At 3MG, spirituality refers to an open attitude and approach to the varieties of religious experience, freed from dogma, conservative religious and moral ideology, and other sectarian limitations. It tends, therefore, to be individualistic, tolerant and democratic. It refers primarily to understanding gained through personal experience, not through belief. Although belief may be used as a means to understanding, if it becomes an end in itself and becomes inflexible, it turns into nothing more than an ideology.
The practice of yoga, for example, is a form of spirituality, because it requires no belief of any kind. An atheist or an agnostic who practices yoga can benefit from it as fully as a theist can. Likewise, Zen Buddhism, although commonly classified as a religion, not only does not require any kind of belief, it ultimately transcends every form of belief and conceptual thought.
Belief is ultimately irrelevant to spirituality. Only understanding or seeing finally matters.
For information about a very powerful expression of spirituality, see Nonduality.
By definition, theology is a body of conjecture, not a body of knowledge. All theology is only unproven theory. - DLT
Here are a few links to other spirituality sites:
Active Yoga Portal A source for many different kinds of information and resources about yoga.
Advaita Fellowship Wayne Liquorman offers the spiritual teaching of Nonduality in a modern, humorous, hard-hitting way.
All Things Spiritual Large number of links by category to many different kinds of spiritual resources.
Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center in Sedona, Arizona, is located on 70 acres, surrounded by National Forest. It offers guesthouses, cabins, luxury tipis and several meeting accommodations in a peaceful setting of natural beauty.
Awakening into Awareness Metta Zetty offers help in the form of Nonduality teachings.
thebigview.com This is a must-see, not only because it is beautifully done, but because of the quality of content. The covered topics: Buddhism, Tao Te Ching, mind and consciousness, Greek philosophy, space-time, and an entertaining past life analysis.
BuddhaNet: Worldwide Buddhist Information and Education Network A large, well-organized site that provides a wealth of information about Buddhism and its scriptures and offers a large number of free e-books to download.
Buddhist Studies WWW Virtual Library A central resource for Buddhist information. Covers the full range of Buddhism.
The Center of Spiritual Light A not-for-profit holistic healing and wellness center that integrates a range of rituals and teachings to foster healing, wholeness, and growth for individuals and communities, and that provides spiritual support to individuals who are often underserved for any reason, including race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identification, age, religious beliefs/practices, and income.
A Course in Consciousness This is a summary of a series of seminars offered to humanities undergraduates by Stanley Sobottka, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Virginia. It covers: 1) the reasons why consciousness is a necessary part of the most widely accepted interpretations of quantum theory, 2) the metaphysics of Nonduality, and 3) the teachings of several contemporary enlightened sages. Read the "Foreword" to decide if you want to read all, or only select chapters. Excellent instruction in Nonduality.
A Course in Miracles The Foundation for Inner Peace publishes and disseminates this course - an unusual, universal, self-study spiritual thought system that teaches the way to love and inner peace. Although Christian in language and imagery, the teachings are purely non-sectarian and usable by anyone, regardless of belief.
Dzogchen Foundation - Buddhism for the West Dzogchen is the Tibetan Buddhist expression of Nonduality. Besides having a good FAQ on Buddhism, this site also provides an introduction to the growing American Buddhist movement and its unique nature.
E-Sangha Buddhism Portal This meeting place for Buddhists and those who are interested in Buddhism contains free e-books, free e-cards, a discussion forum, interactive chat, an extensive collections of links, and more.
The Evangelical Catholic Church An inclusive Catholic faith community dedicated to welcoming those who no longer feel welcome in other churches, such as married priests, female priests, divorcees, gays, etc.
Institute for Welcoming Resources Resources that support the unconditional welcome of people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and their families into the church of their choice.
Janosh Art Janosh is a Dutch artist who creates unusually beautiful, evocative art on his computer for the purpose of contributing to "the human process of awakening and consciousness." A must-see. Enjoy browsing the galleries.
Krishnamurti Worldwide Web Information The late J. Krishnamurti is one of the most important, influential and respected spiritual teachers of the Twentieth Century. Many noted physicists and intellectuals engaged in probing discussions with him about the nature of reality. But don't expect him to be like any other teacher. A man of remarkable honesty and integrity, he was also an iconoclast who had little respect for religious authority.
Kundalini FAQ An introduction to the spiritual force described in yoga literature.
L.A. Dharma A non-sectarian Buddhist organization whose mission is to create a focal point for insight meditation and to help develop community.
Lotus and Rose This rich site is devoted to open inquiry about the universal life of the spirit. Combining offerings from the spiritual wisdom of the East and the West, the author encourages you to find out who you are.
Loving Awareness From the site, a nondualist perspective: "Love is awareness, and awareness is an expression of Love. To love awareness itself is an expression of the deepest sense of gratitude possible in the universe, and to give the gift of loving awareness to the world brings a profound sense of transformation to a planet that needs it greatly."
Moore to Consider "Maintaining a sincere hope of bringing the exact right information to the exact people who are looking for it, I have made a conscious effort at creating a hopeful, truth-oriented site, greatly inspired by the words I have received from channeling." - Site's author, Rob Moore
MyOutSpirit.com is an online community for finding lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender-affirming spiritual resources and for meeting other spiritual LGBT people.
Neoteric is a group of spiritual believers advocating a non-acquisitive, inclusive, and decentralized spirituality modeled after the open-source paradigm of the software world - without the rigid, authoritarian hierarchies and controlling moralistic doctrines of many modern-era religions.
Network of Spiritual Progressives An interfaith movement which challenges the political dominance of the Religious Right. Also welcomes "spiritual but not religious" secular people.
Nurturing the Now "Nurturing the Now is my concept of living in the present moment. You simply can't be any other place or in any other time, so why try?"
The Other Side is a bimonthly, ecumenical magazine which advances a healing Christian vision that's biblical and compassionate, appreciative of the creative arts, and committed to the intimate intertwining of personal spirituality and social transformation. We recommend this site, because it represents what Christianity should be, as taught by Jesus: a religion of compassion and spirituality, not one of dogma and moral ideology.
The Paulist Center Boston Community An inclusive Catholic community which reaches out to those searching for a spiritual home and those who have been alienated from the Catholic Church.
Plum Village A Buddhist monastery for monks and nuns and a practice center for lay people founded in France by the Vietnamese peace activist and Zen-Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Present Nonexistence Foundation So named because Truth is present but nonexistent as anything in particular. Cee, a Nonduality teacher in the lineage of Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj and Nome, offers satsang to seekers. Additional help is available at the site in the form of transcripts, audio and video.
Pure Silence This Nonduality site's essays, written by Mark McCloskey, direct your attention to the silence within as one of the easiest paths to enlightenment.
The Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York One of the major centers of information about Vedanta.
Ramana Maharshi The official site for this unusual and famous sage contains four free books for downloading. He is particularly known for advocating inquiry into the nature of reality in the form of the question, "Who am I?"
Realization.org Devoted to techniques for finding enlightenment, this site contains many interesting and practical articles, mostly about Eastern spiritual paths and experiences. For example, the complete text of the popular Vipassana meditation classic, Mindfulness in Plain English by Henepola Gunaratana, is available for reading online.
Roy's Home Page This is primarily an educational site about spirituality: "Spirituality is not about religion or belief, it is about who you really are and your relationship with your environment." Because it's designed to challenge, some may find it offensive, while others may find it refreshing and honest. You should find out for yourself.
San Francisco Zen Center The center was founded by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the author of the modern spiritual classic, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, to make accessible and embody the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha as expressed in the Soto Zen tradition - strong social outreach program.
Self-Realization Fellowship SRF was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda, who became one of the most widely known yoga masters of the Twentieth Century, largely because of his famous and fascinating book, Autobiography of a Yogi. For many people, this book and the SRF Temple in Hollywood, California, have been their starting point for exploring the many schools of yoga.
Incidentally, an online version of the original first edition of the Autobiography, copyright 1946, is available at Ananda, an organization founded by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda and a former member of SRF. The old-timers at SRF might consider Ananda a breakaway group, but it appears that Kriyananda has a genuine spiritual destiny of his own. His very interesting autobiography, The Path, is also online at the same site.
Shambhala This organization, founded by Chögyam Trungpa, offers Tibetan Buddhist meditation instruction and teaching programs at more than 100 centers world-wide. Excellent articles on meditation, and much more.
Shambhala Sun This magazine is about waking up and bringing a Buddhist view to the important issues in modern life. It celebrates the spirit of wakefulness wherever it appears - in the arts, relationships, politics, livelihood, popular culture, and all the challenges of modern life.
Spirit and Flesh, hosted by author Jack Haas, is actually two similar companion sites, which express yin(male)/yang(female) duality as a function of oneness, with an emphasis on the unity of spirit and flesh: spiritandflesh.com and spiritandflesh.net. Note: Visitors should be aware that spiritandflesh.net contains nude images and mature content, while spiritandflesh.com does not.
The Spiritual Essays of Brother Anonymous This site teaches that the purpose of life is enlightenment. "All of us have journeyed out from God, by His command, and will return to Him after...we know that everything in this world, including us, is God."
Taoism Although Taoism is now a religion, it started out as a philosophy. This introduction includes many useful links.
Taoism Information Page Texts include the Tao Te Ching, the I Ching, and more.
TruthSetsFree.net An inclusive, ecumenical Christian outreach to GLBTQ Christians, friends, and family. The ministry emerged from the publication of founder Justin R. Cannon's booklet, The Bible, Christianity, & Homosexuality, described by the Los Angeles Times as "an illuminating...analysis that argues the Bible doesn't condemn faithful gay relationships."
Unity Also known as The Unity School of Christianity. This not-for-profit organization is the world headquarters of Unity, a remarkably inclusive and broad-based spiritual movement based on the teachings of Jesus and the healing power of prayer. The main areas of service are prayer, publishing and education. In the words of the Chairman of the Board, "Unity says that true religious growth is a 'do-it-yourself' project ... One might describe Unity as a religious philosophy with an 'open end,' seeking to find God's truth in all of life." Also, see Association of Unity Churches comprised of approximately 1000 member ministries and satellite ministries throughout the world.
Universal Pantheist Society "Pantheists are persons who derive their fundamental religious experience through their personal relationship with the Universe. They feel that Nature is the ultimate context for human existence, and seek to improve their relationship with the natural world as their fundamental religious responsibility."
The Varieties of Religious Experience The William James classic in HTML format. Browse it, use it as a reference, or read it in its entirety. You can also download the entire book in either TXT or ZIP format at Project Gutenberg.
Vedanta Society of Southern California The society's headquarters, located in a small temple in the Hollywood Hills, has attracted many intellectuals and artists in its time, including Christopher Isherwood, and has published important books on Vedanta, the philosophy derived from the Hindu Vedas. View the site for an explanation of Vedanta and links to other relevant sites.
The Vipassana Page Many resources for Vipassana (Buddhist Insight Meditation) and Theravada Buddhism: discussion forum; free online books, pamphlets, articles; meditation groups and retreat centers; an archive of Buddhist writings by and about women.
Vipassana.com Online Vipassana (Insight) and Samatha (Tranquility) meditation course, articles, many early Buddhist texts from the Pali canon.
What Is Enlightenment? This is one of the most interesting and informative magazines about questions and issues of spirituality.
World Pantheist Movement A home to all forms of naturalistic spirituality - scientific pantheism, religious humanism, religious naturalism, positive atheism, deep ecology, philosophical Taoism, modern Stoicism, Gaia religion, Western forms of Buddhism that celebrate nature and everyday life, and to those in Unitarian Universalism who do not believe in supernatural beings.
Yoga Anand Ashram This site is especially useful for its extensive yoga postures section, which provides step-by-step instructions and pictures.
The Yoga Site This highly practical site offers a state-by-state listing of yoga teachers, international retreat schedules, an introduction to meditation, links to many yoga sites, and a very good yoga FAQ.
Zen Buddhism FAQ These Frequently Asked Questions about Zen include instructions for the practice of zazen (sitting meditation).
Zen Buddhism WWW Virtual Library Central source of information about the elusive satori, the Zen expression of enlightenment.
