Welcome to our Spiritual Globe

We are eager to share our thoughts and ready to listen to your opinions.

When I was a child I was absolutely sure that God, Jesus Christ, angels and the rest were people like me, like we all are. They were the same children, that eat, sleep and play, cry and laugh, are anger and happy… With the time this faith was disappearing – they said that I was growing and entering the adult life. Once upon a day I woke up in the morning and realized that all those things I trusted in my childhood are just a myth, illusion… They do not exist.

Now I want to look back and open my child that still lives inside me, that lives inside every person. He is just hid in a safe corner. Parents, school and university “did their best” to kill this child, my entity, my essence. Now I want to look at things with my own eyes, now I want to drift to my own nature.

Then an idea occurred to my mind to open this Blog as I thought that other people might have the same questions and ideas about this as I do. Our credo- is seeking for enlightenment. As even a profound and an old wisdom runs as follows: “seek and ye shall find”.

Important: no templates, no standards.

Free you Heart, Mind and Spirit.

An economic perspective on spiritual development and growth

During the 1980’s evangelicals embarked on the church growth movement in an attempt to apply social sciences to achieve growing numbers of Christians and churches. The idea was controversial from the start, but the church growth movement had a huge impact that continues to reverberate. Although many have pushed back against the emphasis on numbers, countering with the need for qualitative growth as well, and the term “church growth” is no longer in vogue, the legacy of the church growth movement is a continuing urgency to foster and guide Christian movements of conversion and institutional expansion.

Today I was reading an economist writing about development theory, and I was struck by the parallels between people who want to promote and control growth — whether economic or spiritual — on a large scale. William Easterly writes on “The Anarchy of Success“:

Humans are suckers for finding patterns where none really exist, like seeing the shapes of lions and giraffes in the clouds. It wasn’t that economists had no explanations of what causes growth. On the contrary, we had too many. One survey of the field counted no fewer than 145 separate factors that had been found to be associated with growth. But most of these patterns were spurious, because they failed to hold up when other researchers tried to replicate them. Economists can say something useful about economic success, but we have to clear away a lot of false overconfidence before we get to that point.

Growth and development whether in spiritual or economic terms has been thoroughly studied and we have principles and formulas up the yin yang, but are we the wiser for all the research and theorizing? Does real change, whether in spiritual or economic terms, come from engagement with people in the grit, decisions, and paradoxes of real life? If so, what we need is not endless futile and misguided attempts to control the process but more freedom and opportunity for growth to emerge from below (whether economic or spiritual).

Easterly finishes,

Perhaps prosperity is not after all designed from above; perhaps it emerges from below, from the independent actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths.

Here is a different version of this quote in my words as a follower of Jesus,

Perhaps the growth of God’s people in the world is not designed or controlled by people in supposed positions of influence; perhaps it emerges from below, from the actions of many individuals who figure out their own paths in concert with the Spirit of God working in them.

Andrew Gray

Drink a Spiritual and Healthy Tea

Only the boldest—and most reckless—among tea drinkers have tried it. To drink it, one must possess a certain amount of confidence and savoir faire. No, it’s not some new metropolitan or socialite brew. It’s certifiably wild, rustic, and homespun—it’s the stuff from which Grimm’s Fairy Tales are made! What is it? Tisanes made from some exotic stuff that you probably never realized you could drink!

There are several ways to go about collecting your tea’s ingredients. You can find them in many places (although probably not at your grocery store, or any store, for that matter). To create the wildest of teas, you may want to take a walk in the park, in the forest, or around a campground. Sometimes you can even find your material peeking up between sidewalk cracks in the city. Summer is the season of exploration and discovering new teas. What kinds of flora should you gather for your cauldron? Consult this list of suggestions (and get a guide book with photographs for distinguishing physical traits):

Verveine, or Lemon Verbena: It is in full bloom in summer. The flowers are a yellow, milky color and are sometimes pink. It can get very large and puts forth a lot of flowers and leaves. I have used it in tea to harness a relaxing effect. It can be very calming on the stomach, but don’t drink too much of it! Use only a few petals or leaves.

Little Wild Rose: You may not think to eat flowers unless you’ve seen Monsoon Wedding. Even if you’re not a fan of Bollywood or Indian movies, flowers (especially wild roses) are delicious in salads and teas. It’s hard not to find them when you get a whiff of their intoxicating, though mild fragrance. If you don’t want your tea to be too acidic, boil for less than ten minutes. Drink it with Verveine, if you are interested in seeing how the two mesh.

Yarrow: Yarrow is easiest to find if you live in the Southwestern United States. It is a diaphoretic that helps with circulation (it has several other medicinal benefits too). To enjoy it, add two leaves to boiling water. Sweeten it with honey, if you like. Like Verveine, you should be careful to not use too much or drink it too frequently unless you live next door to a homeopathic doctor.

Calendula, or Marigolds: To make it, steep a few dried flowers in very hot water for less than six minutes. You can mix it with other flowers and herbs, or just drink it alone. It will help detoxify your body and improve your immune system.

How To Practice Buddhist Breathing Meditation

In Buddhism, meditation serves to calm and control the mind and is essential to break the cycle of suffering and attain Enlightenment. Follow these steps…more »In Buddhism, meditation serves to calm and control the mind and is essential to break the cycle of suffering and attain Enlightenment. Follow these steps for mindfulness of breathing meditation, one of the two simplest meditations.

Hidden Gobi Desert relics found

Rare Buddhist treasures, not seen for more than 70 years, have been unearthed in the Gobi Desert.

The historic artefacts were buried in the 1930s during Mongolia's Communist purge, when hundreds of monasteries were looted and destroyed.

The relics include statues, art work, manuscripts and personal belongings of a famous 19th Century Buddhist master.


The leader of the search team, Michael Eisenriegler, described it as an "adventure of a lifetime".

A total of 64 crates of treasures were buried in the desert by a monk named Tudev, in an attempt to save them from the ransacking of the Mongolian and Soviet armies.

They belonged to Buddhist master Danzan Ravjaa and only Tudev knew where they were hidden. He passed on the secret to his grandson who dug up some of the boxes in the 1990s and opened a museum.

The current Austrian-Mongolian treasure hunt team found two more boxes. Mr Eisenriegler told the BBC World Service they were filled with "the most amazing Buddhist art objects".

"It is of tremendous value for Mongolian culture because Buddhism was almost extinct in the Communist times, especially in the 1930s.

"I'm totally exhausted right now but I'm also totally impressed with what I've seen."

The latest finds will be put on show at the Danzan Ravjaa Museum in Sainshand, 400km (250 miles) south of the Mongolian capital, Ulan Bator.

About 20 boxes remain hidden in the desert.

BBC

Madonna Thinks the Road to Spirituality Begins With Being Rich and FamousIn a front-page article that Madonna supposedly wrote for Israel's Yediot Ahr

In a front-page article that Madonna supposedly wrote for Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper, Madge talks about how her life was changed by a Jewish mystic who told her that "being rich and famous is not the end of the road, but only the beginning." Guess a lot of us aren't even allowed on the road at all, then. And apparently on a writing streak, she also wrote a song for ex Guy Ritchie, just after returning from London with Jesus Luz. Jennifer Love Hewitt is writing her own comic book. Donald Trump partied with Rihanna at Katy Perry's Hammerstein Ballroom show. Taylor Momsen supposedly didn't down tequila shots with Ed Westwick, Jessica Szohr, Matthew Settle, and Chace Crawford at her 16th-birthday bash at Hiro. Those close to Mischa Barton think it's too soon after her hospitalization for her to begin filming on the CW's The Beautiful Life, because, you know, playing a supermodel with a drug problem is going to be an exhausting stretch.

Official statement from Jude Law's rep: "Jude Law can confirm that, following a relationship last year, he has been advised that he is to be the father of a child due in the fall of this year." So, um, congratulations to him? Joe Jackson confirmed that Norwegian performer Omer Bhatti is, in fact, Michael Jackson's love child. While partying with his pregnant girlfriend at L.A.'s Playhouse, Mel Gibson burst into a brawl with a Life & Style reporter posing as a fan who took his picture, which ended in Gibson ripping the reporter's shirt and his security guard deleting the photo. Amy Winehouse's dad faked a heart attack and had his doctor tell Amy he was dying in an effort to (unsuccessfully) "shock her" out of her heroin addiction. Clearly brains run in the family.

Eliot Spitzer is throwing a fund-raiser at his and Silda's Fifth Avenue apartment for Cy Vance, who's vying for Manhattan D.A. At a screening of his new movie, Adam, Hugh Dancy wouldn't say when he and Claire Danes will marry, but Cindy Adams says it's going to be in the next few months. Meanwhile Heath Ledger's family showed up for their first movie since the actor's death, and even stayed for the after-party at the Gramercy Park Hotel. Jay-Z and Beyoncé picked up hair products at Ricky's on Sixth Avenue. Bruce Willis stopped into Babbo for a few drinks. Mets infielder Jose Reyes, who's been on the disabled list since May with an "injured hamstring", was spotted dancing into the wee hours with a slew of Latin ladies at Serie 56 in Washington Heights.

George Clooney's latest Italian model-companion is also a lap dancer. Ali Larter's getting hitched in Maine this weekend. Tony Romo used to meet up with other women at Jessica Simpson's concerts. Because that's where all the real catches hang out. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted over whiskey at 675 Bar. Twilight's Rachelle Lefevre is "stunned" that the studio would replace her character, Victoria, in the film's third installment, owing to her own scheduling conflicts. And during the CFDA's "town hall" meeting to discuss the fashion industry's steep price markdowns, Anna Wintour suggested implementing discounting ground rules that all the retailers could agree to. When Diane Von Furstenberg pointed out that that would be illegal, Wintour replied, "Is that something we can change? We have friends in the White House now."

By: Katie Goldsmith

Cursed Mountain Look: Religion Is Scary

Before my first look at Deep Silver Vienna's Cursed Mountain, I always thought of Buddhism as an optimistic celebrity religion where you didn't go to Hell. Now I think it's the second-scariest religion ever.

That's not to say that developer Deep Silver has misrepresented Buddhism as an angry, savage religion that turns unwary mountaineers into zombies. The creative team went way out of their way to research the Tibetan roots of the Buddhist religion and portray some its harsh truths as means for driving the plot of their game.

In Cursed Mountain, you play a Scottish mountaineer out to rescue his younger brother from the peak of a treacherous Himalayan mountain called Chomolonzo somewhere in Tibet. The game is set in the 1980s (to preclude problem-solving technology like GPS trackers and stuff), but the ancient religious traditions of the monasteries and villages that dot the mountain are preserved. So our hero, Eric Simmons, finds himself grappling with Buddhist lore and Tibetan rituals to free the trapped souls of ghosts and appease the angry, cursed mountain.

For my first look at the game, I witnessed a boss fight from later in the game that Deep Silver developer relations manager Martin Filipp was demoing for a couple of other games journalists. I had no idea what was going on in the story, but I saw Eric round a narrow, snowy pass high up on the mountain and come upon the ruins what looked like a temple. In front of the temple, on a flat patch of permafrost, there were three bird-shaped statues that Eric could choose to investigate by pressing A. Doing so activated the statues so that they gave off orange electricity and suddenly a giant, winged black shadow swooped down from the mountain to attack Eric.

Combat in Cursed Mountain is one part melee, one part waggle-fest. I think of it as "Buddhist Flailing" and it works like this: Eric will melee-attack ghosts and bosses with his pick-axe and then use special Buddhist artifacts to perform a ritual on them. First, you must melee ghosts enough times to get a glowing red emblem to appear on their bodies. Pointing at the emblem and clicking A triggers a set of motion control instructions to appear onscreen, telling the player to do things like brandish the Wii Remote or swing the Nunchuck diagonally. Filipp says this is the ritual needed to release the ghost. If you don't perform each action in the ritual correctly, the ritual fails and you have to start over. If you get it right, though, you get a small amount of health back—in addition to not having an angry ghost to deal with anymore.

While battling the winged thingy, Filipp explained that though the game relies on Buddhism to construct the plot -– like why the mountain is cursed and why all these ghosts of dead mountaineers keep attacking Eric -– the developer made their own enemies and strove to be respectful of the religion. So don't expect a throw down with Buddha or the Dalai Lama or anything.

However, do expect to see some pretty alarming things you didn't know about Buddhism from listening to actor Richard Gere rave about it. For example, there's the Bardo state of Buddhism where souls are held before going on to Nirvana or reincarnation. Eric is able to trigger a "Bardo" vision where he can attack ghosts and see hidden things like doors or clues. In this view, the icy white paths of Chomolonzo look gray and black particles move across the screen like snow flurries. It might not be what Buddhists had in mind when describing Bardo in their religious texts, but unless you're prepared to die and go there to find out, just accept the developer's interpretation.

Next up, there the Tibetan ritual of "sky burial." I had never heard of this before, but the developer stumbled across it in their research for the project and decided to include it in the game at a crucial point. At the risk of spoilers, I won't get into details -– but let's just say, the nature of it suits the creepy, alarming atmosphere of Cursed Mountain very well.

Finally, there's another ritual of appeasing the mountain. In Buddhism, Filipp explained, mountains are seen as living gods and to keep said gods from, say, falling on you, a potential climber has to make some sort of sacrifice to make them happy. In real life, I've heard of people offering money to a shrine or lighting incense, but in the game, things get a little more… physical. Again, no spoilers, but let me just say that Cursed Mountain is rated M for good reason. Sexy good reason.

Filipp wrapped up with the other two games journalists and gave me a quick rundown of a few other levels. Cursed Mountain is a linear game spanning 13 levels, but it's kind of neat how you can see the whole world of the game –- the mountain -– for pretty much every level. Unlike other survival horror games that rely on claustrophobic indoor settings, this game creates a sense of oppressive agoraphobia where you feel like the mountain is bearing down on you all the time and the ground beneath you opens up to a yawning sky-filled oblivion. There was one level I saw that took place in an ice crevice and by comparison, it seemed a lot less scary than the open-air levels.

Speaking from the experience of climbing Mount Fuji, I say the mental strain created by the Cursed Mountain's setting definitely felt like the real thing. You walk and you climb and you walk, but the peak always seems impossibly far away – and so does the safety of the ground below you. Add ghosts and an angry goddess to that and it's no wonder Eric has to keep muttering to himself throughout the game to stay sane.

One final point Filipp made before ending our appointment was that Cursed Mountain is physically unlike any other horror game out there. In other console horror games -– if they're really good and immersive -– you hunch over instinctively to protect yourself as the game gets scarier and scarier. Cursed Mountain forces you away from that with its motion controls and Filipp says this adds to the fear factor.

I guess I'll find that out for myself soon enough. Deep Silver was kind enough to send me home with a preview build of Cursed Mountain. I plan on cracking it open in a dark room with a Hello Kitty plushie next to me to stave off heebie-jeebies.

By AJ Glasser

A Tale of Еwo Cultures

For years the phrase “love Taiwan” has been one of the hottest and most frequently mentioned words in Taiwan’s highly polarized political environment. The phrase is widely used by local politicians to accuse their counterparts of failing to do something or other simply because deep in their hearts they don’t really “love Taiwan.”

The ‘love for Taiwan’ vs. ‘lack of love for Taiwan’ debate has consequently turned into an empty phrase in which the true meaning has been lost in the midst of all the political squabbling.

Yet there are indeed many people, regardless of whether they are rich or poor, young or old, men or women, and of course, whether they are Taiwanese or foreigners, who have put tremendous efforts into making the country a better place to live, an act that can truly be attributed to the spirit of “love Taiwan”. The Israeli Representative to Taiwan, Raphael Gamzou, is one of these people.

You may have spotted Gamzou, a foreigner wearing a gray Tzu Chi Foundation T-shirt, at a recycling station in Taipei City’s Jianghu Flower Market and Jade Market from time to time. Very often on weekends, the de facto Israeli ambassador to Taiwan spends an hour or two serving as a recycling volunteer in this not-so-pleasant environment for the largest Buddhist charity group in the world.

His foreign looks have very often drawn the attention of passersby, many of whom are stunned when they discover that the middle-aged foreigner is none other than the Israeli Representative to Taiwan.

“I remember when I went there (the recycling station) for the first time,” said Gamzou, “since I was big and it was hot and I sweat a lot, many Taiwanese people who saw me would ask my Tzu Chi friends about who I was.”

“They were really surprised when they learned that I am the Israeli Representative,” he said, “I love very much the reactions of these people, it helps to send the message that even though I am a foreigner, I belong to the society here.”

The head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said he believes that as a diplomat, when one serves in a country one should become involved in and make a contribution to that society. He added that his involvement in these activities comes about because it is important for each one of us to dedicate some time as a volunteer.

He also thinks that when Taiwanese people see him doing volunteer work, it will encourage more people to join such activity. “When people see me do these works, they think that if a foreigner like me can bend and do volunteer work for the country, he must really love Taiwan.”

When the Israeli representative meets Tzu Chi

It might seem rather extraordinary for a Jew like Representative Gamzou to do volunteer work for a Buddhist group, but Gamzou himself says that he really enjoys doing so. “It is not that I have become a Buddhist or anything like that, but I am definitely committed to the humanitarian and social goals of Tzu Chi,” he noted.

His association with Tzu Chi goes back to 2006, when Gamzou first came to the country to take up his post in August of that year. While preparing for his post, Gamzou read about the local Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, known for its international humanitarian works, in a chapter of a report about non-government organizations in Taiwan left behind by his predecessor. He was immediately intrigued by Tzu Chi’s unique combination of religion and humanitarian acts.

Not long afterwards, Gamzou become more and more interested in Tzu Chi. The ISECO head learned that David D’Or, a famous Israeli singer, had been invited to sing at the celebration in Bangkok commemorating the Thai King's 60 years on the throne.

Knowing that D’Or, a vegetarian who engages in charity events around world, would be the perfect guy to share the idea of Tzu Chi with, Gamzou successfully persuaded the vocalist to make a stopover in Taiwan for benefit concerts to raise money for the organization in December of that year,.

Since then D’Or has performed for Tzu Chi three times, including a series of charity concerts organized by the Buddhist Compassion Relief foundation in 2008 to help raise funds for victims of China’s Sichuan earthquake and the cyclone that hit Myanmar.

Encouraged by the spirit of founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, Master Cheng Yen, D’Or himself has even produced an English-language CD exclusively for Tzu Chi.

Even more importantly, six out of the 13 songs in the album were written by D’Or himself in accordance with Cheng Yen’s own words and teachings.

“The CDs have been sold after every one of D’Or’s concerts all over the world,” said Gamzou, “and all the profits go to the Tzu Chi Foundation for humanitarian acts.”

After successfully holding the fund-raising event, Gamzou said his wife told him that they should do something more directly involved in Tzu Chi’s volunteer work.

Because of the language barrier, Mr. and Mrs. Gamzou picked the recycling activities after going through a whole list of volunteer works that one can do for the foundation, since it required only basic language skills. And that marked the beginning of his volunteer service with the foundation.

Finding similarities between Jewish ideology and Tzu Chi

Though he does not consider himself to be a religious man, Gamzou says that rather than differences, he found a lot of similarities between Jewish thought and the ideas of Buddhism. This was especially true regarding the interpretations of Master Cheng Yen, who believes that all religions are important if they work for peace and promote love among human beings.

“There is no contradiction between Tzu Chi’s values and my identity as a Jew,” Gamzou said. On the contrary, the Israeli representative said, there is a concept in Judaism called “tikkun olam” which he believes is very similar to the ideas of Tzu Chi.

"Olam in Hebrew is the world, the globe, and tikkun means to amend or repair," he pointed out.

“‘Tikkun olam’ basically means that God creates the world, prepares the infrastructure for us. But as human beings, we have the obligation to constantly make it better – to help the poor, defend the weak, heal the sick.” The way he sees it, Gamzou says, he finds in Tzu Chi’s charity work a full and complete implementation of the concept “tikkun olam.”

Another idea of the Buddhism foundation which Gamzou really admires is the tolerance of all people and all religions, a rare idea - especially for a Jew like him from a neighborhood in the Middle East where tolerance of other religions is very often not the case.

That is why you can see the sight of Tzu Chi volunteers and devotees around the world, helping needy persons regardless of their nationality, religion, sex, or the color of their skin, Gamzou noted.

“In the eyes of Tzu Chi, there is only one kind of person, which is people in need. This is the only category that matters to the foundation,” he noted, adding that the idea is one that should be promoted to the world.

As a great admirer of Master Cheng Yen, when Gamzou finally met the leader of Tzu Chi for the first time in Hualien, he decided to prepare an appropriate present for her.

Instead of giving Master Cheng Yen a necklace or a ring, Gamzou had 18 trees planted in her name in Jerusalem's Forest of Peace as the best gift for the founder of the world’s largest Buddhist charity group.

"In Hebrew, the number 18 symbolizes `life,' which corresponds to [Cheng Yen's] ideas very closely," he said. “I think that would be a most appropriate gift for her,” he explained, as it has meanings involving both environmental protection and religious significance.

The love of Taiwanese culture

Having spent the past three years on the beautiful island nation of Taiwan, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei said he has tried to immerse himself in Taiwanese culture as much as possible by enjoying local artistic performances such as music and Chinese opera.

Even though very often he doesn’t understand the language, he still finds himself deeply in love with Taiwanese culture.

All the same, Gamzou noted that he thinks the Taiwan government should engage in efforts to help foreigners who have not mastered the Mandarin or Taiwanese dialect to get more involved in learning and acquiring a better knowledge of local culture and tourism.

“The best way to do that is to improve the English-language information on the street,” he pointed out.

On the other hand, the Israeli representative said Taiwan is one of the few places that he finds being a foreigner is a “privilege”, as the Taiwanese people are extremely warm and welcoming to foreigner visitors to the island nation.

He also finds Taiwan culture fascinating and special simply because it is so different from his own culture.

“I take all my guests who come to visit me in Taiwan to Longshan Temple and to the area around it because I think it is so interesting and the best place to experience the unique Taiwanese culture.” Gamzou said.

A visit to Longshan Temple is a fascinating celebration of all the senses, as the temple is decorated in colorful paintings, and at the same time one can listen to sutras chanted by followers and smell incense burning.

“This is something I will definitely miss when I leave Taiwan,” said Gamzou, who is scheduled to leave the country some time next year.

As a genuine lover of Taiwanese people and its culture, Gamzou, who used to be an official in his country’s ministry of foreign affairs responsible for promoting Israeli culture around the world, said he would like to offer a few suggestions to the local government about culture promotion.

“I am afraid there is too much investment [by the Taiwan government] in building new art centers, and not enough in encouraging new local talent.”

The Israeli representative believes that Taiwan should put money into the support of creative young artists and give them subsidies to study aboard as well as spending money in educating local audiences.

“If you want to have a flourishing culture, you have to have enough audience to support it, this should be the priority.”

Also, the government should be more generous in assisting local performing groups when they go abroad.

Taking the example of the recent visit of U-Theater, who were invited to tour Israel by ISECO and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Tel Aviv in March, Gamzou said the Israeli side put more money into covering the theater’s expenses than the Taiwan government did.

A successful tour by one of Taiwan’s performing groups such as U-Theater or Cloud Gate abroad is so important for Taiwan that the government should pay special attention to these events, according to Gamzou, adding that soft power can help to promote local culture to the world.

Written by Joseph Yeh

Astrology and the Spiritual Path

Two things fill the heart with ever new and increasing awe and admiration: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. Immanuel Kant

>Astrology can be difficult to integrate into one’s spiritual life. It is easy to get caught up in the trivialized version of astrology we often see in quick-read takes on “glib Gemini” or “lazy Libra”…Talking about oneself as a “wild and crazy Aquarian” or a “deep, dark Scorpio” can be very self-limiting when there is so much more we can learn from seeing ourselves through the marvellous prism of Astrology. And nowadays, it is truly so easy to get into Astrology as both a passionate hobby and a spiritual art. It is a wonderful group thing too – friends can share a completely unique perspective on themselves and their families, and often find insights to heal or prevent relationship, career and other social or personal problems.

Astrology is indeed an art and science…despite what sceptics say, those who study Astrology with an open mind come away startled by the rich “coincidences” between what is in a person’s birth chart and the events and patterns which are in their life. As with Feng Shui, whether the theories are convincing or not, it is simply not rational to argue with the results! So while the sceptics talk, the huge business successes of our times continue to consult both astrologers and practitioners of Feng Shui, and the rest of us continue to heal the energy patterns of our homes, and find life-changing insights in our birth charts.

Astrology is not a religious or spiritual path as such, nor is it a psychological therapy by itself. However, the study of astrology can be a dynamic partner in both spiritual and psychological development. It provides a portal, a doorway, into an unfolding realm of self-knowledge. It can get our attention by its clear outlining of a problem area, and thus it helps us stop deluding ourselves. We can see why an avenue has never worked for us, what directions might be better, and face some home-truths along the way. So Astrology helps us grow up, really – and that is no small thing! It softens us up a bit, as self-knowledge tends to do. We become more open to truth in all spheres of life, and this helps us open up to things like forgiving someone, looking at things “from both sides now”, and seeing we might need some help – especially the grace of God – with some major areas of our life which a glance at the birth chart so often pinpoints.

Astrology is an excellent partner in one’s chosen spiritual path as a source of insight and inspiration. It starts by helping with Faith. Faith is a spiritual Gift – we cannot demand it, but we can work faithfully for it, and then one day, or one lifetime, it simply happens, and we will never look back. Astrology helps plow the earth of Life, helps us sow those seeds of self-knowlege and openness to the mysteries of God’s great universe. And then, one day, when the rains of God’s grace do come, our fields will suddenly bloom, and we will find Faith, where once there was stoney bare ground.

Astrology also helps us get to Faith by offering the very intriguing suggestion that our intuitions and reading of our lives are based in cosmic facts. At a certain point, the “coincidences” between what is in our birth chart and what is and has been going on in our life are too many to dismiss as pure chance. This is especially true when we consider that the birth chart arrives with us and does not get “doctored” along the way. Nor is it fair to suggest, as some might do, that a birth chart is self-fulfilling, that people try to live out the patterns they have been told exist in their birth chart. In my experience, most people never lay eyes on their birth chart till mid-life or later…and frankly, the knowledge required to read a chart, or even to remember what one is told about it in any detail, precludes such a suggestion.

More pursue careers as spiritual advisers

In past lives, Steve Isles was an insurance analyst and Peter Fabre was a nuclear engineer. Now the two run into each other in the halls of Banner Thunderbird Medical Center, where each is learning the ropes of spiritual care as chaplain interns.

"We all need something that is new at some point in our lives," Fabre said, adding that he could not have appreciated fully the emotional subtleties of patients when he was younger. "As we age and go through the phases in life, what's important takes on a slightly different meaning."

The fields of pastoral care, ethics and spirituality are changing and growing for a number of reasons: an aging population, the evolution and increasing adoption of professional standards for pastoral care, and interest by mid-lifers looking for meaningful work.

Late this year, Arizona State University will add a master's program in applied ethics and the professions that will span all four campuses. Pastoral-care ethics and spirituality will be taught at the West campus, while the business, biomedical, environment and emerging technologies ethics programs will debut at the other campuses this fall.

Ethics, at least academically, is hot.

"It appears that with the economic crisis we have sort of a demand and interest in bringing that kind of training into the fields," said Martin Matustik, a professor coordinating ASU's master's in pastoral-care ethics. "It will be interesting to see if companies and corporations will incorporate that need."

The work is challenging for people schooled to be pastors or priests in their own religions.

Chaplains and other care workers may not proselytize, preach or be perceived as giving medical advice. They are there to listen and to help patients explore their own questions.

For all of the summer interns at Banner, each of whom is on at least a second career, the rich interplay with other religions has been one of the most rewarding facets of the job. As they go from room to room, they might encounter a Muslim, a Catholic, a Jew or a Presbyterian, all on the same round.

"I'm learning a lot more about other religions," said intern Hugo Soutus, a priest at Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church in Phoenix. "I'm learning a lot about people going through difficult times."

Pastors and chaplains have been around, of course, for ages. What has changed is the type of people seeking work in the field and pursuing the level of education the work demands.

"Many more people are taking up ministry as a second career," said Toni Wolf, who supervises Banner Thunderbird's pastoral education program. "It used to be that you simply didn't have middle-aged folks or even people in their 30s going back to seminary, where now that is very, very common. Now young folks are not very common at all."

The professionalism required by hospitals, prisons and other institutions that employ chaplains is becoming more standardized as well.

Isles will have to show that he has mastered 29 "competencies" to become board-certified.

That is the norm.

"There are standards being introduced for chaplains, especially in health-care facilities, as part of their own accreditation," Wolf said. "Most places hiring full-time are requiring them to be certified. That's why it seems to be a new thing. There is a lot more professional approach to the whole thing."

Matustik expects most of the students in the ASU program to be working professionals or recent graduates who need a master's to get started in bereavement, trauma, chaplaincy or veterans affairs. Professors will work closely with the School of Social Work. Not all ethicists will be religion-based.

While volunteering at Hospice of the Valley, Matustik discovered a lack of educational opportunities for end-of-life caregivers and he wanted to send interns to fill that gap. The students will be armed with centuries of thought on ethics and reasoning.

"We sort of discovered in conversations with chaplains that there is no specific training for chaplains and ethicists that is interfaith and that even translates to hospice care," Matustik said. "They are not necessarily ready to work in a hospice situation. Nationwide, there is no specific training for hospice."

by Lesley Wright

From the Holy Text of Tibetan Buddhism

Songs 24, 36, 38, 39,40, 42

More scriptural passages to live by

Folks sometimes ask me, “What are your favorite scriptural passages?” In a recent column I answered with Jewish, Christian and Muslim texts. Today we’ll look at three Asian treasures.

•“When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster” begins Chapter 72 of the Tao Te Ching in the Gia-Fu Feng/Jane English version of this ancient Taoist classic.

Some translations use the word “fear” instead of “awe,” but in either case the warning means that unless we are aware of what counts, we are in danger.

Our desacralized culture can easily distract us. There is nothing wrong with talking on a cell phone, but not while driving; you better pay attention to the road.

An economy leveraged by those more focused on their pay than on working for the common good leads to widespread hurt and failure.

More generally, when our preoccupation with the partial overwhelms feeling the whole miracle of existence, the impulse weakens to share what we have with others, and we may do crazy things.

But with awe we can see that the universe is, in William Blake’s words, “infinite and holy.”

•The Heart Sutra may be the most commonly chanted Buddhist text. In English, it is less than 300 words long.

Halfway through is the astonishing claim that there is “no truth of suffering, of the cause of suffering, of the cessation of suffering nor of the path” — in effect denying the Four Noble Truths that the Buddha himself taught.

So here is a Buddhist text that seems to undermine the very foundation of Buddhism. I know of no parallel text in any other religion.

But Buddhism, at least in theory, is based on undermining itself. It is an ancient post-modernism, calling into question any description of reality, including its own, because humans crave descriptions of reality more than reality itself.

•The Hindu Bhagavad-Gita 2:47 teaches us to “act without attachment to the result,” advising us that our minds become polluted when we desire an end more than simply doing what is right.

Inaction is not an option. But only with a clear head can we discern our responsibility and act on it, as if it were a sacrament.

We cannot be sure of the ultimate result, only of the integrity of our act. The outcome is in God’s hands.

These scriptural passages urge me to pay attention to what counts, to regard any human system of thought or picture of reality with caution, and to do the right thing without worrying about the consequence.

By Vern Barnet

Wanted: Freedom from religion

The theocratic repression in Iran is a reminder that there can be no freedom without secular government

June 23, 2009 | In the summer of 1968, as Soviet tanks rolled into communist Czechoslovakia to end the brief period of liberalization known as the "Prague Spring," W.H. Auden composed a poem titled "August 1968":

The Ogre does what ogres can,
Deeds quite impossible for Man,
But one prize is beyond his reach,
The Ogre cannot master Speech:
About a subjugated plain,
Among its desperate and slain,
The Ogre stalks with hands on hips,
While drivel gushes from his lips.

Watching the scenes of bravery and brutality that are being played out in Iran brings Auden's poem to mind. Another line comes to mind as well: the observation by W.E.B. DuBois in 1903 that "the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color-line." Racism has not been extinguished, but it has been corralled, by the now-universal principle of the separation of race and state. The demise of political racism leaves political religion standing as the most widespread form of tyranny in the world. The problem of the 21st century is the problem of the creedal line. If the problem is solved, it will be solved by universalizing the principle of the separation of religion and state.

Secular government is the basis of both liberty and democracy. It is important to emphasize this, because of the tendency to portray the struggle in Iran in terms of a global conflict between democracy and dictatorship. Set aside, for a moment, the fact that former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi was one of four candidates, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who were approved to run as presidential candidates last May by the clerics of Iran's Guardian Council. It does not take away from the heroism of Mousavi or his followers to point out that if Ahmadinejad stole the election he stole an election that was already rigged.

The larger issue is the question of what comes first: separation of church and state, or democracy. America's Founders had no doubts on that score. Democracy requires citizens who are free from "superstition" and "priestcraft," to use 18th-century language. Americans have usually believed that religion can play a constructive role in a democratic republic by encouraging moral behavior. But in the traditional American view, theocratic democracy is nothing more than majoritarian tyranny, whether the clerics have a formal role in the state or merely tell the voters how to vote. And even secular democracy is not a goal in itself. It is merely a means to an end: the protection of natural rights.

The idea of universal, basic natural human rights is incompatible with theocracy in any form. While Christians and adherents of other religions can believe in natural rights, the theory of natural rights itself, influenced by ancient Greek sophists and Epicureans, is inherently secular. Natural rights by definition are those that ordinary people, using only their reason, can agree upon -- things like life and liberty and property or happiness, meaning access to subsistence. The list of natural rights varies from thinker to thinker, but they all have one thing in common -- they are not revealed by a divine intelligence to a prophet or priests.

The natural rights tradition is radical in another way. Authority flows upward from the individual to the government, not downward from God to the individual via the government. The government is not God's viceroy on earth. It is nothing more than a territorial mutual protection society. In natural rights theory -- though needless to say not always in the practice of liberal regimes -- the governors are the employees and agents of the governed.

Combine the two ideas of natural rights -- the governed as the bosses of the governors, the rights of the governed identifiable by reason -- and you get a conception of government as something that is limited in its purposes, if not necessarily its means. In the words of Thomas Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia": "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are 20 gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."

A government, in short, is a limited-purpose, secular, worldly agency, not a divine institution. It is more like a property-owners association than like a church. There would be no point in a property-owners association that sought to do its limited, straightforward business according to the precepts of Catholic natural law, or Baptist theology, or Orthodox Judaism. Likewise, from the natural rights liberal perspective the very idea of a Christian state or an Islamic republic seems absurd, like a Buddhist municipal water utility district.

But what if 100 percent of the people in a water-utility district are Buddhist and want the district's charter to promote Buddhism? It doesn't matter what they want. Promoting Buddhism is beyond the legitimate scope of the activities of a water utility district. Buddhist monks are free to promote Buddhism privately, but the water-utility engineers should stick to keeping the water clean and safe for everyone, Buddhist and non-Buddhist alike.

Replacing a Muslim monarch like the shah of Iran with an "Islamic republic" is merely replacing a more autocratic with a more populist form of theocratic tyranny. Liberal democracy is sometimes defined as "majority rule with minority rights," but that is misleading. If a religious majority rules, not on the basis of secular reason, using arguments that can convince nonbelievers as well as believers, but on the basis of supernatural dogma, then you simply have a form of religious tyranny with a multitude of small religious tyrants.

Jefferson wrote in his original preamble to Virginia's historic statue establishing religious freedom:

"SECTION III. And though we well know that this Assembly, elected by the people for the ordinary purposes of legislation only, have no power to restrain the acts of succeeding Assemblies, constituted with powers equal to our own, and that therefore to declare this act irrevocable would be of no effect in law; yet we are free to declare, and do declare, that the rights hereby asserted are of the natural rights of mankind, and that if any act shall be hereafter passed to repeal the present or to narrow its operation, such act will be an infringement of natural right."

Secular government, even in a country with a religious majority, is therefore the indispensable basis of genuine democracy, if the purpose of democracy is to allow a group of people to achieve their common, limited, this-worldly goals while securing their natural rights. To be sure, this understanding of democracy as subordinate to natural rights is disputed by many thinkers in the West and the world. Often democracy and self-determination are treated as though they were ends in themselves, rather than as means to realize the basic natural rights of individuals.

But if you sever democracy from the idea of universal, human rights discernible by secular reason, with no need for assistance from divine revelation, you run the risk of sanctioning majoritarian tyranny by means of free and fair elections. You then have no grounds for objecting, if reactionary Christians in a Christian majority country vote in biblical law, or if a majority of Muslim voters vote in sharia law. Majority rule did not justify racism in the American South. It cannot justify "religionism" anywhere.

Is it "cultural imperialism" to insist that natural rights be the basis of limited and secular government? That cultural-relativist argument can hardly be made by theocrats, who claim that the legitimacy of governments depends on their conformity to the will of God, as interpreted by their scriptures and their clerics. Pakistan's Ministry of Religious Affairs takes its motto from a Quranic verse: "Islam is the only religion acceptable to God." Those who hold this view cannot argue that their version of government is the only divinely sanctioned one and then defend it by claiming to be defending their local traditions and customs, as though their would-be universal religion were just a local style of costume or cuisine. Religious tyranny today predominantly is found in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran. But that does not make critics of religious tyranny "anti-Muslim," any more than the fact that white supremacy was found, obviously, in white nations and white-ruled empires made criticism of racism "anti-white."

If I am right, then enlightened people around the world should oppose official religion just as they opposed racial apartheid. In the aftermath of European colonialism, cultural relativists have mocked distinctions between "civilization" and "barbarism." But if it was barbarous for South Africa to be a Nazi-like white supremacist state, why is it not barbarous for Saudi Arabia to ban the public practice of other religions by its citizens? If constitutions declaring Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan to be "Islamic republics" are not relics of a more primitive stage of human civilization, then what is? Fear of hurting the feelings of Muslim theocrats should not deter our disapproval any more than fear of insulting Afrikaaners did during the campaign against South African apartheid.

None of this means that the U.S. government or other governments should try to reform religious tyrannies, including "democratic" Islamic republics, from the outside. In the aftermath of George W. Bush's crusade in the name of democracy, we do not need a foreign policy crusade in the name of secularism. President Obama's caution during the Iranian upheaval has been appropriately statesmanlike. Nor would it be wise to recommend ostracizing the inhabitants of clerical states. Treating white South Africans as pariahs helped to accelerate the demise of apartheid, but in the case of some of today's semi-liberal and semi-democratic Islamic republics, engagement of their populations and leaders with the wider world may have better effects.

The one thing that we in liberal countries can do, while reformers in Iran fight and sometimes die for their principles, is to understand our own. And the most fundamental principle of all is that ordinary human beings are capable of governing themselves without the guidance of other ordinary human beings who pretend to speak on behalf of God.

By Michael Lind

Looking for Spirituality in Political Action

Fierce Light: When Spirit Meets Action explores whether one person can make a difference in an age of global economic collapse, war, terrorism and mega-corporations. The movie takes filmaker Velcrow Ripper across the globe in an attempt to understand the relationship between activism and spirituality. What results is a beautiful and powerfully compelling film which sadly does not quite reach its full potential.

The film begins with stunningly gorgeous photography of the Oaxacan countryside in Mexico. Ripper's close friend and fellow documentarian Brad Will is covering the 2006 Oaxaca protests, a conflict which started between the government and teachers unions but quickly exploded into massive protests and riots.

As the government sends in riot police to control the crowds, Will catches a stray bullet and dies. Will's death is the catalyst which propels the film forward. Ripper takes the audience around the world, examining sites of social activism.

Beneath it all, he is on a journey of self-discovery, trying to ascertain his own spirituality and how this informs his activist zeal.

Fierce Light's scope is staggering. Ripper covers the history of the civil rights movement in America, disenfranchised social classes in India, the life of Ghandi, the history of apartheid and much more.

His most compelling material comes from Los Angeles, where a treasured urban green space faces demolition by encroaching developers. He interviews activists, politicians, artists and spiritual leaders from all different walks of life.

Many of these interviews are both intriguing and entertaining, offering relevant insights into the themes Ripper develops. Some, however, seem thrown in with little regard to content or context -- such as an interview with a great granddaughter of Ghandi who didn't have anything relevant to add to the film.

Fierce Light is an expertly filmed and produced documentary. Ripper's cinematography is often exceedingly beautiful. The film is edited well, effectively combining excellent footage with various stock materials. The soundtrack is approriate -- if forgettable -- and keeps the film moving at the proper pace.

The film's ordering, both spatially and chronologically, is occasionally schizophrenic, jumping from place to place with little logical progression. This is rather unavoidable, considering the huge array of infor- mation Ripper condensed into the film.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the piece was an exploration of Ripper's own spiritual life. The film briefly touches on his reluctance to accept any one established religion, yet this idea is rarely touched on after it is introduced. His attempt to address spirituality in a documentary about activism results in a lot of aimless discussion of new-age spirituality and Buddhism.

Those eagerly looking forward to a comprehensive examination of spirituality will find a lot of half-baked, pseudo-religious ideas that are never effectively woven into the film.

Ripper runs into the same problem when covering various activist causes. He addresses so much that he's hardly able to delve deeply into anything. Ripper would have done Fierce Light much justice had he narrowed his focus, favouring a more nuanced look at his various causes of interest.

Activists and the socially conscious will find a lot to like in this film. Those looking for an in-depth exploration of larger social and spiritual themes are going to leave the theatre unsatisfied.

By Joel Cummings

The influence of St. Isaac and his significance for today

Already in his lifetime Isaac was respected and venerated as a spiritual teacher. After his death his glory increased as his writings spread. Joseph Hazzaya, who lived in the eighth century, called him ‘famous among the saints’. Another Syrian writer calls him ‘the master and teacher of all monks and the haven of salvation for the whole world’.

By the eleventh century, due to the Greek translation of his writings, Isaac became widely known in the Greek-speaking East: in the famous anthology of ascetical texts, the Evergetinon, the passages from ‘abba Isaac the Syrian’ stand on the same footing as those from the classics of early Byzantine spirituality. This is how a modest ‘Nestorian’ Bishop from a remote province of Persia became a Holy Father of the Orthodox Church of Chalcedonian orientation - a rather exceptional phenomenon in the history of Eastern Christianity.

St Isaac has exerted a considerable influence on Russian spirituality. His ascetical homilies, translated into Slavonic in the XIVth century, made a deep impression on St Nil of Sora, one of the most important monastic writers of the XVIth century. In the XIXth century major theologians, such as Philaret of Moscow and Theophane the Recluse, as well as famous secular writers, such as I.Kireyevsky and F.Dostoyevsky, were among his admirers. Dostoyevsky was deeply influenced by Isaac’s homilies and used some of them as a source material for ‘the writings of Elder Zosima’ in ‘The Brothers Karamazoff’.

The word of St Isaac has crossed not only the boundaries of time, but also confessional barriers. As early as in the ninth century, he was read by the Byzantine and Syrian Orthodox, as well as the Church of the East, each group having provided its own recension of his writings. In the fifteenth century Isaac breaks into the Catholic world, being at the same time one of the most popular ascetical writers of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In our time his writings draw the attention of Christians who belong to different denominations and follow different traditions, but share a common faith in Jesus and the ultimate quest for salvation. I remember how during one scholarly conference, where I delivered a paper on the practice of prayer in St Isaac, three people came to me, one after another: a Cistercian nun, a protestant layman, and a Buddhist monk. All three were wondering at how much Isaac’s teaching of prayer, which I expounded, is in line with their own traditions. Then a Franciscan friar came to inform me of the existence of St Isaac of Nineveh’s retreat house in New Zealand: the house is run by both Catholics and Anglicans.

One of the secrets of this ecumenical reception of Isaac lies in his own universal vision: his writings, which were initially addressed to a very narrow circle of his contemporary monastics, have proved to be aproppriate for so many people in different epochs even down to our time. Every Christian who now reads Isaac can find something appropriate for himself, in spite of the fact that the entire context of Isaac’s life was so strikingly different from our own.

Another secret of Isaac’s wide reception lies in the fact that he is always speaking of God’s love, which has no boundaries, which is beyond any concept of justice or requital, which was crucified for the salvation of the whole world and which leads all created beings to salvation. In every epoch, the Christian world needs to be reminded of this universal love of God for His creation because in every epoch there is a strong tendency within Christianity to replace the religion of love and freedom that was brought about by Jesus with the religion of slavery and fear. Isaac reminds us that it is not out of fear of punishment or out of hope of future reward that we are to keep God’s commandments, but out of our love for God. Our vocation is not to be slaves, but to attain to the freedom of the sons of God and to become ‘a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation.