If you are you potentially interested in becoming a peer co-creator of our open-source Evolution Spirituality or in contributing your unique wisdom to the global spiritual commons, then read all of the additional open-source spirituality principles presented below and later and elsewhere in this manifesto. For now, here are a few very basic starter principles of the open-source religion and spirituality movement:
(Reminder: Please feel free to take any of the ideas on spirituality or science that you find on this website to create or expand your evolving personal spirituality or local spiritual community. The new Evolution Spirituality (Religion 2.0) that you find on this website is an open, personalized, and self-created process. You can always self-select, sequence, and use the processes, wisdom, and tools that you find in the optimal way that will work best for your current conditions, stage of spiritual development, and understanding.)
The Short List of Principles of Open Source Spirituality:
No Requirement of Allegiance: The global spiritual commons is greatly aided by the fact that there is no requirement of allegiance to some particular organizational, religious or cultural “ism,” authoritative book or scripture or some particular religious or secular authority to use it, add to it, edit or improve it. (More later.)
On Organizational Spiritual Authority and Revelation: In the global spiritual commons and in the open-source religion and spirituality movement, it is necessary that there are no highest Popes, Bishops, Avatars, Gurus, Rabbis, Imams, etc. or any religious hierarchy of final spiritual authority or religious orthodoxy outside the spiritual authority of the individual and, where applicable, the "community of the qualified." No one spiritual source, teacher, founder, leader, or organization has the universal or final spiritual authority on what is authentic or appropriate spiritual wisdom, spiritual truth, or spiritual law for anyone other than themselves. (More later.)
Questioning of Faith Beliefs and Practices: We have come to a new point in humanity’s spiritual history where if individuals or religious organizations assert to another that their own faith, beliefs, or practices should be believed or followed as fact and/or that specific behavior is dictated or ordered by those beliefs or practices, then that organization should be open to a gracious public questioning and dialog on their factuality and/or usefulness in directing specific behaviors. (More later.)
Miracles: In open source religion and spirituality, miracles that defy the natural laws are treated as a personal issue of subjective faith. Miracles may not be used as proof of spiritual authority or spiritual truth for anyone other than the individual experiencing the miracle, even if the miracle has been subjected to rigorous scientific investigation. (More later.)
The Pathologies and Abuses of Religion: An open-source spirituality that will help expand the global spiritual commons will need to confront and deal with the issues of the pathologies and abuses of religion within its knowledge base in a forthright and honest way. (More later.)
The Polarization and Usefulness of Information: Polarization in the global spiritual commons and the open-source religion and spirituality movement is avoided by the recognition that humanity’s vast heritage of spiritual wisdom is partial, evolving, and has its own appropriate time, way, place, and target audience for specific applications. In this movement, our combined heritage of spiritual wisdom is appreciated in the context of:
a. the age and scope of spiritual or social problems this wisdom was intended to solve
b. the culture it came from and for what types of personalities, learning styles, and psychological developmental levels it was intended to reach and serve
c. its effectiveness in a specific situation
d. whether or not it causes any consequent harm or conflicts
e. whether or not it creates non-inclusive, unfair benefits for one individual/group over another group/individual
f. how congruent is it with the body of other spiritual wisdom found on our "shrinking" planet and within the global spiritual commons. (More later.)
The Non-Equality of All Spiritual Wisdom: Not all spiritual wisdom is equal. The inclusive collection of all of humanity's spiritual wisdom as part of any synthesis process will naturally involve both general categorization and then some pruning of this wisdom from our combined spiritual heritage. Some spiritual wisdom will be more widely applicable, inclusive, universal, life-affirming, and even empirical. Some spiritual wisdom will be more useful than others in that it is more effective or efficient in producing the fruits of authentic spiritual growth in more people with various personality types, psychological developmental levels, learning styles, cultural backgrounds, etc. in a safe and balanced way. (More Later.)
Personalities in the Movement: The open-source spirituality movement gladly accepts co-creational assistance and contributions from anyone, but it gives no inappropriate or special attention, honor, position, or consideration to any person or organization involved because they are personalities or organizations of wealth, fame, power, specialized influence, celebrity or pre-existing or current ecclesiastical authority or saint in a religious or spiritual organization. The open-source spirituality movement also gives no inappropriate or special attention, rights, powers, honor, position, consideration, or sacredness to any person who may have been a founder, co-founder, hero, or "saint" of the open-source religion and open-source spirituality movement itself as well.(More later.)
Diversity: All individuals, organizations, and teachers of spiritual wisdom or science-related knowledge are encouraged to contribute their wisdom to the open-source religion and spirituality collaboration. (More later.)
On the Process Itself: As in open source software, where software development is an unending process of continual upgrades, open-source spirituality processes for expanding the global spiritual commons is also more of an ongoing, evolving, collaborative process than any final result. It too will be constantly upgraded. (More later.)
Copyright Ownership, Commercial Uses, Individual Recognition, Patents and Trademarks applied to Spiritual Wisdom and the Global Spiritual Commons:
Patents and Trademarks, when applied to the collection or specific pieces of this collected spiritual wisdom are misplaced. This is because these materials are intended to be as open-source as possible, and ultimately, only the original author and original creator could lay valid claim to the ultimate original creative source rights. This does not mean that original descriptions of this wisdom cannot be the open CreativeCommons.com type, copyrighted either for personal recognition or as part of a right commercial livelihood. It also does not mean that some type of flexible suggested donation or fair exchange be requested for their use by their creators for any of the materials, courses, or books used in the global spiritual commons. In a global spiritual commons in which all can participate freely and feel the common heritage ownership and/or open-source co-creation, trying to patent or trademark the spiritual and science-related spiritual wisdom in order to inflexibly lock it down is contrary to the most fundamental principles of open source spirituality. (More later.)
The "Forkability" of the Evolution Spirituality Knowledge Base: Any individual or organization that understands the context, process, and relationships of Evolution Spirituality as a transformational and whole complex system may "fork" the knowledge base in new directions and use that direction as they see fit, provided that they contribute that unique knowledge back to the core Evolution Spirituality Knowledge Base for its ongoing use as well. This forkability principle also allows any member or congregation to fork off should those leaders of their congregation lose sight of the essence of the organization’s mission or should they behave in unethical ways that were resistant to learning and change.
The Improved Integration of Science and Spirituality: Open source spirituality holds that the myths, beliefs, and metaphors of today’s religions need to be actively updated toward congruence with the facts of science and the emergence of the new Universe Evolutionary Worldview. Open-source spirituality forwards discovering and sharing the original Source of the universe.
That Source is like a seed to the universe and the universe can be thought of as its fruit. Since there is always relational congruence between the seed and its fruit, it stands to reason that the current scientific facts of the physical universe, when seen from a whole-universe-system perspective, must reflect the nature of the Seed of the universe and therefore the myths, beliefs, and metaphors of today's religions need to be actively updated, reinterpreted and understood toward congruence with the facts of current science.
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