Full Description
Seeking Transcendence examines the various paths taken by those who have detached themselves from their traditional, institutional religious roots but are seeking non-traditional paths to spiritual experiences. Called the "nones" or "non-affiliated" in popular mass media, these include a significant number of Western folks who maintain a belief in God or at least consider themselves "spiritual but not religious".
Each chapter of the book explores these trends with a specific theme, as well as a case study based on the author's ethnographic observation of alternative spiritual communities and practices in North America and Western Europe.
Ultimately, this book shows how contemporary alternatives to traditional institutional religion appeal to nones, presenting the relevance of new religious movements and more secular spiritual paths to transcendence.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Prologue: A Spiritual Journey
1. Introduction: Transcendence
I'm Spiritual, Not Religious, But. . .
An Italian Fantasy
An Age of Detachment
Mainstream and Tradition
Europe vs. North America
What the Data Reveal
2. Are There Cults?
What is a Cult?
Higher Ed Moonies
Cultification
Summary
3. Evangelicals: Politics and Media
Evangelism in a Barn
Summary
4. From East To West
An Age of Gurus
Look Toward Easternization
Two Domes Amid the Corn
The Science of TM
Yogananda's Legacy
Becoming a Guru
At a Convocation
SRF Monastics
Of Temples and Shrines
Variations on a Theme
Summary
5. Indigenous Spirituality
Sun Dance and Modern Movements
Of Boarding Schools
Summary
6. New Age Neopagan
Earth and Spirituality
Floating in a Sea of the Mind
The New Age Envelope
New Thought
A Wiccan Story: There and Back Again
Summary
7. Meditation In Motion
Art of Softness
Tai Chi Spirituality
Labyrinths, Another Meditation in Motion
Summary
8. Thin Places of Peace: Alternative Christianity
Liminal Spaces
Ashore on Iona
Summary
9. Pilgrimages and Other Spiritual Journeys
The Secular and the Spiritual
Summary
Epilogue: The Threads
North of Taos
