Archive
Competitive Religious Philanthropy in the Wake of the Nepali Earthquake
This post originally appeared at Religion Dispatches. The death toll in Nepal has surpassed 8,500, Reuters reported this week, making it the country’s deadliest earthquake on record. In the aftermath of the disaster, …
Mindful Togetherness
Mindfulness is everywhere. From die-hard new atheists like Sam Harris to tech-gurus like Chade-Meng Tan, it is attracting a surprisingly diverse audience. Like yoga in recent decades, this derivation of a traditional …
Good Vibrations: Sonic Rituals and Sacred Time
“Please come on Saturday morning, by 6:50am to get settled in for the 7-8:30am gathering.” So read the email from Kathryn, one of my research interlocutors, who helps coordinate a small group …
The Wild, Wild West of Mindfulness
Diana Winston’s post-college spiritual journey was something of an anachronism. After she graduated from Brown in the late 1980s, Winston traveled to Southeast Asia, where she spent several years working with Theravada …
Heart of Dharma: Comparing Buddhist Practice, East and West
A dozen or so Vipassana (Insight) practitioners have just ended a session of “sitting” (meditation) and discussion in one of the numerous Insight meditation centers in Los Angeles. In light of the …
Meditation and Authenticity: Everything Old Is New Again
A mindfulness teacher loosely associated with Against the Stream described his unconventional approach to meditation–keep a notebook close at hand to record your thoughts and feelings–as a more faithful reflection of the …
A Meditation on the Nones
Anna Stephens was on a humanitarian mission to Sudan with the International Red Cross when she first read The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. For Anna, …
A More Complex View of Gender and Sexuality in Christianity
The CRCC Interdisciplinary Research Group held its first seminar on Friday, Oct. 8, 2010. This session featured Heather White (New College of Florida) and Sheila Briggs (USC). Lori Meeks writes that the papers revealed “Christian views of gender and sexuality would surprise contemporary Christians.”
Exploring Religious Identities in a New Land
An interview with Janet Hoskins. Tim Sato recently interviewed Janet Hoskins, professor of anthropology, a member of CRCC’s Academic Advisory Council. With Macarena Gomez Barris, Prof. Hoskins will convene a CRCC seminar on “Transnational Charisma and Traveling Spirits: How Religion Moves across a Global Landscape” during the 2009-2010 academic year.