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spirituality

Experiencing the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions with Fresh Eyes

Experiencing the 2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions with Fresh Eyes

by Sofia Sayabalian & Cloë Poole

Two young leaders from the Center for Ecumenical and Interreligious Engagement (CEIE) attended their first Parliament of the World’s Religions event. It was held in Chicago…

Bhakti – The Path of Devotion in India and the West

Bhakti – The Path of Devotion in India and the West

by Philip Goldberg

As growing numbers of Americans know, the Hindu tradition delineates four basic pathways to spiritual liberation, expressed as four types of yoga: jnana yoga, the path of mental discernment; karma yoga, the…

Doctrine, Ritual, and Spiritual Development

Doctrine, Ritual, and Spiritual Development

by Rachael Watcher

Doctrine – the codification of beliefs, teachings, and practices – is an important element for established institutional religions. It clarifies what a religion expects of its followers, how to behave…

Thomas Merton, Seeking Peace, and Nuclear Realities

Thomas Merton, Seeking Peace, and Nuclear Realities

by Michael Ramos

The Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, who passed away fifty years ago last year, is remembered largely for his prolific spiritual writing from the cloistered monastery. Yet his writing on nuclear weapons and peace still…

Spirituality and Transcendence: The White Light Festival

Spirituality and Transcendence: The White Light Festival

by Anya Dunaif

In the fall of 2010, New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts launched a new annual event called the White Light Festival, focused on encouraging people to experience transcendence and spirituality through live performances.

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

by Andre van Zijl

We enter a completely darkened room which is set up with a foot-wide border of white muslin covered by unlit candles alternating with round black river stones.

GreenSpirit: Where Green and Sacred Meet

GreenSpirit: Where Green and Sacred Meet

by Marian Van Eyk McCain

A friend of mine who lives deep in a forest and is both an eco-activist and a practising Pagan once remarked to me rather ruefully

The Man Behind The Way: Lao Tzu & Daoist Spirituality

The Man Behind The Way: Lao Tzu & Daoist Spirituality

by Stephen Hill

Little is truly known about the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the guiding figure in Daoism (also translated as Taoism), which is still a popular spiritual practice.

Review: The Life of Yogananda by Philip Goldberg

Review: The Life of Yogananda by Philip Goldberg

by Paul Chaffee

The religions of India – Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism – are less familiar and stranger to most Americans than the Abrahamic religions, which have dominated America since Columbus.

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

An Artist's Journey Beyond the Walls of Division

by Andre van Zijl

We enter a completely darkened room which is set up with a foot-wide border of white muslin covered by unlit candles alternating with round black river stones.

Exploring the Inner Journey of Kahlil Gibran

Exploring the Inner Journey of Kahlil Gibran

by Paul-Gordon Chandler

A hushed reflective silence filled the dark cinema as the world premiere of The Prophet finished its animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s inspiring book of prose poetry

Seizing an Alternative

Seizing an Alternative

by Philip Clayton

This is the story of the interfaith movement and climate change. It is also the story of a scholar of science and religion who gradually realizes that global climate change is the most urgent threat that humanity faces.Rampant poverty, social inequalities, the unjust treatment of the global South, each of these is magnified ten or a hundred fold by climate disruption.

Spiritual Exploring with Kids

Spiritual Exploring with Kids

by Vicki Garlock

Kids love to explore. And a quick look at any summer camp guide will support that claim. Last summer, kids in our area could attend Camp Explorer, Camp Eco-Explorer, Camp Adventure, Camp Discovery, Camp Run Wild, Camp Invention, or Nature Adventures, to name just a few!

God With(in) the World

God With(in) the World

by Diana Butler Bass
Here in the labyrinth, I struggle to find words to describe what I feel. Up on the mountaintop, I knew the language to describe God: majestic, transcendent, all-powerful, heavenly Father, Lord, and King. In this vocabulary, God remains stubbornly located in a few select places, mostly in external realms above or beyond: heaven, the church, doctrine, or the sacraments.

Recognizing the Secret Community

Recognizing the Secret Community

by Deborah Moldow

A vast spiritual community is emerging all over the world. It has no name. It has no church or temple and no scripture. No one sees it. And yet it is among the most potent forces for evolutionary change on the planet. 

Embracing the "Full Catastrophe"

Embracing the "Full Catastrophe"

by Patricia Adams Farmer

Being present, the most basic attitude for the spiritual pilgrim, is not an easy practice. For being present means not only letting the bright gladness of summer daisies seep into our souls; it also means a face-to-face encounter with the fears that haunt our days.

Four Paradoxes on the Path of Yoga

Four Paradoxes on the Path of Yoga

by Philip Goldberg

Adapting the perennial wisdom of the Yoga tradition to contemporary life and a diversity of religious and spiritual perspectives is, and always will be, a work in progress. It is also a highly individual project, with few one-size-fits-all answers to the conundrums and challenges that arise. That’s why the Upanishads call the spiritual path a razor’s edge: You have to tread carefully, with keen vision, intellectual discernment, acute intuition, and a really good sense of balance.

The Wholeness of Nature

The Wholeness of Nature

by Katie Reis

I’m not a religious person. I was baptized a Catholic but slowly realized that many of Catholicism’s beliefs and principles did not fit my own. Over the years, I have explored many different religions. After I visited Japan as part of a student exchange program about a year ago, I became fascinated with Shintoism. Shinto beliefs are encapsulated by a perspective of seeing nature and the world in all its beauty.

Spiritual Exploring with Kids

Spiritual Exploring with Kids

by Vicki Garlock

Kids love to explore. And a quick look at any summer camp guide will support that claim. Last summer, kids in our area could attend Camp Explorer, Camp Eco-Explorer, Camp Adventure, Camp Discovery, Camp Run Wild, Camp Invention, or Nature Adventures, to name just a few!

Seizing an Alternative

Seizing an Alternative

by Philip Clayton

This is the story of the interfaith movement and climate change. It is also the story of a scholar of science and religion who gradually realizes that global climate change is the most urgent threat that humanity faces.Rampant poverty, social inequalities, the unjust treatment of the global South, each of these is magnified ten or a hundred fold by climate disruption.