Category: Philosophy

It is possible to be both religious and a humanist. For me, humanism means attributing weight and importance to the individual human experience. Historically, some religious practioners have neglected the individual experience of themselves and others, preferring to prioritise the literal religious doctrine in all circumstances. However there is not necessarily a contradiction between religion and humanism.

An example of a non-humanistic approach to Buddhism would be to treat all individuals like pebbles on a beach and, rather than consider their own individual circumstances, encourage them simply to adhere to Buddhist doctrine in the expectation that it will resolve their problems. On the other hand, a humanistic approach would encourage the practice of meditation as a form of compassionate, internal listening, a pre-requisite for the sensitive integration of Buddhist teaching in your life.

I want to offer a perspective on conceptuality and reason on the spiritual path. I will mainly draw on Buddhist source material, but will also include some references to Sufi Islam. In his ‘Root Text on the Mahamudra’, the first Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsän, says

“The mind that is free from conceptualization Is merely a level of conventional mind; It is not the mind’s ultimate nature. Therefore seek instruction from qualified Masters.”

THE POLITICS OF THE SOUL - JOHN MILBANK - PAPER PRESENTED TO THE TEMENOS ACADEMY - 1st November 2012

This is my remembrance / reworking of some of the many ideas in Prof Milbank’s paper.

Prof. Milbank started by stating that the soul (psyche) is what makes us human, it is the human realm par excellence. He cited Aristotle’s ideas from De Anima, talking about the bodies of humans and animals being the nature of their souls, and yet the soul as transcending mere matter.

“We are the inheritors of categorized knowledge; therefore we inherit also a world view that consists of parts strung together, rather than of wholes regarded through different sets of filters. Historically, synthesis seems to have been too much for the human mind — where practical affairs were concerned. The descent of the synthetic method from Plato through Augustine took men’s perception into literature, art and mysticism. The modern world of science and technology is bred from Aristotle and Aquinas by analysis. The categorization that took hold of medieval scholasticism has really lasted it out. We may see with hindsight that the historic revolts against the scholastics did not shake free from the shackles of their reductionism. "

In his book ‘A Guide for the Perplexed’ the economist E.F. Schumacher argues that science on its own provides a one dimensional, ‘horizontal’ view of reality, and we need faith in the metaphysical to give us a ‘vertical’ dimension – to connect us to heaven.

Faith is necessary as well as science because faith leads us from the part to the whole, enabling us to see the wood as well as the trees. Faith and imagination allow us to make the leap from atom to cosmos. Reason provides the power to analyze and dissect; faith, imagination and intuition give us the power to build a coherent whole, which is the cosmos. Belief that we live in a cosmos rather than a chaos is an essential point of faith. Belief in cosmos is belief that the universe is fundamentally good, is fundamentally in harmony. This faith needn’t be explicitly theistic – I like those Buddhist teachings, such as Chogyam Trungpa’s, which emphasise the basic goodness of the mind.

February 2009

Dear Friend,

You wrote:

We can apply the Zen debate between sudden and gradual awakening to the question of faith, refuge and salvation. My local vicar in Sussex once told me that there is a difference between salvation and sanctification. Salvation is sudden and occurs the moment you give your life to Jesus. Sanctification is the gradual process that follows. Perhaps the act of faith is necessarily a sudden shift to the objective perspective, whereas the assessment of our faith is part of the gradual subjective process. In this sense, in one moment of pure faith we are already outside samsara. Sure some Pure Land teacher must have said this? And if this moment of pure faith occurs at the point of death, perhaps this means we lock into the objective perspective – forever, or until we freely decide we need to work on our subjective side again.

April 2009

Jane Bannister is chairperson of Dorset Humanists and is involved in Bournemouth’s Big Green Fortnight in May 2009.  Dennis Bannister is currently holding a series of talks on Evolutionary Theory at Bournemouth U3A.  In this interview, they both give their personal take on the Humanist perspective.  Their responses are not necessarily representative of the Dorset Humanist group or the British Humanist Association.  They both embrace a secular approach to Humanism.  The interview begins as a formal Q&A session and evolves into a more in depth discussion, particularly regarding the issue of dogma. Sally Bannister: What does the word ‘Humanism’ mean to you?

Acceptance of the way things areAlthough there can be strength in wanting things to be different there can also be weakness. The strength may be compassion, because nobody should remain unmoved by other people’s suffering - we should all wish that conditions causing suffering be removed. The weakness can be because, from our own point of view, there may be much learning to be had from the way things are right now, so by wishing them to be different we are passing up the opportunity to learn. If we are annoyed and unhappy should we not wish for things to be different? Maybe not for our own sake. We should take a step back and allow ourselves to look at the annoyance and unhappiness in our mind, to experience it. We should recognise it for what it is, and we should realise that, although we are annoyed and unhappy, our mind is working.