The Spiritual and the Political: Beyond Russell Brand

The usual antonym for the word “spiritual” is “material.” That at least is what I believed when I began this inquiry—that the whole issue with spirituality turned on a question of metaphysics. Now I’m inclined to think a much better and certainly more useful antonym for “spiritual” might be “egotistical.” Self and Spirit define the opposite ends of

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3. Spirituality struggles to differentiate itself from religion on the one hand, and wellbeing on the other. To become a viable part of public discourse, we need to map out distinctive terrain that goes beyond emotions but doesn’t collapse into ethics or aesthetics. Our inquiry led us to four main features of human existence that help with this pro... See more

Put another way, a major reason everyone is so exhausted is because we have been taught to always strive for better, even if we have only the vaguest notion of what that “better” would look like, and even if it means viewing everything in our world as raw material that could potentially be utilized toward that end. But obedience to something outsid... See more

What’s clear is that we’re attempting to re-enchant a disenchanted world . Mysticism and esoteric spirituality – the woo-woo – is surging alongside our newfound existential chafing over the emergence of humanity-altering technological advance.