A lovely woman in the morning meditation group drew to my attention yesterday to the work of Dr Lisa Miller, who wrote The Awakened Brain. A little digging took me to the Spirituality Mind Body Institute at Columbia University, where they study the science of spirituality.
The science of spirituality… how refreshing! When I was in graduate school, the dominant culture in the Psychology Department was that science and spirituality were mutually exclusive. If something could not be measured, it didn’t exist or, at least, it didn’t exist as a legitimate subject of study. What a delight to discover that, in another place, Lisa Millar was devoting her life to integrating the deep core of spirituality to our understanding of human experience!
You can find out more about the work at the Institute website.
I have taken the liberty of copying a table I found there. It shows the difference between life without a spiritual core and life with a spiritual core. This seems to align nicely with the work of Richard Rohr – the False Self and the True Self that he speaks of in his book, “The Immortal Diamond”, and the spiritual development from the first half of life to the second half of life that he writes about in “Falling Upward.”
If you want to learn more about Richard Rohr, look for the Centre for Action and Contemplation. Here is the website link for the daily meditations
A Spiritual core shapes development, meaning, purpose, calling and connection
| With spiritual core (True Self) | Without spiritual core (False Self) | |
| Self is | Inherent Worth | Abilities Based |
| Identity | Meaning & Purpose | Aquiring Success |
| Work | Calling & Contribution | Talents & Gains |
| Relationships | Sacred, Share Love & Grow | Pleasing, Meet Needs |
| Path | Always Connected | Ultimately Alone |
| Place in the world | Purposeful World | Random World |
| Existential Reality | Love, Life-giving | Unknown |
| Good events | Blessings | Deserved luck |
| Bad events | Opportunities. Learning | Random. Failure |
Harken 