Locations of Spirituality: 'Experiences' and 'Writings' of
the Sacred
Conference Report
26-27 October 2002
Humanities Research Centre, ANU
Convened by Dr Minoru Hokari
Background
The aim of this conference was to bring researchers from various
disciplinary and cultural backgrounds together in order to query
and cross the boundaries of 20th century ‘secularism’.
Through this process, we sought to find possible arenas within
which we can develop an adequate language for discussing the contemporary
and historical experiences of ‘spiritual realities’.
In the era of globalisation, questions relating to the ‘locations
of spirituality’ need to be (re)addressed in order to explore
such issues as impact of religious fundamentalism and the search
for a ‘sense of belonging’ in (post)colonial societies.
Furthermore, these questions relate to long debated issues of
‘otherness’; from signalling the ethical and methodological
impossibility of representing ‘the other’ to the struggle
for the possibility of communicating with ‘the other’.
Is it possible to express, discuss, and write about inter-subjective
spiritual experiences across cultural, political and historical
boundaries, given the histories of colonisation, appropriation
and religious conflicts which exist in the world today? Is it
possible to set out some frameworks to enable mutual trust in
order to facilitate a cross-cultural dialogue between true equals?
If not, what are the pre-conditions for facilitating this type
of communication in the future?
Questions
The overall question was whether or not we can talk and/or write
about lived experiences of spirituality without reduction, and
without either misrepresenting others, or having the life-blood
of spiritual experiences appropriated by others. More specifically,
the following questions were discussed:
(1) Is it possible for indigenous and non-indigenous individuals
in settler societies to discuss and share their varying spiritual
experiences in their lands and societies?
(3) How can we ‘express (talk, discuss, share, and write)’
our own and others’ spiritual experiences, once we reject
the Reductionist notion of ‘beliefs’ and accept them
as ‘lived human experiences’?
(3) Accordingly, <a>: how can we (both indigenous and non-indigenous
writers) express ‘my/our spirituality’ without fear
of being stereotyped by the other, and <b> how can we write
‘her/his/their spirituality’ without being oscillated
between the polarities of ‘respect but reject it’
and ‘universalise and/or steal it’?
(4) In a more philosophical manner, what lies in-between the
‘secular’ and the ‘sacred’? How can we
think of spirituality as an inter-subjective process
Result
There were 33 participants including 22 speakers and four commentators
for a two-day conference. Speakers with indigenous and non-indigenous
backgrounds from Australia and elsewhere enthusiastically engaged
with the issues raised above. Inter-disciplinary conversation
was well facilitated, covering history, anthropology, religious
studies, literature, philosophy, education, and non-academic spiritual
healing. The conference was a great success especially in the
sense of creating a generous and supportive environment together
in order to explore this potentially highly controversial issue.
The project convener especially thanks Leena Messina for constant
support with her expert knowledge on how to run the conference.
A published volume based on this conference is now under preparation.
Enquiries
Leena Messina, Programs Manager, Humanities Research
Centre, ANU
Email: Leena.Messina@anu.edu.au
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