SATSANG MEETING Sept 2013- NEW DATE

Due to the unavailability of the Friends Meeting House the date for our Satsang Meeting has changed.

SATSANG MEETING SEPTEMBER 2013 NEW DATE

Saturday Sept 28th  1.30 - 4.30

FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE

Wolverhampton

FURTHER DETAILS TO FOLLOW

DANCING ACROSS THE ABYSS

The whole of Creation and the cosmos is evolving and have been for almost 15 billion years. We, despite our relatively recent arrival, are an important part  of creation and are not only part of it but are participants and  co-creators with the Mystery ,we refer to as God , by a thousand different names in the ongoing creation story. Humanity is on an evolutionary journey and, just as we have evolved ,and continue to evolve , at both the physical and psychological levels, we are also called to evolve at the spiritual level. This 'call to evolution' is a challenge to us all. For most of the time we tend to ignore, resist or suppress this challenge.

The spiritual wisdom of the ancients and of all the major Faith Traditions contains many reminders about spiritual evolution. They suggest that in order to evolve spiritually we must transcend our Ego Self and step out in confidence to find, nourish and encourage our Evolutionary Self. The Spiritual Masters suggest that our task is to find that 'space within’, what in the Hindu Tradition is referred to as the Cave of the Heart, and there in Silence and Stillness begin to journey across the Abyss that lies between the Ego Self and the Evolutionary Self.  Before going further with these reflections, let us pause to read and reflect on an extract from the Hindu Upanishads.

OM ………  In the centre of the castle of Brahman ( God) , our own body, there is a small shrine in the form of a lotus flower, and within can be found  a small space. We should find who dwells there, and we should want to know him.

And if anyone asks ‘who is he who dwells in a small shrine in the form of a lotus flower in the centre of the castle of God ? Whom should we want to find and to know ? ‘   we can answer.

 ‘ The little space within the heart is as great as this vast universe. The heavens and the earth are there, and the sun, and the moon, and the stars; fire and lightning and winds are there;  and all that now is and all that is not : for the whole universe is in Him and He dwells within our heart ‘

 And if they should say.     ‘ If all things are in the castle of God, all beings and all desires, what remains when old age overcomes the castle or when the life of the body is gone‘ ?  We can answer.

 ‘The Spirit who is in  the body does not grow old and does not die, and no one can ever kill the Spirit who is everlasting. This is the REAL castle of God wherein dwells all the love of the whole  Universe! ‘

Om Shanti,  Shanti ,Shanti

   Chandogya Upanishad  Hindu Scripture

These words from the Chandoga  are an attempt to convey the importance, uniqueness and immensity of the 'inner space' that exists within and around every one of us. They speak of the Self that can evolve and leave the Ego Self behind as it deepens its relationship with the Mystery that is at the heart of creation. This is where our True or Evolutionary Self can grow . The Christian Mystic St Paul uses the term ‘that your hidden self may grow strong’. A modern attempt to describe this place of Silence and Stillness can be found in the work of the poet TS Elliott. The following is an extract from the Four Quartets. This is a superb, deep and profound piece of poetry that captures the essential nature of patience as we wait in silence to meet the Mystery.

IN THE STILLNESS DANCING

The Importance of Waiting in Silence

I said to my soul, be still,

and let the dark come upon you
Which shall be the darkness of God.

As, in a theatre,
The lights are extinguished, for the scene to be changed
With a hollow rumble of wings,

with a movement of darkness on darkness,
And we know that the hills and the trees, the distant panorama
And the bold imposing façade are all being rolled away--
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Or as, when an underground train,

in the tube, stops too long between stations
And the conversation rises and slowly fades into silence
And you see behind every face the mental emptiness deepen
Leaving only the growing terror of nothing to think about;
Or when, under ether, the mind is conscious but conscious of nothing—

I said to my soul, be still,

and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing;

wait without love,
For love would be love of the wrong thing;

there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
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Wait without thought,

for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light,

and the stillness the dancing.

Here the poet emphasises the importance of waiting. However, this is a special kind of waiting; it is a waiting without thoughts. It is waiting in stillness and silence with hope, expectation and courage. This is the waiting that the Spiritual Masters call ‘Deep Listening’, ‘Awareness’ or ‘Meditation’. They suggest that this is a real homecoming to a state that is natural for humans, where we can leave behind the false security and servitude imposed by our unhealthy Ego Self. This is a place and a state where we can be truly at one with the Mystery and where we begin to attain our true potential. However, there is a constant battle or resistance waged by our Ego Self that discourages and prevents us from reaching out towards our Evolutionary Self. This is a ‘battle’ based on a deep paradox concerning the building of our healthy Ego Self and how we need to ‘drop the ego’ if we are to begin the journey into transcendence.  It can be helpful to understand some of the roots or causes of this battle. Which of them are normal for all humans and which are personal.

When we enter this life it is important that we have the right conditions for growth and unless our basic needs are met then we are restricted in our ability to even consider the area of transcendence. So before exploring the Ego Self  let us first look at the basic needs required for a healthy Ego Self.  The psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs for human growth in two main areas.  These are briefly outlined and shown below.

Basic needs   These are physiological, such as food, water, and sleep; and psychological, such as affection, security, and self-esteem. Basic needs normally take priority over  higher or growth needs.

Higher needs   also  called meta needs or being needs (growth needs). These include justice, goodness, beauty, order, unity, self-actualisation and self-transcendence.

SIMPLIFIED DIAGRAM OF MASLOW’s HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

Maslow proposes that unless some Basic Needs are met we cannot develop a Healthy Ego. This is needed to provide a ‘Secure Base’ from where we can begin to transcend the Ego and move on to our Higher Needs. It is at this higher level that we can begin to evolve, reach our true potential and find the Inner Centre or Space where we can more fully and authentically relate with the Mystery.  The paradox and the pity is that our true inner self is often blocked, not by the Healthy Ego Self but by the Unhealthy Ego Self. The latter is the part of the self that clings on to fears, insecurities and a false sense of retaining control; whereas, our Healthy Ego reaches maturity and is more willing to let go and transcend the self.

If our Basic Needs are met at a ‘good enough’ level, then it is much easier to begin to develop a healthy and much needed Ego.  Many of us have to subdue the unhealthy ego and develop a healthy ego in later life.  Developing a healthy Ego is very important as it helps to give us a sense of our uniqueness and provides a secure base from where we can begin the journey into transcendence. This is the journey which ultimately involves us in a surrender that will allow us to dance across the abyss into the presence of the Presence of Mystery.

However, the ‘shadow side; of our Ego is unhealthy. It is the part of us that is insecure, the part that doubts and a part that lacks the courage to surrender. In short, it is a ‘needy part’. Thus it joins forces with the natural part of us that fears the unknown and thus strengthens a normal paradox of humanity concerning intimacy. Our deepest innermost self longs for union and relationship and yet we fear this intimacy and its consequent loss of control. This is not only true in our deep intimate personal relationships but is doubly so when we face the intimacy of a relationship with the Mystery. There is much truth in the Hebrew saying ‘It is terrible (or fearsome) to fall into the hands of the Living God’.  

The spirituality of the ancients recognise the dilemma posed by this ‘clash’ between the unhealthy and healthy ego parts and many have a tradition of prayer about Presence. The following comes from Celtic Spirituality – one of its four founding principles  is Presence – and is a written by John O Donohue an Irish Celt

A Blessing for  PRESENCE

May you awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

May you have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

May you receive great encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path.

May the flame of anger free you from falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame and anxiety never lingers about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.

May you take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.

May you be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart

All this leaves us with several important questions. How do we develop a Healthy Ego and once developed how can we encourage this Ego to ‘let go’ and have the courage to dance across the abyss which is the abyss of abandonment and surrender to the Mystery?

These are perennial and deep questions and it can be helpful if we resist demanding ‘answers’ and are content to seek ‘responses’. These responses will come from deep within our own inner self. We are holistic people and our body-psych – spirit has a deep wisdom. In addition we have the inherited Universal Wisdom of the ancient spiritual traditions and the advice of the great sages and mystics.  Their advice is simple but paradoxically difficult. The advice is to quieten the mind , enter the doorway of silence and stillness and once there, sit and wait for that deep inner response. However, the Unhealthy Ego finds the practice of ‘waiting without thought’ very difficult and adopts a variety of strategies to resist. One of the favourite is to make use of the Internal Commentator and to ally this with another favourite – our fertile Imagination.

Most of us can identify with the Internal Commentator. It is like a background ever present voice that comments on and questions everything. It challenges any attempt at quiet using a variety of methods. It raises questions, jumps from one topic to another, dreams, sings, mocks, uses sarcasm and of course our fertile Imagination. In fact it tries anything rather than allow the mind to quieten down. In the Indian Tradition, the mind is likened to a chattering monkey. If you visit temples in India you will often see monkeys jumping about and chattering incessantly.  Many of us have had the experience of trying to sit still and then feeling deafened by the noise made by the Internal Commentator (some call it Infernal!). In addition, the ‘stories’ it tells can seem so real and factual. This is in stark contrast to the silence that the Mystics say precedes the meeting with the Mystery. Attempting to enter this silence can ,at time, seem unreal, unrealistic and perhaps an illusion. Therefore the Internal Commentator will use this latter thought as yet another resistance and thus switching it off is not an easy task. It is often a better strategy to begin to turn its level down and eventually off.

The Spiritual Masters remind us that beyond the Internal Commentator and our fertile Imagination is the Inner Silence, the place that the Chandoga Upanishad describes as ‘The Cave of the Heart’. It is here that we can find the Reality that is the Mystery – and thus experience a real homecoming. In order to develop both the capacity and ability to find Inner Silence, we must first value it and it is a well known fact that we give time and attention to what we value. Ishpriya Mataji, the spiritual guide of the International Satsang Association, reflecting on the importance of communicating in silence has this to say: ‘we need to recover the power of silence to aid communication because when, in silence, we can listen to the other’s being we can respond out of our own being’.    Essentially, although this will require holistic work it is mainly ‘Soul Work’ because to truly evolve we need to open ourselves to our ‘innermost self’ which essentially is our soul/spirit. This is true spiritual and life long soul work that requires a serious and conscious approach to Sadhana – a Sanskrit word loosely translated as Spiritual Practice.

It is now time to return to the Internal Commentator and its roots. These are in two main areas , the normal and the personal. The normal is common to the vast majority of people, i.e. our natural tendency to be anxious about unfamiliar territory and lack of control. This is part of the programming of our brain in the Amygdala region which is designed to play a part in  ensuring our survival and that of our species. This results in an almost ‘hard-wired’ programme which encourages us  to be suspicious of the unknown, to carefully approach new territory and to tread warily as we slowly explore and move forward. Any sudden or unexpected occurrences will ‘strike up’ the Flight- Freeze- Fight parts of our brain and automatically force us into one of these three responses. In addition, each of us will have our own unique life experiences, cultural influences and personality type which will reinforce the Amygdala’s natural response. Here again, our brains will have heavily reinforced neural pathways that will quickly strike up in certain situations. In addition we are programmed to remember negative experiences. Hence the saying in neuroscience ‘ Sticks are stronger than carrots’ . It can take many positive experiences to outweigh a negative one.  How can we begin to modify and reduce these natural tendencies and what practices can aid us in this endeavour?

Well both modern Neuroscience and ancient wisdom have some answers. Neuroscience suggests that our brain possesses a remarkable ability to adapt and change- this is often referred to as Neural Plasticity. In other words we can basically re-wire our brain. Here science meets ancient wisdom as both agree that practices that calm down the Sympathetic Nervous System and fire up the Parasympathetic Nervous System, allied to developing awareness  can rewire our brains. That is, they can reduce anxiety and create new neural pathways or strengthen existing ones. Two of the easiest and well researched methods are  breath awareness/control and mindfulness.

The former is well documented in Hinduism and is one of the eight limbs of Ashtanga Yoga. This is known as Pranayama or control of the breath.   Printable copies of several basic Pranayama practices can be accessed on the UK Satsang Associations Website www.satsang-companionship.org  . These can be found in the Resources section.

Mindfulness practices are many and well publicised. By beginning to develop a regular practice , or Sadhana, of Pranayama and Mindfulness, one can calm down the Amygdala and develop positive neural pathways that begin to open us up to deeper reflection.  Here again , further details can be accessed  at www.satsang-companionship.org.uk

As we develop our practice of pranayama and mindfulness they can prepare us for the deeper practice of Meditation. Other Blogs and resources on our Satsang Website outline this in detail. However some useful points now follow.

 

Meditation

In our Meditation Practice we are invited into a deeper relationship with God, Ultimate Reality. We enter a period of practice ( or silent prayer) which involves us in reaching deeper levels or states of silence.  Sister Ishpriya, the Spiritual Guide of the International Satsang Association,  often reminds us that our meditation practice  is ‘an invitation to follow the sounds of our life into the inner silence’.

Our meditation practice is a gateway into the actual meditative state. In short  our Sadhana, or practice is the Journey but  it is NOT the Goal. The latter is the Meditative State which is pure gift. This is the actual Abyss into which we fall.    In both Hindu and Buddhist spirituality , these two states have distinctive names and outcomes. Whilst I am not an expert in either Tradition, I am a little more familiar with Hinduism. Let us look at Hinduism and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.  Here we find the two stages or states more clearly outlined. The quote below gives us some ‘clues’ to both Meditation and Meditation Practice. Let us start with the latter.

However, for most of us, suddenly finding a ‘place’ where nothing exists is like falling into a deep abyss and is very challenging. It requires great faith and courage and for most of us this is a life long journey with , perhaps, tiny glimpses into the Unknown Abyss.

These reflections are merely designed to put forward a few points about the common lifelong struggle of Spiritual Seekers

DANCING ACROSS THE ABYSS - Day of Reflection

Seeking Together

The Satsang Association
( UK Midlands & North)
HOSTS

A Day of Reflection   
 
Saturday 13th July 2013 ( 10.30-4.30)
Friends Meeting House

8b Summerfield Road, Wolverhampton

DANCING ACROSS

THE ABYSS

Dancing Across the Abyss

The whole of creation and the Cosmos are on an Evolutionary Journey. We are part of this journey and, just as we evolve physically and psychologically, we need to focus on our Spiritual Evolution.

The Spiritual Wisdom of the ages and of the major Faith Traditions, remind us that to evolve spiritually our task is to Transcend the Ego Self and   begin to find our Evolutionary Self.  To requires us to have the courage to cross the Abyss that separates the Evolutionary from the  Ego Self  with its tendency to resist change and attempts to retain control.

Spiritual Wisdom suggests that to relate to the Mystery ( we call God) we need to calm and subdue the Ego Self  and find the space within where the true  Self is. This is a space of Inner Silence and Stillness. Our task is to courageously let go and in the Stillness relax and learn to Dance Across the Abyss.

This Day of Reflection will focus on this theme and provide the opportunity to listen and watch input, reflect and find time for Silent Prayer/Meditation.

This is an OPEN EVENT and ALL are WELCOME

COST: To cover the cost of hiring the Hall and drinks there is a suggested donation 

                  of £5 /person

PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN PACKED LUNCH

Swami Chidananda - A Fruitful Life

SIGNPOSTS ON THE JOURNEY

Great Spiritual Lights 

The pathway for Spiritual Seekers can often be both long and, at times, arduous. Fortunately all the great Faith Traditions have examples of Great Saints and Sages, who by their life and example help to 'throw light' on the spiritual pathway.  One such was the great Hindu Master , Swami Chidananda.

Many years ago I visited India  with my wife Angela and  other members of the International Satsang Association. It was a 'pilgrimage' to many of the important sacred places of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.  This pilgrimage was  led by Sister Ishpriya. We stayed at the Sivanandas Ashram in Rishiskesh and , from there, went to Haridwar, where  we were  fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet with this humble and holy man.

Chidanandaji, was the President of the Divine Life Society, based in Rishikesh. He was a devout  and humble disciple of his Guru , Swami Sivananda, who founded the Divine Life Association.  Chidananda was a quiet, humble and very holy man, whoce very presence illuminated any gathering. Below is a simple teaching of his on living a Fruitful Life.

The secret of a fruitful life

The secret of a progressive and fruitful life is to be inwardly ever linked with God, linked with the Cosmic Being.When there is no connection, when you cut yourself off from the source of your being, then your life will be full of pain and suffering, misery and fear, negativity will prevail.

If you want to put an end to this, the only way is to link yourself with God, who is your source, your origin. Keep that connection either through enquiry and discrimination, or through constant unbroken remembrance of God and devotion, or through meditation and continuously thinking about Brahman, or through worshipfully dedicating all activities to Him. Then, day by day your spirit will begin to unfold. It will grow, develop, progress, expand and you will attain divine experience.

So remember that separation from God is the rootcause of all human miseries. Put an end to this; seriously strive after that supreme state of being constantly in a state of oneness, attunement with the Supreme and overcome the sorrows of samsara.

May God bless you.  Swami Chidananda

Breathing Under Water - Spiritual Wisdom

Reflections on Satsang Meeting Sat 11th May 2013

We met in Satsang at the Friends Meeting House in Wolverhampton. The theme for our meeting was Spiritual Growth - Relationships - Finding the Real Self and Living Freely without Fear.

The meeting opened with a poem from Sister Ishpriya  that set the scene for our main input and the whole meeting. Its words are copied below :

Caught in the Moment of  Half Light

O Lord I am caught in that moment of half-light,

the breathless point of balance between sun and moon.

As I bid farewell to the cold purification of the night,

in that same movement,

I fling wide my arms to be embraced by the warmth and glory of the sun,

knowing that in due time I will bow to the receding light

and open my arms to darkness once again.

Thus, O Lord,
You come into our lives, in the blaze of splendour,
the certainty of Your presence,
in the times of aridity and isolation,
even to the point of despair.
Throughout this continuing journeying,
from the zenith of midday

to the depths of midnight and back to blinding noontide,
we grow towards You, the true light,
that shines like the sun beyond darkness, forever.

Sister Ishpriya rscj

We then moved on to the main input which was a video clip from Richard Rohr.  This had the title Breathing Under Water. Richard Rohr  talked about the connections between spiritual teachings and traditions and the 12 step AA Program.  An outline of the 12 Steps is shown below.

THE TWELVE STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

1.We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

•

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Some Notes on the Meeting and Rohr's Input

Rohr used these as a backdrop to his inspiring talk. He suggested that in order to reach spiritual maturity we had to let go of the ego, reach a point of pain and powerlessness and only then 'breakthroug'h' into genuine spiritual maturity. He remarked on how  humility and honesty marked were the hallmarks of his experience of attending AA Meetings. Any reflection on the above 12 Steps bear this out. Further more, he suggested that formal  Christian Religions  could learn a lot about the grace of humility and honesty from the 12 Steps of AA.

Broadening out his talk, he contended that we were all 'addicted' ( not just those who formally recognised the label of 'substance abuse' )  We were all addicted to our form of thinking, to our views and our preferences. We all tended to suffer from black and white or Either : Or  thinking. 

Once we made our decision or preference we then logically and intellectually confirmed it. That is, we found the evidence to support our preference. Yet every preference we took was an inevitable pathway towards a potential disappointment. In addition, our 'preferences then led to distinctions between peoples and groups. Inevitably this led to conflict and a failure to mature.

The first half of our life was designed to build up our Ego, give us a sense of value, worth, purpose and self-love. The second half was really about detachment.  This is where we let go of the self and move upwards into a more mature relationship with the Mystery - we call God - the Higher Power of AA.  However, for many, who have a blighted or abused childhood ( or sometimes adults who suffer setbacks and trauma )  then they have no sense of the Real Self and thus cannot let go or detach from the EGO. In fact , they cling to the False Self and remain in a rut. Rohr suggests that they first need to build a 'container' around their damaged EGO and then from this safer place begin to move out and learn to detach.

The way of detachment was to recognise the BINARY THINKING MIND. To practice meditation/contemplation and thus mindfully begin to catch ourselves making these false distinctions /preferences.

These reflections end with the poem that informed the title of Rohr's talk.They contain a deep spiritual message concerning the importance of trust in our relationship with the Ultimate Reality we call ' God'

 House by the Sea

From the Poetry of   Carol Bialock rscj

I built my house by the sea.
Not on sand, mind you.
Not on the shifting sand.
And I built it of rock.
A strong house.
By a strong sea.

And we got well-acquainted, the sea and I.
Good neighbours.
Not that we spoke much.
We met in silences.
Respectful, keeping our distance,
but looking our thoughts across the fence of sand.
Always, the fence of sand our barrier;
always the sand between.

And then one day
(I still don't know how it happened),
but the sea came.
Without warning.
Without welcome, even.
Not sudden and swift, but sifting across the sand like wine.
Less like the flow of water than the flow of blood.

Slow, but coming.
Slow, but flowing like an open wound.
And I thought of flight and I thought of drowning

 and I thought of death.
And while I thought the sea crept higher,
till it reached my door.

I knew, then, there was neither flight nor death nor drowning.
That when the sea comes calling you stop
being good neighbours,
Well-acquainted, friendly-from-a-distance neighbours.
And you give your house for a coral castle,
And you learn to breathe under water.



Equality of Women - A Challenge for Fundamentalism

We are all created equal and in the image of God, the Mystery, by whatever name we call GOD.  The ethos and values of the International Satsang Associaton are set out in its Triple Commitment. A copy  of this Commitment can be downloaded by accessing the Resources Page of  www.satsang-companionship.org.uk. 

One of the main purposes  and/or commitment of both the Satsang Association and its Members , is to work towards the removal of barriers that separate people from people.These barriers, mainly erected  from fear and ignorance, try to differentiate between peoples on grounds of race, ethnicity, economic status, sexuality, gender and other 'false' differences. One of the major 'isms' is directed at women.

 I recently received  the following extract from an article by President Jimmy Carter, first  published in 2009. I am grateful to Monica Courey , a Satsang Member from the USA , for forwarding the following reflections.

President 'Jimmy' Carter rose to the high office in the USA. He  was President  from January 1977 until January 1981. He  served as the 39th President of the United States and was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office.

Losing my religion for equality…by Jimmy Carter

Women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the word of God. I HAVE been a practicing Christian all my life and a deacon and Bible teacher for many years. My faith is a source of strength and comfort to me, as religious beliefs are to hundreds of millions of people around the world. So my decision to sever my ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, after six decades, was painful and difficult. It was, however, an unavoidable decision when the convention’s leaders, quoting a few carefully selected Bible verses and claiming that Eve was created second to Adam and was responsible for original sin, ordained that women must be “subservient” to their husbands and prohibited from serving as deacons, pastors or chaplains in the military service.

This view that women are somehow inferior to men is not restricted to one religion or belief. Women are prevented from playing a full and equal role in many faiths. Nor, tragically, does its influence stop at the walls of the church, mosque, synagogue or temple. This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women’s equal rights across the world for centuries. At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities. The impact of these religious beliefs touches every aspect of our lives. They help explain why in many countries boys are educated before girls; why girls are told when and whom they must marry; and why many face enormous and unacceptable risks in pregnancy and childbirth because their basic health needs are not met. In some Islamic nations, women are restricted in their movements, punished for permitting the exposure of an arm or ankle, deprived of education, prohibited from driving a car or competing with men for a job. If a woman is raped, she is often most severely punished as the guilty party in the crime. The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day.

It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us. The evidence shows that investing in women and girls delivers major benefits for society. An educated woman has healthier children. She is more likely to send them to school. She earns more and invests what she earns in her family. It is simply self-defeating for any community to discriminate against half its population. We need to challenge these self-serving and outdated attitudes and practices - as we are seeing in Iran where women are at the forefront of the battle for democracy and freedom.

I understand, however, why many political leaders can be reluctant about stepping into this minefield. Religion, and tradition, are powerful and sensitive areas to challenge. But my fellow Elders and I, who come from many faiths and backgrounds, no longer need to worry about winning votes or avoiding controversy - and we are deeply committed to challenging injustice wherever we see it. The Elders are an independent group of eminent global leaders, brought together by former South African president Nelson Mandela, who offer their influence and experience to support peace building, help address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. We have decided to draw particular attention to the responsibility of religious and traditional leaders in ensuring equality and human rights and have recently published a statement that declares: “The justification of discrimination against women and girls on grounds of religion or tradition, as if it were prescribed by a Higher Authority, is unacceptable.” We are calling on all leaders to challenge and change the harmful teachings and practices, no matter how ingrained, which justify discrimination against women. We ask, in particular, that leaders of all religions have the courage to acknowledge and emphasise the positive messages of dignity and equality that all the world’s major faiths share. The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place - and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence - than eternal truths. Similar biblical excerpts could be found to support the approval of slavery and the timid acquiescence to oppressive rulers. I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as pre-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn’t until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy. The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions - all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

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