Introduction

The opening of the twenty-first century is marked by a peculiar situation in regard to religion and spirituality. On one hand, most people are weary and even demoralized by our constant focus on ‘enlightened self-interest.’ To paraphrase biblical scholar Miles (Revel and Ricard 1999: x), we are becoming bored and more than a little frightened by the widely held belief in the moral code that the world is real and the world’s goods are really worth acquiring. Intense enthusiasm for everything from a credit card to a new baby, a foreign vacation to a museum membership has replaced what, in another period of time, might have been a curiosity or even a sense of awe about existence itself and our purpose within it.