This website and our bi-monthly print magazine are published by Reading Entertainment Group, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Pacific Financial Corporation (Ampac.com). The magazine and website are editorially independent. We are open to all points of view on spiritual questions, drawing on the world's wisdom traditions as well as science, psychology, sociology and medicine.

What do you mean by spirituality? Is that another way of saying religion?

Perhaps the simplest way to make the distinction is to say we're talking about experience, not doctrine. Though spirituality is a part of all religions, no religion can own it, and those who aren't comfortable with organized religion are no less involved in the journey. This approach honors questions, mysteries, and journeys of discovery over dogmatic answers, closed systems, and now-you've-made-it destinations. Respecting and drawing upon the world's great wisdom traditions (religions) as well as the latest insights from medicine, psychology, sociology, ecology, and the natural sciences, we speak to people from various religious traditions or no religious tradition at all.

So how does Spirituality & Health feel about religion?

One of the reasons we're focusing on spiritual practice is that, being based on action and experience, practice provides a rich area of commonality among religions (because, let's face it, on the level of beliefs, there's a lot of disagreement). To give one simple example of how that works: even though Pope John Paul II in his recent book warns against Buddhist beliefs as a threat to Catholicism, a lively and mutually pleasurable dialogue is going on between Buddhist and Roman Catholic monks. What do they find to talk about so agreeably? Spiritual practice. Philosopher Ken Wilber points out in The Marriage of Sense and Soul (Random House, 1998) that spiritual practice even meets the test of empirical science: instead of being asked to take anything on faith (dogma), you're invited to try it to discover how it works and to compare your experience with that of others.

What kind of health are you talking about?

We mean health in the broadest, fullest sense of the word. It includes individual health in body, mind, heart, and soul, yes �?but that kind of self-oriented health is inextricably linked to healthy relationships, families, workplaces, communities, governments, and eco-systems. It would be audacious of us to think we could redefine the word so radically if it weren't inherent in the nature of spirituality to see all things as interconnected. In other words, nobody can be fully healthy �?fully alive, even �?except in relationship with other people and things. By the way, this is a particularly web-friendly mode of thinking, being rooted in systems thinking instead of the old mechanistic approach.

So is this self-help?

Well, it's certainly helpful to the self. When we did focus groups, one member said she liked the project because "I'm living in the spirituality/self-help section of Barnes & Noble, and [Spirituality & Health] has all the authors I want to read." Now, if by self-help you mean totally about "me, my improvement, getting the most out of my life, and everybody else can get lost," then we'd have to say no. We think that one of the reasons people are turning to spirituality today is that they're seeking wholeness in a world that frequently makes them feel fractured, and they're looking for ways to connect with all of life. Spirituality & Health takes some of the tools of self-help and uses them to help people see beyond the self.

Is all spirituality positive?

No. There's a dark side to the force, so to speak, and it's our responsibility to acknowledge it, indeed to study it. Being open and non-dogmatic doesn't mean being gullible, and it doesn't mean that everything is okay. Spirituality taps into anyone's core vulnerabilities. As researcher Dr. Jared Kass points out, "your inner voice is not free from distortions." And teachers can abuse a very sensitive relationship. The most spectacular results make the news -- Waco, Heaven's Gate, the Freemen. More subtle examples occur daily. That's why our Self-Tests are all based on the time-tested work of qualified researchers, and we feature respected teachers. We include warnings, when appropriate, to help the user avoid the pitfalls, and we do not shy away from making people aware of the whole picture, bad as well as good.

Isn't it strange to approach such a cosmic topic through multiple-choice tests?

The Self-Tests are only one part of Spirituality & Health, but they are a vital aspect of the site. One reason is precisely because they allow us to approach a topic that's generally treated as ethereal in a way that's simple, specific, and �?in the purest sense of the word �?mundane (i.e., practical, rooted in the world). Only by keeping in touch with the ordinary, often tested by the body, can we fight the grandiosity that threatens the spirit. While the scoring is numeric and generated by an algorithm, the interpretation is purely heuristic �?it takes place in your mind and heart as you contemplate what your score might mean. Does it make sense? Why? Not make sense? How come? What did you learn? The Self-Tests are a path to self-knowledge, helpful guides to actions you can choose.

It's also important to remember that, in talking about spirituality, we're talking about experience, not doctrine. All experience has some measurable effect on the body and mind, which can be a helpful reference.

Body? I thought this was about spirit?

Oh, boy, you walked right into this one. We'd love to talk about how Descartes, Gnosticism, and the narrow materialism of the Enlightenment era drove a wedge between body and spirit, a schism that's led to the modern sense of Balkanization and meaninglessness. Just get us going -- we enjoy it. Okay, you want the short version? It was well explained by T George Harris in the preview issue of Spirituality & Health magazine. He said we're now breaking through a matching pair of contradictions that have outlived their value:

• Most of us sense that our prayers and deeper beliefs -- the spiritual side -- play an important role in disease and health, but scientific aversion to any hint of "faith healing" has prevented serious research on practices such as meditation or the medical effects of belief and hope.
• Most of us feel our deeper experiences with our total being �?we sense that our body and its sensory system are windows on the soul �?but most of our religious authorities have treated the flesh as too weak and sinful to contribute to our spiritual growth and learning.

The breakthrough is to realize that body and soul are parts of a whole.

Okay, well, you have to admit it's strange to address spirituality on the Web.

No, we don't. There's something inherently meditative about using the Internet. Think about what people are doing, seated comfortably, attention focused, clicking away sometimes for hours at a time. We're simply offering a way to become more intentional about it.

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/home/item_216.html