The View from the Summit: The Mountain and Interfaith Connection

The Way, the Truth, and the Life

I grew up a maroon jumper-wearing, saddle-shoed strutting, rosary-praying good Catholic girl. A decade later, I spent my college years as an evangelical Christian. Steeped in the traditions and rituals of the Christian faith, my relationship with God flourished.

My upbringing not only gave me a strong grounding in the Christian faith but also an understanding of the exclusivity of my faith. As I understood it at the time, ours was the one, the only true way to God.

While growing up, a few of my aquaintinces and one or two close friends were not Christian. I believed these friends of mine were good people. However, I felt it my responsibility to teach these friends about Christ, “the way, the truth, and the life”. I longed to give them the chance to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and one day join me in heaven. I was also afraid for them–of what would happen to their souls.

Though I don’t hold the same perspective on other faiths now, I know some who do still. Perhaps even many reading this post find themselves or once found themselves in my situation. You may feel guilt for not being able to save these loved ones, sadness that these friends may not experience heaven, and maybe a little bit of “better-than-thoughness” mixed in.

The Mountain

In contrast to my upbringing, there is another perspective that allows greater reconciliation between the world’s religions. There’s a common analogy comparing various faiths to paths along radically different faces of a single mountain. All the paths, though on different sides of the mountain, reach the peak. However, the journeys to the peak are so disparate that it is hard for any one climber to listen to the story of another and believe they are climbing the same mountain.

I used to think this analogy was hogwash. I also used to think wearing white socks with dark dress pants was fashionable.

In my defense, the concept of these faiths all reaching the same goal seemed to contradict the Bible, especially John 14:6, which clearly states that no one comes to the father but through Jesus. I also struggled to see how a faith such as Hinduism, where many professed belief in a pantheon of gods could lead to the same destination as a monotheistic faith.

I have a feeling most conservative believers in most of the world’s “major” religions would agree with the former me. Well, at least with regards to the mountain analogy–verdict is still out on the white socks/black pants thing. Yet, there is a subset of believers in each faith who see things very differently: Sufi Muslims, Jewish mystics, Christian contemplatives, and Buddhist and Hindu monks and nuns.

As I have travelled further down the contemplative path myself, I now understand why.

The Heart of the Divine

Let’s revisit the mountain analogy. From the base of the mountain and through the lower portion of the climb to the top, the climbers can see the summit and be fully aware of their goal. However, while one path up the mountain may be covered in moss and small flowers, the face of the mountain opposite is significantly snow covered or perhaps strewn with large rocks. The summit itself may even look a bit different depending on the face one is standing on. This is analogous to organized religious practice and belief, which differ greatly from one world religion to another.

As the climbers near the summit, however, all the faces begin to look similar. The Contemplative Christian’s description of the last leg of the journey far more closely resembles the Zen Buddhists, or the Jewish mystics’ than their description of the earlier phases of the climb.

The summit, a meaningful, intimate, and “right” relationship with the divine, is something all faiths strive towards. This truth may be dressed in drastically different traditions, holy books, and creeds, in large part due to differences in the foundational cultures of the founding fathers and mothers of the faith. Due to these differences, early on the practioners of various faiths believe themselves to be on journeys to different end goals. And just as a grapple hook and crampons may be essential on one path up the mountain while hand chalk and cams would be more appropriate on another, so too the practices and rituals differ from one spiritual tradition to another.

For those just beginning or midway through their journey to God, their experiences of the mountain are irreconciable.

The Summit

Contemplatives, unlike the rest of us humans, are not satisfied with simply being on the mountain; they desire to reach the summit and meet God face to face. Their spiritual practice takes them beyond ritual and creed. Through extensive time of prayer, contemplation, and meditation, they strive to touch the face and heart of God directly and to embody this same spirit of God within themselves.

As the summit nears, the pure loving nature of the divine comes into focus, as does the illusion of our separation from God and each other. The great contemplatives of the past (St. Francis, the Buddha, Teresa of Avila, Ramana Maharshi, and Rumi, among dozens of others) have drawn close to the mountain peak. Despite their radically different religious foundations, their revelations and writings, when studied closely, reveal that the world’s main religions all reach the same end goal: the heart of the divine.

Starting and Ending with Contemplation

The contemplatives are the sherpas of the mountain of faith. Having reached the summit themselves, they provide the training for those beginning the climb. Paul, one of the first Christian contemplatives, had “mountaintop” experiences that transformed him and drew him very close to the heart of God. As a result of his inner transformation, he had the tools to fashion practices that would help his fledgling Christians to follow his path to the summit.

Whether through introducing the practice of the Eucharist, Baptism, and styles of prayer, he and other early contemplatives laid the groundwork for traditional Christian worship and prayer. Ultimately, the purpose of these rituals and traditions (though at times we miss the boat in our practice of them) is to draw us closer to the heart of God, to ease our path up to the summit.

The same is true of the traditions of the other faiths. The rituals are given by those who have developed a deep, intimate relationship with the divine to help others do likewise.

The contemplatives have already scaled the mountain. The trail markers, ropes, footholds, and guideposts they leave behind, though specific for their side of the mountain (cultural understanding of God), are designed to help us to make the journey as well.

As we ourselves near the summit, we too become contemplatives, inviting the spirit of God into our hearts and being changed from within. Thus, the journey starts with the tools and lessons given from the contemplatives of the past and ultimately leads to us becoming contemplative believers ourselves, even if an intimate relationship with God only happens after our soul leaves our physical body.

Following in their footsteps

Since it is these spiritual sherpas who have been guided directly by the divine who have lead the way of faith through the millenia, it stands to reason that there is wisdom in learning not just from the traditions and practices themselves, but also directly from those who developed them.

Over the next several weeks, this blog will feature an in-depth look at the contemplatives who formed the foundations of our faith, Christianity. Starting with the apostle Paul, we will learn from those who have scaled the mountain from the perspective of the Christian faith. We will discover what it means to draw close to the summit and how that journey deeply transforms both us and our world.

I invite you to join me for this journey of spiritual growth.