

• Secure core essences and common core values of religions

• Change should not be extreme or sudden

Practical

• Common battle against consumerism and materialism

Individualism

• Think smaller

• Religions offer a balance between the individual and the communal

• Encourage use of smaller holy places and gatherings

How to take forward…

• Listen to and learn more from each other

• Use the internet as a tool of education

• Interchange of ideas

• Creating templates of activities and programs

• Invite other religious leaders to one’s religious facilities

• Hosting/modeling Elijah in one’s cities

• Disseminate basic texts and tenets of all the traditions

• Cooperate with other organizations in the field – interfaith and international

• Encourage others to hold local inter-faith meetings

The meeting concluded with a message from Dharma Master Hsin Tao. Master Hsin Tao began with the proposition that what is most important is to love all life. Today, life is too complicated and there is too much information, people cannot understand or see their future and the meaning of their life.

Now, in many ways the media has a greater impact than religious leaders, and more choices people have the more lost they seem to become. Religion is the food, the nutrient for human beings. The voice of the religious leaders must always be available, and that unity today is even more urgent. Master Hsin Tao suggested that there be established a Security Council of Religious Leaders whose mission it would be to create an orderly life.

Through the media, and in whatever other ways possible, religions must spread the teaching to disseminate the message of truth and to promote spiritual interaction. These are man-made problems, and it is the responsibility of religious leaders to use our religious and spiritual traditions to care for the world.

SUICIDE PANEL AT THE MUSEUM OF WORLD RELIGIONS

The crisis of suicide in society was addressed be a panel of religious leaders and those working in suicide prevention. Following is a brief description of the panel discussions.

The cause of suicide is complex, but certainly encompasses dissatisfaction about life, uncertainty about the future, and in some instances the parents neglect of a spiritual component. Many of those who commit suicide possess that characteristic of aloneness, experiencing moments of great pain. The emptiness comes from having no spiritual connections, where the individual cannot relate to others.

In light of these circumstances, suicide is not an immediate decision. There is a long-term, accumulated sense of loss, worry, and fear. In these situations, particularly with young people, it is so important to reach out to those in need, be sensitive to the pain, and intervene in the proper moment.

Young people seem to have many worries, but need to have an understanding that there is more to life then simply taking tests (and in this regard it was suggested that competition not be used to evaluate students). The commercialized society teaches that the value in life is what is accomplished, looking for respect from the outside – when they are so influenced from the outside it is very difficult to connect with their inner spirit. This creates more anxiety and pressure.

For young people, instead of asking for love, teach them to give love. In Islam, God created human beings to adore Him and to create the conditions for love. Each person has the responsibility to create an environment of love so that everyone of us can be a representative of God, and each will be judged according to their intentions. Each of us has the responsibility to make the world a better place.

In Judaism, there is the holiness of life created in the image of God, and the image of God is holiness. We must try to bring holiness in our lives by bringing in the spirit of God. Life is God’s possession, and no human being has the right to take a life, others or their own.

In Christianity it is forbidden to take one’s own life – our life is not only the responsibility of our own; it is also the responsibility of the community. God gives life, and only God can take life. Suicide is a public health and medical problem that religions must be aware of to the extent that religious leaders in their communities should speak with parent, and be present to listen to the young people.

It was mentioned that there are young people who are clinically depressed, and that religion or spirituality is not the answer to every problem. In these situations it is crucial that those dealing with that individual recognizes the reality of the condition and recommends the appropriate treatment or medical specialist.

We are responsible for our own actions, but young people must have knowledge in order to take responsibility. We have to empower young people so that they have inner strength by, among other things, teaching clarity of mind to reduce stress, ethics, and to cherish all life, that all life is special and a gift from God.