Originally published in the Houston Chronicle, April 27, 2015 (original link)Daniel Strain, founder of the Spiritual Naturalist Society, lights incense Saturday before a service at the Bayland Community Center.
by Allan Turner

Houston group blends secular world view with contemplative practices in 'Spiritual Humanist' sessions

'Spiritual naturalist' group members seek meaning outside orthodox structures

The sweet smoke of sandalwood incense spiraled ceiling-ward as the recorded drone of an aboriginal wooden trumpet filled the room. By the light filtering through louvered blinds, one could see Daniel Strain, a baldish, goateed man of Buddha-like physique, silently seated with eyes closed and hands folded before a small table covered by a red cloth. On the table were statues of Socrates and Buddha, a guttering candle and a small bowl that chimed melodiously when tapped with a wand.

As the two clocks attached to opposite walls in the Bayland Park Community Center's battleship gray meeting room hit 2 o'clock, Strain's eyes popped open. As seven people seated around him on folding metal chairs remained in deep reverie, he hefted the striker and brought it down.

TING!

Houston's Spiritual Naturalist Society officially was in session. Daniel Strain conducts a service Saturday. He says that "even people who have left religion have some need for a contemplative life." Operating informally since 2008, Strain's group is a home for philosophic free-thinkers, who, while often disenchanted with organized religion, nonetheless seek a contemplative spiritual life. Together they chant, meditate and ponder the teachings of the ancient philosophers. The Bayland Park meditation-lecture program, the society's most formal undertaking, started earlier this year.

At a recent meeting (the group convenes every second Saturday at the southwest-side center) attendees included Kaylyn Kimmel, a budding Stoic who noted the group meditation brings her "helpful focus".  Kathryn House, a one-time Lutheran who found little solace in religious comfortings after she was diagnosed with a serious disease; and Lewis Melton, a confirmed skeptic drawn to the sessions by "curiosity." "My only problem," Melton confided, "is that I won't live long enough to satisfy the curiosity I have about everything."

Strain, a 43-year-old marketing professional, came to his calling as group founder and leader from unlikely starting point: a Texas City Baptist church.

"We were pretty conservative Protestants," Strain recalled of his childhood. "In college - I got my degree from Sam Houston State - I changed my beliefs. I think I was an atheist for all of about five seconds, then I became a humanist." Humanism is a rational, science-grounded belief system that celebrates the inherent value of the individual and regards humane service to others as the foundation of a well-lived life.

For a time, Strain was a humanist minister, performing weddings and funerals, but the creed's focus on social issues didn't truly satisfy a yearning for deeper meaning, he said. "I recognized that I agreed with all the points of the American Humanist Association's manifesto, but it didn't provide the richness of material that you need in your individual life," he said. "How to be happy. How do you deal with difficulties and tragedies? How do people improve themselves?"

For those answers, Strain who had taken college philosophy courses while studying to become a graphic artist, turned first to ancient Greek philosophers, then Buddha. "What impressed me about the contemplative practices was not so much what you believe," he said, "but what you do to improve your life. It was very pragmatic and that appealed to me. I came to recognize that even people who have left religion have some need for a contemplative life."

As he learned about Buddhism, Strain came to understand that "a lot of the practices have a sense of the sacred, of ritual, of a sense of deep personal practice of great reverence. I couldn't think of a better word for that than 'spiritual,' even though a lot of people associate that term with the supernatural." A confirmed rationalist, Strain no longer harbors supernatural beliefs. But, he said, members of his society aren't required to jettison their religious beliefs.

"When I realized I didn't subscribe to those beliefs," he said, "I said, 'OK, what do I believe? What am I going to base my life on?' Strain concluded he believed in compassion, virtue and honesty.


Traditions move us
Strain's group, said Ted Meissner, founder of the Minnesota-based Secular Buddhist Association, is an instance of tradition encountering modernity, and as such is in keeping with emerging groups that blend secularism with Christianity, Judaism or other religions. Such groups, appeal to modern, science-oriented Westerners who are loathe to abandon their religious culture. "It honors the fact that our traditions still do move us," he said. "We still love them even though we don't believe all the claims they make as literal. We don't believe Br'er Rabbit can talk, but we can still learn something from him."

Strain said he did not have the bad experiences with organized religion that some attending his sessions have reported. "I had a great family and a great upbringing," he said. "For me, it was the intellectual questioning that all kids have in Sunday school - except that it stayed with me." Strain said he retains a warm relationship with his father, who often joins him on outings to the cinema.

Strain said he has spent a decade studying the world's religions, with special attention on the philosophic overlap between Stoicism and Buddhism. In 2008, Strain and his wife, Julie, an engineer, launched a discussion group exploring melding a humanist world view with contemplative practices. Members met on benches at the Rothko Chapel, at a tea house and in private homes. In 2012, Strain formalized the Spiritual Naturalist Society as a nonprofit, but its activities, until this year, remained unstructured. The current sessions, he said, grew out of his wife's prodding that he practice his teachings rather than just preach them.

"What we do is more than atheism-plus-meditation," he said, noting that members explore the benefits of drumming, nontheistic prayer, chanting, ritual dancing and demeanor practice, which involves a "mindful" maintenance of a loving demeanor. Members explore, too, the Taoist practice of Wu Wei, which essentially promotes a way of living that "goes with the flow," Strain said.

House has been a member of Strain's groups on and off for about seven years. Reared a Lutheran, she said she was drawn to the group after being diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. "I was normal one day and 'handicapped' the next," she said. And although the degenerative condition thus far has left her only "highly inconvenienced," she found well-meant assurances to "let God fix it" unsatisfying.


Unconditional love
House said the spiritual humanist meetings have brought her a sense of "emotional well-being." Her face took on an expression of serenity as Strain led the group in meditation - meditation maintained despite the warbling of a nasal female vocalist at a senior citizens' gathering several doors away.

"Begin with one deep breath," Strain intoned in a low,soothing voice. "As you take each breath, let it rise and fall naturally. Eventually it will be like the tides of the ocean ... Think of your friends and family and say, 'I wish you to be safe, healthy and happy.' Then think of yourself and say, 'I wish myself to be safe, healthy and happy.' And, now, think of someone you have had difficulties with and say, 'I wish you to be safe, healthy and happy.'

"Then, with your last breath, think of all the beings of the cosmos ... and your unconditional love for all."

Allan Turner, senior general assignments reporter, joined the Houston Chronicle in 1985. He has been assistant suburban editor, assistant state editor and roving state reporter. He previously worked at daily newspapers in Amarillo, Austin and San Antonio.