Subjectivity?

Last updated on: March 30, 2023 at 10:42 am By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Thomas Schenk In essence, mindfulness has two components: awareness and the ability to focus awareness. Awareness is a given and we can’t really change it. The ability to focus awareness, however, is a skill that we can strengthen and improve with practice. A more focused awareness is often experienced as an increased awareness. Awareness and the ability to focus it form the base of our being, our deepest subjectivity. The word “subjectivity” has not been treated well in modern culture.... Read more

The Sacred and the Profane

Last updated on: March 26, 2023 at 2:40 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Thomas Schenk In his book, The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, sociologist Emile Durkheim begins his study of religion by noting that central to all religions is a distinction between the sacred and the profane and that religion has to do with sacred things. Mircea Eliade in his book, The Sacred and Profane, provides details on the range of objects and subjects that various peoples throughout the world have considered sacred. He divides the topic by sacred places and objects, sacred times, and... Read more

Living in the Network

Last updated on: March 26, 2023 at 2:37 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Eric Steinhart We live in networks, although they are almost always very hard to see with our eyes. The most easily visible networks are probably our transportation networks, especially networks of roads. You can see roads branching and intersecting. And you can form a mental map of road networks. Your mental map (if it’s accurate) corresponds to an objectively existing networks of roads and points they connect. Think of the network of interstate highways connecting cities in the United States. ... Read more

The Sacred and the Profane

Last updated on: March 16, 2023 at 8:15 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

The Storyteller’s Torch

Last updated on: March 16, 2023 at 8:11 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Jeff Worthy Painting of the Lady of Shalott, by John William Waterhouse. In my 31 years as a secondary school teacher, the students who have passed through my classroom have never failed to teach me even more than I have hoped to teach them. I would never say something along the lines of “I’ve done this for so long that I’ve seen it all.” Any teachers who might say that are falling into a state of complacency and need to... Read more

Gratitude Journaling

Last updated on: March 10, 2023 at 6:40 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Leigh Anderson Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash Gratitude and being grateful are beneficial to our health. Almost everyone feels a little better immediately when they think of the things they are grateful for. But to reap the continuous benefits of gratefulness you need to make it a consistent practice. And that’s where gratitude journaling comes in. In a previous article I wrote about mindful journaling which helps you become more conscious of the present moment. Mindful journaling is something that may... Read more

What Do All Spiritual Naturalists Have in Common?

Last updated on: March 6, 2023 at 6:17 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by B. T. Newberg (When there are five Thursdays in a month, such as this month, we feature a “classic” article from SNS’ early years on the fifth Thursday. Today’s article, by B. T. Newberg, first appeared on August 13, 2012.) The Spiritual Naturalist Society brings together naturalistic strands from a wide variety of traditions, from Buddhism to Christianity to Atheism. Is there really anything shared in common by these strands? I think there is. What’s more, I suspect it’s not... Read more

Exploration: The Ambition for Discovery

Last updated on: March 6, 2023 at 6:10 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by SNS Guest (This article is written by guest author Crysta Bliss. For her short bio, see below.) Intro Many stories of mythology and folklore, such as Beowulf, The Odyssey, and the stories of King Arthur and the Round Table, are based on a human’s journey. During this journey, the protagonist of the story encounters various antagonists and great hardships, but in the end succeeds in his or her quest. The hero returns home with something of value for his or her society,... Read more

Butterflies: Spirituality in a Naturalist Mode

Last updated on: March 6, 2023 at 6:06 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Dennis Oliver What are we talking about when we discuss spirituality? During the last decade, I’ve been thinking through a secular (non-supernaturalist, non-religious) spirituality. It’s a trickier subject than I’d imagined. Given our human limitations, I’ve abandoned the idea that we can comprehend the fullness and essence of everything. What would my sight yield if it picked up the comprehensive range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes so much more than visible light? Neither our five senses nor our reason is... Read more

How I Understand Spiritual Naturalism

Last updated on: February 27, 2023 at 4:42 pm By Spiritual Naturalist Society

by Gregory Gronbacher Telling Our Stories Each of us has our own story about how we came to spiritual naturalism. For some, myself included, our previous supernatural worldview collapsed, and we read and reasoned our way to spiritual naturalism in some shape or form. For others, spiritual naturalism has always been their worldview, and they’ve refined and developed their spirituality over time. I think each person’s story is fascinating. I invite our members to share those stories with us, maybe by... Read more