Living from the Center: Mindfulness Meditation and Centering for Friends (Pendle Hill Pamphlets Book 407) eBook : Brown, Valerie: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store

Living from the Center: Mindfulness Meditation and Centering for Friends (Pendle Hill Pamphlets Book 407) eBook : Brown, Valerie: Amazon.com.au: Kindle Store






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Valerie Brown
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Living from the Center: Mindfulness Meditation and Centering for Friends (Pendle Hill Pamphlets Book 407) Kindle Edition
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Quakers are advised to begin worship by “centering down.” This is the first step in a Friend’s intention to wait in “holy expectancy,” to be drawn by the Light into communion with God. Centering prayer is also a practice used by Christian mystics to prepare for contemplation; and “centering” describes the meditation of a Buddhist in pursuit of that deep awareness called “mindfulness.” Valerie Brown is an explorer and teacher of centering practices, a Buddhist, and an active Friend. Drawing upon her own experiences and wide studies, she describes for Friends how these various traditions can offer us a better understanding and preparedness for our precious, elusive, mysterious, and simple practice of centering into worship. Discussion questions included.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pendle Hill Publications (30 November 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 170 KB
Print length ‏ : ‎ 40 pagesBest Sellers Rank: 1,269,528 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)101 in Quaker Christianity (Kindle Store)
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Valerie Brown


Valerie Brown is an author, ordained Buddhist-Quaker Dharma teacher in the lineage of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village tradition, facilitator, and executive coach specializing in leadership development and mindfulness with a focus on diversity, social equity, and inclusion. A former lawyer and lobbyist, Valerie transformed her high-pressure, twenty-year corporate career into serving leaders and nonprofits to create trustworthy, authentic, compassionate, and connected workspaces.

Her forthcoming book is Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Simplicity, Awakening, and Peace (Broadleaf, 2022).

An accredited leadership coach, she is the Founder and Chief Mindfulness Officer of Lead Smart Coaching, LLC, supporting leaders to apply and integrate leadership and mindfulness for greater resilience, clarity, and creativity, and is a co-director of Georgetown’s Institute for Transformational Leadership.

Valerie leads an annual pilgrimage to El Camino de Santiago, Spain to celebrate the power of sacred places and is a certified Kundalini yoga teacher, engaging leaders to embody somatic wisdom and creativity.

www.valeriebrown.us


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Brian
4.0 out of 5 stars Commendable Work Linking Likeness and Honoring DifferenceReviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 21 August 2021
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The author is a teacher in the tradition of Plum Village, founded by Thich Nhat Hanh. In addition to being a Buddhist, she is a Quaker, or Friend, a member of the Society of Friends.

Brown seeks to show how Mindfulness and "expectant waiting" in Quaker Meeting, wherein Friends remain in silence, are alike and dissimilar. She discovered frustration by first trying to do Mindfulness Meditation in Quaker Meeting. This did not work. The basic difference is the intent.

In Quaker silence, persons, she notes, are in receptivity to God - this is referred to in diverse ways in the Quaker faith - often simply "the Light." In Mindfulness, the intent is to be receptive to one's own self-nature (Buddha Nature), wherein one moves through feeling and thought into intimacy with the aliveness within oneself, that one is. With this going within arises insight. In Quaker silence, insight is received through the Other and by divine grace. Hence, in Mindfulness, one does not posit a relationship to a Being other than one's own interdependent self with all - not self as ego or as individual person (ego and person are insubstantial concepts) -, rather, one discovers being in intimacy with that one truly is below thoughts and emotions. Hence, Buddhism is often referred to as nontheistic - "nontheistic," not "atheistic" ... the Buddha did not deny the existence of God, he treated it as a distraction from the work with self to be done to find freedom from suffering (dukkha), wisdom (prajna), and compassion (karuna) toward all beings.

Likewise, Brown introduces Centering Prayer. Centering Prayer is a theistic form of meditation. It is a prelude to formless contemplation, or Contemplative Prayer - also called Pure Prayer due to being free of all conceptuality. Hence, it is in theory more like expectant waiting than is Mindfulness. It is reminiscent of what Quakers call "centering down," wherein one progressively centers the self in wakefulness to the Divine presence as God and the movement of the Divine among the gathered community of worshippers.

Certainly, while Mindfulness is a nontheistic meditation and Centering Prayer, with its method of what Quakers call "centering down," is theistic, finally, it seems to me, one can lead to, even encompass, the other. The two are not as different as it appears in theory, even though they begin with a different premise.

Both Mindfulness and Centering Prayer logically lead to nondual awareness, and in this, the idea of God, the Light, Buddha, Buddha Nature - all conceptions personal and abstract -, are no more. Mindfulness leads to the experience of an intimacy with oneself, or Buddha Nature; but, here again, the meditation ushers into a non-conceptual felt-knowing, an experience, that can be called God - Thich Nhat Hanh has referred to "God" at times while being non-theistic. And to say, "I have discovered God," means, in nondual consciousness, "I have discovered my true self - the one Self-in-communion with all selves." This is so, for in God or in True Self there is not a separate other to posit a subject-and-object relationship.

Yet, for Friends who maintain a theistic duality, or Buddhists who retain a nontheistic duality, Mindfulness and centering in the silence have different ends due to the conceptual projection of opposites. Hence, it seems to me the author is demonstrating that the intent of Mindfulness and expectant waiting among Quakers differ for the premise "God" is in one, shaping the intent and ends, and not the other, likewise shaping the intent and ends.

I found the work somewhat repetitive and oft overlapping, due, I sense, to the author working to clarify the relationship of these methods different in underlying worldview and actual practice. Yet, this kind of work is needful, as we seek to create understanding among and of different wisdom traditions, seeing how they complement while not denying different aims and ends. We do no service by saying things like, "All religions are the same" or "All religions have the same goal." Brown pens a commendable work by doing just this honoring of the likeness and difference of two traditions' way of being in the silence. She honors they are not the same, even if they can lead to the same end - the phenomenal self finding its home within Being, the undifferentiated, formless Source that differentiates into the particular form each being is.
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The Atheist’s Guide to Quaker Process: Spirit-Led Decisions for the Secular - Friends Journal

The Atheist’s Guide to Quaker Process: Spirit-Led Decisions for the Secular - Friends Journal

https://www.friendsjournal.org/book/the-atheists-guide-to-quaker-process-spirit-led-decisions-for-the-secular/?fbclid=IwAR0xfqK9BPk3U57sf3srkyy813BdPhggqrwyQ82NwPaeH_r8048N__y3Brk#:~:text=The%20Atheist%E2%80%99s%20Guide,Quaker%20Book%20Reviews




The Atheist’s Guide to Quaker Process: 

Spirit-Led Decisions for the Secular  

By Selden W. Smith.

Reviewed by Windy Cooler
November 1, 2022

By Selden W. Smith. Pendle Hill Pamphlets (number 472), 2021. 

32 pages. $7.50/pamphlet or eBook.
Buy from QuakerBooks

Friend Selden Smith has written a Pendle Hill pamphlet on Quaker process that both captures what it means to make Quaker corporate decisions with integrity, love, and respect for everyone in a community, and what it means to make these decisions without a shared ideology around the presence of the Divine in the same community. The Atheist’s Guide to Quaker Process is really a Quaker guide to Quaker process in that—despite what the title provocatively implies—one does not need to be an atheist to appreciate the insights it provides into how Friends ideally engage one another.

One also does not need to be a Quaker to appreciate the insights this pamphlet shares. Smith says that Quakers face challenges in continuing our business processes in institutions that increasingly include non-Quaker decision makers, as a result of:


the need to recruit members of the wider community to . . . boards—partly because there just aren’t that many Quakers, but mostly because the institution rightly seeks the wisdom and skills to be found outside Quaker circles.

Smith also points out that there is a “skyrocketing number of people who identify themselves as nonbelievers,” or “nones.”

For Quakers, Smith says, these two factors 

• (the presence of non-adherents as decision makers in our institutions and 
• a growing body of what he refers to as nontheists in our meetings) 

need not be an impediment to what is core to Quakerism: our discernment processes. Smith goes on to explain in patient detail how a Quaker meeting operates and what the roles and responsibilities of Friends and decision makers in Quaker institutions are.

While Smith says that Quakers appreciate democracy, “majorities can be wrong.” A strength of the Quaker way is that even “timid voices and awkward phrasing are given as much attention as confident eloquence.” 

This enables what Quakers call a “sense of the meeting,” taking into account all of the wisdom that is present in a space, which leads to better decisions than those that may have been arrived at more quickly. 

There is no “bargaining and compromises,” as in consensus, which, Smith points out, is not a Quaker process. 

What this means, Smith says, is that decisions unify a community by respecting both the integrity of the individual and of the group. Ideally, when decision makers labor with one another, they are able to continue to move through their lives together, not pushing dissenters out and not missing important wisdom.

This kind of unity does not preclude conflict, Smith says:

you can hardly advocate for a world of equality and justice without expecting a fair amount of conflict. The goal of the meeting is not to avoid it but approach it forthrightly, filled with love, and committed to unity.

While one can block a decision, one has the responsibility and obligation to labor with others around the concern. Similarly, the community should not ignore or repress the concerns of Friends who find themselves in the awkward position of blocking a decision, but it should actively engage with a person and labor to find resolution.

Smith offers practical and detailed advice as well as ideological grounding for Quaker process. Records of proceedings (minutes) are vital to Quaker process, and can offer further insight: “If wording really proves difficult, that may be a sign that the group is actually not close to unity, in which case the issue may be postponed to the next meeting.”

Minutes should detail a decision, not record names of those involved or the process by which the decision was reached. Clerks are not chairs, Smith advises, and when speaking on an issue, speak to the issue, not to another person in the room. Quaker process is not a debate. Don’t attempt to overpower someone else, show humility for the work others have done and for the common concern you share, and work to establish trust that will allow good process to shine.

Quaker process will involve tension and hard work, Smith says, and will involve a relaxation of one’s ego. While “ego gets a bad rap,” Smith notes that in other contexts, it serves a real purpose, “but the price we pay for the ego’s relentless stewardship is a general blindness to the massive forces underlying it.” Quaker process is a way to be truly free to be your best self, a life “without regrets,” with integrity, courage, patience, trust, humor, and mindfulness.

The root of the word religion means “to bind up in a bundle,” Smith says. This connected and organized way of being together is what Quaker process is about, and when we truly embrace this, we can be “friends” even more so than “Friends.”

Windy Cooler is a Quaker practical theologian and cultural worker serving in public ministry under the care of Sandy Spring (Md.) Meeting in Baltimore Yearly Meeting. Along with her husband, Erik Hanson, she is also the coeditor of the news section of Friends Journal.

====

Kerry O'Regan

I think that the Quaker decision-making process is something incredibly valuable we have to offer the world. Instead of a binary process of yes/no voting where there are winners and losers - those whose ideas are acted upon and those (may be 49% of the group) whose ideas are rejected, there is a process of group discernment where the various perspectives are expressed, listened to, reflected on, massaged, until an outcome is reached which is accepted by all. 

(And if that can't happen, the matter is put aside for now - an outcome isn't forced.) 

The process can take time and requires patience, openness, and careful, respectful listening to each other (also a skilled facilitator who can attempt to sift and meld the various viewpoints). 

Quakers often describe it as being "led by the Spirit", 

but it sounds as though this book might describe the process in more secular terms, which would be a good selling point for a wider audience. I have, btw, read of similar decision-making processes being part of Australian and other First Nations cultures as well.

25 Years of Quaker Universalism - Friends Journal 2008

25 Years of Quaker Universalism - Friends Journal

25 Years of Quaker Universalism

August 1, 2008

By Rhoda R. Gilman

In May 2008, Quaker Universalist Fellowship turned 25 years old. Many Friends would argue that what we usually call Quaker universalism is as old as the Religious Society of Friends itself and has been alive and well for 360 years, not only 25. Yet around the year 1980 there was a strong impulse among Friends on both sides of the Atlantic to reaffirm the universality of Quakerism in a world vastly different from that known by George Fox. The result was two new organizations, formed within a period of five years: Quaker Universalist Group (QUG) in the United Kingdom and Quaker Universalist Fellowship (QUF) in the United States.

The Religious Society of Friends emerged from World War II with a new generation of pacifist leadership and a global reach. A sign of this was the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded jointly to Friends Service Council of London and American Friends Service Committee in 1947. During the 1950s and 1960s, as the United States and the Soviet Union remained frozen in a balance of nuclear terror, old patterns of colonialism dissolved elsewhere in the world. New voices called for human rights, spiritual renewal, and a struggle for justice through nonviolent protest. Across Asia, Eastern faiths were reawakened both by the challenge of Western science and the hope for independence and social change.

Among Friends, a few like Teresina Havens had already been attracted by Buddhism with its close parallels to Quaker practice, and many had listened to the words of Mohandas Gandhi. Although Gandhi’s voice was stilled in 1948, he was soon echoed by others like Thich Nhat Hanh in Vietnam and the Dalai Lama from Tibet. By 1970 popular culture in the West had been stirred, and a powerful wave of Eastern spiritual practice was sweeping through Europe and the U.S., accompanied by a renewed interest in mysticism and esoteric religion of all kinds.

There was also a counteraction. While unprogrammed Friends, like other liberal Christians, flocked to Zendos and practiced mindfulness meditation on meetinghouse benches, Friends Evangelical churches grew by leaps and bounds through missionary work in Africa and Latin America. At the same time, more traditional Friends in England and the United States defended the Christian foundations of Quakerism.

In 1977, John Linton addressed the Seekers Association in London. He had worked and worshipped for many years in India, and he spoke from his experience at New Delhi Meeting when he challenged Quakers to cut their historic ties to Christianity and fulfill their destiny as "a faith that no longer divides but unites humanity." The time was ripe, and Friends who had silently felt the same need went public in 1979 to form QUG. Three years later, U.S. Friends invited Linton to bring his message across the ocean, and in 1983, at a gathering held in London Grove meetinghouse near Philadelphia, QUF took shape.

Both groups were small and have remained so. Quakers are busy folk, and some questioned the need for yet another organization to support. In the United States QUF also faced barriers of distance and diversity, and active membership was almost by necessity concentrated in the mid-Atlantic states. For a few years QUF held semiannual lectures and workshops. Papers given at them were printed as pamphlets and mailed to a wider membership around the country, accompanied by a short newsletter. Governance was informal, since Internal Revenue Service codes did not then require incorporation for religious nonprofits, and the active members were a small, well-acquainted group. In time, lectures were dropped or were occasionally co-sponsored with other Quaker organizations, but publishing continued.

The de facto headquarters and distribution center of QUF became the 1850 stone farmhouse of Sally Rickerman, who served as treasurer, membership clerk, printer, and sometimes editor. She also maintained outreach by mounting displays and selling pamphlets at the annual gatherings of Friends General Conference. Although the subscriber list was not over 300, pamphlets and the newsletter were mailed on their twice-yearly schedule, and in 1986 QUF produced a 100-page collection of six pamphlets originally published by QUG in Britain. Its ambitious title was The Quaker Universalist Reader Number 1.

A rather sleepy appearance, however, belied the group’s lively intellectual presence. Differing interpretations of universalism evoked searching discussions about whether identification with the Christian history and cultural heritage of Quakerism were essential to a spiritual understanding of Quaker practice, even if not needed for "salvation." In short, are universalists of differing religious faiths truly Friends? Can Christocentric Friends be considered universalist?

Boundaries were pushed even further as Friends in various meetings became concerned about embracing Wicca or paganism and accepting nontheists. Some, who felt under suspicion at their own meetings, maintained that QUF provided them with shelter and a spiritual home; others argued that Quaker universalism by its very nature should be a unifying force, embracing all and not standing at the opposite pole from any beliefs. Two QUF pamphlets, including one by Dan Seeger, its most frequent and best-selling author, became staples of the "Quakerism 101" curriculum produced by Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.

Less controversial over the years were essays and meditations on Buddhist, Hindu, and Islamic thought, and ongoing reflections on the theme of mysticism. Universalists argue for the relationship of early Quakerism to the mystical movements of late medieval Europe, and their interest in the history of that period has led to the reprinting of two 17th-century pamphlets never before made available to modern readers: The Light Upon the Candlestick, 1663/1992, and Fifty nine Particulars—To the Parliament of the Comon-Wealth of England, 1659/2002. Also reprinted have been two studies on the militant forerunners of Quakerism in 17th-century England, written by David Boulton.

As it entered the 1990s, QUF described itself as "an informal gathering of persons who cherish the spirit of universality that has always been intrinsic to the Quaker faith. We acknowledge and respect the diverse spiritual experience of those within our own meetings as well as of the human family worldwide; we are enriched by our dialogue with all who search sincerely. We affirm the unity of God’s creation."

During its second decade the communications revolution brought by computers and the Internet had a transforming effect. The first step, taken in 1995, was to start a conversation among widely scattered QUF subscribers. Until then they had been largely silent, but an e-mail list allowed them to exchange views, life stories, and experiences. Within a few months there was correspondence from Canada, Australia, Japan, England, and all corners of the United States. Some pieces were suitable for short articles, and the newsletter soon took on the character of a small journal.

A year or so later, a website was created. It went through several incarnations until in 2003 it became the main publishing arm of QUF and revitalized the e-mail discussion list with new technology. By then the physical labor of printing, folding, stuffing, and mailing the newsletter and pamphlets, plus the hours required to keep an accurate roster of paid-up members, had outgrown the energy of a handful of aging volunteers. Meanwhile, the freedom and worldwide reach of electronic publishing promised a powerful way to spread ideas and sustain discussion. So the decision was taken to make all publications except books available without charge on the Internet and to rely on contributions from sympathetic and like-minded readers for income. The task of mounting the library of pamphlets on the Web is still going forward hand-in-hand with the production of new materials (see http://www.universalistfriends.org).

The growing visibility of QUF on computer screens across the world has accompanied more activity at annual FGC Gatherings. In 1996 an overflow crowd attended the QUF interest group session, and since then a weeklong series of programs has been sponsored nearly every year. A further step was taken when members decided to devote a modest legacy received in 2003 to bringing distinguished plenary speakers to the Gathering—a service that had been performed for some years by Friends Journal. Named in honor of Elizabeth Watson, an author and longtime spokesperson for Quaker universalism, the QUF lectureship sponsored John Shelby Spong in 2005 and Marcus Borg in 2007.

Those speakers, along with a lecture by Elaine Pagels, which QUF cosponsored with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting in 2006, reflect a new current within the wider world of mainstream Christianity. It has been stimulated during the past century by scholarly study of the Bible and by the rediscovery of ancient texts long excluded from the Christian canon. One spokesperson for this current, Patricia Williams, is the present editor of QUF’s newsletter/journal Universalist Friends. She has recently been invited to membership in the Westar Institute, best known as the organization that sponsors the "Jesus Seminar," and she is the author of Quakerism: A Theology for Our Time, published last year in England. "All Quaker libraries might wish to have at least one copy" of this book, according to a reviewer in the March 2008 issue of the British magazine The Friend.

To Pat’s work the QUF owes a milestone that marks the rounding out of its first 25 years. Sifting through articles published in both Universalist Friends and its British counterpart, the Universalist, Pat selected material for two additional Quaker universalist "Readers." Entitled Universalism and Religions and Universalism and Spirituality, the volumes bring together a wide range of Quaker voices from both sides of the Atlantic. Although differing greatly in the words and images they use, the authors, each in his or her own way, address the agonizing problems of 21st-century global civilization and the religious conflict that threatens to destroy it. All call for Quakerism to fulfill John Linton’s vision of "a faith that no longer divides but unites humanity."

----

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Rhoda R. Gilman, a member of Twin Cities Meeting in St. Paul, Minn., is a historian and editor. She has authored books on Midwestern and American Indian history. She ran for lieutenant governor of Minnesota on the Green Party tic

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Diversity and Unity in the Religious Society of FriendsOne of the trickiest tasks before the Religious Society of Friends today is embracing our diversity without losing our center,…

25 Years of Quaker UniversalismIn May 2008, Quaker Universalist Fellowship turned 25 years old. Many Friends would argue that what we usually call Quaker…

Opening to the Spirit in CreationI see myself within the Quaker Universalist tradition, which affirms that there are many paths to Truth, and that no…

Quakers, from the Viewpoint of a NaturalistI grew up loving nature and feeling part of it—dirt, bugs, people, and everything. It was, and still is, amazing…

Finding Dropt LettersThe Religious Society of Friends contains a number of very active members who attend worship every week, yet do not…

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Quaker Universalist Fellowship - Online Publications

Quakerism: A Mature Religion For Today by David Hodgkin



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Online Publications         Annotated        by Date        by Author        by Title      Date Author Title 2010 Angell, Stephen W. A Quaker in Iran   It is a tremendous pity that so few Americans get an opportunity to travel in Iran. Its mosques and its ancient monuments are incalculable treasures, but the opportunity to visit with Iranian peoples is a treasure even more to be cherished.   2009 King, Sallie B. A Quaker's Response to Christian Fundamentalism   Many Friends are unprepared to meet the challenges of Christian fundamentalism. When acquaintances, co-workers or neighbors accost us, insisting upon certain conservative or fundamentalist theological views, many Friends find themselves tongue-tied and do not know what to think or say....   2009 Gillman, Harvey What is Spirituality?   Our attempts to establish a vision of peace, justice, equality, respect for the environment, are all aspects of this spiritual vision. Indeed our testimony in the world is the proof of the depths of the vision we have been granted.   2008 Riemermann, James Mystery: It's What We Don't Know   In this essay the author reflects on the nature of reality and the origins of the Western monotheistic tradition. He, then considers the conundrum posed by this and raises questions regarding the nature of boundaries of Quaker universalism and where non-theists place fits in relation to it.   2008 Rickerman, Sally Trust: My Experience of Quakerism's Greatest Gift   The author, who from her lifetime immersion and experience of Quakerism , being given by nature to “march to a different drummer,” shares her discovery that it is not only a safe place to be but also an immensely enriching one. She reports on finding that “the resulting tensions between individualism, universalism, freedom and community are mediated by trust.   2007 Gilman, Rhoda R. The Universality of Unknowing   A snapshot of the life and writings of Luther Askeland, a philosopher, teacher and mystic. Luther Askeland, author of Ways in Mystery: Explorations in Mystical Awareness and Life, has published essays and articles. Rhoda Gilman reflects on the importance of Askeland's thinking in her life.   2007 Seeger, Daniel A. Commerce, Community, and the Regulations of Universal Love   John Woolman’s essay A Plea for the Poor provides a starting point for Dan Seeger’s reflections in this pamphlet, was a vigorous argument for justice and equality in economic relations. Thus, according to the author, if the universalist principles of Quaker belief extend an inner light and a spirit of love to all humankind, then certainly in today’s global world the ethics of Quakerism must extend to global economy. Seeger both reminds and makes the reader aware, therefore, that Friends from George Fox’s generations and beyond have questioned the moral crime of making human beings (as distinct from human labor) into a marketable commodity.   2006 Gilk, Paul Radiant In Joy   A long-time ecological thinker and critic of American consumerist society, h has also written two books and a collection of poetry. The essay presented here has been condensed from a longer piece, and I hope that in "pruning" it I have preserved for QUF readers a lot of its unique style—often blunt, sometimes whimsical, and always deeply thoughtful. Paul is the kind of appreciative author an editor loves to work with, and I follow his express instructions here in "taking a deep bow." R.R.G.   2006 Williams, Patricia A. Hazardous Engagement: God Makes a Friend   This spiritual autobiography, written during 2001 and 2002, is framed as a series of monthly letters to the spiritual presence. The author later discovered that this spiritual presence who had been her teacher during those seven years had taught lessons that were in close accordance with the theology of the first Quakers!   2005 Boulton, David Militant Seedbeds Of Early Quakerism     Was Gerrard Winstanley a Quaker? Did he have any direct connection with Quakers? Did George Fox read his books and pamphlets, and was he influenced by them? These questions — the first two, at least — were asked in the seventeenth century, and have been asked again by historians and scholars in the twentieth.   2005 Sibley, Mulford Q. In Praise of Gandhi Technology And The Ordering Of Human Relations   During the 20th century, Friends were deeply influenced by Gandhi’s concept of nonviolent resistance as a tool for social and political change. They have been less sympathetic to his ideas on technology, although as Sibley makes clear, those ideas were rooted in Gandhi’s religious beliefs and in a testimony of simplicity not unlike that of traditional Quakers.   2004 Rush, David They Too Are Friends A Survey of 199 Nontheist Friends   While at Woodbrooke, as a Fellow, Rush was able to research on both sides of the Atlantic the perspective of 199 non-theist Friends. According to Doug Gwyn, “It is an important piece of fresh research on a growing phenomenon in the liberal branch of Quakerism over the past several years.”   2004 Seeger, Dan The Mystical Path: Pilgrimage To The One Who Is Always Here   In discussing mysticism, Dan Seeger observes, ’As there is given to us some degree of awareness of the ineffable mystery of God we are shown the way to complete ourselves, both as individuals and as communities, in accordance with the principles of compassion and truth which are the basis of our natural and intended character.’   2003 Gilman, Rhoda Review: Essays in Radical Quakerism by David Boulton   Rhoda Gilman reviews a collection of articles by David Boulton, a British Quaker historian.   2003 Wood, Frank Walking the Talk   A sensitive article by a Friend who continues his search.   2002 Fox, George Fifty nine Particulars   Fifty nine Particulars laid down for the Regulating things, and the taking away of Oppressing Laws, and Oppressors, and to ease the Oppressed. This is the first, since 1659, reprint of Fox’s impassioned plea to Parliament. It is not a theological treatise, but in the Addendum, Fox makes a passionate plea for religious liberty.   2001 Schmoe, Floyd Why Is Man?   QUF has edited selections from this book, originally published privately in 1983. This is a small collection of meditations on science, nature, humankind and God. Schmoe was a concerned Friend, a dedicated environmentalist and an active peacemaker.   2001 Sells, Michael The Generous Qur'an   QUF is privileged to be able to present Sells’ sensitive translations of ten of the suras (chapters) of the Qur’an. This gives our readers an opportunity to understand more fully and to appreciate the universality and beauty of the Islamic message.   2001 Abbott, Jay & Cooper Waiting and Resting in the True Silence: Three Essays from Friends Bulletin   These three essays give the experiential reflections of three authors on the meaning of Meeting for Worship to each of them from a universalist perspective.   2000 Sibley, Milford Q. Quaker Mysticism: Its Context and Implications   This posthumously published essay gives the reader the clearest definitions of mysticism available. It also notes that Quaker mysticism, in its framework of group discernment, and helps distinguish illusion from truth in the religious experience.   1999 Rickerman, Sally Growing Up Quaker and Universalist Too   The author looks back on her journey as a Quaker universalist -- from her ancestral roots in 17th-century Quakerism, to her family’s experiences on the American frontier, to her own being a 20th-century Friend by both ’nature and nurture’. She also reflects on her perceptions of Quakerism and the leadings that have drawn her into working for QUF.   1998 Amoss, George Reforming Christianity   The early Quakers combined the apocalyptic, the mystical, and the prophetic.   1998 Morgan, Arthur E. Should Quakers Receive The Good Samaritan Into Their Membership?   As we look today at the world-wide wave of fundamentalism and see the way it threatens to divide both the world and the Religious Society of Friends, many of Morgan’s insights speak to us with fresh conviction.   1998 Mulford Q. Sibley & Rhoda R. Gilman Authority and Mysticism in Quaker and Buddhist Thought   These two essays have a common thread which lies in the authority given by both Friends and Buddhists to personal religious experience. And this, as Sibley points out, opens the door to universalism, for mystical experience of the divine and sacred is universal, not limited to Christianity or any other religious tradition.   1997 Alpern, Robin Why Not Join the Unitarians?   Can a non-theist find a home in the Religious Society of Friends?   1997 Seeger, Daniel A. I Have Called You Friends: A Quaker Universalist's Understanding of Jesus   Dan uses John 15:15 to explore his own relationship to and with Jesus and how it effects his universalism. He points out many of the ’unresolvable dichotomies ... innate to humankind’s spiritual quest’ and the overwhelming unifying quality of love.   1996 Amoss, George On Silent Worship   What should I be doing during silent worship?   1996 Cadbury, Henry J. A Quaker Approach to the Bible   Given at the Guilford College 1953 Ward Lecture, Cadbury’s exposition of the Quaker approach is today still germaine to Friends as he carries on a long tradition.   1996 Fager, Chuck The Authenticity of Liberal Quakerism   An answer to evangelical Quakers from the ’Beanite’ viewpoint.   1995 Gilman, Rhoda Toward a New Universalism   The importance of Quaker mysticism in defining what is Universal.   1995 Hodgkin, David Quakerism: A Mature Religion for Today,   This view of Quakerism -- as a body defined by its form of worship, the quality of its community, and its service to the world is presented by a presiding clerk, who later became secretary of Australia Yearly Meeting. He states that Quakerism is ’centered toward a God not cramped by definitions which will satisfy some and estrange others.’   1995 van der Sprenkel, Otto Friends and Other Faiths,   This is the text of the Ninth James Backhouse Lecture given in Canberra at Australia Yearly Meeting, January 7, 1973, and published by Friends at the same time. Among the implications of his title is that Friends themselves have a ‘faith’ or system of beliefs that can usefully be compared or contrasted with ‘other faiths.’   1994 Conlon, Emily William Penn, Quaker Universalist   A discussion of Elizabeth Gray Vining's pamphlet: William Penn, Mystic   1994 Knudsen-Hoffman, Gene Spirit and Trauma   During a time of mental illness, Knudsen-Hoffman explored the relationship between religion and psychological health. Insights gained and meaningful meditations from Quakerism, Zen Buddhism and Hasidic Judaism are shared with readers.   1994 Nicholson, John The Place of Prayer Is A Precious Habitation,   The author summarizes for Friends the testimony of John Woolman about his rich and varied prayer life. He also helps us understand how it moved from direct prayer to living the spirit of prayer.   1994 Swayne, Kingdon Universalism and Me   A non-Christiam Quaker briefly explains his origins and his approach.   1992 Balling, Peter The Light upon the Candlestick   QUF takes great pride in presenting a 1663 Quaker tract which argues for the authenticity of inward experience. This pamphlet also has a summary by Rufus Jones in its preface. The Epilogue reports on newly discovered connections between Quakers, the Collegiants and Spinosa.   1992 Gwyn, Douglas The Quaker Dynamic: Personal Faith and Corporate Vision   Gwyn tells of his concern that Friends need focus to ’...reclaim the unique Christian spirituality of Quakerism as the shared core of our faith.’ Here he distinguishes between personal faith and shared witness, rejoicing in the light shining in lives of other religionists.   1992 Hearing Where The Words Come From Four Perspectives   Tom Ceresini, Mickey Edgerton, Al Roberts and Sally Rickerman heeded the comment made by a non-English-speaking American Indian, listening to John Woolman, ’I love to hear where the words come from.’ Sharing the wide variety of religious experience which shaped each’s faith, all present were able to hear the Spirit and not let words interfere with deep understanding.   1991 Seeger, Daniel A. The Boundaries of our Faith A Reflection on the Practice of Goddess Spirituality   This is a thoughtful account of events that started with a women’s weekend at Powell House (NYYM’s conference center) and ended at that year’s Yearly Meeting sessions. Seeger consulted with the Friends involved and has noted where their perspectives differed from his. QUF is indeed privileged to be able to publish this important document.   1991 Watson, Elizabeth Journey to Universalism   Elizabeth lovingly shares her life’s spiritual experiences particularly as she made her pilgrimages to Israel, India and Greece. She found that the journey to universalism is a journey to the universe.   1990 Walters, Herb Adventures in Listening   Herb Walters has taken his Listening Project successfully to areas of racial, ethnic, and cultural conflict. Here he recounts some of the methods and results of the increasingly used ’Listening’ to bring seemingly opposed ’sides’ to mutual understanding and reconciliation.   1990 Varieties of Religious Experience: An Adventure in Listening   QUF was given an opportunity to truly listen with open hearts to the variety of ways that some of their fellow Friends, from a wide range of theological perspectives, give structure to their lives.   1988 Seeger, Daniel A. Quaker Universalists: Their Ministry Among Friends and in the World   Defines the reality of Quaker universalism and reviews the opportunities for the Fellowship to become a reconciling and enriching group among Friends.   1986 Seeger, Daniel A. The Place of Universalism in the Religious Society of Friends: Is Coexistence Possible?   One of four panelists speaking on Quaker ’theology’ at the 1986 FGC Gathering, Dan traces the universalist strain in Quakerism and reflects on ways to truly share our religious unity.   1985 Dulles, Avery Revelation and the Religions   QUF is pleased to reprint a chapter from the book Models of Revelation written by the then Father Dulles. This distinguished Catholic theologian reveals, through meticulous scholarship, the various positions on Divine revelation taken by both Protestants and Catholics and the ’inbuilt tension between particularism and universalism.’   Hetherington, Ralph Readings For Universalists   Testimonies of important Quakers both today and yesterday.   Hetherington, Ralph The Defining Marks Of Quakerism   The inward light as the essence of Quakerism.

 

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