From: jroth@aegis.or.jp (Joel Roth)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.quaker
Subject: Reactions to the new newsgroup (syrup alert!)
Date: 9 Nov 92 09:30:44 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Aegis Society, Kyoto Japan

First of all, I'd like to say 'thanks' for the opportunity to have
made an acquaintance with the Quaker tradition through this newsgroup
and the many inspired and informative postings here.

Funny that people have been following this path for hundreds of years,
and here I have been living more than thirty years without ever
knowing anything about it at all. Well, everything in its time!

My attention was immediately attracted by the description of the 
unprogrammed meetings; out of all the spiritual meetings I have ever 
attended of whichever tradition, I was always attracted by the rare 
unprogrammed ones in which no single personality attempted to dominate
or control the direction of the exchange.

Last year I was particularly moved with the spiritual content of the
'unprogrammed' communications I saw at an AA meeting in Tokyo that I
visited for a few months.  I had read through some of the AA
literature, but did not go far enough to ever see roots for the
teachings and methods beyond the immediate spiritual struggles of that
tradition's founding members.

(For those of you who aren't clear about what I mean by
'unprogrammed', I am referring not only to the quality of spontaneous
expression, but also to an expression of ones own inner experience
rather than a reaction to the words spoken by another.)

Now I have to reflect that AA must have drawn a great deal from the 
Quakers and other religious traditions in its early days (not so long
ago) digested and converted to strength in those individuals by
faith, the urgency of the moment and, perhaps, by the natural link
that I believe each soul shares with God.

I would be most interested and grateful if anyone could enlighten me
more about the connections between the AA and Quaker traditions, if
such do exist.

Now a second issue I was interested in is the diversity of the Quaker
beliefs. The awakening and surrender to "that of God which dwells
within us" seems to be a universal spiritual experience open to any
person regardless of faith. Likewise, "the power of God" seems to my
ears to address the Incorporeal Father of All, rather than the
teachings or virtues exemplified through the corporeal form of Jesus,
the Son, and the Father of Christianity.

On the other side, the Quaker tradition obviously draws a great deal 
from the teachings of Jesus as conveyed to us through the Bible and 
through the oral tradition of Christianity. I am especially moved by 
what I've seen of the qualities of love, humility and non-violence in 
the Quaker tradition. (In fact, I wonder if Jesus himself wouldn't be 
more at home among the humble Quakers than in any other branch of the 
tree of Christendom.  What I would consider to be examples of
especially Christlike behavior are the exchewing of clerical
encouterments (is this a word?), the practice and teaching of
non-violent conflict resolution, service in prisons, and wisdom in
the collecting and management of funds for charitable causes.)

It seems clear to me that there should be no conflict between the 
universal spiritual experience available to all souls of all 
religions, and the special experience of the qualities of God 
manifest through the life of Jesus. It is nice to see a place for
both within the Quaker tradition.

If there were a tradition in Christianity that could join hands with the
spiritual traditions of all other world cultures and religions, I would
guess it to be the Quakers.

I don't mean this to sound all syrupy, but this is as best as I can
formulate my positive first response to the sincere and humble pursuit
of truth that I have seen evidenced in these postings. I certainly
have something to learn here. I look forward to face-to-face meetings
with Quakers in the future, and more direct contact with this
tradition.

--
Joel Roth                     jroth@aegis.or.jp (reachable only from Japan)
Brahma Kumaris World          <Please post replies to the net>
Spiritual University          1-2-15-501 Nakamichi, Higashi Nari ku,
Raja Yoga Center, Osaka       Osaka, Japan 537, 81-6-971-7251