Global Spirit

The world-class guitar player and Latin Rock legend Carlos Santana says that he continues to play music, not for the money or the fame or the gold records, but because music is the best way he knows to spread light and love.

How are spiritual communities changing in the 21st century? What are some of the benefits and challenges of living in such a community? How do spiritually-based communities ignite or support positive societal change?

How can we achieve a less fearful and more conscious death? How important are the qualities of love and forgiveness as the moment of death approaches? How can we live our daily lives in such a way to better prepare us for death?

What can the ritual of Pilgrimage tell us about deepening the sacred dimension of life? What spiritual state or benefit are pilgrims ultimately looking for? How do they know and express it, if and when they find it?

How does Islam embrace the concept of “love”? How did Rumi, a 13th century sufi mystic from Central Asia, become the most widely read poet in the United States? Why did UNESCO declare 2007 as “the year of Rumi?”

What do we mean when we use the word “God?” If God is the ultimate reality, can we ever really “know”? If God is all-inclusive, then who is asking the question?

What makes a text sacred? Have there been biases in the translations of sacred texts? Why are the newly-discovered gospels of Thomas, Philip, Judas and Mary Magdalene so important?

How do we humans fit into the larger scheme of life on earth? How can we balance the needs of other creatures, with our needs as humans? Is our notion of “self” merely a metaphor around which we construct our defenses?

How can stories heal? How do stories tell us who we are? Why are some stories “stories to remember?”

“Where is the wisdom we’ve lost in knowledge, where is the knowledge we’ve lost in information?” –T.S. Eliot Why in so many societies has wisdom traditionally been associated with the female? Are we standing at the crossroads of wisdom or catastrophe?

Does music have a special transcendent power ? What is “the hearing of the hear?” Experience the healing power of music from the Fez Festival of World Sacred Music.

Can indigenous people save the world? Are we ready to listen to their “earth wisdom” and envision a world in balance with nature?