Contemporary Spiritualities Social and Religious Contexts [Hardcover]

Spirituality can be understood within both a religious and secular context. Fuelled by the controversy that surrounds different understandings of human identity and notions of progress, knowledge and truth in modernist and postmodernist contexts, the concept of spirituality is a hotly contested topic of debate as to its relevance within contemporary culture and its meaning within religious traditions. This book aims to inform readers on this debate and contextualize it within these different frames of reference. It approaches the topic of spirituality with an identification of the major influences on contemporary thinking and presents a coherent framework of understanding that links divergent thinking into a common goal. Writings range across different thinkers and practitioners within established religious tradition, contemporary movements and those who operate within psychological and 'secular' understandings. Focusing on the question 'what does it mean to be human?' this engaging study attempts to overcome the divide between secular and religious understandings of spirituality.

Section 1: Influential Writers and Thinkers1. Influential Writers and Thinkers: A Retrospective Reconsideration and a Contemporary Contextualisation Clive Erricker 2. Mysticism and Contemporary Society: Some Teilhardian Reflections Ursula King (University of Bristol) 3. Bede Griffiths and the One Universal Reality Shirley du Boulay (Professional Writer) 4. Thomas Merton: Monk for the Contemporary World Danny Sullivan (Anglican Diocese of Oxford) 5. Jiddu Krishnamurti and the Open Secret Clive Erricker 6. The Dalai Lama: Dimensions of Spirituality Geshe Thupten Jinpa (Institute of Tibetan Classics, Montreal) 7. Carole Christ's Narrative Theology Ruth Mantin (University College Chichester)Section 2: Faith Communities8. Faith Communities: Spiritual Diversity, Hope and Tension in the Modern World Clive Erricker 9. In the Realm of the Deathless: The Buddhist Forest Retreat Oló&