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| image from gracechurch.org |
By: Julius-Kei Kato, PhD
I acknowledge my debt to the many thinker-teachers who have taught me precious lessons about the topics I write about here, particularly, Ken Wilber and his iteration of “the Integral Theory.” A full list of references for sources of the content here as well as for further study is found at the end of the article.
Part
I
Worldviews and Religion-as-a-Worldview – Attaining a Worldview that Can Help Build a Just and Peaceful World
This essay is principally about the importance of worldviews, especially religious and spiritual worldviews. It describes what worldviews are and how they can impede or contribute to the building of a world in which true justice and peace are present.
[1] Building a Just and Peaceful World | One of the most important keys to building a just and peaceful world today is to bring people (as individuals and as groups) to truly want to be “global citizens,” in other words, willing participants of—what we shall call here—a “global community.” Let us define “global community” along the lines of the concept of “global citizenship” as a movement of many people throughout our increasingly globalized and interconnected world who value the well-being of others: one’s own insider group of course but, equally, also those outside one’s groups of affiliation (extending this concern to the whole world even). A particularly urgent matter at this juncture in history is for members of this global community to become deeply aware of the precarious ecological situation of our common earth-home and act to improve the situation.
Global citizens (the members of this envisioned global community) commit themselves, first, to refrain from things that harm others and, second, to act in order to realize better the vision of a more peaceful and just world not only for themselves and their in-group members (aka, one’s “tribe”) but for everyone in the world, particularly, those who have been considered “others” by one’s tribe.
[2] What We Mean by “Tribe" | We will use the word "tribe" or “tribal” frequently here. It is proper, therefore, to describe it further. “My tribe” can mean many things. It’s basically the human group that I consider “my own people” or my “in-group.” Hence, “my tribe” can refer to: my family and extended family, my clan, my village. It can also refer to: my race, my culture, my social and economic class, my gender and gender-orientation. More specifically for our purposes here, we should be aware that “my tribe” has also meant “my religion and my religious community” for many people in past history and continues to mean so in the present.
Note that it is of course natural and good to value one's "tribe." We affirm that. However, we should also remember that if we uncritically overvalue our tribe in a way that excludes others, that unfortunately results in neglecting other groups or, worse yet, it can make us marginalize, discriminate against, and even cause harm to others not included in our tribe.
[3] Worldview and Its Pervasive Character | Our aim in this reflection is to understand better the potential contribution that spiritual-religious traditions can make to the building of a truly just and peaceful global world. To reach that aim, it is important first to recognize the importance of “worldview” and how that is a key to humans becoming active and committed global citizens.
A worldview is, literally speaking, the way by which one views and understands the world. It is a combination of all the influences one has had in one’s life up to this point. One is largely unconscious of it but it informs practically all the areas—big and small—in life: what one believes; what one holds as true or false; how one approaches life; how one relates to others, and so forth. It is like the pond someone is swimming in if they were a fish.
Another useful analogy to understand worldview is this: It’s like someone’s mother language and all the complex grammatical rules that make up that language. One is largely unconscious of this process, but people speak their mother language perfectly, without being aware that they’re actually following all the complex grammatical rules of the language flawlessly as they speak. We only experience how actually complex any language is when we learn a foreign language and, as if for the first time, marvel at how effortlessly native speakers can speak a language that, for us, seems so difficult to learn. Thus, our mother language is an accurate image of the all-pervasive, total character of our keyword here—worldview, in the life of individuals as well as groups of people.
[4] Religion is a Worldview | It is obvious that religion (or any spiritual tradition for that matter) is definitely a worldview. It is a way of viewing the world which usually involves some “ultimate reality” that is meant to pervade the whole existence of believers, influencing how they understand the world and informing them how they should live their lives if they want to reach the particular religion’s ultimate goal. That goal may be the Christian union with God, Buddhism’s Nirvana, Islam’s total surrender to God or Judaism’s fidelity to the covenant, and so forth. Moreover, it is good to be aware that a religious worldview has an arguably stronger hold on the psyches of those who are living entirely within it because they believe that this particular worldview has been somehow “revealed” and gifted to them by an ultimate or divine Being or Entity, hence, carries with it some kind of absolute character.
[5] How Worldviews Develop | There is a basic and foundational principle about worldviews: Worldviews can and do undergo a process of evolution/development from: earlier, basic, (arguably) immature and more selfish stages – to: more advanced, more inclusive, (arguably) more mature stages. Since religions are worldviews, that principle is equally true about religions.
Up until now, the various spiritual-religious traditions of the world have not given much attention to the process of how spiritual-religious worldviews evolve and develop in individuals (as well as in whole groups of people). And this is perhaps one of the major things that religions lack which must definitely be rectified: a lack of knowledge and awareness of developmental processes as explicitly applied to religious faith.
To elaborate on this, various developmental studies have pointed out that humans (across different cultures and historical eras) go through a predictable general pattern of growth or development in their worldviews.
The pattern usually begins with a first level (Stage #1), a stage at the start of life that can be described as Egocentric. This is a stage in which one’s worldview is focused on oneself. Babies and young children are clear evidence of this. From that stage though, if humans would develop properly, they should grow and transcend their natural egocentric worldview and move on to being (2) Ethnocentric, a stage in which the person goes beyond and overcomes the “natural self-centered focus” of life’s initial stages. Instead, the person advances to a stage in which they can include the people closest to them (one's "tribe" or "in-group") as valuable for themselves. In short, the circle of one’s concern is getting bigger as one grows. That is a sign of good human development.
[6] Moving Beyond Ethnocentricity in a Global Community | Today, in our more interconnected, diverse, and globalized world, it is more urgent that one should not stop at the ethnocentric stage unlike in the past. From an exclusive focus on one's "tribe" or “in-group” (ethnocentric stage), people in a globalized, interdependent world, as an ideal, should grow further into higher worldview stages, that is, (Stage #3) Worldcentric, a stage in which we acknowledge that those who, up to this point, were considered "Others" (by our “in-group”) are deserving of the following things: at the basic level, a just and humane treatment and, if possible, also friendship and care. The highest level of development would be becoming more (4) Cosmocentric, a stage in which we consider not only humans but also other living and non-living things (our whole cosmos even!) as the objects of our concern and care. This cosmocentric dimension is in the forefront today in our globalized world as we become more aware of the precarious situation in which the ecological order of our earth finds itself.
[7] The Ethnocentric Worldview as Dominant in History – Its Shadow | Most people and civilizations in history though have been mainly ethnocentric. The vast majority have lived their lives viewing the world from a “tribal" point of view. This is based on the following mentality: “my 'tribe' is better than others," "my tribe has a higher truth"; or even, "my tribe is the superior one among all others." Unfortunately, the dominancy of the ethnocentric worldview is still true even today for most of the world's population. Some studies have shown that around 70% of the world’s population is still at the ethnocentric stage.
One dark aspect of an uncritical ethnocentricity is that people whom we (and our insider group) consider "Others" are dehumanized in our worldview (that is, they seem "less than human"). This leads to us treating them in negative ways without feeling too much guilt. Applied to religion, it behooves us to remember: Many forms of conventional religion still tend to give much importance to such an ethnocentric worldview.
[8] It’s Difficult to See Outside an Ethnocentric Worldview | When someone is in the ethnocentric-tribal worldview stage, they usually only see what this worldview allows them to see. They find it hard to “put themselves in others’ shoes,” especially if the “other” is not part of one’s tribe. (Remember, being able to put yourself in the “other’s” shoes and see the world from their point of view is characteristic of the higher, worldcentric worldview). Therefore, people with ethnocentric worldviews tend to think that this tribal-centered worldview is the whole truth. They think that other worldviews are inferior or downright wrong. The general principle in developmental theories of worldviews is: You can only objectively and critically evaluate lower-stage worldviews because you have been there in an earlier stage and now you’re looking at them from a more objective, (as it were) outsider’s point of view.
This is particularly true of religious worldviews. Max Müller, the putative founder of the discipline of comparative religious studies, famously said about religions, “The person who knows one [actually] knows none.” That means that the person who knows only one spiritual-religious tradition (especially when one knows it only as an “insider”) in effect knows nothing, because only by comparing one religion with another can one be led to a more objective knowledge of particular spiritual-religious traditions, even one’s very own. In the case that one is a believer, one has “to bracket out” sometimes one’s personal beliefs and judge those beliefs as if one were an outsider to this faith tradition in order to evaluate the said beliefs with more objectivity. Author John Loftus calls this “the outsider’s test for faith” (see bibliography).
[9] The Contemporary Shift to a More Worldcentric Worldview | Since the end of the Second World War, through the 1960s and continuing to today, the consciousness of a significant number of people around the world has arguably undergone a major shift. I refer specifically to a gradual change in many people’s worldviews from a mainly ethnocentric worldview (Stage 2 above) to a decidedly more worldcentric worldview (Stage 3 above). Because of that, we are able to more critically evaluate worldviews of earlier stages (particularly, egocentric and ethnocentric worldviews). For example, we can evaluate earlier dominant ethnocentric worldviews within which many of our ancestors lived and acted.
In my case, I am half-Japanese on my father’s side and so I am often horrified because I can see how this ethnocentric worldview gave birth to horrible things such as imperial Japan’s superiority complex and hubris, its imperial and colonizing greed, and its violent, even barbaric ways to achieve power and control over others in recent history, particularly before and during the Second World War.
Since many of us now have a worldcentric worldview, we are understandably disgusted and shocked by many events in our history because, in our present globalized world, it has become common sense to think that everyone—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, social class, culture, and also religion—deserve as humans to be treated with justice, respect, and honor. Those are the good fruits of a more worldcentric worldview. We can also see here the danger of having an uncritical ethnocentric worldview because of the many terrible results it has produced in history. To name a few: the North American residential schools, the Holocaust, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the witch-hunts, among many others.
[10] Toward a more Cosmocentric Worldview | Moreover, many of us today have even advanced to a cosmocentric worldview. We have become more aware that our well-being as a species is intimately linked with stopping an unbridled exploitation of the world’s natural resources and, in its place, maintaining a sustainable ecological order for ourselves and for the generations that will come after us. Let us remember though that attaining such a cosmocentric worldview is usually a long, arduous journey from egocentric through ethnocentric and worldcentric and finally reaching such a cosmocentric worldview. Hence, we have to invest in the process and be willing to do our part to act as “conveyor belts” as it were that could help people to continually evolve into higher and more mature worldviews.
A critical question for the groups we are part of (especially spiritual-religious groups): Do they, as institutions, act as conveyor belts? Or do they impede the development of worldview (which can also be called “the evolution of consciousness”)? This is a hard question to ask particularly of and for church-institutions because many are practically stuck in an ethnocentric worldview and do not like to move from there in various ways because they believe that abandoning this ethnocentric-mythical worldview about their religious institution might mean the destruction of that institution as well as of the faith itself.
[11] The Challenges and Goals of Attaining a Worldcentric Worldview - An "Interfaith Collective Intelligence" | We can say though that one of our first and most urgent tasks at present is to enable and empower as many people as possible to attain a truly holistic, worldcentric and cosmocentric worldview. And that applies even to religious faith and practice! This seems to be a necessary condition to begin building a global community which can even have—what we shall call—an “interfaith collective intelligence.” That is envisioned as a common pool of spiritual and holistic wisdom (including the insights of spiritual-religious traditions) that could contribute to building a world characterized by real justice and peace for all. The sobering truth, however, is this: People who have not yet reached at least a worldcentric worldview, would not be interested either in a global community or an interfaith collective intelligence.
On the other hand, let us not forget that a holistic and worldcentric worldview is, as mentioned, the product of having gone through an often arduous developmental process from egocentric to ethnocentric. Therefore, various people and groups of humans at any given time will still be either in egocentric or ethnocentric stages in their worldview. The challenge is how to facilitate continual growth and development in people’s worldviews so that a significant number of people can reach a wholesome worldcentric and cosmocentric worldview. The activity of “facilitating worldview growth” can be compared to the function of a “conveyor belt.” Hence, we can say that spiritual-religious traditions are healthy if they can act like “conveyor belts” and enable people to advance from lower to higher stages in their worldviews.
[12] Some Other Crucial Factors that Influence and Shape Worldviews – Gebser’s Formulation | We saw above that worldviews can be egocentric, ethnocentric, worldcentric or cosmocentric. In addition to those categories, it is equally important to note that worldviews can also be influenced dominantly by another set of categories. Philosopher Jean Gebser expressed these as: magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic (or relativistic), and integral (forms of consciousness). These elements also correspond to different stages on a developmental line that a given worldview can go through. In fact, these are the main stages through which the general worldview of Western European civilization has gone through in history.
To elaborate, someone’s worldview can be influenced by magic. This is seen in primitive civilizations or even a naïve child’s belief that magic is what makes things work. Worldview can also be dominantly based on mythical factors. This is often seen in beliefs that hold on firmly to supernatural or miraculous events (characteristically found in “myths”) as the foundation of faith and of reality itself. A rationally dominated worldview, on the other hand, prioritizes scientific and rational explanations of reality. A pluralistic or relativistic worldview accepts and embraces the principle that reality is diverse and that each and every element in that diversity should be accepted and respected. This pluralistic worldview has become the default model in many western societies today.
Although the pluralistic worldview is considered the ideal worldview to have in the West today, we must include the following demurrer: It is rarely noted that a simple pluralistic consciousness tends to accept everyone and everything uncritically. It does not yet fully grasp that although every worldview is right in different ways (that is, everything contains truths within itself) and therefore worthy of respect, there are—to use philosopher Ken Wilber’s expression—worldviews that are “more right” (that means: more mature, more wholesome, more holistic, more inclusive) than others.
In other words, there are worldviews that are more conducive to the true development of global community in which peace and justice can flourish for all better than others. Only a further development to a higher so-called “integral stage” of worldview can give someone a more complete view of how to understand and integrate better the mind-boggling diversity in the world in order to enable humans to reach their highest potential as individuals and groups. Hence, an integral worldview seems to be the best one to enable us to integrate all of the previous stages of worldview into an overall holistic, fairly complete or comprehensive awareness or understanding.
An integral worldview is
founded on a fuller understanding of the different states, stages, dimensions, and
shadows that comprise the totality of the human experience of reality.
(a succinct description of this can be found for example in Ken Wilber, The Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction)
[13] Western Europe as a Case in Point | In the case of Western Europe, we note from a study of the history of ideas (and their important social consequences) that when the general worldview of western European societies was in the ethnocentric stage, it was also strongly dominated by mythical-religious elements. From the European Enlightenment onwards, however, the general worldview in many western societies shifted slowly from being mythical to being more rational because many of the intellectuals in society stopped relying on—what was hitherto considered as the supremely important source of knowledge—"divine revelation” (which, in turn, is heavily dependent on mythical beliefs). Instead, they shifted to prioritizing human reason and empirical proof.
It took a while though before many people could shed their ethnocentric (in this case, Eurocentric) worldviews. The move from mythical to rational worldview is usually called the “modern age.” Nevertheless, sometime after the Second World War, the logical development of the rational spirit again shifted the general worldview’s center of gravity to a more pluralistic and also relativistic way of understanding the world, one that is often known as “postmodern.”
Finally, we can say that in our contemporary world, many feel an urgent need to reach a more integral way of understanding reality because of the intense and complex globalization and interconnectedness of the whole world.
[14] World Religions and Developmental Stages | The different developmental theories referred to above were not really identified and studied until around a hundred years or so ago with the rise of developmental theories and studies. Hence, they were not incorporated in a significant way into the teachings of most of the great world religions because these spiritual-religious traditions had been around for a very long time. The great religious traditions had already developed and even codified their teachings long before any notion of worldview development or evolution of consciousness was identified. Hence, we find an unfortunate general lack of awareness of developmental processes in many spiritual-religious traditions and institutions.
Moreover, it is also fair
to say that many religious institutions (as a whole) are still dominated by a mythical-ethnocentric
worldview. If we take western Christian churches as a case in point, the
general decline in their memberships may be an indication that, although the “centre
of gravity” in many western societies as a whole has decidedly shifted towards
a more pluralistic-worldcentric form of worldview, many Christian churches’
centre of gravity, as institutions, are still in the mythical-ethnocentric
stage. Hence, as institutions, they appear as incredibly backward and
irrelevant.
***
As we reflect more on the topic of worldviews, particularly, how they develop through stages and what repercussions they have on spiritual-religious traditions, there are some concrete responses that we can make in order to build a true global community and work toward attaining—what we described above as—an interfaith/interreligious “collective intelligence.”
[14] The Importance of Developmental Theories | First of all, it is crucially important to be aware of and study more the different developmental stages of how people view and understand the world (that is, their worldviews) and how that affects their concrete actions. What was presented above is merely a rudimentary model based on what is called “the Integral Theory” but it gives us an idea of how worldviews develop and which kinds of worldview are more helpful to further the development of a global community with an interfaith/interreligious sharing of wisdom that we can call an “interreligious collective intelligence.” This knowledge of worldview development will shed light on many things. For example, through this lens, we can understand that many conflicts in society are actually conflicts between worldviews in different stages more than anything else.
Another case in point, through this lens informed by a knowledge of how worldviews exist and develop, we can see that the real thing that leads to humans treating other humans inhumanely is an uncritical ethnocentric-tribal mentality influenced by uncritical mythical beliefs that is too selfishly focused on the interests of one’s in-group or tribe and its (often mythological) beliefs without considering other individuals and groups in the global village we find ourselves in. Unfortunately, this is painfully true particularly in the case of religious mentalities and groups. There are still too many groups (especially religious groups) that see the world through an uncritical ethnocentric-mythical worldview. When that is the case, the religious group or tradition in question is severely limited in what it can contribute to the building of a more harmonious world and an interfaith collective intelligence.
[15] “Transcend and Include” Lower-Level Worldviews as One Evolves | On the one hand, it is certainly good that one should love one’s in-group but, on the other hand, it is an urgent task that people nowadays in our globalized world recognize that one should also respect and help persons and groups hitherto considered as “others” to flourish as well. In a global community, we can no longer prioritize our in-groups to the detriment of others.
It is important to affirm that developing one’s worldview in stages from (1) egocentric to (2) ethnocentric and finally to (3) worldcentric and (4) cosmocentric; and in a parallel way from (1) magic to (2) mythic to (3) rational and finally to (4) pluralistic and (5) integral is a natural and proper process. Advancing to a higher stage, does not mean completely rejecting the lower stage. “Developing” to a higher stage should follow the principle: “Transcend and Include.” That is, a move to a higher stage means, yes, transcending the lower stage, but the person does not just completely reject the earlier stage; rather, they include and integrate the lower stage into the wider and higher stage in a holistic way. For example, even if someone has moved to the ethnocentric stage, they integrate the lower egocentric stage holistically by valuing their own self (ego) in a healthy way. That is true for all the transitions even to the higher levels, that is, from ethnocentric (focused on one’s in-group) to worldcentric in which people further direct their attention and care to include those considered “Others”. Finally, from a worldcentric stage, one can and should go further to a more expansive “cosmocentric” stage in which one’s attention and care embrace non-human entities, nature, and even the whole universe.
That also works for the parallel development from mythic, through rationalistic and pluralistic, on to a more integral worldview. A move, for example, from a naïve mythical worldview to higher stages does not mean that one throws away the myths completely. One includes the important lessons that myths contain although one may be more critical in believing them as literal facts.
When more people are in a holistic worldcentric-integral stage, then we can start more seriously the work of forging a true global community of global citizens with an interfaith collective intelligence.
[16] Acknowledging the Existence
of a “Spiritual Intelligence” | Another
essential category I’d like to propose in order to build a global community with
an interfaith (interreligious or interspiritual) collective intelligence is acknowledging
the concept and existence of “spiritual intelligence,” something that is arguably
common and fundamental in all humans. Moreover, it is commonly
acknowledged by spiritual teachers that the pursuit of a deeper and higher
spiritual intelligence is actually everyone’s deepest passion as human beings.
First of all, spiritual
intelligence is one of the many kinds of intelligence (cognitive, linguistic,
relational, moral, motor, etc.) that are found in humans. For our purposes
here, let me describe it in a preliminary way as the deep drive, hardwired in
humanity, that urges us to seek for meaning, particularly, by both (1) exploring
our inner depths and (2) transcending ourselves for something “bigger” (“larger
than life”). In other words, spiritual intelligence is that drive in humans to find
meaning through depth and transcendence.
This “meaning” humans seek has usually taken the form of a quest to discover a “total framework” that could suggest a possible explanation for why all things in life or in the world are the way they are. In other words, it is the quest for “the meaning of it all.” It is obvious that this spiritual intelligence is deeply connected with faith, spirituality, and religion. Ultimately, it is connected with human life itself because humans cannot live unless they perceive that there is meaning in life.
[17] Why is This Intelligence Called “Spiritual”? | Why is it “spiritual” [intelligence]?, one may ask. The reason is simple. In humanity’s efforts to propose a possible framework that would encompass the whole of reality, we have imagined for most of our history a vast reality in which material realities are only one part of a bigger total picture. This “bigger picture” was thought of as a vastly superior “spiritual” (non-visible, non-material) realm which encompassed the material reality that we know through our five senses. In the Western context, it was usually called “God” or the “spiritual realm.” This dominant explanation of reality is beautifully and succinctly stated in the well-known book The Little Prince as “what is essential is invisible to the eye.” It is only since the European Enlightenment that purely materialistic explanations of reality began to become popular and, later, dominant in wide swaths of the western[ized] world
[18] A Worldcentric and Cosmocentric Spiritual Intelligence | Spiritual Intelligence is closely linked to the worldview development discussed above. Like other kinds of intelligence in humans, spiritual intelligence is also subject to growth and development. Therefore, spiritual intelligence can also be found in various stages (egocentric, ethnocentric, worldcentric, and cosmocentric; alternatively: magic, mythic, rational, pluralistic, and integral). As we affirmed above with regard to worldview, it is necessary to let spiritual intelligence reach a stage in which it is worldcentric (pluralistic) and cosmocentric in order for individuals and groups to actively contribute to the building of a global community with an interreligious collective intelligence.
***
Part
II
Building Blocks for an Interreligious Collective Intelligence
In my various roles as a professor of religion, early Christian writings, and ethics, I often recommend some resources that—I strongly feel—are full of potential for building a world with peace and justice. The following are some of the most noteworthy:
[19] A Global Ethic | At the 1993 Parliament of the World Religions,
Catholic theologians Leonard Swidler and Hans Küng proposed—what was to be
eventually known as—“a Global Ethic.” It is a declaration of the principles
that would help build a truly flourishing world with peace and harmony for all,
and that could be affirmed in principle by all religious traditions and
philosophies.* It has since been officially adopted by the Parliament of the
World Religions. The Declaration toward a Global Ethic has five directives:
1.
Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life
2.
Commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order
3.
Commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness
4.
Commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women
5. Commitment to a culture of sustainability and care for the earth
All these principles have
been summarized as the most common and important ethical teachings of
practically all religious and spiritual traditions. Hence, all religions and
philosophies can in principle affirm these directives. These ethical principles
form something like a least common denominator of a potential interreligious collective
intelligence. Hence, I believe that these five directives should form a
foundational part of humanity’s common pool of spiritual-religious wisdom. The
crucial factor however is not only to accept them but to put them into
practice.
* See https://parliamentofreligions.org/program-areas/global-ethic .
[20] Karen Armstrong
and the Charter of Compassion | Another
resource that I frequently recommend to my students as a noteworthy teaching
that could contribute to building a more just and peaceful world is religion
scholar-writer Karen Armstrong’s Charter for Compassion. Armstrong is
one of the best-known scholars/religion authors who have contributed immensely
to a public understanding of religion today. In 2008, she won the TED
Organization prize. With that, she began what she calls ‘A Charter of
Compassion’. It is a clarion call to everyone, especially to religious traditions,
to put compassion at the center of everything and to consider any
interpretation of spirituality-religion that breeds violence, hatred or disdain
as illegitimate. By doing thus will religions be true agents of peace and
genuine human flourishing.*
* See: https://charterforcompassion.org/charter .
[21] Roger Walsh – Transconventional Religion-Spirituality | Yet another resource that I’ve been working with for a while now and introducing my students to is the work of Psychologist-Religious Studies Professor, Roger Walsh (also Ken Wilber and other thinkers) that call for—what they term—a more “transconventional” kind of religion or spirituality. According to Walsh, conventional religion (especially the one known in the West) has up to now focused on believing dogmas, mythical stories, etc. This kind of religion requires believers mainly to accept all of these religious teachings on faith. Walsh conducted a careful research of different faith traditions all over the world and concluded that the commonality of all spiritual paths is found instead in spiritual practices which he summarizes into—what he calls—“seven central spiritual practices” that will surely awaken people’s hearts and minds to the deeper and most sublime realities of existence. Walsh calls this shift of emphasis from believing to practicing these spiritual practices or disciplines “transconventional” religion. He and his colleagues claim that spiritual enlightenment and flourishing are the guaranteed results of such a religion based on practice and not so much on belief.
(more "building blocks" to be added in the future)
----
Reference Bibliography
Alles,
G. D. "Max Müller." Encyclopedia
Britannica, December 2, 2021. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Muller.
Armstrong, Karen. 2010. Twelve
Steps to a Compassionate Life. New York: Knopf.
Bhullar, Amrita. 2015. “The Growth
of Spiritual Intelligence,” Indian Journal of Educational Studies: An
Interdisciplinary Journal 2015, Vol.2, No.1, ISSN No. 2349-6908, pp.
122-131.
Charter of Compassion: https://charterforcompassion.org/charter
.
Fowler, James W. 1981. Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human
Development and the Quest for meaning. New York: Harper.
Gebser, Jean. The Ever-Present
Origin. 1986. Translated by Noel Barstad and Algis Mickunas. Athens: Ohio
University Press. (cf. for Magic, Mythic, Rational, etc.)
Graves, Clare W. “Human Nature
Prepares for a Momentous Leap.” The Futurist. April (1974): 72-87. (cf.
for Egocentric, Ethnocentric, etc.)
DiPerna, Dustin. 2015. Evolution’s
Ally: Our World’s Religious Traditions as Conveyor Belts of Transformation.
N.P.: Integral Publishing House.
DiPerna, Dustin. 2014. Streams of
Wisdom: An Advanced Guide to Integral Spiritual Development. N.P.: Integral
Publishing House.
Kato, Julius-Kei. 2018a. Review of The
Religion of Tomorrow by Ken Wilber. Reading Religion: October 9,
2018. https://readingreligion.org/books/religion-tomorrow .
Kato, Julius-Kei. 2018b. Review of A
Brief History of Everything (20th Anniversary Issue) by Ken
Wilber. Reading Religion: April 11, 2018. https://readingreligion.org/books/brief-history-everything
.
Küng, Hans. 1993. A Global
Ethic: The Declaration of the Parliament of the World's Religions. New
York: Continuum.
Küng, Hans.
2001. Global Responsibility: In Search of a New World Ethic. New York: Continuum.
Loftus, John. 2013. The Outsider Test
of Faith. Amherst, NY: Prometheus.
Parliament of the World Religions: A
Global Ethic. See https://parliamentofreligions.org/program-areas/global-ethic
.
United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/academic-impact/global-citizenship
Walsh, Roger, M.D., Ph.D. 1999. Essential
Spirituality: The Seven Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind. New
York: Wiley & Sons.
Walsh, Roger, M.D., Ph.D. and
Frances Vaughan, Ph.D, eds. 1993. Paths Beyond Ego: The Transpersonal Vision.
New York: Penguin.
Wikipedia. “Global Citizenship”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_citizenship
Wilber Ken. 2017. The Religion of Tomorrow: A Vision for the
Future of the Great Traditions-More Inclusive, More Comprehensive, More
Complete. Boulder, CO: Shambhala. [Wilber’s works have been the main
resource for the integral theory and how development occurs in consciousness]
______. 2014, 2018. Integral Buddhism and the Future of
Spirituality. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
______.
2007, 2018. The
Integral Vision: A Very Short Introduction (to the Revolutionary Integral
Approach to Life, God, the Universe, and Everything). Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
______.
2006. Integral Spirituality: A Startling New Role for Religion
in the Modern and Postmodern World. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
______.
2001. A Theory of Everything: An Integral Vision for Business, Politics,
Science and Spirituality. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
______
1996, 2017. A Brief History of Everything. Boulder, CO: Shambhala.
______
1995. Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution. Boulder, CO:
Shambhala.
Wright, N.T. 1992. The New Testament and the People of God. Minneapolis: Fortress. [on worldviews, pp. 122-126. See also the footnotes for other resources on worldviews]
Young, William A. 2005. The World’s Religions: Worldviews and Contemporary Issues. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. [on religion as worldviews, pp. 12-18]
Zohar, Danah and Ian Marshall. 2000. Spiritual Intelligence: The Ultimate Intelligence. London: Bloomsbury.
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