Rabbi Rifat Sonsino Ph.D
Some people have argued that unless you are a theist who thinks of
God in personal terms, namely, viewing God like a Person who is all-powerful and
all-good, and who listens and responds, punishes or rewards, you cannot have a
spiritual experience. I would say that all depends on how you define spirituality.
I prefer to define it as “the awareness of being in the presence of God” no
matter how you understand the term God.
For me, a religious naturalist, God is the mysterious energy that
sustains the universe. God does not have free will but functions with necessity
according to the laws of nature. God does not create miracles by changing
natural law.
Spirituality is still possible for non-theists, but it needs to be understood
differently. Judaism has had a long tradition of spirituality. In the Bible, it
was centered on the “love” or “fear” of God, and expressed through an elaborate
sacrificial system. In the Rabbinic period, the sages designed a Mitzvah
system, where individuals were expected to go and carry out certain Mitzvot, religious obligations
defined by a heavenly father. In the Hellenistic period that followed, people
concentrated on a contemplative life. In the medieval period, many opted for a
mystical love of God and a longing for communion with the divine. For many mystics,
this involved an immediate awareness of the relation with God through prayer,
meditation or song.
In my case, I experience my spirituality through various paths. For example,
1.
I
experience it through many acts of transcendence, such as rare peak experiences
in life, which are transformative in nature: such as, carrying a Torah scroll, holding
my baby for the first time, major life cycle-events etc.
2.
I
experience it through prayer when I can formulate my hopes and expectations. I
am aware that prayers do not change the world outside but they give me new
insights into myself. In Hebrew, to pray is lehitpalel , an
introspective verb, which deals with personal reflections. Music is a major
component of this endeavor.
3.
I
experience it through meditation when I direct my mind towards something
specific within myself. ( The word “meditation” comes from the Latin “medi”
meaning “center.” The Hebrew equivalent would be hitbonenut , meaning”
“to know oneself.”)
4.
I
experience it through religious rituals, when I perform them with joy and a sense
of accomplishment.
5.
I
experience it through relationship and good deeds, through empathetic response
to others.
6.
I
experience it through study of classical texts for its own sake.
I believe spirituality cannot be imposed; it needs to be discovered
by each individual, at times combining various paths. It must satisfy the heart
as well as the mind. It should lead to tikkun atsmi and tikkun olam, to
bettering oneself and improving the world around us.
SONSINO’S BLOG, rsonsino.blogspot.com
For more details, see my book, SIX JEWISH SPIRITUAL PATHS; A
RATIONALIST LOOKS AT SPIRITUALITY, 2002
