More Interest In Spirituality
In the past few decades, it appears the entire world is undergoing some form of spiritual awakening. Countless people are turning to various methods of personal process to find answers to the central human questions of living and being: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of my life? Where am I going?
This phenomenon takes on multiple forms - awareness workshops, interest in ancient esoteric teachings, meditation and breathing techniques, integration of Eastern philosophies with Western therapeutic traditions, holistic healing, and many more.
Also in Israel, these dynamic processes of spiritual awakening are being expressed in the main avenues of society from political and business, to educational and medical.
Recently, contemporary spirituality has begun receiving academic recognition. It is clear that the acceptance of spiritual culture into the mainstream of society is encouraging many researchers to study the many aspects of spiritual phenomena and determine its significance and relevance to human life.
It is also clear there is a growing thirst both in and out of academia, for that which is often classified as “unscientific and “irrational” to be included within the scope of human concerns worthy of being seriously studied.
The Conference Of Contemporary Spirituality
The Conference of Contemporary Spirituality, hosted by Haifa University, is testimony to this fact. In March 2010, over 120 lectures took place within the different campus buildings, given by researchers both young and senior, some of them well known personages of Israeli culture.
I entered the main building at around 12:00 noon. The conference was already in full motion. The atmosphere buzzed as people studied their programs, deliberating over which session to go to - “The Dialectics of Channeling” or “Spiritual Poetry” “Spiritual approaches to Contemporary Education” or “Feminine Spirituality in the Jewish world”?
My first lecture was given by Dr. Erez Peleg on the teachings of the Rav Kook, who called for the Jewish individual to understand his (or her) personal connection to God as being inseparable from the collective soul connection of humanity as a whole.
From delving into the Hasidic/Neo Hasidic world I move to a session that presents researches on the various integrations between Judaism and Buddhism. Do they go together? Can they go together? I listen to Dr. Daniel Stambler, who eloquently examines the Jewish-Buddhist identity dynamic that tends to arise within individuals carrying a strong affiliation to both traditions.
I am touched by Dr. Stambler’s sincerity. A Jewish Buddhist practitioner himself, it is obvious his words are nourished by personal search and inner investigation.
I browse through the program and a lecture on Kali catches my eye. I love the blood-devouring Hindu Goddess Kali. Something in her boundary-breaking wildness inspires my heart. In my many excursions to India I have always sought out her temples and I am curious as to what academia has to say about her.
In the program it says that the lecture examines different approaches to Kali as an empowering feminist symbol. I’m definitely for that; I feel Kali is an incredibly empowering female symbol, but listening I’m somewhat disappointed. The speaker doesn’t seem to capture the essence of Kali in his research; she is portrayed as domesticated and tamed by Indian patriarchal society, her mighty image is watered down and the talk in general feels shallow and one sided. Ah well.
I decide to search for additional female empowerment and I wander off to a session titled Gender and Feminism in Contemporary Spiritual Teachings.
Four women are speaking about various aspects of modern feminism, from Wicca---modern witchcraft, to matriarchal society as a model for a different world. The four women are extremely passionate about their topics, almost militantly so, and they provoke arguments from somewhat cynical men in the audience.
I find it interesting to see that the concept of a female dominated society still arouses so much doubt and cynicism amongst some people and I am happy that the sound academic background of the four researchers enables these to be amply challenged.
I peep into a session on channeling and reincarnation and then go to the cafeteria to buy myself a drink. So much information…I need a rest.
The final assembly is very beautiful. Several prominent Israeli figures speak eloquently. One of them is Dov Elbaum, well known writer and television host, originally from an ultra-orthodox background who today teaches Torah to seculars.
I do not remember the names of the other speakers but I do remember that one of them was a very distinguished doctor who spoke with clear and ringing decisiveness about the need for open mindedness and fresh view amongst the scientific and medical community.“It is inconceivable” he said “that doctors and scientists are not open to examining alternative methods of healing; not open to examining reality beyond what scientific data shows them.”
A band gets on stage and plays a catchy song. The words are: “God gave me as a gift…sky and stars and earth and sea”….the perfect finale for the day. The conference is over.
The conglomeration of professors, lecturers, academics, therapists, new-age seekers, students, interested spectators, and all the rest, begins to dissipate and flow out the university gates. Until next year, God willing.
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