Tiffany Yang - Week 10

Tiffany Yang

Week 10

Spirit Realms

Upon reading both readings, I found both of them to be compelling in many ways. Particularly, I found the first reading to be intriguing. The first reading by Eric Ritskes talks about his privilege and the way he talks about spirituality and views it based on this privilege he has. I think spirituality is a very small thing that has recently just been introduced into Western culture. He’s trying to change the narrative and make it more common in schools and education. However, there is obviously a lot of resistance during the process, but what Eric can do is change the way he speaks about this using the privileges that he has mentioned. I think it’s interesting and wise of him to acknowledge all the privileges he has and also that he is not only bound to one identity but all the identities that he has noted like being a male, Christian and heterosexual. He also mentions homogenous frameworks and indigenous knowledge that oppose Western knowledge. This is why it is difficult to find common ground and not just put everything in one homogenous framework when talking about this subject. Indigenous seeks diversity and like he mentioned before it’s important to acknowledge and accept this fact. We should appreciate diversity and not shun it and try to put it in a box. One question I'd like to ask is how will he, knowing his identity and privileges bring to light this issue and have people of all diversities and beliefs come together?

Like lotus blooming from muddy water; spirituality needs to come back all these preconceived notions from the majority of the population to become mainstream.