Who are the Quakers? The Quakers were a movement that arose 300 years ago in England inspired by George Fox who believed that people could have a direct experience of Jesus Christ without use of clergy. The direct experience of God has been the essential part of Quakerism. There are no clergy and everyone is equal. The Quakers were first on the forefront on the fight against slavery, the fight for women's rights and the use of non-violence in all actions.
This was my second experience with the Quakers and I have always had a great respect for their Theology and their actions. Their theology is based in silent meditation and having a direct experience of God. God is the light outside and within us all. They are very similar to Buddhists in many ways, from non-violence as right action to living simply like the Mennonites whom they arose out of and reaching that inner light is similar to the emptiness and Nirvana sought in Buddhism.
Depending on which Quaker group your with, you can find that they are either very similar to other Trinitarian Christian Protestant groups, or very different, like the groups I've met which are more Unitarian and have no structure except for the meeting for an hour in silence and are much similar to some Buddhist sects.
I found that I where I really disagree with the Quakers is on the lack of leaders. All people should be equal under the law, but if someone has studied something for a long time, they should have the chance to present their knowledge...such as knowledge on the Bible, or in the case of Quakerism, knowledge of that direct experience God and how to achieve it. A society can still treat one another as equals and still have leaders. This I found is my biggest disagreement with the Quaker philosophy. I also wish more Quakers had written after the 17th Century. By the 19th Century it's much more difficult to find any written works on how the faith has evolved in it's practices and ways of reaching God. I believe in direct experience of God, but I also believe in learning from past teachers.
The Quakers I met were all of ages, mostly college age and older though. One of the Quakers spoke about the Quaker mission of sitting in silence and waiting for the Divine or Holy Spirit to move members to speak as they seek to awaken that light within themselves. He spoke with raw passion and was full of gratitude, just for us listeners making eye contact as he spoke. Most of the others were silent. After the leader of Common Bread (The Interfaith group on campus) said that the meeting would be 35 minutes (for silence and speaking when moved by the Holy Spirit) it began.
Silence. It reminds us of the action we have to take, of the problems we need to work on within ourselves and is that place where we can best know who we are. This form of worship I've always found value in can lead to transformation, just like a silent prayer or chant. I think it's understandable that it's there in the silence that many mystics claim to have met God and doing so discovered their love of themselves, the world and God.
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