“There is a desperate need for spirituality in our time … We require a spirituality that promotes the unity of the human family, not one that further divides us or maintains old antagonisms.”
“Spirituality is the very breath of the inner life. It is an essential resource in the transformation of consciousness on our planet, and it will be enormously beneficial in our attempts to build a new universal society. Spirituality, intermysticsm, and interspirituality can clear the path for a return of the sacred in wider culture. This return is necessary if we are to create an alternative to what now exists. I believe there is a real possibility for a genuine renaissance of the sacred, and with its dawning comes the hope of a universal civilization with a compassionate, loving heart. If that compassionate, loving heart is cultivated in a large number of people, then the universal age will be born. It all depends on an intermysticism that is open to all.”
“Spirituality is profoundly transformative when it inspires in us the attitude of surrender to the mystery in which ‘we live and move, and have our being’ … people’s hearts must change before structures can change. This change is the basis of genuine reform and renewal.
We need to understand, to really grasp at an elemental level, that the definitive revolution is the spiritual awakening of humankind. This revolution will be the task of the Interspiritual Age.”
The Interspiritual Age
“We are at the dawn of a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to our life as the human family in a fragile world. This birth into a new awareness, into a new set of historical circumstances, appears in a number of shifts in our understanding:
The emergence of ecological awareness and sensitivity to the natural, organic world, with an acknowledgment of the basic fragility of the earth.
A growing sense of the rights of other species.
A recognition of the interdependence of all domains of life and reality.
The ideal of abandoning a militant nationalism as a result of this tangible sense of our interdependence.
A deep, evolving experience of community between and among the religions through their individual members.
The growing receptivity to the inner treasures of the world’s religions.
An openness to the cosmos, with the realization that the relationship between humans and the earth is part of the larger community of the universe.
Each of these shifts represents dramatic change; taken together, they will define the thought and culture of the third millennium.
… Taken together, they are preparing the way for a universal civilization: a civilization with a heart.”
A Universal Spiritual Community
“The Interspiritual Age will require institutions and structures to carry, express, and support it. I suggest that a fundamental institution should be an interspiritual order of … contemplatives open to all people – men and women, married and single, young, middle-aged, and old, confused or clear, adherents or not, with faith or agnostic – united in their desire for a deeper, more meaningful life. This would be a truly universal … order that welcomes as members individuals from all the world’s religions and even from no tradition at all.”
“Promoting the growth of the bonds of community is a necessary spiritual activity. … Breaking down the millennia-old barriers that separate the religions and spreading the spirit of acceptance, mutual trust, and understanding is a profoundly spiritual act, one that advances community in the world and lays the foundation for a universal mysticism.”
“Community is the basis of universal spirituality. It is where the inner life is nurtured.”
An essay by Brother Wayne Teasdale on an InterSpiritual vision of the future:
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