The following is part two of the Open Source Spirituality Manifesto. To go to part one the introductory, quick overview and definitions for the Open Source Spirituality Manifesto, click here.
The 23 Co-Creational Principles for Expanding the Open Source Spirituality Collaboration (within both Evolution Spirituality and the Expanding Humanity's Global Spiritual Commons)
Balanced and healthy spiritual communities are established and expanded within the Evolution Spirituality network of practitioners and communities by following the Open Source Spirituality Principles. The Open Source Spirituality principles also are vital to help empower the Personal Spirituality movement and our basic principle that our members personalize their own spirituality using our materials.
Once you understand the Open Sources Spirituality general concepts from part one of this manifesto and you understand the following 23 open source spirituality principles you can immediately begin contributing your wisdom to the open source spirituality commons found within Evolution Spirituality and the Universe Spirit organization. You can also serve as a community member aware of the principles we need to hold in a rich and diverse spiritual community to keep unresolvable theological conflicts and other problems from harming our growing movement.
Once you have learned our core advanced materials you will be able to help co-create the core operating "kernal" of this new spirituality as well. If you think about the existing central Evolution Spirituality body of meta-spirituality materials much like the core operating system "kernel" in traditional open source software, you would have a good image of what you are finding within many of the materials on this website.
The Current Complete List of Open Source Spirituality Principles are:
- Introduction
- On Its Prime Focus
- On Diversity
- On Personal Spiritual Choice and Authority
- On Organizational Spiritual Authority and Revelation
- On Miracles
- On the Questioning of Faith Beliefs and Practices
- On Personalities in the Movement
- On the Non-Equality of All Spiritual Wisdom
- On the Process Itself
- On Polarization
- On Organization and Distribution
- On Other Open Source Integral Spirituality and Global Wisdom Commons Process Objectives
- On Ownership, Patents and Trademarks applied to Spiritual Wisdom and the Global Life and Spirit Commons
- On No Requirement of Allegiance
- On Expanding our Common Core of Moral Values
- On the Pathologies and Abuses of Religion
- Other Probable Administrative Principles of an Open Source Spirituality and an Expanding Global Life and Spirit Commons
- On Free and Open Access
- On Open Source "Forking" as a Natural Method to Manage Evolution Spirituality Independent Organizations and individuals who fail to follow the Evolution Spirituality Member Conduct Codes, Teacher Ethical Guidelines or Spiritual Safeguards. (Number 20 at Bottom of page.)
- On the Improved Integration of Science and Spirituality. (Number 21 at Bottom of page.)
- On the New Open Source Definition for What Faith Means: (Number 22 at bottom of page.)
- On the New Open Source Definition for What Healthy Boundary Awareness in Spiritual Development Means: (Number 23 at bottom of page.)
(Reminder: Please feel free to take any of the ideas on spirituality or science that you find on this web site to create or expand your evolving personal spirituality or local spiritual community. Evolution Spirituality as found on this website is an open, personalized and self-created spiritual process. You can always self-select, sequence and use the processes, wisdom and tools that you find in the optimal way that will work best for your current conditions, stage of spiritual development and understanding.)
Open Source Principles Introduction
The common global spiritual culture is now expanding at a faster level than ever before in history. An emerging global life and spirit commons is supported by the evolutionary processes of open source spirituality as described in this document. It is intended to co-create and expand the global life and spirit commons where all individuals can be part of a common culture of spiritual experience and spiritual wisdom in balance and grounded with what we know through science. It is also a place where people can feel a tangible interconnectedness to each other through recognition of their common Origin and the commonality found within their highest intentions as well as their common inter-religious and humanistic moral values such as justice, love, mercy, kindness and compassion.
The global life and spirit commons is a place for the collection, consolidation and distribution of all of humanity's spiritual and science related wisdom that is life-affirming, universal, inclusive and hopefully also often even empirical (as it relates primarily to the common spiritual experiences of the members of the world's spiritual communities and religions.) It is also a place for the collection, discovery and sharing the most universal common denominators of authentic spirituality, new evolutionary disclosures about Ultimate Reality from any and all sources and, yet is still appreciative and respectful our many denominational diversities. It is created by a process that is self-organizing, dynamic and that has a self-propagating life of its own.
Below are the essential flexible, minimum values and principles (healthy current boundaries) of the open source spirituality collaboration process that will facilitate expanding the healthy space and processes of global life and spirit commons. This list will be amended or upgraded as needed as would be expected in any evolving and yet incomplete new movement:
The most important focus of open source spirituality is the increasing knowledge of common core and essence of all religion and Ultimate Reality of science and humanism. This is a focus to support individuals and societies transforming themselves in congruence with that knowledge to live in more life-affirming ways. There are many names for this Great Mystery.
Another key open source spirituality goals is to support one’s continually expanding and deepening direct personal or non-personal experiences with Ultimate Reality, improving one’s balanced practice of the virtues, and aiding the individual's achieving spiritual completeness. (Spirituality is the innermost and most critical essence of all religion as opposed to religion’s outermost characteristics such as its social beliefs, doctrines, rituals and organizational structures, authorities and hierarchies.) - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
This is an open source movement! It encourages many individuals, organizations and teachers of spiritual wisdom to contribute their wisdom to the open source spirituality collaboration.
This diversity is essential to an unending search for additional and broader spiritual truth and is vital for making spiritual wisdom accessible to the great variety of personalities, learning styles, psychological developmental levels and cultures. Though different in abilities, all are equal in spiritual dignity and can act as co-creators of the global life and spirit commons. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
3.) On Personal Spiritual Choice and Authority
Every mentally sound person already possesses the internal means to be their own highest spiritual authority for discerning spiritual truth for their own spiritual path. This implies that each individual is their own highest spiritual authority. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
4.) On Organizational or Spiritual Authority and Revelation
In the global life and spirit commons and in the open source spirituality movement it is necessary that there are no highest Popes, Bishops, Avatars, Gurus, Rabbis, Imams, etc. or, any religious hierarchy of final spiritual authority or religious orthodoxy outside the spiritual authority of the individual. No one spiritual source, spiritual teacher, founder, leader or organization has the universal or final spiritual authority on what is authentic or appropriate spiritual wisdom, spiritual truth or spiritual law for anyone other than themselves. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
From this date of this original manifesto's creation forward, the above paragraph naturally infers that there is also no longer recognition of special, exclusive, ongoing or final spiritual revelation being presented by Ultimate Reality uniquely or solely to one individual or to one organization that is applicable to or for anyone beyond the specific individual who received it. While we do accept the possibility of unique personal revelation/guidance in terms of the communication quality possible within the relationship of the individual to Ultimate Reality, we do not hold that this unique personal revelation/guidance can or should be held out as authentic or final religious or spiritual truth, law or authority for anyone or any organization except possible for the individual who received it and, then only if they themselves judge and accept it to be religious or spiritual truth, law or authority for themselves.
Religious revelation intended or decreed as final, authoritative or as religious law for anyone or any group other than for the unique, single individual who received it is an area of religion and spirituality historically fraught with abuse and misuse and the source of much of the current religious strive in the world today. Furthermore, by its very claim to be either an authentic or final religious/spiritual revelation for a group or mankind there is not only no real objective way to disprove it, there is also no real objective way to prove it either.
Revelation because it is subjective and not objective and it cannot be proven or un-proven, has most often been something that not only divides people, but often historically has served as the rational for violence against disbelievers of some particular subjectively received or decreed revelation. Revelation that confers special or exclusive privileges, rights, roles, responsibilities, religious law, authority or property on or over a select few or special group is even further suspect in that the message of the revelation is not inclusive, universal or just and, by its nature congruent with those prime and potential qualities within an Ultimate Reality.
If you do believe that Ultimate Reality will in fact, continue to disclose more of its infinite self and aspects to humanity in revelation as time goes on, maybe it has always, when the time was right, intended to eventually disclose more of itself through a new multi-religious open source, co-creative process where the combination of insights and wisdom from all religions and individuals will offer a bigger, broader and, more clear and accurate picture of Ultimate Reality than the revelational perspective of any one religion. Maybe, at this time in history we have finally now both become and really are all vital spiritual and moral partners who are equal-opportunity, (open source) co-revealers of the endless and expanding truths about Ultimate Reality.
Maybe for our post-postmodern times, the revealing of the endless and expanding truths about Ultimate Reality is now better executed by a continuous and collaborative group effort rather than by only a progressive or exclusive single revelatory effort by any one religion. Maybe, continuous group efforts to accelerate the revealing of the expanding new truths about Ultimate Reality is the appropriate evolutionary step ladder now needed for these times for our new revelations where later revelations are no longer viewed as either final or even necessarily superior to earlier revelations, but instead new revelations are viewed as a just another beautiful pearl to be added to a string of pearls that can grow into endless strands.
Maybe, from the very beginning of our spiritual history (although we did not know it then,) the endless expanding truth about Ultimate Reality has always been far, far too great for any one religion to hold. And just maybe, while the absolute truth of Ultimate Reality may always be one, we still may need the many different religious paths to start us out, but then it will be the combined best wisdom from all the religions that will keep us on our way most effectively and efficiently to the greatest spiritual heights possible.
In dealing with all previous spiritual claims by individuals or religious organizations that that they have received a special, exclusive, ongoing, authoritative or final spiritual revelation that does or does not bind or confer special or exclusive privileges, rights, roles, responsibilities, laws, authority or property on or over a select few or special group (other than over only the unique individual receiver of that revelation) the open source movement intentionally does not at this time address the validity of such claims and takes no official position toward such claims of past revelation. The global life and spirit commons will provide additional insights on this, but we leave this for each individual to work out as an issue of personal faith for themselves. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
In open source spirituality, miracles that defy the natural laws are treated as a personal issue of subjective faith. Miracles may not be used as proof of spiritual authority or spiritual truth for anyone other than the individual experiencing the miracle even if the miracle has been subjected to rigorous scientific investigation. This is because even in the most rigorous of scientific investigation although the fact that an event has occurred might be ascertained with a high degree of certainty, why or what caused that event to occur is far harder to discern, especially when a spiritual cause is being assigned or attributed to that event.
Open source spirituality has been birthed in the 21st century where there is a new emphasis on the reintegration of the values and wisdom of spirituality with the fact and rationality of science. Looking at the deepest cause and effect patterns of our 13 billion year evolution and the beauty and order it has created, it easy to see from a spiritual perspective that "miracles" are found everywhere in the most ordinary of events in our everyday lives. Spectacular or simple personal miracles that supposedly supersede the laws of nature are of minor and tangential interest to the Open Source Universe Spirit movement compared to what best helps individuals connect directly to Ultimate Reality, grow towards spiritual completion and live lives of balanced virtue. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
6.) On the Questioning of Faith Beliefs and Practices
We have come to a new point in humanity’s spiritual history where if individuals or religious organization’s assert to another that their own faith beliefs or practices should be believed or followed as fact and/or that specific behavior is dictated or ordered by those faith beliefs or practices, then those faith beliefs or practices should be open to a gracious public questioning and dialog on their factuality and/or usefulness in directing specific behaviors. Religious pathology, abuse, fundamentalism and religious terrorism are not just matters of history, but fill the pages of our daily media. The only way many of these issues will heal is by open, candid and gracious dialog concerning the faith beliefs or practices that may be instrumental to creating these situations.
This does not imply that private individuals who are not asserting to another that their own faith beliefs or practices should be believed or followed as fact and/or that specific behavior is dictated or ordered by those faith beliefs or practices should be questioned on their faith beliefs or practices. In this situation the individual is fully entitled to believe whatever they privately chose to believe much as a person is entitled to speak or hold their opinions and cannot be sued for libel or slander if they are just expressing opinions and not presenting their opinions as facts.
Many religions already encourage their members to sincerely examine and reality test the faith beliefs or practices being presented to them. An open source spirituality just extends and expands the sanction and healthy practice of a sincere and gracious questioning and reality testing of faith beliefs for the benefit of both society and religion itself.
Additionally, if we do not allow for gracious questioning of faith beliefs and faith practices it closes off the possibilities for addressing behaviors that perpetuate historic unfairness. Tolerance and diversity can be used quite well by the clever to perpetuate all types of injustice and cruelty in the name of religion. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
7.) On Personalities in the Movement
The open source spirituality movement gladly accepts the co-creational assistance from anyone, but it gives no inappropriate or special attention, honor, position or consideration to any person or organization involved because they are personalities or organizations of wealth, fame, power, specialized influence, celebrity or pre-existing ecclesiastical authority in a religious or spiritual organization. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
8.) On the Non-Equality of All Spiritual Wisdom
Not all spiritual wisdom is equal. The inclusive collection of all of humanity's spiritual wisdom as part of any synthesis process will naturally involve both general categorization and then some pruning of this wisdom from our combined spiritual heritage.
Some spiritual wisdom will be more widely applicable, inclusive, universal, life affirming and even empirical. Some spiritual wisdom will be more useful than others in that it is more effective or efficient in producing the fruits of authentic spiritual growth in more people with various personality types, psychological developmental levels, learning styles, cultural backgrounds, etc. in a safe and balanced way.
The fruits and the time proven community validity tests of authentic spirituality and spiritual growth from humankind’s spiritual heritage are held in the open source movement to be the life results of the individual or organization that demonstrate the balanced application of the virtues. These time proven community validity tests are a principled focus for the movement to use for categorizing and evaluating the effectiveness or the partial usefulness of various pieces of spiritual wisdom.
Sincere spiritual inquiry, the sharing of all spiritual wisdom (without regard to culture or religious ism,) and the search for spiritual wisdom that is more universal, inclusive and life affirming inspires the open source spirituality movement toward the discovery of more useful and applicable spiritual wisdom, more universal statements of the nature and purposes of Ultimate Reality and, of the evolving nature of life itself.
The continuous process of co-operation and collaboration for collecting and expanding humanity’s spiritual wisdom in the open source spirituality movement between the many individual or organizational efforts to know Ultimate Reality, holds the promise of expanding humanity’s spiritual knowledge base, assembling spiritual wisdom of a complementary nature and, expanding the free and open life and spirit commons for all humanity. This evolutionary process also does much to reveal a greater vision of Ultimate Reality’s wholeness, truth, beauty, goodness, nature and purposes, which then has the potential of translating directly into better processes for direct spiritual experience of Ultimate Reality for more individuals, for a better world. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
As in open source software, where software development is an unending process of continual upgrades, open source spirituality processes for expanding the global life and spirit commons is also more of an ongoing evolving, collaborative process than any final result. It too will be constantly upgraded.
As more wisdom is included and synthesized in the expanding global life and spirit commons new synchronicities and connections within this accumulating wisdom will point to, hint at or disclose additional new wisdom that sometimes will naturally transcend earlier spiritual or scientific wisdom. Co-creators should expect many pleasant and exciting surprises as new transcending spiritual and science related wisdom is discovered or naturally emerges disclosing new perspectives and metaphors of Ultimate Reality.
It will always be a continuous, incomplete and evolving process of expanding the spiritual wisdom knowledge base of humanity’s spiritual commons. One of the prime reasons for this unending quality of the process is that the collaborative assembling and search for new or more universal, inclusive and life affirming spiritual and science related wisdom concerning Ultimate Reality is itself an unending process. And, Ultimate Reality can never be fully knowable in its entire infinite splendor.
All efforts to fully know or disclose the infiniteness of its nature and purposes will at best be partial maps, myths or metaphors. No matter how much we can know about Ultimate Reality it will always be a partial and incomplete representation of its infinite potentials and its infinite realized aspects.
Individuals and organizations within the open source integral spirituality movement always stand in openness, awe and humility to new surprises concerning Ultimate Reality continually unveiling itself to each individual personality and successive generation through any and all means, sources or circumstances regarding its ultimate and complete truth, beauty and goodness. From the above, it is reasonable to deduce that one religion or one religious perspective alone will not have all the answers and all current religions might be partial or complementary views of the infinite wholeness and unfathomable Mysteries, which will forever surround the infiniteness and absoluteness of Ultimate Reality.- Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
Polarization in the global life and spirit commons and the open source spirituality and Universe Spirit movement is avoided by the recognition that this is primarily a non-deficient learning universe. This primarily perspective of itself reduces polarizaton. (See New Universe Principles Part 2 for more on this appropriate universe "attitude.")
Humanity’s vast heritage of spiritual wisdom is partial, evolving and, has its own appropriate time, way, place, and target audience to emerge for specific applications. In this movement our combined heritage of spiritual wisdom is appreciated in the context of:
- the age and scope of spiritual or social problems this wisdom was intended to solve,
- the culture it came from and for what types of personalities, learning styles and psychological developmental levels it was intended to reach and serve, and
- its effectiveness in a specific context and situation,
- does it cause any consequent harm or conflicts,
- does it create non-inclusive, unfair benefits for one individual/group over another group/individual or
- how congruent is it with the body of other spiritual wisdom found on our "shrinking" globalizing planet and within the global life and spirit commons.
Our evolving life-affirming heritage of spiritual wisdom can be thought of as existing in an ever widening and ever deepening spiral of wisdom. Because of the perspective on wisdom appreciation (a–f above) open source spirituality participants can discuss, evaluate, classify, categorize and organize this heritage of spiritual wisdom while valuing any particular piece of spiritual wisdom for just for what is. Open source spirituality participants recognize that a particular piece of spiritual wisdom has an inalienable right to be exactly just what it is and to play only the specific role that it has played in humankind’s spiritual history. With the above information, attitudes and perspectives of appreciation and understanding, the polarization of competing spiritual wisdom or spiritual wisdom systems within the open source spirituality and Universe Spirit movements and within the global life and spirit commons should be naturally minimal and easily defused. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principles -
11.) On Organization and Distribution
Humanity’s vast knowledge base of spiritual wisdom will be collected, organized and, distributed through free multi-channel delivery systems. This will help adapt the expanded human spiritual wisdom knowledge base for delivery to each individual’s unique learning style, personality, current psychological development level, culture or other isms. This will increase the ease, speed and efficiency with which individuals can assimilate this wisdom to improve their lives. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
12.) On Other Open Source Spirituality and Global Wisdom Commons Process Objectives
There are many possible objectives and goals that an open source spirituality could and will engage upon. To see just a few of those possible goals, click here.
- Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
13). Copyright Ownership, Commercial Uses, Individual Recognition, Patents and Trademarks applied to Spiritual Wisdom and the Global Life and Spirit Commons
Patents and Trademarks when applied to the collection or specific pieces of this collected spiritual wisdom are misplaced. This is because these materials are intended to be as open source as possible and, ultimately only the original author and original creator, (Ultimate Reality,) could lay a valid claim to the ultimate original creative source rights.
This does not mean that original creative descriptions of this wisdom cannot be open and put into CreativeCommons.com type copyrighted forms either for personal recognition or as part of a right commercial livelihood. It also does not mean that some type of flexible suggested donation or fair exchange should not be requested for their use by their creators for any of the materials, courses or books used within the global life and spirit commons. In a global life and spirit commons in which all can participate freely and all can feel the common heritage ownership and/or participate in the open source co-creation trying to patent or trademark the spiritual and science related spiritual wisdom to inflexibly lock it down is contrary to the most fundamental principles of open source spirituality.
Creativecommons.com type use of scalable open copyrights that allow at least open access and then possibly various levels of open source co-creativity are recommended to be used by any author who wishes to maintain some personal recognition or some level of open access future involvement with their work's evolution. (See CreativeCommons.com for the various types of open copyright licenses or the creative commons license used on this site off the Creative Commons license link at the very bottom of this page.)
14.) On No Requirement of Allegiance
There is no denominational or, authoritative religious book or authoritative religious personality ecclesial authority allegiance required to participate in open source spirituality and to help expand the global life and spirit commons. In fact, any of the preceding allegiance requirements would be counter to the nature of an open co-creation of a global life and spirit commons. The only participant allegiance of open source spirituality co-creators should be towards including all spiritual wisdom and helping to delineate the most universal spiritual wisdom. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
15.) On Expanding our Common Core of Moral Values
The world’s major religions already share a common core of moral values such as justice, compassion, mercy, love and kindness. Expanding the global life and spirit commons through an open source spirituality and science collaboration holds the promise of disclosing new common values and finding new ways for individuals and the world’s great religions and other organizations to work together from those common moral values to collectively resolve the greatest problems the world faces today, such as a just, sustainable and equitable environment particularly a place where people were safe from the threats of war and injustice. Some of those new moral and ethical values can be found in the New Universe Principles.- Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
16.) On the Pathologies and Abuses of Religion
An Open Source Spirituality that will help expand the global life and spirit commons will need to confront and deal with the issues of the pathologies and abuses of religion within its knowledge base in a forthright and honest way. For many of the estimated 30% of the population that calls itself spiritual, but not religious the very word religion creates an unpleasant and aversive reaction. One does not have to go back in history very far to see the pathologies, excesses and abuses of religion that are still occurring in many places today.
Doing everything possible to deal with and educate about the pathologies and abuses of past religions and the critical spiritual safeguards that are necessary to prevent them from occurring in our new religion again is a natural aspect of the global life and spirit commons work. Some, but by no means all of the pathologies of institutionalized religion that the global life and spirit commons will eventually have to address are: fixation of beliefs; establishment of oppressive ecclesiastical authority; religious fundamentalism; tendency to standardize and fossilize truth; diversion of religion from the service of Ultimate Reality to the service of the church; fund raising focus in place of a humble spiritual service focus; creating discriminatory religious castes; becoming an intolerant judge of orthodoxy; creation of the aristocratic "chosen-people" attitude; sexual and financial abuse of members, undue psycho/spiritual influence or coercive influence over members negating or debilitating their ability to exercise spiritual free will; fostering of false and exaggerated ideas of sacredness; routinizing of religion; accepting religious symbols and ceremonies in place of authentic direct spiritual experience of and with Ultimate Reality, using blind or absolutist faith to override proper faith balance with rationality or scientific facts; preventing or slowing members progressing through Fowler’s natural stages of spiritual growth ; tendency to form sects and competitive divisions; petrification of meditation/worship; venerating the past while ignoring present demands; failure to make up-to-date interpretations of religion’s messages; entanglement with functions of secular institutions; inclination of leaders to become administrators instead of ministers; accumulation of vested interests toward increased secularization; failing to hold the interest of adventurous youth and losing the hope renewing wisdom from ongoing personal direct spiritual experience with Ultimate Reality.
Click here to learn more about possible spiritual safeguards against religious pathologies and abuses. - Back to Top - Back to Values and Principle -
17.) Other Probable Administrative Principles of an Open Source Spirituality and an Expanding Global Life and Spirit Commons
The evolving administrative qualities of the Global Life and Spirit Commons community are envisioned to be created, achieved and improved though the process of inclusion, synthesis and transcendence. They are intended to always spiritually empower the expansion of the commons and each step of the adventurous journey and process of getting there.
The Probable Administrative Principles are:
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Facilitating Intention and Action: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community holds the position that all co-creators within intend to help people of diverse personality types, denominations, developmental or consciousness levels, cultures, ethnicities or isms to work toward achieving expanding direct spiritual experience of Ultimate Reality as well as the expansion of the Global Life and Spirit Commons.
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Collaborative: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community is a place of collaboration enhanced by openness, shared spiritual intention and attention, trust, authentic listening, speaking and participating from our experiences, intimacy, vulnerability, knowing and where one can suspend strongly held ideas and look beyond personal preconceptions to enable the process of true learning and gaining new insights.
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Self organizing: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community will naturally operate on many of the principles or Peer to Peer (P2P) and of systems theory, particularly that of self organizing systems. For example, those who show up are the "right" persons for the work. The commons promotes bottom up created and managed solutions. Volunteers have the self-empowering freedom and autonomy in selecting and managing (self organizing) their own projects and resources.
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Interdependent: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community fosters inter-dependence between independent individuals and organizations.
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Balanced: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community seeks to create an enlightened win, win, win balance where individual, community and (where applicable,) environmental interests are mutually forwarded, balanced and upheld.
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Cooperative and Co-creative: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community is intended to be cooperative and co-creative with all organizations and individuals with compatible missions. As a non commercial global commons it does not compete with anyone.
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Diversity Honoring: Because Ultimate Reality appears to love novelty and diversity in evolution, the Global Life and Spirit Commons community seeks to utilize the life affirming information from a multiplicity of cultural, ethnic, racial, spiritual and scientific perspectives to evolve and expand and attract co-creators from all walks of life. To expand the Global Life and Spirit Commons many spiritual and non-spiritual perspectives are woven into a fabric that still maintains its distinct, diverse individual visible textures and colors. The commons sees diversity as both essential to better more inclusive solutions, complementary strength and creative opportunity.
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Safe: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community seeks to create and maintain an environment where all people can feel safe spiritually, socially and physically. The concept of building a safe space also means that only those minimum healthy boundaries and policies necessary to protect the open Global Life and Spirit Commons from unhealthy, unethical practices of individuals, businesses or organizations who would unfairly or harmfully exploit it are created.
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Appropriate, practical solution focused: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community seeks to create solutions that are personalized to specific individuals and groups, integral, sufficient, scalable practical and non-authoritarian.
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Internet centered: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community will be facilitated by many free, multi-language websites serving a global community 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The free access web sites allow all members access to all of spiritual wisdom whenever and wherever they are needed.
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Non-Adversarial: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community has no adversaries. We work toward reducing ignorance and inappropriate or disproportionate fear.
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Multi-perspective: The Global Life and Spirit Commons is being significantly expanded by the a multi-perspective worldview. As such it operates from a "both and" perspective, not an either or view. Paradox is embraced.
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Universal and Inclusive: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community is an ecumenical, global and universal spiritual vehicle and movement. It promotes understanding, tolerance and unity among all religions and individuals.
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Flow State: Control and resources flow to where they are natural or needed within the Global Life and Spirit Commons community. Flow usually exists as a relative dynamic balance created from continuous re-balancing adjustments to exterior evolutionary stress and/or internal tensions.
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"Quality of Being" Focused: Unlike commercial entities the Global Life and Spirit Commons community intends to make any key internal administrative decisions from both a "quality of spiritual being" and a quality of physical existence focus vs. a solitary physical survival focus.
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Healthy Boundaries: The Global Life and Spirit Commons community strives to set only the flexible, healthy and the most minimal boundaries on its processes and uses necessary to maintain the quality of our spiritual and science related space necessary to expand the global life and spirit commons. These boundaries will be derived or tested by historic spiritual and social "community validity tests" or safeguards that are also relevant to the conditions of the current situation.
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Neutral Space: The Global Life and Spirit Commons is a neutral, nondenominational space and sanctuary where all authentic spiritual expressions from all developmental levels, cultures, or personality styles found within the spiral of life can just be, co-exist and feel comfortable in a global spiritual community. In this spiritual sanctuary for the diversity of spiritual wisdom and expression no one expression may dominate, claim final authority or attempt to inappropriately diminish another.
- Competent, Productive, Responsible and Ethical: Those who co-create within the Global Life and Spirit Commons community are stewards of any support the Global Life and Spirit Commons receives and do so at the highest standards of efficiency. They demonstrate and uphold both personally and with their peers the creation of a meritocracy of the highest standards of work competence, productivity, responsibility and integrity and view their service to the Global Life and Spirit Commons community as both an honor and a privilege.
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Beauty and Art: Any physical spaces used within the Global Life and Spirit Commons community are intended to be physically beautiful and filled with all forms of art and creativity. Beauty in art reflects Ultimate Reality.
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Appropriate Integrative and Integral Processes: Where appropriate, processes that are integrative and integral and are transcending and including are used to organize and manage the Global Life and Spirit commons and the distribution of open source spirituality materials.
18.) On Free and Open Access
All of the courses and materials within this Universe Spirit global life and spirit commons node that were created with the open source spirituality process and principles are open and freely available to all. This open and free access does not mean that creators or co-creators of the courses and materials cannot ask for some form of fair value or suggested exchange or donation for using the courses or materials based upon the good faith value the user receives--- where the user gets to exclusively determine that final exchange value if any.
19.) On Open Source "Forking" as a Natural Method to Manage Evolution Spirituality Independent Organizations or individuals or spiritual facilitators/teachers who fail to follow the Evolution Spirituality Member Conduct Codes, Teacher Ethical Guidelines or Spiritual Safeguards
Independent Organizations or individuals who are part of the Evolution Spirituality movement or organizational center network who repeated fail to follow the Evolution Spirituality member conduct codes ethical guidelines or spiritual safeguards are managed organically because no one owns the Evolution Spirituality spiritual "source code" materials and we have no final spiritual authority or Pope that can demand compliance in spiritual matters due to our belief in free will in spiritual choice and practice matters.
This means that Evolution Spirituality members and congregations who are repeatedly betrayed by a individual, group or center's leadership are encouraged to simply "fork" off that individual, study group or center and create their own new Evolution Spirituality group or center.
This implies to only abandon an individual minister, teacher or organization if all reasonable repeated individual and community efforts to inform, correct or teach those individuals or the center leader(s) has failed. This encouragement to natural fork off and create a new group or center when spiritual services or organizational ethics are compromised is a powerful part of the natural self-correcting and self-organizing open source spirituality mechanism for keeping the Evolution Spirituality movement healthy growing and self-policing. After repeated attempts to educate and evolve a serious and repeated violation of our commonly held principles and ethics there is no longer any reason to endure individuals or organizations who re-direct the Evolution Spirituality movement into inappropriate or unethical activities or inappropriate personal gain.
20.) The Improved Integration of Science and Spirituality: Open source spirituality holds that the myths, beliefs and metaphors of todays religions need to be actively updated toward congruence with the facts of science. Religion forwards an original Source of the universe. That Source is like a seed to the universe and the universe can be thought of as its fruit. Since there is always relational congruence between the seed and its fruit it stands to reason that the facts of the physical universe must reflect the nature of the Seed of the universe and therefore the myths, beliefs and metaphors of todays religions need to be actively updated toward congruence with the facts of science.
21.) A New Open Source Definition for What Faith Means: Open-source spirituality provides a new and more useful definition of faith. It is a new definition that promotes the principles of reasoning and educated discourse. It holds that you cannot have a legitimate faith without also having intellectual honesty in the search for truth.
The new open-source form of faith to be authentic also aligns itself with truth in all forms! Whatever originating Source there might be to the universe, it is highly doubtful that originating Source would ever want its creations to not have intellectual honesty and alignment with all forms of truth --- particularly in the vital matters of faith.
It is not surprising that today's science presents and validates most of the common forms of truth that we know. Carl Sagan famous astrophysicist remarked that the universe and the scientific facts about the truth of its splendor and awe would make a great basis for a universal religion and spirituality and that eventually such a spirituality would be born. Open-source spirituality as defined in the open-source spirituality principles and manifesto and as practiced within Evolution Spirituality may be close to the realization of that dream.
Open-source spirituality in faith matters also assumes that humanity (and those that are practicing open-source spirituality,) possesses the required intelligence and emotional maturity to respond to rational argument, satire and even ridicule on the subject of spirituality just as they respond to these discursive pressures on all other subjects and --- without physically attacking or killing each other. Our new definition of open source spiritual faith challenges hope mistaken for knowledge, bad ideas protected from good ones, conviction without sufficient reason, wishful thinking elevated to a principal of salvation and good ideas obscured from bad ones.
It further recognizes that people can reason poorly and be very, very certain of their conclusions and have a completely clear conscience. It also recognizes that that people can be wrong and not know it (commonly called ignorance,) that it is possible to be wrong and know that, but not want to incur the social cost of admitting this publicly (commonly called hypocrisy,) and that it is even possible to be wrong and to be aware of this, but then to actually allow the fear of being wrong to increase one's commitment to one's erroneous beliefs (commonly called self-deception.)
Any honest open-source spirituality faith search for truth is made even more difficult because most new scientific truths are not self-evident with commonly available instrumentation and are often themselves facts that are deeply counterintuitive. Common sense is just not the way that new scientific truths are emerging. By honestly recognizing that intellectual honesty is the core of open source spirituality faith the open-source spirituality movement sets itself on a expansion and integration course that few other spiritual movements currently honor or could duplicate. (The above is derived in part from ideas originally presented The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris.)
22.) For Online Students and Those who want to Understand the Principles Of Open Source Spirituality at the Level of Organizational Implementation
For more detailed information about the spiritual working principles of our organization and how they naturally relate and support the open source part of an open source spirituality, click here. For more detailed information about the administrative working principles of our organization and how they naturally relate and support the open source part of an open source spirituality and open source religion, click here.
23.) What Healthy Boundary Awareness in Spiritual Development Means in the Open Source Spirituality Movement
Humanity has thousands of years of experience of both healthy and unhealthy spirituality and religion. From this cross denominational experience it has developed lists of items that indicate that healthy boundaries have been violated and the spiritual practices and spiritual development has gone off track in potentially dangerous and destructive ways. This historic collection of cross denomination spiritual wisdom on healthy and unhealthy spiritual practices is found in the spiritual safeguards section. Having all members of an open source spiritual group and practice know these spiritual safeguards is essential to both their success and safety. Click here to review the spiritual safeguards.
Creating a Global Spiritual Commons and its Relationship to the Open Source Spirituality Process
"Open Source Spirituality is the future's evolutionary next step beyond today's global interfaith movement it will significantly help create a true meta-spirituality and global spiritual commons for all of humanity." Lawrence Wollersheim
A Global Spiritual Commons is defined as a common and free access spiritual wisdom resource, (data base,) cyber hub and collaborative network created and expanded by any and all individuals or organizations who wish to share their spiritual wisdom and experience in an open source, peer-to-peer collaboration and co-creation. The Open Source Spirituality process and spiritual and administrative principles listed below this section facilitate the expansion, maintenance and the free and open use of the Global Spiritual Commons.
What is most exciting about the results of these online and offline open source Spirituality collaborations is that they not only expand the Global Spiritual Commons, but they also create a place where you will find both a place and process where everyone can share in both the spiritual and scientific wisdom from humanity’s vast heritage (or add and share the wisdom from their own spirituality or personal experience,) to help emerge new visions and perspectives of Ultimate Reality and for creating a better world of meaning, sustainable prosperity and justice for all of humanity. The networked global spiritual commons holds the promise of becoming humanity’s vast central knowledge base of all spiritual and science related wisdom, which can be more fully collected, organized and, freely distributed through multiple system and multiple channel delivery systems. The multiple delivery systems and channels will specifically adapt this continuously expanding knowledge base for more effective and easier user assimilation by tailoring the presentation of this spiritual wisdom specifically to an individual’s unique learning style, personality, current psychological development level, gender, age, culture or other important isms.
In the dynamic, evolutionary synthesis process of the co-creative assembly and inclusion of all of humankind’s spiritual and science related wisdom in this global life and spirit commons, there is a natural pruning that occurs resulting in the emergence of more useful and/or appropriate spiritual or dated scientific wisdom. In some cases this newly emerged wisdom will transcend earlier wisdom in its universality, inclusiveness, meanings, values, or in the way that it better integrates all spiritual and physical life wisdom into more useful maps and metaphors for not only the co-creators and participants in the global life and spirit commons, but for all of humankind. In the following key Principles for Building an Open Source Spirituality section much more will be said to help define the specifics for what is the Global Spiritual Commons, what it specifically does and what are the Open Source spirituality processes and principles.
Currently our Universe Spirit website is serving as a host node and host networking center for open source spirituality process and the expanding global spiritual commons. It is our hope that soon other open source spirituality nodes, networks and communities begin operating all over the world.
You Can Begin Participating in and Contributing to this Open Source Spiritual and Evolutionary Movement and Help Expand the Global Spiritual Commons Right Now!
Here is how:
a.) Let us know if you think anything is missing from the above co-creational, open source spirituality process principles. Let us know specifically what things you think need to be refined, edited or added to the lists above. Finally, let us know any ideas, additions or edits that you have for any of the open source spirituality materials found on this website.
b.) Begin and help us by co-creating new online Universe College Moodle courses and materials on this host site for the global spiritual commons.
Heard Enough?
Then click this What's Next link to begin immediately exploring more of this revolution in expanding authentic spiritual living and personal growth.