Quaker Teachings and Personal Beliefs

Essential Teaching of Quakerism:

Quaker doctrine is minimal, while dogma is nil. We believe there is a "divine inner light" in every person (accessible through silent meditation and the contemplation of higher ideas), which illumines those who give priority to it; informing their thinking and their speech, as well as motivating their actions in the world, in such a way as to inculcate, within the collective mind, a greater awareness of the sanctity of virtues; compassion, tolerance, peace, charity, equality, patience, trust, hope, love, and so on.

This is the central tenet of the faith, and really the only doctrine, while other teachings are secondary and less than essential.


Secondary Teachings of Quakerism:

Pacifism, especially in the form of conscientious objection and nonviolent resistance, is encouraged, though every individual must decide for themselves if and when force becomes necessary or permissible.

Simplicity, or plainness, of lifestyle is likewise encouraged; materialism/consumerism is discouraged.

Truth and honesty are highly esteemed, and partly for this reason the taking of oaths is also discouraged, as it implies two standards of truthfulness; we believe that to swear or promise would be to suggest that one is less accountable to truth at other times (i.e. when one does not swear or promise), which we do not believe; moreover, that, because God is within, one is always in the presence of God (not merely when one places a hand on the Bible, for instance), so that a person who will lie without swearing is not likely to be prevented from lying by swearing.

Quakers may share various religious affiliations, though they have traditionally been Christians. In any case, the promptings of the inner light are accorded precedence over scriptures, and revelation is ongoing in the heart of every individual.


A Statement of Personal Beliefs:

I have found much to admire among the Buddhists, Hindus, Sufis, South American Shamans, and others, but Christ, along with the saints, mystics, ministers, and martyrs of Christianity, tend to be my primary religious influences.

Christ is, for me, the supreme manifestation and representation of God, though I recognize that God is ultimately formless and beyond conception.

This is in conformity with the Hindu practice of having a "chosen ideal"; an archetype or deity who carries the God projection, and therefor acts as a point of focus for religious activity. At the same time, I respect the rights of others to their own "divine projections", without considering that Christ is necessarily any more or less suitable for "the role" in an objective sense; only that he is more suitable for myself. Hence, if I call him "The Greatest" it is similar to when a child gives his father a "World's Greatest Dad" t-shirt, and should not be taken as a cause for strife; Christ is my spiritual father, Christians are my spiritual brothers and sisters, while deities of other faiths are spiritual aunts and uncles, and followers of other faiths are spiritual cousins.

Asking God for mercy and forgiveness is like asking the sun for light and heat; these belong to the incorruptible nature of divinity itself; and, though clouds of ignorance may cast shadows of guilt over the souls of men, the sun does not go black, nor does the Lord condemn. Nevertheless, there is some sense in asking God for mercy as a formality, and for convenience; as Paul says "I speak as a man", and as Christ asks to be baptized by John, because it is seemly, though he had no need to be baptized.

Moreover, the question of whether or not Jesus existed as an "actual" historical reality (in the same sense in which Gandhi existed, or in which you or I exist) or if he is "merely" mythical, is an irrelevant distinction. Christ is real without question, or we would not be speaking of him, nor having our hearts and minds inspired by the contemplation of him. The very idea of Christ has inspired more people to live virtuous lives than the actual physical presence of any other known being. If he does not belong to the material realm of fact, as our culture has defined it, yet he belongs undoubtedly to the archetypal realm of truth.

I believe that the ability to percieve how an idea or an archetype may be equally, or even more real, than a historical figure is a form of spiritual seeing, and only a person who can read "the spirit" as well as "the letter" of the law is prepared to receive this teaching.

"Who has ears to hear, let them hear."