Our minds are heavily conditioned. We become unconsciously identified with our narrative selves and heavily stuck in our contexts. So much so we form strong antipathies toward the ‘other’ and the ‘unfamiliar.’
This happens commonly in religious circles. Habituated to one specific religious context in doctrine and practice, we find it difficult if not impossible to be open to diverse alternative ideas and practices of competing religious contexts. We judge and we demonise.
Conditioned mind and fixated identities trump genuine interfaith and inter-spiritual explorations. Can we learn the art of open presencing and non-fixation so that as religious practitioners, we can be truly insiders, outsiders, and alongsiders in fluid dynamic ways without getting stuck?
This requires the consistent practice of mindfulness, awareness, insight, kindness and compassion. It requires a fresh innocent mind unafraid to inquire. A beginner’s mind. Let’s begin now.
Credit: Krishnamurti Foundation Trust.
