William Keepin: The Inner Science of Divine Love

William Keepin PhD interspirituality OMTimes

OMTimes: What do you mean by the ‘epistemology of the heart’?

William Keepin: This refers to subtle ways of knowing that are revealed through the invisible doorway of the heart. It is a revelatory knowing, in contrast to the rational epistemology of science that utilizes empirical data and mental reasoning. The epistemology of the heart entails illuminative disclosures, or layers of subtle realities unveiled. Like science, the process is equally ‘evidence-based’ and follows where the data lead, but draws upon qualitatively different kinds of evidence, and therefore produces an altogether different kind and quality of knowing. For example, the out-of-body experience recounted earlier is ‘data’ gathered from an inner research ‘experiment’ on the question, Who am I? It has been replicated by many other ‘researchers.’

Two keys to this inner epistemology of the heart are the intricate mysteries of the breath, and the Hermetic axiom “as Above, so Below,” which is the Correspondence principle mentioned earlier. “Whatever is Beyond, is also here; whatever is here, is also Beyond,” says the Katha Upanishad. Or in the non-canonical Gospel of Philip, “That which above opens Itself to us who are below, so that we, too, enter the secret of the truth.” As my spiritual teacher told me one day, “This is something so sacred and so secret, it cannot even be whispered!”

Simple though it may sound, the breath provides a profound bridge across these dimensions. “The Breath is a double name, for it is everywhere: above, below, visible, in the invisible,” says the non-canonical Gospel of Philip. “The same breath lights and extinguishes the Fire. If you know the Breath, you are the Breath. If you know the Christ, you become the Christ.”

OMTimes: What is the relationship between your interspirituality work and your Gender Equity and Reconciliation International project?

William Keepin: There are several key parallels between these two projects. They both work to bridge divisions in the human family by working with the power of love through the collective alchemy of the human heart. This alchemy can transcend differences and boundaries, whether gender-based or religious and leads to a conscious realization of our inherent oneness.

Another connection is that gender inequality is ultimately a spiritual crisis. Social, political, and psychological reform on their own are not enough to transform and heal this massive structural injustice; ‘higher’ wisdom and universal love are required. In virtually all cultures, women have been systematically regarded as intrinsically inferior, even in religious communities where one might have expected far better. The female prophetic voice has been repressed in all religions, and a strong masculine bias has marginalized women’s spiritual experience, which differs from men’s in many ways. A plethora of sex scandals involving religious leadership has afflicted many faith traditions, betraying their cherished scriptures and highest ideals of relational and spiritual integrity. All these travesties cry out for systematic implementation of gender equity and reconciliation in religion, and in society as a whole.