Support from Spiritual Masters and Teachers
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior (1984)
On the topic of Sacred World:
“According to the Shambhala teachings, however, we have to recognize that our individual experience of sanity is inherently linked to our vision for a good human society. So we have to take things one step at a time. If we try to solve society’s problems without overcoming the confusion and aggression in our own state of mind, then our efforts will only contribute to the basic problems, instead of solving them. That is why the individual journey of warriorship must be undertaken before we can address the larger issue of how to help this world. Still, it would be extremely unfortunate if Shambhala vision were taken as purely another attempt to build ourselves up while ignoring our responsibilities to others. The point of warriorship is to become a gentle and tamed human being who can make a genuine contribution to this world. The warrior’s journey is based on discovering what is intrinsically good about human existence and how to share that basic nature of goodness with others.”
Jorge N. Ferrer, Spiritual Knowing as Participatory Enaction in J. N. Ferrer and J. H. Sherman’s The Participatory Turn: Spirituality, Mysticism, Religious Studies (2008)
On the topic of Global Spirituality:
“This participatory to interreligious relations may lead to a shift from searching for a global spirituality organized around a single ultimate vision to recognizing an already existent spiritual human family that branches out from the same creative root. In other words, traditions may be able to find their longed-for unity not so much in a single spiritual megasystem or global vision, but in their common roots—that is, in that deep bond constituted by the undetermined dimension of the mystery in which all traditions participate in the cocreation of their spiritual insights and cosmologies. Like members of a healthy family, religious people may then stop attempting to impose their particular perception on others and might instead become a supportive and enriching force for the creative ‘spiritual individuation’ of other practitioners, both within and outside their traditions. This mutual empowerment of spiritual creativity may lead to the emergence of not only a rich variety of coherent spiritual perspectives that can potentially be equally grounded in the mystery, but also a human community formed by fully differentiated spiritual individuals. This account would be consistent with a view of the mystery, the cosmos, and/or spirit as moving from a primordial state of undifferentiated unity toward one of infinite differentiation-in-communion.”
Ram Dass and Mirabai Bush, Compassion in Action: Setting Out on the Path of Service (1992)
“Compassion in action is paradoxical and mysterious. It is absolute yet continually changing. It accepts that everything is happening exactly as it should, and it works with a full-hearted commitment to change. It sets goals but knows that the process is all that there is. It is joyful in the midst of suffering and hopeful in the face of overwhelming odds. It is simple in a world of complexity and confusion. It is done for others, but nurtures the self. It shields in order to be strong. It intends to eliminate suffering, knowing that suffering is limitless. It is action arising from emptiness.”
