The Chinese word Tao and Western phrase the Laws of Nature refer to largely the same thing: that which is responsible for the regularity, complexity and organization we find in the universe. They do so, however, from nearly opposite perspectives. Tao emphasizes what we don’t know, the mystery of this phenomenon; science emphasizes what we do know and are able to use dependably. The Taoist approach is existential and holistic; the scientific approach is abstract and reductive. The Taoist approach... Read more

In the age of Darwin, what do we still have to learn from philosophers like Socrates or the Buddha? Ancient philosophers differed from those today in one crucial way: For them, philosophy was a way of life. Can science, too, be a way of life?   Philosophy as a way of life All the ancient philosophers, from Socrates to the Buddha, investigated their world not just for the sake of learning, but in order to discover how to live a... Read more

FYI to our readers: Many Spiritual Naturalists do not use a concept of God or gods in their practice. But some, (for example, naturalistic Pagans and Christian naturalists) find such themes useful – all without literal belief in the supernatural. Sigfried Gold has a unique take on atheist prayer. We are happy to learn about his perspectives and continue to feature many other takes and forms of fully-naturalistic spirituality 🙂   God is a benevolent, imaginary being you can talk... Read more

Our life exists in a context. In naturalistic terms we might say that this context is comprised of intertwined, open systems. Our physical system is intertwined with the great ecological systems of the earth, which depend on the solar system, which is itself intertwined with the galactic system, which is involved in systems that extend outward beyond the reach of our knowing. And going the other direction, our physical being is composed of smaller and smaller systems – through the... Read more

Have you ever had a friend who just seems to make one bad decision after another? As smart as they seem to be in most ways, they insist on doing stupid things that mess up their lives. It’s hard to understand because you can see the inevitable train wreck coming from a mile away–but they just keep playing on the tracks, oblivious to all common sense. What if I told you that they weren’t making the error, you were? In... Read more

It isn’t easy living in reality. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. And sometimes bad people not only get away with being bad, they are rewarded for it. It is very comforting to think that there might be some form of cosmic justice that would cause all these bad people to get their comeuppance eventually. Our desire for justice is so strong, that almost every religion in the world has apologia and theodicy to explain away this problem and... Read more

We are at the beginning of an important movement to gather again, a spirituality that is fully natural and rational, yet not shallow or merely technical and descriptive – one that engages all of what it means to be a full and complete human being; not merely an intellectual exercise. Within Spiritual Naturalism, or Religious Naturalism, there are numerous emerging books and articles from a variety of backgrounds. In these, we often speak of things like: ritual, meditation, awe and... Read more

I don’t often use the term ‘atheist’ to describe myself, because my lack of someone else’s belief is not something I see as important, and because those who choose that term as their primary moniker are often focused on making a statement about being without a belief in a God. I prefer the term Spiritual Naturalist because this is a term that talks about the most significant aspects of my belief and practice in a positive sense. I am a... Read more

We generally think of religious freedom in terms of coercion by others, political or social imposition of certain religious or irreligious beliefs and practices on people who would choose to believe and practice differently. That’s not what I’m talking about here. My concern is with the internal freedom people feel to practice and believe as they are drawn to do and the freedom they offer to others who might believe differently. The two are linked. I wonder if people who... Read more

The more I’ve learned about naturalistic spirituality and spiritual practice, the more I’ve come to regard ethics as irrelevant – and the more ethical I’ve become. It has been common to look at ethics as a set of rules. More importantly, a set of rules regarding your behavior; what you say, what you do, how you treat others, and so on. More elaborate moral theories have described the basis on which evaluations are made – how you can ‘compute’ what... Read more