The evolutionary value of Spirituality as a protector in aging

Last Sunday we saw compelling evidence of the hard-wired basis of our spiritual selves. It's no wonder we feel pulled toward the experience of unity and the ineffable. This week we will continue this discussion by looking at the possible evolutionary value of being wired for spiritual seeking and how spiritual practice itself may help make us stronger and more resistant to mental imbalance and the encroachment on age-related disabilities. We'll interview Lydia Roane, an LCSW specializing in gero-psychiatric adaptations, and we'll see if she'll share her knowledge of the mental and emotional challenges of aging and the relation to spirituality. Please join us for the discussion. It should be of particular interest to those of us who are ourselves, aging, and to those of us who love someone who is.

As ever, loving childcare is provided.

From Spiritual Intelligence, Frances Vaughan - 1998, copied from the Council on Spiritual Development

SPIRITUALITY: Subjective experience of the sacred

RELIGION: Creed, community, code of ethics

SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE suggests
wisdom and compassion
understanding and inner peace
Love and freedom
depth and breadth of vision

SPIRITUAL INTELLIGENCE may be expressed as
the common work
teaching and learning
healing and forgiveness
research, education and service

The Neurochemistry of Spiritual Experience

Recent controlled studies from Johns Hopkins University show that the use of the hallucinogenic agent psilocybin by naive participants produced in the subjects a profound sense of spiritual experience. Many of the subject reported that the experience was one of the most meaningful of their lives, and two years later, they still maintained that position. This coming Sunday we will have a look at the study and discuss some of the many implications. If you want to read an articulate account of one of the participants, click here:

http://csp.org/psilocybin/SciAmHallucinogens201012-Maria.pdf

Please join us for and interesting session. We'll be happy to see you. And as ever, loving childcare is provided.