A new non-profit, the SpiritualNaturalist Society, is launching today with a mission to “spread awareness
of spiritual naturalism as a way of life”. What is spiritual naturalism? The
organization’s Executive Director and Humanist minister, Rev. Daniel Strain,
explains, “Spiritual naturalism (or religious naturalism) is a term that
covers a myriad of different forms of spirituality that don’t involve
faith-based beliefs in the supernatural.”
Rev. Strain notes that as secularism rises, naturalistic
(non-supernatural) interpretations of religious worldviews and practices are growing within
Judaism, Buddhism, Taoism, Paganism – even within Christianity. In addition to
these naturalistic leanings within traditional faiths, the self styled
‘reason-based community’ is meanwhile finding its way toward spirituality. Some
atheists and agnostics are beginning to discover the usefulness of meditation,
other traditionally religious practices, and even ritual.
This, says Rev. Strain, means there is a growing convergence
toward the intersection of naturalism and spirituality happening from groups on
both sides of the theistic and supernatural divide. Many individuals across
these groups are finding more in common with one another than with other
members at the more supernatural-end of the spectrum in their respective
groups. This, the Spiritual Naturalist Society states, calls for a new kind of
organization and community that cuts across familiar categories – a new
paradigm for understanding human spirituality.
But most people think of ‘spirituality’ as inherently about
the supernatural – God, the afterlife, souls, and so on. How can there be
spirituality without spirits? The group’s literature points out that the root
Latin word, spiritus, meant wind or
breath – the essence of life. “When we say ‘the spirit of the law’ we mean the essence of the law. In the same way, a
true spirituality would be a practice that focuses on the essence or the
‘essential in life’. To those with supernatural views,” says Rev. Strain, "...that
might be salvation in the afterlife. To us naturalists, the ‘spirit of life’ is
about living a good, meaningful, and flourishing life in the here and now. This
is an older and broader understanding of spirituality."
It’s true this approach to spirituality is not new. Nature as
the basis of spirituality can be found in wisdom streams running throughout
ancient philosophy and religion, up to thinkers like Spinoza. More recently
these kinds of views have been expressed by those who find the scientific
understanding of nature to be a kind of ‘religious experience’, such as Albert
Einstein, Carl Sagan, and Neil deGrasse Tyson. This is precisely why the SNS
has been on a mission to bring together the artists, scientists, religious leaders, writers, professors, and practitioners of
these various naturalistic spiritualities into a community.
“Our organization is
setting out to be more than just a website, or even just a publisher. We’d like
to become a think tank; a community of naturalists from diverse backgrounds coming
together to share wisdom, ideas, practices, and fellowship. Spirituality is
about walking a path, cultivating one’s habits, character, and compassion so as
to enjoy life more fully. We will help provide the educational materials and
community that make a positive difference in everyday quality of life.”
To that end, the organization has already brought together
an impressive assortment of Buddhists, Humanists, and Pagans on its Advisory
Board, including Professor Susan Blackmore (author, The Meme Machine), philosopher and former monk, Stephen Batchelor
(author, Buddhism Without Beliefs),
and more. Through their help, the new organization’s website already provides a
number of informative articles, essays, and community functions.
Readers can learn more about the Spiritual Naturalist Society at www.SpiritualNaturalistSociety.org.
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