ABSTRACT

In its most general sense, the term "Spiritual but Not Religious" denotes those who, on the one hand, are disillusioned with traditional institutional religion and, on the other hand, feel that those same traditions contain deep wisdom about the human condition. This edited collection speaks to what national surveys agree is a growing social phenomenon referred to as the "Spiritual but Not Religious Movement" (SBNRM).

Each essay of the volume engages the past, present and future(s) of the SBNRM. Their collective contribution is analytic, descriptive, and prescriptive, taking stock of not only the various analyses of the SBNRM to date but also the establishment of a new ground upon which the continued academic discussion can take place.

This volume is a watershed in the growing academic and public interest in the SBNRM. As such, it will vital reading for any academic involved in Religious Studies, Spirituality and Sociology.

chapter |11 pages

Introduction

Framing the volume

part I|73 pages

Roots

chapter 1|15 pages

Spiritual but Not Religious

A brief introduction

chapter 4|15 pages

Buddhist fulfillment of a Protestant dream

Mindfulness as scientific spirituality 1

chapter 5|14 pages

Plurals, hybrids, and nomads

Spirituality and religious practice at the intersections

part II|92 pages

Circumscriptions

chapter 6|21 pages

Minds of their own

Psychological substrates of the Spiritual but Not Religious sensibility

chapter 7|18 pages

Belief without borders

Inside the minds of the Spiritual but Not Religious

chapter 8|18 pages

Consuming spirituality

SBNR and neoliberal logic in queer communities

chapter 9|17 pages

Yogi superman, master capitalist

Bikram Choudhury and the religion of commercial spirituality

part III|89 pages

Future(s)

chapter 11|19 pages

Rogue mystics

The ecology of cosmic consciousness

chapter 13|17 pages

Transpersonal psychology and the Spiritual but Not Religious movement

Beyond spiritual narcissism in a postsecular age

chapter 15|15 pages

“Comparison gets you nowhere!”

The comparative study of religion and the Spiritual but Not Religious