We are five persons from different parts of the world, immersed in modernity, who come together by Zoom for an hour and a half every two weeks. We agreed early on that an academic way of being together would not serve the motivation that brought us together – a non-trivial interest in the power and place of spiritual experiences both in our own lives and in a world needing to reduce its consumption. Our group has made some progress particularly with the former. We are learning to share more of ourselves with each other than is normal in a group of older, male scholars/practitioners. We have found that we experience the group as a source of energy and inspiration. A typical gathering includes a check-in, meditation, focused conversation, reflection and silence.
We have shared and explored the unique experiences and understandings each of us has of spirituality and its place in our own lives and in our modern world. We sense that we have just begun to understand the many ways our modern world has reduced much of spirituality to a commercial commodity; and the societal, as well as personal, costs that this entails. An emerging insight we are exploring is that it may be an illusion to think that we, who are living in the modern world, can deal with overconsumption (a.k.a. ecological overshoot), while we keep up the pretense that spirituality has no role to play in our public lives.
On 8 July 2023, the group ran a small session centered on spirituality at the SCORAI conference in the Netherlands. Participants were both in-person and online. The session was well received.
Currently, our group is holding off on new participants. We, of course, would welcome your interest in our group; and please do not hesitate to contact (one of) us if you want to know more. We also see our group as a possible inspiration for other SCORAI groups to form around this theme.
Topics we have explored/ are exploring:
- The differences between attitudes, faith, beliefs, religion, and spirituality
- The nature of spiritual experiences
- Examples of spiritual experiences, practices and attitudes in our daily lives
- Our different life experiences and how we have come to be how we are as part of modern cultures and societies
- How spirituality contributes to life satisfaction and meaning and its relationship to materialism and consumption
- How profit-driven business attempts might coopt spiritual practices, as well as how spiritual consumption might provide a buffer against materialistic tendencies
- Meditation, prayer and other practices
- The implications of some modern interpretations of religion that have privatized spirituality and ethics.
David Chittenden (Aotearoa, New Zealand), Ian Hamilton (USA), Patrick Elf (UK), Ruben Nelson (Canada), Philip Vergragt (USA)
Contact pvergragt@outlook.com