In this episode, we are joined by Reverend Matthew Wright, a leading figure in the dialogue on contemplative life and interspirituality. With Reverend Matthew, we talk about Karl Jasper’s notion of the “Axial Age”and Ewert Cousins’ idea of a “Second Axial Age.” We also discuss the inherently interspiritual matrix from which religions are ‘birthed’ (including Christianity and Islam), and explore the deep and surface connections between the ‘Abrahamic Religions’ (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and the notion of an ‘Abrahamic lineage’ of spirituality. Some of the connections and topics we discussed include: shared forms of prayer, an emphasis on ‘relationality’ vs. identification with God, the notion of idolatry, and the Abrahamic investment in human possibility.
The Reverend Matthew Wright is currently priest-in-charge at St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church in Woodstock, New York, where he lives in community with the brothers of Holy Cross Monastery in Westpark, New York. He is also a close student of both Cynthia Borgeault in the Christian contemplative tradition, and a dervish of American Mevlevi Sufi sheikh, Kabir Helminski, and sheika Camille Helminski.
Links:
Golden Turtle Sound
Charis Foundation
Rev. Matthew Wright on the Second Axial Age