Grassroots Spirituality: What It Is, Why It Is Here, Where It Is Going

by Forman, Robert K. C.

• ISBN13: 9780907845683
• ISBN10: 0907845681
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-02-01
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

Description and discussion of recent growth in popular and unofficial spiritual movements especially in North America

Table of Contents

Introductory Chapters
I: Introduction	1	(6)
II: Anthropologists in La La Land	7	(24)
How Big Is Grassroots Spirituality?	7	(5)
Spiritual Discrimination	12	(4)
Why this Study?	16	(2)
Anthropologists in La La Land	18	(8)
A Grassroots Movement?	26	(5)
III: The Whispering Voices of Grassroots Spirituality	31	(14)
Sarah Rabinowitz: Jewish Meditation Teacher	31	(3)
Doug Kruschke: "Pathways" Leader and Organizational Consultant	34	(3)
Robert Firestine: Martial Arts Master	37	(2)
Evelyn Brush: Poet and Spiritual Writing Mentor	39	(2)
Kaz Tomo: Zen Roshi	41	(4)
What It Is
IV: What is "Spirituality?"	45	(30)
General Use of "Spirituality"	46	(2)
Spirituality versus	48	(1)
In the Beginning was the word, Spiritus	49	(1)
"Spirituality," A Definition	50	(20)
Grassroots spirituality involves a vaguely panentheistic ultimate	52	(8)
That is indwelling, sometimes bodily, as the deepest self	60	(3)
And is accessed through self transformation and group process	63	(3)
And not-strictly rational means	66	(2)
That becomes the holistic organization for all of life	68	(2)
Conclusions	70	(5)
V: What are those Not-strictly-rational Processes?	75	(8)
Introvertive Tools	75	(2)
Extrovertive Tools	77	(3)
Conclusions	80	(3)
VI: The Shape of Grassroots Spirituality	83	(26)
What kind of a There is There?	86	(1)
Old Traditions, New Boundaries	87	(3)
Of Dialects and Languages	90	(3)
Grassroots Movements and Dialects	93	(5)
Village Greens and Outlying Homes	98	(3)
The Perennial and the Novel	101	(8)
Why It Is Here
VII: The Causes of Grassroots Spirituality	109	(28)
Demographic Shifts: Rural, Urban, Exurban	110	(4)
Changes in Gender Roles, Family Structures and Rise of the Feminine	114	(1)
Baby Boomers and 60s Revolutionaries	115	(3)
ABC: Anything but the Church	118	(4)
The Smorgasbord Effect	122	(4)
The Loss of Faith in Science and Rationality	126	(3)
Disillusionment with the American Dream	129	(1)
Historical Causes, Perennial Causes	130	(3)
Conclusions	133	(4)
VIII: Institutional Inroads	137	(24)
Spirituality in the Workplace	139	(2)
Horses for Courses	141	(2)
Leaders of the (Business) Pack	143	(1)
Spirituality in Medicine	144	(12)
The Patient	146	(2)
Doctors and Nurses	148	(4)
Theoreticians of Medicine	152	(2)
Conclusions	154	(2)
Spiritualizing the Institutions: A How-To Guide	156	(1)
Conclusions: The Key is the Intimate Group	157	(4)
Where It Is Going
IX: Organizing the Un-Organizable	161	(26)
Forming Communities around the Ineffable	162	(4)
The Conditions For Healthy, Non-Dogmatic Communities	166	(7)
Organizing Trans-Traditional Processes	173	(4)
Structure the Process, Not the Content	177	(4)
The Spirituality of Trans-Traditional Groups	181	(6)
X: What Can We Do Together?	187	(18)
Three Great Challenges of The Grassroots Spirituality Movement	187	(8)
1. Can We Learn to Work Together?	188	(2)
2. Local Trans-Traditional Spirituality Centers	190	(3)
3. New Ways of Addressing Social Problems	193	(2)
Other Projects	195	(10)
Spiritual "Houses of Life Development"	195	(1)
A Spiritual Yellow Pages	196	(1)
A "Life Consultant's" Seminary	197	(2)
School for Youthful Seekers	199	(1)
Possible National & International Initiatives	200	(5)
Epilogue: The Death of God, The Birth of "It"	205	(8)
Afterword: The Forge Institute	213	(12)
Index	225