Spirituality
New Monasticism: An Interspiritual Manifesto for Contemplative Life in the 21st Century
Article
As we look out at the world today, we take inspiration from what is happening around the globe, from young people participating in movements like the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street; to the new monastic movement among evangelical Christians dedicated to prayer and radical service to the poor; to the conversation among Protestants of an ‘Emerging Church’ (“. . . not a new religion, but a new way of being religious”); to small groups of Muslims who are gathering together, allowing women to lead worship, and reinventing what it means to answer God’s call; to ‘engaged Buddhism,’ blending the sublime practices and compassion of the Buddhist path with social activism; to the ‘spiritual but not religious’ youth who are beginning to take responsibility for their own spiritual lives outside the walls of our traditional religious institutions.
Globalization: Reconciling Economics and Spirituality
Article
The general public embraces two extreme notions of globalization. One, that right now it is an inevitable phenomenon - an uncontrolled process that no one can influence, the other that we indeed can change the direction of globalization. There are many possibilities in between.
Embodied Spirituality, Now and Then
Article
Embodied spirituality regards the body as subject, as the home of the complete human being, as a source of spiritual insight, as a microcosm of the universe and the Mystery, and as pivotal for enduring spiritual transformation.
The Future of Religion: Four Scenarios, One Dream
Article
Religious globalization, new religious movements, transnational religions, global proselytism, multiple religious identities, ecumenical services, religious syncretism, secular and postsecular spiritualities—all these are among the many remarkable trends that shape the religious landscape of the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Taking Root: An Unbroken Intimacy with Life
Article
How do we cooperate with life’s gradual shaping of the human mind—its painstaking work of drawing us towards the light of greater wisdom?
The Circle of Presence: Building the Capacity for Authentic Collective Wisdom
Article
Our first article (Kosmos, Spring / Summer 2012) gave an overview of the new human capacity we are starting to articulate—that we call Collective Presencing, the purpose of which is to allow us to systematically achieve collective wisdom. We described the two distinct phases that we see unfolding as a collection of individuals learns to become a collective capable of employing this capacity on behalf of the whole: firstly, becoming a circle of presence, then becoming a circle of creation.
Book Review: Sacred Economics | Money, Gift and Society in the Age of Transition
Article
Is a more beautiful world possible? Many of us dream it is, and Charles Eisenstein’s latest book, Sacred Economics, shows that it’s possible and even probable.
A Spirituality for the 21st Century: Inevitabilities and Possibilities
Article
In a forthcoming book, The Coming Interspiritual Age,1 we offer a responsible survey of the global factors that might influence and contribute to the possible emergence of world change based on a significant input from the reservoir of collective human wisdom available in the world’s perennial Great Wisdom Traditions.
Journey of a Global Nomad: Breaking Down and Breaking Through
Article
I am a young woman currently on a global pilgrimage—a philosophical, cultural, and spiritual inquiry that is deeply intertwined with the engagements of everyday life. I’m a critical thinker, a poet, and a passionate activist who is committed to creating a future of global sustainability for all. I am currently in the process of deconstructing much of my own identity as a North American woman, along with the unconscious filters and biases that have been intimately woven into that identity, so as to consciously re-construct/re-birth my ‘self’ as a Global Nomad, as a daughter born of the liminal, and as a grandmother of the entire cosmic process.
Collective Presencing: A New Human Capacity
Article
This is the first in a series of articles introducing the phenomenon and practice of Collective Presencing, a new capacity evolving in humanity at this time. Great thinkers have foreseen its coming—we recognise it in Aurobindo’s descent of the supramental and Teil-hard de Chardin’s noosphere. But what exactly do those terms mean? Where these gifted individuals intuited and envisioned the birth of this new collective capacity at the dawn of the last century, we are now starting to be able to describe it from experience. While many might recognise the phenomenon from transpersonal group work and other such practices, so far as we are aware, this is the first attempt to articulate it as a path and a set of capacities that can be intentionally developed.