The New Spirituality: How Seeking Has Transformed in 25 Years

In 1994, I edited a book called, “The Experience of God” in which I interviewed 40 notable spiritual leaders, ranging from the late Mother Teresa to Marianne Williamson, to the Dalai Lama. In rereading it recently, I was “godsmacked” by what folks had to say back then as to how best to develop spiritually. Nowadays, I interview spiritual leaders on a podcast I co-host called, “Awareness Explorers.” I tend to ask the same questions as I did 25 years ago, but today the answers I receive from spiritual leaders are surprisingly different.

Just as computers and phones have gone through dramatic upgrades in the last quarter of a century, so has the “technology” of finding inner peace. The precise things that have changed can be described in various ways. First of all, much of the terminology has changed. For example, nowadays people are much more likely to say they are pursuing inner peace, or mindfulness or consciousness — rather than seeking God.

Of course, other changes are even more profound. The ideas and methods underlying many spiritual paths often look completely different than they did 25 years ago. In attempting to make a list of some of these changes, this is what I came up with:

Nowadays there is…

1. Less interest in religion and more interest in non-religious methods of “awakening.”

2. Less reverence for church authority and more respect for one’s own intuition and sense of what’s right