A transformation of the Americas is upon us
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11843.htm
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THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA
WIE
Issue 33 June-August 2006
http://www.wie.org/j33/pulse.asp?page=2
In 2002, the Metanexus Institute http://www.metanexus.net thought of a novel way to mark the centennial anniversary of William James¹ classic work, The Varieties of Religious Experience. They secured $4 million in grants -- mostly from the John Templeton Foundation -- to fund research on spiritual transformation. By ³spiritual transformation,² Metanexus meant a dramatic change in how one sees oneself and the world and a fundamental shift in what one considers the purpose of life to be, often stimulated by a life-altering experience and leading to far-reaching changes in attitude and behavior.
Such research has never been attempted before. While there have been many hundreds of research studies on various spiritual practices, the study of spiritual transformation has been largely anecdotal. A bit odd, considering that at least four of the world¹s most popular religions -- Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam -- were kick-started by the spiritual transformations of their founders. Out of hundreds of research proposals submitted to Metanexus, twenty-two were selected for funding. And by the time this issue goes to press, the results of these twenty-two studies will have been presented at a conference held at the University of California at Berkeley. Expected to attract the most attention -- and to be subjected to the most heated peer review -- is a project carried out by Dr. Tom Smith of the prestigious National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. For the first time in public, Smith will present and defend his recent finding that more than fifty percent of adult Americans have experienced spiritual transformations in their lives.
Fifty percent?! For the mathematically challenged out there, that¹s every other one of us. Keep that in mind the next time you go to the supermarket -- it may change your shopping experience.
Informant: NHNE
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THE TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA
WIE
Issue 33 June-August 2006
http://www.wie.org/j33/pulse.asp?page=2
In 2002, the Metanexus Institute http://www.metanexus.net thought of a novel way to mark the centennial anniversary of William James¹ classic work, The Varieties of Religious Experience. They secured $4 million in grants -- mostly from the John Templeton Foundation -- to fund research on spiritual transformation. By ³spiritual transformation,² Metanexus meant a dramatic change in how one sees oneself and the world and a fundamental shift in what one considers the purpose of life to be, often stimulated by a life-altering experience and leading to far-reaching changes in attitude and behavior.
Such research has never been attempted before. While there have been many hundreds of research studies on various spiritual practices, the study of spiritual transformation has been largely anecdotal. A bit odd, considering that at least four of the world¹s most popular religions -- Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam -- were kick-started by the spiritual transformations of their founders. Out of hundreds of research proposals submitted to Metanexus, twenty-two were selected for funding. And by the time this issue goes to press, the results of these twenty-two studies will have been presented at a conference held at the University of California at Berkeley. Expected to attract the most attention -- and to be subjected to the most heated peer review -- is a project carried out by Dr. Tom Smith of the prestigious National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. For the first time in public, Smith will present and defend his recent finding that more than fifty percent of adult Americans have experienced spiritual transformations in their lives.
Fifty percent?! For the mathematically challenged out there, that¹s every other one of us. Keep that in mind the next time you go to the supermarket -- it may change your shopping experience.
Informant: NHNE
rudkla - 10. Feb, 13:10
