Reflections on a Spiritual Journey

As many of you know, the first purpose of my journey to Asia was joining Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) for the first three weeks of his healing pilgrimage in Vietnam.

Many of you also know that I was born and raised Catholic, was a Franciscan Friar for four years, a Religious Education Director and Diocesan Youth Director for 10 years in my thirties. At the age of 47, however, the Church became actively hostile to people like me and my fellow Catholic LGBT family. Documents characterized us as "objectively disordered" and "intrinsically inclined towards evil." That made the Church a hostile and unsafe place to be, spiritually, emotionally, physically and psychologically.

Fortunately, two experiences helped me through the transition to a spirituality without religion. The first was the TV series "The Power of Myth," a Bill Moyers interview with Joseph Campbell, the renowned historian and anthropologist of world religions. He demonstrated the major themes and stories that appear in most major religions, clarifying their role in making sense out a seemingly erratic and chaotic world. Many different religions pursuing meaning and truth.

The second was my friend giving me Thay's book, "Being Peace." Thay's writings led me deeper into a spiritual practice that taught me how to live in the present moment, to let go of situations that cause suffering and over which I have no control, to transform anger and fear into peace and joy. One of the beautiful aspects of Thay's tradition of Buddhist teachings and practice is that he does not say one needs to be a Buddhist or any formal religion in order to practice. Indeed, he encourages practitioners to honor their religious traditions, as they provide many deep insights and truths that are a part of our spiritual journey.

The other day, I had an interesting experience that brought all this to mind. A delightful young woman employee at my guesthouse escorted me to the bus for my day's excursion to Moon Hill, an incredible mountain with a large hole at its upper peak. On the way, I told her how lucky the Guesthouse owners were to have an employee like her, so hospitable and full of joy. I also asked her how long she has been in Yangshou, and she told me 1 1/2 years. She had left her home town as a troubled person, looking for a place to start anew. She met these owners and they introduced her to Jesus and that has changed her life. I know well of that experience.

As a practitioner, I should have just listened to her go on with the story of her experience, but I still have things to learn. Instead, I responded that I had recently had a similar experience with the teachings of the Buddha. She became disturbed and defensive, and began to explain that Jesus was divine and the only savior who can lead us to heaven. It is my experience that this insistence on there being only one way is the most insidious tenet of any religion, even within different sects of the same religion, leading to adversity, war and a living hell, not heaven.

We reached the bus, and I began my climb of 1251 steps to the summit, plus another 300 or so on a different path to an outlook. The bamboo forest provided a beautiful atmosphere for walking meditation, breathing and dwelling in the present moment. At the summit there is a sign describing the building of 16 trails up the mountain over the past 14 years by two American climbers. Sixteen trails, which all converge at the ascent to the summit. A metaphor in my face. Continuing through the hole, there is a promontory on the other side, allowing a view through the large hole to the green and blue misty mountain peaks of this famous terrain in China. It appears as a doorway to heaven, and the scene is truly heavenly. My fellow climbers all gasped when coming upon that view.

If Abraham and Moses, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Confucius, and so on, realized mystical sainthood and found truth and meaning in the universe, surely they would have met each other at the convergence of their paths, just like sixteen trails leading to the same path to the doorway to heaven.

I call my journal On the Path. We all are on the path, whatever our religious tradition or beliefs. Thank you for traveling with me!