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Table Collective is a creative interspiritual community
cultivating compassionate, creative, connected lives through mindful sharing of art and spirituality

Creativity & Spirituality

(and what does "interspiritual" mean?)

 

Creativity and Spirituality come from the same place in our experience of being human. They both invite us into authentic self-awareness, and connect us to intuition and consciousness beyond our individual selves. By bringing them together in a creative interspiritual community, we are embracing the beautiful, interconnected, Mystery of Compassion flowing through both our spiritual and creative lives.

So what does “interspiritual” mean?

Whether a particular religious heritage uses the language of union, oneness, or emptiness there seems to be a similar core experience at the heart of the contemplative or mystical streams of so many religious and wisdom traditions. At the same time, there are also unique and important differences that each spiritual heritage has to offer which can enrich the way we see the world and experience connection. This approach to sharing in our diverse spiritual streams together is what the term “interspiritual” is getting at. 

Across spiritual traditions, the contemplative life leads on a path toward letting go of our need to self-protect, self-promote, or serve our own egos. And simultaneously there is an expansion of our hearts in compassion as we come to see the Sacred in every thing—including our deepest selves, whether we understand that in terms of a personal Divine, consciousness, or other framing of Reality.

In saying that we are forming a community that is interspiritual, we mean that we want to practice a posture of mutuality, wherein we can each share from our own background and receive from the wisdom and beauty of other religious heritages, spiritual streams, and creative expressions.

This is both an acknowledgment that there are differences between religious traditions (or else there would be nothing new to receive!) and also reflects a hope that there is harmonious and life-giving interconnection that emerges as we share and receive, regardless of what traditions we each come from or remain within.

Each of us has our own spiritual background and upbringing–an initial container in which we learned the nature and meaning of life, the world, and being human. This is true whether we were raised with an identifiable religious identity, or with no named tradition at all. And many of us have deconstructed or reimagined our ways of seeing life, humanity, the universe, and Reality / Source / the Divine. For some that may have taken us to a place where we no longer identify with our religious tradition but recognize a deeply entwined spirituality in our lives. For others, it may feel best to remain within our original heritage and honor its wisdom, but with a broadened understanding, openness, and contemplative emphasis. 

Just as we all have different spiritual and religious heritages, so too, we all have different artistic and creative backgrounds, assumptions and experiences. We understand and express creativity in different ways–in every artistic medium, and every field of human endeavor. Creativity flows from our very nature. 

Sharing our creative expressions with one another is a connection point of our shared humanity and a window into another’s experiences of being alive. It is another mode of sharing our spirituality, our ways of being in the moment, finding meaning in life and relationships, discovering who we are, how loved we are, and experiencing our interconnectedness. And reflecting on our experiences and understanding of the creative process and its sources or Source is integral to our creative interspiritual community. 

Our hope is that everyone can connect to share and receive from one another authentically as who they are—whatever ways they might currently describe their creative and spiritual life and practice.

We intentionally are not prescribing any one belief system or religious tradition. When Table Collective or invited guests do teach about, or share resources from, various religious and spiritual and artistic and creative traditions, our hope is to present a plethora of options and wells from which we can draw wisdom and resources for our own creative and spiritual lives. 

We want Table Collective to be a community where we are able to walk alongside one another as companions on the journey. Where we contribute to each other and receive from each other. Where we do so from a posture of deep listening, helping one another to notice and sit with the inner stirrings, questions, and hopes. 

Creativity & Spirituality

(and what does "interspiritual" mean?)

 

Whether we use language of union, oneness, or emptiness there seems to be a similar core experience at the heart of the contemplative or mystical streams of so many religious and wisdom traditions. This is the insight that the term “interspiritual” is getting at.

Across spiritual traditions, the contemplative life leads on a path toward letting go of our need to self-protect, self-promote, or serve our own egos. And simultaneously there is an expansion of our hearts in compassion as we come to see the Sacred in every thing—including our deepest selves, whether we understand that in terms of a personal Divine, consciousness, or other framing of Reality.

In our approach to forming a creative interspiritual community, we want to practice a posture of mutuality, wherein we can each share from our own background and receive from the wisdom and beauty of other religious heritages, spiritual streams, and creative expressions.

This is both an acknowledgment that there are differences and particularities (or else there would be nothing new to receive!) and also reflects a hope that there is harmonious and life-giving interconnection that emerges as we share and receive, regardless of what traditions we each come from or remain within.

Each of us has our own background and spiritual upbringing--an initial container in which we learned the nature and meaning of life, the world, and being human. This is true whether we were raised with an identifiable religious identity, or with no named tradition at all. And many of us have deconstructed or reimagined our ways of seeing life, humanity, the universe, and Reality / Source / the Divine. For some that may have taken us to a place where we no longer identify with our religious tradition but recognize a deeply entwined spirituality in our creative lives. For others, it may feel best to remain within our original heritage and honor its wisdom, but with a broadened understanding, openness, and contemplative emphasis.

The hope is that everyone can connect to share and receive from one another authentically as who they are—whatever ways they might currently describe their creative and spiritual life and practice.

We want Table Collective to be a community where we are able to walk alongside one another as companions on the journey. This is a posture of deep listening, helping one another to notice and sit with the inner stirrings, questions, and hopes.

When Table Collective or invited guests do teach or share resources from various religious and spiritual traditions, our hope is to present a plethora of options and wells from which we can draw wisdom and resources for our own creative and spiritual lives. The aim is not to teach one right way, or for anyone to change their religious identity.

TL;DR

(or questions you may still have)

Connection, Compassion,
& Creativity

(some of our ways of seeing)

We are connected, already, within our most authentic selves, to one another and all of the cosmos. This connection can be cultivated, and has multiple dimensions:

  • connection with our deepest self
  • connection with others and the collective
  • connection with nature and the cosmos
  • connection with Source / Divine / Self (however we each see Reality)

We see compassion as a powerful, healing, freeing “force” woven throughout the fabric of Reality.

We see creativity as the endless flow of Reality bringing everything and every moment into being.

Connection, Compassion, and Creativity are interdependent. Creativity and Compassion are woven together as they flow from and through our connection with ourselves, with others, with the cosmos, and with the Sacred Source.

  • When we cultivate connection we experience and release compassion and creativity.
  • When we cultivate compassion we experience and release creativity and connection.
  • When we cultivate creativity we experience and release compassion and connection.

 

More on Art & Religion

(we know it can be a complicated relationship)

Are Art and Religion the Same Thing?
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What about religious traditions that are careful about the kinds of art, song, and dance we create and enjoy?

We are very aware that people within different religious heritages raise important questions about the place of art. Indeed, some question whether their religious heritage would encourage art at all. Some artists who are also devout religious adherents may struggle with feeling they may be somehow betraying their own religious convictions by pursuing their art and creative endeavors.

Because of this we felt it would be helpful to articulate how we understand the perspectives of different religions relative to art and artists, and how we approach this place of intersection between worlds which are often kept separate: art and religion.

Read More