INTEGRATING SCIENCE AND MEANING
We want to stimulate and encourage a deep integration of scientific rigor with spiritual meaning
There is a fundamental divide in the Western worldview between the scientific and a “spiritual” view of life. Scientists frequently encourage this split to avoid encroachments from fundamentalist Christianity. Christians and Muslims generally endorse the split to avoid their cosmology being undermined by scientific findings.
This divide leads to the ubiquitous idea that the term “spiritual” refers to an alternative dimension of existence, and that the source of spiritual meaning is somehow separate from the material reality of our world. This split has had the effect of "desacralizing" the natural world: turning it into a resource to be exploited for human convenience. It also creates a false dichotomy in our lived experience that makes full integration between the different aspects of our existence impossible.
The Liology Institute redefines the word “spiritual” as “connecting with a source of ultimate meaning.” It proposes that ultimately spiritual meaning arises from a recognition of the intrinsic connectedness between ourselves and the natural world.
This recognition is validated by findings in dynamical systems theory and complexity science, which illuminate the ultimate connectivity within and between all living organisms and point the way to a coherent system of values and spiritual meaning.
This divide leads to the ubiquitous idea that the term “spiritual” refers to an alternative dimension of existence, and that the source of spiritual meaning is somehow separate from the material reality of our world. This split has had the effect of "desacralizing" the natural world: turning it into a resource to be exploited for human convenience. It also creates a false dichotomy in our lived experience that makes full integration between the different aspects of our existence impossible.
The Liology Institute redefines the word “spiritual” as “connecting with a source of ultimate meaning.” It proposes that ultimately spiritual meaning arises from a recognition of the intrinsic connectedness between ourselves and the natural world.
This recognition is validated by findings in dynamical systems theory and complexity science, which illuminate the ultimate connectivity within and between all living organisms and point the way to a coherent system of values and spiritual meaning.