The U.S. Army has been criticised recently over its soldier fitness program — specifically, the part that assesses soldiers’ “spiritual fitness”. But what is spiritual fitness? And are atheists deemed unfit to fight?
Spirituality
The Swiss mystic and his big Red Book: the secret world of Carl G Jung
As Carl Jung’s mysterious masterpiece, The Red Book, is finally published, a new biography portrays the psychologist as a modern-day mystic.
For much of his life, pioneering psychologist Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) presented himself to the world as a rational, no-nonsense scientist. If he appeared to have any interest in mysticism or the occult, it was purely academic: just a way to help him understand the symbolism appearing in his patients’ dreams.
In truth, however, Jung was every inch the modern mystic.
Enlightenment Intensives podcast: “What is direct experience?”
One of the greatest tools for spiritual awakening at this time, especially for those not wedded to any long-term spiritual path, is the Enlightenment Intensive. This is a three-day retreat process which immerses you in a full-on inner search for the ‘direct experience’ of truth. In other words, an experience of one’s true nature or being that is not manufactured or processed by the mind, but is absolutely direct. Since its development in the 1960s, the Enlightenment Intensive process has enabled thousands of ordinary individuals to experience a moment of true awakening or enlightenment.
Forest Dalton is a hugely experienced Enlightenment Intensive master who leads Intensives at his home in Ben Lomon, California. In this 10-minute podcast, Forest talks to writer Tony Levelle about the meaning of direct experience and beautifully describes the lifelong impact of one of his own experiences. I heartily recommend it.
Conference invitation: ‘Evidence-Based Spirituality for the 21st Century’ (Colorado, June 2010)
The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine (ISSSEEM) is holding their 20th annual ISSSEEM conference, Evidence-based Spirituality for the 21st Century, June 25-29, 2010 at the Westin in Westminster, Colorado.
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor: the neuroscientist who had a stroke and discovered Nirvana
Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained neuroanatomist who specializes in the postmortem investigation of the human brain. What that means is, she cuts up the brains of dead people to look for the neurological causes of severe mental illness.
On the morning of December 10, 1996, a blood vessel exploded in 37-year-old Jill’s brain. She woke up to discover that she was having a massive stroke — a severe hemorrhage of blood into her brain.
Being spiritual (but not religious) makes children happier: new research
Newly published research from Canada finds that spirituality is strongly linked to the happiness of children aged 8 to 12, but religiousness is not.
— photo: D Sharon Pruitt —
A new study by the University of British Columbia, Canada, shows that children who feel that their lives have meaning and value and who develop deep relationships — both aspects of spirituality — also feel happier. It would appear, however, that religious practices have little effect on their happiness.
In search of harmony: A life-between-lives regression
This account of a life-between-lives regression follows directly on from my previous post describing a past life regression in which I had experienced being an Irish woman in the eighteenth century. At the end of that story, I had wilfully withdrawn from life and died in my late 30s. What I describe now are my after-death experiences followed by a lengthy period in which Hazel, my hypnotherapist, asked various questions of my guides and elders, including questions I had prepared beforehand relating to my current life issues and my overall life’s purpose.
Your Soul’s Plan [book review]
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Your Soul’s Plan
Discovering the Real Meaning of the Life You Planned Before You Were Born
Robert Schwartz (Frog Ltd, 2009)
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Why is life so hard?
Why do we have to suffer?
Why do very bad things sometimes happen to very good people?
Self-transcendence and the brain: new research, old fallacy
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Recent advances in neuroscience are revealing the relationships between complex mental processes and brain activity. It is even possible to identify specific brain sites involved in spirituality. But does this mean, then, that spirituality is nothing but a product of the brain — and perhaps a faulty one at that?
Jim Carrey’s moment of spiritual awakening
Shortlink to this post: http://wp.me/pvdM6-Vj
It’s nothing short of a miracle whenever someone experiences a spiritual awakening. It is all the more impressive when such an experience happens not to a Buddhist monk or a New Age seeker but to an A-list Hollywood actor.