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Eckhart Tolle (Author of A New Earth)

When someone engages in a behavior thats a problem, the reason they do it is irrelevant. If we try too hard to understand the behavior, before long well find ourselves excusing it and eventually enabling it.

Ive recently completed a series of articles on the types of behavior frequently displayed by persons with disturbed characters. Those behaviors interfere with the process of healthy socialization and also frequently serve as mechanisms to manipulate and impression-manage others. (See Understanding the Dysfunctional Tactics of Disturbed Characters.)

In a new series of articles, well be discussing the keys to empowering oneself not only in relationships with disturbed characters, but in all social interactions. The principal secrets of personal empowerment are twofold:

Once the main principals are grasped, there are specific methods or tools a person can employ to keep from being taken advantage of in relationships with unscrupulous characters. Several articles to come will take a look at each of these tools of empowerment and how to apply them in everyday situations.

In previous articles, Ive mentioned how one of the most problematic legacies of traditional psychology is the notion that peoples behavior is motivated most of the time by their fears and insecurities and that they are not often consciously aware of their emotional issues. Most of us are familiar with the tenets of traditional psychology. So, when somebody does something unnerving we almost always try to understand it by asking ourselves what need, fear, or insecurity underlies it. Worst of all, often the leap is made from understanding the behavior to inadvertently excusing it or enabling it.

The single most important empowerment tool is to accept no excuses for hurtful, harmful, or inappropriate behavior. Once a person stops trying to explain or understand a behavior and simply sets a limit to no no longer accept it, everything begins to change. Learning to correctly identify and label the various problem behaviors that disturbed characters frequently display as well as learning how to respond to those behaviors is equally empowering.

So, we begin the process of empowerment by accepting no excuses. When someone engages in a behavior thats a problem, the reason they do it is irrelevant. If we try too hard to understand the behavior, before long well find ourselves excusing it and eventually enabling it. If a behavior is wrong, it needs to be corrected, purely and simply. And we need to hold one another accountable. Its the only way to stem the stunningly rising tide of character disturbance in our culture. We complete the process of empowerment by learning how to conduct ourselves in a wide variety of situations in which persons of deficient or disturbed characters may throw a host of problem behaviors at us. By recognizing their tactics, labeling them correctly, responding to them effectively, and holding the disturbed character accountable for change, anyone can learn the secrets of not being taken advantage of or exploited.

Accepting no excuses is the first and cardinal rule, but there are many others. Well explore them all in upcoming posts.

Would you like to join the discussion on The Secrets of Personal Empowerment?

Continued here:
The Secrets of Personal Empowerment

[AyurvedaandAstrology][AdvancedCourse][AdvancedTechniques][Diploma][YogasandAstrology][Yoga'sandAstrology]

Beginners Course Vedic Astrology

One feature of Vedic Astrology, also called Jyotish that makes it different from Western Astrology is the importance of yogas. Yogas are planetary combinations that result in a certain effect. In the Vedic ancient scriptures many such planetary combinations are described. In Vedic astrology, no chart analysis is complete without checking the chart thoroughly for yogas and assessing their effects.

In this article I will show the use of yogas (planetary combinations) that are indicative for spiritual development according to Vedic Astrology.

This is being done on the basis of the chart of the Indian guru Osho.

Many yogas that have to do with spiritual development have a rather strange character.

At first sight they seem to indicate something bad. However, if we look deeper and analyse the yogas more in detail more often than not something bad seems to turn out into something good. In the chart of a spiritual person we often find indications of problems in daily life. However, more often than not these problems have been the main source of spiritual wisdom. In addition a spiritual person may have problems with accepting the conventional rules designed by society. This is clearly the case with Osho.

Below you see the Vedic chart of Osho. The numbers after the name of the signs are the astrological houses. Below these names of the houses the planets are mentioned that are located in certain houses. These houses are parts of the Vedic astrological chart that gives insight into certain circumstances. For example according to Vedic Astrology the third house is the house of energy/initiatives, the eighth house is the house of death of the ego/transformations and the eleventh house is the house of gains.

To get a feeling for this let us analyse one house out of Osho's Vedic chart.

In the case of Osho the sign of Cancer falls in the third house in which Jupiter is placed. Therefore his initiatives and energy are influenced by Jupiter. This is a good thing since Jupiter is the most important benefic (good planet) in Vedic Astrology. In Osho's case the result is better than normal because Jupiter is in Cancer, which is a sign where Jupiter feels very good and is exalted. Therefore Jupiter will deliver outstanding results.

Rahu R. 9.03

Ascendant 19.12

Jupiter R. 29.44

Mars 8.09 Mercury D 13.29 Venus 19.18 Moon 22.37 Saturn 28.34

Sun 25.36

Ketu R. 9.03

1. Four or more planets in one house gives a sannyassi yoga.

In the chart of Osho we see five planets in one house. These planets are in the occult eighth house: one of the houses of moksha (spiritual liberation). Although this pile up of planets in his eighth house is the cause of many difficult events in his life it is also indicative of spirituality. It gives a so called sannyassi yoga.

His rather non conventional approach is also seen by these eighth house planets.

The eighth house is a part of the chart that has to do with transformation, psychology and death of the ego.

The yoga is in the sign of Sagittarius. The planet that belong to Sagittarius is Jupiter. We say that Jupiter is the dispositor of the planets in the sign Sagittarius and therefore has a lot of influence on how the yoga will surface.

In the case of Osho this sannyassi yoga is made exceptionally strong by the fact that the dispositor of the planets that make the yoga (Jupiter) is in the sign Cancer, where it is exalted and is stationary (it has 7% of its normal speed). This makes it more powerful.

The situation of the lord of the sign in which a yoga takes place (this is called the dispositor) is important in assessing the outcome of a yoga. For a yoga to have special effects there must be something remarkable about the planets that have to do with the yoga. In this case the fact that the dispositor, which is Jupiter, is exalted and stationary gave dramatic effects.

It is interesting to note that in the navamsa, which is the Vedic astrological chart of the soul, of Osho Jupiter (whose Sanskrit name is Guru) is in his own sign (Pisces) conjunct mokshakaraka Ketu.

Some astrologers may say that Jupiter is weak because it is in the last degree of a sign. If a planet is in the last degree of a sign this means the planet is in extreme old age. This is a good way to describe the soul of an enlightened person since he has come to the end of the cycle of birth and rebirth and therefore can be considered to be of extremely old age. Therefore this can be seen as a sign of wisdom and not just as a sign of weakness.

In the Vedic chart of Osho Jupiter is atmakaraka and therefore the indicator of the soul.

That planets who are in extremely old or young age are not necessarily weak can also be seen in the chart of Bill Clinton, who has Jupiter in the first degree of a sign (in extremely young age), yet who became president during Jupiter dasa. His wisdom was of a fairly immature (young) nature (Jupiter in young age). It was certainly not the more mature wisdom of a sage.

Another remarkable fact is that Jupiter is on the degree of the ascendant (of course in another sign). This means that Jupiter is right on the Most Effective Point of the third house (the house of courage). If a planet conjuncts or aspects the Most Effective Point of a certain house (the ascendant degree shifted to that house) it strongly influences that house. From this position in the third house it aspects the Most Effective Points of the houses 7 (relationships) and 11 (gains and hopes for the future).

This means that Jupiter and the eighth house (Jupiter is of course lord of the eighth) strongly influences the entire chart. Since the eighth house is bad for mundane matters this indicates many troubles at the mundane level, but since the eighth is a moksha house and Jupiter is the planet of religion it is good for spiritual development.

2. How Ketu turns out to be a Raja Yoga Karaka

Rahu and Ketu are shadow planets. They are not real planets but are points where the orbit of the Moon crosses the orbit of the Sun. Eclipses can only happen when Rahu and/or Ketu are in the vicinity of the Sun and Moon.

In most cases in Vedic astrology the nodes, Rahu and Ketu, are regarded as first rate malefics (planets that normally give bad effects) .

However under certain circumstances they turn out to be Raja Yoga Karakas which turn them into factors that can do good in the chart. This occurs when:

It is possible that case 1 occurs twice in a chart (simply because when Rahu is in a kendra house Ketu will be in a kendrahouse too), with case 2 that is not possible.

The reason that Rahu or Ketu become Raja Yoga karakas in the cases 1 and 2 is that just as in the case of an ordinary Raja Yoga in the cases 1 and 2 they absorb both male (kendra) and female (trikona) energy.

In the Vedic chart of Osho Ketu is located in the fifth house, a trikonahouse. Saturn, lord of the tenth, a kendra house aspects this Ketu. Therefore Ketu becomes a Raja Yoga Karaka.

It is interesting to see that Saturn is a Raja Yoga planet on its own, since it is lord of the ninth and tenth house. Saturn is the planet of spiritual discipline and aspects Ketu from the house of esoteric sciences. In addition Saturn participates in the sannyassi Yoga. Therefore seen from a spiritual point of view in this chart Ketu as Raja Yoga Karaka is powerful.

However, because Saturn is the planet of pain and aspects Ketu from the most difficult house of the chart (the eighth) this yoga was also the cause of troubles on a mundane level.

It is interesting that we see the same pattern as under 1. What is good for spiritual matters caused havoc on the mundane level.

3. How a shakata (cart) yoga can become a mukata (crown) yoga.

A shakata yoga is present if Jupiter is in a dushtana house (6,8 or 12th house) from the Moon. This yoga indicates a difficult life. It also indicates fluctuating fortunes. The fortune of someone with a shakata yoga fluctuates like a cartwheel.

However, sometimes according to Vedic Astrology a Shakata Yoga is transformed into a mukata yoga.

This occurs when Jupiter is in the eighth or sixth from the Moon and in its own or exaltation sign. A mukuta is a crown in the form of a crescent. The crescent is a symbol for knowledge of spiritual teachings

An interesting feature is that Jupiter and the Moon are in each others signs. This gives a strong connection between the Moon and Jupiter, which to some extent can make up for the difficulties indicated by the shakata uoga. Indeed, an exchange is an intense relationship between planets whose effect are comparable to those of a conjunction. Therefore this gives effects which are comparable to those of a gaja kesari yoga. A gaja kesari yoga is formed when the Moon and Jupiter are conjunct (or in a kendra to eachother). It gives wisdom.

I believe that not all the effects of the shakata yoga are cancelled, because Oshos life was full of difficult events and indeed his luck fluctuated. However, the mukuta yoga is also clearly visible.

Again we see the same pattern as under 1 and 2. Something bad turns out to be something good as far as spiritual development is concerned.

4. Dushtana lords in other dushtana houses.

A rather odd type of yoga is the vipareeta raja yoga. This yoga occurs when the lords of other dushtana houses (6,8,12) occupy other dushtana houses. It can bring benefics often due to a mishap. In Oshos chart the lords of both the sixth and twelfth are in the eighth house.

A vipareeta yoga that occurs in the eighth house is called a sarala yoga (straight yoga). This yoga gives a long life span, fearlessness, makes one prosperous, the person will overcome enemies and be well known.

In Oshos case the yoga is both tainted and strong:

It is tainted because for a pure vipareeta yoga to occur there should be no influences of other houselords on the planets that participate in the yoga. Obviously in Oshos case because of the pile up of planets in the eighth there are many other houselords that influence the planets involved in the vipareeta yoga. This is the reason why this cannot be called a pure vipareeta yoga.

It is strong and therefore could be called a Vipareeta Raja Yoga because it involves not one but two lords of dushtana houses and the dispositor of the yoga making planets (Guru) is exalted.

If we look at Oshos life he did not have a long life span because he died in January 1990. However, he was well known, did not have fear and did overcome his enemies.

In his life we can see both the problems (expelled from many countries, other problems of all kinds) and the benefits (being well known, fearlessness) which are typical for vipareeta yogas. Again something bad (certain houselords in the eighth) turned out to be something good (effects that belong to a vipareeta yoga).

CONCLUSION

The goal of this article has been to show how seemingly bad placements can have good results. In the case of Osho the problems seem to have focussed on the mundane level, yet the benefits were of a spiritual nature.

Osho was a non conventional master, who clearly stepped outside the framework of tradition. This is shown in the importance of the eighth house in his chart. In the long term the gurus that will be remembered will be the gurus that explore new avenues and step outside tradition, although that may be shocking for many people.

Spiritual development rarely comes wrapped in easy looking patterns. It pays to look deeper than the surface when exploring a chart. What lies below the surface may be more powerful than a person realises as has been shown by looking beyond the surface of Oshos chart according to Vedic Astrology.

Roeland de Looff

This article is on an advanced level. For more information about the Basic course Vedic Astrology click here. This is a course in which you learn Vedic Astrology on the basis of your own chart.

Other pages on this site

Hindu lunar zodiac,Vedic online store, Vedic astrological email course ,The Dirah team , Burmese astrology or Mahabote ,Links to Jyotish sites, Vedic astrological software, Balinese astrology, Tibetan astrology, Astronomy and astrology , Dirah diploma professional training program in Vedic astrology , Order your Vedic chart with interpretive texts , Ayurveda and Vedic astrology , Yogas and Vedic astrology , Jyotish quantitative astrology: Shadbala , Vedic astrological compatibility techniques , Advanced Course for Jyotish , Advanced Techniques for Jyotish , Vedic horary astrology or Muhurta , Nakshatras in chart interpretation , Primer astrological course for beginners , Personal Predictions.

Read more here:
The yogas of enlightenment: a Vedic astrological analysis ...

Youve got the personal development itch once again.

You know the feeling. Maybe you want to be more productive, finally tackle that goal of yours, or start waking up earlier.

So you go to Google or your favorite personal development blogs. Maybe if you still havent found what youre looking for you try searching for a Youtube video or ask your Facebook friends if they know of any good sites.

And thats it. Youve exhausted your resources and dont know where else to look.

Sometimes you find what you need, but you still have a sense that theres got to be more. That you dont know what you dont know.

And thats where you get stuck. Wanting more, but just not knowing where to find it.

Today I hope to change that by sharing with you 22 of the killer personal development resources youre missing out on.

I know, you thought Reddit was just for gamers, atheists, and students but thats a misconception. If you search deep enough youll find several subreddits for anyone who wants to grow personally. For starters, you can check out: r/selfimprovement, r/getmotivated, r/iwanttolearn, r/lifeprotips, r/productivity, r/zenhabits and r/selfhelp.

Mindbloom.com is a nifty personal development web application. Think of it as a social network for your personal development. You create a tree with branches representing the elements of your life you want to work on. It encourages you to nurture your tree through inspiration (sun) and action (water). Theres a lot built into this tool, so go check it out if youre curious.

Lately, it seems there have been hundreds of eLearning websites popping up across the web. One of my favorites however is Udemy. The structure is clean, the classes are well organized, and the instructors are top-notch. Although they have plenty of academic courses available, there are a number of personal development ones worth checking out such as: How to Enjoy Work More, Discover The 1 Thing You Were Born to do in 5 Easy Steps, or Getting Things Done.

There are plenty of ways to motivate you to work out, but the app Gympact does something quite clever and unique. They hit you where it hurtsright in the wallet. The concept behind Gympact is that you set a monetary consequence for when you miss your work outs, typically a $1 or so. Then anytime you miss a work out you committed yourself to, you pay the fine. But it doesnt stop there. What if youre a good boy or girl and hit all of your workouts that week? Well friend, you get a share of all the slackers fines that week.

Okay, so plenty of you know Ted already, but do you remember the first day you discovered it? It was amazing right? If youve heard about TED but never checked it out, nows the time. Its inspiration on steroids.

Stumbleupon is another excellent resource for personal development. I recommend stumbling interests such as: self improvement, personal development, career planning, spirituality, productivity, or motivation.

This is the worlds bestselling, #1 Goals & Habits App on iTunes. It combines the book by the same name with a neat app that helps you track your goals and keep up with your progress.

Lumosity is your one stop shop for brain training. If you want to have an easier time remembering names, learning new subjects, or maintaining focus this is the place to hang out.

If you are a list person, this is a must have. Remember the Milk lets you manage your lists anywhere. It will send reminders to your email or text, sync to your calendar and more.

This one is a bit tricky since there are sooo many blogs out there dedicated to personal development. Thankfully, others have already done the research for you by listing posts and blogs to checkout.

Lifetick is a web application for tracking your goals and keeping you focused. Their status widgets, charts, and reports make this the dream app for any detail oriented goal-getters.

Speaking of goals, we all know the chance of completing them comes down to how good of a support group you have. 43 Things is just that. A community of goal minded people dedicated to helping each other reach their goals.

Have you ever been out in public shopping, watching a movie, or eating a burger when you were suddenly struck with a brilliant idea? You hope to hold onto it long enough to make it home where you can write it down, but by then youve moved on or forgotten it completely. Evernote is a handy app for recording written or audio notes on your phone or pc that you can take anywhere. All your ideas are stored in one place and its easy to use.

People are always surprised to learn Youtube is the worlds second largest search engine. But Pinterest works in a similar way. Just as you can search Google or Youtube for personal development content, you can do the same for Pinterest. Put in productivity, self-help or personal growth, and youll find hundreds of pictures, articles, and posters related to the topic.

If you like TED, this is another resource you should check out. 99u has a wide selection of videos delivered by scholars, leaders, and business men around the world on topics ranging from leadership to well-being.

The great thing about books is that there are always new ones coming out to help you with your personal development needs. Over the years, Lifehack has written a number of posts featuring their favorite book recommendations.

We Ask, You Answer: Productivity Books

Your Favorite Productivity Books

10 Inspirational Non-Fiction Books Worthy of Digital (or Actual) Bookshelves

Happytapper has created a virtual version of one of coachings favorite tools The Vision Board. Its an easy way to give yourself some quick inspiration and motivation wherever you are.

One of the things I look forward to every day is listening to podcasts on my way to work. Thankfully, there is a wide selection of excellent podcasts in the personal development arena. For starters you might check out Achieving Predictable Success, Great Work Interview

It took some time for me to warm up to Youtube. At first it was difficult to find quality videos on the subjects you were interested in, but thats not the case anymore. Even in the personal development world, there are many amazing Youtube channels and videos you can follow. Whether its classics like The Last Lecture or How to Have Your Best Year Ever or newer ongoing channels such as TedEd and ZeFrank theres something for everyone.

Lift is an app that visualizes your goals and progress while combining the support of your friends. Forbes wrote a nice piece on the app calling it probably the most affordable self-help product ever created. It relies on an interesting check-in system and helps you focus on taking single steps versus tackling a multitude of challenges all at once.

Ignite is a global event run by volunteers where speakers are given five minutes to talk about their ideas, passions, or interest on 20 slides for 15 seconds each. The format may seem rigid, but the presentations go quickly and you hear only the good stuff as a result. The best way to find videos put on by this organization is to either go to their website and search, or look up your local ignite organization on Youtube.

Live Happy is more than an iPhone app, its a happiness boosting positive psychology program. Based on the book, The How of Happiness, the app helps you carry out the concepts taught in the book. Things such as journaling, giving thanks, or savoring a beautiful moment.

I hope this list can help you get started. What personal development resources do you use?

Featured photo credit: rough structured illustration of a manvia Shutterstock

Set a goal for yourself

"I'm going to learn something new about my expertise every day."

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22 Killer Personal Development Resources You're ... - Lifehack

What Exactly is Personal Development?

Personal development is the process of self-enhancement that can occur individually or under the guidance of a mentor, teacher or personal development coach. The field of personal development is ancient and history reveals that it is an ongoing area of research and understanding as each generation faces new challenges an opportunities. There are a variety of online and in-person learning programs, training programs, books, audios, and videos. Each of which share different perspectives, tools, techniques, and methods to enhance ones personal development. The key premise behind personal development is intentionality: the intent to change ones circumstances or effectiveness based upon specific, measurable criteria. In most activities this affects an individuals health, wealth, relationships and spirituality. To begin with, there must be an initial intake using specific criteria to establish where you are currently and this is contrasted with ones desired outcomes. This process reveals the missing resources that the individual must personally develop. The resulting objectives, goals and benchmarks can be used as milestones that demonstrate progress upon a persons personal development path. Both failures and successes upon this development path provide a feedback system in real time. A personal development coach helps the coachee to effectively evaluate the feedback and make adjustments accordingly so as to stay on track.

It is generally assumed that personal development mixed with psychology when Alfred Adler and Carl Jung made their respective impacts upon psychology. Alfred Adler is recorded as one of the first psychologists to not limit psychology to just analysis that focused upon past childhood circumstances or unconscious drives as derived from the Freudian psychotherapy model. Adler also defined the concept of lifestyle, which is a persons overall approach to life including how they face problems, their self-image and general attitude toward life. Carl Jung brought to psychology the notion of the process of individuation. This is the individuals drive to experience a sense of wholeness and internal balance. Later, Daniel Levinson developed a model of seven life stages that has come to be known as the lifecycle. Within the lifecycle, each individual is unconciously influenced by the aspirations of an ideal life; the Dream.

David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University, Albert Bandura has revealed through his research that personal development is an effective approach to goal achievement because of the internal resources it creates within the individual. One of the primary resources each individual who proactively begins a self-directed personal development path or personal development coaching is self-confidence. Self-confidence, according to Bandura, is an important predictive quality supporting individual success because within the individual it: creates the context of anticipated success; it allows for controlled risks and challenging goals; it encourages continued attempts in the face of failure; and it empowers one to control non-beneficial emotions.

The educational researcher in the field of student affairs, Arthur Chickering, outlined seven import points of personal development that should be experienced by university students:

The application of personal development within academia can be seen in the following disciplines:

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs reveals self-actualization at the top of the pyramid, signifying a human beings desire to be more and be everything that an individual has the capacity to become. It is interesting to think that Maslow estimated only a small percentage of the population were actually concerned with self-actualization, individuation and personal development. The remainder of the population would be solely interested in the lower levels such as financial security and personal needs being met. With the growth and globalization of the worlds economy, it becomes less the responsibility of corporations to ensure the personal development of their employees and more so the responsibility of the employee to ensure she or he is well suited for a position. Peter Drucker stated the following in the Harvard Business Review (source):

We live in an age of unprecedented opportunity: if youve got ambition and smarts, you can rise to the top of your chosen profession, regardless of where you started out. But with opportunity comes responsibility. Companies today arent managing their employees careers; knowledge workers must, effectively, be their own chief executive officers. Its up to you to carve out your place, to know when to change course, and to keep yourself engaged and productive during a work life that may span some 50 years.

It can be generalized that corporate personal development programs can be divided into two categories: employee benefits and development strategies. The purpose behind employee benefits personal development coaching programs is to enhance motivation, create employee loyalty and improve job satisfaction. Such personal development programs focus upon: time management, work and life balance, stress management, leadership, and the personal discovery that can occur in sports, martial arts, NLP coaching, hypnosis, personal finance, yoga, meditation, etc. Regarding development strategies, these often overlap with professional development goals. Often programs are created or consultants and personal development trainers brought in to enhance productivity, inspire innovation or motivate employees to enhance the quality of their work. The overall interests benefit the employees but more so benefit the long term development goals of the organization. In this sense, it is a win-win scenario because the company can look at enhancing one or all of the following factors: increase performance, reduce costs, or increase revenues. While the employees receive training and resources to better ensure job stability and enhance performance.

Excerpt from:
Personal Development Coaching | Personal Development Plan ...

week of November 8, 2015

Each one of us has a unique pattern for evolving our spiritual passion and power as we co-create life with our Source. All aspects of our being play their essential part physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We may ascend the evolutionary spiral by tapping into the vital healing forces that sustain and support us.

- Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith

Today I lift my vibration, expand my horizons and set myself free!

God is the unfailing, unlimited source of my supply! I believe and I receive!

I am a global citizen anchoring peace and oneness everywhere I go!

Revelations of health and wholeness vitalize my body temple!

My authentic aliveness inspires me to claim my true identity!

I am a descended master here to reveal heaven on earth!

Gratefully I give my gifts and live these words of truth! And so it is! Amen!

Your donations keep the Streaming Archives available free of charge, and support the services that Agape provides to the community through its ministries, programs and services.

Donate / Tithe

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Agape Live - Agape International Spiritual Center

Joan Chittister, O.S.B., spoke at the annual James W. White Lecture April 20, 2011 in Shove Chapel at The Colorado College. A Benedictine nun, Chittister is an internationally known author and speaker on subjects such as contemporary spirituality, peace, justice and human rights.

In her presentation, entitled God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons, Chittister will discuss her current thinking on contemporary spirituality and how it relates to both international and national peace and justice issues.

The J.W. White Lectureship Committee of First Congregational Church (UCC) Colorado Springs has sought for several years to schedule Joan Chittister, O.S.B., to deliver the annual endowed lecture that began in honor of former FCC lead minister Jim White upon his retirement. Her appearance was in cooperation with The Colorado College Paul Sheffer for Catholic Studies.

Her presentation, titled "God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons," focused on how to integrate one's spirituality with peace and justice issues.

Chittister, a Benedictine nun, is the author of more than 40 books and writes a monthly column, "Where I Stand," for The National Catholic Reporter. She is founder and executive director of Benetvision , a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality, located in Erie, PA. She is co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a partner organization of the United Nations, facilitating a worldwide network of women peace builders, particularly in Israel and Palestine.

See the article here:
God and the Evolutionary Mind: The God Who Beckons ...

Review

"Having traveled a path himself from atheist to young earth creationist to evolutionary creationist, Denis Lamoureux has thought deeply about the intersection of the truths of the Book of Nature and the Book of the Bible. In this remarkable and courageous analysis, he describes how he has found compelling harmony between these worldviews. Though certain literal interpretations of Genesis are rendered untenable, open-minded believers will emerge with their faith refined in the fire of rigorous but loving intellectual argument." -Francis Collins, Director, Human Genome Project, author of The Language of God (2006) "Here is a book that takes both science and Scripture seriously. In this fascinating guide to Biblical interpretation, Denis Lamoureux argues that the Bible doesn't lie even if the episodes in the first eleven chapters of Genesis never happened. As with a good detective story, it's no fair here to peek at the end without first considering the clues." -Owen Gingerich, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and History of Science, Harvard University, author of God's Universe (2006) "Denis Lamoureux is a person of faith and of intellectual integrity. His holistic and integrated view of science and Christian theology springs from both his broad academic training and his deeply held evangelical faith. This book is notable for the manner in which it forthrightly and unflinchingly addresses difficult issues at the interface of science and theology. In doing so, it remains faithful to the authority of scripture, the historical testimony of the church, and the observed record of Creation's history. Denis Lamoureux joins an increasingly long list of evangelical scholars who have shown the the divisive 'warfare' of evolution and Christian faith to be without justification." -Keith Miller, Research Assistant Professor of Geology, Kansas State University, editor of Perspectives on an Evolving Creation (2003) "Lamoureux seeks to move the public debate on origins beyond the two simplistic choices of either 'evolution' or 'creation.' His passion for deep Christian faith and commitment to Scripture and integrity in science render his bold and provocative synthesis worthy of consideration." -Randy Isaac, Executive Director, American Scientific Affiliation "What a magnificent understanding of God's creatively sustaining presence reaching far beyond stereotypical received views on evolution and Christianity! This well-informed case, with teeth, defends the compatible and inclusive relationship between revelation and the findings of natural science while exposing false-choice barriers, albeit sincerely erected, between evolution and religious faith." -Thaddeus J. Trenn, President, Canadian Science and Christian Affiliation 'Lamoureux's book reflects years of study in what is a well-argued and insightful book that eschews simplistic answers.' Stephen Lloyd, Origins, No 55, November 2011 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Denis O. Lamoureux is Associate Professor of Science and Religion at St. Joseph's College, part of the University of Alberta. He holds three doctoral degrees--in dentistry, theology, and biology. He coauthored, with Philip E. Johnson, Darwinism Defeated? The Johnson-Lamoureux Debate on Biological Origins (1999). Lamoureux is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation, a member of the Executive Council of the Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation, and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society.

Originally posted here:
Evolutionary Creation: A Christian Approach to Evolution ...

Dr. Marc Gafni is a visionary thinker, social activist, passionate philosopher, and author of ten books, including the award-winning Your Unique Self: The Radical Path to Personal Enlightenment, the two-volume Radical Kabbalah, the recently published Self in Integral Evolutionary Mysticism: Two Models and Why They Matter and Tears: Reclaiming Ritual, Integral Religion, and Rosh Hashana.

He holds his doctorate in philosophy from Oxford University, and received rabbinic certification from the chief rabbinate in Israel, as well private rabbinic ordination. He teaches on the cutting edge of philosophy in the West, helping to evolve a new 'dharma,' or meta-theory of Integral meaning that is helping to re-shape key pivoting points in consciousness and culture.

He has been a guest editor of the Journal of Integral Theory and Practice on issues of integral spirituality, and a faculty member of JFK University. He is the co-founder, together with Ken Wilber, of The Center for Integral Wisdom, a leading activist think tank dedicated to articulating a practical politics of love, and to catalyzing an emergent personal and global vision of ethics, Eros and meaning.

Together with author and social innovator Barbara Marx Hubbard, he is working on a series of new works revolving around Evolutionary Spirituality. He is the Integral Wisdom Scholar in Residence at the Agape International Spiritual Center (Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith, president).

As co-initiator in 2014 of the Success 3.0 Summit with John Mackey of Whole Foods Market and entrepreneur Kate Maloney, Gafni is known for his visionary work on evolving a post-dogmatic shared language of meaning and success, rooted in the entrepreneurial values of Wake Up, Grow Up, Show Up and Outrageous Love. The Success 3.0 Summit's method and movement is to bring together key thought leaders and change-agents to collaboratively evolve a bold new Integral vision of Success. The event hosted key business and thought leaders including, Tony Hsieh (CEO, Zappos Inc), Arianna Huffington (Editor in Chief, Huffington Post), Alanis Morissette (Singer/Songwriter & Activist), Blake Mycoskie (Founder, TOMS Shoes), Barbara Marx Hubbard (Author, Social Innovator, Evolutionary Thought Leader), Michael Franti (Lead Vocalist of Spearhead & Activist), Casey Sheahan (former CEO, Patagonia), Lynne Twist (Global Activist & Author), Adam Bellow (Vice President, Harper Collins), Ben Jealous (former President & CEO of the NAACP), DJ Spooky (Composer, Musician & National Geographic Emerging Explorer), Tom Chi (Innovator & Founder, Google Glass), Jack Canfield (Author, Chicken Soup for the Soul), and many others.

Known for his rare combination of brilliant mind and overflowing heart, Gafni is a leading public intellectual impacting the source code of global culture, and has been called a trail-blazing visionary in opening up new possibilities for love, Eros and relationship. He has led international spiritual movements and learning communities, as well as created and hosted for several seasons a popular national Israeli television program on culture, meaning, and spirit on Israels leading network.

Over the past 30 years, Dr. Gafni has developed educational programs and workshops rooted in traditional wisdom and yet fully adapted to the needs of the contemporary world.

Gafni is well known for his love of Integral Theory and its profound importance. As an expression of that importance, he has engaged with Ken Wilber over the last twelve years in dozens of discussions designed to clarify and evolve key dimensions of Integral Theory in relation to Unique Self, World Spirituality, Prayer and the Second Person of God, Evil, Eros and the the Future of Love and Relationship.

Wilber, in his introduction to the Your Unique Self book, called Unique Self "a new chapter in Integral Theory."

Similarly JITP devoted an entire issue to Unique Self with the leading article by Gafni entitled "The Evolutionary Emergent of Unique Self: A New Chapter in Integral Theory".

Sean Esbjrn-Hargens in his preface to Radical Kabbalah has already noted Gafni's important contributions to Integral theory.

It is worth adding that Gafni has contributed to evolving Integral theory in terms of emergent understandings of what he has called "the democratization of enlightenment," a second tier theory of moral obligation, a second tier realization of prayer, of what he has called World Spirituality, Evolutionary Eros, Integral Sexuality, Conscious Entrepreneurship, Theodicy, and the beginning of an Integral theory of Unique Self.

[Click here for Dr. Marc Gafni's in-depth autobiography...]

[For more about Marc visit the Center for Integral Wisdom website...]

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Founder of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution, about Marc Gafni and the Center for Integral Wisdom:

Marc Gafni is a rising star attracting us toward a future of outrageous love, creativity, wisdom and pleasure as our Unique Selves. He is paving the way for a new psychology and spirituality for evolving humanity to fulfill our enormous potential. He has incorporated the 13.8 billion year Evolutionary Impulse of Creation directly in the heart of humanity as our motivation to love, to grow to become our Unique Selves, the future human. It is a joy to work with Marc. He combines kindness, humor, great erudition and a passionate desire to draw us together in a movement for positive self and social actualization. He is inspiring us to change the "source code of success" as winning over one another, to the new source code of co-creating and co-evolving with one another for the good, the true and the beautiful. He radiates the joy of "joining genius to co-create."

I very much enjoy working with Marc and Daniel Schmachtenberger on a course to be offered through the Center from Integral Wisdom, "Becoming a Future Human," on exploring with him sacred texts, (as I am publishing a new book: Evolutionary Testament of Co-Creation: The Promise Will Be Kept-- an evolutionary perspective on the Gospels, Acts and Epistles), and co-conceiving with him and others some remarkable initiatives that have the possibility of truly serving the world. I look forward to working with Marc and others at the Center for Integral Wisdom. For me, as a life long advocate of the world view of Conscious Evolution it is like home coming within an evolutionary family.

Barbara Marx Hubbard, Founder of The Foundation for Conscious Evolution

Sally Kempton introducing Marc Gafni on the Integral Spiritual Experience 2 - The Future of Love:

Marc's prayerful commitment is to participate in and help to catalyze the articulation of a shared global framework of meaning and responsibility--which is the urgent need and great planetary adventure of our time. Such a framework honors the singularity of every great wisdom tradition, even as it identifies the underlying depth structures and unique contributions of each. When taken together, these begin to articulate an authentic users guide to the universe. The Center for Integral Wisdom is the great renaissance project of our time, inviting outrageous love in response to outrageous pain, audaciously and lovingly demanding that each of us step up to being All In For All Life.

The Center for Integral Wisdom is engaged in a series of "source code evolving" landmark projects in the areas of Conscious Capitalism & Entrepreneurship, Unique Self, Eros, World Spirituality, Gender, Relationship, Medicine, Education and Psychology. We believe that these projects will help to unfold--for the first time in the post-modern era--a shared vision of meaning: an authentic world philosophy based on Integral Unique Self principles.

Our work in the world is focused in several areas: leading-edge scholarship, books & white papers, large scale virtual courses and public events, and other projects which are collectively re-shaping key pivoting points in consciousness and culture.

Marc's favorite quote:

There is nothing more whole than a broken heart.

Marc's favorite "little-known" book:

Ecclesiastes: Written by King Solomon chalk full of stunning advice on life, relationships and business.

Also Available: Marc Gafni's Intellectual Biography

Additional Information: Marc Gafni Facts

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Dr. Marc Gafnis Biography | Marc Gafni