Experiential Knowing

By Brian Bethel, " Center for Contemplation to begin meeting next week " - Reporter News - Abilene, TX, USA
Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Retired McMurry University professor Russ Meier knows some in Abilene won't react as favorably as others to a new group with a goal of learning from the world's great spiritual and mystical thought.

"There will be, realistically speaking, some that will be very opposed," he said. "But maybe by the grace of God, we can be tolerant ... and coexist."

Meier said he hopes his plans for what will become the Center for Contemplation will allow those who want to share religious and spiritual ideas to do so in an open and accepting environment, while learning about the role of mystical experience, a component of systems as diverse as Hinduism, Buddhism and Sufism, a mystical variant of Islam.

Christianity, too, has a strong mystical tradition, he said, seen through figures such as Dominican preacher, theologian and mystic Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross.

Although Abilene is undoubtedly a "bastion of conservative Christianity," Meier said he sees that the city has more spiritual diversity than some may give it credit for.

"I've had people from all walks of life that have shown an interest," he said.

And he hopes that, drawing from works such as Aldous Huxley's "The Perennial Philosophy," the group, which begins meeting next week, will help participants find a common core to those seemingly wide-ranging spiritual and religious traditions.

"There will never be peace on earth, so to speak, until all the major religious traditions come together, admit that they have a common core, and remove 'us versus them,'" he said. "Without that happening, we are doomed to perpetual conflict and misery."

Though Abilene has a reputation as a city marked by Christian fundamentalism, the city is becoming more diverse, said Shirley Crawford, program director/co-coordinator of Abilene's Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Dyess Air Force Base, in particular, brings in people from all over the United States, she said.
"In Abilene there are Hindus, Baha'is, Muslims, Jewish people, Buddhists and others in addition to the mainstream Christians that are here," Crawford said.

Crawford said that wide-ranging diversity means something like the center has a place in the community.

"I had a good friend that said many years ago (that) there is truth in all beliefs, but no one belief has all the truth," she said.

Many are interested in learning more, knowing more and experiencing more of the teachings of other cultures, she said.

"All the great religions of the world have meditation and contemplation practices," she said.

"This center will give the people of the Abilene area a place to learn more about these mystical paths to spiritual enlightenment and a place to practice them and perhaps make them a part of our own spiritual journeys."

Meier, raised a United Methodist, became a Methodist minister in 1963. He left that career in 1967 to pursue another in sociology, eventually retiring from teaching at McMurry University in 2008.

For about 35 years, he has studied the world's major religious and spiritual traditions, he said, focusing on the core teachings within each. "This came out of my own experience, my own journey," he said of the idea for the center.

Though the group has no permanent facility yet, Meier would like to eventually see one, as well as possibly a nonprofit status.

Mark Waters, assistant professor of servant leadership at McMurry University, said the center was important for Abilene because it potentially can remind participants "that knowing God is deeper and richer than having beliefs about God.

"Contemplation is the gift of God's presence," he said. "The practice of contemplation includes a rich tradition of prayer practices that help us to become aware of the gift of God's presence on an experiential level. This experiential knowing, deeper than words and beliefs, is the foundation of unconditional love, love that emanates through us from the very heart of God."

Center for Contemplation
7 p.m. June 18
Location: Furr Welcome Center, McMurry University, South 14th and Sayles Blvd.
Topic: "The Inner Path to Enlightenment"
Speaker: Dr. Russ Meier

[Picture: Dr. Russ Meier. Photo from http://www.mcm.edu/newsite/web/]