Woolman, Gandhi, and Spiritual Practice
Workshop number:
35
Mike
Heller
Short Description:
For John Woolman and Mohandas K. Gandhi nonviolent social activism and spiritual practice were inseparable. What can we learn from Woolman and Gandhi? Through reading, worship, discussion, and reflection we will seek to find depth in our own faithful living. All are welcome.
Long Description:
Expectations and objectives for the week:
This workshop will focus on our experiential responses to Woolman and Gandhi, through reading, journal writing, and sharing from our own lives. We will use brief readings for a meditative approach to finding more depth in our understanding of Woolman and Gandhi, regardless of each participant's previous knowledge.
A list of areas or topics that will be covered:
We will look at Woolman’s and Gandhi’s spiritual practices as well as examples of their nonviolent social actions. Topics will include items such as the following: the childhood-young adult journey; evolving spiritual practices; spiritual accompaniment and mentors; marriage; simplicity, duty, and calling; struggling to be heard; responding under adverse conditions; and struggles of later life. As the week progresses, I expect that we will see differences and commonalities in how Woolman’s and Gandhi’s spiritual practices relate to their social activism, and in how each approached and gained from writing spiritual autobiography.
A rough description of the format:
Each day we will have brief readings which highlight issues and perspectives as listed in the topics above. We will begin sessions with a short selection read aloud, followed by centering worship. We will not overload ourselves with long readings, but participants will be invited to read further each day, as they feel led. We will do journal writing during sessions and between sessions, and people will be asked to share from their writings to the extent that they are comfortable doing so. We will interact in the large group and in small groups through discussion of readings, sharing from our own life experiences, and various listening exercises. We will look briefly at historical context or intellectual issues, as needed, but I do not want us to go on too long in that manner. I want us to be maintain flexibility to adjust to the group’s needs and ideas.
Advanced reading, or reading assignments during the Gathering:
I would like to post advanced readings, as we get closer to July and the Gathering. Brief selections from two books will be used throughout the workshop: “John Woolman: A Nonviolence and Social Change Source Book,” (Wilmington College Peace Resource Center, 1997, reprint forthcoming, 2012), and “Mohandas K. Gandhi: The Last Eighteen Years,” (Wilmington College Peace Resource Center, 2011). Sterling Olmsted’s essay “Woolman and Gandhi and Human Betterment, or the Yoga of Peacemaking” will be a good stepping-off place for our week (it is published in the volume “The Tendering Presence: Essays on John Woolman” [Pendle Hill Publications, 2003]).
In addition (optional), participants are invited to read in Gandhi’s “Autobiography, The Story of My Experiments with Truth,” Woolman’s “Journal,” other writings by each of them, or writings by other authors on spiritual autobiography, journal writing, social activism, or spirituality.
Specific requests for items to bring to the Gathering:
Participants are asked to bring a journal in which they will be comfortable writing.
