The two-pronged goals of religious writing
I believe that religious writing has two important things to fulfill:
- Religious writing supports a religious life.
- Religious writing expresses a religious life.
Religious writing supports a religious life
Religious writing must be differentiated from other kinds of writing in that it should always be in service of a larger cause: the development of a religious life. Because of this commitment, religious writing must resist ego-driven motives typical and persistent in a life of letters.
The primary trajectory of religious writing is inward. It must help a seeker strengthen their commitment to a religious path. Religious writing must help them commune with their self, clarify their inner troubles, track their journey, and nurture their thoughts and gifts. Because of this primary function of religious writing, it prioritizes process over product.
Religious writing expresses a religious life
Religious writing’s secondary trajectory is outward. It has to help a seeker express their thoughts and feelings, the purpose of which is to connect themselves with others and the cosmos through words. Traditionally, such expressions are didactic, artistic, or both. But because of the challenge of poetics, such as those from language poetry, the characteristics of such expressions are now more expansive. These expressions don’t necessarily have to teach or beautify. They only have to connect the seeker to others.
Religious writing is surrender
Religious writing contends with both process and product of writing. Often the process emphasizes a measure of some form of surrender to a flow that is often associated with a power beyond oneself (Amida Buddha’s Other Power, the Great Life, Great Nature, or God-or-Nature). This surrender, characterized by not-knowing where the writing leads one, necessitates improvisation and results to surprise. This experience is common among the writers who contributed in the book Spiritual Quests edited by William Zinsser.
However, the problem with this process is that not all products surrendering to that flow yields work that is intelligible and, therefore, nourishing—a quality often associated with what is religious or spiritual. For example, the works of Norman Fischer, whose style is anchored in language poetry, surrenders but isn’t necessarily “nourishing” in the conventional sense.
Religious writing lies on a spectrum between bulwak and balong
While most religious writers agree with the characteristics of the religious writing process, they seem to diverge in the characteristics of the products of that process. Here, religious writers populate a spectrum, where one end leads to a rejection of revision and another end leads to a pursuit of perfect form. A helpful concept and metaphor to understand this spectrum is Rem Tanauan’s bulwak–balong. Bulwak (gushing out) is the result of surrender, while balong (flow) is the intentional reshaping of the product of that surrender. Per Denise Levertov, the poet is not only an instrument or seer but also a maker who communicates. For her, balong is necessary. The Beat poets, on the other hand, resist balong and consider the rawness of bulwak as the highest principle of poetry. Despite the difference, poets from either directions of the spectrum (for example, Allen Ginsberg and Thomas Merton) seem to agree that both bulwak and balong is facilitated by mental states created by contemplation and meditation.
Intelligibility and beauty
Intelligibility and beauty are core points of differentiation in spiritual writing. Some religious writers like Denise Levertov maintain that a work of a seer is both to see and to communicate clearly. She favors intelligible and beautiful work.
Meanwhile, some methods like those by Olson, Ginsberg, and Rinpoche emphasize on the process of writing, honoring what has arrived in its original form and being cautious about revision. For Ginsberg, revision should only be done to help an artifact of writing be true to itself. Olson, meanwhile, thinks that excessive descriptions weaken the force of a poem.
Questions
What differentiates religious writing from other forms of writing?
If spiritual writing moves away from the usual metrics and goals of a “successful” writing life, then it has to create a clear alternative.