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Apologia Report 16:37 (1,087)
November 9, 2011
Subject: The Dos and Don'ts of Picking a Spiritual Master
In This Issue:
DISCERNMENT - rare New Age wisdom for avoiding the trap of spiritual abuse
ISLAM - what your folks taught you might save your life (if you don't toss it first)
SCIENTOLOGY - its attack against The New Yorker magazine
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DISCERNMENT
We've long been interested whenever non-Christians reveal their thinking about spiritual danger. So few, especially New Agers, are even concerned. Consider the piece by Joel and Michelle Levey: "The Dos and Don'ts of Picking a Spiritual Master." After mentioning that "we travel and teach around the globe," the authors observe that "Over the years we have been fortunate to study closely with hundreds of the world's most respected and realized teachers from a variety of wisdom traditions and mind-science research backgrounds."
They also provide a bit of perspective regarding how the playing field has changed since they started. "When we first began our own practice, there were three meditation centers in Seattle and two yoga teachers. Now, there are thousands of yoga and meditation teachers and hundreds of meditation centers!"
Along the way they have come to understand that "There are many perils on the path of meditation and spiritual growth." However, the only insight provided in this regard is their warnings. "Beware if you encounter any of the following 'red flags.'" The list includes a few cautions worth repeating here:
* - "Settings where questions are not welcomed or answered in straightforward ways, or where raising concerns about conduct or ethical violations is frowned upon - especially if you are told you are being 'too judgmental' when you do raise honest concerns.
* - "Anyone who claims that they can give 'it' to you, especially for a price. ...
* - "A heavily authoritarian, paternalistic, sexist, or militaristic scene.
* - "Practices that work with intense energy manipulation or heavy breathing practices without having first established a strong foundation in ethics and personal grounding.
* - "Teachers, paths, or seminars that seem ungrounded, make outrageous claims, use coercion tactics, or hustle you to get others to sign up.
"Be especially discerning if you encounter people who seem to display unusual or extraordinary powers. Spiritually naïve people may easily confuse psychic sensitivity with spiritual maturity, deluding themselves and others. Purported channeling and clairvoyance may have little to do with authentic spiritual teachings. Because some teachers misrepresent themselves, claiming spiritual authorizations, realizations, or backgrounds that are downright lies, it's always good to check references or question their authenticity."
The Leveys' conclusion includes a great dose of common sense: "If the biography of a spiritual teacher heavily emphasizes their attainments in past lives (maybe, but who knows?) we suggest that you stay focused on the integrity of the one you can see sitting in front of you." Huffington Post, Sep 6 '11, <www.huff.to/rdBF4p>.
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ISLAM
"How Religion Can Inoculate Against Radicalism: The lesson of my retreat from a London university's Islamic Society" by Russell Razzaque -- suggests common-sense parenting as a solution to one of the great mysteries in society today. Razzaque begins: "In the fall of 1989, I arrived as a student at the Royal London Hospital medical college, part of the University of London. I was one of only a handful of Muslim students in my year and, for us, the entire social scene felt alien. It all seemed based around dancing, alcohol and socializing with the opposite sex. We were left in a vacuum that the school's Islamic Society quickly offered to fill. Its members were comradely, welcoming and - crucially - had great food.
"They knew we were lost and early on they started to explain how the alienation we felt was something we should cherish rather than try to overcome. The reason they gave was that we were better than the 'kufar' - infidels - outside of our gathering. It was at this point that the tone of the Islamic Society's meetings started to change. Our duties to our religion started to merge with a series of geopolitical aims involving the establishment of a global Islamic state and the overthrow of the capitalist/Zionist system.
"I soon dropped out of the Islamic Society and widened my social circle to include non-Muslims. But several of my friends had become intoxicated by the whole thing, even dropping out of the university because of it. At first I didn't give this much more thought - until 9/11, that is."
Razzaque is now a practicing psychiatrist. His thoughts on "how religion can inoculate against radicalism" are persuasive. "In a study by Lorelie J. Farmer of Gordon College in Massachusetts ["Religious Experience in Childhood: A Study of Adult Perspectives on Early Spiritual Awareness," Religious Education (Vol. 87, Issue 2, 1992)], adult subjects discussed their religious experiences as children. The study found that childhood religious experience tended to give individuals increased compassion for others, as measured in psychological rating scales. This helps explain why it would be harder for such people to follow a supremacist ideology that by definition is uncompassionate towards the 'out' group.
"Deeper insights into radicalization may spring from developments in what's called Relational Frame Theory, which is based on a body of empirical research pioneered by Steve Hayes of the University of Nevada. The theory focuses on the fact that people constantly derive assumptions and conclusions about things they were never directly taught. In our early years, the theory holds, we learn certain arbitrary ways to compare things to each other (relational framing), and it is through a web of such interlinking comparisons (relational networks) that we then start to make sense of the world around us.
"So if one's parents teach one about, say, Islam - and do so within the context of a relatively comfortable, happy and nurturing childhood - one is likely to derive an association between the wider concept of religion and the pleasant experiences of one's earlier years. This would then make it harder to embrace an ideology based on hating people of different faiths.
"Thus contrary to the insistence of some that religion is inherently divisive and harmful, this research suggests that early-life exposure to moderate forms of religion may be a vital inoculator against the dangers of extremist recruitment."
Nevertheless, earlier in this article something brought on a wry smile. "Caitlin Spaulding of Trinity University in Texas studied the religious experiences of 84 first-year university students in her home state <www.bit.ly/u2uBly>. She found that the students tended to retain the core faith beliefs instilled in them during their childhood - and that this helped their transition to university life. They appeared to be more confident and better equipped to adapt to their new environment." What an irony it is, then, that so many university professors appear dedicated to eradicate faith from the minds of their young charges. Wall Street Journal, Sep 2 '11,
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SCIENTOLOGY
"Scientology Strikes Back at The New Yorker" by Jeremy W. Peters -- observes: "The Church of Scientology is certainly no shrinking violet when it comes to defending itself.
"Known for its aggressive litigiousness and scorched-earth public relations approach, the church’s latest target is The New Yorker, which in February published a 25,000-word article [www.tinyurl.com/64arvj7] that painted Scientology as corrupt and cultish.
"In response, the church has produced a 51-page glossy magazine and an accompanying three-part DVD that try to discredit The New Yorker, its writers, editors, fact-checkers and sources. ...
"Much of the [Scientology] magazine’s criticisms of The New Yorker article are directed at the author, Lawrence Wright. The church refers to the article’s primary subject, a former Scientologist named Paul Haggis, who won two Academy Awards for the movie“Crash,”as “the hypocrite of Hollywood” and a “nobody” whose career has peaked.
"It is especially scornful of other former church members cited in the piece, who are pictured in the church publication in a series of unflattering photos. ...
"The church singles out editors, fact-checkers and other New Yorker staff members who worked on the article by name and prints their photos. The church also uses what appears to be a surveillance photograph taken of Mr. Wright while he was conducting an interview at an outdoor cafe in Texas." Judging by the reaction, The New Yorker piece must have really hit
home. New York Times, Aug 31 '11, <www.tinyurl.com/3dsqof6>.
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