Reflection Two: On Pain In 2001, I injured my back lifting a box of books from the back of my car. I had never experienced such sudden, excruciating pain. For nearly three weeks, I could barely walk. Slowly, very slowly, the pain receded, and I was finally able to get on with my life. Little did I know at the time that the seed was then planted for what would develop into a recurrent and then chronic condition. A couple... Read more

Our latest book is now available! Exploring Spiritual Naturalism, Year 2: An Anthology of Articles from the Spiritual Naturalist Society is a collection of articles from our second year of operation. This book contains the work of 12 authors and thinkers in naturalistic spirituality, plus a foreword by prominent religious naturalist author and professor, Donald A. Crosby. In its second year, the Spiritual Naturalist Society continued exploration of Spiritual Naturalist thought and practice through its events, discussions, growing community, and publications. This anthology comes from... Read more

“Money, so they say Is the root of all evil today” Pink Floyd lyric Most people want money.  Many people are obsessed with it – some because they are very poor and their life depends on it.  Some because they are very rich and their identity and sense of self depend on it. Money is the symbol and container of economic value, the socially accepted value of products, commodities and services.  We value what we care about, and are motivated... Read more

My father died a few weeks ago. It came as quite a shock. He was 82 but still very active and not sick at all. Sure, he had had a heart attack over 30 years ago, but had no problems since and was careful with his diet and exercise and was still actively pursuing his interests in photography. He had shown his work in a gallery the weekend before he died. We spoke two days before he died about his... Read more

Love is an overused word that has a diverse and varied meaning depending on the context in which it is used. We say we love our family, love our spouse, love our car, and love pizza. Are all of these really love? And what is love after all? Is it a feeling, a thought, or maybe a choice? Knowing what love is can help us better understand it and help us cultivate it in our lives. After all, whatever love... Read more

Episode 1: In the first episode of our new podcast by the Spiritual Naturalist Society, we talk about what Spiritual Naturalism means to us, some of its varieties, and how we practice it in our lives. Click here to get Email notices of new episodes and SNS articles Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society See a full episode list at our main page for the Spiritual Naturalism Today podcast __________ The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual naturalism... Read more

In his book Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul, Titus Burkhardt writes of the chemical marriage: the marriage of gold and silver, which is symbolic of the integration and harmonization of one’s spirit and soul.  In the mythic language of alchemy, the spirit is characterized as male and associated with the sun and gold, while the soul is characterized as female and associated with the moon and silver.   In this alchemical ideal of the marriage of spirit and... Read more

I was first aware of Oliver Sacks with the publication in 1985 of his book The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, descriptions of his mentally ill patients, cases that were as intriguing as the title. A few years later the popular movie Awakenings, based on a Sacks’ memoir, told the story of the kind, idealistic doctor, played by Robin Williams, who finds a drug to revive catatonic patients at a hospital in the Bronx. Sacks died on August 30,... Read more

Traditional Buddhism began over 2,500 years ago. It was founded on the metaphysical understandings of the time. In this age of myth and magic, all the world was supernatural. There were invisible beings and mystical realms everywhere. For ancient civilization, there was no such thing as naturalism. They had no way to distinguish, let alone conceive, of a difference between the natural world and the supernatural. The first to begin to cut through the vale, where the Greeks. They began... Read more

In many ways, our efforts in the Spiritual Naturalist Society are part of a quest. That quest is the rebirth of spirituality among naturalists – something which can be said to have died, almost completely, save for a few bits of inspirational and eloquent observations about the natural universe from people like Carl Sagan and his intellectual heirs still writing wonderful contributions in spiritual and religious naturalism. Yet, nothing like a systematized set of practices built upon that naturalistic inspiration... Read more