Daniel Matt, Ph.D., is professor of Jewish spirituality at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.  He is author of God and the Big Bang, The Essential Kabbalah, and Zohar: The Book of Enlightenment. Here he discusses the theological implications of the “big bang” cosmological theory, which asserts that the entire universe exploded from an infinitessimally small [...]

Here he explains that Traditionalism is a particular version of Perennialism. It is associated primarily with René Guénon and Frithjof Schuon. It is distinct from the more heterodox approach of Aldous Huxley. Traditionalists feel that the orthodox systems of the world’s major religions afford the best possibilities for spiritual attainment. They particularly frown upon syncretism, [...]

Here he describes the findings reported in his 1993 book, Forbidden Archeology, in which he documented many reports from scientific journals prior to the acceptance of Darwin’s theory. These reports show evidence of modern human remains found in geological formations that are millions of years old — long before the generally accepted dates of homo [...]

Here James describes the contributions of the British writer, Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), to our understanding of mysticism. During her lifetime, she wrote 39 books covering many aspects of the mystical path, including her 1911 classic, titled Mysticism. She also wrote about ancient Greek and Indian mysticism. While she was a student of esoteric, occult, and [...]

Changes in the human brain and nervous system can result from intensive spiritual disciplines. The late Lee Sannella, M.D., author of Kundalini: Psychosis or Transcendence?, devoted many decades to the exploration of spiritual paths. “Kundalini” refers to energy coiled at the base of the spine which can rise up to the brain. Although Western science knows [...]

Dr. Verny shares that the mind is not totally dependent on the brain. He describes how reviving a patient, who had a near-death experience and his own near-death experience, helped him discover that consciousness is more than an epiphenomenon of the brain. The mind is both dependent on and independent of the brain and the [...]