New breed of spirituality

New breeds of spirituality is being armed with the tools to forge an inclusive "spirituality of wholeness," in which the long-standing walls between the sacred and the secular, the sublime and the mundane, the spiritual and the worldly are supposed to be once and for all brought to the ground.

In her book, The New American Spirituality, Elizabeth Lesser writes, "Sin-based religions have made it their mission to control the world, not to love it for what it is.

This new breed of spirituality attempts o marry the sacred and the secular, while as yet lacking any definable center, it is attracting a substantial following.

Foremost among these is the new hybrid spiritual path known as Integral Transformative Practice with the slogan:

“Transform Yourself, Transform the World,”

Their introduction states:

“Are you seeking a way to express your best and most authentic self? If so, join us on the journey of Integral Transformative Practice.

ITP is cross-training for the body, mind, heart and soul. It’s designed for all people, particularly those with busy lives. Through deliberate daily practice, you transform yourself – and our world – for the better”.

ITP is a practice, not a quick fix. It’s a path, not a patch. Drawn from ancient wisdom and developed by human potential pioneers George Leonard and Michael Murphy. They claim that it is a proven method that since 1992 has helped create positive change in people all over the world.

Its slogans:

Unlock the infinite potential inside of you. Join our community today.

ITP serves as a hub for communications, education and research toward the broader aim of creating a society that realizes our human birthright to love, to feel deeply and to create.

Championed by such influential spiritual thinkers as Esalen Institute cofounder Michael Murphy, human potential pioneer George Leonard, and Ken Wilber, this new "holistic" system of human development aims to create a true modern "householder's path" in which the part-time practitioner strategically and ongoingly engages in a full range of transformational practices, each designed to address a different dimension of human development—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. Its proponents hold that by simultaneously engaging in, for example, weightlifting, tai chi, psychotherapy, reading, community service, nature hikes, and Zen meditation, one can proceed steadily toward the goal of a truly balanced or integral transformation, even while remaining fully immersed in one's worldly responsibilities.

Well, I think if we study all of the great world traditions, it's not the message that's so different; it's the way that we get there. Judaism says everything is sacred.

Jesus said, "Everything is sacred. I and my Father are one." You know, life and God are one.

The great native traditions say the same thing. But if we follow someone else's way to get there, if we have a priest, a minister or a rabbi tell us do this, and this is good; this will bring us into holy communion with the Lord. And this is bad; because it will make us stray from our path and our community that makes it so much easier to stay as part of a moral community.                      

So we honor what the patriarchal rule-based religions are trying to do. We can honor their intention, but it doesn't work. If it worked, the churches would be full.

To me the whole evolutionary process is about each individual becoming whole and coming to an understanding of God on his or her own, because if we are told to do something, it does not transform our being.

We do it because someone's telling us to do it. We do it because we are afraid that if we don't do it, we'll go to hell. We do it for the sake of somebody else. And it just doesn't work