As we move toward globalism,
authors predict a new
interspiritual age
By Dr. Kurt
Johnson and David Robert Ord
Published by Nameste Publishing
© January 2013
ISBN-10:1897238746
ISBN-13: 978-1897238745
Pages: 440
Published by Nameste Publishing
© January 2013
ISBN-10:1897238746
ISBN-13: 978-1897238745
Pages: 440
We are now
well into the third millennium and change is coming in so many facets of our
lives than we could have previously ever imagined. The authors of The Coming
Interspiritual Age call this the Fifth Great Advance of civilization or the
Dream of Holism.
As a
civilization, humans have lived through many stages with our current one
focused on not only the importance of rationalization and an analytic mind but
also the beginnings of holistic thinking and the exploration of consciousness.
In this book, the authors propose a coming Sixth Great Advance moving us toward
full globalization.
A primary
concern of this new age will be the creation of a one-world spiritualism that
draws upon the precious jewels found within the myriad of world religions as
the basis of a new worldwide belief system. It is essential, the authors write,
that as the awareness of our increasing global community enters full
consciousness, that we take those jewels into consideration in the formation of
one global belief system that unifies us as one human race on this planet.
They
caution, however, that this could also become “hijacked” by religion if various
parties to this formation become too egocentric and controlling. Unfortunately,
personal, regional and territorial desires over the years have opened the door
to greed, degradation of the environment, rivalry between various religious
factions and differing concepts on what is most important in life. This in turn
has led to terrorism and wars between nations.
By
cultivating an expanded worldview and promoting discourse among the various
world religions, a global vision could unfold as to how humanity as a whole
should spiritually behave with good conscience in the future. This will come,
the authors believe, as humans experience further awareness and expanded
consciousness, realizing the connectivity of all humans rather than any
personal, regional or territorial desires.
The Coming
Interspiritual Age provides a compelling summary on the theory of evolution –
how the human species consciously developed over thousands of years taking in
the importance of language and writing on the evolving mind and also their
impact on our belief systems.
This book focuses primarily on
the writings of Roman Catholic lay monk and interfaith leader, Brother Wayne Teasdale (now deceased), from his book The Mystic
Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World’s Religions. It was
Teasdale, the authors note, who first coined the term ‘interspirituality,”
which involves thinking of the ‘we’ rather than the ‘I’ and acting from the
heart.
The ‘I, We
and It’ of daily life is something that everyone experiences no matter where
they live. ‘I’ refers to self, ‘We’ to those we know including family, friends
and associates, and ‘It’ refers to the institutions that govern how we should
act, think and feel based on a particular country’s ideals and religions.
Ironically,
it is the “I and We” that created the institutions (‘It’) in the first place
that people now feel threatened by such as government structures and banking
systems that act with impunity.
As the world inches closer to globalization the authors believe these institutions that rule our lives will also have to change from being self-serving and money driven entities to thinking and acting from the heart with full awareness of global needs rather than their own.
As the world inches closer to globalization the authors believe these institutions that rule our lives will also have to change from being self-serving and money driven entities to thinking and acting from the heart with full awareness of global needs rather than their own.
The Paranormal Experience
No
discussion of interspirituality would be complete without considering the myths
embedded within our past and the importance of studying people’s shared paranormal
experiences.
In The
Coming Interspiritual Age, authors Kurt Johnson and David Robert Ord say
spiritual experiences need to be taken seriously. Any universal spirituality
would need to include the most common elements found in what they term the
Great Wisdom Traditions, such as seeing spirits of the dead, angel visitations,
miracles and even the power of prayer.
Other common
experiences include astral projection, telepathy, clairvoyance, ESP, near death
experiences, the power of healing and even reincarnation, which is most
prevalent in eastern religions. These are all conscious events that occur
around the world to people of all religious beliefs. Although these types of
experiences cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, the fact remains that
they do indeed happen.
According to
recent polls the authors say, “Religious people tend to report only slightly
more non-normal experiences than the non-religious (75 percent versus 66
percent, which is statistically insignificant compared to the sizable majority
reporting such experiences).”
Scientists
encounter great difficulty with such experiences because they cannot be
weighed, measured, recorded, replicated and verified. They can only depend on
what the experiencer relates, which can be highly subjective – as is also true
with a person’s belief in a particular god.
However the
authors note, “The scientific data from brain imaging shows that the same area
of the brain is used when something is seen outside the body as when it’s
experienced in a dream. Likewise, the same part of the brain is involved in
thinking of someone and reporting that their presence was felt.”
All of the
above appears to be the result of a human’s ‘conscious’ mind. But the writers
say scientists are learning that ‘consciousness’ and ‘mind’ might be two
separate things.
“The
scientific study of consciousness begins with the insight that the brain is
made up of myriads of neurological elements and pathways, which appear somehow
to be brought into a coordinated unity.”
Consciousness
on the other hand is considered an electromagnetic (or quantum) field resulting
from the firing of various neurons in the brain. Scientists believe that
depending upon the level or frequency of the field, certain digital information
is held within it. Some scientists believe this is solely an individual
experience while others go a step further and believe in a “collective field
shared by all.”
This comes
to the fore when speaking of such things as astral travel and near death
experiences. Experiencers report that their ‘consciousness’ for a brief time,
becomes separated from the body’s physical mind. In such cases, it appears that
consciousness is not reliant on the workings of the brain and can become
independent of it.
The authors
note that debunkers abound in all areas of the paranormal with skeptics more
than willing to throw an icy dose of cold water on any and all such
experiences. These debunkers have had no such experiences but feel qualified to
squash any reports of paranormal experiences.
“Some of the
materialist organizations committed to debunking non-normal spiritual
experiences suggest that belief in such things is related to education. For
example, when an individual of documented high education or intelligence
believes in non-normal experiences, it’s believed to be the result of some
other kind of flaw such as their personality or emotional makeup.” And the
writers add that “holding predetermined purely materialist views is a bias.”
The same is true, they say, of those who report UFOs and alien encounters.
“The public
might hope for a useful dialogue between individuals who have had such
experiences. But fruitful dialogue doesn’t occur because, as we’ve seen often
on television, the scientists, pilot, astronaut, high-level military official,
or even former governor recounting such an experience is politely dismissed as
having hallucinated.”
Ironically,
those same debunkers have no problem with religious beliefs including a god
that they cannot prove exists. The authors note that the determining factor in
any non-normal beliefs is experience itself. Those who have had paranormal
experiences, “mostly continue to believe in the ‘raw feel,’ (of the event) and
thus the validity of their experiences.”
Once a
person has a non-normal (paranormal) experience, his or her entire worldview
seems to change and often their life focus is turned on its heels as well.
“It’s
important to pay attention to the literally thousands of cases of individuals
who initially doubted the existence of the spiritual realm, or the so-called
‘paranormal,’ who come to take these matters seriously after personal
experiences of their own.”
The authors
write, “Worldwide, nearly six billion of our planet’s more than seven billion
inhabitants believe in some kind of a spirit realm.” Virtually all religious
traditions speak of a spirit world or realm, as well as a place where our
spirits go when they die. Many believe that our consciousness is
interchangeable with the word ‘spirit,’ thus it is our consciousness that goes
to either a specific heaven or hell, or melds back into the ‘all’ of existence
after death.
All of these
beliefs are highly significant aspects in the formation of a world consensus on
spiritually based matters. Determining which ones are the most relevant (most
widely held) could be a problem.
“We’ll need
to differentiate the content in these beliefs that’s negative for the planet –
such as exclusive claims one or another of these views are right – from that
which is positive for the planet.”
The authors
predict that along with continued studies on consciousness, the field of the
paranormal will be further studied as well.
This is a book that looks both backward and forward in an attempt to offer the full picture of our current state of spirituality, as well as what steps must be taken to move toward an interspiritual world. It is well written, informative and most of all, thought provoking. To pick up a copy of The Coming Interspiritual Age, go HERE
The Coming Interspiritual Age Web Site
The Coming Interspiritual Age Web Site
1 comment:
Thanks so much for your attention to this book THE COMING INTERSPIRITUAL AGE. It is so important that the Wisdom Traditions inform the inevitable process of globalization. Your emphasis on bringing this challenge of "Oneness" to the public is really important and helpful. This book has really been influencing the global interfaith conversation. So, thank you again.
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