WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY? MEMETICS, QUANTUM MECHANICS, AND THE SPIRAL OF SPIRITUALITY

Abstract

Most discussion on science and religion tends to focus on creation and evolution, at least this has been the dominant theme in the media of late. Yet the subject of creation and evolution is not the only concern in a discussion of science and religion. Other themes are also present: science and belief in the supernatural, science and the soul, science and the transformation of consciousness, science and the virgin birth, science and the resurrection, science and near-deaths experiences, science and the Bible, science and eschatology, science, faith, reason and wisdom, science and human Development, etc. All of these themes are part of a “new convergence” that is emerging in the dialogue between science and religion. “We are entering the greatest era of science-religion fusion since the Enlightenment last attempted to reconcile the two, three centuries ago.” So writes Gregg Easterbrook (2002) in the special December 2002 issue of Wired magazine devoted to a science and religion. In this paper I want to take up this theme and focus on the spiral of spiritual development.