If something is true, no matter who said it, it is always from the Holy Spirit.
—Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate
Father Richard Rohr reflects on how his commitment to Christ and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit have continually helped him recognize God in other religious traditions:
In my own life, going deep in the Christian religion of my birth has enabled me to see the same Spirit and love in other religions as well. It’s been quite a journey from growing up in a Catholic “ghetto” in Kansas, and hardly even knowing any Protestants. And yet, at age fourteen, I was sent to study with the Franciscans in Cincinnati, Ohio, and they gave me an expansive theological education.
One of the best courses I had was on the Hebrew Scriptures, which gave me a great love for Judaism. It’s probably why I emphasize the prophets so much, because I realized the prophets really weren’t about what we call today retributive justice. They were about restorative justice. When we stay with their message, there are these magnificent passages toward the end of their books that invariably point toward love. God eventually says through the prophets: “I’m going to love you anyway. I’m going to redeem you by my perfect love. I’m going to love you into wholeness” (see Isaiah 29:13–24; Hosea 6:1–6).
In 1969, when I was sent as a deacon to the Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico, I had only a basic introduction to Indigenous religions. I observed how mothers in the pueblo would show their children how to silently wave the morning sunshine toward their faces, just as many Christians learn to bless themselves with the sign of the cross. I realized that Indigenous peoples had contemplative prayer long before we Franciscans ever appeared.
The rediscovery of Christian contemplation opened my eyes to Buddhists and Sufis—their teachings and practitioners. Buddhism taught me the phenomenology of perception—what’s going on in our brains. Every world religion at its mature level discovers some forms of practice to free us from our addictive mind, which we take as normal. Starting in the 1960s, our increased interaction with Eastern religions in general, and Buddhism in particular, helped us recognize and rediscover our own very ancient Christian contemplative tradition. The Sufis’ deep love of mysticism, especially as expressed by their poets Rumi and Hafiz, often captures the stirrings of my own heart.
My latest discovery was Hinduism, which is considered the oldest world religion. In the early 1980s, I gave a retreat in Nepal. Between talks I would just walk the old streets, go into temples, and try to remain invisible. I remember these lovely Indian women coming in so gracefully, wearing saris, and paying no attention to anything else except perhaps the flame or the oil they were holding. With what reverence they would bow! What do we think they’re bowing to except God, the Mystery? Like the wind, the Spirit blows where it will (John 3:8).
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Living School faculty conversation with CAC staff members, October 23, 2017. Unavailable.
Image credit and inspiration: Ashkan Forouzani, untitled (detail), 2020, photo, Iran, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Each bead in a strand could represent a faith tradition—rising beyond rivalry to something new, larger, and whole—while holding fast to the beauty of its own singular shape.
Story from Our Community:
I was enamored by the meditations on “What is Mysticism.” For me, each tradition rises from the heart knowledge of an ancient mystic’s experience. I believe that looking beyond the dogma of tradition lies the sacred. In my interfaith community in Amherst, NH, our intention is to know the Divine through the direct experience of the Holy while honoring the spiritual practices of all traditions’ truth. Awakening these truths in our own hearts reveals the Divine spark that lies dormant in us all, ultimately leading to mystical unity. In unity, there exists no “other.”
—Rev. Ahjan G.
