The Rationale for InterSpiritual Meditation

The world’s religions have developed many types of contemplation and meditation, each formulated for specific spiritual purposes and specific types of practitioners. InterSpiritual Meditation is neither a replacement nor a synthesis of these. Rather it provides a process drawn from many traditions that can help individuals develop a practice that is at once personal and inclusive. It recognizes that people will naturally collect wisdom and practices from multiple sources but still need a supportive community.   It also honors the value of a shared process or ritual that facilitate communal cohesiveness.   Therefore, the seven steps of ISM are helpful for both individuals and groups of people from diverse traditions and with diverse individual practices.

The following verse by Rumi helps illustrate this possibility:

If ten lamps are present in one place,
each differs in form from another;
yet you can’t distinguish whose radiance is whose
when you focus on the light.
In the field of spirit there is no division;
no individuals exist.
Sweet is the oneness of the Friend with His friends.
Catch hold of spirit.
Help this headstrong self disintegrate;
that beneath it you may discover unity,
like a buried treasure.
(Mathnawi I, 678-83 of Jalaluddin Rumi,
translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski in Rumi Daylight)

Because InterSpiritual Meditation is a process and not a one-size-fits-all conclusion, it can provide a foundation for a life-long contemplative practice. Life-long, because (a) each step in the process leads us into deeper and deeper realms of discovery and realization, (b) it can be built around our evolving ways of knowing and spiritual styles, and (c) our own practice will change and deepens over the course of our lives. Taken together, all the so-called steps are mutually interdependent and provide a context for life-long spiritual maturation.

This online course, along with the books and workbook/journal are designed to support both in-person sessions and online seminars and workshops.