The human spirit

Deep inner transformation, at the taproot level, naturally cascades up

About
Spirituality


"There are no constraints on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect". Ronald Reagan

​"The idea flow from the human spirit is absolutely unlimited. All you have to do is tap into that well." Jack Welch

Liberating and awakening the "human spirit" is the trillion dollar gateway to realising boundless human potential.

We can choose to create a verdant socio-economic landscape.

Human development and improvement need no longer lag (so far) behind technology.
 

Universal


Human spirituality is universal - acknowledged by non-religious thinkers like Carl Sagan, and even by leading atheists Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins.

​Sectarian religion on the other hand is not universal. And it divides us.
​
Secularism is not universal either. It is also a reductionist response to the enigma of sectarian religion.

Harris links spirituality to "consciousness", and defines spirituality as “a clearer understanding of the way things are”.

​Richard Dawkins has likewise commented on science and spirituality: "Far from being demeaning to human spiritual values, scientific rationalism is the crowning glory of the human spirit."

Carl Sagan

​"Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality."

"The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

"When we finally come to terms with [science] and fully recognize its beauty and its power, we will find, in spiritual as well as in practical matters, that we have made a bargain strongly in our favor."

"And the cumulative worldwide build-up of knowledge over time converts science into something only a little short of a trans-national, trans-generational meta-mind."

David Yamane
as quoted by Lea Plante

"The idea of being spiritual — not religious — is increasingly popular among the scientific community as well as in American culture at large." and,

​"Many scientists who are politically liberal don’t want to associate with religion because of its conservative valence today." and,

"Historically, there are no boundary disputes between spirituality and science, unlike religion and science." and,

​"Hence, today, social scientists — to the extent that they orient themselves to the sacred — may be even more attached to spirituality than natural scientists."

Crucial

Spiritual health underpins many other forms of health in humans, business and the economy.

​Conversely spiritual illness underpins many other forms of illness in humans, business and the economy.

Underdeveloped

​We have invested huge resources, over thousands of years, in mapping and building out the RELIGIOUS and SECULAR domains.

Massive opportunities and returns beckon as soon as we decide to do the same for the SPIRITUAL domain.

Religious vs secular vs spiritual

Search (Ctrl + F) for the root word 'religio' in the Wikipedia article on Secularism.

For several decades now, Australia has been carefully cataloguing the endemic failures of the religious and secular systems in a series of Royal Commissions.

​The need to turn our 'right-brain' ON is clear and pressing.

Our socio-economic systems will flourish when our spiritual and intuitive intelligences are high.

____________

Workplace spirituality

While the benefits of workplace spirituality are well known and understood, very few companies or governments have managed to develop a humane and verdant culture based on lifting the "human spirit".

There are big challenges. Thankfully these challenges now have powerful solutions.

Workplace religion

We know that religion does not belong in the workplace or government.

​After all, the basic premise of religion is definitively sectarian (divisive): "my religion is true, and yours is false".

​An enigma

At the same time we struggle to tell religion and spirituality apart.

So we end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
 



What to do

Clear definitions are a step in the right direction.

Another challenge is articulating a broadly inclusive spiritual framework that is equal to the challenges of "the human condition" – one based on the seemingly counterintuitive, yet powerfully liberating, transforming and empowering message, 'known' as the "good news", or gospel of grace, or glad tidings, or evangel, and so on.

The next challenge is developing consensus where all agree to set aside sectarian religion and pursue unifying spirituality instead.

Good news

Fortunately there are numerous powerful models of both ordinary and extraordinary people who have made the daunting yet immensely rewarding transition - both historical and contemporary.

At this point in history we are also finally in a position to use very helpful frameworks to distill their collective wisdom and to codify their transformation processes.

ACADEMIA

A snapshot of the state of play

Handbook of Intuition Research, 2013, Dr Marta Sinclair, Griffith University Business School

Handbook of Research Methods on Intuition, 2016, Dr Marta Sinclair, Griffith University Business School

Handbook of Intuition Research As Practice, 2020, Dr Marta Sinclair, Griffith University Business School

Intuitively Correct – we know more than we think, Barbara Kündig, Dr Marta Sinclair (pending translation from German to English)

SQ: Connecting With Our Spiritual Intelligence, Dr Danah Zohar, Dr Ian Marshall

Spiritual Capital: Wealth We Can Live By, Dr Danah Zohar

ReWiring the Corporate Brain: Using the New Science to Rethink How We Structure and Lead Organizations, Dr Danah Zohar

The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Transpersonal Psychology, Dr Harris L. Friedman

Handbook of Spirituality and Worldview in Clinical Practice, Dr Owen D. Buck

The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business, Professor Luk Bouckaert

The Spiritual Dimension of Business Ethics and Sustainability Management, Professor László Zsolnai

Psychology of the Future: Lessons from Modern Consciousness Research, Dr Stanislav Grof (book and YouTube)

Toward Developing Transpersonal Psychology as a Scientific Field, Professor Harris Friedman (2000 conference paper)

Law and Grace (essay, 21 March 2012), Virginia Law Review, Prof William J Stuntz, Harvard Law School (a scholarly critique of conservativism from within)

Waking up - A guide to Spirituality Without Religion, Dr Sam Harris

God without Religion, Dr Andrew Farley

Repenting of Religion, Dr Greg Boyd

The Hyper-Grace Gospel, Dr Paul Ellis

The Road Less Traveled, Dr Morgan Scott Peck

People of the Lie: The Hope For Healing Human Evil, Dr Morgan Scott Peck

Psycho-Cybernetics, Dr Maxwell Maltz

Our Purpose
"Re-imagining Human, Business and Socio-Economic Potential"


"We know more than we think"
academic Marta Sinclair

"We know more than we can tell"
polymath Michael Polanyi, paraphrase

"We know more than we see"
scientist Alan Du Preez

Human, Business, Socio-Economic and Education
Improvement Sciences
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