The Coming Interspiritual Age by Kurt Johnson and David Robert Ord

This book details the vision of interspirituality within a comprehensive and powerful synthesis of world religions and spirituality, the discoveries of modern science, and the developmental and evolutionary view of history. It is the first book to review and predict the ongoing history of world religions and spirituality in the context of developmental history, the evolutionary consciousness movement, and current scientific understandings of anthropology, human cognite development, brain/mind and scientific consciousness studies.

This book addresses Brother WayneTeasdale’s vision of “The Interspiritual Age,” a vision that parallels the equally well-known and publicized visions of the world’s developmental and evolutionary consciousness movements (known therein as coming “Integral Age” or “Age of Evolutionary Consciousness”) and the international humanist movement (known therein as the emerging “International Ethical Manifold”). As such The Coming Interspiritual Age is the first synthesis of interfaith and interspirituality with the popular writings of integral leaders Ken Wilber and Don Beck.

The book includes provocative sections regarding the inherent unity within the world’s religious and spiritual understanding (especially their shared mystical understandings), the relationship of these and modern scientific studies of consciousness and brain/mind, the developmental and evolutionary views of history, the inevitable ongoing processes of world globalization and multiculturalism, the emergent understanding of the Divine Feminine, the nature of spiritual experience and the reputed spirit realms, and the various predictions around and surrounding the year 2012. The book concludes with extensive “how-to” sections regarding the development and practice of interspirituality as it can happen both within the world’s current religious traditions as well as in new, creative, and entrepreneurial settings worldwide.

Kurt Johnson, PhD, is well known internationally as a scientist, comparative religionist, social activist and former monastic. PhD in evolution, ecology, systematics and comparative biology and extensive training in comparative religion and philosophy. Author of 7 books on ecology and evolution.

David Robert Ord is a former Presbyterian (USA) minister and Graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary. Coauthor with Dr Robert B. Coote of The Bible’s First History, In the Beginning, Is the Bible True, Understanding the Bible Today, Your Forgotten Self.

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Kurt Johnson – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Dr. Kurt Johnson has worked in science and spirituality for over 40 years. This dual career in science and spirituality is detailed at WIKIPEDIA. In spirituality, Kurt is co-author of the recently published book The Coming Interspiritual Age, with David Robert Ord, the Editorial Director of Namaste Publishing (publishers of such spiritual teachers as Eckhart Tolle and Michael Brown). As a New Release, the book has been in Amazon’s Top Ten in Spirituality.

Kurt was originally a Christian monk and founded, with Br. Wayne Teasdale and others, the InterSpiritual Dialogue Association for discussion of contemplative experience across traditions. Ordained in three spiritual traditions, he works also with The Contemplative Alliance and Integral Communities.

In science, Kurt is the co-author of the best-selling Nabokov’s Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius, with Steve Coates of The New York Times, which was a Top Ten Book in science in 2000. Kurt’s PhD is in evolution, ecology, systematics and comparative biology. Associated with the American Museum of Natural History (30 yrs.). He published 200+ articles on evolution and ecology, including the 2011 Harvard DNA sequence study vindicating Vladimir Nabokov’s views of evolution. He is currently completing another book on Nabokov’s science and art for Yale University Press. However, Kurt’s primary interest is the simplicity of nondual spiritual practice.

Interview recorded 1/12/2013

The Essence of Religions: A Glimpse of Heaven in the Near-Death Experience ~ Christophor Coppes

The Essence of Religions was written to discourage the misuse of religions. This book provides the tools we need to reconsider many of the dogmas of the five major world religions that have proven detrimental to both human coexistence and our planet’s survival. Furthermore, it seeks to replace these misguided belief sets with a more unifying and uplifting outlook that will benefit mankind as a whole. The author urges our alignment with “The Light” of unconditional love that can be found in the teachings of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism–and The Light of compassionate love in visions recounted to us by those who have undergone near-death experiences (NDEs).

The author of The Essence of Religions, Christophor Coppes, examines the NDE phenomenon as if it were a religious experience, placing it in context by comparing it to the five major world religions. Coppes gives a compelling argument that many characteristics of these religions’ view of the afterlife are analogous to the life-changing sensations and visions reported by those who have undergone an NDE. But he concludes that although the essence of these beliefs of the major religions can be found in NDEs, not all of the positive elements of an NDE experience can necessarily be found in the religions.

The Essence of Religions examines the major world religions with an eye to their positive aspects as well as their contradictions and fixations. Coppes delves into both the commonality of the religions, their fundamental differences, and how they relate to NDEs. The Essence of Religions is a vital tool for those curious about the NDEs and how they can inform us about our own spiritual beliefs to help us lead happier and fuller lives.

Christophor Coppes holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Groningen. Since 2008, he has been President of the International Association for Near-Death Studies (IANDS) in the Netherlands. He currently works at the Dutch Central Bank in Amsterdam monitoring developments in the international financial markets. He has published many scientific articles on finance while maintaining a strong interest in humanitarian issues.
Mr. Coppes’ first book was published in 1995 and is based on the true story of how friends and family lovingly looked after a terminally ill AIDS patient and helped him through the final stages of his life.

His second book, was written as result of his disgust and horror over the ethnical cleansing that took place under the eyes of Dutch soldiers in Srebrenica during the war in Bosnia Herzegovina, in 1995. He has written extensively on NDEs, his recent book Messages from The Light is about the messages that people had during their Near-Death Experiences.

“As we move away from worn-out dogma from both the religious and scientific realms toward a contemporary synthesis of understanding about our existence, Christophor’s refreshing and comprehensive analysis of major religions in light of the profound lessons from numerous NDE journeyers offers a rich new tapestry of understanding that I find most valuable.”
– Eben Alexander III, MD

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Christophor Coppes – Lives changed; the world changed

NDEs don’t only change the lives of those who have the NDE, but they also have, in principle, the potential to change the world at large. This is because they hold messages for everyone. From NDEs we understand that we are part of a Unity Universe, which surpasses our material four-dimensional world. In it we are thoroughly interconnected. Whatever we do, it has an effect on the rest of unity universe. All our actions, even the seemingly insignificant ones, ripple through universe.

Through this we have a creative but also a potentially destructive power within us. For instance, the Great Recession, which still affects especially the US, Europe and Japan, can be seen as the consequence of the many negative ripples that we caused by focusing on our short-term self-interest. Therefore, it is best for us to change our focus towards a longer-term “our-interest”. This is the most important message that can be derived from NDEs. The change of focus would really change the world. This would mean a next step in our human development. The way to do it is by becoming more aligned with The Light. These are extraordinary times and many NDErs are convinced that we will eventually succeed in realizing that change and that we are destined for a more wonderful world, materially as well as spiritually.

St. Francis of Assisi – A new biography by Augustine Thompson, O.P.

St. Francis of Assisi – A new biography

Among the most beloved saints in the Catholic tradition, Francis of Assisi (c. 1181-1226) is popularly remembered for his dedication to poverty, his love of animals and nature, and his desire to follow perfectly the teachings and example of Christ. During his lifetime and after his death, followers collected, for their own purposes, numerous stories, anecdotes, and reports about Francis. As a result, the man himself and his own concerns became lost in legend.

In this authoritative and engaging new biography, Augustine Thompson, O.P., sifts through the surviving evidence for the life of Francis using modern historical methods. The result is a complex yet sympathetic portrait of the man and the saint. Francis emerges from this account as very much a typical thirteenth-century Italian layman, but one who, when faced with unexpected crises in his personal life, made decisions so radical that they challenge his own society-and ours. Unlike the saint of legend, this Francis never had a unique divine inspiration to provide him with rules for following the teachings of Jesus. Rather, he spent his life reacting to unexpected challenges, before which he often found himself unprepared and uncertain.

The Francis who emerges here is both more complex and more conflicted than that of older biographies. His famed devotion to poverty is found to be more nuanced than expected, perhaps not even his principal spiritual concern. Thompson revisits events small and large in Francis’s life, including his troubled relations with his father, his contacts with Clare of Assisi, his encounter with the Muslim sultan, and his receiving the Stigmata, to uncover the man behind the legends and popular images.

A tour de force of historical research and biographical writing, Francis of Assisi: A New Biography is divided into two complementary parts-a stand alone biographical narrative and a close, annotated examination of the historical sources about Francis. Taken together, the narrative and the survey of the sources provide a much-needed fresh perspective on this iconic figure. “As I have worked on this biography,” Thompson writes, “my respect for Francis and his vision has increased, and I hope that this book will speak to modern people, believers and unbelievers alike, and that the Francis I have come to know will have something to say to them today.”

Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P. (born New York, 1954), is a Catholic priest of the Order of Preachers and Professor of History at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology and member of the Core Doctoral Faculty of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkleley CA. He holds a Ph.D in medieval history from the Univ. of California, Berkeley CA. Until 2009 he was Professor of Religious Studies and History at the Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville VA. His books and publications focus on medieval Italy and medieval religious history.

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Saint Francis of Assisi

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Contemporary Spirituality for an Evolving World: A Handbook for Conscious Evolution – From Personal to Global Tranformation By Nicolya Christi

A practical guide to conscious evolution for personal, spiritual, and global transformation

• Provides spiritual practices to manifest a meaningful connection between Self and God/Source/Creator and psychological exercises to heal the shadow self

• Offers an in-depth overview of religion and spirituality, both the old paradigm and the evolving new one

• Includes the first fully written account of the First Nations Peoples’ oral wisdom teachings on the 7 Dark, 7 Light, and 7 Rainbow Arrows for evolving consciousness

We are living in an unprecedented time of change, a new epoch with a new consciousness. We have reached Zero Point in our personal and collective consciousness and are now in a phase of accelerated conscious evolution and manifestation of personal and collective vision. As the current political, economic, and social systems begin to collapse, people are instinctively and intuitively reevaluating their lives and asking what has real meaning and value and what brings them true peace and happiness. Humanity is now poised to establish a unified, co-creative new world that reflects the evolved consciousness of awakened hearts and minds, of collaboration, and of peace.

Presenting a guide for these auspicious times, Nicolya Christi offers psychological and spiritual tools to accelerate conscious and global evolution and initiate a New Consciousness for the post–December 21st, 2012, epoch. She gives an in-depth overview of religion and spirituality, both the old paradigm and the evolving new one, and explains how all trauma results from “empathic disconnection,” which hinders our spiritual growth. She provides spiritual practices to manifest a meaningful connection between Self and God/Source/Creator as well as psychological exercises to heal and integrate the shadow self and dissolve psychological wounds. She offers the first fully written account of the First Nations Peoples’ oral wisdom teachings on the 7 Dark, 7 Light, and 7 Rainbow Arrows for evolving consciousness. She also writes in depth about the evolution of relationship and aspiring to a higher love and sexuality.

Detailing several maps and models for conscious and global evolution, this handbook inspires each of us toward a consciously evolving spirituality and a true and authentic relationship with God/Source/Creator.

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The Vatican Diaries A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Power, Personalities and Politics at the Heart of the Catholic Church John Thavis

A revealing inside look at one of the world’s most powerful and mysterious institutions

For more than twenty-five years John Thavis held one of the most fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life.

Thavis takes readers from a bell tower high above St. Peter’s to the depths of the basilica and the saint’s burial place, from the politicking surrounding the election of a new pope and the ever-growing sexual abuse scandals around the world to controversies about the Vatican’s stand on contraception, and more.

Perceptive, sharply written, and witty, The Vatican Diaries will appeal not only to Catholics (lapsed as well as devout) but to any readers interested in international diplomacy and the role of religion in an increasingly secularized world.

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John Thavis – Witness

A fixture in the Holy See Press Office, John Thavis is now preparing to step down as the Rome Bureau Chief of Catholic News Service. Since 1983, the Minnesota native has covered the Vatican for CNS, where he has become one of the most-read journalists on the Roman scene. In this Witness interview from 2007, Thavis shares his experiences covering two papacies from the unique perspective of the Vatican press corps.

Tom Horn — Prophecies & Rumours of Prophecies on Trunews

Published on Feb 19, 2013
Pope’s Resignation presaged in obscure 60-year old French Jesuit codex; ancient Zohar prophecy foretells rise of the antichrist and destruction of Rome, possibly coinciding with a Papal conclave; 12th Century prophecy foresees advent of Final Pope and Obama prepares to ride into Jerusalem for Passover week…more intrigue and bizarre unprecedented conspiracy than anything Ian Fleming, Malachi Martin and Tom Clancy could have hoped to collaborate.

Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition [Hardcover] Garry Wills (Author)

In his most provocative book yet, Pulitzer Prize­–winner Garry Wills asks the radical question: Why do we need priests?

Bestselling author of Papal Sin and Why I Am a Catholic, Garry Wills spent five years as a young man at a Jesuit seminary and nearly became a priest himself. But after a lifetime of study and reflection, he now poses some challenging questions: Why do we need priests at all? Why did the priesthood arise in a religion that began without it and opposed it? Would Christianity be stronger without the priesthood, as it was at its outset?

Meticulously researched, persuasively argued, and certain to spark debate, Why Priests? asserts that the anonymous Letter to Hebrews, a late addition to the New Testament canon, helped inject the priesthood into a Christianity where it did not exist, along with such concomitants as belief in an apostolic succession, the real presence in the Eucharist, the sacrificial interpretation of the Mass, and the ransom theory of redemption. But Wills does not expect the priesthood to fade entirely away. He just reminds us that Christianity did without it in the time of Peter and Paul with notable success.

Wills concludes with a powerful statement of his own beliefs in a book that will appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike and stand for years to come as a towering achievement.

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Spiritual Book Review: Why Priests?: A Failed Tradition by Garry Wills

Garry Wills

Charlie Rose’s Interview with Gary Wills on February 20, 2013 View here

The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved ~ Matthew Fox

An internationally acclaimed theologian and member of the Dominican Order, Matthew Fox was forbidden to teach by then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1988 and was later dismissed from the order.

His experiences make him uniquely qualified to write about Pope Benedict XVI. Fox delivers a blistering indictment of Ratzinger, from his early career to his years as chief Inquisitor, from his protection of reactionary groups like Opus Dei to his role in covering up the pedophilia crisis. But Fox also sets forth his vision for a new Catholicism–one that is truly universal and celebrates critical thinking, diversity, and justice.

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360 Vision – Heretic Interview with Matthew Fox

Interview with Matthew Fox, the foremost exponent of “Creation Spirituality,” a movement that seeks to revitalize Christianity by embracing mysticism, feminism, social justice, ecological awareness and the shamanic traditions of indigenous peoples. Fox, an outspoken American priest and theologian, explains his controversial spiritual philosophy.

The Coming Interspiritual Age ~ by Kurt Johnson and David Robert Ord

This book details the vision of interspirituality within a comprehensive and powerful synthesis of world religions and spirituality, the discoveries of modern science, and the developmental and evolutionary view of history. It is the first book to review and predict the ongoing history of world religions and spirituality in the context of developmental history, the evolutionary consciousness movement, and current scientific understandings of anthropology, human cognite development, brain/mind and scientific consciousness studies.

This book addresses Brother WayneTeasdale’s vision of “The Interspiritual Age,” a vision that parallels the equally well-known and publicized visions of the world’s developmental and evolutionary consciousness movements (known therein as coming “Integral Age” or “Age of Evolutionary Consciousness”) and the international humanist movement (known therein as the emerging “International Ethical Manifold”). As such The Coming Interspiritual Age is the first synthesis of interfaith and interspirituality with the popular writings of integral leaders Ken Wilber and Don Beck.

The book includes provocative sections regarding the inherent unity within the world’s religious and spiritual understanding (especially their shared mystical understandings), the relationship of these and modern scientific studies of consciousness and brain/mind, the developmental and evolutionary views of history, the inevitable ongoing processes of world globalization and multiculturalism, the emergent understanding of the Divine Feminine, the nature of spiritual experience and the reputed spirit realms, and the various predictions around and surrounding the year 2012. The book concludes with extensive “how-to” sections regarding the development and practice of interspirituality as it can happen both within the world’s current religious traditions as well as in new, creative, and entrepreneurial settings worldwide.
Dr. Kurt Johnson has worked in science and spirituality for over 40 years. This dual career in science and spirituality is detailed at WIKIPEDIA under Kurt Johnson, entomologist. In spirituality Kurt is co-author of the recently published book THE COMING INTERSPIRITUAL AGE with David Robert Ord, the Editorial Director of Namaste Publishing (publishers of such spiritual teachers as Eckhart Tolle and Michael Brown). As a New Release the book has been in Amazon’s Top Ten in Spirituality. In science Kurt is the co-author of the best-selling NABOKOV’s BLUES, with Steve Coates of The New York Times, which was a Top Ten Book in science in 2000. Kurt was originally a Christian monk and founded, with Br. Wayne Teasdale and others, the InterSpiritual Dialogue (www.isdna.org) association for discussion of contemplative experience across traditions.

David Robert Ord, editorial director of Namaste Publishing, is a former Presbyterian (USA) minister and a graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary. Co-author with Dr Robert B. Coote of The Bible’s First History—From Eden to the Court of David with the Yahwist; In the Beginning — Creation, Priestly History; Is the Bible True? Understanding the Bible Today, and the Namaste Publishing book, Your Forgotten Self: Mirrored in Jesus the Christ. In November 2012 Namaste published The Coming Interspiritual Age, which David co-authored with Kurt Johnson.

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Kurt Johnson – Buddha at the Gas Pump Interview

Dr. Kurt Johnson has worked in science and spirituality for over 40 years. This dual career in science and spirituality is detailed at WIKIPEDIA. In spirituality, Kurt is co-author of the recently published book The Coming Interspiritual Age, with David Robert Ord, the Editorial Director of Namaste Publishing (publishers of such spiritual teachers as Eckhart Tolle and Michael Brown). As a New Release, the book has been in Amazon’s Top Ten in Spirituality.

Kurt was originally a Christian monk and founded, with Br. Wayne Teasdale and others, the InterSpiritual Dialogue Association for discussion of contemplative experience across traditions. Ordained in three spiritual traditions, he works also with The Contemplative Alliance and Integral Communities.

In science, Kurt is the co-author of the best-selling Nabokov’s Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius, with Steve Coates of The New York Times, which was a Top Ten Book in science in 2000. Kurt’s PhD is in evolution, ecology, systematics and comparative biology. Associated with the American Museum of Natural History (30 yrs.). He published 200+ articles on evolution and ecology, including the 2011 Harvard DNA sequence study vindicating Vladimir Nabokov’s views of evolution. He is currently completing another book on Nabokov’s science and art for Yale University Press. However, Kurt’s primary interest is the simplicity of nondual spiritual practice.

Interview recorded 1/12/2013

The New Science and Spirituality Reader Edited by Ervin Laszlo, Kingsley L. Dennis

Bridging the gap between science and the world’s great spiritual traditions to move our worldview forward

• With contributions from 28 leading scientists and spiritual thinkers, including Michael Beckwith, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Amit Goswami, Stanislav Grof, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, José Argüelles, and Peter Russell

• Offers strategies to promote the fusion of science and spirituality

• Explores phenomena at the crossroads of science and religion, such as the nonlocal mind, conscious evolution, and quantum consciousness

Edited by Nobel Prize nominee Ervin Laszlo and WorldShift International cofounder Kingsley Dennis, this volume brings together 28 leading scientists and spiritual thinkers for a game-changing conversation on bridging the gap between science and religion. With contributions by Michael Beckwith, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Amit Goswami, Stanislav Grof, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, José Argüelles, Peter Russell, and many other prominent visionaries, this collection explores phenomena at the crossroads of science and religion, such as the nonlocal mind, conscious evolution, and quantum consciousness, and offers strategies to promote the fusion of science and spirituality and develop a multiperson planetary consciousness.

This book reveals higher consciousness as the bridge between science and spirit, passionate curiosity as the common ground among scientists and seekers, and the urgent need for an alliance between science and the great traditions of spiritual wisdom to move our worldview forward and meet today’s global challenges.

Ervin Laszlo is editor of the international periodical World Futures: The Journal of General Evolution and chancellor of Giordano Bruno GlobalShift University. The founder and president of the Club of Budapest and the author of 89 books, he lives in Pisa, Italy.

Kingsley L. Dennis, Ph.D., is a sociologist, writer, and a cofounder of WorldShift International. The author of several books, including New Consciousness for a New World, he spends his time between Andalusia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

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Is there a role for spirituality in a time of crisis? Can it be of help in facing and eventually overcoming the crisis?

The answer, given in the four stupendous contributions to this Round of the Forum on Science & Spirituality, is a resounding YES. Crisis is both danger and opportunity. The danger is that the systems that drive our world take us to a point of no return where the world collapses around us; and the opportunity is to change the dynamic of the systems so they would take us toward a world that is more equitable, sustainable, and peaceful. To achieve this “worldshift” we need both dependable information and deep insight: the former from science, and the latter from spirituality. We can’t make it without either of them. But with both, we have a chance.

Gregg Braden and Bruce Lipton diagnose the nature of the crisis in which we find ourselves and highlight the nature of the insights we need to cope with it. Joanna Macy and Duane Elgin offer specific advice regarding the insights and the practices we need to face the crisis. Together they paint a concise yet clear and trenchant image of what is wrong with the world, and how we could change our thinking and actions to right it.

When writing is as clear and pertinent as this, there is no need to comment. We cannot point to one or another of the elements of information and advice it conveys, we would need to point to all of it. But there is no need to cite the whole of these worldshifting blogs, for they can be read here in their entirety. And read and read. And taken to heart and to mind, so they could inspire our heart and inform our mind. With inspiration coming from the great spiritual traditions, and information from the leading edge of the sciences, we can empower ourselves to change, both profoundly and urgently. Then we have a chance to change the world.

The world needs to change, profoundly and urgently. And nothing and nobody could change it but us. ~ Dr. Ervin Lazlo

Gaia Symphony V Ervin Laszlo

Ervin Laszlo is featured in clip from Gaia Symphony documentary film series by Japanese filmmaker Jin Tatsumura.