The Science of Spirituality

I was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school from 1st grade to 12th grade.  I also went to church twice a week.  A large portion of the curiculum at the schools I attended included religion classes, along with all of the other "regular" stuff; math, science, art, history, etc.   The religious education I received was primarliy centered around Christianity, so until I went to college, I wasn't exposed to and didn't know very much about any other belief systems, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Occultism, Shamanism, Islamism, or Paganism.  I had also never heard of the concept of blending religion with science and throughout most of my life I can more consistently remember hearing about how the two were opposites. 

As I began my journey into adulthood, I also began to question the set of beliefs I had been brought up to believe were the only true fact and/or reality and while acknowledging that it takes more than a few years to really understand everything there is to know about any particualr religion, I feel like I was able to get a pretty good grasp of what the main ideas and core values were of most religions.  As far as science goes, I have to admit I never really got good grades in my high school chemistry or physics classes, but I really loved learning about it all, especially biology.  I'm not sure how it's possbile to get low grades in a subject you really like, but leave it up to me to be the one to do it. 

Anyway, my point is that I'm not an expert on religion or science, but I think I know enough to be able to make informed decisions, or at least educated guesses;-)  And it turns out that the path I found to be the most true to what I felt in my heart, had to do with spirituality in general.  I'm not sure if spirituality is considered to be a religion or if it's just more of a set of beliefs and guidelines to live by.  Some might say that IS the definition of religion, which I agree with up to a point.  "Religion" DOES require one to follow a specific set of beliefs and guidelines, but most (albiet not ALL of them) also usually tend to hold the belief that all the other ones are "wrong" in some way or another, which is where I disagree.

Throughout my exploration of spirituality I've come across all kinds of very interesting ideas and concepts.  Within the concept of spirituality, (in my opinion) there are little bits of almost every religion, including science.  All of this has been very fascinating to me and I feel a very genuine calm and kind of reassurance, that what I've found so far has been very right and true, at least for me personally.  And I do believe, that that very concept, IS what it's all about; finding what's right for you. 

So, back to my original point.... In my journey, I've come across a few different people who discuss the science of spirituality.  I was very curious to see how these so-called "opposites" blend together.  How does one quantify the spiritual?  What is the human spirit?  Is it even possible for humanity's scientific parameters to ever really fully grasp something that isn't literally visible?  These questions are far from being totally answered, but a dialog is emerging and a community is growing, based on the ideas and principles of how science can apply to religion or spirituality. 

I believe that there are quite a few people who are internationally recognized as being "experts" in this field, but a few that I'm more aware of are Lynne McTaggart ,Gregg Braden and Peter Russell.  Lynne is "an internationally recognized spokesperson on the science of spirituality" and Gregg is "internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality"....basicaly the same thing;-)  As for Peter, through the description of one of his books, he also describes himself;  "As much as the book is a journey of ideas that starts with science and arrives at God, it is also my own personal journey from a physicist with little interest in spiritual matters to an explorer of consciousness who now begins to appreciate what the great spiritual teachings have been trying to show us for thousands of years."  I will be posting a series of articles from Peter's website regarding his views on consciousness, that I found to be extremely useful and interesting.

Lynne McTaggart
http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/

"The Intention Experiment" is the first book to provide scientific evidence about human intention. It is also the first to show you how to use this power in your life, individually and collectively according to all the principles that have worked both in the laboratory and among ‘masters’ of intention.

The Intention Experiment (website) is a series of scientifically controlled, web-based experiments testing the power of intention to change the physical world. Thousands of volunteers from 30 countries around the world have participated in Intention Experiments thus far.  Lynne is working with leading physicists and psychologists from the University of Arizona, Princeton University, the International Institute of Biophysics, Cambridge University and the Institute of Noetic Sciences.These experiments are being run at her seminars and conferences and on the web, and have produced extraordinary results.  This is not about sending intentions to make millions of dollars.  The targets are only philanthropic: healing wounds, helping children with attention deficit or patients with Alzheimer’s, counteracting pollution and global warming.  Besides the big Intention Experiments, her web site also runs informal "Intentions of the Week" for people or situations with illnesses or problems.

Her book, "The Field"  is considered a seminal work about the link between science and spirit by Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard and many other leaders in the field of science, consciousness and spirituality.

Gregg Braden
http://www.greggbraden.com/

Following a successful career as a Computer Geologist for Phillips Petroleum during the 1970s energy crisis, he became a Senior Computer Systems Designer for Martin Marietta Defense Systems during the last year of the Cold War. In 1991 he was appointed the first Technical Operations Manager for Cisco Systems where he led the development of the global support team that assures the reliability of today’s Internet. For more than 22 years, Gregg has searched high mountain villages, remote monasteries, and forgotten texts to uncover their timeless secrets. To date, his work has led to such paradigm-shattering books as The Isaiah Effect, The God Code, The Divine Matrix and his 2008 release, The Spontaneous Healing of Belief:  Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits.

Peter Russell
http://www.peterrussell.com/index2.php

http://www.peterrussell.com/SCG/scg.php  Direct link to articles, video & audio files on his site.

Peter Russell is a fellow of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, of The World Business Academy and of The Findhorn Foundation, and an Honorary Member of The Club of Budapest.  At Cambridge University (UK), he studied mathematics and theoretical physics. Then, as he became increasingly fascinated by the mysteries of the human mind he changed to experimental psychology. Pursuing this interest, he traveled to India to study meditation and eastern philosophy, and on his return took up the first research post ever offered in Britain on the psychology of meditation.
He also has a post-graduate degree in computer science, and conducted there some of the early work on 3-dimensional displays, presaging by some twenty years the advent of virtual reality.

In the mid-seventies Peter Russell joined forces with Tony Buzan and helped teach "Mind Maps" and learning methods to a variety of international organizations and educational institutions.  Since then his corporate programs have focused increasingly on self-development, creativity, stress management, and sustainable environmental practices. Clients have included IBM, Apple, Digital, American Express, Barclays Bank, Swedish Telecom, ICI, Shell Oil and British Petroleum.

His principal interest is the deeper, spiritual significance of the times we are passing through. He has written several books in this area -- The TM Technique, The Upanishads, The Brain Book, The Global Brain Awakens, The Creative Manager, The Consciousness Revolution, Waking Up in Time, and From Science to God.  As one of the more revolutionary futurists Peter Russell has been a keynote speaker at many international conferences, in Europe, Japan and the USA. His multi-image shows and videos, The Global Brain and The White Hole in Time have won praise and prizes from around the world. In 1993 the environmental magazine Buzzworm voted Peter Russell "Eco-Philosopher Extraordinaire" of the year.