{"id":1424,"date":"2008-08-21T08:20:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-21T08:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community\/"},"modified":"2011-11-01T15:12:53","modified_gmt":"2011-11-01T19:12:53","slug":"why-spiritual-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html","title":{"rendered":"Why Spiritual Community"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
I think lots about this.<\/p>\n

I know one reason I began looking beyond the bounds of my Zen practice was how I felt there really wasn\u2019t much worthy of the term \u201ccommunity\u201d within the Zen groups I had access to.<\/p>\n

The question was what, if anything, to do about it\u2026<\/p>\n

For ages I had been aware of Unitarian Universalism. I\u2019d even visited a few congregations over the years. But they seemed to be weak on spirituality, at least as I understood that term.<\/p>\n

But eventually need drove me and I started attending Unitarian Universalist worship services, accepting the advice that you don\u2019t let the good become the enemy of the perfect. There ain\u2019t going to be a perfect anything. Since that time I\u2019ve been pretty happy as a UU, both as a member of several congregations, and for the last couple of decades as a minister of same\u2026<\/p>\n

And over the years I found a happy place where my Zen discipline was (mostly) honored, and my desire for community of a spiritual sort could be (mostly) fully expressed.<\/p>\n

Those who follow my ruminations know it was through the emergence of a very UU friendly Zen organization, the Boundless Way, that I felt my life pretty integrated, where I can be an honest to goodness Zen Buddhist<\/a> and a full Unitarian Universalist.<\/p>\n

At the same time, why the need for community? What\u2019s that about? And where is it supposed to take us?<\/p>\n

I think there is a deep need for human beings to gather together. I think maybe because we\u2019re herd animals. Mostly. But that\u2019s just \u201cgrubby roots.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is something more.<\/p>\n

We need to turn the light inward and look deeply into our individual hearts and minds. That is the key to wisdom.<\/p>\n

And, we need to step off the pillow and reach out into the world.<\/p>\n

Both.<\/p>\n

Without both we become twisted, in differing ways, depending upon our taste buds, toward the inner or toward the outer. But ultimately the product of going too much in one direction seems pretty twisted\u2026<\/p>\n

With both, I suspect there\u2019s still some twisting, at least I see my twists; but with both, attending to the inner and the outer in conscious ways, the chances of a truly healthy life, a truly meaningful life gets better and better.<\/p>\n

Spiritual community invites encounter. Not always fun. But always enriching.<\/p>\n

We move from the individual to family to spiritual community to larger community to the world itself. Maybe not quite so teleologically, each emerges in its own way at its own time. But we do seem to need all\u2026<\/p>\n

At least it seems to me if we attend to each of these things we are on a path of genuine possibility\u2026<\/p>\n

Early morning rumination\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I think lots about this. I know one reason I began looking beyond the bounds of my Zen practice was how I felt there really wasn\u2019t much worthy of the term \u201ccommunity\u201d within the Zen groups I had access to. The question was what, if anything, to do about it\u2026 For ages I had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Spiritual Community<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I think lots about this.I know one reason I began looking beyond the bounds of my Zen practice was how I felt there really wasn't much worthy of the term\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Spiritual Community\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I think lots about this.I know one reason I began looking beyond the bounds of my Zen practice was how I felt there really wasn't much worthy of the term\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monkey Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/james.ford.1029\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-08-21T08:20:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-11-01T19:12:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_niPwTW3rBbU\/SK1lrHR07DI\/AAAAAAAABKg\/NTwaIirPBVo\/s320\/community.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James Ford\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html\",\"name\":\"Why Spiritual Community\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-08-21T08:20:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-11-01T19:12:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\"},\"description\":\"I think lots about this.I know one reason I began looking beyond the bounds of my Zen practice was how I felt there really wasn't much worthy of the term\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2008\/08\/why-spiritual-community.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Spiritual Community\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/\",\"name\":\"Monkey Mind\",\"description\":\"Easily distracted...\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/3f37f475fb5078d1e7faa93a63a0fddb\",\"name\":\"James Ford\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fa18971b225a3bb79f0c4c381a5fae20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James Ford\"},\"description\":\"James Ishmael Ford is a writer and spiritual director. 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