Reflections on Jane Goodall

• She intuitively chooses to live “outside the box” = outside social constructions

• Effortless Effort = she follows an “inner-directing voice”; overcomes patriarchal professional hurdles to reach her vocation

• Tragedy initiates transcendence

• Experiences a profound sense of interconnection with nature

• Becomes a tireless ecological activist

Religion & Spirituality

Spirituality:

• An extraordinary awareness of interconnectedness

• A quality of being, like mind & body, that we must nourish

• Provides inner-meaning to all human endeavor

• Informs all authentic religious experience

Religion & Spirituality

Religion:

• The institutional expression of spiritual insight

• The pursuit of spiritual insight within a set of social constructs = myth, ritual, doctrine, ethical, social dimensions

• Religion and identity formation are powerfully linked in any culture

Religion & Spirituality

• “Religion” is about order, control, the creation and maintenance of boundaries.

• “Spirituality” is about transcendence; spirituality “eats away” at social constructions that “bind, limit, restrict, and oppress.”

• “Spirituality” challenges patriarchal social constructs and androcentric attitudes.

Religion & Spirituality

• Spirituality is not some rare talent of mystics or saints; we all have spiritual potential that awaits actualization

• Each of us can nourish our own unique spirituality and find inner-meaning in all life activities

• Social constructs block this process

Idolatry

• Idolatry “happens” when the subject gets confused with the object.

Example from the Jane Goodall video:

• The subject is the spiritual experience of the interconnectedness of all life

• The object is the natural environment

• Going out into nature to “find interconnection” is like going to church to “find God”; you have to “bring something to the party!”

Human Meaning Systems

• The human quest for meaning in life, expressed as religious, political, ecological, or other systems, represents the often desperate attempt to experientially bridge the cognitive, perceptual chasm between the intuitive sense of being a part of everything that exists and the harsh reality of apartness.

So, Jane, “What’s up?”

• Jane transcends social constructions

• Jane transcends patriarchal and androcentric restrictions

• Jane transcends ecological and spiritual idolatry

• Jane is just Jane