TruthBook Religious News Blog

by Deepak Chopra
February 24, 2010 10:22 AM

Before addressing the importance of spirituality in modern times, we should first define it. Spirituality is the experience of that domain of awareness where we experience our universality. This domain of awareness is a core consciousness that is beyond our mind, intellect, and ego. In religious traditions this core consciousness is referred to as the soul which is part of a collective soul or collective consciousness, which in turn is part of a more universal domain of consciousness referred to in religions as God. When we have even a partial glimpse of this level of awareness we experience joy, insight, intuition, creativity, and freedom of choice. In addition, there is the awakening of love, kindness, compassion, happiness at the success of others, and equanimity. As the turbulence of our mind settles down, our body also begins to heal itself because it also quiets down. The body's self-repair mechanisms are activated when the mind is at peace because the mind and body are at the deepest level inseparably one.

All religions are founded on a deep spiritual experience of unity consciousness where there was complete union between the personal and universal. Unfortunately, many times the followers of religion, instead of understanding the religious experience and seeking it for themselves ended up merely worshiping the founder of the religion. It is more important to fully grasp the teaching of the religion and its basic tenets, that have come from a deeper experience of transcendence. Self-righteous morality is not a means for experiencing higher consciousness. Higher consciousness, spontaneously leads to moral and ethical behavior...

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Here is another of the Huffington Post's series on religion. You are invited on this blog to contribute what religion means to you. It might be a good forum to share some of our Urantia teachings with the larger community. This particular article seems pretty consistent with what TUB teaches...Please click on "External Source Article" below to access the entire article and the website...

Labels: Deepak Chopra, God, HuffPost Religion, religion, spirituality

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Announcing HuffPost Religion: Believers and Non-Believers Welcome

Arianna Huffington
February 24, 2010

I've always been fascinated by religion.

Some of my most vivid childhood memories are of my family's summer holidays on the island of Corfu. August 15 is when all of Greece pays homage to the Virgin Mary. I remember going to church on that day every year, and sitting quietly among widows in black kerchiefs and younger women smelling of summer wool and candle smoke. I would watch, enthralled, as deep faith and memories moved them to tears of grief and hope. And, in my childish way, I shared their love for her.

I believe that we are all hardwired for the sacred, that the instinct for spirituality is part of our collective DNA. I wrote about this instinct 15 years ago, and called it the fourth instinct, the one beyond survival, sex, and power. It propels us to find meaning and transcend our everyday preoccupations.

For some, it involves organized religion. For others, it's a personal spiritual quest. Seventy percent of Americans belong to a religious organization and 40 percent attend services once a week.

Yet, despite the central role religion plays in American life, all too often, when talking about it, we end up talking at each other instead of with each other. This is a shame -- especially at a time like this, when the economic struggle in so many people's lives has led to a deeper questioning of our values and priorities. Whether you are a believer or not, this is an essential conversation to have...which is why I'm delighted to announce that we are launching HuffPost Religion -- a section featuring a wide-ranging discussion about religion, spirituality, and the ways they influence our lives.

Like all our sections, HuffPost Religion will bring you the latest news -- in this case about all things religion-related -- served up in the HuffPost style. It will also be home to an open and fearless dialogue about all the ways religion affects both our personal and our public lives. And it will do so in a way that moves beyond the pigeonhole depictions of both the faithful and the agnostic we see so frequently -- and also beyond the tired assumption that God is a card-carrying member of one political party or another.

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For your consideration: this looks like a good internet forum that Urantia Book reader/believers might find interesting. It could be a good service platform to carefully introduce some universal truths that we have learned and experienced from the Revelation for the edification of those who are truthseekers. To access the entire article, please click on "External Source Article" below...

Labels: Arianna Huffington, dialogue, HuffPost Religion, interfaith, religion, spirituality

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Health and Well-Being: Achieving spiritual growth starts from the inside

by Dr. Jim Manganiello

Many people are searching for depth and meaning in their lives, for refuge from the too-often soul-less life at the surface of things. And so spirituality is of great interest today.

But these days, what passes for spiritual growth opportunities often lead nowhere. Much new-age spirituality, however well-intended, provokes energy and interest, but it doesn't deliver anything of lasting value. And belief-based faith in an organized religion can grant many benefits, but typically authentic spiritual growth is not among them. Spiritual growth requires the right knowledge and tools and the commitment to use them, along with the support to use them effectively.

Consider that the foundation of deep spirituality is insight. Spiritual insight flows from experiential knowledge, not from ordinary thinking and feeling. And experiential knowledge is rooted in deep awareness.

All great religions were sourced from revelations that flowed from this deep and profound awareness. But in time, those who lack a real grasp of the profound experiential knowledge that gave birth to a religion inevitably bring a religion down. They bring it down into an affair of power, control, dogma, belief and even down into their wicked offspring: murder and mayhem.

The profound dictum "Do Unto Others ..." is perhaps the single most important "spiritual call" we'll ever hear. But as the evidence shows all too clearly, no one can do it who lacks spiritual awareness and insight.

So how do we develop our capacity for deep awareness, for experiential knowledge? Again, we need the right knowledge and tools. All religions have a spiritual inner core that contains such knowledge and tools, but they are often buried and even hidden. And they don't come with an up-to-date, clearly written user's manual.

A good and inspiring article, written by a clinical psychologist, which is quite in line with our Urantian beliefs. Please click on "external source" for the rest of the article.

Labels: health, insight, Jim Manganiello, meaning, religion, spirituality

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Friday, January 15, 2010

More people are praying, but religious ties are fraying

January 26, 2010

The number of Americans who are praying is increasing at the same time that more of them say they have no formal religious affiliation, according to a major polling organization.

The dynamic represents an "apparent shift in patterns of spiritual practice and identity away from the familiar institutions," Omar M. McRoberts, a University of Chicago sociologist and researcher, said in an interview.

"We are witnessing a decoupling of 'spirituality' from 'religion,'" said Mc Roberts. It is a trend echoed in other surveys and accounts of individuals calling themselves "spiritual but not religious."

"I think we can expect to see yet more novel versions of religiosity appear, in response to changes in spirituality," he said. The University of Chicago study, released October 23, was based on numerous surveys, including the General Social Survey's own study of 52,000 U.S. adults.

"While fewer people identify with a particular religion, belief in God remains high," said Tom W. Smith, coauthor of the study and director of the General Social Survey at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

The "spiritual but unchurched" Americans are a growing force, he indicated, with the new study finding that nearly a quarter, 22 percent, have never attended a religious service. This is an increase from 9 percent in 1972. The study found that 16 percent listed "none" when asked to specify their formal religious affiliation.

Please see "external source" for the complete article

Labels: institutional religion, Omar M. McRoberts, prayer, spirituality, unchurched

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Deep-rooted spirituality remains tradition in black churches

By Heather Kays/staff
January 8, 2010

STAUNTON — It was no surprise to Andrea Cornett-Scott that when the Barna Group did a study, it showed undeniable strength of faith and sense of community in black churches.

"The very core of African-American churches is rooted in the statement, 'I am because we are and since we are, therefore, I am complete," said Cornett-Scott, pastor at Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Church in Staunton. "You cannot think of who you are as an individual without thinking about who you are as a community."

Throughout American history there has been a deep-rooted spirituality within the black population in the United States, according to the study. The Barna Group examined various religious beliefs and behaviors which showed that time has not changed the importance of faith in the lives of African-Americans. The study compared the religious beliefs and behaviors of the black population today and in comparison to 15 years ago, as well as in comparison to the United States as a whole.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: African-Americans, Heather Kays, spirituality

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Sunday, January 03, 2010

Barna's year-end wrap: Relativism on the upswing

Allie Martin
12/31/2009

Throughout the past year, the Barna Group has interviewed thousands of pastors on a variety of topics. Now the research group has released a survey focusing on the top themes regarding religion in 2009 and revealing the most prevalent finding: Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than they are in Christianity.

Another trend the research group discovered through the study is that Americans increasingly want to shape their own faith experience -- what he calls "concoct[ing] a uniquely personal brand of faith."

The study further revealed that only one-third of Americans believe in absolute moral truth. "Pragmatism and relativism, rather than any sort of absolutism, has gained momentum," he concludes.

Please click on "external source," where you can access the entire survey - very interesting.

Labels: Barna Group, faith, relativism, religion, spirituality

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Spirituality makes a comeback

Spirituality makes a comeback

A recent Pew survey points to a drift away from institutionalized religion and a robust tendency towards spirituality. I'll leave a detailed examination of the numbers to others, but I think Catholic America needs to revisit the spiritual side of religion expressed in the term "spirituality."

In the history of Catholicism, spiritualities arose at moments of crisis to renew the Church. Franciscan spirituality, for instance, emerged at a time of increasing commercial wealth that had created a new class of urban poor. The Franciscan spirituality added a new charism to Catholic virtue. While it was eventually approved by the hierarchy, Franciscanism at its core is spirituality arising from among the faithful.

It may be a good thing to see the rise of spirituality in contemporary Catholic America, even if the hierarchy does not command the movement. It proves the vitality of the faith, although it probably will require a lot of hard work to keep this energy focused on renewing today's institutionalized Church.

Church leaders run the risk of ignoring the current rise of the "NONES." This is a category for religious surveys developed by my colleagues Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar and incorporated in the American Religious Identification Surveys (ARIS) over more than two decades. A NONE says to the survey that he/she has "no particular religion." But the NONES are not the same as atheists. The NONES may deny the importance of institutionalized religion but they do not share the atheist's common belief that the spiritual world does not exist.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: atheism, Catholicism, faith, Nones, spirituality

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Seeing the might of the box office, Hollywood is finally getting religion

Originally published December 18, 2009
By Robert W. Butler

McClatchy Newspapers

(MCT)

Call it religion. Or if that makes you uncomfortable, go with the more general "spirituality."

Whatever you call it, it's everywhere at the multiplex these days.

In movies as varied as the dead serious "The Road," the uplifting family picture "The Blind Side," the biting comedy "The Invention of Lying" and even James Cameron's sci-fi opus "Avatar," issues of faith and morality and mankind's place in the universe are all the rage .

Not all of these movies embrace religion. Some question human gullibility. Some ask for evidence of a higher purpose in what often seems a random universe. But whether they encourage prayer or doubt, they're all part of the zeitgeist.

But why now?

"There are two schools of thought about that," said Greg Wright, an editor at www.HollywoodJesus.com, a Web site that examines popular culture from a religious perspective.

"The more paranoid elements of our culture tend to think Hollywood has a proactive agenda, that producers have a grand scheme to use movies to shape the thinking of audiences. I don't subscribe to that school.

"I believe that Hollywood gives audiences what audiences want to see. If people don't want to see movies with certain messages, they won't buy tickets.

"So if there's a trend out there, it's one reflecting what people are already thinking and feeling."

And what are we thinking?

Sister Rose Pacatte, who reviews movies for the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Los Angeles, says it isn't mere coincidence that a new animated version of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" came along in 2009. She notes that the film was released in the wake of an economic crisis fueled by greedy self-interest on an unprecedented scale.

"Being a good man of business will not save your soul. That's an essential message of 'A Christmas Carol' and one emphasized by this version," she said.

Dickens' tale may have little to say about God and Jesus, but it stresses charity and the dangers of poverty and ignorance, she noted.

Please click on "external source" to find out more about spiritually-themed movies.

Labels: Hollywood, movies, Robert W. Butler, spirituality

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Friday, November 20, 2009

Giving Thanks Helps Depression, Study

Submitted by Tyler Woods Ph.D.
Nov 20th, 2009

Depression is the opposite of a state of thankfulness and being thankful and grateful could help symptoms of depression. Research that appeared in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology confirmed that those individuals who kept a weekly gratitude journal were more optimistic about life, more likely to exercise regularly, and felt better physically compared to those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.

More and more studies just like this are coming to light about the powers of gratitude and healing depression. There have been many studies and surveys on the power of gratitude and depression. In a survey commissioned by spirituality.com, 84% of Americans said expressing gratitude reduces stress and depression and fosters better health and optimism.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: depression, gratitude, health, spirituality, Tyler Woods

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

Health: The healing power of prayer

By Pamela Fayerman,
VANCOUVER SUN September 26, 2009

Bending down to place flowers at the graves of his parents, 87-year old Marcelo Carr lost his balance, hitting his head on the tombstone at Ocean View cemetery.

The trauma caused paralysis in his upper and lower limbs. Three months into his stay at Vancouver General Hospital, he says doctors told him to resign himself to his limitations and accept life in a wheelchair.

For Carr's 84-year old brother, Stan, the accident was just as traumatic and life-changing. As his brother’s primary caregiver, Stan is at Marcelo’s side 12 hours a day. Now, a little more than a year since the fall, Marcelo is able to walk with his brother’s assistance and his arms have also regained some function.

The men don’t discount the assistance from physiotherapists and other health professionals in Marcelo’s gradual recovery. But nothing would be possible, they say, without the healing power of prayer. It helped lift Stan’s depression after the accident. And it has given them both the physical and emotional strength to endure.

Chris Bernard, a Providence Health Care pastoral care worker at St. Vincent’s Hospital (Langara site), the long-term care residence where Marcelo now resides, is an integral force in their journey. Such workers offer emotional and spiritual support, companionship and compassion to people of all faiths, spiritualities and belief systems. Providence Health Care is believed to have the largest number of hospital chaplains in the province, in accordance with the founding legacy of the nuns who laid out its spiritual underpinnings, according to Liz Macdonald, coordinator of pastoral care services at St. Paul's Hospital.

Although Catholic icons abound in the many hospitals and facilities throughout the Providence organization, Bernard and Macdonald help facilitate multifaith prayer or non-religious reflection and meditation.

"As care providers, we take a holistic view of the patient/resident ... to ensure all the facets of their being receive attention — social, physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual. In this context, healing means the return to wholeness and integration of the person. Even if the patient/resident cannot be physically cured per se, they can attain healing in other dimensions of their humanity," Bernard says.

When she visits patients in hospital who are open to praying, Macdonald, a former nurse, says “we may pray for restoration or a cure if we think there is one, but if not, we pray for strength to accept suffering, to be at peace, to accept that in life, there is suffering. We thank God for the medical technology and the skills of doctors, nurses and other health professionals and ask that God give strength.”

Bernard adds prayer brings about insight, connectedness, understanding, tranquility, reconciliation and peaceful acceptance.

Skeptics may doubt the power of prayer, but in a recent article, Jeff Levin, a leading researcher in the area of faith and healing, noted that a review of over 1,200 studies of religion and health found a positive effect of some sort (hope, optimism, physical and emotional strength and recovery) in the vast majority.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article. And for a Urantia Book perspective on prayer and health, please consider the following:

91:4.5 Remember, even if prayer does not change God, it very often effects great and lasting changes in the one who prays in faith and confident expectation. Prayer has been the ancestor of much peace of mind, cheerfulness, calmness, courage, self-mastery, and fair-mindedness in the men and women of the evolving races.

Labels: faith, health, hospital, Pamela Fayerman, prayer, spirituality

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Twittering God

Charlotte White, Promotions Coordinator, www.AuthorHouse.com

SCOTTSDALE, Sept. 9 /Christian Newswire/ -- For centuries chirping was a bird thing. Not anymore. Now millions of people Twitter daily to keep in contact with friends through tweet messages that say what they are doing, much like 58% of the U.S. population who pray daily according to a recent Pew Survey. But can Twitter mesh with spirituality?

"Twitter seems to fill emptiness with short messages of 140 characters or less about what's happening in life. Tweets may provide warmth to senders and receivers like an electronic blanket," says John Groh, author of Rubbing God's Ear With His Promises, a book of prayers. "While Twitter may appeal to some who want self-affirmation, praying arcs away from self by relying on God's promises," he adds.

Like Facebook and MySpace, Twitter is a social interconnector that lets "followers" maintain contact with acquaintances. Reportedly the free service played a role in the uprising in Iran this year and the Mumbai massacre of 2008.

Tweeting makes a home in some churches. Micro-blogging raises the bandwidth in several Nashville, Seattle, Charlotte and New York City churches with tweeting during sermons. One man solicits prayers to God on Twitter and then prints, rolls and inserts them in Jerusalem's Western Wall.

Labels: Charlotte White, God, John Groh, prayer, social networking, spirituality, Twitter

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Conference says teachers must listen to children who believe in angels

Conference says teachers must listen to children who believe in angels
Thursday, September 3, 2009

Children who believe they have seen angels or had other spiritual experiences often keep it a secret for fear of being ridiculed by adults, the British Educational Research Association conference was told today.

Teachers have a special responsibility to listen to children who want to talk about 'spiritual' experiences that other adults may dismiss as fantasy, says Dr Kate Adams, a senior lecturer at Bishop Grosseteste University College, Lincoln. Both the 1988 and 2002 education Acts require them to attend to children's spiritual development.

She accepts that this legal requirement is daunting, given the difficulty of defining "spiritual" and the almost impossible task of demonstrating development in spirituality. However, Dr Adams argues that teachers can at least grant children the right to have their "spiritual voice" heard. "By doing this we can show them how important this dimension of their life is and begin to combat the disinterest which can make children feel misunderstood and retreat into silence," she says.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: children, spirituality, teachers

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Thursday, September 03, 2009

In pursuit of happiness

AMRITA MULCHANDANI
4 September 2009

What can make a youngster happy and content? Love? Well, not really. It’s spirituality
that can bring in a dash of sunshine. A recent survey by a music channel found out that youngsters who practice spirituality are much more happier than the ones who don’t.

"I am a great believer in spirituality. I meditate once in a day for twenty minutes," says Gunjan Patel, 22 who has been doing it since she was seven. So what makes youngsters get attracted to soul matters?

"I think, being spiritual alters one’s belief system and changes your perspective towards various things. Practicing spirituality helps a lot during difficult times and makes one optimistic," replies Patel. Forty four per cent of the youngsters consider themselves spiritual, and ten per cent say that spirituality is the most important thing in their lives.

"This is a positive trend that youngsters are inclined towards spirituality but they don’t know the right direction. Things should be presented to them in a way they understand. Being spiritual depends on how one takes it. It isn’t limited to what we see or feel but it is something we experience beyond our senses," says Archarya Brahmachari Atharvana Chaitanya associated with a leading centre of yoga and spirituality.

There are some youngsters who are open to learn about spirituality. "I believe in spirituality but not completely. I have just started to learn more about it. I think it really gives peace of mind and makes an individual calm."

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: Amrita Mulchandani, meditation, spirituality

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Free-flow spirituality

R Jagannathan
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

You may have read a story in DNA suggesting that as many as 65 per cent of Americans subscribe to the Hindu way of thinking about god -- which is that there are several paths to the ultimate. Among other things, the report says that 30 per cent of Americans think of themselves as spiritual, but not necessarily religious, and a quarter believe in reincarnation.

The report, based on a Pew survey of 2008 and a Newsweek poll of 2009, does not come as a surprise. Reason: as societies become richer and are freed from basic material cravings, they will seek higher forms of self-realisation. Organised religion, with its focus on dogma and scripture, is incapable of catering to the needs of evolved minds.

Abraham Maslow, a pioneer in defining the human hierarchy of needs, built a pyramid of five levels. At the basic level, every individual has physiological needs (like food, sleep, sex). Next comes safety, followed by social needs (love and belongingness). At the fourth level, there is the need for esteem, and, finally, self-actualisation. The last could mean seeking a higher purpose in life, a spirituality that transcends self.

Society's hierarchy of needs mirror those of the individual, though no society is a homogeneous mass. It has several strata. Even in the rich west, there will be poor people with basic physiological and safety needs; even in poverty-ridden India, there will be a sprinkling of classes at the top with evolved self-actualisation needs.

That said, one can still make a few generalisations: the developed nations, which have fewer numbers of the absolutely poor and destitute, will have more people seeking higher levels of spirituality. Conversely, the poor will see better alternatives in organised religious structures, of the kind offered by traditional Christianity and Islam. In India, Hindu fears about conversions stem principally from this belief that the church and the mosque may be better positioned in terms of their social philosophies to meet the needs of the poor. Upper-end Hindu or Buddhist spiritualism appears more elitist.

Two caveats are in order here. First, by Hindu one is not merely referring to a specific religion called Hinduism, but a set of broad cultural beliefs about life, god and spirituality. You can be a Hindu by believing in any kind of god, or even no god. You accept that others may have different ideas about god. You can move far away from the base-camp of religion to find your own spiritual altitude, and you will still be reckoned as a Hindu. On the other hand, you cannot be a Christian or Muslim by accepting any other god or spiritual goal as true. Acceptance of these two faiths means implicit denial of other faiths. Which, for the spiritually evolved, can be a limiting factor...

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.
And on the subject of "self-realization," here is a Urantia Book quote which may illuminate why Hindusim may be an attractive religion for some truth-seekers...

Religious experience is markedly influenced by physical health, inherited temperament, and social environment. But these temporal conditions do not inhibit inner spiritual progress by a soul dedicated to the doing of the will of the Father in heaven. There are present in all normal mortals certain innate drives toward growth and self-realization which function if they are not specifically inhibited. The certain technique of fostering this constitutive endowment of the potential of spiritual growth is to maintain an attitude of wholehearted devotion to supreme values. 100:1.6

Labels: America, Hinduism, R Jagannathan, religion, self-realization, spirituality

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Interfaith Spirituality 101: what are three universal lessons from Islam?

August 14,
Dr Deb Brown

This is the fifth article in a series of weekly articles about universal lessons offered by the spiritual Teachings, beginning (in alphabetical order) with Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Indigenous wisdom, and continuing this week with Islam.

This article does not address the ideas and beliefs that led to 9/11, which have been denounced repeatedly by Muslim scholars around the world. This article focuses on Islam, the sacred religion of peace founded by the Prophet Mohammad (570–632 AD), who is believed by Muslims to have directly received the word of Allah/God from the angel Gabriel and transcribed it into the Qur’an (Koran). The word "Islam" means "submission" in Arabic, and its primary focus is on humbly submitting to the Divine.

This article looks past issues that often divide us, and offers three of many Muslim lessons that could be considered universal lessons for all of us. These three lessons are not meant to capture centuries of Muslim thought and are offered in no particular order:

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: Deb Brown, interfaith, Islam, Muslims, peace, spirituality

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Friday, August 14, 2009

Buddhism strengthens ties to church

By Electa Draper
The Denver Post
Posted: 08/09/2009 01:00:00 AM MDT

What in the recent past seemed exotic and foreign is now almost routinely folded into "the fold."

Buddhism is not only accepted as a mainstream American religion, it is a path increasingly trod by faithful Christians and Jews who infuse Eastern spiritual insights and practices such as meditation into their own religions.

When John Weber became a Buddhist at age 19, his devout Methodist parents were not particularly pleased.

In recent years, however, they've invited their son, a religious studies expert with Boulder's Naropa University, to speak at their church about Buddhism.

"That never would have happened before," Weber said. "They would have been embarrassed."

The Pew Forum's Religious Landscape Survey in 2007 found that seven in 10 Americans who have a religion believe there is more than one path to salvation. A growing number of people are contemplating more than one each.

And they are contemplating contemplation itself.

There are Jubus — Jews who bring Buddhism into their practice of Judaism — and Bujus, who are Buddhists with Jewish parents. Then there are UUbus, or Unitarian Universalist Buddhists, and Ebus, or Episcopalian Buddhists. There are Zen Catholics.

"There is a definite trend and movement that will not be reversed," said Ruben Habito, a laicized Jesuit priest, Zen master and professor of world religions at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. "We are in a new spiritual age, an inter-religious age."

Search can lead back home

People are hungry for a deeper spiritual experience — meditation, mindfulness, personal transformation, deep insight, union with God or the universe.

Habito, who calls himself a Zen Catholic, is one of the experts who say the search is a little like Dorothy and her ruby slippers. The quest for meaning ultimately leads some, like Dorothy, to their own backyards.

Judaism, Catholicism and Islam have rich traditions in contemplative practices, yet these had all but disappeared from everyday congregational life.

For many Christians cut off from the past, or alienated from the faith of their upbringing, Buddhism has served as the bridge to ancient wisdom.

"The problem is the contemplative tradition in the Christian Church has had its ups and downs over the centuries," said Father Thomas Keating, a Trappist monk and leader in the Centering Prayer movement, a modern revival of Christian contemplative practice.

"We sensed that the Eastern religions, with their highly developed spirituality, had something we didn't have," Keating said. "In the last generation, 10 to 20 years, some didn't even think there was a Christian spirituality, just rules — do's and don'ts and dogma they didn't find spiritually nourishing. It's important to recover the mystical aspects of the gospel."

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: Buddhism, Christian, Electa Draper, God, interfaith, meditation, religion, spirituality

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Friday, August 07, 2009

God on the brain at Penn’s Neuroscience Boot Camp

August 5th, 2009
Tom Heneghan

Neurotheology - the study of the link between belief and the brain - is a topic I’ve hesitated to write about for several years. There are all kinds of theories out there about how progress in neuroscience is changing our understanding of religion, spirituality and mystical experience. Some say the research proves religion is a natural product of the way the brain works, others that God made the brain that way to help us believe. I knew so little about the science behind these ideas that I felt I had to learn more about the brain first before I could comment.

If that was an excuse for procrastination, I don’t have it anymore. For all this week and half the next, I’m attending a "Neuroscience Boot Camp" at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. This innovative program, run by Penn’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience Director Martha Farah (photo below), aims to explain the latest research in neuroscience to 34 non-experts from fields such as law, business, philosophy and religious studies (as well as to a few journalists). The focus is not only on religion, but faith and issues related to it are certainly part of the discussion.

After only two of 8-1/2 days of lectures, one takeaway message is already clear. You can forget about the "God spot" that headline writers love to highlight (as in "'God spot' is found in Brain" or "Scientists Locate 'God Spot' in Human Brain"). There is no one place in the brain responsible for religion, just as there is no single location in the brain for love or language or identity. Most popular articles these days actually say that, but the headline writers continue to speak of a single spot.

"There isn’t a separate religious area of the brain, from what we can tell from the data," said Dr. Andrew Newberg, an associate professor of radiology and psychiatry at the Penn university hospital and author of several books on neuroscience and religion. "It’s not like there’s a little spiritual spot that lights up every time somebody thinks of God. When you look at religious and spiritual experiences, they are incredibly rich and diverse. Sometimes people find them on the emotional level, sometimes on an ideological level, sometimes they perceive a oneness, sometimes they perceive a person. It depends a lot on what the actual experience is."

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: belief, brain, God, neuroscience, neurotheology, religion, spirituality, Tom Heneghan

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What do your spiritual paths say about the role of play?

Tue, Aug 04, 2009
William McKenzie/Editorial Columnist

This week's question comes from our own Texas Faith panelist Amy Martin, and it certainly is appropriate given that we're still enjoying summer, a time many of us associate with play. Here it is:

We live in society where so much attention is devoted to work. But we're headed into August, the vacation month. What do your spiritual paths say about the role of play?

Read on, because there are some terrific answers from our panelists:

Please click on "external source" for the complete article. Panelists include a number of prominent religionists in the state of Texas, and the answers are quite interesting, and very thoughtful. A nice article...

Labels: Jesus, play, spirituality, William McKenzie, work

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Book Review: Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet

CYNTHIA GEPPERT, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Albuquerque, N.Mex.

The historically recent antipathy between religion and psychiatry stemming from Freud, Ellis, and other secular intellects has been gradually reversed through the influence of the wider movement over the last several decades to reintegrate spirituality into health care. Ironically, many of the leaders of this effort have been psychiatrists, among whom none is more prolific than Harold Koenig, M.D., the author of over 40 books on the topic, several of them dealing specifically with religion and mental health. His latest work, Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet, is a concise yet substantive tour of the burgeoning research base examining the relationship between religion and health. The book, which is directed toward the educated generalist, has chapters covering studies of religion and health, involving the cardiovascular and immune/endocrine systems, longevity, and disability. Mental health professionals will be particularly interested in the chapters on mind-body interactions, mental health, and diseases related to stress and behavior, as well as the final chapter on clinical applications of the research. Psychiatrists will be conversant and likely comfortable with Koenig’s overarching thesis:

It appears that psychological and social factors influence the physiological systems of the body that are directly responsible for good health and the ability to fight disease. Therefore if religious/spiritual involvement can be shown to enhance psychological health and social interactions, it is reasonable to hypothesize that religious factors may improve physical health as well, doing so by reducing psychological stress, increasing social support, and encouraging positive health behaviors. (p. 53)

Medicine, Religion, and Health: Where Science and Spirituality Meet
by Harold G. Koenig, M.D. West Conshohocken, Pa., Templeton Press, 2008, 240 pp., $14.95.

Please click on "external source" to access the entire article.

Labels: Cynthia Geppert, Harold Koenig, health, psychiatry, Psychiatry Online, religion, spirituality

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

Therapeutic music, part 1 (video)

July 13, 2009
Maria Hoaglund

"And the more souls who resonate together, the greater the intensity of their love and, mirror-like, each soul reflects the other." — Dante

Music has the power to open our hearts. It is a powerful language that speaks volumes. It is also the heart within the heart, the “sacred heart,” where we connect with everything, or the Oneness of All. No wonder music is such a powerful, healing blessing to us. The following piece was written by Jeri Howe, a Seattle musician who offers her healing, magical harp melodies to the dying, through an organization called Sacred Harmonies.

AT THE ROOT OF ALL CARING IS TOUCH

Sacred Harmonies, using harp and voice, offers music at the bedside of the ill or dying to ease physical, spiritual, and emotional pain, and to create an atmosphere of loving kindness that supports the soul in transition. Often we forget that the dying are losing their whole world: their body, their relationships, their identity. These are overwhelming losses to face. A music “vigil” at the bedside is very beneficial for both the patient and loved ones. The musical medicine that is offered is prescriptive to the patient and conveys a sense of serenity and consolation that can be profoundly soothing. Deeply spiritual in intention, the musical vigils are very practical; often the music aids in helping people sleep, or find deep rest and peace.

We play our harps for the dying because of our love and appreciation for life. The music provides a voice for this love. We play our harps so the music can accompany and journey with the person who is dying—to ease their fears and surround them with a sense of beauty and blessing. We play our harps for those suffering with pain, anxiety, and dementia, to bring them comfort. Music is a living language that communicates without words. The music carries and accompanies us into the unknown and helps release our fears and attachments. It provides us with beauty, warmth, light, and hints that we are not alone.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article, and a soothing video.

Labels: dying, harps, Jeri Howe, Maria Hoaglund, music therapy, Sacred Harmonies, spirituality

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Pitt survey indicates spiritual wellness aids in cancer fight

By Allison M. Heinrichs
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 9, 2009

Feeling angry with or abandoned by God increases depression in women with breast cancer, according to a survey by Pittsburgh doctors, which advises clinicians to ask patients questions about their religion and guide them to use spirituality to cope.

The yearlong survey of 284 patients explored the relationship between "religious coping" and well-being. The results, published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, indicate that doctors should listen for "red flag" comments such as, "Why is God punishing me?"

"That's a sign for clinicians that these patients are feeling abandoned," said Dr. Randy Hebert, medical director of Forbes Hospice and lead author of the report.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: Allison M. Heinrichs, cancer, God, religion, spirituality, well-being

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Thursday, July 09, 2009

Michael Jackson recognized the spiritual force and oneness in his work (video)

July 7, 2009

Michael Jackson recognized Oneness.

Michael Jackson was, like all of us, a spiritual being having a physical experience, and he spoke of that spiritual nature in a question about his work. The following is excerpted from that interview:

Question: "Do you feel a special spiritual energy when you're performing? Do you feel you are connected to a higher force because this is what you make many feel when they see you live?"

Say what you will about Michael Jackson, there is no doubt after hearing this interview that he had quite a spiritual bent. Alas, he was not "unbreakable" after all. He is a modern tragic kind of figure, possible only in the strange times in which we live. But, perhaps his words will inspire the young to find spirituality in their own lives.

For the answer to the question above, and an interesting interview. please click on "external source" at the bottom of this excerpt.

Labels: inspiration, interview, Michael Jackson, music, spirituality

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Churches Face the Boomer Challenge

MIKE HARTON TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST
Published: July 5, 2009

Two recent conversations haunt me. An old college friend, a leading-edge baby boomer (age 63) whom I knew to be a person of faith in college, told me he and his wife "had given up on the institutional church." The other con versation was with an educated professional friend, also a baby boomer, who describes herself as spiritual but not religious.

These friends' attitudes are consistent with American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS, 2008) findings that more and more of us are claiming no religious affiliation. A similar study by The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 16 percent of the population has no religious identity.

Why did my college friends give up on church? Why is my spiritual friend not religious? In light of what we know about both boomers and many churches, it is not hard to speculate.

Baby boomers are as diverse a cohort as we have known. Their religious experiences run the gamut from no affiliation or faith identity to former "Jesus freaks" (from the 1960s) to very involved, regular church attenders. Some who formerly never darkened the doors of a house of worship are now actively engaged. Others who grew up in church have dropped out, many with no intention of returning.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: ARIS, Baby Boomers, church, faith, Mike Harton, religion, spirituality

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Monday, July 06, 2009

Women’s Spiritual Voices: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian

July 2nd, 2009

On May 21, 2009 the Moroccan American Cultural Center and the American Jewish Committee sponsored an interfaith panel discussion in New York City on “Women’s Spiritual Voices: Crossing Continents, Finding Common Ground.” Panelists explored the roles of women religious leaders in Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and they included three Moroccan women, Fatima Zahra Salhi, Nezha Nassi, and Ilham Chafik, who are “mourchidates” or religious counselors; Mahara’t Sara Hurwitz, a member of the rabbinic staff at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, New York; Rabbi Stephanie Dickstein, spiritual care coordinator at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in New York City; the Reverend Elizabeth Garnsey, associate rector at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City; and moderator Sarah Sayeed of the Interfaith Center of New York. In 2006, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI created the mourchidates program for women to serve as religious counselors in community health programs, women’s detention centers, and mosques. Fifty mourchidates are chosen from approximately 1,000 highly qualified applicants, and they receive intensive training in 32 subject areas including law, psychology and theology. They must also have learned at least half of the Qur’an by heart. Watch excerpts from the panel discussion edited by Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly intern Juliana Comer, a senior at James Madison University.

Please click on "external source for access to the complete article, including video.

Labels: Christianity, interfaith, Islam, Judaism, spirituality

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Book Review: Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos?

'Quantum Gods' analyzes purported link between physics and cosmic consciousness

Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos? Are our brains tuned into a "cosmic consciousness" that pervades the universe enabling us to make our own reality? Do quantum mechanics and chaos theory provide a place for God to act in the world without violating natural laws?

Many popular books and films make such claims and argue that key developments in twentieth-century physics, such as the uncertainty principle and the butterfly effect, support the notion that God or a universal mind acts upon material reality. Physicist Victor J. Stenger, author of New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis, examines these contentions in QUANTUM GODS: CREATION, CHAOS AND THE SEARCH FOR COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS (Prometheus Books, $26.98), a carefully reasoned and incisive analysis of popular theories that seek to link spirituality to physics.

"The public understanding of modern physics is seriously out of whack, thanks largely to pop junk like The Secret and What the BLEEP Do We Know? [that] promote a bogus version of quantum mechanics—the belief that 'you create your own reality' by controlling the laws of physics with your mind…," said Geoff Gilpin, author of The Maharishi Effect: A Personal Journey Through the Movement That Transformed American Spirituality. "The world has needed a book like this for a long time. If you care about scientific literacy, Quantum Gods is not optional."

Throughout the book Stenger alternates his discussions of popular spirituality with a survey of what the findings of twentieth-century physics actually mean. Thus he offers the reader a useful synopsis of contemporary religious ideas as well as basic but sophisticated physics presented in layperson's terms.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: God, quantum physics, spirituality, Victor J. Stenger

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Friday, June 19, 2009

This is your brain on religion - OpEd

Faith can bring out the best in people (love, generosity, compassion) — and the worst (fear, hatred, violence). Whether people are the former or the latter depends on how they view the God they worship.

By Andrew Newberg

When I was in high school, I dated a girl whose family regarded themselves as "born-again" Christians. It was my first encounter with devoutly religious people who strongly disagreed with my perspective on faith. They were always pleasant to me, but they were quite clear that in their view I had deeply sinned by not turning to Jesus. Oh, and because of this, I was going to hell.

It's tough enough being a teenager, but this was too much. The family's judgment disturbed me on two levels. First, I didn't like the thought of going to hell, but at the same time, their beliefs also challenged me to evaluate my own beliefs vigorously.

Distress and anxiety followed, and I realized that this was the first time that I had ever experienced such strong negative feelings about religion. And 30 years later, this episode still resonates as I conduct extensive research on religious practices and beliefs and their impact on the human person.

The research that I have come across, if not definitive, seems clear: Religion and spiritual practices generally have a positive effect on one's physical, emotional and neurological health. People who engage in religious activities tend to cope better with emotional problems, have fewer addictions and better overall health. They might even live longer than those who lead more secular lives. Indeed, many studies document that religious and spiritual individuals find more meaning in life.

Our studies at Penn's Center for Spirituality and the Mind (in conjunction with colleague Mark Waldman) of the effects of different spiritual practices, such as meditation and prayer, also reveal significant improvements in memory, cognition and compassion while simultaneously reducing anxiety, depression, irritability and stress (even when done in a non-theological context). One might come to the conclusion, then, that being religious or spiritual is a good thing. Perhaps God is great.

But not so fast. We also discovered that religion's influence on people depends very much on how they view their God.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article

Labels: Andrew Newberg, God, mind, religion, spirituality

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Friday, June 05, 2009

CULTURE DIGEST: Spiritual immaturity stymies church, researcher Barna says

Posted on Jun 1, 2009 | by Erin Roach

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--An unclear understanding of spiritual maturity may be an underlying reason why there is so little progress in seeing people develop spiritually in the United States, despite overwhelming access to churches and unlimited products and resources, The Barna Group says.

"America has a spiritual depth problem partly because the faith community does not have a robust definition of its spiritual goals," David Kinnaman, Barna's president, said. "The study shows the need for new types of spiritual metrics."

Barna found that most Christians equate spiritual maturity with following the rules described in the Bible. Also, many churchgoers were unable to identify how their church defines spiritual maturity. Most Christians, Barna said, offer one-dimensional views of personal spiritual maturity, giving answers such as having a relationship with Jesus, living a moral lifestyle or applying the Bible.

Most pastors struggle with articulating a specific set of objectives for spirituality and instead list activities over attitudes, the study said. Pastors are willing to acknowledge that a lack of spiritual maturity is one of the largest problems in the nation, but few of them say spiritual immaturity is a problem in their church.

This is a very interesting and informative article, and addresses the idea of "spiritual maturity." Please see "external source" to access the entire article.

Labels: Barna Group, Christianity, David Kinnaman, Erin Roach, faith, spiritual maturity, spirituality

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Five must-read books to for health and happiness.

Five must-read books to for health and happiness.
May 25, 12:44 PM

The definition of overwhelmed? Standing in front of the self-help section at your local big box bookstore. How do you sort through all that clutter to find the best of the best? Here are five recommendations to get you started. From the practical to the spiritual, each ends up with the same core conclusions:

1. We each have a remarkable inner navigation system to guide us to our own happiness.
2. The most powerful change tools available to us are our thoughts and our imagination.

These are books to change your life.

Note: Please go to "external source" to access this list of great books for your journey. And while you're at it, don't forget The Urantia Book!

Labels: Chris Trout, happiness, health, spirituality, The Urantia Book

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Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day — bivouac of the dead: hallowed, haunted Gettysburg

May 24, 3:57 PM

Memorial Day was first celebrated in 1868 as way of honoring the Civil War dead on both sides of this country’s bloody and painful war of brother against brother. Union and Confederate dead lie in common ground in our national cemeteries and remind us of the cost of war, and the cost of the union of this country.

Memorializing, or keeping memory of our war dead in a sacred way, is a deeply spiritual practice and one that shows us the true spirituality of humanity apart from any particular brand of religion. A special day of remembrance sprang up organically when some southern women decided to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead, Confederate and Union, on a day set aside for this. Originally the day was called Decoration Day because of this, and it so inspired the nation that it became the national holiday we now know as Memorial Day.

Please click on "external source" to read this poignant article about Memorial Day and its meaning

Labels: MaryEllen O'Brien, Memorial Day, peace, spirituality, war

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Faith-based weight loss

By Lynn Arave

Deseret News
Published: Friday, May 22, 2009

Losing weight is one of the greatest challenges many Americans face today. Billions of dollars are spent on weight-loss programs and yet obesity rates are still soaring. The National Institute of Health found that more than 90 percent of all fat-loss and fitness programs fail.

So, what's the solution?

The Rev. Ron Williams, 47, a resident of Utah since 1990 is the pastor of Midvale's Back to the Foundation Church. He is also a world champion bodybuilder and professor of nutrition and exercise physiology. He says the solution is a faith-based weight-loss program.

The Rev. Williams believes that "soul wounds" are one of the major obstacles to achieving fat loss. Soul wounds are trauma to the soul; personal tragedies — such as belittlement, neglect, abandonment, or verbal or physical abuse.

"Being overweight is not necessarily a sin," the Rev. Williams said, "But it can interfere with your purpose. It will not hinder you from going to heaven," though he notes, it may help you get there a little sooner.

"Having a fat-loss program is only half the solution to achieve permanent fat loss and a balanced health life," he said. "I have found that combining faith and fat loss helps people break the terrible bonds of being overweight and the hurt and shame of traumas that have been inflicted on them."

This is just a portion of the first of a two-page article. Please click on "external source" to access the entire article

Labels: faith, Lynn Arave, obesity, Rev. Ron Williams, spirituality, trauma, weight loss

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Spiritual Medicine: Bridging the Gap Between Religion and Psychology

By Gale Bataille and Bill Berkowitz
May 22, 2009

Activists and advocates have launched an initiative to further the understanding of the role of religion and spirituality in mental health. Conferences next month will bring clergy and mental health workers together to break new ground.
The wall at the Quaker-founded York Retreat, founded in 1796. Image courtesy imago

Historically, religion and mental health issues have had an uneasy relationship—and it goes both ways: people with mental illness have long faced stigma in religious communities, and mental health professionals have, for the most part, been suspicious of religion.

Mental health professionals are often trained to bracket out a patient’s religion in the name of professional boundaries, and have been encouraged to consider religion in the context of a medical model that can view spiritual beliefs as potential psychiatric symptoms. As psychologist David Lukoff explains:

This tendency, representing a form of cultural insensitivity, can be traced back to the roots of psychoanalysis as well as behaviorism and cognitive therapy. Freud saw religion as “a universal obsessional neurosis,” Skinner ignored religious experience, and Ellis viewed religion as equivalent to irrational thinking and emotional disturbance. Similarly, spiritual experiences have been viewed as evidence of psychopathology.

But the understanding of the role of religion and spirituality in mental health is changing. The California Mental Health and Spirituality Initiative (which grew out of a grassroots movement founded by activist and advocate Jay Mahler and other consumers, family members, and service providers) was established in June 2008 at the Center for Multicultural Development at the California Institute for Mental Health to advocate for the “inclusion of spirituality as a potential resource in mental health recovery and wellness.”

In advance of two upcoming California Conferences on Mental Health and Spirituality I had the opportunity to interview the initiative’s Director, the Rev. Laura Mancuso, along with Jay Mahler.

Please click on "external source" to read the entire interview.

Labels: Bill Berkowitz, Gale Bataille, Jay Mahler, mental health, religion, Rev. Laura Mancuso, spirituality

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Saturday, May 23, 2009

Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?

The Science Of Spirituality
Can Positive Thoughts Help Heal Another Person?

by Barbara Bradley Hagerty

All Things Considered, May 21, 2009 · Ninety percent of Americans say they pray — for their health, or their love life or their final exams. But does prayer do any good?

For decades, scientists have tried to test the power of prayer and positive thinking, with mixed results. Now some scientists are fording new — and controversial — territory.

This is one of a five-part series currently running on National Public Radio (All Things Considered). This article can also be run as audio from the link below. It is well-worth the time it takes, and nice to know that such intensive research is being done on spirituality. This site has all the previous presentations as well.

Please click on "external source" for the complete article.

Labels: All Things Considered, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, healing, NPR radio, positive thinking, prayer, spirituality

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Friday, May 22, 2009

Book Review: " Fingerprints of God"

NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty uses journalism’s tools to explore the intersection of spirituality and science.
By Gregory M. Lamb | May 19, 2009 edition

Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality By Barbara Bradley Hagerty Riverheard Books 323 pp., $33.50

Using the reporting and explanatory skills of a talented veteran journalist, Barbara Bradley Hagerty has written a compelling account of her quest to answer an age-old question: Is this all there is?

The result is Fingerprints of God, a book that sails the roiling waters between religion and science and is unlikely to make quick friends among either evangelical Christians or those in the scientific community who conclude that God cannot exist. But for readers who consider themselves to be spiritual seekers, Hagerty treads some fascinating territory.

Rather than dismissing science as the enemy of spirituality, she engages with it, seeking out scientific pioneers, the outliers who are doing intriguing work on the nature of the brain and consciousness. She also talks with ordinary people who’ve had extraordinary personal encounters, such as near-death or out-of-body experiences, that have changed their views of themselves, reality, and on the existence of an afterlife.

Hagerty, the religion correspondent for National Public Radio, comes to a less-than-startling conclusion: Science can neither prove nor disprove these great questions. But she also sees hints of a “paradigm shift” in science now under way – akin, perhaps, to the early 20th century when the work of Einstein and others took a quantum leap away from a universe based solely on 18th-century Newtonian physics.

“Hard science does not mean petrified science,” Hagerty posits. “The paradigm to exclude a divine intelligence, or ‘Other,’ or ‘God,’ to reduce all things to matter, has reigned triumphant for some four hundred years, since the dawn of the Age of Reason,” she continues. “Today, a small yet growing number of scientists are trying to chip away at the paradigm, suspecting that its feet are made of clay.”

Please click on "external source" for complete article.

Labels: Barbara Bradley Hagerty, God, Gregory M. Lamb, religion, science, spirituality

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Friday, May 15, 2009

8 Ways Faith Can Heal

Wednesday May 13, 2009

In February "Time" Magazine published some fascinating articles on the "biology of belief": how faith can heal us. Folks who attend church services on Sunday have a lower risk of dying in any one year than the guys who sleep in, read the paper, and skip all holy activities. "Spirituality predicts for better disease control," says Dr. Gail Ironson, a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Miami who studies HIV and religious belief.

Okay. So how? What exactly happens in a brain when a person sings "Alleluia!" that makes her more resilient to illness than the nonbeliever? Here are 8 ways faith can heal.

Please click on "external source" to raed the list of eight ways that faith can heal. This is an interesting and hopeful article.

Labels: biology, faith, Gail Ironson, health, spirituality

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Friday, May 08, 2009

New Web Site Aims to Change the Way Americans Talk about Religion and Spirituality

First-of-its-kind site Patheos.com launches today to provide an open forum to explore, experience and engage in religious and spiritual beliefs and discussion

DENVER, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- A new Web site designed to meet the growing online demand for credible, engaging information on religion and spirituality will launch today. Patheos.com (www.Patheos.com) aims to be the premier online destination for engaging in the global dialogue about religion and spirituality, and to explore and experience the world's beliefs. According to the Pew Internet Project, nearly 82 million Americans use the Web for faith-related reasons, pointing to the need for a credible and comprehensive online religious and spiritual destination.

Husband-and-wife entrepreneurs, parents and 20-year Web technology veterans, Leo and Cathie Brunnick were inspired to develop Patheos in 2008 when they married and were unable to find a credible, comprehensive online resource to provide guidance when blending two families from different religious backgrounds.

"With the launch of Patheos, we hope to provide access to a resource unlike any other on the Web, dedicated to providing religious and spiritual information and most importantly, constructive and meaningful dialogue," said Leo Brunnick, Patheos co-founder and CEO. "We've seen too much disrespectful, unconstructive dialogue about a topic that's important to many Americans. It's time to change the way we talk about religion, and Patheos can be the catalyst to help create this positive change."

In addition to the Public Square, Patheos visitors will find a unique variety of resources and applications...

Patheos is open to all visitors and does not support, endorse or promote any one religion, but strives to engage those of all beliefs and elevate the level of dialogue in the U.S. around important spiritual and religious topics.

To find out much more about Patheos.com, its founders and its features, please click on "external source"

Labels: Patheos.com, religion, spirituality, websites

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Monday, April 27, 2009

Major points of convergence within great spiritual traditions

Friday, April 24, 2009
By Rev. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI

When we look at all the major world religions, we see that they are more similar than dissimilar in how we understand the spiritual quest...we can draw out these major points of convergence:

---First, in all of them the aim of the spiritual quest is the same: union with God and union with everyone and everything else.

---Second, in all the great spiritual traditions the path to union is understood as coming through compassion.

---Third, in every great spiritual tradition, the route to compassion and union with God is paradoxical, requiring that somehow we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves, die to come to life, and give so as to receive.

---Fourth, every great spiritual tradition is clear that spiritual progress requires hard discipline and some painful renunciations, that the road-more-traveled won't get you home.

---Fifth, every great spiritual tradition tells us that the spiritual quest is a life-long journey with no short-cuts, no quick paths, no hidden secrets, and no appeal to privilege that can short-circuit the discipline and renunciation required.

All the great religious traditions agree: The road is narrow and hard and there are no short-cuts.

Please click on "external source" for the remainder of the similarities between religions, and an expanded understanding of these important points of religious convergence.

Labels: compassion, faith, God, Rev. Ronald Rolheiser, spirituality, unity, world religions

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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Easter: Sign of Our Faith in Renewal

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Please click on "external source" for complete article.

Polls over the recent decades have consistently shown that nine in 10 Americans believe in the existence of God. A Harris Poll in 2003 indicated that roughly 84 percent professed a belief in miracles, the same number as those who believed in the survival of the soul after death. (Nearly 70 percent also believed in the devil and hell.)

A Pew Forum survey in 2007 indicated 78 percent saw the Bible as being the word of God, either literally (35 percent) or not (43 percent).

A current poll conducted by Newsweek found basic religious beliefs have varied little in decades. According to Newsweek, 78 percent still found prayer to be “an important part of daily life,” and 85 percent said religion was “very important” or “fairly important” in their lives.

No matter our specific spiritual doctrines, humans do exhibit a need to maintain hope and a faith in revival. We say that it’s only natural, and we see the basis for that belief in the continual renewal of the natural world around us.

Change is a constant.

Newsweek also reported its latest poll found that only 48 percent of those surveyed thought faith would “help answer all or most of the country’s current problems.” That’s down from 64 percent in 1994. Presumably, that means we tend to see fewer possibilities for specific spiritual beliefs solving the convoluted problem of toxic assets, bundled mortgage securities and such.

Labels: belief, Bible, faith, God, Newsweek magazine, spirituality

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Friday, April 17, 2009

Religion in America: A many splendored thing

By ARTURO MORA

Should America be guided by any specific religious viewpoint? You’d think the answer was obvious, considering the First Amendment.

Yet there are politicians and religious leaders who insist we are a Christian nation, and demand the majority religion should set the rules. They want it to dictate our laws, our education system, and even how we shop. (“There’s a “War on Christmas!” they complain.)

But are we a Christian nation?

The Pew survey also showed a lot of movement between religions. Americans are searching for meaning in their lives, and they care less about specific creeds or traditional faith lines.

For example, few in the survey said they were Buddhists. Yet mindfulness practice and meditation have grown beyond the fads they once were. Popular writers such as Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra and Thich Nhat Hanh mix Eastern and Western spiritual teachings. God, they say, is not Christian or Buddhist. God is just God.

So even if we were to agree Christianity should set the rules, whose Christianity would that be exactly?

Instead of claiming you’re oppressed, instead of yelling at one another, how about we talk to each other?

A relative of mine, a traditional Christian, called last year during a health crisis, and asked, “Have you thought that maybe the reason you got sick is you’re worshipping the wrong God?”

I explained the Buddha is not a God, and described what God meant to me. We talked for an hour about the role spirituality plays in our lives, and she directed me to a wonderful passage in Philippians (4:6-8), which helped me through my crisis. I go back to it often.

I’d love to have such discussions with many traditional Christians. If you see God and Jesus in a traditional way, or take the Bible as literal truth, I respect your beliefs.

Labels: America, Arturo Mora, Christianity, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, religion, spirituality

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Religion Spirituality Theology Books

WEBWIRE – Friday, April 10, 2009

Dr. Andrew Cort, D.C., J.D., has launched a website, http://www.andrewcort.com, providing information on books and seminars, with free excerpts, customer reviews, and related articles, on the topics of Religion, Spirituality, Education, Science, Holistic Healing, and contemporary American Culture.

Regarding his own major work, ‘Return to Meaning: The American Psyche in Search of its Soul’, Rev. Janet McKinstry has written, “Cort demonstrates that all religious traditions have the common aim of teaching a method for enlightening our souls. When this shared noble purpose is understood, a sense of sacred meaning is restored to our lives and there is no further need for religious hatred and bigotry. All of this is made clear in a book that is entertaining, inspiring, beautifully written, and filled with amazing insights into biblical passages that have perplexed generations of scholars (I was especially moved by Cort’s exploration of the Feminine aspect of creation). His real genius is that he takes complex theology and explains it for the everyday reader.”

Labels: Dr. Andrew Cort, Janet McKinstry, religion, spirituality

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Friday, April 10, 2009

New Television-Web Series "Global Spirit" Explores Spirituality, Religion and the Science of Belief as Practiced Worldwide, premiering April 12 on Lin

New Television-Web Series "Global Spirit" Explores Spirituality, Religion and the Science of Belief as Practiced Worldwide, premiering April 12 on Link TV

Link TV presents the premiere of "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast, pan-cultural television and web series that explores spiritual, psychological and scientific belief systems from around the world. Episodes explore the relationships between mind and spirit, science and metaphysics, and mental and physical well-being as approached by the world's ancient wisdom traditions and by modern science. "Global Spirit" is a unique 'internal travel' series that brings to light spiritual, mental and physical practices that help us to define who we are as human beings, our relationships to others -- and to the world at large. From the ecstatic state of the Turkish Whirling Dervishes, to new scientific understandings of Oneness and the interconnectedness of the universe, to the personal journeys of American veterans who return to Vietnam in search of forgiveness, "Global Spirit" explores mankind's deepest existential questions, tracing the human quest for truth and wisdom. Watch online at LinkTV.org/GlobalSpirit.

New York, NY (Billboard Publicity Wire/PRWEB ) April 6, 2009 -- A rally cry for change has been heard from Americans and people around the globe. The intense environment of conflict, fear and cultural misunderstanding of recent years has generated a yearning for a more interconnected, just and compassionate way of co-existing with our global neighbors. At the same time, we are perhaps seeking a deeper understanding of ourselves -- both as individuals and as a nation. In the midst of this burgeoning, collective reassessment, Link TV presents "Global Spirit," a nationally broadcast, pan-cultural television and web series that explores spiritual, psychological and scientific belief systems from around the world.

"Global Spirit" premieres on Sunday, April 12 at 6:00pm PT/9:00pm ET with its first original program "The Spiritual Quest," featuring acclaimed comparative religion author Karen Armstrong and professor of Buddhist studies Dr. Robert Thurman. Each week through June 14, "Global Spirit" will present the U.S. television premiere of a new program probing the trans-cultural dynamics of human inquiry. Link TV is available on DIRECTV channel 375 and Dish Network channel 9410 and on select cable stations. Programs will also be streamed in their entirety at LinkTV.org/GlobalSpirit.

For full episode descriptions and air dates, please visit our website.

Episodes explore the relationships between mind and spirit, science and metaphysics, and mental and physical well-being as approached by the world's ancient wisdom traditions and by modern science. "Global Spirit" is a unique 'internal travel' series that brings to light spiritual, mental and physical practices that help us to define who we are as human beings, our relationships to others -- and to the world at large.

From the ecstatic state of the Turkish Whirling Dervishes, to new scientific understandings of Oneness and the interconnectedness of the universe, to the personal journeys of American veterans who return to Vietnam in search of forgiveness, "Global Spirit" explores mankind's deepest existential questions, tracing the human quest for truth and wisdom.

The belief systems of many of our global neighbors lie beyond the purview of formalized religion, yet they have guided mankind through many millennia with highly evolved principles and philosophies. In August of 2005, the cover of Newsweek magazine announced the rise of spirituality in America. The issue explores how and why many Americans choose to seek spiritual experiences outside the norms of traditional church, mosque or synagogue settings. A poll conducted by Newsweek and Beliefnet found that new forms of religious experience and expression attract many Americans each year. The poll also found that 79% of those polled described themselves as "spiritual," and 70% of those polled said it was very important to them to practice their religion in order to find happiness and peace of mind. "Global Spirit" explores the emerging longing in the American psyche to explore the depths of human consciousness and the many faces of spirituality.

Rather than approaching global traditions from a detached, voyeuristic perspective, "Global Spirit" invites the viewer to test and participate in traditions as practiced by a wide range of peoples and spiritual leaders. By connecting and cross-pollinating the core concepts from the world's wisdom traditions, "Global Spirit" offers the curious viewer an exploration of new and ancient approaches to healing, forgiveness and self-knowledge. From the mystical to the religious, and from the psychological to the spiritual, "Global Spirit" offers a rich and thoughtful exploration of the world's many approaches to personal and collective well-being.

Each "Global Spirit" episode offers compelling film segments with original, on-location footage shot by the "Global Spirit" crew, together with engaging, in-depth conversations between host Phil Cousineau and a diverse set of experts such as Karen Armstrong, Dr. Robert Thurman, Deepak Chopra, Sobonfu Somé, Chief Oren Lyons, Azim Khamisa, Rev. Alan Jones, Joanne Shenandoah, Lama Lhanang Rinpoche, Robert Bly, Hamza El Din and Jai Uttal. Each week, "Global Spirit" will present a spectrum of new insights for understanding ourselves, our families, our communities, our planet -- and ultimately our place in the Cosmos.

Support for this series has been generously provided by The Kalliopeia Foundation, The Fetzer Institute, The Attar Supporting Organization, The Compton Foundation and Dreamcatchers.

Journalists may screen programs in advance at this link, please email Julia Panely-Pacetti for login information: Link TV Press Screening Room.

To access full "Global Spirit" episode descriptions, air dates, photography and press materials visit the: Link TV Press Room.

ABOUT LINK TV

Link TV is the nation's largest independent broadcaster, devoted to providing diverse global perspectives on news, current events and world culture not typically available on other U.S. networks. Link TV regularly airs a robust selection of award-winning films and documentaries that explore the human condition from different multi-cultural perspectives. Through its "Cinemondo" series, Link supports the essential cultural role of world cinema by helping Americans better understand what is happening in the world.

A pioneer in news and current affairs programming, Link TV has been recognized domestically and internationally for its original news programs including the Peabody Award-winning daily broadcast "Mosaic: News from the Middle East," which monitors and airs unedited selections of news reports from more than 30 Middle-Eastern broadcasters, and "Global Pulse," which compares and contrasts news reports from around the world on critical issues. Link also offers its viewers original, innovative participatory programs promoting national and global citizen action. Most of Link's programs are available nowhere else on American television.

Link TV is a nationwide television network available in more than 31 million U.S. homes as a basic service on DIRECTV channel 375 and DISH Network channel 9410. Select programs are shown on more than 50 urban cable systems, including New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Link TV's original programs, music videos, documentary clips and artist interviews are streamed on the Internet at LinkTV.org.

For complete background information, program schedule, and internet streaming, go to LinkTV.org.

Labels: belief, Global Spirit, Kalliopeia Foundation, Karen Armstrong, Link TV, religion, spirituality, web TV

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Sunday, April 05, 2009

More Than Medicine to Heal

Reported by: Liz Bonis

Researchers say what some call “The God Cure” seems to play a critical role in recovery.

Cole Jackson is an active college student now, but several years ago he needed serious surgery for condition called Chron's. It's an inflammatory bowel disease [IBD] where the immune system attacks the gastrointestinal tract. It is extremely painful.

“Before surgery I lost about 30 pounds,” Cold said. Medically, he has recovered so well that he now trains to run marathons.

At that time however, he said it wasn't just about the medical recovery; he made what you might call a sort of deal with God, and in the end, he says it may have played a significant role in his recovery.

“Lying in the hospital bed the night before surgery, I prayed to God and I asked him to show me my purpose in life. I placed all my pain and all my worries in the hands of God…to this day, I believe I will never have to endure as much pain as I did.”

A medical team has just published a new study which says he may be right. When Dr. Michael Yi and health psychologist Sian Cotton studied 155 adolescents with IBD and asked them about things like--how often they attended religious services, how often they prayed, whether they considered themselves to be spiritual--sure enough, they found when it comes to health and healing, with IBD or even without: “Spirituality had the biggest impact on quality of life,” Dr. Yi said.

That was found to be true not just for physical health but for mental health too. Researchers are now following up on this research to see if it applies to common childhood illnesses such as asthma.

“In general, the higher spiritual well-being was related not only to quality of life, but better emotional feeling…so less depression, less anxiety,” Yi said.

Cole said anyone who wants a spiritual connection can have one. The new study shows it helps well being, even without a chronic disease.

Cole said, “It's basically talking to God, and talking to Him like He's your best friend, say anything that's on your mind, that's what I did, and ever since, my life has changed for the better.”

Labels: Dr. Michael Yi, God, healing, Liz Bonis, mental health, Sian Cotton, spirituality

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Meditation has health and spiritual benefits

By Kenesha Beheler

March 31, 2009

Meditation is a process of reflection, contemplation and devotional exercise that has been practiced around the world for centuries. Christians pray and Buddhists chant; even nonreligious practitioners use the techniques to improve mental and physical health.

“There have been studies done at major universities, so it’s not just a lot of anecdotal evidence. For people who are spiritually inclined or not spiritually inclined, there is a tremendous physical benefit and also a psychological benefit,” said Grace Fogle, a local resident who has practiced meditation for many years. “Some of us meditate purely for health reasons, and a lot us meditate for the combined physical and spiritual benefits that we feel we receive.

“[As for the health effect] my studies in the clinical area show that any form of meditation you might learn, and there is a wide range, [is beneficial],” she said. “But there are definitely clinical studies that show that your blood vessels relax, therefore your heart has to do less work and your blood is moved through the body in a more natural, less stressful way.

“Your pulse rate drops significantly and that has to do again with the slowing of the heart; the ease in which all your body can perform its functions comes through meditation. And there is just a healing process that seems to occur because the body has its own wisdom in terms of how to heal itself. What you are doing is really enabling yourself. So even if you are taking a medication or whatever you are doing for your health, you are enhancing that therapy.

Fogle has been practicing meditation off and on for over 40 years, but within the last five she has been steady in her practice and has seen significant improvements in her own health.

“I find in my older years that now I’m turning much more to it, and it helps me mature in age more gracefully,” she said. “I am more grateful for every day and every moment, and I know my health benefits from it. It is not that you don’t have health challenges, but you deal with them very differently. Hopefully you recover quickly and with less trauma from things that you might have to go through.”

There are many forms of meditation: mantra, yoga, Tai Chi, prayer and Chi Gong. They are usually classified into two kinds: mindfulness and concentrative.

“You can incorporate meditation into every part of your life. So you can do walking meditation, where you are grateful for every step that you take. People do this now in many ways, but they just don’t call it meditation,” said Fogle. “What do you think the monks are doing or the nuns in the convents are doing? This is all prayerful meditation. If you are following a rosary or chanting, music or prayers, you are meditating. It is all the same, except it is a different form.”

Guided meditation is another form that is used, explained Fogle, in which a leader will teach the participant to sit, close the eyes, relax and take slow breaths as the leader guides the listener through a story. This form of meditation is often practiced for healing purposes and as a way to overcome challenges.

For many years people have carried a misunderstanding of meditation, she said, thinking that one had to be of a particular faith, religion or nationality to practice the methods. However, she said, anyone with an open mind can do it.

For anyone not doing it for spiritual reasons, it helps to refocus and reorganize the mind.

Labels: health, Kenesha Beheler, meditation, spirituality, stress

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Consumerism as a Spiritual Disease

Consumerism as a Spiritual Disease

...Consumerism enables the unsettling lack of equilibrium of the contemporary workplace. People will find it easier to stay in dysfunctional jobs so that they will be able to buy what Madison Avenue says that they need to be happy. Banks, credit cards, lines of credit, and a host of other facilitators step in to make all of these things attainable more easily -- with devastating results as we have seen of late. There is another sad repercussion in this consumerist cycle. The corporation or employer becomes enabled -- to do what it wants, to demand what it wants, to behave in whatever manner it wants. This occurs at the expense (literally) of the worker. After all, where will the debt-ridden employee go? In this era, options are very limited.

There is an alternative, however, a spiritual and healthier one. Christians do not pray for abundance; we pray for "our daily bread." In the Torah it was commanded that all of produce of a field or orchard not be harvested so that some would be left for those in need. The less we think we need, the happier we can become, not only with what we do have, but also with who we are as human beings.

As possessions matter less and less, something else happens. People begin to matter more and more. Talking replaces buying. Dinners with friends become places to discuss ideas and each other's lives rather than battlegrounds to prove who has the most toys or the most "A-list" friends. Families replace corporate personnel flow charts. Business contacts are replaced with real relationships. Competition is replaced with companionship. Joy arrives not in power or things or money or portfolio increases (remember those?) but in community.

A truly spiritual person understands that justice and not possessions is what really matters (please note that many people who do not consider themselves to be spiritual also promote justice over consumerism). Justice is the antithesis of "the golden handcuffs" of consumerism. Where the latter is an end-sum game of winning with the most toys, the former is about sharing them. The consumerist fails to graduate from the kindergarten mentality that "I" matter most. What matters most is that every "I" be afforded the same chance, consideration, opportunity, and respect as any other "I." Spiritual justice is meant to reach out to everyone with everything every day. While consumerism can result in hording, justice is always concerned with sharing. And sharing is healthy.

Labels: Albert Scariato, consumerism, employment, justice, sharing, spirituality, the economy

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Friday, March 27, 2009

Faith In Focus: Meditation as a spiritual practice

By James Bowman, Special to the Sentinel,
March 26, 2009

NOTE: Another kind of meditation is to be found here - called "Jesus-Style" meditation, it is a different, and very effective form of meditation practiced by the Master while he walked the earth.

What is meditation? Depending on who you ask, you might get a variety of different answers.

These days, many people are interested in meditation because it relieves stress and contributes to overall health and fitness.

For millennia, meditation has not only been a way to relax, but also a very important part of spiritual life for Buddhists.

If you have ever been to a group meditation, you know that everyone sits silently, and it can be hard to know what’s happening. This is how it works: In a single meditation session we actually engage in two types of meditation, one called analytical meditation and the other called placement meditation.

First, it is helpful to begin by taking a few moments to allow the flurry of distracting thoughts that normally consumes our minds to settle. One simple way to do this is to sit comfortably and focus on the sensation of the breath as it passes through the nostrils. With practice, distractions gradually diminish, and a peaceful feeling arises in their place.

Then, with our minds clear and free of distractions, we can begin analytical meditation. With this type of meditation we spend time analyzing or contemplating the meaning of a spiritual teaching.

For example, Buddha explained that having compassion for others leads to inner peace. If we deeply contemplate how others have been very kind to us, the disadvantages of selfish attitudes and the advantages of cherishing others, we will be able to develop a caring attitude toward others.

Once this caring attitude arises in our minds, we have found what we call the object of our meditation, which is said to be virtuous because it causes our mind to become peaceful and happy.

At this point we stop contemplating and begin the second type of meditation, placement meditation. This means we simply hold our caring attitude toward others for as long as possible without thinking of anything else. Gently allow your mind soak it up and become familiar with it. If the object of meditation is lost among other thoughts, then simply repeat the process, beginning with analytic meditation again.

Labels: Buddhism, compassion, James Bowman, meditation, peace, spirituality

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Friday, March 20, 2009

Americans Reject Labels, Not Faith

Americans Reject Labels, Not Faith

A lengthy article, well-worth the read...click on "external source"

If the new American Religious Identification Survey study tells us anything at all, it is that the categories by which people measure and define their own faith are shifting, but that is hardly something new. The personalized, even idiosyncratic nature of faith in our culture has been a growing trend for a very long time.

The bottom line is that we have always been a culture that rejected the spiritual status quo. But we have not ever been, and are not now, a culture that rejects faith. We just want in on our own terms -- that is the American spiritual tradition. The American Religious Identity Survey actually confirms that. For people invested in status quo categories, whether out of academic or theological necessity, that may be upsetting, but it need not be for the rest of us.

The results of the American Religious Identity Survey suggest that we live in a time of incredible spiritual ferment, one in which personal freedom and individual dignity are celebrated more than ever. The last time I checked, those were pretty good values to celebrate. The survey also raises important questions about the state of faith in our nation, and failing to ask them would be as mistaken as the 'death of religion' conclusion to which others have jumped.

In light of this survey, we need to ask ourselves three basic questions. First, how do people, whatever faith they follow (including no faith at all) maintain their sense of obligation to the welfare of others when personal freedom defines their identity? Without that kind of commitment, forget religion, the whole world is in trouble. How do we assure that a celebration of personal freedom is not simply cover for a culture of narcissism and selfishness?

Second, how do those of us who still feel deeply rooted in a particular tradition take advantage of this moment not to make converts, or to beef up our numbers, but to serve all people (most of whom will never sit in our pews or pay our dues) who might benefit from some of the wisdom contained within the traditions we follow? How do we use this moment in American life to become increasingly sensitive to the difference between religion as we happen to understand it and faith/belief/spiritual connection which, if they are really real, must be bigger than our particular doctrine or tradition?

Finally, are those of us who still claim attachment to a religious community or institution going to ask ourselves the tough questions raised by this survey about the credibility which religion has lost in recent decades? With violence in the name of religion on the rise, extremists becoming increasingly powerful in every segment of religious life, and the ever-more polarizing language used by ideologues ranging from absolutist atheists to radical religionists, this is not someone else's problem. If the use of traditional religious labels is on the decline, those who remain comfortable with those labels must ask ourselves what we have done to "degrade our own brand" and even more importantly, what we must do to fix it.

Labels: American Religious Identification Survey, Americans, faith, spirituality

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French Physicist Wins Templeton Religion Prize

By Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Mon, Mar. 16 2009

A French physicist and philosopher of science is the winner of the 2009 Templeton Prize for religion, the largest annual religion prize given to an individual, the foundation announced on Monday.

Bernard d’Espagnat, 87, will receive the $1.42 million prize for his work in quantum physics that shows the limits of knowable science and affirms a reality that can be explained through spirituality and art, according to Reuters.

D’Espagnat said in prepared remarks that he is “convinced that those among our contemporaries who believe in a spiritual dimension of existence and live up to it are, when all is said, fully right,” according to The Associated Press.

The John Templeton Foundation announced the prize at a news conference held at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris.

“[D’Espagnat has] explored the unlimited, the openings that new scientific discoveries offer in pure knowledge and in questions that go to the very heart of our existence and humanity,” said John Templeton, Jr., president of the foundation, at the ceremony.

Through his work, the physicist counters classical physics pioneered by Isaac Newton that says the world can be explained through laws of nature. Quantum physics, he argues, shows that tiny particles defy the laws of physics and act in unpredictable ways.

"Materialists consider that we are explained entirely by combinations of small uninteresting things like atoms or quarks," said d'Espagnat, who was raised Roman Catholic but now considers himself instead a spiritualist, in an interview with Reuters on Friday.

"I believe we ultimately come from a superior entity to which awe and respect is due and which we shouldn't try to approach by trying to conceptualize too much," he said. "It's more a question of feeling."

D’Espagnat will receive the prize May 5 in a private ceremony at Buckingham Palace in London, according to AP.

Previous winners of the prize include American evangelist Billy Graham, Roman Catholic humanitarian Mother Teresa, and Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

The Templeton Prize was established in 1972 by global investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The prize, given by Pennsylvanian-based Templeton Foundation, seeks to support scientific research that contributes to the “Big Questions” of science, religion, and human purposes. Each year, the Templeton Prize, which exceeds the monetary value of the Nobel Prizes, is presented in London.

Labels: Bernard d’Espagnat, Ethan Cole, quantum physics, religion, spirituality, Templeton Prize

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Sunday, March 15, 2009

The spirit moves Baby Boomers

December 2

AARP has found that Baby Boomers are intensely spiritual, believing in divine healing, miracles and guardian angels.

AARP's Knowledge Management division commissioned a study to measure, in its words, "what Americans 45 and older think about miracles and miraculous events, including what they believe about divine healings, guardian angels, the circumstances under which someone may receive a miracle, and how miraculous events have changed their outlook on life."

The telephone survey included an oversample of Hispanic respondents.

The survey found:

* 80 percent said they believe miracles occur today as they did in antiquity,
* 67 percent said they believe illness and injuries can be divinely healed,
* 37 percent said they witnessed a miracle,
* 27 percent have witnessed a divine healing,
* 11 percent of seen an angel.

In addition, younger Boomers hold to more spiritual beliefs than older Boomers: Respondents age 45-54 were more likely to believe in miracles (85 percent) than those age 55 and older (77 percent).

Also, from the oversample the survey found that Hispanic Boomers have stronger spiritual beliefs in this regard than their white counterparts:

* 86 percent believe in miracles,
* 86 percent believe in spirits and angels,
* 82 percent believe in divine healing.

Labels: AARP, angels, Baby Boomers, miracles, spirituality

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Round-the-world bicycle trip turned into a spiritual journey as well

By Steve Timko
March 12, 2009

This is page one of a two-page article...interesting reading. Please click on "external source" for complete article.

Rick Gunn left Carson City in 2003 and spent almost three years pedaling around the world on his bicycle.
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Gunn, a former photojournalist for the Nevada Appeal, pedaled across 1,200 miles of Tibet at 16,000 to 18,000 feet while stricken with giardia. As a volunteer at an AIDS hospice in Thailand, at one point he risked contracting tuberculosis while caring for a dying woman. Then there was extreme poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

"I watched people being hauled off the streets in Dhaka having starved to death," Gunn said. "They have trucks that go around and pick up the dead off the streets and sing a prayer for a proper burial."

The 45-year-old Gunn's long-term goal is to write a book about the journey, but in the meantime he's putting on multi-media shows. Gunn holds one Friday in Reno.

The seeds of the round-the-world adventure were planted by his mother, who wanted to travel around Europe. A kidney disease kept her from going for a long time, and then she finally went.

"As she got there, she had to turn around because she was too sick," Gunn said. "And she died without seeing the places she wanted to see. And that taught me a very powerful lesson."

Why on a bicycle?

"When you're inside of the car, it's almost like you're watching television," Gunn said. "You can't smell the smell. You can't feel the wind around you. And most importantly, you can't come in contact with the people. ... If you're on bicycle, you're perceived as one of them, even though you're a strange one of them."

By the time he made it to central Asia, he encountered extreme poverty in places in such as Tibet, Nepal and Bangladesh. The 52-day trip across Tibet with giardia left him fatigued and seriously considering quitting, so he took a break in Nepal and went rafting for a couple of months to rejuvenate and he saw a dead child floating in the river where he was rafting.

That kind of poverty inspired Gunn's goal of volunteering in each country, or at least making a record as a journalist of those doing things that made a difference.

Labels: adventure, bicycle, poverty, Rick Gunn, service, spirituality, Steve Timko, volunteering

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

New Study Reveals Sources of Resilience and Strength for Black Girls in New York City

March 7, 2009

New Study Reveals Sources of Resilience and Strength for Black Girls in New York City

Black Girls Face Hardships and Challenges

A new and unique report, Black Girls in New York City: Untold Strength and Resilience, was released by the Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle (BWBG), a funding initiative of The Twenty-First Century Foundation, and the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR). A key finding in the report is that the impact of poverty is especially acute in the lives of Black girls. Approximately three-quarters of the girls in the study live in low-income communities and households. Importantly, the report also explores the positive influences in Black girls' lives. It finds that girls who highly valued spirituality also tended to have an excellent relationship with their primary caretaker. Likewise, those who possessed a strong sense of racial identity were more likely than other girls to be happy on typical day, to receive better grades, to want a college education and believe in their ability to reach their goals.

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 7, 2009 -- A new and unique report, Black Girls in New York City: Untold Strength and Resilience, was released by the Black Women for Black Girls Giving Circle (BWBG), a funding initiative of The Twenty-First Century Foundation, and the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR). The report, commissioned by BWBG from IWPR pairs analysis of original data collected through written surveys and focus groups with a review of existing literature to provide an in-depth examination into the lives of Black girls living within the city of New York.

The report finds that the impact of poverty is especially acute in the lives of Black girls. Approximately three-quarters of the girls in the study live in low-income communities and households.

"Like all Black children, Black girls are at increased risk of living a life of poverty. But poverty plays out in the lives of Black girls in very distinct ways," remarked report author, Dr. Avis Jones-DeWeever, affiliate scholar of IWPR and Director of the Research, Public Policy and Information Center for African American Women at the National Council of Negro Women.

"Our surveys and conversations with adolescent Black girls in New York City show that many of the girls are at an increased risk of violence because of the economic situation of their families and economic conditions of their communities," emphasized Dr. Jones-DeWeever. "For far too many of the girls in our study, poverty truncates their childhood experience."

Most survey respondents indicated that they worry about their personal safety. Among those who feel unsafe at home, most attribute their uneasiness to drug activity in their community as well as the prevalence of violent crime, fights, and gang activity. Black girls most often indicated that they felt unsafe due to frequent fights at school.

The study also examines issues of self-esteem for Black girls, a group often considered immune to the impacts of mainstream culture on body image and self-confidence. While most of the Black girls in this study seemed largely satisfied with themselves, one-fifth indicated, that if given the opportunity, they would change their bodies in some way. A few expressed keen sensitivity to issues of skin tone. Some were teased harshly for being "too Black." Others even expressed a desire for skin bleaching; and in at least one instance, that ultimate desire was not just to become lighter, but instead, to become white.

Importantly, the report also explores the positive influences in Black girls' lives. It finds that girls who highly valued spirituality also tended to have an excellent relationship with their primary caretaker. Likewise, those who possessed a strong sense of racial identity were more likely than other girls to be happy on typical day, to receive better grades, to want a college education and believe in their ability to reach their goals, and when involved in intimate relationships, to engage in self-protective behavior by insisting upon condom usage.

Please click on "external source" to access the entire article, and the study.

Labels: African-Americans, BWBG, girls, IWPR, poverty, religion, spirituality