Spirituality in the News

American spirituality, but not necessarily religion, is on the rise, according to the Religious Landscape Study by the Pew Research Center. That spirituality — whether experienced through mindful practices, walks in nature or faith — ultimately results in a greater connectedness with self and the world.

“It’s a very misunderstood concept,” said Deborah Angeline Laclaverie. “The process of spirituality, in my mind, has nothing to do with religion. It’s a way of being.”

This transformational teacher from Woodstock is not alone. Dr. Dan Siegel, an interpersonal neurobiologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine and co-director of the Mindful Awareness Research Center at UCLA, said people are looking inward to find new discoveries.

Findhorn Fellow, Eco-philosopher and root teacher of The Work That Reconnects, Joanna Macy, shares the twelve centuries old Shambhala Warrior Prophecy from the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, which is said to come true in our time. She invites you to listen to it as if it were about you….
“There comes a time when all life on Earth is in danger. At that time great powers have arisen, barbarian powers, and although they waste their wealth in preparations to annihilate each other, they have much in common. Among the things these barbarians have in common are weapons of unfathomable devastation and death and technologies that lay wast to the world. And it is just at this point in our history, when the future of all beings seems to hang by the frailest of threads, that the kingdom of shambhala emerges. Now, you can’t go there because it is not a place. It exists in the hearts and minds of the shambhala warriors….

Are Americans becoming less religious? It depends on what you mean by “religious.”

Polls certainly indicate a decline in religious affiliation, practice and belief. Just a couple of decades ago, about 95 percent of Americans reported belonging to a religious group. This number is now around 75 percent. And far fewer are actively religious: The percentage of regular churchgoers may be as low as 15 to 20 percent. As for religious belief, the Pew Research Center found that from 2007 to 2014 the percentage of Americans who reported being absolutely confident God exists dropped from 71 percent to 63 percent.

Nonetheless, there is reason to doubt the death of religion, or at least the death of what you might call the “religious mind” — our concern with existential questions and our search for meaning. A growing body of research suggests that the evidence for a decline in traditional religious belief, identity and practice does not reflect a decline in this underlying spiritual inclination.

(CNN)For the past two months, I have been a changed man. It is hard to fully describe, except to say my mood is mostly sunny and more patient than usual.

In the past, my family and friends would've typically described me as pleasant but hurried. My baseline restlessness and edginess, however, have now nearly vanished.

Without difficulty, I have sustained attention when my young children spend time with me. Instead of constant surveillance of my phone, there is an ability to quickly hyper-focus on the task is at hand and a corresponding joy of living in a distraction-less world.

This change seems to have started the end of last year, after I spent a morning meditating with the Dalai Lama.

First off: Yes, I do feel a little ridiculous writing a line like that, and I didn't feel worthy of his invitation at the time. Even though I meditate, I've never been sure whether I was using proper technique or whether there was an acceptable way to meditate in the presence of His Holiness.