I’m getting into the sociology of modernity, for my bachelors paper. Anthony Giddens is one of the primary sociologists in that field. He wrote:
The problem for us – those who wish to see a cosmopolitan world prosper – is to reconcile commitment and skepticism.
(From Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity, p. 132)
This is relevant to our discussion of religion versus spirituality, because spirituality often doesn’t have commitment at all. Spirituality is deeply skeptical towards any and all authority. Spirituality only implies a commitment to ones own spiritual growth, and perhaps to the development of quality relationships with other people, perhaps the world.
Religion on the other hand implies commitment to a specific tradition, perhaps a church. Religion in a Christian sense implies community building. Communities can be stifling in their judgement of certain behaviors, but they give a home as well.
Theosophy is somewhere between the two. Our lodges are meant as places for community building, but as Chris mentioned, sometimes they aren’t so open to outsiders. In fact, community usually implies a firm marking of ‘insiders’ versus ‘outsiders’. It does take work to become one of the insiders. Sects invest a lot in getting people to feel welcome and only show their ugly side when people are trying to leave. The TS does not make that mistake, but I do think it’s one of the duties of lodges to make newcomers feel welcome – which does mean that they should make a commitment to at least initiate a conversation.
How does skepticism fit into all this? It’s part of our modern lives that we mistrust all kinds of things we are in fact dependent on. The government is consistently mistrusted in the US, yet it obviously has responsibilities people depend on. The same goes for banks. They give people loan’s, and people trust in their own ability to pay them. They trust in the banks to be reasonable. That system got a big blow recently and the international stock markets are in turmoil because the trust is gone. When the trust is gone, there is less reason to invest – to commit.
Commitment builds trust. A relationship where both partners commit fully is one in which there is also likely to be trust. But it’s a gamble. The relationship doesn’t start out with trust on both sides. It starts out with a bit of trust – a bit of commitment – the dating system. At some point the jump to full commitment has to be made, in order for the relationship to succeed. But that is still a gamble: what if I commit and the other person is actually cheating on me?
Spirituality in its radical sense distrusts organizations to such an extent that there is no way people will make a long term commitment to a religious or spiritual organization at all. Many organizations therefor offer courses and retreats that only require a temporary commitment. Yet, like in any relationship, a spiritual organisation will give more back, if you do commit.
“Nosce te ipsum” – Know thyself 🙂
Katinka,
Another good point. A number of years ago I had the opportunity to ask Ken Wilber about this very point, the tendency towards spiritual dilettantism and how to navigate the overabundance of choices. He basically said “Just pick one and stick with it.” Others have invoked the metaphor of using all your time and energy digging dozens of wells that never hit water, rather than just going deep enough in one spot.
And just today I came across this from the Hagakure: “It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all ways and be more and more in accord with his own.”
We’re in agreement that an amorphous ‘spirituality’ might well be resistant to such depth.
The question then is can theosophy offer this depth? Does a syncretic tradition that encourages a comparative study of all the world’s religions, philosophies, sciences and arts fall prey to the same pitfalls as new age-ism?
I actually did not quite mean that people should stick to one spiritual tradition exclusively. I just meant that the other extreme isn’t going to work either. There’s an advantage to working in an organisation. There’s learning and growing together. There’s the potential for emotional support of a kind based on more than superficial acquaintance. One learns more if one commits. I learned things doing dishes, that I would not have learned if I had just sat in a lecture hall. The same goes for working in the gardens at Naarden.
People tell me things anyhow, but there are things people have told me about their spiritual paths and their interpretations of life that they certainly would not have told me if I hadn’t made my miles, so to speak. [Is that an English expression?]
Theosophy certainly offers more depth than some of the new age alternatives out there (‘the secret’ comes to mind – again). Does theosophy offer enough dept – I don’t know. I’m certainly contemplating dipping into other pools myself – Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhism seems closest to theosophy on several scores (though it’s not gender neutral – I recently learned, which just might be a deal breaker for me). I’m pretty sure, for instance, that for learning meditation theosophy isn’t the place to stick to – at least exclusively.
Also – in my opinion the TS is strongest when its members take that second object seriously and actually actively seek out other traditions as well. Perhaps not more than one extra traditions per member to keep that depth thing going? [Let’s not put that in any guidebooks though – such rules may work for the ES, but not the TS. And I’m not even sure it works for the ES.]
Oh – and for those readers that don’t get theosophical abbreviations: TS = Theosophical Society.
ES = Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society
There is one more reason about why to belong to an organization. To be committed to an organization we feel is good for humanity is a form of service. An organization cannot exist without people, and usually, without some kind of an organization that spiritual tradition gets out of reach.
Also, when new people are beginning to explore a spiritual tradition, it is useful for them to find people with certain understanding. New people may benefit a lot having good examples around, having others to share their questions, their searching…