Silent worship, practised by Quakers in Europe, is "unprogrammed", which means that after a few minutes of gathered centering, anyone may briefly express a thought, offer a prayer, quote a verse, or say a little about what that verse inspires in him or her.
No preacher is obliged to analyse some verse or passage from the Old or New Testament, nor is any particular time given to liturgical songs, readings or prayer.
Everything is wholly spontaneous: the silence; the spoken word; the hymn sung, perhaps, by a Friend so moved.
For certain, a whole assembly of believers depending on a preacher, Sunday after Sunday, is not to be found. Automatic liturgy; the pre-set rhythms of listening and dutiful repetition, in song or liturgical prayer; listening followed by doxology recited all together; these are all left outside by the Quaker religious attitude.
What really matters, even with all the respect and love that Friends have for the Written Word - the Bible - by which they are inspired 99 times out of 100, is seeking a direct connection with the Spirit of God.
There isn't an interpretation of this or that verse that matters, there isn't a doctrine or theology to impose a given interpretation on biblical passages, and there isn't a preacher drawing the congregation into a personal vision of the world or of holy scripture. Above all, there is absolutely no risk that interpretations of the bible from week to week could, on being compared, appear to be, or actually be contradictory.
And finally, there is no risk of being thought a luke-warm Christian just because one's speech isn't stuffed full of biblical quotations.
The more time goes by, the more translations of the Bible there are, more discoveries of more or less ancient texts, more updating, more interpretations by translators and commentators.
Discoveries of Greek manuscripts in the various parts of the Mediterranean world that were dominated by Greek-speaking culture, whether or not from the Bible, allow us to understand words from the New Testament whose meanings were unknown until yesterday. Especially among those who tend towards fundamentalism, these things create confusion.
Friends who meet to meditate on or discuss the Word are in the same situation, but as the Word is brought to life, often by a deeply-felt presence of God, the risk of depending on more or less "correct" interpretations of bible passages is absent from the start.
Even silence, for humans, clearly has its own limits and risks, but not necessarily involving the whole community.
The worst that could be is an error of omission.
Frino di Ghiffa, 3 III 1992
Death as generally understood does not in truth exist. What we call death is governed by the principle of Shiva, that is to say, death is nothing but a transformation, a going beyond form. It is a simple changing of the state of consciousness that can happen to some in a way so unrecognised as to be unnoticed.
The great majority of humanity, especially in the West, has not and does not find a right relationship with death. Dramatization of the event, attachment to appearances, identification with earthly goals, etc., represent infantile delusions for those who know and understand. One day or another it will be revealed that birth is under the law of limitation, while death is under that of liberation.
Raphael, Beyond Doubt
This is a free translation of the Italian version (Raphael (Asram Vidya Order), Di là dal dubbio, Ch. "Post mortem e Bardo Thotrol". Edizioni Asram Vidya. Rome 1979. [Italian Edition]).
Please send any suggestions for alternative translations of any of these meditations to Simon Grant.