I admit it... I'm a bit obsessed with the notion of changing paradigms. As any one who has ever heard me give a Bhagavad-gita class knows, I invariably refer to buddhi yoga as the "yoga of shifting paradigms."
So, when I saw that Religion News Service was carrying an essay entitled The End of Modern Paradigms by Episcopal priest and inspirational writer Tom Ehrich, I was intrigued and decided to give it a quick read. I'm glad I did. Ehrich raises some very interesting points that I think have great relevance for ISKCON devotees today. Here are some excerpted paragraphs:
The end of a paradigm is a strange phenomenon to behold. First gradually, then suddenly, what had made sense no longer seems sensible. Structures and ideas that had made the world comprehensible longer convey meaning.
Even though it happens continually throughout history, the end of a paradigm seems surprising, a betrayal. Some look for a villain.
Their fading unsettles the landscapes of our lives and leaves us vulnerable to demagogues offering easy answers and the naming of villains, as well as charlatans offering escape. What are we to do?
I see two keys to dealing with dying paradigms.
One is to avoid absolutizing a paradigm, as if it were anything more than a convenient and valued method that no longer seems convenient or valued.
The other key is to avoid subsidizing the old paradigm. Institutions need to survive by serving effectively, not by exploiting nostalgia or guilt.
In the world of religion, we need to think deeply and humbly about the difference between a temporary paradigm and a timeless truth. This won't be easy for us, for we have been casual about absolutizing our preferences and traditions, and we find it hard to say "no more" to our own failing enterprises.
How much shorter and sweeter can we make Sunday worship, for example, before we realize that a 30 percent attendance rate means 70 percent seek meaning elsewhere? If parents aren't bringing children to Sunday school, we should stop cajoling and condemning them and rethink the enterprise of transmitting faith.
God is still God, but our paradigms for comprehending God might need some refreshing.
(Excerpted from The End of Modern Paradigms by Tom Ehrich © 2007 Religion News Service. All Rights Reserved.)
So, when I saw that Religion News Service was carrying an essay entitled The End of Modern Paradigms by Episcopal priest and inspirational writer Tom Ehrich, I was intrigued and decided to give it a quick read. I'm glad I did. Ehrich raises some very interesting points that I think have great relevance for ISKCON devotees today. Here are some excerpted paragraphs:
The end of a paradigm is a strange phenomenon to behold. First gradually, then suddenly, what had made sense no longer seems sensible. Structures and ideas that had made the world comprehensible longer convey meaning.
Even though it happens continually throughout history, the end of a paradigm seems surprising, a betrayal. Some look for a villain.
Their fading unsettles the landscapes of our lives and leaves us vulnerable to demagogues offering easy answers and the naming of villains, as well as charlatans offering escape. What are we to do?
I see two keys to dealing with dying paradigms.
One is to avoid absolutizing a paradigm, as if it were anything more than a convenient and valued method that no longer seems convenient or valued.
The other key is to avoid subsidizing the old paradigm. Institutions need to survive by serving effectively, not by exploiting nostalgia or guilt.
In the world of religion, we need to think deeply and humbly about the difference between a temporary paradigm and a timeless truth. This won't be easy for us, for we have been casual about absolutizing our preferences and traditions, and we find it hard to say "no more" to our own failing enterprises.
How much shorter and sweeter can we make Sunday worship, for example, before we realize that a 30 percent attendance rate means 70 percent seek meaning elsewhere? If parents aren't bringing children to Sunday school, we should stop cajoling and condemning them and rethink the enterprise of transmitting faith.
God is still God, but our paradigms for comprehending God might need some refreshing.
(Excerpted from The End of Modern Paradigms by Tom Ehrich © 2007 Religion News Service. All Rights Reserved.)
4 comments:
What can I say? Episcopalians, we're just amazing...
Any application?
^ Funny you should ask, Prabhu... I'm actually working on something now, and hope to have some thoughts up on the blog (a sort of abstract I guess) soon. But first, the evil forces of Kazakhstan must be dealt with.
subvert the paradigm
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