Engaged Spirituality
Encyclopedia
Engaged Spirituality refers to religious or spiritual people who actively engage in the world in order to transform it in positive ways while finding nurturance, inspiration and guidance in their spiritual beliefs and practices. The term was inspired by Engaged Buddhism
a concept and set of values developed by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Engaged Spirituality encompasses people committed to social change from all the major faith traditions as well as people who refer to themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” It has numerous iterations in practice yet common themes unite the many forms it takes. For some in the Catholic
tradition, Liberation Theology
guides their form of engaged spirituality.
values that, supported by their spiritual practices galvanize their efforts for social change. They see a deep connection between personal and social transformation such that they feel compelled to engage in organized causes or service activities. Their activities are infused with their spiritual sensibilities regarding how matters of ultimate concern – the overarching context delineated by their faith tradition – are related to daily living, habits and practices. Examples of activities are: peace activism, civil rights and human rights activism for minority groups, environmental activism, and service on behalf of the poor and homeless.
Unlike much of the pop spirituality that is promoted in countless books, audio programs, and internet sites, engaged spirituality maintains a focus on societal transformation. Pop spirituality on the other hand, despite its politically liberal leanings, tends to concern itself primarily with personal, psychological betterment that lacks a deep commitment to social change and activism.
Engaged spirituality involves a synthesis of individual, subjective experiences and outer, collective activities. The individual and the collective mutually support, shape and transform each other. For example, prayer or meditation may serve as a way for an individual to gather strength and gain insight that will guide and enhance the efficacy of their social change efforts. Their experiences gathered in their outer activities – which involve relating to and learning from others – may influence the texture of their prayer or meditation experiences. Thus there is a continual, interwoven process of spiritual growth and reaffirmation to improving one’s local/global community.
Daniel Berrigan
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
William Sloane Coffin
Dorothy Day
John Dear
Marian Wright Edelman
Mohandas Gandhi
Bernie Glassman
Fannie Lou Hamer
Thich Nhat Hanh
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Aung San Suu Kyi
14th Dalai Lama
Michael Lerner
Joanna Macy
Howard Thurman
Jim Wallis
Cornel West
Elie Wiesel
Simone Weil
Malcolm X
An interfaith chapter-based organization.
Sojourners Christian-based social justice advocacy and awareness-building.
Engaging SpiritualityChristian spiritual-deepening process for small groups
LiberationSpirituality.Net Retreats for integrating contemplative practice with justice work.
Dana Wiki Helps Buddhist organization get involved in social service
Engaged Buddhism
Engaged Buddhism refers to Buddhists who are seeking ways to apply the insights from meditation practice and dharma teachings to situations of social, political, environmental, and economic suffering and injustice...
a concept and set of values developed by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Engaged Spirituality encompasses people committed to social change from all the major faith traditions as well as people who refer to themselves as “spiritual but not religious.” It has numerous iterations in practice yet common themes unite the many forms it takes. For some in the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
tradition, Liberation Theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
guides their form of engaged spirituality.
Common Characteristics
Individuals who practice this mode of spirituality tend to hold progressiveProgressive
Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a period of reform in the United States Progressive is an adjectival form of progress and may refer to:-Politics:* Progressivism, a political ideology* Progressive Era, a...
values that, supported by their spiritual practices galvanize their efforts for social change. They see a deep connection between personal and social transformation such that they feel compelled to engage in organized causes or service activities. Their activities are infused with their spiritual sensibilities regarding how matters of ultimate concern – the overarching context delineated by their faith tradition – are related to daily living, habits and practices. Examples of activities are: peace activism, civil rights and human rights activism for minority groups, environmental activism, and service on behalf of the poor and homeless.
Unlike much of the pop spirituality that is promoted in countless books, audio programs, and internet sites, engaged spirituality maintains a focus on societal transformation. Pop spirituality on the other hand, despite its politically liberal leanings, tends to concern itself primarily with personal, psychological betterment that lacks a deep commitment to social change and activism.
Engaged spirituality involves a synthesis of individual, subjective experiences and outer, collective activities. The individual and the collective mutually support, shape and transform each other. For example, prayer or meditation may serve as a way for an individual to gather strength and gain insight that will guide and enhance the efficacy of their social change efforts. Their experiences gathered in their outer activities – which involve relating to and learning from others – may influence the texture of their prayer or meditation experiences. Thus there is a continual, interwoven process of spiritual growth and reaffirmation to improving one’s local/global community.
Individuals: Past and Present Examples
Ella BakerElla Baker
Ella Josephine Baker was an African American civil rights and human rights activist beginning in the 1930s....
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan
Daniel Berrigan, SJ is an American Catholic priest, peace activist, and poet. Daniel and his brother Philip were for a time on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for their involvement in antiwar protests during the Vietnam war....
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and martyr. He was a participant in the German resistance movement against Nazism and a founding member of the Confessing Church. He was involved in plans by members of the Abwehr to assassinate Adolf Hitler...
William Sloane Coffin
William Sloane Coffin
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. was an American liberal Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian church and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ....
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist, and did not hesitate to use the term...
John Dear
John Dear
John Dear is an American Catholic priest, Christian pacifist, author and lecturer. He has been arrested over 75 times in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience against war, injustice and nuclear weapons.-Studies:...
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman
Marian Wright Edelman is an American activist for the rights of children. She is president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund.-Early years:...
Mohandas Gandhi
Bernie Glassman
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....
Thich Nhat Hanh
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi, AC is a Burmese opposition politician and the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy. In the 1990 general election, her National League for Democracy party won 59% of the national votes and 81% of the seats in Parliament. She had, however, already been detained...
14th Dalai Lama
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama is the 14th and current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are the most influential figures in the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, although the 14th has consolidated control over the other lineages in recent years...
Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner may refer to:*Michael Lerner *Michael Lerner , inventor of the Baby on Board signs*Michael Lerner *Michael Lerner , social activist...
Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy
Joanna Rogers Macy, Ph.D , is an environmental activist, author, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology.-Biography:...
Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. He was Dean of Theology and the chapels at Howard University and Boston University for more than two decades, wrote 21 books, and in 1944 helped found a multicultural church.-Early life...
Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis
Jim Wallis is an American evangelical Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, and of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name....
Cornel West
Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, civil rights activist and prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America....
Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel
Sir Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel KBE; born September 30, 1928) is a Hungarian-born Jewish-American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He is the author of 57 books, including Night, a work based on his experiences as a prisoner in the Auschwitz, Buna, and...
Simone Weil
Simone Weil
Simone Weil , was a French philosopher, Christian mystic, and social activist.-Biography:Weil was born in Paris to Alsatian agnostic Jewish parents who fled the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. She grew up in comfortable circumstances, and her father was a doctor. Her only sibling was...
Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
Organizations
Network of Spiritual ProgressivesNetwork of Spiritual Progressives
The Network of Spiritual Progressives is an international political and social justice movement based in the United States that seeks to influence American politics towards more humane, progressive values. The organization also challenges what it perceives as the misuse of religion by political...
An interfaith chapter-based organization.
Sojourners Christian-based social justice advocacy and awareness-building.
Engaging SpiritualityChristian spiritual-deepening process for small groups
LiberationSpirituality.Net Retreats for integrating contemplative practice with justice work.
Dana Wiki Helps Buddhist organization get involved in social service