Some type of reincarnation doctrine is found in virtually every mystical religious tradition the world over. Even Christianity accepted it until around the fourth century CE, when, for largely political reasons, it was made anathema. Many Christian mystics today now accept the idea. As the Christian theologian John Hick pointed out in his important work Death and Eternal Life, the consensus of the world religions, including Christianity, is that some sort of reincarnation occurs.

In this extraordinary dialogue, Sally Kempton helps us to approach meditation from a position of abundance—as an expression of abundance—rather than from a position of lack, need, or obligation. If you are a long-time meditator, this dialogue will offer some key perspectives to help deepen and strengthen your practice. If you happen to be new to meditation, or have perhaps experienced a lapse in your daily practice, this dialogue will give you the jump-start you need to take the next crucial steps toward recognizing the radical freedom and eternal spaciousness that rests at the heart of everything you have ever...

Robert Augustus Masters talks to Ken Wilber about some of the common traps of spiritual life that have become sadly common in many of today's spiritual communities.

In order to uncover love's future, we need to explore love's past. So Ken Wilber looks all the way back to the Big Bang, retracing love's role throughout the history of evolution. Rather than just a mere human emotion, love is cast as a central driving force in the Kosmos—the force of Eros itself, pushing all of us along our inevitable return to Spirit.

In Zen Buddhism, the Ten Ox Herding Pictures is a series of short poems and images intended to illustrate the various stages of enlightenment. The very last image of the series is often called the "return to the marketplace," as it represents the final stage of enlightened living when the individual returns society with open hands and an open heart, seeking to spread the clarity of ever-present consciousness with as much of the world as possible.

Father Thomas Keating, Rollie Stanich, and Ken Wilber discuss the "inside" and the "outside" of the Christian tradition, exploring the rich contemplative legacy that exists at the core of the world's largest religion.

Here a seminar participant describes a recent state experience he had, in which he was suspended in the empty, limitless release of the [glossary_parse]causal body[/glossary_parse], and watched his own thoughts and intentions crystallize right before his eyes. The tone of the experience was somewhat similar to lucid dreaming, during which we can actually witness ourselves manifesting our dreamscape in the moment, so he asks Ken whether there is any relationship between these sorts of experiences as they manifest in the causal body and in the subtle body.

Diane and Ken discuss the ways the Integral vision has helped enliven and enrich Zen practice by taking a multi-perspectival approach to spirituality, culminating in the “1-2-3 of Spirit” and the “3-2-1” shadow process. They then explore the potential dark side of evolutionary spirituality — most notably the threat of “spiritual fascism” — as well as the dangerous collapse of hierarchical thinking and the rampant anti-intellectualism that can be found in today’s modern and postmodern spiritual practices.