I do not accept “easy universalizing.” I rankle at impersonalist rhetoric which often casually equates the individual living entity with God. I oppose fundamentalist interpretations of religion. I oppose religious traditions that oppress their followers. I find no one spiritual/religious tradition which I can totally embrace without some disagreement. Differences do make a difference. However, using a smorgasborg approach, I accept the things I agree with and leave the rest, sometimes pointing out my reasons why.
On Thursday evenings, I present a class in devotional yoga including chanting and Bhagavad Gita study. On Sunday mornings, I lead an eclectic worship service which draws on the world’s great spiritual traditions. I find this to be very exciting and stimulating. It allows me to draw on a lifetime of personal spiritual growth and the wisdom of the ages which I sort through lifting up certain things and leaving the rest.
I am not a very erudite scholar, especially when it comes to Western philosophy. However, like Nietzsche, I reject moral presuppositions, and like King Kamehameha II, who in a single stroke abolished the taboo system on the Hawaiian islands in 1819, I seek to abolish the taboo system. Yet, I embrace a strong ethical position and act on the basis of those ethics.
I am an intuitive and act on the basis on intuition more than rational intellect. I am a simple front-line mystic and preacher working in the Midwestern United States. I am a spiritual reformer coming in a long tradition of reformers whether it be the line of Chaitanya Nityananda, Calvin or Matthew Fox. My goal is to present a spirituality that works for intelligent 21st century Westerners. I am an iconoclastic anarchist and embrace personal freedom and choice. I welcome the new and refuse to be bound by the past.
