New Post: On Creating a World Spirituality – by Dr. Marc Gafni

Dearest friends,

Below are a few thoughts that I want to share in simple and clear terms in regard to why evolving a World Spirituality is the urgent need and great adventure of our time. I jotted these thoughts down together with Mariana Caplan, Ken Wilber, and Tami Simon, with who I am working closely in catalyzing, articulating, and serving the emergence of the an authentic World Spirituality that has the potential to provide a context of meaning for hundreds of millions of people. This is a work in progress. Here are some first thoughts…

We believe that the cogent articulation of a World Spirituality that speaks compellingly to the hundreds of millions of people who are already at World-Centric consciousness may well be the most important next move that we can make in the evolution of consciousness.

1. For the first time in history, the core challenges to survival we face today are not local to a particular religion, country, or region. They are world challenges, ranging from the very real threats to the ground we walk on and the air we breathe, to world hunger, to the danger of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of a rogue state, to the most pressing issues of social and economic justice. There is no place left to hide, and the spiritual truth of the interconnectedness of all things is no longer an hidden teaching but an obvious truth. Whenever new life conditions come to pass, an evolutionary leap in consciousness and culture is required to meet them. The global challenges we face require the evolution of a new spiritual consciousness in which we realize that what unites us is so much greater then what divides us: we need a World Spirituality.

2. For the first time in history, there is a critical mass of at least two hundred million people who have reached Worldcentric consciousness. These people have expanded their circle of caring and concern beyond their ethnocentric affiliations. They are at home in the world and feel responsible for the world as whole, and not merely their country or religion.

3. For the first time in history, the most profound teachings as well as living teachers from all the great systems of spirit are readily available in a non-coercive and open-hearted form, not only to people of their particular religion, but to all who wish to come to study and practice with them.

4. For the first time in history, the notion of dual citizenship is readily understood and available. Not only can one be a dual citizen of two countries, but one can also remain committed to their native or chosen spiritual tradition, while at the same time being a citizen of World Spirituality.

5. For the first time in history, there are hundreds of millions of well educated people who, although they cannot find their homes in the traditional religions, are searching for a compelling universal set of spiritual principles by which they can live their lives.

The few short lines below are a first take at the mission statement of Center for World Spirituality.

The yearning to articulate a World Spirituality is rippling across the globe in the hearts and minds of tens of millions of people. For some people, the classical religions have lost their power. They seek a path of practice and commitment that transcends the traditions. For others, their intuitive desire is to transcend and include the traditions. They seek to live as dual citizens, rooted in their tradition, even as they locate themselves as citizens in the broader community of World Spirituality.

A World Spirituality based on the shared truths held to be self-evident by all great systems of spirit and gnosis across historical time is urgently needed at this moment in history. Evolving an authentic life rooted in commitment and freedom articulated and lived in the principles and practices of World Spirituality is the next great step in spirit’s unfolding.

The Center for World Spirituality is writing a series of groundbreaking books and creating new templates for spiritual practice, education, and community. The templates are at once rooted in the past, present, and future. Welling up from an integration of the leading-edge emergent evolutionary insights taught by spirituality, psychology, and the sciences, World Spirituality paves the way for the next stage of evolution, seeding the ground of hope that is our collective memory of the future.

To join us come visit at www.centerforworldspirituality.com

Thank you for reading.

With huge love,

Marc Gafni