{"id":335,"date":"2009-08-06T15:08:25","date_gmt":"2009-08-06T15:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/spiritual-pluralism.html"},"modified":"2009-08-06T15:08:25","modified_gmt":"2009-08-06T15:08:25","slug":"spiritual-pluralism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/spiritual-pluralism.html","title":{"rendered":"Spiritual Pluralism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I have long been intrigued by the
\nfact that so many religious traditions have believers who, like me, are a part
\nof that tradition because of powerful personal spiritual encounters.  <\/span>Mine was a close encounter with a
\nGoddess at a Midsummer Sabbat many years ago.  <\/span>Christians tell of their conversion experiences.  <\/span>Practitioners of African diasporic
\nreligions like Voudon and Santeria often find themselves unexpectedly ‘ridden’
\nby powerful spirit beings, ending forever any doubts as to their reality.  <\/span>For many Indians, sweat lodges offer ways
\nof direct contact with the spirit world.
 <\/p>\n


\nSpirit apparently does not pay a
\nlot of attention to theology.<\/p>\n

I suspect that one of humankind’s
\ngreatest achievements is the creation of ways to honor the divine.  <\/span>Religions are our highest art
\nform.  <\/span>Each generates its own
\narchitecture, music, art, ways of getting into harmony with the sacred,
\ncelebrations, and so on.  <\/span>Each is a
\njoint creation of people and Spirit.<\/p>\n

Because the sacred is everywhere,
\nany starting point, pursued with the right frame of mind, could develop into a
\nreligion.  <\/span>Any step can start the
\ndance.  <\/span>I think this is why
\nhistorically religions do not tend towards a common mountain-top by different
\npaths, as we are often told, but rather extend outwards from a common
\ncenter.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Those who see us as all eventually re-uniting
\nin The One or the NonDual simply constitute one more step in this sacred dance,
\none more way of honoring the Sacred. 
\n<\/span>And even among them, in time the dancers will divide, perfecting new
\nsteps hitherto unexplored.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have long been intrigued by the fact that so many religious traditions have believers who, like me, are a part of that tradition because of powerful personal spiritual encounters.  Mine was a close encounter with a Goddess at a Midsummer Sabbat many years ago.  Christians tell of their conversion experiences.  Practitioners of African diasporic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pagan-spirituality","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nSpiritual Pluralism - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/08\/spiritual-pluralism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Spiritual Pluralism - 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