Pioneer “Synthesizers” at Interweave
The book title that drew me, way back in the 1960s, was Zen Catholicism, by a Benedictine monk, no less. This was my introduction to what we now call “spiritual synthesis,” or as another Catholic writer Brother Wayne Teasdale puts it, “inter-spirituality” — the practice of “claiming all valid spirituality from any and all faiths for the purpose of inner spiritual development.”
For over a generation, gifted pioneers in every faith have made bold to open their hearts and lives to the gifts of other spiritual pathways, becoming ambassadors of interreligious understanding. These people walk in the footsteps of souls like Joseph Campbell, Huston Smith, Jean Houston, Diana Eck and Karen Armstrong. Come take their workshop, and hear most of them at on a panel discussion! We’re privileged to have some of them at
Interweave on June 18.
—Robert Corin Morris
 Father Robert
Kennedy, our keynote speaker, is both a Jesuit priest and Zen teacher in the White Plum lineage. The author of Zen Gifts to Christians and Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit. Fr. Kennedy follows in the footsteps of the great Thomas Merton and another Jesuit zen master William Johnston in seeing the deep connection between mystical prayer in Christianity and Buddhism.
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, Director of the Shalom Center and Pathfinder for ALEPH: An Alliance for Jewish Renewal. embodies a new turn in Jewish life, which he describes as “eco-feminist Hassidism.” Ancient Jewish practices are combined by Arthur with other elements: meditative methods adapted from Eastern spirituality, medieval Jewish chanting, and a modern commitment to gender equality and social justice. His innovative “Freedom Seders” for Jews and African American Christians are celebrated on many campuses. Robert Corin Morris, Interweave Director, will co-lead Arthur’s midday spiritual practice session. Bob has been engaged in Jewish-Christian dialog for thirty years.
Dr. Peter Savastano, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Seton Hall and a practicing Quaker, is, perhaps, our most radical example of inter-spirituality, having grown from his Sicilian Catholic roots to practice Hindu and Buddhist meditation as well as the earth-rooted spiritualities of the Caribbean. He is an expert in Sexuality and Religion, Ritual and Symbol Studies, and the Anthropology of Consciousness.
Doug and Pat McKenzie have followed the practices of the Gurdjieff Way, which develop “consciousness and conscience” for many hears. These practices also brought new life into their Christian backgrounds and their scientific orientation. Doug and Pat spearheaded the construction of the Interweave Labyrinth in Mendham, and are part of the core leadership of our Companions in the Spiritual Journey fellowship.
Puran Perez, raised in his native Latino Catholicism, found Sufism during his wider spiritual searches in the
1970s. He is a senior leader in The Sufi Way, a Western Sufi Order rooted originally in mystical
Islam, but now viewed as a universal spiritual path. A gifted poet and musician, Puran is the author of a recent novel
The Treasure Codes, a “modern Sufi tale.”
Lisa Green, Interweave’s Assistant Director, will join Puran for his workshop. Lisa initiated both our Women of Sacred Story—bringing together Jewish, Muslim and Christian women—and Wisdom’s Well programs. Her early Catholic training led naturally into college experiences with Christians of other denominations and religions. Now a candidate for the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, she has written for Interweave publications, the Diocese of Newark Voice, and the national magazine, Weavings.
For complete information about the workshops and spiritual practice sessions led by these presenters at
Spiritual Synthesis: Practicing Integral Spirituality, CLICK HERE.
Summer Reading
Can Continue Your Interweave Learning!
Ever consider continuing your Interweave learning over the summer? Or catch up on themes from courses you may have missed? Here are some suggested follow-ups to popular events from the past year, and our “Book of the Year” recommendation:
Our 2005 Book of the Year
Sent free to Members who give $250 or more
Anna Quindlen, How Reading Changed My Life. (Ballantine, 1998). “Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion,” says popular columnist
Quindlen. Copies available at the Interweave office.
Creative Journaling
Julia Cameron, The Artists’ Way (Tarcher, 1992). By now a classic, this workbook encourages you to use writing as creative expression.
Ira Progoff, At a Journal Workshop: Writing to Access the Power of the Unconscious and Evoke Creative Ability.
(Tarcher, Revised Edition, 1992) The great-grandmother of all journal guides, giving specific exercises to access different aspects of yourself.
Cultivating a Peaceful and Compassionate Mind and Buddhism 101
Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path, (Bantam, 2001). One of the leaders of the American Buddhist community shares how spirituality and everyday life can be integrated.
Hidden Goddess: Fact and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code
Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, (Vintage, 1989). A study of the political conflict between the emerging patriarchal organization of “orthodox” Christianity, and the more free-wheeling “Gnostic” movement.
Marcus Borg, Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time: The Historical Jesus and the Heart of Contemporary Faith.
(HarperSanFrancisco, 1995). A respected scholar gives you the latest and best scholarship about our historical knowledge of Christian origins.
Religious Zeal and the Culture Wars: The Power of Religion in America Today.
God’s Politics, by Jim Wallis (Harper SanFrancisco, 2005) Secular liberals, religious liberals and religious conservatives will find things to both comfort and alarm them in the thought of this “theologically conservative/socially liberal Evangelical Christian. “
Touchdown Jesus: Mixing Sacred and Secular in America, by R. Laurence Moore, (Westminster John Knox, 2003). Illuminating tracing of the roots of current culture clashes to their roots in 19th and 20th century America.
A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation by Diana L. Eck (Harper
SanFrancisco, 2002) How America became religiously pluralistic far beyond the old Protestant establishment days, and how this gives rise to new conflict and new cooperation.
Living Beyond Belief?
Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief. (Harper SanFrancisco, 2003). A passionate plea for a spirituality of search, discovery and illumination, inspired by the author’s encounter with the “heretical” early Christian Gospel of Thomas.
Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity: Rediscovering a Life of Faith, (HarperSanfrancisco, 2004) A good discussion of the “new paradigm” in religion, which emphasizes relationship over rules, experience over dogma, and understanding over obedience.
Stevan Davies, The Gospel of Thomas: Annotated and Explained (SkyLight Illuminations, 2002) Prof.
Stevan. Davies was one of the first scholars to take the Gospel of Thomas seriously as a first century text. This book contains a solid translation of the Gospel of Thomas, a good introduction, plus a new age preface
by Andrew Harvey.
Down the Rabbit Hole: What the Bleep Do We Know
It’s out on DVD! What the Bleep Do We Know? is the unlikeliest cult hit of 2004. This film about mysticism and science features a disillusioned philosopher who begins to question her limited perceptions, and falls into the mysterious world of quantum physics, and its uncanny similarity to mystical experience.
Get Ready for next Fall!
Karen Armstrong, Islam (Modern Library, Revised Edition, 2002). A sympathetic and eye-opening overview of this important religion and culture.
Barry Johnson, Polarity Management: Identifying and Managing Unsolvable Problems A new framework for handling dilemmas as paradoxes rather than absolute conflicts. See the best in the other guy’s side, the worst in yours, and how to navigate between them.
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