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- Most Interesting News Story of the Month
- Article of the Month
- Best New Spiritual Humor
- Most Inspiring Quote of the Day
- Event of the Month: Integral Path to World Peace
- December’s 8 Artist of the Month Award Winners
- Most Interesting Discussion Thread
- Question of the Month
- Event Calendar Highlights for December/January
- Featured Teacher of Universal Spirituality for December/January
- Expanding the Global Spiritual Commons
- Website Features
- Newcomer Advice
- What’s NEW this Month
- Web Feature of the Month: The Great News About You
- Website Growth Statistics
- Volunteer Opportunities
- Community Help Desk
- What’s Coming Soon!
- The Mission of Universe Spirit
- How you Can Help
- Please Spread the Word about Us!
- Event of the Month
Holiday Greetings to All,
As the Thanksgiving season wanes and the Winter Solstice hovers on the horizon, we find ourselves in an attitude of gratitude for all that has transpired here at Universe Spirit in 2005. "The Creative Spirit", our San Francisco Floating Event Center, became fully operational and functioning as an inspiring and beautiful space for meditations, salons, cruises, retreat space, workshops, film nights and more. Our website officially launched in September and has reached its 1 millionth visitation mark! By December 31, we also should have reached the 1,000 new online member mark.
The 3rd annual World Spirituality Day (WSD) on December 31st is shaping up to be a significant alternative/adjunct way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Be sure to see our page describing the ways you can choose to celebrate this new holiday and if you are in the San Francisco Bay area, check the events calendar soon for details on the WSD event being planned for "The Creative Spirit."
We invite you to explore this month’s newsletter below and hope you find some items of interest for your spirit as well as your mind.
May the holidays and the New Year bring you gifts of love, health and peace.
The Most Interesting News Story
Bentley Professors Bring Spirituality & Meditative Practices into Business Education
Article of the Month
The New Genesis Story: There are many implicit or implied genesis stories within the diverse cultures and religions of our world. Genesis stories are more than just stories about origins. They instill an early powerful behavior molding sense of identity, values and destiny.
Now, as we are becoming a new type of global tribe, it is time for a new more integral genesis story to be written. One that performs all of the critical functions of the old genesis stories as well as new functions. This will facilitate humankind shifting self and worldview values and living better together to manage the serious global challenges and shared future.
The Best New Spiritual Humor
Man to God: "O Lord, I want peace".
God to Man: "When you remove yourself of 'I' and the 'want' you will automatically have peace."
You can also add your own spiritual humor and view more on our humor page. Click here for more.
The Most Inspiring Quote of the Day
"Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life" ~ George Arliss
Event of the Month: Integral Path to World Peace
 On October 29th, Author and producer Byron Belitsos, was on hand to offer a film and presentation on world democracy entitled "Toward a Well-governed World". A good number of people turned out for this very interesting and timely film and discussion. Byron, who co-authored the book, "One World Democracy", presented his case for why the only viable long-term solution for today's most urgent global problems is world democracy based on the principles of integral philosophy. Click here to see pictures from this event. To see more photos our San Francisco center click here. |
The 8 new Artists of the Month Awards Winners for December
* Visual Artist of the Month, Atmara Rebecca Cloe
* Musical Artists of the Month, Scott Kalechstein
* Writer - Artist of the month, Byron Belitsos
* Humor Artist of the Month, Wavy Gravy
* Philosopher - Artist of the Month, Thomas Berry
* Futurist - Artist of the Month, Nick Bostrom
* Spiritual Teacher - Artist of the Month, Connie Barlow and Michael Dowd
* Organization of the Month, California Institute of Integral Studies
Are you willing to put on your own local World Spirituality Day event on December 31st? If so go to the event planning suggestions on the World Spirituality Day page.
Event Highlights for October/November
* December 4th – AWL: Acting With Love
* December 11th – Spiritual Cinema on the Bay
* December 31st – World Spirituality Day
* Ongoing – Morning meditation on The Creative Spirit
And much more…..
Please know that as a member of Universe Spirit, you can add your own events this calendar; Take a few moments to explore the features and see what’s coming up. The more the community uses this, the more we stay connected! Check out what’s happening here.
Featured Teacher of Universal Spirituality
Our Featured Teacher of Universal Spirituality this month is Thich Nhat Hanh.
 One of the best known and most respected Zen masters in the world today, poet, peace and human rights activist, Thich Nhat Hanh has led an extraordinary life. Born in central Vietnam in 1926, Nhat Hanh was ordained a Buddhist monk in 1942, at the age of sixteen. Just eight years later, he co-founded what was to become the foremost center of Buddhist studies in South Vietnam, the An Quang Buddhist Institute. Continued… |
Our ‘Site Info’ pull down menu at the top of the home page has 15 different topics that could be of useful information to you as a new visitor/member to our website. Here you’ll find FAQ’s, technical support, members’ list, 24 web topics, how to contact us, and more. Take a look here first if you are having questions about navigating the rest of the website.
Web Feature of the Month: The Great News About You
This section will be expanded and upgraded on a regular basis using new insights from members and visitors to our website and organization. We believe that it is up to each person to decide for themselves what is spiritually true. We provide this Great News not as a spiritual authority, but as a resource for spiritual wisdom. You get to decide its spiritual value and usefulness. To read the Great News about you, click here.
• We just passed the 1.25 million hit mark.
• Click here to view more stats
We invite you to volunteer and contribute your wisdom, knowledge and skills relating to some area of our website or non profit organization and be of vital service to the world. To find out about volunteer opportunities with IS please visit this page.
The Mission of Universe Spirit
We are an integral and open source spiritual organization created for the 21st century and beyond that focuses first upon supporting you in expanding your transformative, direct spiritual experience of Ultimate Reality toward the goal of spiritual completeness and a balanced living of the virtues.
Think of us as a unique, all-denominations organization that is a joyous, artful new center for a global network of spiritual adventurers and cultural and spiritual creatives to:
- connect with kindred spirits,
- be supported on their unique personal spiritual paths,
- share their spiritual, life and social wisdom to help expand the global spiritual commons and evolve the Great News,
- support each other’s spiritual growth and,
- co-act to co-create a better world through spiritualized social activism.
Universe Spirit needs your assistance, wisdom and financial resources to achieve its mission and vision.
When you contribute financially you are also helping to restructure the way money and assets are used --- away from fear and towards the world of the 2nd great enlightenment period in mankind’s history- a period of the nourishment of our souls/spirits and for regeneration of our planet and development of an Integral and healthy spirituality.
Your contributions help create an alliance that unifies us in pursuing spiritual truth, beauty and goodness and the planting of seeds for a different kind of spiritual and social future for ourselves and the planet. We use all donations to provide all denominations with support for their personal spiritual journey and to provide and expand the shared spiritual wisdom from all denominations found in the Global Spiritual Commons.
Please visit out donation page tread more about how to donate to US.