MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 7: THE PLACE OF WISDOM IN THE HUMANIST TRADITION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the seventh session in the course, "Mindfulness". This eight-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware (as part of its Faith Awareness programme) in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our topic this evening is "The Place of Wisdom in the Humanist Tradition", presented by Dr Allan Hayes. Allan studied mathematics at Trinity College Cambridge (BA, PhD).  Retired from an academic career, in which he taught at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Purdue University, Leicester University and De Montfort University, he is now a Director of Leicester Secular Society and a Trustee of the Sea of Faith Network and of the British Humanist Association.

Allan discusses the wisdom of Proverbs and of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels and makes a case for their value as human-created, human-centred sources of wisdom, without the need to appeal to supernatural origin. When asked to clarify what he means by "supernatural", Allan defines it (without recourse to any text) as "an agency with intention, acting with its own purpose, that is outside the normal discourse of science."

Allan refers to two books, published within a year of each other, which illustrate opposite ends of the spectrum of belief: Don Cupitt's Jesus and Philosophy (London: SCM Press, 2009), in which the author presents Jesus as a radical humanist and John Shelby Spong's Jesus for the Non-Religious (New York: HarperOne, 2008), in which the author argues that Jesus is such an extraordinary figure, he must be divine.

MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 6: THE PLACE OF WISDOM IN THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TRADITION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the sixth session in the course, "Mindfulness". This eight-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware (as part of its Faith Awareness programme) in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our topic this evening is "The Place of Wisdom in the Judeo-Christian Tradition", presented by Revd Marcus Braybrooke. Marcus is President of the World Congress of Faiths and is the author of many books on religion and spirituality in its many forms. His specialist interest is in relations between Christians and Jews. The copy below is almost entirely adapted from the handout we’re given this evening.

Wisdom literature was commonplace in the Ancient world. Here are a few examples of Ptahotep's advice:

• "Do not gossip in your neighbourhood, because people love the silent."
• "Only speak when you have something worth saying."
• "Love your wife with passion."
• "Do not blame those who are childless, do not criticise them for not having any, and do not boast about having them yourself."

Wisdom literature in the Bible

The Wisdom literature includes books such as Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon and perhaps the Psalms and (in the Apocrypha) The Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus, which is the Greek translation of Ben Sirah who wrote the book in Hebrew c. 190/180 BCE and it was then translated into Greek for his grandson in 132 BCE. Wisdom literature in the Bible is of two types: instruction and reflection.

Instruction

Are you good at getting up in the morning? If not, here's one for you: "As the door turns upon its hinges, so doth the slothful turn upon his bed." (Prov 26:13). Again, "The bickerings of a wife are like the ever-dripping gutter." (Prov 19:13). But lest we be accused of sexism, Proverbs also says of a virtuous woman, "her price is above rubies." (Prov 31:10). Sometimes there are parallels with New Testament passages: "The tongue that soothes is a tree of live; the perverse tongue a breaker of hearts." (Prov 15:4) and "With the tongue we praise Our Lord and Father with the tongue we curse man, who hath been made in God's likeness." (James 3:9). There is quite often a suggestion that God will reward the righteous: "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death. The Lord will not let the upright go hungry. He thwarts the greed of the wicked." (Prov 10:23). Also, "The righteous man 'shall be like a tree planted by the waterside, but the ungodly are like chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth." (Psalm 1)

Reflective literature

Wisdom literature ponders the injustice of life: "God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over into the hands of the wicked. Know now that God hath overthrown me, and has caught me in a net. Behold I cry out of wrong, but I am not heard: I cry aloud but there is no judgement." (Job 19:6-7) The Preacher in Ecclesiastes says: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity".

The personification of Wisdom (who is female)

Wisdom says in "The Lord brought me forth or created me as the first of his works ... I was appointed from eternity, before the world began." (Prov 8:22)

"wisdom pervades and permeates all things. She is the breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty ... She is the reflection of the eternal Light, untarnished mirror of God's active power, and image of his goodness." (Book of Wisdom 7:25-26)

Wisdom gives understanding and teaches the secret of a good lire, which is obey the Torah. Solomon says: "I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me ... I loved her above health and beauty ... She is a treasure unto men that never fails." (Wis 7:7)

"Thy word is a lantern unto my feet: and a light unto my paths." (Psalm 119:105) 

"Thy testimonies are wonderful: there fore doth my soul keep them." (Psalm 119:129)

Wisdom in the New Testament - Parallels in the Gospels
Wisdom says: "Put your neck under the yoke and let your soul receive instruction: she is hard to find." (Ecclesiasticus 51:26) Jesus says: "Take my yoke upon you and learn of me." (Matthew 11:25) Testing, and the mocking of a servant of God's claim to be protected by God: Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life: for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries." (Wis 2:17-18). "He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" (??)

The wisdom of God is foolishness to men (1 Cor 1:17ff)

Wisdom is a challenge to human conceit and to a knowledge-based pattern of education.

Jesus as the Wisdom or Word of God

Several New Testament writers identify Jesus with the figure of Wisdom who was with God from the beginning but how close is the parallel?

Paul actually speaks about Christ as "the power of god and the wisdom of God." (1 Cor 1:24) and says that his message was "of the mystery of the wisdom of God - even the hidden wisdom, which God orddainedCor 2:7) "Wisdom is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of his goodness." (Wis 7:26) The author of Hebrews says of Christ: "He reflects the glory of God and hears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power." (Prologue to John's Gospel)

Later Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism said little about Wisdom, but she reappears in Kabbala or mystical Judaism.

"How should we speak of Jesus?"

Some translations of the New Testament avoid "Father" and "Son".

"Stories of the Prophets", and Arabic Bible that uses "Lord" instead of "Father" and "Messiah" instead of "Son".

"True Meaning of the Gospel of Christ", an Arabic translation which removes "Father" in reference to God and removes or redefines "Son".

A Turkish translation of Matthew that uses "guardian" for "Father" and "representative" or "proxy" for "Son".

The Bengali Infil Sharif, which translated "Son" as "Messiah" and "Son of God" as "God's Uniquely Intimate Beloved Chosen One"

We're given an exercise for our small group work that seems a little odd, given that not everyone in the room is Christian (we have at least two Secular Humanists, two Buddhists and a Bahá'í) but everyone does their best to enter into the spirit of things. We're asked to discuss the most helpful way to speak of God's presence in Jesus:

• Jesus is God
• Jesus is the Image of God
• God was in Jesus Christ
• Very God of Very God
• The Wisdom or Word of God was present in Jesus and also in Buddha and Zoroaster and Krishna
• Jesus as a window into God (which is how he is described in Honest to God)

MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 5: THE PLACE OF WISDOM IN THE ISLAMIC TRADITION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the fifth session in the course, "Mindfulness". This eight-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware (as part of its Faith Awareness programme) in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.

Our topic this evening is "The Place of Wisdom in the Islamic Tradition", presented by Freda Hussain MBE. Freda is retired Head Teacher at Moat Community College and former Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. Her presentation is peppered with illuminating quotations about the significance of wisdom in the Islamic tradition and the importance of knowledge and learning:

"Acquire knowledge, it enables its possessor to distinguish right from wrong. It is our friend in the desert, our company in solitude and companion when friendless. It guides us to happiness, it sustains us in misery, it is an ornament amongst friends and our armour against enemies." (from Hadith - a compilation of sayings ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad)

"A Muslim who plants a tree or sows a field, from which man, birds and animals can eat is committing an act of charity." (Hadith)

"Who are the learned? Those who practise what they know." (Hadith)

"No man is a true believer unless the desires for his brethren, that which he desires for himself." (Hadith)

"There is no greater wealth than wisdom; no greater poverty than ignorance." (from sayings of Imam Ali)

"The teacher who is wise indeed does not bid you into the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind." (Kahlil Gibran)

Our speaker briefly but helpfully discusses the Sufi thread in Islamic thought and culture and how Sufi poetry expresses the wisdom born from that tradition, which is inseparably linked with spiritual yearning and religious ecstasy.

When we do small group work for 20 minutes or so, we're tasked with thinking of a question to put to our speaker. I don't think that even this group is familiar enough with the kind of Islam which has been described this evening to do that. Many of those attending find it hard to reconcile the contemporary image of Islam with the one which Freda has described this evening. She understands this all too well and acknowledges it as the tragedy of modern Islam.

One interesting question is whether there is an movement or stream of thought within the Islamic world comparable to the Sea of Faith Network. Our speaker says that she doubts it.

Freda differentiates between modern Islamist thinking, which appears to revolve around the fear of God, with Sufi thinking, which revolves around the love of God. In this connection, she quotes another saying from the Hadith: "The ink of the scholar is more sacred than the blood of the martyr."

The authoritative, canonical nature of Hadith seem always to be in dispute. As fashions and passions change, so certain sayings can be ruled in or out, giving backing to different worldviews.

We discuss the apparent equivalence of knowledge and wisdom in the quotations used this evening. These are two distinct terms in Arabic ('ilm and hikmat) which are occasionally conflated when translated into English. But over and above these, Freda emphasises the inseparable relation between faith (iman) and action (aman).

MINDFULNESS & WISDOM 4: THE PLACE OF WISDOM IN THE SOTO ZEN BUDDHIST TRADITION

At ChristChurch, Clarendon Park, for the fourth session in the course, "Mindfulness and Wisdom". This eight-week course is an interfaith opportunity presented by Christians Aware (as part of its Faith Awareness programme) in association with Leicester Serene Reflection Meditation Group.


Our topic this evening is “The Place of Wisdom in the Soto Zen Buddhist tradition”, presented by Revd Master Saido Kennaway. Revd Kennaway is a member of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. We're grateful to him for having driven here from Telford Buddhist Priory tonight, as the roads are still treacherous in places, with the recent freezing weather.


Wisdom, in a Buddhist sense, combines right understanding and right intention. There is no distinction in the Soto Zen tradition between practice and realisation: it’s not about practising in order to reach enlightenment.

Our speaker refers to five skandhas ("aggregates", "constructs" or “heaps”). The skandhas may be thought of as components that come together to make an individual. Every thing that we think of as "I" is a function of the skandhas. Put another way, we might think of an individual as a process of the skandhas, which may be delineated as follows (explanations taken from About.com.Buddhism):

The first skandha: form (Rupa)

Rupa is form or matter; something material that can be sensed. In early Buddhist literature, rupa includes the Four Great Elements (solidity, fluidity, heat, and motion) and their derivatives. These derivatives are the first five faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) and the first five corresponding objects (visible form, sound, odor, taste, tangible things). Another way to understand rupa is to think of it as something that resists the probing of the senses. For example, an object has form if it blocks your vision – you can't see what's on the other side of it – or if it blocks your hand from occupying its space.

The second skandha: sensation (Vedana) 

Vedana is physical or mental sensation that we experience through contact of the six faculties with the external world. In other words, it is the sensation experienced through the contact of eye with visible form, ear with sound, nose with odor, tongue with taste, body with tangible things, mind (manas) with ideas or thoughts. It is particularly important to understand that manas – mind – in the skandhas is a sense organ or faculty, just like an eye or an ear. We tend to think that mind is something like a spirit or soul, but that concept is very out of place in Buddhism. Because vedana is the experience of pleasure or pain, it conditions craving, either to acquire something pleasurable or avoid something painful.

The third skandha: perception (Samjna, or in Pali, Sanna)

Samjna is the faculty that recognizes. Most of what we call thinking fits into the aggregate of samjna. The word "samjna" means "knowledge that puts together." It is the capacity to conceptualize and recognize things by associating them with other things. For example, we recognize shoes as shoes because we associate them with our previous experience with shoes. When we see something for the first time, we invariably flip through our mental index cards to find categories we can associate with the new object. It's a "some kind of tool with a red handle," for example, putting the new thing in the categories "tool" and "red." Or, we might associate an object with its context – we recognize an apparatus as an exercise machine because we see it at the gym.

The fourth Skandha: mental formation (Samskara, or in Pali, Sankhara) 

All volitional actions, good and bad, are included in the aggregate of mental formations. How are actions "mental" formations? Remember the first lines of the dhammapada (Acharya Buddharakkhita translation):

“Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox."

“Mind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought. If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.”

The aggregate of mental formations is associated with karma, because volitional acts create karma. Samskara also contains latent karma that conditions our attitudes and predilections. Biases and prejudices belong to this skandha, as do interests and attractions.

The fifth Skandha: consciousness (Vijnana, or in Pali, Vinnana)

Vijnana is a reaction that has one of the six faculties as its basis and one of the six corresponding phenomena as its object. For example, aural consciousness – hearing – has the ear as its basis and a sound as its object. Mental consciousness has the mind (manas) as its basis and an idea or thought as its object. It is important to understand that consciousness depends on the other skandhas and does not exist independently from them. It is an awareness but not a recognition, as recognition is a function of the third skandha. This awareness is not sensation, which is the second skandha. For most of us, this is a different way to think about "consciousness." It is also important to remember that vijnana is not "special" or "above" the other skandhas. It is not the "self." It is the action and interaction of all five skandhas that create the illusion of a self.

Revd Kennaway emphasises the significance of two well-known, much-loved and oft-used pieces of Buddhist scripture which foreground wisdom:

Diamond Scripture (or Sutra) its Sanskrit name more fully translated as "The Diamond Cutter of Perfect Wisdom" (so called because it cuts away at everything)

Heart Scripture (or Sutra), its Sanskrit name more fully translated as the "Heart of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom" (recited every day)

Several questions arise from our group work, which are put to the speaker, including these:

"What is the point of all this? Is there a destination or is it all theory for theory's sake?"

"Can the Buddhist view, that the highest goal is emptiness, accord with the Abrahamic moral good?"