I am a Monk

A Monk in the World is a weekly space devoted to integral spirituality and the path of awakening, healing, and awakened living.

New people sometimes come into my life in unexpected ways, bearing gifts, as if sent from the Divine. So it was that I met Br Wayne Teasdale, author of “A Monk in the World,” at a pool party for the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. After a difficult three years spent living and training in Korean Zen Buddhist Temples in Ann Arbor and Chicago, I was exploring my Christian roots and contemplative practice. I loved Merton’s “New Seeds of Contemplation” and felt drawn to The Merton Society. At their monthly meetings, they hosted interesting speakers and I felt a deep bond with the members. So there I was, at the pool party in Kankakee, standing inside talking with friends. Avoiding the pool. I mentioned that I’d heard that Br Wayne was going to be at the party and right as I said those words, the sliding glass door opened with a flourish as Wayne entered, attired in a swimsuit covered by a saffron colored beach towel! He must have heard me mention his name. “I’m Wayne, he said.” “How nice to meet you, Wayne. I have heard that you’re friends with Fr Thomas Keating at the monastery in Snowmass.” “Yes. A very holy man.” “I was thinking I’d like to meet him. I’m trying to figure out what to do with my life. What do you think?””I’ll give him a call. You could go out for a six month stay.”

Br. Wayne Teasdale, 1945-2004

It was as if Br Wayne had read my mind. Six months at Snowmass? Are you kidding me! I had not realized it but this was the answer to my prayers. I went home sensing that a new chapter had surely opened up in my life. My post Zen Buddhist Temple funk was over. I was going to go to Snowmass to meet with Thomas Keating, one of the leading figures in interreligious dialogue and spiritual renewal.  For the first time in months, I was full of hope. Some days later, I read a short homily that Fr Thomas had written on the occasion of a new brother joining the order. Then that night, totally out of the blue, I had a wondrous dream - one of the most powerful I have ever experienced. In it, I was that monk being initiated. There I was, in full monastic robes, before Fr Thomas and the other brothers. In a simple ceremony, Thomas blessed me and bid me welcome to the order. That was about it. When I awoke the next morning, the dream state seemed to continue. I was still resting in my initiation, and my body was utterly at peace – relaxed, soft, and open. I have only felt so at deeply at peace a few times in my life. I felt it through and through – there was absolutely no anxiety or worry about anything. I am a monk, I realized. I live for God alone. I have been initiated. I have received the initiation. In that moment it was clear to me that whether I remained a research biochemist or took monastic vows, got married or remained single, I was a monk deep down. I remember driving up Clark Street with such a sense of joy and ease in my heart. Ecstatic. As it turned out, I did not immediately go out to Snowmass. In a way I no longer needed to. I had found my vocation. It was to be a monk right here, in Chicago. And so began the next phase of my life.

A few years later I was living in Hyde Park, Chicago, and working in the radiation oncology department at the University of Chicago. I was coming to terms with my desire, now stronger than ever, to find work that was more aligned with my identity, but for the present I was giving this opportunity my all. I remember getting up at 3:00am some mornings so that I could be in the lab by 3:30 and hopefully, if all went well, home by 5pm. That allowed me some life outside of work. I was still active in the Merton Society but had become a member of the Friends of Bede Griffiths, a new group centered around Br Wayne and his work. To my delight, Wayne also lived in Hyde Park and we would occasionally get together.

Wayne was a profound mystic – an intellectual mystic you might say. He was the type of mystic who might receive a spiritual illumination that would take hours, even days to unpack and understand. Though he was a great scholar, he had a generous heart that led him to share what he had with the homeless who lived in Hyde Park. Wayne knew many of them by name. He was Catholic but had a broad, expansive and nondogmatic view of religion and spirituality. It was Wayne that popularized the idea of “interspirituality,” a term perhaps first used by Fr Thomas Keating. Wayne felt that the Interspiritual view, which embraced the underlying unity of all faith traditions, was the spirituality of the future. He would go on to elaborate on this view in his books, The Mystic Heart and A Monk in the World.

We became good friends.

Br. Wayne with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Over the years, I had identified as Christian, Buddhist-Christian, and even Buddhist but I immediately recognized interspirituality as a better way of describing my spiritual orientation. I will no doubt have much more to say about my relationship with Wayne in the future. There is a lot to share. For now, I am curious to hear from you. I’ve touched on my discovery of my vocation as well as on my meeting Br Wayne. How did you come to find your vocation and what is it? How would you describe your spiritual orientation? If Interspiritual, how did you come to that view, and what does it mean to you? I look forward to reading your responses in the comments section!

I will close with a quote from Br Wayne from his wonderful book, The Mystic Heart.

“The religion of humankind can be said to be spirituality itself, because mystical spirituality is the origin of all the religions. If this is so, and I believe it is, we might say that interspirituality — the sharing of ultimate experiences across traditions — is the religion of the third millennium. Interspirituality is the foundation that can prepare the way for a planet-wide enlightened culture.”

Here's to our journey and our ongoing awakening to ever greater freedom and fulness of being!

Bill Epperly

Notes:

There are some good resources on interspirituality online. Here are a few:
https://charisinterspirituality.org/center-for-interspirituality
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/ecourses/course/view/91/interspiritual-wisdom?gad_source=1

I also identify deeply with Ken Wilber’s articulation of integral spirituality, which is essentially a further articulation of interspirituality. Google will reveal books and other resources, including Wilber’s awesome book, Integral Spirituality.

The homily I mentioned is in Fr Thomas Keating’s book, And the Word Was Made Flesh, p. 68