Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Holy Holons!

So, part of my journey has been exploring other faiths, philosophies and practices. To be honest it is overwhelming! I wish I was Neo with a port in my head so I could download all of the things I find interesting and truthful!

Some of my loose criteria have been:

  • A religion/philosophy/practice should show results.
  • A proper worldview should not have to discount science to believe in religion or vice verse.
  • The things that all religions have in common are likely pointing toward God/ultimate truth.
  • Is it able to make sense of both outer physical realities and inner spiritual experiences?
  • Does it provide a truthful view of reality? Not all religions and philosophies are created equal.
In my ramblings I stumbled across Ken Wilber and his Integral Theory. It took me a while to understand the jargon, but being a determined person when it suits my fancy, I plodded through. I've come to find some very interesting and useful ways to view the cosmos, philosophy, religion and spiritual practices that fulfill most of the above criteria. It is a little "heady" to understand at first, but ultimately comes back personal practice.

There is no way to adequately explain it in this forum and with my limited intellect. Here are some resources for those interested. I'll be picking a few topics that I've found particularly interesting or helpful.

Introduction to Integral Theory and Practice

An Integral Age at the Leading Edge

Spirituality and the 3 Strands of Deep Science

A Spirituality That Transforms

Religious, But Not Spiritual (Father Thomas Keating)

2 comments:

Me said...

I see that the Integral wiki lists Pierre Teilhard de Chardin as an influence. I have always been an admirer of his work.

Roger said...

I just recently found out about his work and I'm looking forward to doing some reading...