St. James Episcopal Cathedral

My parents actually recommended that I visit St. James Episcopal Cathedral. They had heard that the space was supposed to be beautiful and it certainly lived up to these standards. The cathedral has high ceilings, and gothic architecture, as well as many stunning glass windows. Although this description of the decor may sound typical of many churches, the cathedral had something special about it. Aside from the obvious fact that it is indeed a gorgeous church, all the detail painting on the walls and ceiling were done by hand. When you actually stand in the space and realize how large it is and how much detailing has been done it is quite amazing. The church also had a labyrinth outside of it. This is a lovely space!

I would recommend visiting the cathedral during a service or perhaps by calling ahead. It will not be regularly open to the public like some other churches might be.

Here is the website for St. James Episcopal Cathedral:

http://www.saintjamescathedral.org/home.asp

Baha'i House of Worship

The Baha'i House of Worship for the North American continent is truly an encompassment of art and spirituality. The giant white building is engraved with symbols from major world religions as well as different phrases that are important in the Baha'i faith. My favorite of these quotes is: "The light of good personality surpasseth the light of the sun". Baha'i is a world religion that believes in tolerance, acceptance, and equality for all people. The space reflects these ideals. This particular faith also puts a great emphasis on beauty because they believe in finding beauty in all. Gardens are referenced often in Baha'i teachings so therefore it would not be surprising that this space would be surrounded by gardens and meditation pools.

A service at the Baha'i temple is rather short (only about half an hour) but so moving and tranquil. Because cameras are not permitted in the

sanctuary space, here is a website with pictures of the ceiling, which is magnificent:

http://www.cwauth.smugmug.com/gallery/2972833#160808903_yr3RH

The space is totally silent, allowing you to meditate or just be with yourself and then suddenly somewhere in the vast ceiling, the choir begins to sing. This starts the service. After a song from the choir, members from the faith offer readings for consideration. Readings are chosen from the Qur'an, the Bible, the Torah, the writings of Baha'u'llah, etc. At the service I attended, one of the members also sang an Arabic chant that was absolutely beautiful. After the choir sings for the third time, the service is over yet hardly anyone leaves right away. Why is this? Well, first of all, there is no formal procession or breakout of conversation. Besides these logistics, however, the service itself was so rich that I found I did not want it to end. I found this to be a deeply tranquil and spiritual experience.

Here is the Baha'i website:

http://www.bahai.us/

Unity Temple

The Unity Temple in Oak Park is a beautiful space. It perfectly emphasizes the combination or art and religion because it was designed by famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. Unlike most of the other visits I have made to spiritual spaces this semester, photography and video recording were highly encouraged. The community of Universal Unitarians who celebrate in this space are very proud of the building's history and design. Perhaps the neatest aspect about the design of this particular space was the placement of the doors to the sanctuary. Franks Lloyd Wright wanted for the exit doors of the sanctuary space to face the front so that the congregation's back would never be to the altar. He therefore designed the sanctuary with two sets of doors: one for entering and one for exiting. Besides the fascinating doors, the rest of the building has beautiful designs that are very typical to Wright's designs. The man who showed me around this space was Lutheran. He said that the congregation was very open and he personally liked to attend services when the Unity Temple choir sang.

Here is a video of inside Unity Temple. Check out Frank Lloyd Wright's design!

Here is the Unity Temple Website:

http://www.unitytemple.org/

The Chicago School of Hot Yoga

The Candlelight yoga class at the Chicago School of Hot Yoga is a wonderful spiritual experience. Upon arrival, you walk into the studio and are greeted by someone friendly at the front desk. The locker room is all brand new and clean. After changing into comfortable clothes (and making sure you have a bottle of water) you walk to one of the two yoga rooms in the studio. The room is dark except for candles that line the outer edges of the room. For the Candlelight class, the room is usually heated to 90 degrees with 25% humidity. The class has an emphasis in vinyasa flow. This just means that the yoga poses are repeated in a flowing way. This allows for more opportunity for meditation during the practice and less focus on the actual poses themselves. I've been to a few of these classes and have never had a bad experience. Every class I've been to has been 10 people or less. Each instructor has a different style, however, I have yet to find one that wasn't calming. The classes can be as gentle or as strenuous as you would like but the experience is always a pleasant one.

Here is the website for the Chicago School of Hot Yoga:

chicagoschoolofhotyoga.com

Trinity United Church of Christ

Everyone, including myself, from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest program attended a service at Trinity UCC together. Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago holds a historically predominantly black congregation that is ready to share their experiences and welcome outsiders into their community. The moment I sat down in t

he balcony, my neighbor introduced himself and welcomed me to the Church. Throughout the entire ceremony, people talked amongst themselves and shoute

d their approval at the Revered Otis Moss III. Besides Rev Moss's sermon, the service included a dance sequence inspired by "The Wiz" and vibrant musical performances by the energetic men's choir. The enthusiasm of the congregation was absolutely infectious! The service itself went on for over two hours, which didn't seem to faze anyone in the congregation, but was a shock to the outsiders who were used to a much more predictable service that lasted about an hour. I was really surprised about the feeling of inclusion that all of the visitors, including myself felt. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

Trinity has been through quite a bit of publicity over the past through years. Because most of this publicity was not necessarily positive for their community, the people in the congregation, although welcoming, were not willing to be interviewed.

Here is Trinity's website:

http://www.tucc.org/

Soka Gakkai International

I learned about SGI through my friend and Nichiren Buddhist, Ed Young. Ed welcomed me to join in their service and I was thrilled because I had never attended a Buddhist ceremony before. Upon arrival, I was surprised to see the vast amounts of people attending the ceremony. There were thousands of people gathering for this celebration. This particular ceremony that I attended marked the 50th Anniversary of the SGI President Daisaku Ikeda coming to Chicago on October 9, 1960. This visit holds such deep importance to this community because it sparked the foundation for SGI-USA. During his visit, President Ikeda witnessed some white children playing in a park. When a young black boy tried to play, he was excluded. This boy then laughed at one of the white children for tripping and was exiled from the area by an older white man. Upon seeing this obvious racism, President Ikeda swore to the boy that he would build a place where all people can worship and be accepted for who they are.

I happened to find that the group of people at SGI Chicago were very welcoming people. The service began with the thousands of attendants chanting "Nam Myo Renge Kyo".

(Meaning and literal translation can be found at http://www.sgi-usa.org/buddhism/nam-myoho-renge-kyo.php)

The community had a strong investment in their youth programs and the service included traditional Japanese dances and a Korean Drumming performance. The crowd was energetic and intensely diverse. There was no dominant race, however, it appeared as though there were people from all different cultural and racial backgrounds.

I have included a video of the community chanting "Nam Myo Renge Kyo" with a shot of one of the alters in the SGI Chicago facilities. Enjoy!

Here is a link to an interview with SGI member Ed Yound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqoclXfmUWA

Spirituality in Chicago

My first blog! This is exciting...

First, I would like to start by explaining the purpose of my blog. During my time in Chicago, I hope to visit as many spiritual centers as possible and write about my experiences. I use the term "spiritual centers" because I am using this in an extremely broad manner. My visits could range from traditional churches to mosques to yoga studios, etc. Basically, anywhere I encounter a place of deeper meaning to it's community, that's what I will be keeping track of on this blog. I hope to paint a picture of the community built around the different centers and discover what they find to be spiritually appealing about each place. And if any Chicago natives have suggestions, I gladly welcome them!