How to Deepen Your Soul’s Journey to God (Could God Be “Interspiritual”?)

Thirty of us had gathered at the Dominican Spiritual Life Center for our first class in the three-year path to becoming certified spiritual directors.

“We will study a smorgasbord of people from various faith traditions, discover their understandings about God, and learn how to integrate new spiritual practices that draw you deeper into a direct experience of the Divine. The centerpiece of what we’ll explore, and what you’ll learn, will be the journey of your soul to God.”

My jaw dropped. My eyes widened as I looked around the room. Protestant pastors, Jewish rabbis, Evangelical lay ministers, Catholic priests, and nuns all sat starry-eyed as Nancy summarized what we would learn over the next three years.

My black-white world of being raised in the Catholic faith tradition would soon become an even richer path on the multi-colored yellow brick road.

I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. My house had landed in God’s Land of Oz.

My heart leaped at the opportunity I was being given to discover more about who God is and how the Spirit of God continues to deepen our roots into the very heart of the Creator.

The next three years were filled with studying many saints, including St. Ignatius, St. Theresa, and St. Francis. We dug into the strengths and weaknesses of John Calvin and his teachings. We studied Martin Luther.

We discovered and tried on the mindfulness practices of Buddhist monks like Thich Nhat Hahn. We read about Thomas Merton and his journey from a hedonistic pleasure-seeker into a modern, contemplative monk.

We pondered the mystical poetry of Rumi, the Persian thirteenth-century poet, Islamic scholar, and Sufi mystic.

As I studied and integrated the rich heritage, practices, and faith traditions of these amazing men and women, it was as if I were learning a new language and understanding about God. I fell more deeply in love with the Creator. I could feel God’s loving embrace fill my heart in new and amazing ways.

Like Jesus, who came to fulfill the law, not throw it out, as I learned about other faith traditions and practices, my Christian roots dug deeper into my soul’s journey to God. I fell more deeply in love with my faith as I continued to fall more deeply into God’s loving and mysterious embrace.

As we learn and understand new ways of experiencing God, our souls find an ever-deepening and dynamic relationship with the Divine.

Teasdale believes that today the Holy Spirit is actively involved in bringing our religious traditions together.

The more we understand each other’s ways, the more we can learn from each other without trying to convert one another.

Each traditions’ presentation of love and compassion as the pathway to God may differ, but the idea that God is love and the Creator of the Universe is the same song each historic tradition is singing.

Author Mirabai Star in God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, echoes Teasdale’s insights. She writes:

“Brother Teasdale coined the term ‘Interspiritual’ to describe ‘the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.’

“This perspective encompasses a much broader scope of shared religious experience than does its predecessor ‘interfaith’ movement, which focuses more on the dialog between the established institutionalized religions than on an intermingling of their common heart.

“Genuine Interspiritual dialog demands that we draw deeply on our inner knowing and show up for the hard understanding.

“It requires that we not only study and discuss religions other than our own, but that we commit to a disciplined practice in more than one tradition, immersing ourselves in the well of wisdom they offer, allowing these encounters to change us from within.

“The sacred scriptures of all faiths call us to love as we have never loved before. This requires effort, vigilance, and radical humility.”

Star extensively studied other spiritual traditions and found irresistible the fact that at the core, “Each faith tradition was singing the same song in a deliciously different voice: God is love. God [as the source of] love is the unity [between all faith traditions].”

I want to believe, with eyes of hope, that as we learn to share our understandings of God while remaining rooted in the spiritual traditions in which we were born, this is not merely a passing new age phenomenon at work.

Instead, it is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit drawing us together.

Along with many of my spiritual direction clients, however, I struggle with the scripture where Jesus says he is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

Does that mean unless someone follows the Christian path, they’ll be barred from heaven?

I asked Sister Nancy what her thoughts were about this idea. She suggested there are two ways of looking at this scripture.

From a literal interpretation, it may be that unless a person walks the Christian path, they won’t get it right. So, we as Christians must convert everyone to that path and, once we do, heaven will exist here on earth.

A broader interpretation suggests that Jesus was pointing to the way of love as the pathway to heaven here and on the Other Side. This approach invites us to model our lives—regardless of our various faith traditions—on the life of Christ, who lived perfect love as no other human has ever done. Living a life of unconditional love is the path Jesus pointed to as the way to experience the joy of heaven both now and when we enter the pearly gates.

I look to my faith to guide me on whether my journey to God is either hindered or enriched by learning from other historical traditions.

I find hope in the teachings of Vatican II, which implore us to respect and honor other traditions to deepen our roots.

I find comfort and direction from the words in the  “Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions.”

In that document, the Church encourages us through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions to recognize, preserve, and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among other faith traditions.

Perhaps God is Interspiritual, as the Catholic Church, Teasdale, and Star suggest. Maybe God is drawing us together through various spiritual traditions as we seek to understand and deepen our relationship with God. 

When we open the door of our faith to other perspectives we might do what my wise father often told us as children, “Use what you can use to grow, and throw the rest away.” And the test we can follow to make sure we stay grounded in God is to ask the question St. Ignatius offers, “Does this path draw me closer to God or further away from God?”

Cameron Kirdzik, the founder of Awakenpedia, is one individual who came into my life when God was inviting me to uncover another layer of inner growth.

My father-in-law had died from a sudden heart attack and a business partner had betrayed me.

Through a series of God-nudges, I stumbled upon Cameron, who helped me understand what I was experiencing was an “ego death.”

Cameron became the teacher I needed, and I, as the student, was ready to grow. In his role as a life coach and mentor, Cameron helped open a new door of awakening to the essence of who we truly are.

His insights, combined with the guidance of my spiritual director, provided the wisdom I needed to travel further on my soul’s yellow brick road to the heart of God and to my True Self.

I recently interviewed Cameron about his awakening and an upcoming April online retreat his community is offering.

I invite you to click on the links at the end of this reflection to discover more about Cameron’s journey to God and the online retreat.

Maybe it’s time we stop running in circles telling others their path is wrong. As the Hindu Proverb suggests, “There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading to the top.”

As we discover and explore the Interspiritual path through which the Holy Spirit is drawing us together in the kingdom of love, I pray these mantras for each of us:

May we learn wisdom from our own and others’ faith and spiritual traditions.

May we do the inner work needed to let go of our false selves—the “mind-made self,” as Cameron calls it.

May we awaken to the Essence of who are in God.

May the book of our lives portray the story of our soul’s journey to God.

—brian j plachta
brianplachta.com

Learn More About Cameron’s Journey to God and the April online retreat:

 Click here to view “Coffee with Cam and the Creator Interview”

Click the link below to learn more about the April online Awakenpedia Retreat and register:

Click Here: Weekend Awakenpedia Retreat