It emerges as a faith experience of the utmost seriousness that compels each person to give up whatever is oppressive, superior, exclusive, hurtful, or violent in one’s own religious worldview. Rather, it an inflow from the divine, a re-vealing of a new way of being religious. In naming it “revelatory,” my intention is to emphasize that this multi-religious spiritual focus is not something constructed by people to assuage religious doubt and confusion or to be rebellious and prideful. While individual in the context of life experience, this spiritual movement shares heralds the unfolding of a new revelatory consciousness for humanity. It is a direct touching of the inner spark of the soul by Divine Mystery that is calling contemporary pilgrims-many of whom never thought about leaving their tradition-to a deeper experience of the sacred that is related to but may be outside of formal religious community. What I come to understand on this journey, is that openness to all religions and seeking the point of unity among them is not a superficial entertainment or naïve belief, but a faith experience of the utmost seriousness, and the result of the divine working in one’s soul. In Nine Jewels I made a decision to tell something of my life story, not only as a woman with children, family, and work, but explicitly as one who follows a new, interspiritual path of contemplation. My immersion in interfaith contemplative consciousness began almost forty years ago when a series of religious experiences changed my life and set me on a path of devotion. Interfaith Contemplation: The Path that Shaped My Life WATER thanks Beverly for a rich hour of conversation about contemplation and spiritual callings. Beverly formed the publishing company Blue Sapphire Books to bring emerging types of contemplation to the public forum. She has authored seven books on global spirituality and new monasticism, including Nine Jewels of Night: One Soul’s Journey into God (Blue Sapphire Books, 2014), which informed our December discussion. Beverly is a theologian and spiritual teacher of new traditions of contemplative wisdom. WATER spoke with Beverly Lanzetta for our December 2015 WATERtalk. Notes from WATER talks: Feminist Conversations in Religion Series “ Interfaith Contemplation: A Path that Shaped my Life“
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