Category Archives: States of Being

Exploring Religion, Shaped by the Enlightenment

By PETER S. STEINFELS Why can’t religion and the Enlightenment be friends? What’s that, you say? They were friends? Why didn’t anyone tell us? Well, David Sorkin has. A professor of history and Jewish studies at the University of Wisconsin, … Continue reading

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The Evolution of the God Gene

By NICHOLAS WADE IN the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico, the archaeologists Joyce Marcus and Kent Flannery have gained a remarkable insight into the origin of religion. During 15 years of excavation they have uncovered not some monumental temple but evidence … Continue reading

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A Book of Silence: Far From

By DOMINIQUE BROWNING New York Times Skip to next paragraph A BOOK OF SILENCE By Sara Maitland We live in noise. The world is a booming, rustling, buzzing place to begin with (though many of us have shut out nature’s … Continue reading

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Self-Meditating: Healing Yourself at Meditation Retreats

By Robert Wright This Friday I’m heading up to rural Massachusetts in hopes of getting born again — again. Six years ago, in the same locale, I attended my first and only silent meditation retreat. It was just about the … Continue reading

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Mind-Body Connection: Scientists Bridging the Spirituality Gap

PHILADELPHIA – Religion and science can combine to create some thorny questions: Does God exist outside the human mind, or is God a creation of our brains? Why do we have faith in things that we cannot prove, whether it’s … Continue reading