Could you run your own investment fund in college?

Ben Sender, a senior at Princeton University and founder of student-run investment fund Effective Altruism Investments (EAI), does just that.

EAI currently manages $100,000 and pursues "objectively good returns for objectively good causes," Sender says. The exclusive, inter-campus organization accepts just seven percent of the students from Princeton, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and Williams College who apply to join. That's about the same as Princeton's undergraduate acceptance rate.

Most of the students joining EAI are studying economics, computer science, financial engineering and math, although majors do vary. What brings them together is their interest in EAI's mission. Most of them are not invested in the fund; they're choosing to focus on managing other people's money.

"EAI is the result of intersecting passions for morality and investing, manifesting itself in a threefold mission to beat the market on a risk-adjusted basis, donate 20 percent of profits to the most worthy causes, and educate members and the community on investing and philanthropy," Sender tells CNBC Make It.

Sender, a 21-year-old from South Orange, New Jersey, grew up loving the investing world. As a high school student, he wrote for Seeking Alpha and created investing apps, including automatic stock valuation and analysis apps that garnered a total of 35,000 downloads.

See the article here:
Ivy League students turn a profit running a $100000 investment fund to support good causes - CNBC

As investment yields decline, business development companies are faced with a tough decision: Cut their dividends or reduce payments to their managers.

This quarter, FS Investment Corp. (NYSE:FSIC) did both, slashing its quarterly dividend from $0.22 per share to $0.19 per share, while agreeing to reduce its base management fee to 1.5% of assets, down from 1.75% of assets for at least one year.

Most publicly traded BDCs have only one manager, or advisor, who is responsible for managing the fund and making investment decisions. In exchange, the manager receives management fees plus incentive fees for good performance.

A complex web of relationships makes FS Investment's dividend policy less clear than other BDCs. Image source: Getty Images.

In contrast, FS Investment Corp., which got its start as a non-traded BDC, effectively has two managers. An affiliate of FS Investments (formerly known as Franklin Square) acts as its investment advisor, but the actual investment decisions are farmed out via a sub-advisory relationship with GSO/Blackstone, an affiliate of Blackstone Group. The fees earned from managing the portfolio are split in half. FS gets half, and GSO/Blackstone gets the other half.

My understanding is that the relationship between these two entities is contentious, to say the least. What started as a humble non-traded BDC has now grown into a powerhouse in private credit. In addition to FS Investment Corp., FS has four other private BDCs with a sub-advisory agreement with GSO/Blackstone that together had equity capital of approximately $9 billion as of March 31.

As yields come down, investors naturally look to outsize fees as a source of cost savings to spare BDC's dividends. But who, exactly, should pay for it? FS or GSO?

That's an important question. FS Investments' value may have been more clear during the fundraising process, when it relied on an army of financial advisors to sell shares of the then-non-traded BDC. But when it comes to the actual performance of the BDCs as they stand today, GSO/Blackstone plays the most important role in investment selection. See the diagram below from a December presentation.

Image source: FS Investment Corp. presentation

GSO/Blackstone's responsibilities include identifying and originating investments and monitoring credit aspects of the portfolio, among others. FS's roles appear to include duties that fall more into the spectrum of administrative tasks, providing only a secondary layer to GSO/Blackstone's investment selection process.

GSO is a highly regarded credit fund manager with approximately $95 billion of capital under management across a number of public and private funds, which collectively dwarf the BDCs it manages under a sub-advisory relationship. The FS Investment BDCs may be getting lost in the fray.

After all, GSO/Blackstone isn't exactly striking it rich with the FS Investment BDCs. The company stands to collect just half of the management fees (1.75% per year) and incentive fees (20% of returns in excess of 7.5% annually).

Assuming the new fee waiver is split equally between GSO/Blackstone and FS, GSO/Blackstone is effectively collecting just 0.75% on assets plus a 10% incentive fee on returns in excess of 7.5% per year. On that basis, GSO/Blackstone is the lowest-paid external manager of any publicly traded BDC.

While I've taken the position against many high-cost external managers in the BDC industry, there comes a point where the fee structure no longer incentivizes the manager. If GSO stumbles on an exceptional credit investment, is it likely to allocate a large share to the FS Investment BDCs, where it earns only half the incentive fee, or to one of its many other funds, where it doesn't share the rewards with a partner?

Fees aside, the operational aspects of FS Investment Corp. are interesting. The company's eleven member board of directors has substantial FS representation. As for GSO/Blackstone's role on the board, it appears to be nonexistent from my cursory view.

That may seem like a mere detail, but BDC boards are entrusted with more responsibility than your average publicly traded company. The board of directors has the very important responsibility of signing off on the value of the investment portfolio each quarter. It's interesting that credits picked by GSO/Blackstone are valued by a board that doesn't seem to include any GSO/Blackstone representatives.

Of course, this likely comes back to another important role of BDC boards: Selecting an investment advisor. Most BDCs stuff their boards with management allies, so as to minimize the risk that the board decides it's time for new management. FS Investment Corp.'s board could, at least in theory, decide that it's in the shareholders' best interest to cut FS out of the picture. That seems unlikely to happen, since FS Investment Corp's independent board members make substantially more in director fees than dividends, and generally own very little of the company's stock.

Admittedly, even the most thoughtful fee and incentive structures have their faults. And the truth is that from a shareholder perspective, the FS Investments' fee structure isn't the worst. At a minimum, it at least somewhat shelters investors from capital losses, given that the incentive fee is based on a metric that includes gains and losses, something that other BDCs don't have.

That said, other BDC managers are choosing to waive fees to spare their dividends, building up valuable goodwill with investors, and ensuring that the BDC trades at a premium to net asset value, thus allowing the management team to grow assets and thus future profits from a growing stream of fee income. That simple process is made more complicated when two entities collect a share of the fees.

The decision to put the burden of lower income on the backs of shareholders, its sub-advisor, and itself, puts it at odds with many similarly sized BDCs that have spared their shareholders from dividend cuts. It may also put it at odds with its sub-advisor.The relationship between GSO/Blackstone and FS, which I'm told isn't as friendly behind closed doors, may be its undoing. Individual investors who own the BDC are thus left to pay the price from a relationship they have nothing to do with.

See the article here:
FS Investment Corp: Who Should Pay for Lower Returns? - Motley Fool

An American investment banker denies he is the jogger who pushed a woman into traffic on a bridge in southwest London. Eric Bellquist, a 41-year-old partner at private equity firm Hutton Collins, was arrested late Thursday in connection to the assault, but insists he was in the United States on the date in question, the morning of May 5.

The stunning incident was captured on surveillance footage. A man in shorts and T-shirt is jogging as a woman walks in the opposite direction on the pedestrian path of Putney Bridge. Before she passes him, the jogger appears to shove her off the walkway directly into oncoming traffic. A double-decker bus swerves out of the way just in time to avoid hitting the 33-year-old victim. The man dubbed the Putney Pusher by the British tabloids keeps running.

The woman suffered only minor injuries, thanks to the hero bus driver who veered just in time, and bystanders who rushed to help her. The victim told police that the jogger again ran by the same spot, about 15 minutes later. She tried to confront him, and he ignored her.

Bellquist was reportedly released on bail as police continue the investigation, and he has not been charged with any crime. Bellquists attorneys released a statement Friday maintaining their client had been wrongly implicated in the bridge assault. Bellquist categorically denies being the individual concerned and has irrefutable proof that he was in the US at the time of the incident, the statement read. Consequently, we expect a swift resolution to this wholly untrue allegation.

Read the original post:
American Investment Banker Denies He's the Jogger Who Shoved Woman Into London Traffic - New York Magazine

KITCO NEWS - Gold prices pushed to a two-month high Wednesday, on solid safe-haven demand. Video provided by TheStreet Newslook

A propaganda poster is displayed during a rally in support of North Korea's stance against the U.S., on Kim Il-Sung square in Pyongyang on Aug. 9, 2017. U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States' nuclear arsenal was "more powerful than ever" in a fresh warning to North Korea over its repeated missile tests. (AFP PHOTO / KIM WON-JIN/AFP/Getty Images)(Photo: KIM WON-JIN, AFP/Getty Images)

Chatter about nuclear weapons capabilities, tough talk between the U.S. and North Korea and three straight days of losses in the stock market might have you wondering if you should stash your cash in an underground bunker for safe keeping in case the bluster morphs into a real fight.

While that type of emotional thinking might not seem irrational given recent threats from Pyongyang and President Trump saying the U.S. would respond with fire and fury, rejiggering your portfolio in a major way due to the recent saber-rattling isnt a strategy recommended by most investment pros. While unsettling, the latest geopolitical scare has done little to dent the improving economic outlook.

More: Here's what to do if North Korea has you worried about your investments

More: Here's what to do if North Korea has you worried about your investments

What Wall Street does advise, however, is using this uncertain time to review your portfolio and make sure you arent taking on too much risk and can ride out a market drop if one occurs, says Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at Wall Street research firm CFRA.

Indeed, given the market's run to record highs this year in tame trading, the uncertainty caused by the North Korea crisis could trigger selling by investors sensing now is a good time to take profits.

The Dow Jones industrial average closed down Thursday nearly 205 points, or 0.9%, and back below 22,000. It wasits biggest daily point drop since May 17 and third straight day of losses since the relationshipbetween the U.S. and North Korea turned more contentious Tuesday. The Dow, which hit an all-time high Monday, is down 1.25% from its peak but still up 10.5% in 2017.

Here are a few reasons why the latest geopolitical flare-up shouldnt spook you into fleeing stocks and funneling your moneyto the perceived safety of havens, such as cash, gold and U.S. government bonds.

The most feared outcome is war. Nuclear war is what really keeps people up at night. But the preferred -- and most likely outcome -- is that the recent escalation in tensions between the U.S. and North Korea will be resolved diplomatically, not militarily. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson downplayed the risk of war Wednesday, saying he doesnt believe there is any imminent threat of a nuclear attack from North Korea and that Americans should sleep well at night.

Wall Street pros say the main risk is if the war of words leads to combat.

There has to be a real worry that there will be a march to war in order to sink the stock markets buoyant tone, says Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG in New York.

Overreacting to something that might not even happen isnt recommended.

A breakout in hostile actions between two nations is an outlier type of event that has nothing to do with normal market drivers such as the stock valuations, corporate earnings or the health of the economy, so the market impact really cant be modeled, says Bill Hornbarger, chief investment officer at Moneta Group in St. Louis. Im not sure I would reshuffle my portfolio based on a low-probability event.

Main Street investors need to remember that the Dow Jones industrial average hit an all-time high of 22,118.42 on Monday, and is just 1.25% below that level. The takeaway? The blue-chip stock gauge is resilient and has overcome many military confrontations and geopolitical threats in its 121-year history.

History shows that stocks tend to quickly rebound from losses resulting from war or other shocks, such as terrorism. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, caused the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index to drop 3.8% the day of the attack, but it recouped its losses and was 0.3% higher a month later, data from Strategas Research Partners show. Similarly, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the market recouped its five-session 11.6% drop in four weeks. Stocks didnt even decline after the start of the Iraq War in early 2003.

Adds Stovall: The S&P 500 rose 5.8% in August 1945, the month in which two atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Essentially, war has a poor record of disrupting Wall Street.

Since World War II, the U.S. has been involved in many military conflicts, but most have had a very limited impact on financial markets in the short run, and almost no impact in the long run, says Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Des Peres, Mo.-based Cornerstone Wealth Management.

The escalation of tensions with North Korea can be counted among the exogenous shocks that do unfortunately hit the markets from time to time, says Erik Davidson, chief investment officer at Wells Fargo Private Bank in San Francisco. But past performance suggests investors would be ill-advised to make big changes to their portfolios as a result. Many times, says Davidson, these feared events dont happen, which was the case with the Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962 and fears surrounding the Y2K computer glitch that never materialized at the start of 2000.

The market has a habit of shrugging off geopolitical headwinds and climbing higher.

Davidson offers the following advice to investors that are reevaluating their holdings: Have stock exposures crept too high given the recent run-up in global stocks? Is there enough of a bond weighting to provide ballast to the portfolio in case of increased market turbulence? Is there enough cash available so that an investor can ride out any potential short-term market disruptions?

Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2vREHJA

View original post here:
Investment anxiety? What to do if North Korea has you worried - USA TODAY

BRECKENRIDGE The Colorado Classic is more than a bike-racing festival. Its more than a four-day, tourist-luring commercial. The inaugural pro-cycling race, which wraps in Denvers River North neighborhood on Saturday and Sunday with a merry blend of bikes, beers and bands, also is serving as bait for big business.

Ive always said that Denver will be and now it has become one of the most dynamic and fastest growing cities in the country, and this level of bike race potential and support shows what we can do for a high-level company, said Colorado tech entrepreneur Jim Deters, who is hosting a cast of corporate bosses on a signature Colorado weekend of cycling, dining and dancing. This is a whole new level for a live commercial. They are not just seeing it on TV. They are putting rubber to the pavement and feeling the burn of elevation in their lungs and screaming with the bands. We are going to get them addicted to Colorado.

More than a dozen heavy hitters from IBM, Amazon, Silicon Valley Bank, Workday and venture capital firms will join Gov. John Hickenlooper and a consortium of Colorado cheerleaders includingDaVita chief Ken Thiry, real estate developer Mark Falconeand other business leaders, as well as musicians and cyclists for a bike ride, dinner and backstage boogying on Saturday. The day should highlight Colorados hallmark outdoor and cultural lifestyle that draws top talent as well as the Front Range business environment carefully crafted to welcome entrepreneurs. The hope of the so-called CEO Challenge, dreamed up by Colorado bike boss and race investor Ken Gart, is to entice corporate chieftains to invest in Colorado.

Hickenlooper, sporting a Team Rwanda bike jersey, said the inaugural Colorado Classic is all about creating a series of moments of intense beauty. The game-changing bike-race model blending music lovers and cycling spectators in a soundtracked festival of professional bike racing aims to broaden the pro-cycling tent to include all comers, including young, beer-swilling dancers who might not be familiar with bike racing.

The governor compared the Colorado Classics blended approach including Velorama, the entertainment side of the event to the common retail strategy of cumulative attraction, which groups similar stores to encourage cross-shopping that establishes locations as the most attractive places to drop some cash.

The race, the Colorado Classic and Velorama, is so cool in its own right, Hickenlooper said. The more decision makers, the more people with influence from other parts of the country who experience it, the better. This is all just marketing the state. We have a bunch of offices with Silicon Valley companies already. Wouldnt hurt to have a few more.

Deters, who has spent his career launching startups including Galvanize and gSchool will lead some of the bigwig visitors on an entire lap of the 80-mile Stage 3, pushing from Denver up Coal Creek Canyon and back down Golden Gate Canyon on Saturday. Womens cycling legend Kristin Armstrong, who has won medals each of the past three Summer Olympics, will host a 40-mile ride. Later that night, the group will dine with the governor and members of Wilco before the band plays in RiNo.

Tom Pitstick, chief marketing officer for Denvers 106-year-old Gates Corp., is hoping the race helps his company sell more of its innovative carbon-belt drive systems that are designed to push the venerable bike chain into obsolescence.

His team is participating in the CEO Challenge, helping to sell Denver to business tycoons.

Its a great business community. Its a big small city with a great pool of talent coming in and a great education system. And the work environment has everything you need, with business infrastructure like big law firms and a great international airport, Pitstick said. Weve been here 106 years and we have no intention of ever leaving. Im telling everyone: Come join us.

Read the original post:
Colorado Classic organizers hosting big-business bosses in hopes of enticing investment in state - The Denver Post

From IRS.gov

Want to know how to file a tax return for free or the fastest way to check on a refund? Finding answers to those and other tax questions is only a few key strokes away. Millions of taxpayers use these free self-help tools on IRS.gov to find what they need.

Some of the most popular IRS tools are:

IRS Free File. UseIRS Free Fileto prepare and e-file a federal tax return using brand-name commercial tax software at no cost for anyone with income below $64,000. For those who havent filed yet, Free File is available through Oct. 17 to file a 2016 tax return. IRS Free File is only available through IRS.gov.

Wheres My Refund? Use Where's My Refund? at IRS.gov or theIRS2Go mobile appto check the status of a refund within 24 hours after the IRS receives the e-filed return or four weeks after a mailed paper return. The IRS2Go app is free and available on Google Play, the Apple App Store or Amazon.

Paying a Tax Bill. IRSDirect Payis the safe, easy and free way to pay taxes or estimated tax directly from a checking or savings account. Those wondering if they owe money to the IRS can view their tax account information on IRS.gov to find out. The Direct Pay tool has five simple steps to pay in a single online session and is also available with theIRS2Go mobile app.

Tax Account Online. With this tool, taxpayers can view their federal tax account balance, select IRS Direct Pay, debit or credit card or apply for an installment agreement. They can also access the Get Transcript tool to view, print or download tax records. Before accessing their tax account online, taxpayers must authenticate their identity through theSecure Accessprocess. Taxpayers who already have a user name and password from Secure Access for their tax account, Get Transcript Online or Identity Protection PIN, may use the same username and password.

Online Payment Agreement. Taxpayers who cant pay their taxes in full can apply for anOnline Payment Agreement. Using the Direct Debit payment plan option is a lower-cost, hassle-free way to make monthly payments.

Withholding Calculator. Want to avoid having too much or too little federal income tax withheld in 2017? TheWithholding Calculatortool helps calculate the best way to do it. Then complete a new Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate, to make the change.

Interactive Tax Assistant. Find reliable answers to tax questions with the Interactive Tax Assistant on IRS.gov. This tax law resource asks a series of questions and immediately provides answers for you on a variety of tax law topics, including general filing questions, deductions, credits and income. Find out who can deduct student loan interest or may be eligible to claim an education credit.

IRS Select Check. Is a charity real or a fake? Does a donation to an Exempt Organization qualify as a deduction? Use theIRS Select Checktool to search for and verify a charitys status including links to check certain information about each organizations federal tax status and filings.

Tax Map. TheIRS Tax Mapintegrates web links, tax forms, instructions and publications into one search result. Taxpayers can quickly find forms, publications, frequently asked questions and news by topic.

Sales Tax Deduction Calculator. Taxpayers who itemize can claim either state and local income taxes or state and local sales taxes (but not both). TheSales Tax Calculatoralso has overseas U.S. Military Zones and Districts where members of U.S. Military pay no sales tax. Military personnel deployed overseas can use the calculator to determine the sales tax they paid while they were within the United States.

Avoid scams. The IRS does not initiate contact using social media or text message. The first contact normally comes in the mail. Those wondering if they owe money to the IRS canview their tax accountinformation on IRS.gov to find out.

Remember that all of the web page addresses for the official IRS website, IRS.gov, begin with http://www.irs.gov. Don' t be confused or misled by Internet sites that end in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov. The address of the official IRS governmental Web site is http://www.irs.gov/.

Visit link:
IRS offers self-help tax tools - WBRC FOX6 News - WBRC.com

One of the most famous lines in the English language is actually of Scottish derivation, via the poetry of Robert Burns. As transliterated: "Oh, would some Power the giftee give us, to see ourselves as others see us."

We would recommend that maxim to the cadres of the two major political parties, both of which had indulged and perhaps over-indulged in some positive thinking on their own behalf last week. (See "Politics," p. 8.)

Consider, for instance, the appearance of Vice President Mike Pence as keynote speaker at the state Republican Party's annual Statesmen's banquet in Nashville. He and other prominent Republicans had a high time blowing their own horn, and who can begrudge them on an occasion like that?

The problem was that, here and there, the GOP speakers over-spoke themselves in a way that was seriously misleading, and, worse, self-deceptive. Could the Vice President actually believe, as he stated to a rapturous audience, that President Trump is "restoring our traditional alliances" and that "the world is responding to new American leadership"?

With all due respect to the president (and how much is due is up for debate), and without our attempting to judge the long-range effect of his foreign policy, such as it is, even his closest associates acknowledge that Trump is viewed with wary suspicion by those aforementioned allies for his ever-fluctuating policy declarations, and with outright scorn for his decision to take the U.S. out of the Paris climate accords.

Senator Lamar Alexander, as chairman of the Senate Health Committee, is taking the lead in breaking away from the hitherto closed ranks of Republican Obamacare decriers to hold hearings and entertain bipartisan negotiations on health care. Good for him. But to the crowd in Nashville, Alexander boasted of his prior votes with the rest of the GOP pack to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act and vowed, "I'm not going to rest until the 350,000 Tennesseans who buy their insurance on the free market are able to go into that market and buy insurance that they choose to buy and can afford." There's nothing in that statement that an exponent of the ACA couldn't also endorse.

Meanwhile, the five candidates for the chairmanship of the newly restored Shelby County Democratic Party spoke to some worthy goals in two Memphis forums last week. But almost all of them, including eventual chairman-elect Corey Strong, laid whatseems to us misguided emphasis on a need to createthe mostforbidding litmus test possible for participation in party affairs one that would almost guarantee, say,that anyone who had ever cast a Republican vote need not apply.

Really? Might as well put a sign on party headquarters: "Converts Not Wanted/Take Your Nasty Votes Away."

All we are recommending, to the true believers in either party, is that they step aside from their accustomed bromides and bloviations and make an effort to examine their preconceived notions with a neutral eye. They might actually learn something.

More here:
Republicans and Democrats Need More Political Self-Awareness - Memphis Flyer

Social and emotional learning (SEL) enhances students capacity to integrate skills, attitudes, and behaviors to deal effectively and ethically with daily tasks and challenges. Like many similar frameworks, CASELs integrated framework promotes intrapersonal, interpersonal, and cognitive competence. There are five core competencies that can be taught in many ways across many settings. Many educators and researchers are also exploring how best to assess these competencies.

The ability to accurately recognize ones own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior. The ability to accurately assess ones strengths and limitations, with a well-grounded sense of confidence, optimism, and a growth mindset.

The ability to successfully regulate ones emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations effectively managing stress, controlling impulses, and motivating oneself. The ability to set and work toward personal and academic goals.

The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed.

Responsible decision-making

The ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms. The realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and a consideration of the well-being of oneself and others.

Go here to see the original:
Core SEL Competencies

Spiritual evolution is the philosophical, theological, esoteric or spiritual idea that nature and human beings and/or human culture evolve: either extending from an established cosmological pattern (ascent), or in accordance with certain pre-established potentials. The phrase "spiritual evolution" can occur in the context of "higher evolution", a term used to differentiate psychological, mental, or spiritual evolution from the "lower" or biological evolution of physical form.[1]

The concept of spiritual evolution is also complemented by the idea of a creative impulse in human beings, known as epigenesis.[2]

Within this broad definition, theories of spiritual evolution are very diverse. They may be cosmological (describing existence at large), personal (describing development of an individual), or both. They can be holistic (holding that higher realities emerge from and are not reducible to the lower), idealist (holding that reality is primarily mental or spiritual) or nondual (holding that there is no ultimate distinction between mental and physical reality). One can regard all of them as teleological to a greater or lesser degree.

Philosophers, scientists, and educators who have proposed theories of spiritual evolution include Schelling (1775-1854), Hegel (1770-1831), Carl Jung (1875-1961), Max Thon (1848-1927), Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), Henri Bergson (1859-1941), Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), Jean Gebser (1905-1973), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), Owen Barfield (1898-1997), Arthur M. Young (1905-1995), Edward Haskell (1906-1986), E. F. Schumacher (1911-1977), Erich Jantsch (1929-1980), Clare W. Graves (1914-1986), Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947), Terence McKenna (1946-2000), and P.R. Sarkar (1921-1990). As of 2015[update]William Irwin Thompson (born 1938), Victor Skumin (born 1948), Ken Wilber (born 1949), and Brian Swimme (born 1950) work in this field.

Mircea Eliade has suggested that in many pre-modern cultures one finds the concept of the Fall and a "nostalgia for paradise". However, for those cultures that have a cyclic cosmology, the concept of a progressive deterioration of the universe (as in the Hesiodic, Hindu, and Lurianic cosmologies of a degradation from a Golden Age to an Iron Age or Kali Yuga) might be balanced by a corresponding ascent to more spiritual stages and a return to paradisical conditions. This is what one finds in Buddhist and especially Jain cosmologies.

Many premodern cosmologies and esoteric systems of thought are based on an emanationist view of reality. If the Cyclic view is temporal, then emanation is a non-temporal precursor to the theory of spiritual evolution.

According to this paradigm, Creation proceeds as an outpouring or even a transformation in the original Absolute or Godhead. The Supreme Light or Consciousness descends through a series of stages, gradations, worlds or hypostases, becoming progressively more material and embodied, before finally turning around to return to the One, retracing its steps through spiritual knowledge, contemplation and ascent.

A supreme example of this form of thinking is the Neoplatonism of Plotinus and his successors. Other examples and interpretations might be found in the Hindu sect of Kashmir Shaivism and Tantra in general, Gnosticism, Sufism, and Kabbalah. The Hindu idea of the Chakras might also considered here as the "microcosmic" counterpart of macrocosmic involution and evolution. The Yogi raises the Kundalini or life force through and thus transcends each chakra in turn, until he reaches the crown chakra and liberation.[3]

An early example of the doctrine of spiritual evolution is found in Samkhya, one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy, that goes back more than two and a half thousand years (although its present form dates to around the 4th or 5th century c.e.). Unlike most types of classic Hinduism, the traditional Samkhyan philosophy is atheistic and dualistic. Pure spirit (called purusha) comes into proximity with prakriti (psychophysical nature), disturbing its equilibrium. As a result, the original root-prakriti (mulaprakriti) undergoes a series of progressive transformations or unfoldings, in the form of successive essences called tattvas. The most subtle tattwas emerge first, then progressively grosser ones, each in a particular order, and finally the elements and the organs of sense. The goal of evolution however is, paradoxically, the release of purusha and the return to the unmanifest condition. Hence everything is tending towards a goal of spiritual quiescence.[4]

The concept of the great chain of being developed by Plato and Aristotle whose ideas were taken up and synthesised by Plotinus. Plotinus in turn heavily influenced Augustine's theology, and from there Aquinas and the Scholastics. The Great Chain of Being was an important theme in Renaissance and Elizabethan thought, had an under-acknowledged influence on the shaping of the ideas of the Enlightenment and played a large part in the worldview of 18th century Europe. And while essentially a static worldview, by the 18th and early 19th century it had been "temporalized" by the concept of the soul ascending or progressing spiritually through the successive rungs or stages, and thus growing or evolving closer to God.[5] It also had at this time an impact on theories of biological evolution.

E. F. Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful, has recently proposed a sort of simplified Great Chain of Being, based on the idea of four "kingdoms" (mineral, vegetable, animal, human).[6] Schumacher rejects modernist and scientific themes, his approach recalling the universalist orientation of writers like Huston Smith,[7] and likely contributing to Ken Wilber's "holonomic" hierarchy or "Great Nest of Being".[8]

The concept of spiritual evolution has been taught in Buddhism. William Sturgis Bigelow - a physician and Buddhist - attempted to merge biology with spirituality. He accepted the existence of both material and spiritual realms, and many of his ideas were discussed in his book Buddhism and Immortality (1908). Bigelow used the concept of natural selection as a mechanism for evolution. According to the author, spiritual evolution involves an individual emerging from "unconditioned consciousness" and moving "up the scale of evolution guided by natural selection". Then the individual moves to a level of celestial experience, and finally is able to "return to the unconditioned consciousness from which all things emerge". Bigelow accepted both material and spiritual evolution and he also believed that Buddhism and science were compatible.[9]

Albert Low a Zen master and author of The Origin of Human Nature: A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution (2008) opposes neo-Darwinism and the selfish gene theory as he claims they are materialistic. He also opposes creationism for being dogmatic and instead advocates spiritual evolution.[10]

In Vajrayana, spiritual evolution is equivalent with the development of the three bodies of Trikaya.

Theories of spiritual evolution are important in many Occult and Esoteric teachings, which emphasise the progression and development of the individual either after death (spiritualism) or through successive reincarnations (Theosophy, Hermeticism).

Spiritualists reacted with uncertainty to the theories of evolution in the late 19th and early 20th century. Broadly speaking, the concept of evolution fit the spiritualist thought of the progressive development of humanity. At the same time, however, a belief in the animal origins of man threatened the foundation of the immortality of the spirit, for if man had not been created, it was scarcely plausible that he would be specially endowed with a spirit. This led to spiritualists embracing spiritual evolution.[11]

In the 19th century, Anglo-American Spiritualist ideas emphasized the progression of the soul after death to higher states of existence, in contrast to Spiritism which admits to reincarnation.

Spiritualism taught that after death, spirits progressed to new spheres of existence. According to this idea, evolution occurred in the spirit world at a rate more rapid and under conditions more favorable to growth than encountered on earth.[12]

The biologist and spiritualist Alfred Russel Wallace (18231913) believed that qualitative novelties could arise through the process of spiritual evolution, in particular, the phenomena of life and mind. Wallace attributed these novelties to a supernatural agency.[13] Later in his life, Wallace was an advocate of spiritualism and believed in an immaterial origin for the higher mental faculties of humans. He believed that evolution suggested the universe had a purpose, and that certain aspects of living organisms are not explainable in terms of purely materialistic processes. In a 1909 magazine article entitled The World of Life, which he later expanded into a book of the same name[14] Wallace argued in his 1911 book World of life for a spiritual approach to evolution and described evolution as creative power, directive mind and ultimate purpose. Wallace believed natural selection could not explain intelligence or morality in the human being so suggested that non-material spiritual forces accounted for these. Wallace believed the spiritual nature of man could not have come about by natural selection alone, the origins of the spiritual nature must originate in the unseen universe of spirit.[15][16]

Robert Broom in his book The Coming of Man: Was it Accident or Design? (1933) claimed that "spiritual agencies" had guided evolution as animals and plants were too complex to have arisen by chance. According to Broom there were at least two different kinds of spiritual forces, and psychics are capable of seeing them.[17] Broom claimed there was a plan and purpose in evolution and that the origin of Homo sapiens is the ultimate purpose behind evolution. According to Broom "Much of evolution looks as if it had been planned to result in man, and in other animals and plants to make the world a suitable place for him to dwell in.[18]

The Anglo-American position recalls (and is presumably inspired by) 18th century concepts regarding the temporalization of The Great Chain of Being. Spiritual evolution, rather than being a physical (or physico-spiritual) process is based on the idea of realms or stages through which the soul or spirit passes in a non-temporal, qualitative way. This is still an important part of some spiritualist ideas today, and is similar to some mainline (as opposed to fundamentalist) Protestant Christian beliefs, according to which after death the person goes to "summerland" (see Spirit world)

Theosophy presents a more sophisticated and complex cosmology than Spiritualism, although coming out of the same general milieu. H. P. Blavatsky developed a highly original cosmology, according to which the human race (both collectively and through the succession of individual reincarnation and spiritual evolution) passes through a number of Root Races, beginning with the huge ethereal and mindless Polarian or First Root Race, through the Lemurian (3rd), Atlantean (4th) and our present "Aryan" 5th Race. This will give rise to a future, Post-Aryan 6th Root Race of highly spiritual and enlightened beings that will arise in Baja California in the 28th century, and an even more sublime 7th Root Race, before ascending to totally superhuman and cosmic states of existence.

Blavatsky's ideas were further developed by her successors, such as C.W. Leadbeater, Rudolf Steiner, Alice Bailey, Benjamin Creme, and Victor Skumin each of whom went into huge detail in constructing baroque cycles of rounds, races, and sub-races. Skumin elaborated on the theosophical conceptions of spiritual evolution, he proposed a definition and classification of Homo spiritalis (Latin: "spiritual man"), the sixth root race, consisting of eight sub-races (subspecies): HS0 Anabiosis spiritalis, HS1 Scientella spiritalis, HS2 Aurora spiritalis, HS3 Ascensus spiritalis, HS4 Vocatus spiritalis, HS5 Illuminatio spiritalis, S6 Creatio spiritalis, and HS7 Servitus spiritalis.[19]

Although including elements of the science of her day as well as both eastern and western esoteric thought, Blavatsky rejected the Darwinian idea that man evolved from apes, and most subsequent esotericists followed this lead. Darwinism, with its explanation of evolution through material factors like natural selection and random mutation, does not sit well with many spiritual evolutionists, for whom evolution is initiated or guided by metaphysical principles or is tending towards a final spiritual or divine state. It is believed by Theosophists that humans are evolving spiritually through a series of esoteric initiations and in the future humans will become esoteric masters themselves as their souls gradually rise upward through the spiritual hierarchy over the course of eons as they reincarnate.

Despite this, recent Theosophists and Anthroposophists have tried to incorporate the facts of geology and paleontology into their cosmology and spiritual evolution (in Anthroposophy Hermann Poppelbaum is a particularly creative thinker in this regard). Some have attempted to equate Lemuria with Gondwanaland, for example. Today all these ideas have little influence outside their specialised followings, but for a time Theosophical concepts were immensely influential. Theosophy-like teachings also continue today in a group of religions based on Theosophy called the Ascended Master Teachings.

Theurgy has a clear relationship to Neoplatonism and Kabbalah and contains the concept of spiritual evolution[citation needed] and ultimately unification with God or the Godhead at its core. Theurgy is considered by many to be another term for high magic and is known to have influenced the members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn many of whom considered the order to be Theurgic in nature. Aleister Crowley also considered his Thelemic system of magical philosophy to be a Theurgic tradition as it emphasized the Great Work, which is essentially another form of spiritual evolution. The Great Work is believed to result in communication with one's personal angel or higher self.

Epigenesis is the philosophical/theological/esoteric idea that since the mind was given to the human being, it is the original creative impulse, epigenesis, which has been the cause of all of mankind's development.

According to spiritual evolution, humans build upon that which has already been created, but add new elements because of the activity of the spirit. Humans have the capacity, therefore, to become creative intelligencescreators. For a human to fulfill this promise, his training should allow for the exercise of originality, which distinguishes creation from imitation. When epigenesis becomes inactive, in the individual or even in a race, evolution ceases and degeneration commences.

This concept is based on the Rosicrucian view of the world as a training school, which posits that while mistakes are made in life, humans often learn more from mistakes than successes. Suffering is considered as merely the result of error, and the impact of suffering on the consciousness causes humans to be active along other lines which are found to be good, in harmony with nature. Humans are seen as spirits attending the school of life for the purpose of unfolding latent spiritual power, developing themselves from impotence to omnipotence (related also to development from innocence into virtue), reaching the stage of creative gods at the end of mankind's present evolution: Great Day of Manifestation.[20]

Sri Aurobindo and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin both describe a progression from inanimate matter to a future state of Divine consciousness. Teilhard de Chardin refers to this as the Omega Point, and Sri Aurobindo as the Supermind.[21][22]

Teilhard, who was a Jesuit Paleontologist who played an important role in the discovery of Peking Man, presented a teleological view of planetary and cosmic evolution, according to which the formation of atoms, molecules and inanimate matter is followed by the development of the biosphere and organic evolution, then the appearance of man and the noosphere as the total envelope of human thought. According to Teilhard evolution does not cease here but continues on to its culmination and unification in the Omega Point, which he identifies with Christ.

Meher Baba has used the term involution to describe the inner journey of consciousness after transcending the physical or gross state up to the attainment of Self-consciousness, or merging with God. According to Meher Baba, the consciousness of the soul in duality first goes through the long process of evolution of form, then, upon reaching the human form, consciousness enters the process of reincarnation, and finally reaches the process of involution, which culminates in God-realization.

Surat Shabda Yoga esoteric cosmology depicts the whole of creation (the macrocosm) as being emanated and arranged in a spiritually differentiated hierarchy, often referred to as eggs, regions, or planes. Typically, eight spiritual levels are described above the physical plane, although names and subdivisions within these levels will vary to some extent by mission and Master. (One version of the creation from a Surat Shabda Yoga perspective is depicted at the Sant Ajaib Singh Ji Memorial Site in The Grand Scheme of All Creation.)

The constitution of the individual (the microcosm) is an exact replica of the macrocosm. Consequently, the microcosm consists of a number of bodies, each one suited to interact with its corresponding plane or region in the macrocosm. These bodies developed over the yugas through involution (emanating from higher planes to lower planes) and evolution (returning from lower planes to higher planes), including by karma and reincarnation in various states of consciousness.[23]

Arthur M. Young and Edward Haskell have each independently incorporated the findings of science into a larger theory of spiritual evolution, and extended the traditional human, animal, vegetable, and mineral categories with kingdoms representing photons, atoms and molecules.[24][25] Arthur M. Young goes further in considering the human state as a subset of a larger kingdom of "Dominion", of which the sixth stage is represented for example by Christ and Buddha, and the seventh (final) stage an even higher level of Enlightenment or God-realisation.[24] Moreover, both Haskell and Young present profound accounts of evolution through these kingdoms in terms of cybernetic principles. A more "mainstream" scientific presentation of this same idea is provided by Erich Jantsch in his account of how self-organising systems evolve and develop as a series of "symmetry breaks" through the sequence of matter, life, and mind.[26] Although abiding strictly by the understanding of science, Jantsch arranges the various elements of cosmic, planetary, biological, psychological, and human evolution in a single overall framework of emergent evolution that may or may not be considered teleological.[26]

New Age thought is strongly syncretic. A common theme is the evolution or the transcendence of the human or collective planetary consciousness in a higher state or higher "vibratory" (a metaphor taken from G. I. Gurdjieff) level.

David Spangler's communications speak of a "New Heaven and a new Earth", while Christopher Hills refers (perhaps influenced by Sri Aurobindo) to the divinization of man.[27]

Jonathan Livingston Seagull narrated the idea of evolution in a fascinating fashion. James Redfield in his novel The Celestine Prophecy suggested that through experiencing a series of personal spiritual insights, humanity is becoming aware of the connection between our evolution and the Divine. More recently in his book God and the Evolving Universe: The Next Step in Personal Evolution (2002) co-written with Michael Murphy, he claims that humanity is on the verge of undergoing a change in consciousness.

An interpretation of social and psychological development that could also be considered a theory of spiritual evolution is spiral dynamics, based on the work of Clare W. Graves.

More recently the concept of spiritual evolution has been given a sort of respectability it has not had since the early 19th century through the work of Ken Wilber, in whose writings both the cosmological and the personal dimensions are described. In this integral philosophy (inspired in part by the works of Plotinus, Hegel, Sri Aurobindo, Eric Jantsch, and many others) reality is said to consist of several realms or stages, including more than one of the following: the physical, the vital, the psychic, (after the Greek psyche, "soul"), the causal (referring to "that which causes, or gives rise to, the manifest world"), and the ultimate (or non-dual), through which the individual progressively evolves. Although this schema is derived in large part from Tibetan Buddhism, Wilber argues (and uses many tables of diagrams to show) that these same levels of being are common to all wisdom teachings. Described simplistically, Wilber sees humans developing through several stages, including magic, mythic, pluralistic, and holistic mentalities. But he also sees cultures as developing through these stages. And, much like Hegel, he sees this development of individuals and cultures as the evolution of existence itself. Wilber has also teamed up with Don Beck to integrate Spiral Dynamics into his own Integral philosophy, and vice versa. Spiral Dynamics posits a series of stages through which human's cultural development progresses from a survival-based hunter-gatherer stage to a magical-tribal-agrarian stage to a city-building-invading stage to a mythic-religious-empire stage to a rational-scientific-capitalist stage to a green-holistic-inclusive stage and then ascending to a second tier where all the previous stages are contemplated and integrated and a third transpersonal tier where a spiritual unity or Omega point is eventually reached, which all the other stages are struggling to embody. He feels that individuals in each of the meme-plexes/stages can ascend to the peak of consciousness these being the prophets, visionaries and leaders of any region/age.

See the rest here:
Spiritual evolution - Wikipedia

San Diegos homeless crisis is growing worse by the day. Yet as more are living on the streets and fewer in shelters than ever before, some, including Michael McConnell who recently took to the Union-Tribunes opinion pages (Why the Housing First approach is a practical solution for homelessness, Aug. 4) argue that the best approach to solving homelessness is to outlaw any program that doesnt fit his particular recipe for success.

As someone who has served the homeless for more than 25 years, solving homelessness for thousands using a very different approach, it is hard for me to not take his criticism personally. Its even harder not to call it out for it narrow-mindedness.

Homelessness is a complex problem with causes spanning the criminal justice system, mental health, substance abuse, family support, human connection, and other social and economic forces. Other innovative and replicable program models that work shouldnt be kept out of the picture.

In his commentary, McConnell makes many mischaracterizations, claiming that progress in solving homelessness is jeopardized by ill-informed politicians and agencies. But what he gets wrong most of all is that no one is calling for an end to Housing First. Instead, what some are asking for is a simple request to include other high-performing results-driven approaches in our homelessness policy.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, deserves praise for courageously taking the lead to request Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson look at how Housing First impacts vulnerable populations families and children and how other approaches can work in tandem to overcome poverty and homelessness. He should be commended for taking action to prevent homeless programs across the state from being forced to shutter their doors, thanks to the new misguided guidelines.

At Solutions for Change, our programs our based on a 25-year personal empowerment and accountability model that puts the hard-to-serve homeless to work and is funded almost entirely by the private sector and social enterprise. Our approach adopts a completely unique model focused on a permanent solution to homelessness, not just a band aid of temporary housing.

Over 18 years, weve successfully led more than 850 families and 2,200 children out of homelessness and back on their feet. Yet, thanks to the misguided requirement that any homelessness program follow Housing First to be eligible for federal funding, weve been forced to walk away from as much as $600,000 in grants and our 40-bed family center now sits empty because Housing First rules require that we abandon our drug free housing and scrap our workforce training in favor of no-strings-attached optional programs.

When McConnell and other Housing First allies assert that their model works, theyre not talking about solving homelessness and its root causes. His goal is to getting people into permanent taxpayer-supported housing. They then offer Family Option Study as proof that families benefit from Housing First, but fail to mention how the very study also demonstrates that families in these programs experienced only temporary success because issues like employment, mental health and substance abuse were poorly addressed for the long haul.

Our approach uses work, education and employment to transform those experiencing homelessness. The families we help like this approach they want to be supported, empowered and treated as valuable and capable. Central to this effort is a healthy and drug-free living community focused on keeping kids safe. Good programs like ours with a track record of success shouldnt be shut out of the system.

This issue is about more than housing: Its about saving the lives of kids and ending poverty and dependency. We know that the large majority experiencing homelessness can develop job skills, obtain work and pay for their own housing. We must do better than coldly pushing families and children into homelessness and insisting on only utilizing one way of solving homelessness.

The number of chronic homeless in the top four cities (New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and San Diego) has spiked with no signs of abating. McConnell and the Housing First advocates say that providing housing, supporting sobriety, training for employment and engaging the root causes of homelessness is outdated, ineffective and wasteful. Whats ineffective is choosing to punish homelessness programs based on their approach, rather than on their results.

Homelessness reaches far beyond any single cause and our homeless policy should be big enough to support more than any single solution.

Megison is president and CEO of Solutions for Change.

Excerpt from:
More than one way to address San Diego homeless crisis - The San Diego Union-Tribune