Can Institutions and Spirituality Go Together?

Hi Dad,

Of late my thoughts have been centered around institutions and how institutions hinder the dynamic of spiritual teaching or growth. I have noticed this all over the place recently. It first started when I went to a meditation class. Now I am not even seasoned in meditation, however, the fact that I was in a class of 30 some people listening to an instructor struck me as odd. Isn't the point of meditation to seek inward and find the light within? I was perplexed as I looked around thinking how many of these people think that just by attending this they have actually successfully meditated. The same thoughts held true when I went to yoga. At one time yoga was practiced for its spiritual healing effect. Today you can take any number of different 'types' of yoga classes with names like Vinyasa, Vinhatha, Haitha, gentle healing and so forth. Again, people can 'pick' the type to find what suits them and more and more 'types' are being created to suit the masses. Vinyasa and Vinhatha are anything but relaxing; it is strenuous exercise. Again, I think people attend these classes thinking they are attaining some form of enlightenment and again, the real meaning of yoga is lost. Yoga is also a really 'trendy' thing to do right now just as trendy as eating sushi so people feel 'special' partaking.  I hear so many people say "I am really into yoga" - and I think - yeah, that is great, what kind and what do you get from it?

Lastly, I attended a lecture at the Kabbalah Center here in New York City. It is the center that Madonna, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and various other celebrities and followers of Kabbalah come to attain enlightenment. Again, I was mesmerized by the institutional aspect of it all. Kabbalah is one of the oldest mystical and spiritual teachings of all time. Those who practice Kabbalah believe that the Light is the 'be all' which is comparative to Sufi study. While you can be a member of any faith or religion and practice Kabbalah which is written in Aramaic and not Hebrew, there are striking similarities to Judaism. For one the men are segregated from the woman (such as is practiced in Orthodox Jewish traditions) and wear yarmulkes; be it the yarmulkes are white and they are dressed head to toe in white (not sure what religion that is - haha). The men are in white because it 'brings them closer to the light'. The men have two pew sections; the women one.

The women however, are dressed in regular clothes and you could tell they took special care in their hair, make-up, nails and other grooming necessities for the evening. Apparently women don't need to be closer to the light since they are not required to wear white <insert sarcasm here>.  It was evident that the women were all to caught-up in the social aspect of it all. While the message the presenters were giving were spiritual ones, the women would not be quiet, and probably 90% of them didn't hear a thing; let alone a spiritual message! They were whispering amongst friends, beckoning over to those who came in late to come sit next to them, climbing over people, talking out and carrying on and their children were running around and jumping about and crying babies stayed in the room. I later learned that Shabbat (a Jewish celebration/ dinner of the day of rest which happens on Fridays) was to take place after.  Sadly it dawned on me that while Kabbalah is one of the greatest spiritual teachings of all time it doesn't matter. If you bring people together, who don't have the capacity to build their spiritual practices (if you will) they will drift and stray and the material and physical plane of reality will be all consuming (appearances, friends and socializing). What I was hoping to be an enlightening evening turned out to be the opposite. It was sad to me to see such a beautiful practice be disregarded. Something I also forgot to mention is that my friend, her friend and I arrived together early. We were inside sitting up front in the women's section when we learned that the men, as it turned out, were to have a service before the presenter, which was not advertised. To abide by the privacy they needed, we left our stuff at our seats and proceeded downstairs to wait our turn. When we arrived back at our pew, it was filled with women, who had pushed our jackets to the end of the pew and moved our bags to the floor and took our seats. This interaction was the first sign that this was not as spiritual of a place as I had hoped it would be. I proceeded to climb down the pew saying excuse me as I jumped over women to go and retrieve our belongings so we could, in a hurry, grab seats in the back.

At the end of the evening my friend Karen remarked, I can't believe they did that - I said, unfortunately I can. Her friend remarked that one time she stayed for Shabbat and after she never felt so alone and lonely in her life. Nobody included her in conversation. Again, where is the love?

Institutions are necessary in some instances, perhaps government to prevent anarchy and mass chaos, however in religion it tends to be a concrete wall that separates people from the ultimate reality. It is only those who can see beyond the walls that get the message. I explained to my friends that Sufism has no walls, the world is its classroom. They asked how do you learn? I said from a teacher and the Light. Light attracts Light. You will know it if happens, as I have been told and experienced on some small scale at some points.

Well that is my insight on institution and spirituality.

Love you,
Mel

Comments

[Jason]

Melody - Since you grew up in the NYC Metropolitan area, are you really surprised by the women's behavior? It's like that Friday Night "service" on the Upper West side (the name escapes me), but it's all about the social aspect for these "wannabes" who want to feel "connected" to something. These social gatherings do promote a together feeling, but do little to relay the intended message. I too, admittedly, was not a fan of organized religion growing up. I admit that a more "Reformed" synagogue with more music would get me to Temple more, and thus the message just might sink in. Same thing here. But these Kabbalah "yentas" are more likely to not care and miss the point altogether. It's more important to talk about hair, nails, and gossip... Right?