Spotlight on CLAL
To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archives, click here.
The Aspen Ideas Festival
Now in its third year, the
Aspen Institute, one of the country’s premier think tanks, held its
prestigious Aspen Ideas Festival in July. A key participant in the program,
which was sold out, was CLAL President Rabbi Irwin Kula, who was featured in
three sessions.
On July 3, 2007, in a program entitled Religion and the Public Square, Rabbi
Kula joined author Dr. Alan Wolfe, Professor at Boston College; the Rev. Jim
Wallis, Editor-in-Chief of Sojourners magazine; Nancy Gibbs,
Editor-at-Large at Time magazine; and Reza Aslan, commentator for
NPR’s Marketplace to look at the deep divisions in America, the
impact that religion has on both the political process and society, and the
ever-shifting boundary between church and state. Jon Meacham, Managing
Editor of Newsweek, was the moderator.
Rabbi Kula discussed the need to distinguish between the political issue
of separation of church and state and the cultural issue of religion in the
public square. “We need to be vigilant regarding the former and encourage
greater expression of the latter. This is precisely the meaning and import
of religious liberty and it is particularly liberals who should understand
and affirm this.”
He continued, “It becomes incumbent upon people who bring their religious
and spiritual values into the public square to do so in a way that is
accessible and understandable to people who are from different faithful
communities. When we can bring our whole selves to the public square,
including our religious beliefs and values, then the public discourse and
conversation becomes more robust and vibrant.”
In the evening he joined with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, the leader of the
Shambhala lineage and one of Tibet’s most respected incarnate lamas, for a
session on Spiritual Practice for Enlightened Living. The session was the
first held by the Ideas Festival to deal directly with religious/spiritual
practice. The Sakyong and Rabbi Kula discussed with each other and the more
than 300 attendees how spiritual practice works to affect consciousness and
deepen one’s capacity for compassion. They both offered teachings and
specific practices from their respective traditions. The Sakyong led a group
meditation, while Rabbi Kula gave a teaching on holding together the
existential paradox: The world is created for us individually, and we are
only dust and ashes.
On July 5, 2007, Rabbi Kula joined with her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan
and The Sakyong for a session on Compassionate Leadership in a Violent
World. Rabbi Kula offered that compassion is not a quality one just has but
rather is a quality that needs to be developed and cultivated. As with any
art, he pointed out, one can become more proficient at compassion the more
one practices it.
”We see the world in a distorted fashion as we only see fragments or
pieces of the picture. Compassion is the art of seeing a fuller more
expansive and inclusive picture. Ultimately to see the full perspective
the whole story is what we mean by seeing things from God’s perspective.
Seeing the ‘whole’ creates understanding, genuinely doing justice to a
situation is what we mean by compassionate leadership. It is actually what
we ask of God vis a vis judging us on Yom Kippur. This is the
challenge of compassionate leadership.”
The Aspen Ideas Festival gathers the foremost scientists, artists,
politicians, historians, educators and other great thinkers and leaders,
presenting them with a unique opportunity to engage with each other in
programs that raise awareness, nurture new thinking, and build understanding
of some of the most innovative ideas of our time.
To view photos, click
here.
To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archives, click here.
To return to the home page, click here.
To receive the Spotlight on CLAL column by email on a regular basis, complete the box
below:
