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I returned to Santa Barbara on Saturday, after spending a week at Stanford University, attending the United Religions Initiative (URI) conference. This was a brilliant experience for me, and my first solid and face-to-face connection with recognized world leaders in this area. The conference was very much "led in the spirit", and the entire week was an exciting period of creativity, that persuaded me and most others I talked to that this initiative represents a potent movement and "ontological force", and has a realistic chance of being successful.

In many ways, the URI is intimately related to the United Communities of Spirit project. One might almost say that our objectives are identical. We are both concerned with the constructive interaction of the world's diverse spiritual traditions, the search for "common ground", and a variety of possible agendas which emerge out of this conjunction.

The conference was led by a team of facilitators, whose objective it was to maintain something bordering on coherent structure, while maximizing the creativity and spiritual interaction of the participants. There were no lectures to an audience, and no papers were read. Instead, we met around 8-person tables, and developed personal relationships with other folks around our table, in a process called "Appreciative Interview". We then moved on to other tables, carrying forward the thrust and energy and vision developed in our previous conversations.

The net result was a complex and quite vital creative process, that sustained a constant creative excitement, and a sense that this grand vision is unfolding as a natural part of social evolution, and simply reflects an avant gard attunement with the "zeit geist" -- the "spirit of the times".

It has seemed clear to me for some time that the future of religion must involve the constructive and cooperative interaction amongst the various religions. Our world is too small, people live too closely together, and true religion too important to life for the religious traditions of this world to remain in combative relationship with one another.

And it also seems clear to me that religions can learn from one another -- that members of one tradition can vitalize and empower their own personal understanding by meeting with members of other traditions, exploring their ideas and practices, and assimilating whatever new ideas and perspectives seem illuminating. Thirty years ago, this approach was pioneered by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton, and today, this broadly ecumenist spirit can be found in many traditions and organizations, in one form or another.

The question often arises whether or not the United Religions or any similar organization is "creating a new religion". This is a subtle question, with no simple answer. What is "a religion"? There were many participants at the URI conference who initially took the view that it is inappropriate to "mix religions together", or to combine their elements into new forms. The combining of elements from various traditions is called "syncretism", and it is often regarded critically by those who see it as artificial and perhaps ungrounded. But a strong argument can be raised that syncretism is inevitable, and represents a constructive and illuminating tendency that should be encouraged.

Dr. Ninian Smart, Chair of the Dept. of Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara, has described himself as a "Buddhist Episcopalian". When people tell him that's impossible, he says, he replies "Well, here I am." When a member of some religious tradition encounters ideas from outside that tradition, and does not reject them, but instead explores and investigates them, the inevitable result is a partial assimilation of these new ideas into their philosophy. Perhaps a Christian discovers something about meditation from a Buddhist or Hindu, and finds that this practice makes sense within their tradition, and is not at all inconsistent with it. For some Christians, meditation is viewed with suspicion. But many others -- such as the World Community for Christian Meditation -- see this practice as essential to the religious life, and very much to be valued. So how is this process to be understood? These practices exert a creative influence on the private theology of anyone who experiences them, and i t seems clear that this reshaping of theology can be understood as transforming the traditional religious understanding. Does this amount to "creating a new religion"? It's entirely a matter of definition.

Given this fluency, I myself am less cautious about the emergence of some new global vision of the spirit than I once was. I still emphasize the necessity of intimately relating to, and respecting, the existing traditions. But I am also open to their reformation and revitalization, in terms of new ideas emerging from other world traditions, rooted in other cultures. I am persuaded that this "confluence" of cultural and ideational forces can lead to a profoundly illuminating general understanding of spiritual and religious truth -- and that, indeed, something exactly like this is what is occurring in culture today, in a vast creatively bubbling conversational process in which all participants are being illuminated and educated by all others.

This kind of "mutual edification" was an inherent part of the Stanford URI conference. Out of a myriad conversations, there seemed to emerge something of a common vision, expressed from the podium by different voices at different times, but somehow conveying a common sense of destiny. Out of the center, there seemed to emerge the vision of a Common Flame, a white heat of the spirit into which all believers are being drawn, each from their own tradition and perspective.

Does this Flame represent a "melting" process? Are the details of cultural distinctions to be lost? We heard an eloquent plea at Stanford from the "indigenous people" present there not to allow this to occur. "Don't proselytize us", they asked. "Let us preserve our ways. Respect us." Yet they were present there in the spirit of unity, of oneness with the larger community, presenting their unique corner of the world with character and passion, in a way that certainly enriches our common experience.

A high point of the conference for me was the statement read to the audience by Christian de la Huerta, a book publicist in the Southern California area, with whom I had attended the "dine around" the previous night (a dinner party hosted by someone in the Stanford area). Christian's statement was most beautiful, and emphasized the vision of unity and his deep respect for the traditions of the world. But he also affirmed in uncompromising terms the absolute necessity and rightness of honoring the persecuted sexual minorities of the world, including gay and lesbian people. He referred to people of "sexually ambiguous identity", and pointed out that throughout history, these people have often been the lightbearers of a culture -- the shamen, the priests, the healers, the inspired ones of the spirit. In a most resolute and sensitive way, he told us of the tragic repression of these people by many religious traditions, and how they have been injured and killed throughout history for simply being what they are.

When Christian made this statement, my entire body somehow became wracked with sobs. I didn't understand my own reaction, and had no idea I would respond in that way. But for ten minutes afterwards, I felt myself experiencing an internal earthquake of emotion, and felt that I had been touched in the deepest way. Had I harbored some of these destructive and repressive thoughts to which he referred? Or was it because I myself am perhaps "incarnated between the categories" in some mysterious way? I don't know the answer, but as the conference was ending, and we were saying our goodbyes, I spent several minutes with Christian, with our arms around each other in the middle of the conference hall.

This kind of emotional bonding seemed to happen for me with many people, in dramatic and striking ways. My first conversation in the "Appreciative Interview" process with was my table mate, Sister Joan Chatfield, who has been a Maryknoll nun in Hawaii for 42 years, since the age of 17. Sister Joan is a highly educated and capable women, with long experience in interfaith and organizational development affairs, and spoke to me of her deepest feelings and motivations. Somehow, as Sister Joan said, we "clicked". I was able to talk to her, and in the flow of that conversation, my own long history as an "outsider" to this global interfaith process began to melt. She not only had the brains and the education to understand everything I told her, but she had a deep and very authentic connection with spirit as well. This was a woman who could understand a lot, and I suppose that I came away from the conference tending somewhat to think of her as my "confessor".

But there were many such experiences of bonding. In attendance at the conference was a rather flamboyant woman known as "Ma", a guru of some standing and reputation, who has an 87-acre ashram in Florida, and a number of followers, some of whom were at the conference. Dressed in elaborate and brilliant sari, with rich jewelry, she is a "housewife from Brooklyn", who speaks with that accent, and who pursues a passionate mission in service to AIDS victims. I had a chance to speak with her, and mentioned to her my reaction to Christian's statement, and she planted a big kiss on my cheek. The energy was just like that.

A lot of what happened seemed "auspicious". For one thing, I had a corner room, right at the end of the second floor dormitory. I had a view in two directions, and felt that my energy was positioned as a "cornerstone" of the entire process. I like that position, and feel comfortable there. The fullness of my energy can unfold in a position like that, so it seemed natural and right that I should be sleeping in that room.

And it was good to again see the author and television producer Bettina Gray, author of A Parliament of Souls, a collection of interviews of world religious leaders, which was made into a television documentary series for KQED public television. Bettina had written a powerful and very true essay for the URI journal published for the conference, and it was good to see her strong voice. She joined us at our table for the concluding banquet of the conference, in her rich turquoise-blue sari-dress, with her 11 year old son Walter -- who, it turned out, had designed the conference logo and lapel pin, which was presented to each of us at the banquet, sitting in our dessert spoon. It just felt good to be next to them, and it was beautiful when Walter became cold, climbed into her lap, and was wrapped up her arms and shawl. It was simply charming, and just another sign of the fires of love that were flowing so openly at this conference.

Another remarkable character that the conference was Fr. Alexandru Stan, a Romanian priest and college professor, highly educated and articulate, who was full to overflowing with stories of interfaith affairs, and accounts of the political machinations of large-scale bureaucratic, political and economic forces that influence the spiritual destiny of people in his corner of the world. In an area that can be fraught with violent religious passions, he showed us a collection of photographs of interreligious e vents he had helped organized, and the glowing faces in these photos were brilliant testimony to the common flame through which diverse traditions can be brought together. It's not about ideology or philosophy, he told us. These people weren't discussing philosophy, but were simply being together, in a spirit of friendship. Indeed, that spirit stands above almost all else at the URI conference, and was emphasized by the convener and primary advocate of the URI project, Bishop Swing of the Episcopal Diocese of California. Bishop Swing has traveled around the world contacting religious leaders in pursuit of his visionary agenda, and when he introduced himself to me, and shook my hand, and held it strongly for a long time as he looked me straight in the eye, I again felt the deep bonding of community that seemed so strong during this conference.

Another high point was the public interfaith service held for the Stanford area community. It involved presentations by a number of spokespersons, including Kay Lindahl, of the Alliance for Spiritual Community in Southern California. She told a story about discovering a small icon of two lovers with their arms around each other, in a small shop in Ireland. At first dismissing the magnetism of this statue, she left the store and went on her way. But it called to her, and she went back to the store to purchase it. Picking it up, she found a brilliant quote from Teilhard de Chardin on its base, which she read to us. I don't have the exact words here, but it said something like, "When we have overcome the wind and the water and the wave, we will come together in the common bond of love, and the world will be set on fire." This quote (which I have mangled here) was thrilling to hear, and felt like an exact expression of my own mission and cause. I spoke later with Kay, about the nature of love between men and women, and how this love can be empowered, and lead to the healing of culture. I felt a remarkable closeness with Kay, and I am sure we will explore these implications in our further contacts.

Also leading a portion of the interfaith service was Deborah Moldow, an "interfaith minister" who works with the World Peace Prayer society ("Let Peace Prevail on Earth!"). Deborah had discovered the UCS web site a month or so ago, written to me that she found it beautiful, and played a role in getting me invited to this all-expenses-paid conference. It was good to met her in person -- and I am pleased to say that Deborah is a subscriber to this Voices of the Light network. In her portion of the service, she guided a procession of banner-carriers, each representing some major world religion, as they came up to the stage in this fantastic and rather enormous and Byzantine church at Stanford. And the last of these banners carried simply an empty circle -- which Deborah described as representing "the religions which are to come." The next day, as we were breaking into our final groups of the conference, Deborah created a new category for discussion that invoked this spirit of emptiness -- this "empty center " that conference organizer Paul Andrews had spoken about. Though I am concerned with many aspects of organizational development, outreach, "building global commitment", etc., I decided to join this group, because it seemed so deeply spiritual.

Our group concentrated on meditation and inner receptivity. We began with silence, attuning ourselves to our "inner guidance". After a few minutes, I felt prompted to speak, and I mentioned why I had joined this group -- which involved not only my sense of the creative unfolding from this "empty center", but also because I myself do not really have some "tradition" or existing organization that I represent. I feel myself to be a representative of something new, something emerging, something not yet entirely defined, yet drawing its form from many sources -- in a "syncretic" way. Out of this empty center, there emerges -- what?

This group had a special magic, and a deep attunement with one another. We decided that we would preserve the unity of our group following this conference, by acknowledging and praying for the unity of religions every day at noon (I have set the alarm on my wrist watch) -- at least partially because the sun casts a minimal shadow at noon, an idea on mystic power I understood to be taken from Hawaiian shamanism. We thought about organizing a retreat or series of retreats for the larger group, or possibly just for ourselves. And we considered creating a global online (listserv) network to be composed solely of prayers, from all over the world, to be written creatively in a deep spiritual attunement, perhaps directed to the success of the URI movement, or to the broader illumination and unity of the human community. We also explored a new method for maintaining group cohesion and attunement, related to the Native American "talking stick" tradition, wherein one member of a group is handed this stick as a sign that they have the floor and permission to speak. In our modification, one member of the group was handed the "meditation stone", and was invited to keep quiet, and mediate on the divine currents, preserving contact with this divine energy for the group, while the others continued their conversation. We passed around a couple of beautiful talisman, one a green glass stone with the word "Light" engraved upon it (from Mary, wife of the Provost of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.), and the other, a small piece of jewelry with a diamond in the center, and rays of light radiating from this center point, a small and universal mandala -- this from Sister Chandra, an Indian nun from a Hindu order.

There is much more I could say. The implications of this conference have barely begun to unfold. I had wonderful conversations with many others -- including Chuck White, a founder with Bettina Gray of NAIN, the North American Interfaith Network, who is a computer networker (http://www.multifaith.com), and Marilyn Wilhelm, of the Wilhelm Schole, a private school in Houston Texas. Marilyn is a brilliant and passionate woman of the spirit, who spoke to me in transports of energy, about her vision of logos, of the unity of science and religion, of her program of universal spiritual dances now being presented in the public schools in Texas, of the correct ways to bring up children. "It's all too sublime" she said, in a rapture of spirit that reminded me of the flow of musical notes from a Indian sitar...

*

I will write more later, and probably do something a bit more structured and serious for The Global Spirituality Report, to which I must soon give some attention. We have something like 500 subscribers on this VOL network now, and there are about 1000 on the GSR network. And just yesterday, we transferred our Bridge Across Consciousness unmoderated discussion network to this same mcfeeley.cc.utexas.edu listproc platform, and we have about 175 live subscribers there.

Yesterday, I installed a means to subscribe to these three mailing lists from our new database system. The "Cold Fusion" program now writes automatic subscription commands for our network, and is assimilating all the data being written to our network by our new members. In just the past few days, we have received about 8 new people into our group, and most of them have simply subscribed to all our publications. So, to all of you new people -- and to everyone else -- welcome, and thanks for your presence.

As an amateur programmer and decidedly green beginner at database work, I've got a lot to do and learn to get our new system up to speed. But the URI conference persuaded me that we represent an irresistible force, an unfolding of divine desire that cannot be stopped, which is destined to shape the shape the spirituality of the entire world.

Our new networks are evolving into a strong platform to support this process, and it won't be long until we are connected to a variety of interrelated projects flowing out of the URI conference. I will send this VOL issue to one small network that has already emerged.

This is a process of coalescence, small islands of local energy, merging into one common pool. It is happening, and our Voices of the Light is one more tool in this expanding process. United Religions, United Spirit -- this is where we are headed, into a brilliant fire of redemption and transfiguration and healing, that uplifts us all, and seals us in the universal currents of love. This is community, this is true Oneness, and this is our destiny...