Leaving Church, Maintaining Spiritual Practices

Many people are leaving church over questions of belief or doctrine. How are people who are leaving church maintaining spiritual practices?

In the West, most people might say that their spiritual practices consist of attending church, praying, and/or reading the Bible.

According to Pew Research Center, most Americans actually have little or no spiritual practice:

• Almost one-third of adults seldom or never attend church, and almost two thirds attend church less than once a week.
• Almost one-quarter of adults seldom or never pray, and almost half pray less than once a day.
• Almost half of adults seldom or never read scripture, and almost two-thirds read scripture less than once a week.

It might be equally appropriate to ask “How are people who are remaining in church maintaining spiritual practices?” There are likely more “religious but not spiritual” people than there are “spiritual but not religious” people.

What are Spiritual Practices?

To me, spirituality is the experience that there is an Ultimate Reality or something that is greater than ourselves. This something might be personal or not and it might be supernatural or not. Spiritual practices help us to realize our connectedness and interrelatedness to Ultimate Reality.

Spirituality is not inherently religious or irreligious. In fact, Pew Research Center reports that one-third of adults believe in a higher power of some kind, but not in God as described in the Bible. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, asks, “What do any of us mean when we say ‘God’? We use the word as if it were made of steel instead of silk netting.”

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most significant scriptures in the Hindu tradition. The Gita recounts a conversation between a warrior, Arjuna, and his charioteer, Krishna, an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu, one of the Hindu gods. Krishna describes several yogas or paths to Brahman or Ultimate Reality. Generally, Hinduism recognizes four main paths:

• Karma Yoga is the path of action or selfless service. Karma yoga focuses on establishing connection and eliminating selfish desires by focusing on our actions, rather than the fruit of our actions. In the Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna, “You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward.” Christians might see Mother Theresa and Hindus might see Mahatma Gandhi as karma yogis. We have many opportunities in our daily lives to engage in service to others.

• Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion or worship. In Hinduism, some are atheists who do not believe in a personal God, and some are theists who believe in a personal God. Ramakrishna is a Hindu bhakta who (at times) practiced other religions, including Christianity. He suggested that the God with name and form and the God without name and form are the same. Because they often perceive God as personal, the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are very much oriented toward devotion and worship.

• Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge or wisdom.  Author David Carse discusses bhakti yoga and jnana yoga, writing “There is a tradition that jnana is the higher path because the bhakta relies on a belief in someone or something to be devoted to, whereas the jnani knows there is neither. But true bhakti is pure devotion with no object; and the true jnani knows nothing.” This paradoxical both/and language is more typical of the Eastern religions than of the Western religions. Still, Western religions have expressions of devotion (bhakti) and wisdom (jnana) too.

• Raja Yoga is the path of meditation or mindfulness. The Eastern religions emphasize meditation, rather than prayer. In the East, Ultimate Reality is not always perceived as personal. Thus, if we see God as personal, then we can have a conversation or a relationship; if we see Ultimate Reality as impersonal, then we can have a sense of connectedness or relatedness. Many people both meditate and pray, and some Christian prayer, like Centering Prayer, is almost indistinguishable from meditation.

How Do We Maintain Spiritual Practices?

Obviously, there are analogies to the four paths to Ultimate Reality in many sacred traditions and some secular traditions. The path that people choose is often determined by their proclivities, and these paths are not mutually-exclusive. Spiritual practitioners can pursue these paths inside (or outside of) church and in addition to (or instead of ) church.

Would Western people be more spiritual if they considered how they could adopt spiritual practices in their everyday lives, rather than focusing solely on the few hours that they spend in church? If we believe that we are “saved” by our actions or our beliefs, then do we feel less inclined to manifest awe, gratitude, reverence, and a sense of responsibility in our everyday lives?

Many people are leaving church over questions of belief or doctrine. How are people who are leaving church maintaining spiritual practices? For that matter, how are people who are remaining in church maintaining spiritual practices?

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