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A martial arts student approached the Teacher with a question. "I'd like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I'd like to study with another teacher to learn another style. What do you think of the idea?" "The hunter who chases two rabbits," replied the Master, "catches neither one."
Generally, a principle of faith is to commit wholeheartedly to a particular path. This pertains to spiritual practice. For example, rather than trying to enjoy the diversity diet of meditation, choose one method and be faithful to it. Likewise, if you are committed to be a Christian, be the best Christian you can be. Of course, being the best Christian you can be might imply learning from other faiths and philosophies. That is okay. However, singularity of devotion is vital.
Another area where this singularity applies is with the major image one has of the Spirit. As an example, I will use the image of the Trinity. Some persons relate best to Spirit as God: Theocentric (Greek for God is Theos). Other person focus on Christ: Christocentric. Then, some persons tend to focus on the Holy Spirit: Pneumacentric (Greek for Spirit is Pneuma). Some persons relate better to what some mystics have called the Godhead. The Godhead is the Mystery that cannot be contained in the images of the Trinity.
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Thankfully, we humans have different particular paths. The key is to learn how to be committed and practice the essential principles of our divine participation in our Creator. We cannot do that if we are constantly distracted by indecision.
Religious devotion is like any relationship. By focusing on a particular path of devotion, we learn the discipline of moving deeper, rather than skimming the surface of different paths. Likewise, by this focus, we are not as likely to use pluralism as an avoidance of intimacy. And religion and spirituality is, ultimately, a Journey of Deepening Intimacy.
In this Intimacy, we cannot live with divided hearts. Jesus used “God” and “money” to illustrate singleness of Love, however, the principle applies, generally: You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money (Matthew 6.24, CEV).
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