Exploring the Future of Christianity
Posted August 10th, 2009 by Corey deVos
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"The Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, or not a Christian at all." -Karl Rahner
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Our first film review is about Dan Merchant’s film Lord Save Us From Your Followers: Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America. Dan was raised in an evangelical family and then began to ask questions about why there is so much friction between fundamentalist Christians and the broader cultural audience. His three year journey across America revealed classic moments in the developmental divide that when viewed from an Integral perspective start to make sense of the culture war that is on-going in America and around the world. Click here to listen now. Free Sample:
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Ken Wilber is the most widely translated academic writer in America, with 25 books translated into some 30 foreign languages, and is the first philosopher-psychologist to have his Collected Works published while still alive. Wilber is an internationally acknowledged leader and the preeminent scholar of the Integral stage of human development, which continues to gather momentum around the world. His many books, all of which are still in print, can be found at Amazon.com. Some of his more popular books include Integral Spirituality; No Boundary; Grace and Grit; Sex, Ecology, Spirituality; and the "everything" books: A Brief History of Everything (one of his largest selling books) and A Theory of Everything (probably the shortest introduction to his work). Ken Wilber is the founder of Integral Institute, Inc., the co-founder of Integral Life, Inc., and the Senior Fellow of Integral Life Spiritual Center. | |
Cynthia Bourgeault's participation in interfaith exchanges around the world (as well as her extraordinary books like The Wisdom Jesus and her upcoming work on Mary Magdalene) makes her the ideal teacher to help us continue our exploration of the Future of Christianity. In this interview we examine her current work and its implications in the world, the stages of development of her personal spiritual path, her perspectives on healing the Christian church, and the contribution Christianity can make to our personal and cultural awareness. Free Sample:
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The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Bourgeault is the founder and principal teacher for the Aspen Wisdom School as well as a founding director and the principal teacher for the Contemplative Society. She also serves on the core faculty of the spiritual paths Institute in Aspen, Colorado. An Episcopal priest and international retreat and conference leader, Cynthia is passionately committed to recovering the Christian contemplative path and has worked closely with Fr. Thomas Keating, Fr. Bruno Barnhart, and other Christian contemplative masters, as well as in Sufism and the Christian inner traditions. | |
Karl Rahner, the noted Christian theologian, once remarked that “the Christian of tomorrow will be a mystic, or not a Christian at all.” Integral Contemplative Christianity unites the transcendent beauty and wisdom of the Christian contemplative tradition with the Integral Approach, the leading-edge map of human consciousness and development. Presented by Fr. Thomas Keating, this remarkable 21-piece video series explores the practice of Centering Prayer - a contemplative approach to commune with God. Fr. Thomas offers insight and practical methods to work with thoughts as they arise during Centering Prayer, various roadblocks we encounter during practice, and skillful means to work through them. Free Sample:
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Father Thomas Keating, a writer and teacher, is considered by many to be one of the few genuinely realized Christian saints in the world today. Fr. Thomas was born in New York in 1923, entered the Cistercian Order in Valley Falls, Rhode Island in 1944 and was appointed Superior of St. Benedict's Monastery of Snowmass, Colorado in 1958. Three years later he became Abbot of St. Joseph's Abbey of Spencer, Massachusetts, before retiring to Snowmass—a small mountain community of just over a dozen monks—in 1981, where he remains today. At the age of eighty-one, he continues to be a prominent voice in the Christian Centering Prayer movement through the organization he founded, Contemplative Outreach, an international network committed to renewing the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in daily life. | |
Cultivating a sense of gratefulness— or "great fullness"—is the impulse behind all devotional practice, no matter what tradition it is situated in. It doesn't matter whether it's an ancient deity with a long white beard, a thousand-armed bodhisattva, your guru, priest, or sensei, your friends and family, or the unknowable Mystery behind it all—the point resides within none of these objects of devotion, as they all equally reflect the fractalized perfection of the One. As Martin Buber reminds us—in the 'I-Thou' relationship, God is not some sort of ultimate 'Thou' at the end of the universe, but the hyphen that connects you with everyone and everything in creation. God is the essence of relationship itself, the temple of “we” in which every gesture is a prayer, every kindness a blessing, and every conflict an opportunity to bring even more love into the world. Free Sample: |
Brother David Steindl-Rast has been a practicing Benedictine monk for over half a century and was one of the first Vatican-sanctioned delegates to participate in Buddhist-Christian dialogue. He is a recipient of the Martin Buber Award for his outstanding role in building bridges between religious traditions, and serves as a senior member of the Mount Savior Monastery in Elmira, New York. Born in Austria in 1926, Br. David came of age during the Nazi occupation. Years later, he would write of the brutality of this experience as compelling him to contemplate, "the existential situation designed to hide, to disguise, and to camouflage our confrontation with death." Fervently committed to what he calls "mysticism in action," Br. David has been an outspoken advocate for social justice, environmental issues, and international peace. He has written and contributed to well over thirty books, and with famed physicist Fritjof Capra, co-authored Belonging to the Universe, recipient of the prestigious American Book Award. His affinity with the Buddhist tradition produced The Ground We Share: Buddhist and Christian Practice, co-authored with Robert Aitken Roshi. | |
The Need For Integral Spirituality With so many currents of religion available to us today, the need to understand these varying types of religious orientations becomes increasingly important if we are to successfully navigate our own spiritual development. Ken Wilber describes the differences between esoteric and exoteric religion and offers an experiment to show us the face of God, our own original face, and the need for an Integral Spirituality. | ||
Rollie Stanich, the Chief Facilitator of Integral Spiritual Center and longtime student of Father Thomas Keating, shares his remarkable path into the heart of contemplative Christianity. He and Ken explore the esoteric contours at the core of the world's largest religion, while offering new ways to interpret, practice, and enliven this rich tradition in the 21st century. They explore two fairly simple concepts that lie at the core of any discussion around religion, spirituality, and mystical experience: the notion of "vertical development" through the major stages of consciousness, and of "horizontal development" through the major states of consciousness. These are the two axes of personal and spiritual development, two vectors of human potential that intersect deep in our hearts, tracing an outline of Christianity’s most sacred symbol with each and every breath.... Free Sample:
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Rollie has played a vital part in the emerging Integral movement as the Chief Facillitator of Integral Spiritual Center, as a former managing editor of Integral Naked from 2004-2005, and as an ongoing contributor to Integral Life. Rollie's spiritual path is that of contemplative Christianity—he is a practitioner of Centering Prayer and a longtime student of Fr. Thomas Keating; he co-wrote and co-produced the 2008 Integral Life DVD The Future of Christianity; and he is currently writing a book about Integral Christianity entitled Who Do You Say That I Am? Rollie is an extraordinary friend, teacher, and role model; an exemplar of clarity, compassion, and grace; and is dearly beloved by all who have been fortunate enough to feel the tender warmth of his heart. | |
During the 2007 Integral Spiritual Center conference, we paid a formal tribute to Dr. Fowler's extraordinary body of work by presenting him with a very special lifetime achievement award. It was an incredibly moving occasion for everyone involved, and remains one of the most poignant memories in Integral Spiritual Center's already abundant legacy. What follows is an extraordinary hour-and-forty-five minute presentation of Dr. Fowler's body of work, led by Rollie Stanich with additional commentary by Ken Wilber. Free Sample:
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Dr. James W. Fowler III is Professor of Theology and Human Development at Emory University, and was director of both the Center for Research on Faith and Moral Development and the Center for Ethics until he retired in 2005. He is a minister in the United Methodist Church, and is best known for his book Stages of Faith, published in 1981, in which he sought to develop the idea of a developmental process in faith. | |
In the decades following the death of Jesus, St. Paul wrote, in the Letter to the Ephesians, what is probably the central injunction of Christianity: “You must therefore put on the mind of Christ Jesus.” This verse—frequently quoted and diversely interpreted—is incredibly enlightening when viewed from an integral altitude. In this audio clip, ISC Teachers Jim Marion and Ken Wilber discuss the arising of Christianity in the integral worldspace. Free Sample:
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Jim Marion is the founder and Director of the Institute for Spiritual Awareness in Washington, D.C., the author of Putting on the Mind of Christ: The Inner Work of Christian Spirituality, and The Death of the Mythic God, the Rise of Evolutionary Spirituality, studied for the Catholic priesthood, and later undertook divinity studies at the interdenominational Hartford Seminary. Since his first book was published in 2000, Marion has spoken about spirituality, mysticism and human consciousness development at many conferences, workshops and churches. | |
In this dialogue series, Brother Wayne Teasdale and Ken Wilber discuss the advent of an integral mysticism in the postmodern world. Reflecting on their own spiritual experiences, the relation of science to spirituality, the lives of the great inter-spiritual pioneers, and how youth culture is revitalizing the mystical traditions, Brother Wayne and Ken show how an integral perspective can bring the revelations of mysticism into everyday life. In so doing, we learn to give fullest expression—as parents and professionals, students and seekers—to the Mystic Heart in each of us. Free Sample:
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Brother Wayne Teasdale, a founding member of the Spirituality branch of Integral Institute, was a tireless spokesperson for the practical power of spiritual realization. A personal friend of the Dalai Lama, Teasdale has been a key figure in the interfaith movement, and through books like The Mystic Heart and A Monk in the World has brought contemplative spirituality—and the selfless service that stems from it—into common discourse. Brother Wayne Teasdale died of cancer on October 20, 2004, at the age of 59. We are honored to have walked with Brother Wayne, a true monk in the world, and to share his exquisite vision of the mystic heart. | |
Many people familiar with Neale’s prolific body of work know that his “Conversations with God” began after a series particularly difficult life events: a fire that destroyed all his belongings, the break-up of his marriage, and suffering a broken neck in a car crash—the combinations of which left him broke, homeless, and living out of a tent at the age of 50. What is less well known is everything that Neale experienced and accomplished before his subsequent career as a world-renowned writer and teacher. As Neale and Ken agree, the preceding five decades of life experience were absolutely essential to Neale’s ability to engage, explore, and interpret a barrage of crushing blows that eventually flowered into a spiritual revelation shared with millions. Free Sample:
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Neale Donald Walsch is a modern day spiritual messenger whose words continue to touch the world in profound ways. With an early interest in religion and a deeply felt connection to spirituality, Neale spent the majority of his life thriving professionally, yet searching for spiritual meaning before beginning his now famous Conversation with God. His With God series of books has been translated into 34 languages, touching millions of lives and inspiring important changes in their day-to-day lives. In addition to authoring the renowned Conversations With God series, Neale has published 16 other works, as well as a number of video and audio programs. Available throughout the world, each of the CwG dialogue books has made the New York Times Bestseller list, Conversations with God: Book 1 occupying that list for over two and half years. | |
Here Kevin Kelly shares one of his most powerful experiences. At the age of 27, he slept on the supposed spot where Jesus was crucified, and upon awakening had a powerful spiritual experience. Many people are aware of the fact that Kevin continues to be a devout Christian, which might defy some expectations of those who otherwise consider him extremely rational—trans-rational even—while pushing the vanguard of digital culture. But of course, there is no real contradiction there, as Kevin and Ken discuss. Listen Now: |
Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He helped launch Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor until January 1999. He is currently editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website, which gets 1 million visitors per month. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Review, a journal of unorthodox technical news. He co-founded the ongoing Hackers' Conference, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. He authored the best-selling New Rules for the New Economy and the classic book on decentralized emergent systems, Out of Control. | |
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| Spiritual But Not Religious? Father Thomas Keating | Practice: The 1-2-3 of God Rollie Stanich | Integral Christianity: Theory and Practice Br. David Steindl-Rast | Trinity and Trikaya Ken Wilber | Integral Panentheism: A Godview for Today's World Br. David Steindl-Rast | Perspectives on Essential Spirituality Br. David Steindl-Rast, Fr. Thomas Keating, and Ken Wilber | |||||
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