Interspiritual Age: Coming soon?

Blind Monks Examining an Elephant (Itcho print)

Because "Interspirituality" is a relatively new term, it is often mistaken for "Interfaith."  Rabbi Rami Shapiro explains that "Interfaith" is essentially "a conversation… between people fully ensconced in

their respective faiths" – whereas "Interspirituality"

compares religions to "the proverbial blind men

describing the elephant…" and instead aims for "the greater truth seeking to speak through the

diverse voice of the world's religions."

Yes - but is the world ready to stop confusing the faithful finger(s) pointing to the moon with the moon itself?  Kurt Johnson and David Robert Ord seem to think that it almost is.

In their recent book The Coming Interspiritual Age, Johnson (a monastic turned evolutionary biologist) and Ord (a Presbyterian minister) contend that the Interspiritual Age is within historic reach.  Bernard Starr, contributor to The Huffington Post Blog, explains that this age will be "brought about by a confluence of world events, cultural changes, the technological revolution, and eight paradigm shifts that include 'undoing the bonds of loyalty to clan, nation, religion, and skin color…'"

Does this mean that every "blind man" will soon begin to "see" the exact same elephant?  Or that diversity will soon merge into one big "eye in the sky" philosophy? 

Not necessarily. 

Johnson and Ord are calling upon humans to retain diversity in all its richness - and yet to discover the unity within that diversity.

Resources

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bernard-starr/the-coming-interspiritual-age_b_2254690.html?utm_hp_ref=interfaith

Copyright December 21, 2012 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved