Knowledge is power. To be in possession of true facts is to be more effective at reaching any goal, in all areas, but especially in spiritual growth. The word education is from the Latin, ex ducere, which means to be led out. Study and learning leads us out of the suffering caused by ignorance.
Studying to attain knowledge is probably the easiest -- and most immediately rewarding -- discipline in the effort to transform the self. It may be difficult to haul oneself off the couch to volunteer for good works, or to find time to meditate on a regular basis. But head out to the store or library for a book? Nothing hard about that. In fact, studying is so satisfying, it’s all many of us want to do, and there are hundreds of publishers out there working hard to serve a thriving New Age book market. (I myself have a little book addiction and my shelves hold books it will take me years to get around to reading.)
Yet studying is only one part of the wisdom equation. Knowledge, after all, is interpreted information. In his essay “Toward Wisdom” Copthorne Macdonald says “if the perspective or conceptual model through which we interpret our data is inappropriate, or flawed, then our knowledge is flawed and will lead us astray… The task of becoming wise is not one of absorbing more information, more raw facts; it is to put the facts into appropriate contexts, to view them from more helpful perspectives.”
In Buddhism, the “right view” is considered the forerunner, or prerequisite, of all the other steps in the Noble Eightfold Path to enlightenment. As Tibetan master Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche writes in his book, Mind At Ease, “We cannot simply practice meditation and hope for the best; we need a conceptual framework that is based on a correct view…. We need to have a comprehensive view of our human nature, our place in the scheme of things and our relationship to the world in which we live and to our fellow sentient beings.”
Begin with philosophy
Before we can benefit from study, we must make sure our model of reality is as accurate as possible, giving us a means to judge whatever information we encounter. That is why, in order to move toward true wisdom, one must begin with philosophy.
A good philosophical foundation helps us put all the facts we learn in proper context. It also helps us learn how our context can shape the “facts.”
This site includes a basic primer on the philosophy of idealism as interpreted by the New Age, along with a list of must-read authors and books popular in the movement, and links to many other wisdom and philosophy resources.
But perhaps the most interesting reading is to read the works of the giants of idealistic thought. Eastern idealism begins with The Bhagavad-Gita and The Tao Te Ching and extends all the way through D.T. Suzuki and Alan Watts.
In Western philosophy, you could start with Plato and Plotinus or the great European idealists of the 18th and 19th centuries such as Berkley, Spinoza, Hegel, Schelling or Kant (although if you can grasp a good fraction of Kant, you are ahead of me). I have also been enlightened by turn-of-the century idealists I dug out of my local university library, such as William Ernest Hocking and F.H. Bradley and the dazzling genius Henri Bergson.
My favorite idealists, however, are the Transcendentalists -- Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. (If I could take only one book with me to a desert island, it would be the collected works of Emerson.)
The New Age movement, however, has never been content to look at one side of things. Besides philosophy, New Age thought embraces many other disciplines as well, and I have gained invaluable perspective by delving into the classics on comparative religions and spirituality (William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience; Huston Smith, The Religions of Man), mythology (anything by Joseph Campbell), psychology (Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers) or physics (David Bohm).
The more well-researched your philosophy and knowledge of life, the stronger the foundation for your beliefs. And solid beliefs that actually match reality can sustain you remarkably well through the chaotic ride called life.
So read and study to your heart’s content. Nothing else can open your mind quite so quickly and easily. And although studying is no substitute for contemplative practice, and can only take you so far in the recognition of reality, it moves you along the biggest leg of the journey.
Many interesting papers and ideas can be found at the Collective Wisdom Initiative
http://www.collectivewisdominitiative.org/
For a more complete list of New Age and spiritual authors, and to read excerpts of their work, visit www.spiritsite.com
For more formal spiritual education in different wisdom traditions, visit the following sites:
Spiritual Education
Wisdom University, classes held primarily in San Francisco -- www.wisdomuniversity.org
Integral Institute: www.integralinstitute.com
Andew Cohen’s Evolutionary Enlightenment -- http://www.andrewcohen.org/
If you would like to help your children learn about spiritual principles, there are lesson plans (based on Ba’hai interpretation of Oneness) for specific age groups at Spiritual Education: http://spiritual-education.org/.
Be Informed
Progressive News/Info/Entertainment
www.newpages.com/altmags ( complete listing of alternative publications)
www.commondreams.org
www.rawstory.com
www.alternet.org
www.publicintegrity.org
Progressive Magazines:
Mother Jones www.motherjones.com
The Progressive www.progressive.org
Washington Monthly www.washingtonmonthly.com
Z magazine zmagsite.zmag.org
In These Times www.Inthesetimes.com
E/The Environmental Magazine www.Emagazine.com
The Nation www.thenation.com
Extra! www.fair.org
The American Prospect www.prospect.org
Utne Magazine www.utne.com
Once you read your magazine, pass it on. Or, following another fabulous idea from “50 Simple Things You Can Do To Fight The Right,” buy a subscription for a progressive/spiritual periodical for your local library.
Progressive Blogs (p 75 Simple Things)
Spiritual/Progressive Radio/Broadcasting:
The Lime Network -- www.lime.com
Air America Radio -- www.airamerica.com
Radio Free America -- www.radiofreeamerica.info
New Dimensions Media --
http://www.ndbroadcasting.org/index.php
Special Note: While I am grateful for the opportunity to get news and information from 'the other side,” and often the progressive Web is the only place to discover the actual facts of a matter, many progressive news sites and blogs are just as guilty of slanting their information and demonizing the other side as conservative sources. Although blogs are of course meant to express opinion -- and I usually cannot help but empathize with the opinions expressed -- it is important to remember that angry opinion-spewing is an ego-based activity, and only creates battles that get us no closer to solving our collective problems. Please do visit these sites often to get accurate facts and information which can empower us; just beware of getting caught up in polarizing invective that creates dualists of us all, forever at war over which side is good or evil.
Spiritual News/Info/Entertainment
Belief net -- Holistic Spirituality: http://www.beliefnet.com/index/index_200.html
Spirituality & Practice: http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/
Find more links on New Age News & Information Resources
Spiritual Blogs
Unraveling the Spiritual Mystique -- http://www.godsleuth.blogspot.com/
Graceful Presence -- http://gracefulpresence.blogspot.com/
Buddhist Blog Webring -- http://w.webring.com/hub?ring=buddhistblogs
Ken Wilber -- http://www.kenwilber.com/blog/list/1
Tikkun Blogs -- http://www.tikkun.org/blog
Spirit News Blog -- http://www.writespirit.net/blog
New Age Blog: http://newage.suite101.com/blogs.cfm
Spiritual/Progressive Film Clubs
www.ironweedfilms.org
www.spiritualcinemacircle.com
You can rent spiritual or progressive documentaries for your own viewing or to share with others. Start a local film club:
www.thefilmconnection.org
Buy independent films and documentaries.
www.indiedocs.com
Go to Do The Right Thing: Right Behavior.
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