Archive
The Radical Resistance and Radical Acceptance of Spiritual Exemplars
How spiritual exemplars work to create a world befitting of our inherent nobility A key question we are asked by consumers of our research on “spiritual exemplars” is about the qualities of …
Stones that Have Weathered Many Storms: A Reporter’s Notebook from a Human Rights Defender’s Place of Solace
In the rugged landscape of the Kotayk Province of Armenia, Geghard Monastery rises from an amphitheater of steep cliffs like a revelation. Even the long trek to the monastery complex, surrounded by …
Taizé: A Musical Monastic Community, Formed in Response to a Global Crisis, Faces New Ones
This article was originally published by America Magazine, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. “Iedere nacht verlang ik naar u, o God” (My spirit yearns for you in the …
Pandemic Year 3 Predictions: Adjusting to New “Normals” in 2022
Since 2016, CRCC has shared the trends in religion and society that we see shaping the coming year. What started as light-hearted predictions has grown more ominous over the years. Anybody surprised …
Creating Safe(r) Spaces for Mindfulness of Breath: Experiences of Race in American Mindfulness
CRCC’s Nalika Gajaweera presented her research on how people of color experience race in mindfulness communities that are predominantly white at the Buddhism and Breath Summit. The Buddhism and Breath Summit was …
Mindfulness in a time of Dis-ease: Breathing through Cancer, COVID & Climate Change
This article was originally published in Mindfully Speaking, with the support of CRCC’s global project on engaged spirituality. My mind was racing. I couldn’t sleep despite the fatigue of the first trimester …
What’s So Wrong with Mindfulness?
This article originally appeared in Tricycle. “I was stressed out, burned out, and divorced. And then I started doing yoga.” This is how many people I have spoken to in the course …
Spiritual Healing Networks in Long Beach
Long Beach, California is a perfect example of the creativity and collaboration among people who embrace spiritual forms of healing, such as yoga and meditation. This video explores how this network operates: …
Against the Stream: Taking Refuge in an American Sangha
Against the Stream (ATS) is a Buddhist Meditation Center that seeks to introduce Buddhist teachings and practices rooted in traditional Buddhist lineages of South and Southeast Asia with a distinctly American anti-establishment …
An “Everybody Friendly, Artist-Driven, God-Optional” Jewish New Year
Most of my memories of Jewish worship services are an amalgamation of the hundreds of services I’ve attended throughout my life. But there are a few that stand out. At a Shabbat …
Reimagining Religion Conference Program and Livestream – Feb. 9, 2017
Scroll below to watch the livestream (times of panels noted on conference schedule) February 9, 2017 University of Southern California Preview: Increasingly, Americans are choosing not to identify with a particular religious …
KPCC Take Two: Brie Loskota on Making Sense of Tragedy
With vigils being held throughout the country after the massacre at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, KPCC asked Brie Loskota to address the urge to come together after national tragedies. Here are a …
Pre-Fight and Post-Fight Prayers
This post originally appeared on Huffington Post. Last November Andre Berto made an unannounced trip to Inova Fairfax Hospital. He went to visit both a comatose Prichard Colón and a family pleading …
The Boxer’s Prayer
This post originally appeared on Huffington Post Religion. Many professional athletes pray before they compete, but boxers’ prayers are special. On a recent Saturday night, Artur Szpilka was carried from the ring …
Religious, Spiritual and “None of the Above”: How Did Mindfulness Get So Big?
This post originally appeared on Religion Dispatches. The ever-growing popularity of mindfulness—from corporate boardrooms to inner-city schools—has finally made my academic interest a conversation-starter at dinner parties. “Ah, the Buddha was talking about cognitive …
Celebrating Christmas in an Age of Religious Extremism
This article was originally published on The Conversation. From the recent attack on Planned Parenthood to the shooting in San Bernardino, extremists of all stripes are revealing the ugly side of religion. …
What’s the Role of Prayer After Mass Shootings?
A mass shooting in San Bernardino, California has sparked a debate about the appropriateness of prayer after such incidents. CRCC Managing Director Brie Loskota commented on the debate on KPCC’s Take Two. …
Praying for Rain in California
This piece originally appeared in the Yale ISM Review. “As an American Indian, all my life I have been cursed with the myth of the ‘Indian rain dance,’” Johnny P. Flynn wrote …
Mindfulness and Science: Who’s Winning the Game of Samsara?
In his podcast lecture, Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey, a young Vipassana teacher, raises concerns about the “Mindfulness Industrial Complex.” “We want to win at this game of samsara”—the cyclic existence of suffering, driven by …
Mindfulness in the Brain
Michael Spezio discusses the effects of centering prayer and contemplative reflection on neural networks. Dr. Spezio is an assistant professor of psychology at Scripps College. Spezio appeared at USC on October 25, …