There are insular groups out there and you can be jousting at windmills trying to get into them. Better to look for communities or groups that are more open. And of course, if you want friends, be a friend. It is not enough to be merely friendly.

I find it interesting that professing Christians often view meditation with suspicion. Yet King David wrote many beautiful psalms about his regular meditative practice and his meditations. The apostle Paul recommended meditating on the things we have learned. Jesus himself began his ministry with a 40 day meditation and continued to seek out solitude to meditate after that. The walking meditation above maps quite well to the contemplation that many saintly individuals have practiced and recommended. In short, they ought to be no barrier for any person of Judeo-Christian heritage to meditate.

The relative spirituality of the founder of a religion (and mostly they didn’t intend to be), the religious organization, and individual adherents vary greatly. It is no wonder that people find the claim that all religions lead to the same place as dubious. Religion is a framework that can but does not guarantee to lead to spirituality. It is the adherence to spiritual principles that makes for a spiritual person. If their religion teaches and promotes such principles, it is a support for their spirituality.