LIVING RELIGIONS – WICCA – II

          This month we are looking at the Wicca path, one of the Neo-Pagan religions. Neo-Pagan meaning a reconstructed religion from the nature-based religions of the ancient past.  The term “Wicca” generally means a religion based on Ecltic spiritual concepts, deities and seasonal days of celebration.  Some Wiccans include other pagan beliefs such as Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Sumerian, Aboriginal, Native American, etc. 

          Wiccans believe that a creative force exists in the universe. It is sometimes called “The One” or “The All.”  This force is both male and female, God and Goddess, and these aspects are not out there, but immanent in the world.  No Wiccan believes in the “Satan” deity of the Christian-Muslim religions.

          There is a great concern among Wiccans for environmental issues because it is an earth-based religion grounded in nature. They also believe in the natural process of life.  They believe in gender equality, in fact, a Wiccan Priestess holds a higher rank than a male Priest.

          The Wiccan afterlife is called Summerland, where souls go after death.  There they meet with friends and family who have gone before, review their lives, and are reincarnated into the body of a new born.  After an individual accumulates enough experience, he or she moves to the next level of existence, which we know nothing about.  Some believe that the molecules of our bodies after death go out into the world to mix with other molecules and incorporate into other living beings.  Some believe our influences will continue to influence the next generations.

          Wiccans follow the Three-Fold Law or the Law of Return which states:  "All good that a person does to another returns three fold in this life; harm is also returned three fold." This belief strongly motivates each Wiccan to avoid attempting to dominate, manipulate, control, or harm another person.

Lao-tsu's Balance Prayer

Lord, let us empty of all doctrines,
The Tao is wisdom eternally inexhaustible.
Fathomless for the mere intellect,
The Tao is the law wherewith all things come into being.

It blunts the edges of the intellect,
Untangles the knots of the mind,
Softens the glare of thinking,
And settles the dust of thought.

Transparent yet invisible,
The Tao exists like deep pellucid water.
Its origin is unknown,
For it existed before Heaven and Earth

This is a prayer for balance written by Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism.  Taoism has influenced East Asia for over 2000 years and has spread internationally from its roots in China.

          Taoist thought focuses on wu wei or non-action, spontaneity, transformation, and emptiness.  What would it be like if you had no plans for the day, nothing to do whatsoever?  It wouldn't be like a vacation because you plan to do things on a vacation, but rather a do nothing day empty day.   And in this empty day you can do whatever comes to mind at the moment. And in this day, you are empty of all stress, all have'tos, and needs.  You are just you, one with nature in the present moment.  Wouldn't that be wonderful?  That is the ideal of the Taoist.

          There are three teachings of Taoism to remember.  They are called the Three Jewels.  They are compassion, moderation and humility.  There is a very strong link in Taoism between people and nature, especially water, which is the symbol of Taoism.  As the water flows through everything, so does the Tao or the energy of the Universe. This link, if you pay enough attention, lessens the need for rules and order leading to a better understanding of the world and one's surroundings.

          The Tao is not worshipped as it is the influence that keeps the universe balanced an ordered.  Next week we will look at some of the important concepts that have come out of Taoism.

LIVING RELIGIONS – ABORIGINAL – I

  Our Living Religion for this month is the Aboriginal path of Australia, the Arunta culture.  I’d like to read you a fire blessing that is an ancient prayer, 40,000 years old, handed down through the Aboriginal culture and translated into English. Close your eyes and listen to the power of these truths from 40,000 years ago.

FIRE BLESSING

May the fire be in our thoughts
Making them true, good and just,
May it protect us from the evil one.

May the fire be in our eyes;
May it open our eyes to share what is good in life.
We ask that the fire may protect us from what
Is not rightfully ours.

May the fire be on our lips, so that we may
Speak the truth in kindness; that we may serve
And encourage others.
May it protect us from speaking evil.

May the fire be in our ears.
We pray that we may hear with a deep, deep listening
So that we may hear the flow of water, and of all
Creation.
And the dreaming.
May we be protected from gossip and from things
That harm and break down our family.

May the fire be in our arms and hands
So that we may be of service and build up love.
May the fire protect us from all violence.

May the fire be in our whole being -
In our legs and in our feet,
Enable us to walk the earth
With reverence and care;
So that we may walk in the ways of goodness and truth
And be protected from walking away from what is truth.

A gift from Burnum Burnum, Aboriginal Elder

What we term modern historical religions span only a short 4,000 years. The Aboriginal religions span 3 million years, and yet there are still people who discount the Truths in the old religions.  These are the roots of our beliefs today.  The Australian Aborigines are the “oldest” inhabitants on our planet that were not influenced by the Neolithic experience that began 10,000 BCE.  This Neolithic experience is the invention of farming and tooled stone implements. 

Time is different for the Aborigines.  They measure ordinary life in the cycle of the seasons and the generations that come and go, but the backdrop for the unending procession is stable. It is everywhen and their legendary figures people this backdrop so the stories are still relevant today. When the Arunta model the lives of their archetypes, they become completely fitted into the same mold and become that archetype, such as the First Hunter and no residue remains.  Only when they are conforming their actions to the model of the archetypes do the Arunta truly feel alive, because in those roles they are immortal.  When they fall from these roles, time devours their doings and reduces them to nothing.

This everywhen is called the Dreamtime or the Dreaming.  There are no priests or congregations; only the Dreaming and the molding.  The myths and stories were handed down orally.  Writing was not necessary and has been considered threatening to the vitality of speech.  Speech is alive – literally alive, because speaking is the speaker.  It is not the whole of the speaker, but it is the speaker in one of his or her living modes.  Speaking cannot be separated from the speaker.  Its very nature is to change, adapt, and invent.  Speaking adapts itself to speaker, listener, and situation alike.  This gives it an immediacy, range, and versatility that is, miraculous.  Original wording breathes new life into familiar themes. Rhythn can enter until speaking phases into chanting and storytelling becomes a high art.  Dialect and delivery add their contributions, and when animal postures and gaits are mined and their noises simulated, theater is born.

Speaking feeds the memory.  Literate peoples with libraries grow slack in recall.  Oral cultures store the important knowledge in their collective memory and there only. Would that not make knowledge more revered and honored?

Writing requires explicit meanings.  Historical religions look to their historical texts for the clearest, if not exclusive, revelations.  Oral traditions leave the eyes free to notice other sacred conduits.  And writing has no limits so it continues to proliferate and minds are so swamped by information that they difficulty seeing what is important.  In an oral culture, the important is remembered and the rest forgotten.

An oral culture safeguards community.  It is impossible to be lonely in societies where there are no newspapers to hide behind, no computers to be glued to, or no teledramas or telenonsense to watch in isolated living quarters. In oral cultures, speaking means people and interaction with each other.

It is in this oral culture that the earliest religions were born.  Next time we will look at some interesting concepts of the Aborigines. 

LIVING RELIGIONS

CELTS – I

          Our Living Religions today are based on ancient beliefs that have been handed down for centuries.  They have been changed to fit the culture, taken on the legends and festivals of existing religions, and been interpreted by new generations. And they still speak to our hearts. 

          One such religion that still speaks to our hearts is the Celtic path.  I think we all feel a little bit Irish or Scottish. The date the Celts emerged as a distinct culture is still unknown, but is estimated about 1000 BCE. They introduced the art of iron-forging to Europe. By the 9^th century the Celts had spread through most of Europe and the British Isles.  They even invaded Greece and Rome. They had a reputation as fierce warriors. In 387 BCE, for example, the Romans fled in terror after encountering the wild and noisy Celtic army, which went into battle with horns and trumpets blaring and shouts echoing off the hills. The Celtic warriors were tall, bleached their hair with lime and drew it into spikes and sometimes dyed their skin blue.  They often went into battle naked.

          The Celts were highly civilized despite the look and actions of the warriors. They were merchants, farmers and artisans and priests.  Some of the most beautiful craftsmanship comes from the Celts. All Celtic life was based on a religion deeply rooted in nature, and the Wicca religion today draws its roots from the Celts.  They saw supernatural significance everywhere. They were advanced astrologers and mathematicians, as well. Their religious teachings were forbidden to be written down for fear that the wisdom would be corrupted, which kept the power in the hands of the priests known as Druids.

Because there is no written record, we have to look at the archaeological records, inscriptions, other historical sources, folk lore and folk traditions to get a picture of what the Celtic religion was like.  Even with all of this, we will never really know.

          Druid is the most common name for the Celtic priests. There were actually four classes of religious leaders:  Druids, which translates as “highly wise,” who were the moral teachers and had great herbal and healing knowledge; Vates, who were the diviners, astrologers and mathematicians;  Vergobretus, who acted as judges; and Bards, who were the praise singers and poets, historians, often prophets and served as the life-line among the people.

          There are over 400 gods and goddesses that made up the heavenly hierarchy of the Celtic religion.  Priests spent at least 20 years studying them. Many of these deities were associated with natural places or elements and have several variants among the different Celtic cultures. There is the central and original deity called Dagda, which means Good God or Skyfather, the God of Thunder and Lightening, and the Mother Goddess, Matrona.  From these two come all the other gods and goddesses.

          In order to understand the hierarchy modern anthropologists have assigned the gods and goddesses to three realms: Upper, Middle and Lower. The controller of the Lower realm is Sucellos, the good striker, and his consort Nantosuelta, “sun-warmed valley who makes the flowers bloom.”  Sucellos is depicted with a great hammer and always has a hound by his side.

          The daytime controllers of the Upper Realm are Twins (and here we see the most common off spring of the original god and goddesses - twins. Even in the Christian stories, Adam’s first offspring are twins, Cain and Abel.) Lugh, who is depicted as having only one eye, and is the inventor of all the arts, is in charge for the summer half of the year.  His twin, Nuadu, is the controller of the winter half of the year and is depicted with only one arm.  The nighttime controller of the Upper realm is Esus, the youthful-savior-champion and is the warrior champion of the tribe and protector of the cattle.

          The goddess of the Lower realm seems to have a cow-like nature.  Her name is Sequana or Brigit or White Cow.  She could also transform into an eel, snake, serpent or wolf.  She is the goddess of the animals.  The goddess of the Middle realm is Mehua, or Intoxicatress.  She usually appears in human form.  The goddess of the Upper realm is Epona, the Horse Goddess.

There were also goddesses of springs and woods and specific places, many of which were considered sacred.  Many springs were believed to have curative powers; lakes were entrances into the otherworld.  Offerings and sometimes bodies were thrown into bodies of water.  Arthur’s sword Excaliber was taken from the hand of the Lady of the Lake and returned to her at the end of his life. Sacred places that related to the sky are also found in the high passes of mountains. 

The last of the sacred places were monuments, such as Stonehenge, the rectangular walls and ditch sites, and even graves.

          Next week we will look at some of the Celtic Legends and their meanings.

Zen Buddhism – II

          Zen Buddhism originated in the 6^th century in China and spread to Japan, Korea and Viet Nam and then to the West. It cannot properly be called a religion or philosophy as it has no scriptures or a holy book. It is a method of experiencing the Ultimate – a way without rituals. It leads directly to transformation through inner experience.  Among the various schools of Buddhism, Zen Buddhism offers the fastest and most direct way to enlightenment.  The main methods are Zazen meditation and studying the Koans.  We talked about Zazen last week and I hope you had an opportunity to practice being in the present moment.

            Regarding meditation, Osho Rajneesh describes his Zazen meditation experience.  He says that you are to simply sit motionless, for many hours every day observing your mind. Just observe, be a witnessing presence to whatever arises in your mind. Be indifferent to it. At first the mind will be very active, as always it will jump from one thought to another. Simply witness the antics of the mind, without identifying with your thoughts or feelings. After many months of such practice, the mind will quiet down on its own. It will get fed up with you, it will become tired of being ignored, and it will quiet down. And you will be in a state of No Mind, experiencing the Ultimate.

Koans are questions posed by Zen Masters to their disciples, which cannot be answered at the level of the mind.  Some famous Koans are – Listen to the sound of one hand clapping. Another is – What did your face look like before your grandparents were born. These koans cannot be understood through analysis or through conceptualization. They force you to go beyond the mind, into the realm of No Mind.

According to Eckhart Tolle, spiritual guru and author of the book, The Power of Now, the essence of Zen Buddhism or Zen religion, indeed of all spirituality, is that it forces us into the Here and Now, into a state of mind beyond past memories and future hopes, into a state beyond analysis and thoughts and conceptualization.  It conveys the essence of the ancient spiritual teachings of Zen Buddhism in a way that is understandable and usable by people in the 21st century.  We are studying another of Tolle’s books, the New Earth in our Adult Discussion Group.

Here are some other Koans:

A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.

Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.

The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"

"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

Every-Minute Zen

Zen students are with their masters at least ten years before they presume to teach others. Nan-in was visited by Tenno, who, having passed his apprenticeship, had become a teacher. The day happened to be rainy, so Tenno wore wooden clogs and carried an umbrella. After greeting him Nan-in remarked: "I suppose you left your wodden clogs in the vestibule. I want to know if your umbrella is on the right or left side of the clogs."

Tenno, confused, had no instant answer. He realized that he was unable to carry his Zen every minute. He became Nan-in's pupil, and he studied six more years to accomplish his every-minute Zen.

Flower Shower

Subhuti was Buddha's disciple. He was able to understand the potency of emptiness, the viewpoint that nothing exists except in its relationship of subjectivity and objectivity.

One day Subhuti, in a mood of sublime emptiness, was sitting under a tree. Flowers began to fall about him.

"We are praising you for your discourse on emptiness," the gods whispered to him.

"But I have not spoken of emptiness," said Subhuti.

"You have not spoken of emptiness, we ahve not heard emptiness," responded the gods. "This is the true emptiness." And blossoms showered upon Subhuti as rain.

LIVING RELIGIONS

Zen Buddhism

          Zen Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that emphasizes meditation and direct individual experience.  It developed in China from the teachers who came from India and was called ch’an.   From there it spread to Japan, which is the best know of the Zen Buddhist schools, to Vietnam, Korea and then to the Western World through the writings of D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts.  The word ‘zen” can be translated “be nothing, think nothing” or “meditation.”  Zen is the English transliteration of the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word ch'an , which is the Mandarin transliteration of the Sanskrit word Channa or dhyana, truly an international name.

          Bodhidharma is considered to be the founder to Zen in the 5^th century.  He was so passionate about meditation that he sat for nine years in a cave staring at the cave wall and thereby lost the use of his legs.  For this reason Zen is also called wall meditation. Bodhidharma believed that the body and the mind are obstacles to Satori or enlightenment.  Zen was practiced with Taoism and focuses on the experience of the moment.

          In the 9^th century in Japan Zen Buddhism split into two groups:  one believed that enlightenment could come as a flash of insight and the other believed enlightenment could only come gradually with practice.  In Japan it was mixed with Shintoism. 

          Zen de-emphasizes study and worldly deeds and concentrates instead on meditation and a non-rational awareness of the world and the way the mind reacts to it. It emphasizes mindful acceptance of the present moment, spontaneous action, and letting go of self-conscious and judgmental thinking.

          A student of Zen can spend years or a lifetime reflecting on the koans or paradoxical riddles, zazen, the meditation and the teachings of a master or Roshi.  There are 1500 koans designed to shock the mind out of its rationalistic rut and into a non-disciminatory awareness of reality.

          Here are two of the Koans:

          A master who lived as a hermit on a mountain was asked by a monk, “What is the way?”

          “What a fine mountain this is,” the Master said in reply.

          “I’m not asking you about the mountain, but about the Way.”

          “So long as you cannot go beyond the mountain, my son, you cannot reach the Way,” replied the Master.

Master Sekkyo said to one of his monks, “Can you get a hold of emptiness?”

“I’ll try,” said the monk and he cupped his hand in the air.

“That’s not very good,”  said the Master.  “You haven’t got anything in there.”

“Well, Master,” said the monk, “please show me a better way.”

Thereupon Sekkyo seized the monk’s nose and gave it a great yank.

“Ouch,” yelled the monk.  “You hurt me!”

“That’s the way to get a hold of emptiness,” said Sekkyo.

Next week we will look at more principles of Zen Buddhism and hear more koans.

LIVING RELIGIONS

Self-Realization Fellowship

     On the occasion of the 25^th anniversary of Paramahansa Yogananda’s passing, his far-reaching contributions to the spiritual upliftment of humanity were given formal recognition by the Government of India. A special commemorative stamp was issued in his honor, together with a tribute that read, in part:

"The ideal of love for God and service to humanity found full expression in the life of Paramahansa Yogananda....Though the major part of his life was spent outside India, still he takes his place among our great saints. His work continues to grow and shine ever more brightly, drawing people everywhere on the path of the pilgrimage of the Spirit."

          The Self-Realization Fellowship that he founded continues to spread his message of God’s love, the fellowship of all humankind, and service to others.  Last week we talked about the founder, Paramahansa Yogananda, and what an extraordinary man he was. He was the first man to teach that the original Christianity taught by Jesus the Christ was in complete harmony and basic oneness with original yoga as taught by Bhagavan Krishna and that the basic principles are the common scientific foundation of all religions.

          Yogananda was one of the early pioneers who brought the word scientific back to religion, as did Mary Baker Eddy and Christian Science and Earnest Holmes of Religious Science, but from an Eastern spiritual perspective.  You recall, in the Western world, there was a time when all science was under the umbrella of the church and then it split off.  These modern teachers realized that there is a way to bring them back together again.

This week let’s look at some of the principles of the Self-Realization Fellowship.  The mission of SRF is to disseminate among the nations a knowledge of definite scientific techniques for attaining direct personal experience of God.  Yogananda envisioned a worldwide spiritual organization which united science and religion through realization of the unity of their underlying principles.  Today, it is difficult to tell whether it is religion or science speaking when trying to explain the basic quantum principles of the structure of the Universe.

          Then to teach that the purpose of life is the evolution, through self-effort of man's limited mortal consciousness into God Consciousness; and to establish Self-Realization Fellowship temples for God-communion throughout the world, and to encourage the establishment of individual temples of God in the homes and in the hearts of men.  He wanted religion to come back into the mainstream of people’s lives, that it is okay for us to have a personal space in our homes and our hearts to set up our altar tables.  In India every home has a temple.

          SRF followers practice metaphysical meditation to liberate themselves from the threefold sufferings of physical disease, mental inharmonies and spiritual ignorance and to demonstrate the superiority of mind over body, of soul over mind.

Yogananda wrote:  “I will seek God; then all my desires will be satisfied.  Whether I live in a palace or a hut will make no difference. I will criticize no one unless asked by him to do so, and then only with a desire to help.”  He taught the importance of peace with in the heart, peace in the thoughts and peace in action.

Next week we will look at more of the principles of the Self-Realization Fellowship.

LIVING RELIGIONS – UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS

     This month we will be looking at some specific churches to learn more about their beliefs and how they differ from one another and how they are similar to one another.

          The Unitarian Universalist church came into being when the older Unitarian church, founded in the 16^th and 17^th centuries in Central and Eastern Europe merged in 1961 with the Universalist church, founded in the 18^th century in England.   The Unitarians broke away from the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches because they believed that God was One instead of three-in-one as in the Trinity.  The Universalists broke away because they believed everyone could experience salvation from sin and that this right did not exclusively belong to the priests to convey.  Both churches had a basic belief in the spiritual potential of individual human beings and a readiness to question religious dogma.  There is a strong connection to Jewish and Christian teachings in both branches.

          What is important to remember about the UU faith is that you are not expected to leave your mind at the door when you come to church.  It encourages questions and individual searching for the Truth.  Minister Jack Mendelsohn says, “Our religious way of life is not so much an arriving as a becoming—an ongoing process of thought and life experience.” This church never became as big as other churches in terms of numbers of followers, but it has had a great influence on religious, social and political thinking.  The other interesting point to remember is that this church is considered an American movement, as is the New Thought movement.  The Unitarians settled in the colonies in Massachusetts.  There are currently 1,050 UU churches and fellowships in the US and Canada.  They welcome people of all beliefs and people with no religious beliefs. 

          The UU church celebrates the worth and dignity of every person; affirms the sacredness of an ongoing search for truth; and embraces freedom as the essential atmosphere for human sustenance and growth.

          One UU minister states the following as his belief about worship which I found to be similar to our own community’s belief:

I want worship to be a celebration, a celebration and an affirmation.
I want worship to be a celebration of the human spirit in all its diversity,
And of human consciousness in all its creativity.
I want worship to be an affirmation of the divine depth
Of the eternal spark, of the sacred centre within each human self
It matters not at all whether we call it God or call it anything else
Or leave it nameless
As long as we meet to make a space where it may be celebrated.

I want worship to be a celebration of all the ways
In which we are connected to each other through God
And an affirmation of all the ways
In which we are connected to God through each other.

I want worship to be a sharing of heart and mind
And a sharing of all the difficulties and disappointments of life
And I want a sermon to remind me that
beyond all the difficulties and disappointments of life
Beyond all the stupidity and brutality in the world
In spite of everything that is wrong in the world
There is at the heart and at the root of everything
Something that is utterly and wonderfully right.

I want worship to remind me of the joy and love
And wonder and wisdom that spring from the human heart
I want a sermon to remind me of the richness and mystery
And heart-breaking beauty of the spirit that shapes the human heart.
And I want a sermon to help me or guide me or to give me a glimpse
Of how I might come closer to these things in my own life.

          Today we honor the Unitarian Universalists and their Truths.

LIVING RELIGIONS – QUAKERS OR FRIENDS – I

          In 1643, in England, a young man left home on a four year search seeking answers to questions which had troubled him since childhood.  These were religious questions and so he sought out the religious leaders of his time.  He became disillusioned with the existing Christian denominations.  At age 23, he heard a voice saying “…there is one, even Christ Jesus, who can speak to they condition.”  This young man was George Fox, the founder of the Religious Society of Friends.  George felt he had received a direct call from God and became an itinerant preacher and began to promote the concept of “Inward Light” or “Inner Voice.”  He believed there is a “seed of Light” in each person; every person has direct access to God; no priestly class or churches were needed; there is no need for elaborate ceremonies, rituals, creeds or dogma; every person is of equal worth; following the inward light will lead to spiritual understanding and thus to individual perfection.

          He taught his followers to worship in silence.  People were encouraged to speak only when they were moved by the Holy Spirit.  His followers lived a simple life, drink no alcohol, and celebrate no holidays. They did not participate or attend sports, theaters, wear wigs or jewelry, etc.  They referred to themselves as “Friends of Truth.”

          The Friends became into being about the time that the Puritans influenced Cromwell’s government and Charles II was restored to the monarchy.  The Puritans were the opposite of the Friends and so a great conflict developed.  The Friends refused to pay any tithes to the State Church; to take an oath in court; to take off their hats to the king or other persons in power (called hat honor); or engage in a combat role during wartime.  Plus they developed an intense concern for disadvantaged people of the day, including slaves, prisoners and inmates of asylums.  They worked very hard to end slavery and for improvements in the prison and mental institution systems.

          Fox was greatly persecuted during his lifetime for his beliefs and imprisoned many times. Once, when he was hauled into court, he suggested that the judge "tremble at the word of the Lord". The judge sarcastically referred to Fox as a Quaker; the term stuck, and has become the popular name for the Religious Society of Friends. During the second half of the 17th century, over 3000 Quakers spent time in English jails for their religious beliefs; many hundreds died there. About 1660, a group of congregations were established, called preparative meetings. Once a month, these groups gathered together and held a monthly meeting. Four times a year, the latter groups would hold a quarterly meeting. Finally, all of the quarters would gather annually for a yearly meeting.

          The Quakers were among those faiths that came to the New World to seek religious freedom. They found a sanctuary in the Rhode Island colony, which had been founded on the principle of religious tolerance. Many of the other colonies viewed them as dangerous heretics and they were deported as witches, imprisoned or hanged.

            A famous Quaker, William Penn, along with others played a major role in the creations of the colonies of New Jersey in 1675 and Pennsylvania in 1682. These colonies were noted for their toleration of minority religious groups, like the Jews, Mennonites, Muslims and Quakers. In 1688, a group of Friends in Germantown PA took a public stand against slavery; this is believed to be the first stirrings within a religious organization of the abolitionist movement in America.

          After the Toleration Act of 1689, the Quakers became accepted as a denomination and many colonies’ constitutions exempted them from giving oaths in court.  The Quakers distanced themselves from society through their simple clothing and plain language (using thee and thou in place of you).  As a group they became well respected for their industriousness and high moral character.

          In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, the Quakers tried to remain neutral.  During the war most refused to pay military taxes or fight.  Once again they were disliked and some even exiled.  Following the war, a number of Quaker organizations were formed to promote social change in the areas of slavery, prison conditions, poverty, native American affairs, etc. Quakers played a major role in organizing and running the "Underground Railroad" - a system which aided runaway slaves to escape to freedom in the northern states and Canada.

          In the early 19^th century a great schism occurred over doctrinal beliefs and the movement split between the Hicksite, led by Elias Hicksite, and the Orthodox factions.  In 1840 there was another split in the Orthodox group into the Guerneyites, led by John Guerney, a more progressive and evangelical group, and the Wilberites, an even more conservative group led by John Wilbur.  These four groups exist today.

The first and second World Wars created a crisis for the movement. Until that time, the Society was a pacifist organization. Any Quaker who became a soldier was ejected from the community. However, during the two wars, some men were drawn up by the nationalistic fervor, and entered the armed forces. During World War II, many American Quakers joined the Friends Ambulance Unit, an unofficial body supported by British Quakers. This allowed Quakers to volunteer as medical and ambulance personnel on the battlefields of the Middle East, India, China, and northwestern Europe. This was a particularly high risk assignment. All four branches of the faith joined together at the time of the first World War to create the American Friends Service Committee. This agency allowed many Quaker conscientious objectors to help alleviate suffering while avoiding conscription.  Out of the American Friends Service Committee grew the American Field Service dedicated to pursuing world peace through an exchange student program. 

There are about 300,000 members worldwide, including a large group in Kenya. In fact, the greatest concentration of Quakers lives in Kenya, where they follow an evangelical interpretation of Quakerism. There are 125,000 in North America. In the United States, they are concentrated in the Northeast and Midwest. Although many had settled in the South during the 19th century, almost all later left in protest over slavery.

          Next week we will look at the fundamental beliefs of the Quakers and the Friends’ Peace Testimony.

LIVING RELIGIONS

QUAKERS – II

            Last week we leaned that the Quaker religion was founded in the 1600’s by George Fox, who at the age of 23 heard the voice of God and began preaching what was then considered radical ideas of peace and equality.  He taught that everyone has direct access to God and didn’t need  clergy or a church.  He also taught that everyone was equal and had a “seed of Light” within them.

          The Quakers came to America and still suffered much due to their belief in peace, many were imprisoned, exiled or hanged.  They always worked to help the disadvantaged and were instrumental is creating the Underground Railroad to help the fleeing slaves during the Civil War.

          There are no religious creeds or codes of behavior or sets of rules for Quakers.  But one major principle for all Quakers is the Peace Testimony.  It is said that the Peace Testimony “comes from the conviction that springs from a Living Spirit mediated through the human experience of those trying to understand and follow its leadings.  It grows afresh in every life, every worshipping group, in every generation.” This Peace Testimony is created by each individual, each community, each group to reflect their unique and personal beliefs about peace.

          The Quaker society in New Zealand writes:

Living out a witness to peace has to do with everyday choices about the work we do, the relationships we build, what part we take in politics, what we buy, how we raise our children. It is a matter of fostering relationships and structures—from personal to international—which are strong and healthy enough to contain conflict when it arises and allow its creative resolution. It is a matter of withdrawing our cooperation from structures and relationships which are unjust and exploitative. It is a matter of finding creative ways of dealing with conflict when it does arise, with the aim of freeing all concerned to find a just and loving solution.  "Spiritual weapons"—love, truthsaying, nonviolence, imagination, laughter—are weapons that heal and don't destroy.

To accept as a certainty the spiritual conviction which underlies the peace testimony is not to be certain of the outcome. We cannot guarantee that we will never kill, far less that we will never do violence to those with whom we share the earth. Nor can we, by refusing to do harm and seeking always for a creative response in conflict ensure our own personal safety or the triumph of the causes we support. We can only choose to live day by day as if it were possible always to defend what we value and to resolve conflict without deliberate harm—in such a way that if damage does occur, healing is possible.

If we choose to attempt this, we are not alone. Those who have lived and witnessed before us (by no means all of them Quakers) have left examples for us to find and follow. Those of us alive now who are struggling with the same dilemmas can offer each other comfort, courage and support. And we are many. We are beginning to realize that security is common, indivisible, and cannot be assured by military means. To seek to live at such a time in that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars is no longer (if it ever was) a saintly, other-worldly alternative. It is now an urgent and practical imperative.

We urge all New Zealanders to have the courage to face up to the mess humans are making of our world and to have the faith and diligence to cleanse it and restore the order intended by God. We must start with our own hearts and minds. Wars will stop only when each of us is convinced that war is never the way. – Quakers church in New Zealand, 1989

We give thanks today for the Quakers, the Friends, who are not afraid to stand up for peace, to make peace the very foundation of their lives, recognizing that peace begins in our own hearts and minds.  Refusal to fight is not surrender.  We must strive to remove the causes of war by any nonviolent method available. The Quakers have much to teach us during this Season for Nonviolence. Thank you for showing us the way of courage.