Tradition
has intimately linked moral values to religion. People talk of
Christian values, of Islamic values, and so on. Ontario is a
pluralistic society. So which moral values do we decide to teach in
our schools and colleges?
Religious
prophets, sages and seers spent lifetimes researching humans'
relations with each other and with nature. One of their key insights
is the existence of an Unseen Reality that causes everybody and
everything to exist.
The
nature of this Unseen Reality is spiritual -- not material. Spirit is
infinite and subtle; material is finite and gross. Spirituality
teaches that the infinite and subtle underlies the finite and gross.
This is also the teaching of modern science.
Religion
strives to unify individuals into communities. For this purpose, it
uses the insight of the Unseen Reality to make us recognize our
oneness. The purpose of human life is to behave with each other and
with nature, fully believing in this underlying oneness.
"Good,"
therefore, is that which fosters oneness; and "evil" is that
which divides us.
Acknowledging
this insight today is no more a "leap of faith" than the
scientific finding that unseen energy is the causal reality of all
matter.
Matter
is finite and can be seen or felt by our senses. Energy, on the other
hand, is limitless and beyond our sense perception. Energy is unlike
any matter and cannot be defined or understood in material terms.
The
existence of One Unseen Reality, which is the cause of everything, is
equally meaningful to people of all faiths and to people of no faith.
This aspect of religion is its core spirituality -- which is nothing
but unifying. Had religion simply stayed teaching core spirituality,
the question of teaching values in Ontario today would not have posed
any concern. Neither would it have posed any concern in the global
village the world has now become.
The
insight of One Unseen Reality knows no boundaries. So why do religions
often limit it within the bounds of their own communities?
The
infinity of the Unseen Reality makes it beyond description in words.
But human curiosity compels religions to speculate on its nature.
Different
concepts, persons and images of the divine emerge. They all have local
scope and meaning. People identify their concepts of God with the
Reality itself. Suddenly my "God" and my prophet become
better than yours. Social, legal, political and economic issues get
embroiled with religion, further complicating and localizing religious
values.
It is
ironic, with religion, that what starts off unifying people into
communities becomes the thing that divides them. Community is good,
but divisive tribalism is not.
It is
obvious that religion is ineffective as a vehicle of teaching shared
human values to a pluralistic society.
Why,
then, does religion persist in our discussions about teaching human
values?
We are
familiar with the religious pattern of seeing differences. But we fail
to see the underlying oneness that religion's core spirituality
teaches. Religion relates an individual with his or her specific
community; but its core spirituality relates us all. Differences do
not vanish, but we learn to deal with them in the light of the
essential oneness.
Religion
is the basis of exclusive tribal values. Core spirituality is the
basis of shared human values. Secularism may exclude religion from
governance and education. But science and spirituality both deal with
invisible realities underlying the seen universe, so I believe they
both deserve respected positions in education today.
Core
spirituality is shared by all and must form the basis of a shared
value system. Without being anchored in spirituality -- as opposed to
religion -- teaching of human values lacks meaning and depth.
So how
can we switch our thinking from religion to spirituality?
I
recommend ongoing research at our institutions of higher learning into
what should be taught and how.
Our
capacity to see oneness between ourselves and nature must be a major
goal of values education to address the crises facing humanity today.
Originally
published at http://news.therecord.com/sections/faith/article/348295
