All that matters is that the miraculous become the norm. — Henry Miller
The Life I am trying to grasp is the me that is trying to grasp it. — R.D. Laing
Sometimes life is extraordinary. A magical night on the town, a deep conversation under the stars, a wave of creative inspiration, falling in love. It’s as if windows of clarity, of sharpened perspective, of really being here open up amidst the relatively listless routines of daily life. During these periods of clear, wakeful presence, life is just plain juicier than usual. And whether sweet or sour, packing a lasting buzz or momentary high, these juicy bits of experience are simply those times when I feel particularly full of life, especially present to whatever I’m engaged in, more “on,” more “there,” more deeply who I am.
People fight passionately for their human rights, but these rights also have their corresponding and equally important responsibilities. This quiz and article is the responsibility-side companion to the rights defined in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As you review it, you may find yourself repeatedly surprised by the integral and evolutionary perspectives held within every true planetary and universe citizen's social and spiritual responsibilities.
by Claudia Horwitz
Like many people, my life has been shaped by a quest. In the mythic tale of the hero's journey, we leave the world we know because we sense there is something lacking in our experience. And we hope that whatever we find will be radical and new and that it will have the potential to bring great changes to the world we left. There are wondrous precedents for this journey...
Meditation and Creativity Three A.M. Though I’m lying in bed next to my zonked-out girlfriend with my eyes nearly closed, I’m wide awake. Or maybe I should say wide aware. This year, in addition to sitting meditation, I’ve started meditating in bed before and during sleep. I use simple practices focused on breathing in order to move my awareness to a place where I witness events (internal, external, physical, cerebral, et cetera) without identifying with them.
I was born into a deeply religious family. My father was an itinerant preacher and we traveled across the country offering our service to rural communities. My father would preach, my mother would sing, and my brothers and I would perform puppet shows to entertain the young ones. My early life lessons were to respect my elders and to offer myself to the greater good.
Eco-spirituality is based on a fundamental belief in the sacredness of nature, Earth, and the universe. It is also based on the fact that we as humans are not separate from nature, we are a part of it. The belief that humanity is somehow separate and above nature has created many of today's problems in one way or another.
Traditional eco-spirituality is as old as humanity and has been practiced by indigenous peoples since the begriming. Today's nondenominational eco-spirituality as practiced on this website includes yet transcends traditional eco-spirituality.
From the eco-spiritual perspective, Ultimate Reality (God, Spirit, Buddha, and/or the Divine,) is not just the source of creation it is very much also a part of creation; a part with which we can interact on a daily basis through our senses and from such experiences gain greater insight into the wonder of reality.
On a personal level, this inherent sacredness of nature and our complete immersion within it generally leads to a spiritually motivated engagement in the current environmental and global warming crises of our planet (see the Job One for Humanity plan,) and a dedication to the justice and long view of a sustainable prosperity for all.
This is the first in the series of articles from the book Radical Spirit that we will be posting on a regular basis and is focused exclusively on Generation X spirituality. Albert Wong the author of this article is a past Marshall scholar and has assorted degrees in physics, philosophy, politics, and economics from Princeton, Oxford, and the University of Michigan. He won numerous national awards as a budding young scientist before working for the Esalen Institute for five years. He now works with Jeremy Tarcher in Los Angeles as chief research director at a think tank start-up that studies independent thinking and pioneering individuals.
