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A
Course in Miracles,
21
a manual of
spiritual development.
It is a matter of debate just how far texts may be accepted as direct
revelation, how far the authors felt that they were merely recording the
words of the Lord and to what extent the process was a human interpre-
tation of divine inspiration. Translation has been an important issue for
texts deemed to have been directly revealed. The Vedas are often regarded
as having been given in the holy language of Sanskrit. They were not
translated for years to preserve their authenticity. As the Qur’an is gener-
ally believed by Muslims to have been received by Muhammad in Arabic
from the Angel Jibril (Gabriel), it was not translated for many years, so
that this direct communication was not compromised. Greater difficulties
arise when considering texts which have been built up over time such as
the Bible, where it is more difficult to maintain that words from the divine
have been accurately recorded and preserved.
Neither Jesus nor the Buddha wrote anything down. Their experiences
were recorded by those who either knew them or of them and were
inspired by them. The Christian and Buddhist texts recount the original
experiences of the founders of the traditions, their teachings and the
early history of the movements which grew up around their memory.
They are thus a testament to the effect of the revelation on the early
followers, who composed the texts. Their motivation in setting down
such material was faith in the vision of the founder, so the accounts
cannot be taken as neutral. The Gospels were composed by followers of
Jesus in order that the events of his life and death and his teaching should
not be lost. It was the Buddha’s cousin Ananda, who accompanied him on
his journeys, and was influential in setting up the
Sangha
or community
of monks, who recited the Buddha’s sermons which were later recorded
in written form for posterity.
Spiritual Experience and Religions
21
The issue of literal interpretation versus a metaphorical or more liberal
reading is an ongoing debate across and within religious traditions. While
some believers base their lives on an exact reading of scripture, others are
of the view that myth and fact are hard to separate in books which have
evolved slowly, often only written down after a lengthy period of oral
tradition. Within most religious traditions there are literalists who take
the scripture at face value and focus on the actual wording, while others
take a more open, liberal view of their scripture, focusing on the overall
message. These differences of approach are often as deep as those between
liberals of different religious persuasions.
Modern historical research into the origins of many of the sacred texts
shows how their development over lengthy periods of time indicates that
too literal an interpretation is not justified. A more critical response is
called for. It may be more accurate to accept that divine revelation has
come through the medium of a human being and is therefore inevitably
influenced not only by the culture and place of the original revelation, but
also by the authors, and the place and culture of the time of writing. An
understanding that the text itself should not be seen as infallible would be
helpful when differences between religions lead to dispute.
Another factor to be considered with regard to scripture is the limitation
of language, any language, in expressing spiritual experience. Scriptures
may be read on different levels, with historical fact and legend mingling in
a way which opens the way to various levels of interpretation.
Oral traditions such as those of Africa, North America and Australia
thrive as they maintain their cultural heritage, rituals and beliefs, which
often have deep links to nature. There is often a shamanic element, that is
contact with sprits within nature and of the dead by means of a medium
or shaman. These are potent, experiential traditions of spirituality and
after much suppression are now being increasingly valued. In Japan,
Shinto has no founder and no scriptures, but the spiritual reality of
kami
,
which means sacred power, is inherent in the universe. It can be found in
nature or in people, and the Emperor, for example, is regarded as mani-
festing kami.
The relationship between experience and religious text is well described
by Fr Bede Griffiths,
. . . there is a mode of experience which transcends both body and soul,
an experience of the Spirit, which is not merely rational and
so dependent on the senses, but intuitive – a direct insight which
comes not from the soul and its faculties but from the Spirit himself,
the absolute, which is present in the ground of the soul of everyman
and reveals itself to those who seek him. Yet when we begin to speak
Religious and Spiritual Experience
22
of that experience, we have once more to use the language of sense and
reason, and the reality of that which we have experienced can never
properly be expressed.
This limitation imposes itself on all human language. The language
of the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, . . . goes as far as
it is possible to go towards breaking down this barrier. . . . The Bible is
often described as the word of God, but it is the word of God expressed
through the words of men with the inevitable limitation of all human
words. . . . The Bible habitually uses the language of myth and symbol
and even when there is a historical basis for a story, it is worked over
by the imagination and transformed into a myth, that is, into a sym-
bolic expression of ultimate reality.
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