A New Look at American Spirituality
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
According to the Fetzer Institute's recent study about spirituality in the United States, 86% of survey respondents considered themselves spiritual; about 66% aspire to be more spiritual; and people who identify as spiritual are more liable to be civilly engaged and get involved in politics and vote.
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Hack the Brain!
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Contemporary neuroscience is an essential ingredient in our understanding of human development, including our capacity for greater happiness and wisdom. In this podcast, author and educator Jim Hickman explains how our evolving understanding of the brain's functioning gives credence to the value of certain forms of spiritual practice, how spiritual practice "sculpts the brain," and how we can use what we're learning about the brain to develop enhanced cognitive, emotional and spiritual skills.
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The Mystic, the Psychic, the Paranormal
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
JeffreyJ J. Kripal mission is to extend religious scholarship into the realm of the preternatural. A professor and Associate Dean of Humanities at Rice University, he's pioneer in broadening religious studies to include things like mysticism, the paranormal and near-death experiences.
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Into the Mystic
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Former pharmacist Paul Corson explains how his transcendental experiences fundamentally changed his way of being in the world. He shares his born-again experience, the nature of miracles and, the relationship between spiritual substance and the material world.
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The Sara Minkara Story
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Don't think of Sara Minkara as a blind person. Think of her as as person who is blind. Social activist, speaker, and a winner of multiple awards, the founder of the advocacy organization Empowerment for Integration (ETI) has never let used her absence of vision of an excuse or crutch. A Blind, Muslim, first-generation American, Sara Minkara has spent her life on a journey toward not only acceptance but also real empowerment—for herself and everyone she meets.
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"Touching the Jaguar"
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Author, activist and renegade economist John Perkins traces his journey from Peace Corps volunteer to co-founding the Pachamama Alliance, a non-profit devoted to establishing a world future generations will want to inherit. Perkins is best know for his best-selling book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman.
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Digital Disruptor: The Internet's Impact on Religion and Spirituality
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Digital culture is transforming religion in multiple ways, from how people draw from multiple sources to define where they fit spiritually, to how they relate to institutional authority. According to Texas A&M Professor of Communication Heidi A. Campbell, the internet allows people to create their own religious tribe, apart from the confines of whatever congregation they belong.
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Galvanizing Change in this Pandemic Moment
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Most of us progressive-minded folks are members of multiple communities, be they religious, spiritual, environmental or political. What unites us are our values, the foremost of which is an innate sense of our sacred interdependence, or reverence for both the entirety of the interconnected web and all of its connected parts. This podcast explores the possibility of harnessing our energies for the full expression of the higher values that unite us: a project here called The Network of Light..
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Lucid Dreaming as a Pathway to the Divine
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Dream researcher Ryan Hurd explains how anyone can begin the process of working with their dreams, his studies on the impact of galantamine paired with meditation and dream reliving on subsequent dreams, and how dreams can be portals for the expansion of consciousness.
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Healing the Wounded Masculine
The podcast of the Sacred Inclusion Network
Men who exhibit toxic "Me Two" behavior are not just predators, but victims, says leadership coach and spiritual teacher Wendy C. Williams.
info_outlineHow do non-religious people – which now comprise nearly 30% of the American population – face the coming of death? That’s the subject of Dr. Christel Manning’s John Templeton Foundation-funded research project.
Although a fair amount is known about how religious people face the certainty of their demise, relatively little is known how non-religious people do. This category, which religious studies scholars refer to as "the nones," now comprises 27% of the population, up from about 7% in the 1980s.
Unlike their religious contemporaries, this group lacks the powerful set of stories, symbols and rituals that have for generations characterized the predominate American religious approach to dealing with dying. This group instead relies on different types of what Manning refers to as "maps of meaning." These might include the sense-making that comes from personal growth narratives gained from such processes such as engaging in a 12-step program or therapy after surviving a divorce.
In this podcast, Manning describes her own belief-system journey; what is currently known about how aging people in general approach the coming of death; and the new types of secular rituals that are emerging to help non-religious people become more comfortable with death and dying.
- Manning's faculty page
- Her research project's description
- Death Cafe website
- Diversity and Spirituality Network's site
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