| |
Venerable Ajahn Medhanandi -
In the Language of
Silence
The
qualities of loving-kindness and peace are hallmarks of all our
spiritual traditions, and yet our rituals, conventions, and beliefs can
seem irreconcilably different, even alienating. In the face of this, the
global movement of interfaith dialogue promises greater mutual
understanding, tolerance and respect between members of the many faiths
as well as between neighbours and nations.
Beyond traditional dialogue and conceptual understanding is the language
of silence. As contemplatives we have the possibility to really meet and
know one another, to step into each other's shoes and live together in
loving-kindness. In meditation, we take the journey of the mystic,
growing still, purifying the heart and entering a deep inner listening
that enables us to examine and see things as they really are.
In the last few years, I have experienced this on retreats in the
hermitage of the community of brethren at Southern Star Abbey. Their
compassionate welcome to pilgrims of all faiths has fostered a rich
spiritual rapport between our communities and has sown the seed for this
offering of a Buddhist-Christian retreat at Bodhinyanarama.
Inter-religious friendship is not new to our Forest Sangha tradition. In
1993 an interfaith conference was held in England hosted by the
Amaravati monastic community under the leadership of Ajahn Sumedho and
this was later followed up by a week long silent interfaith retreat.
During the conference and then again on the retreat, all division and
separation completely melted away in the face of an unmistakable current
of spiritual kinship, joyfulness and connection. This feeling of
communion was most palpable during the meditation sessions when the
participants sat together in silence.
In the spirit of that interfaith connectedness, it seems very fitting to
come together to share in psalmody and silence. As we enter the sacred
space in the simple contemplative life of the monastery, we each
experience directly the inner turbulence of our minds, and we begin to
make peace with the forces of fear and aggression that fire our
opinions. In that silent knowing of 'myself', we cultivate wise insight
and understanding. Gradually, we experience an inner stillness and
healing, an interior disarmament. The heart opens and all barriers of
identity, race, nationality, culture and belief gently dissolve and fall
away.
We return to our daily lives strengthened within our own faiths to
safeguard what we love. We carry the baton, not just to preserve the
monastery as a sanctuary, or to protect our religious traditions in a
world torn apart by violence, but to sustain a shared humanity. In this
way, we become good friends to ourselves and all beings, servants of
peace, truth and compassion.
back |