The spirit has always been tied to a belief system. The notion of an act that is beyond the physical—the so-called transcendental—has always pushed us to reach for religion. An institution that contains belief in gods, goddesses and divinities contain, as well, the great contradictions of devils and damnations.
Talk of religion and you bring in a cosmos of amazing range and contents. The universe of Virgin Mothers, mediators, prophets and saints inspires awe. Religion, thus, becomes anything that inspires awe. Religion thus becomes, most of the time, a source of questions rather than answers. When the confusion happens within a religion, there is little problem. When the confusion is brought about by religions that contradict each other, then the awesome and enchanting return to its puzzling point.
An international conference is coming to the city of Naga from September 6 to 9. It asks the same question: Can there be spirituality without religion.
The question is not academic. It is more of a plea and a practical query. If all religions teach spirituality, can there be a spirituality that is not closeted in religion. It appears that as a lesson to humanity and civilization, religion has united and broken apart communities. Can we, therefore, extract the spirituality in that religion and, like in a complex, pull out the said notion of the spiritual with the other notions of the spiritual contained in other religions?
The premise in this advocacy is that, if all religions bear with them spirituality, can it be possible that where religions diverge from each other, spirituality finds a new manner of interacting or fusing with other “spirituality.”
The history of humankind has been through wars of religions.
The insistence of the primacy of spirituality over names of religions is really built on the fact that religions outside of religions had created more conflicts than other conflicts. Religion can push people to battle for the sake of their kin or neighbors, whereas spirituality can convince people that they are similar under the skin.
There had been forums on Christianity and Islam. The listeners during these assemblies always leave the hall pleasantly shocked that the two religions have really many things in common more than we could imagine and accept.
Was it Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish writer, historian and peace advocate, who said: “Religion is the relatively modest dogma that God is not mad?”
If that is an acceptable definition of religion, it is, indeed, propitious to explore a world where we can find spirituality without religion. Whichever religion do we belong to, we pray to a God, or gods, or serpents, or stone images that we believe to be good and not insane.
The conference is titled “Asian Conference on Justice, Knowledge, and Spirituality.” The speakers come from different countries. They will explore ways to develop materials on the religious diversity in Asia. Fr. Wilmer S. Tria, parish priest of Saint Jude Parish in Naga City, writer and academic, is the convenor in the Philippines for the conference.
The conference will culminate with the participants observing the Traslacion, a land procession that will bring the centuries-old image of the Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia from its shrine in Basilica Minore to the Naga Metropolitan Cathedral. Only men are allowed to carry or escort the Virgin on the carrosa.
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Image credits: Jimbo Albano