Why Religions Really Do Matter

There is only one religion, though there are a hundred versions of it.

George Bernard Shaw

view from the Saffron Monastery
in East Turkey south towards Syria

Someone had written "They Don't" under the title on the front cover of the book.
I looked at it with a touch of sadness. I wondered if the person who had written that had actually read any of the book to find out why religions do indeed work? Because the "work" in the title, Why Religions Work has three different meanings: first to reflect all the amazing good work that religions do in the world,  thereby cancelling out many times over the negative aspects of religions (because of course anyone can find the negative in any thing that they themselves have no time for.)
The fact is that religions are social capital writ large. 
Secondly, religions do all of this because it is within their teachings to do so; to care for creation and each other, for example.
Thirdly, and somewhat subtly,
they "work" in the sense that they satisfy a spiritual need that is inherent in the human condition and in the sense that science is perhaps beginning to show us some of the reasons for some of our religious beliefs.
If there were no religions established to worship a "Being" mightier than ourselves then we would have to invent one. And there is exciting science emerging that helps us to understand some of the beliefs the religious among us hold dear: discoveries about the nature of consciousness, the way the brain works, and the existence of empathy neurons, for example; together with mystical experiences and evidence from near death and out of body experiences of another existence beyond this one, even evidence for a "soul." These give us ideas as to why religions "work" in that sense.

St Albans Cathedral UK

In this book Why Religions Work: God's Place in the World Today, I wanted to approach the God and religion argument from this new and challenging angle. I wanted to address the lack of respect for religions, particularly in the Western world. I wanted this to be a serious yet accessible contribution to understanding why we all need to support religion as well as spirituality. I wanted to explore the global spiritual awareness we are now beginning to see, that comes with an appreciation of spiritual human inter-connectivity and shared responsibilities. Are ideas of spirituality and advances in the scientific understanding of empathy and consciousness closing the gap between science and religion, between spirituality and religion? Could these same ideas help us find better inter-religious and interdenominational understanding? Perhaps so. 

Such questions matter for the future of our world 

and I try to answer them in the book.

So I could have called the book Why Religions Matter. But that would not have conveyed fully what the reader will find within its covers. Religions WORK. And there are very many reasons why they do!

So I hope that person comes back and reads the book. But I fear he won't!

From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,

From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth,

From the laziness that is content with half-truths,

O God of truth, deliver us.

Anon

sunset over the canary islands

The World is not "Out There"

"If we are interested in the evolution of consciousness and culture, one habit that we need to break is the tendency to speak about the world as if it exists "out there." ...We are not separate from the world process. In our own small way, we're all contributing to where we're going..."

Do read the full quote  from Andrew Cohen, one of his weekly Enlightenment quotes.

We all affect the way the world, and mankind, is going - by our individual behaviours, actions, even thoughts and words. And we all have individual and collective responsibilities to steer ourselves towards a positive, better future rather than steering mankind towards one that will be very uncertain and dangerous for all.

As the Dalai Lama has said:

“Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each of us individually. Peace, for example, starts within each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighboring communities, and so on.”

Wisdom Seekers at a crossroads in spiritual history

I have just read a rather good book. I have always been interested in the history of the New Age movement and wanted to understand that history, the good and the bad aspects, and where the movement sits in today’s search for an understanding of human consciousness. Wisdom Seekers, by Nevill Drury, is a detailed story of the evolution of that movement. Devotees, we are told, are wisdom seekers in quest of a new spiritual paradigm, hence the title of the book.

I have written a more detailed review to be found at Amazon, but what interested me most was the final and brief but no less important consideration of the implications of the New Age Movement for the future of human life on the planet.

In a final chapter the author expands on this.We are at a crossroads in spiritual history – we have a new spirituality that is open to all, that is not exclusive, and that is a vital aspect of a global tolerance that is so desperately needed. As individuals we should all take responsibility for our own lives and spiritual beliefs, and should be open to scientific developments and to many “truths,” all with their own values. We need a new paradigm shift; scientific reductionism still has the upper hand but the scientific study of human consciousness is challenged by the quantum/transpersonal/holistic model. That will be the solution to our global problems, if we allow it to be and if we can overcome the power of the self- interested corporations, economies, etc. We have become “dis-spirited” in shamanic terms and need to re- sacralize the world. Our personal spiritual transformations must be allowed to transform communities, then whole societies, and be allowed to spread to the international stage. I agree! These of course are issues I expand on in some detail in my own recent book, in the context of searching for healing and spirituality in all aspects of our lives.
Overall a fascinating read, for any one wanting a fuller understanding of the New Age movement, how it arrived at where it stands today, and its potential as a transpersonal solution to our current global crisis.