This is a dialogue between Paola (WCCM Marketing) and Javier Quiñones, Mexican meditator and entrepreneur.
Javier, the theme for 2026 is ‘The Future of Religion’. Can you share any thoughts about this theme? How do you see this theme?
Javier: I think whenever we talk about the future, we have to acknowledge that the future is not necessarily on us.
You have to look in the younger generations and I see a few things that they are going through and they are experiencing, and the way they are handling life in a way is shifting. So I think we know that the spiritual side of life is shifting. When I look at those generations, I see that they reject authority in a way that we probably didn’t.
I find that started really strong with restrictive institutions, of which the Church is one of the prime examples. We are also part of these hyper-competitive social dynamic system, particularly that pseudo-reality constructed by social media. And I think that’s almost an economy of digital identities and that suits them full service particularly stress that we were not writers. And they are also consuming a lot of narratives of meaning in a way like what makes them meaningful. And there are little fragments coming from different places. Whereas in the past we used to have like one big narrative and one big source of this identity, of meaning if you will.
So it sort of poses a bigger challenge because I guess people are confronting it more in a different way. And they’re not accepting it, as a pre-formatted package. So they’re challenging it and I guess it can be positive because it means it’s more pure, it is more thoroughly experienced as opposed to just accepting it.
And the typical example of that could be going to mass, but like would be many children go to mass because their parents force them to. And they are just being there because they have to as opposed to experiencing the real thing.
And if they are to have a truly spiritual experience, I think that might be for them.
And how do you feel contemplative communities such as WCCM, can affect the future of religion today?
I think it’s very positive, the way to go. Despite these pressures young people are going through, they still need a sense of belonging, their self identity, a community where they can express themselves. So, I think meditation, following the Christian tradition in particular could be that door that fulfills that apparent need for something that is like a self managed, spirituality.
So in a way, when I see all these challenges that the Church in general is facing, I see WCCM as the most robust lifeline for the future of Christianity.
