a friend's notes from the frontlines of human possibility...

Below, unedited, are notes taken by a close friend who attended a lecture given by the incomparable Karen Armstrong. I will let her account speak for itself:

Karen Armstrong

St. Barnabas Anglican Church, Toronto
Friday, March 31, 2006

Karen Armstrong gave a 45-minute lecture on her latest book, The Great Transformation, and answered three questions. These are my notes. jk

• The great transformation took place between 900 and 200 BCE, a period known as the Axial Age. (A second great transformation began about 400 years ago and is still in progress.)

• The chief characteristic of the Axial Age was getting rid of religiosity. Theological speculation is a waste of time, it said. A teacher is like a raft: you use it to cross water to get where you want to go but, once there, you do not carry the raft around with you on your back; you get rid of it.

• The Buddha refused to speak about God. He said that silence is the only true response to any divine reality one might experience.
  

• The key to experience of the divine is getting rid of the ego, a reaching into the unconscious world. God is at the opposite pole of ego.

• The WAY to get rid of ego is to cultivate COMPASSION. In this effort, Confucius stands out. He was the first to teach utter altruism or, the golden rule; i.e., do nothing to another which you would not wish to have done to you. All religions insist on this way of encountering the divine. “Love the stranger in your land.”
  

• Love (in the scriptures) was not an emotional term, but a legal one. You didn’t have to like the stranger, but you had to wish the same for her as you wished for yourself.

• The Greeks made a great contribution to this kind of love through their tragic dramas. One of the purposes of a play such as The Persians by Aeschylus was to make the spectators weep out of compassion for their enemies. The catalyst for this kind of drama was revulsion at violence and wars. (It was nothing like the violence that exists in our own times, but it was significant.)

• The development of YOGA was another way out of violence. It was the first attitude to adopt. It gave space for compassion to develop. It brought joy.

• “Religious” people, then and now, prefer to be RIGHT rather than COMPASSIONATE. This, of course, is EGO, whether one is speaking of religious or of secular opinions.

• So, the Axial Age tried to mitigate violence.

• We live in a time of enormous danger. The challenge of the 21^st century is to learn to live together, to have concern for EVERYBODY. We must see other nations as we see ourselves. We already KNOW this, so we do not need great prophets and sages to explain it to us.

Questions and Answers

Question 1: What do you think about “intelligent design”?

Answer: I think it is a red herring. Why does it matter who made the world? The way to live is to bless everybody. As for me, personally, I don’t share in any religious belief but, if it helps someone else to be kind, I think it’s okay. Be wary of strong opinions, be they religious or secular. They are egotistical.

Question 2: Do you have a team of researchers to help you write your books?

Answer: No! Research is the good part, the best part, of writing a book. For me, it’s a kind of prayer.

Question 3: How do you see the future of Christianity?

Answer: ALL religions now have to adapt. The future must lie in a greater pluralism. The scriptures are abused today. We must think about how we use difficult scriptural texts, i.e., ones that glorify war. Christianity must be compassionate to survive. And don’t rely too much on our leaders to show the way!