1

I
The Spirituality of Happiness:
The New Spirituality of the 21st Century
Based on the Narrative of Scientific Inquiry
Denny J.A

Editor : Fitri Hari, S.SOS, M.Si

Design : Alip Noor
Layout : Ryansntrs

First Published August 2020 (Bahasa Indonesia)

Published by

Cerah Budaya Indonesia

Menara Kuningan lt. 9G
Jalan HR. Rasuna Said Kav V Blok X-7, South Jakarta
Rights and Publication Protected by Copyright Laws
 Preface
Three Blue Diamonds and the Awareness of One
Planet Earth, One Human Species, and One Spirituality

Nearly 800 years ago, Jalaluddin Rumi, a poet and mystic wrote,
“The spirit you need to fulfill your calling in life is already planted
in your heart.”
But what exactly is planted in your heart, in the heart of man, in
the heart of Homo sapiens?
Since 1950, a new fast growing science has appeared and
developed: Neuroscience. The notion that our emotions beat
within our heart was metaphorically conceived in the poetic
verses of mystics. However, in the parlance of neuroscience, the
heart is located deep within the human brain.
But what is actually planted in the human brain, which according
to Rumi drives individuals to seek and pursue their purpose and
calling in life?
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body; our
brain is composed of a vast network of 100 billion neural
connections. Trillions of synaptic connections constantly create
and send messages and ideas.
Within our human brain, neuroscience experts have also
discovered several hormones, which can be called happy
hormones.1 These hormones are known as dopamine, serotonin,
oxytocin, and endorphin. These hormones, if they are allowed
to grow and thrive in our brain, foster a feeling of happiness,

III
peace, ecstasy, as well as a sense of purpose in life.
Also found in the human brain is an area known as the parietal
cortex.2 This has been called a kind of “spiritual abode” in the
human brain. Higher levels of neural activity in the parietal
cortex are accompanied by a greater sense of religiosity and
spiritual contemplation, which focus on existential questions,
such as: “Who am I?”, “Does God exist?”, “What is the meaning
of life?”, and other similar questions, which search for conclusive
answers.
Not surprisingly, throughout the 200 millennia spanning the
existence of Homo sapiens, people have been searching for
the meaning of life, and in doing so have developed systems of
belief. Not only were crops grown and animals hunted. People
also pursued and sought purpose, satisfaction, and happiness in
their lives. They were intent on revealing the secrets behind the
mysterious forces that appeared to govern their lives.
It could be said that due to the presence of a “spiritual abode”
in the parietal cortex, as well as the production and release of
happiness hormones, humans remain unique among mortal
creatures in their search for the origin and meaning of life.

-000-

As members of Homo sapiens, we are able to both record

and read the annals of our own history; despite this, a true
awareness of our own species has not appreciably developed
among us. This consciousness has only evolved gradually with
increased scientific knowledge and intelligence of our species.
If the history of human consciousness were placed in a museum,

IV
it would be seen from behind the glass of evolution in the natural
forces that we have previously worshipped. Our ancestors used
to worship a range of natural phenomena, including pythons,
bears, and whales, as well as supernatural forces, such as gods
of war and an omnipotent Zoroastrian deity, named Ahura
Mazda.
Over many centuries, the name of the Almighty has appeared in
various communities. God is known as Elohim, Yahweh, Theos,
Kryos, Pater, Allah. Philosophers, prophets, and religious leaders
have waged fierce theological debates. Thus was born Animism,
Polytheism, Atheism, Theism, Pantheism, Agnosticism, Deism,
and the concepts of a Personal God and an Impersonal God.
A whole host of concepts of the divine presence are scattered
throughout history.
Homo sapiens has continued to search for the meaning of life
during the past 200 thousand years. During the passage of
time, various mythologies, beliefs, and religions were created.
In 2020, approximately 4,300 different religions were followed
by 7.5 billion people.
Now resoundingly good news can be proclaimed. Happy
messages can be propagated, starting from the hilltop of a
village to the marketplace in the middle of a distant town.
“Oh people, scientific knowledge has concluded: Whatever your
skin color and your country of origin… Regardless of your level
of education and socioeconomic status. Oh people, research
has proven again and again. Whatever your religion is, your
ethnicity, your beliefs. All of you can live meaningful and happy
lives.”

V
Positive Psychology and Neuroscience have arrived. Supported
by archeology and historical science that can disassemble
and examine past ages. Moreover, cosmology and physics are
now able to facilitate our understanding of the origin of the
universe. And these scientific disciplines are supplemented by
economics, politics, and statistics to coordinate and present
research findings.
This package of empirical science has been tested and confirmed
through thousands of research studies. And it has concluded
that a number of mindsets and habits can make the life of Homo
sapiens both joyful and meaningful.

-000-

This is a new age. The progress we have witnessed in this era has
never been seen before. However, this new age also requires a
new spirituality.
This is the era in which the Higgs Boson, or God particle, was
discovered (in 2012). This discovery yielded a more clear and
comprehensive understanding beyond the standard model
of particle physics. Thus, new breakthroughs in science are
increasingly able to explain how and why the universe was
born, the presence of stars, planets and moons, and ultimately
an understanding of the evolution of intelligent beings, like
humans, who possess consciousness and self-awareness.3
This is also the age in which methods of genetic manipulation,
such as CRISPR, have been developed and applied in many labs
throughout the world. Humans are now capable of editing DNA
genetic sequences. This has permitted scientists to produce
cows that yield more milk and race horses that demonstrate

VI
superior speed and endurance. If in the future there are fewer
obstacles from the ethics commission, even the DNA of human
babies will also be tampered with so that a new “superior”
subspecies of Homo sapiens is born.4
It’s the dawn of a new era for facial transplants. The face of a
Spanish farmer in his thirties was badly damaged in an accident.
Now his face has been completely and successfully repaired. His
new face came from a dead man who had donated his face, and
the face of the dead man was successfully superimposed and
grafted over the damaged face of the farmer.5
Going forward, it may be possible for fans of film stars, athletes,
and accomplished politicians, to the extent permitted, to order
a replica and have the prominent appearance of their hero
transferred to his or her own face.
This is the environment that fosters the new Internet of
Everything (IOE). All news events and programs around the
world can be connected in real time. Just press a cell phone
button in Jakarta, and you can watch live as Yuval Noah Harari
presents a lecture at a university in the United States.6
This is an era when artificial intelligence has developed to
such an extent that even the most gifted chess players can be
defeated by a computer. Software and robots with artificial
intelligence may quickly replace professionals and financial
analysts.7
Experts have already discussed the notion that in the coming
years, accounting and financial management courses may just
need to be taught on a cursory level. That’s because most
financial work will be accomplished more quickly and accurately

VII
by artificial intelligence.
On account of all these accelerated and seemingly inevitable
developments, we are stunned to consider that we may soon
become the last generation of Homo sapiens. In the decades
following our own generation, various computer chips providing
artificial intelligence may be grafted straightaway in the
human body and brain. Abracadabra… a new hybrid or cyborg
form of Homo sapiens may appear: half-human, half artificial
intelligence. Half meat and bone, half silicon.8
We have previously witnessed parallel examples in history.
Changing times have also required new forms of spirituality,
which have been more in tune with the evolution of human
consciousness.

-000-

Will the new spirituality of the 21st century entail the narrative
of scientific discovery? It is clearly not religion. On the other
hand, it does not intend to replace religion. On the contrary,
the new spirituality can potentially and incisively strengthen
existing religions. The 200 thousand years in which Homo
sapiens consciousness has evolved can be divided into three
waves of spirituality.
What we designate the new spirituality is a philosophy that
guides us to lead a happy and meaningful life on the basis
of scientific research findings. Whatever the source of this
meaningful guidance for leading a happy and fulfilling life, it
will only be promulgated after being tested and confirmed by
research conducted many times in many places.

VIII
Empirical research is the key term that informs this new
spirituality, the third wave of spirituality.
Wave one spirituality involved a mythological narrative. All
explanations concerning existential questions derived from a
mythological perspective. It was narrated with mythical fantasy
by a shaman or a tribal elder who was considered supernatural.
Mythology is the keyword that governed wave one spirituality,
whereas the second wave of spirituality involved the narrative
of revelation. The origin of life and the end of time, as these
were understood by religious followers, were conveyed by
prophets from the Almighty through the intercession of angels.
Thus, God’s revelation is the key term for the second wave of
spirituality.
Religions that endure to this day on the basis of a revelation
narrative, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism, are at
most four thousand years old, while positive psychology and
neuroscience are merely 70 years old.
Thus, in the span of the 200 thousand year journey in the
development of the self-awareness of our species, Homo
sapiens, we lived through spirituality wave one, I.e. the
mythological narrative, during the first 197,000 years. That
means that throughout 98 percent of the existence of our
species, we worshipped creatures, such as pythons, bears,
whales, and eventually various gods.
Only during the past 3000 years has Homo sapiens worshipped
the One and Almighty God based on a revelation narrative. This
means that only during 1.5 percent, or less than two percent, of
both the written and unrecorded history of Homo sapiens have

IX
we practiced monotheism in the form that we recognize today.
The newest wave of spirituality was only initiated 70 years ago.
This means that during a mere 0.4 percent of the existence of
Homo sapiens have we made scientific research a key criterion
for guiding people to lead and experience a meaningful and
happy life.
I have abbreviated the guiding concepts of the new spirituality
in the formula: 3P + 2S. This mnemonic formula just makes it
easy to remember.
All Homo sapiens, regardless of their social identity, even if
they are divided among 4300 religions, 195 countries, and 6500
linguistic groups, can live a meaningful and happy existence to
the extent that they apply the mindset and habits of 3P + 2S.
This refers to Personal Relationships, Positivity, Passion, Small
victories, and Spiritual Blue Diamonds. Details about these five
principles are explained and summarized toward the end of this
book.

-000-

  This compact book encapsulates the essence of my own 40-

year spiritual and intellectual journey. Since my years as a young
college student in the 1980s, I have been a spiritual voyager. I
have studied the doctrines of various major religions, such as
Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism. In addition, I have
studied the religious concepts of Theosophy, Krishnamurti,
Perennial Philosophy, Swami Vivekananda, Osho, Subud, and Ki
Ageng Surya Mentaram.

X
Since the 2000s, I have been focusing mainly on the research
findings of positive psychology.
I have meditated on findings from many research studies
regarding how to lead a happy and meaningful life. Ultimately,
the United Nations began compiling the World Happiness Index
as an annual measure of each country’s progress in that effort.
Thus, a country is only considered to be an advanced society if
it succeeds in providing the basic systems for making its citizens
happy.
I have also immersed myself in the meeting of two oceans:
the Sea of Spirituality and the Sea of Scientific Inquiry. I have
both contemplated the essence of these two oceans and
encapsulated these key ideas in my guide to leading a happy
and meaningful life.
The formula 3P + 2S is presented in this book as a guide to
developing a new habit of spirituality within the Third Wave.
It is a comprehensive scientific template for living a happy and
meaningful life.
The final S of the 3P + 2S formula signifies Spiritual Blue
Diamonds. These are the three most valuable diamonds to be
found in the Sea of Spirituality. That’s the original terminology
that I have adopted from the 40 years of my spiritual journey.
Many major religions as well as Stoic Philosophy became the
nurturing womb of three Blue Diamonds: the Blue Diamond of
Benevolence, the Blue Diamond of the Power of Giving, and the
Blue Diamond of Oneness, the unifying spirit that connects all
human beings with each other, with their environment and the
mysteries of the universe.

XI
Whenever and wherever laws and social dynamics classify
people into disparate social identities, dividing them among 195
countries, 4,300 religions, and 6,500 language groups, these
Spiritual Blue Diamonds truly remind us of our basic underlying
unity:
One Earth, One Homo Sapiens, One Spirituality.
Savor and contemplate the meditations in this book…
As Rumi once mused: “Begin the long journey to get into
yourself. “
July 2020

XII
Footnotes:
1. Regarding happy hormones in the human brain, see: https://
www.healthline.com/health/happy-hormone
2. Regarding the spiritual domain within the human brain, see:
https://qz.com/1292368/columbia-and-yale-scientists-just-
found-the-spiritual-part-of-our-brains/
3. Why is the Higgs-Boson “God Particle” important in
understanding the universe? https://www.livescience.
com/amp/47737-stephen-hawking-higgs-boson-universe-
doomsday.html
4. Scientists are already able to edit DNA sequences: http://
www.labiotech.eu/crispr/crispr-applications-gene-editing/
5. Face Transplant: an operation has succeeded in transferring
the face of a dead person in order to reconstruct the face
of a living person: https://www.newscientist.com/article/
dn18816-briefing-the-man-whos-got-a-whole-new-face/
6. The Internet of Everything is changing civilization: https://
internetofthingsagenda.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-
of-Things
7. Artificial Intelligence will take over many human professions
because it is faster, smarter, and more accurate: https://
www.netapp.com/us/info/what-is-artificial-intelligence-ai.
aspx
8. In the near future, Homo Sapiens will become Homo Deus:
https:// www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-37171171/yuval-noah-
harari-we-are-probably-one-of-the-last-generations-of-
homo-sapiens

XIII
 Table of Contents

Preface: Blue Diamonds and the Awareness of One Planet

Earth, One Species of Homo Sapiens, and One Spirituality | III
Table of Contents | XIV

Chapter 1: A Lack of Personal Meaning in Life Amid

Economic Abundance | 1
A New Spirituality is Necessary to Meet the Needs of This New
Era | 2
One Planet, One Homo Sapiens and One Spirituality | 11
Jalaluddin Rumi at the Helm of Neuroscience: The New
Spirituality | 18
The God Particle, Philosophers, Business Calculations, and
Public Policy | 25

Chapter 2: From Philosophy to 4300 Religions | 39

4300 Religions and the Three Waves of the Great Narrative | 40
The New Animism and the Proliferation of 4300 Religions | 49
Einstein’s God and the Religious Landscape | 62
A Prayerful Heart and Neuroscience | 71

XIV
Chapter 3: Five Principles of the New Spirituality:
3P + 2S | 83
A Mate for One’s Soul: The Spiritual Side of Personal
Relationships| 84
Looking Through a Different Set of Eyes: Positivity | 91
Sense the World with Love, with Passion | 101
One’s Life Calling and Small Victories | 109
The Tale of the Sunken Treasure of the San Jose and the Three
Blue Diamonds in the Sea of Spirituality | 118
Epilogue: What is Fixed and What is Mutable: The
Spiritual Abode in the Human Brain | 128

Related Reading Material | 139

CLEANSE THE FLAG | 148

XV
 Chapter 1
A Lack of Personal Meaning in Life
Amid Economic Abundance

1
 A New Spirituality is Necessary
to Meet the Needs of This New Era

“The suffering that comes to you is a messenger of God.

Welcome it as a guest of honor. It bestows wisdom for your
growth.”
I recall this quotation from Rumi whenever I look at statistics.
Rumi’s reflections give us guidance when lean times come. The
wounds we suffer become meaningful. This suffering brings
wisdom.
Isn’t that the essence of spirituality? It fosters a certain attitude
of life, a sort of guidance that imbues meaning and helps us
navigate more easily through the ups and downs of life; this
spirituality guides us to be kind and sympathetic. Ultimately,
Rumi’s reflections make our lives feel deeper and more
meaningful.
What is also important is that spiritual sustenance applies
universally. Rumi’s meditations still enlighten us, whatever
religion we profess, and this is true even if we no longer believe
in religion. His reflections still touch us, whatever our country of
origin, socioeconomic status, skin color, race, gender, and even
sexual orientation.
We are now connected globally. Consequently, we are also
citizens of the world. Our similarities as Homo sapiens have
become more numerous, more authentic, and deeper than the
differences among our individual social identities.
How delectable our lives would be if the people of this world,

2
regardless of their identities, could dine together on one
spiritual dish.

-000-

The studies I have read indicate that the times have already
changed considerably. In the previous two hundred thousand
years of Homo sapien history, we have never encountered a
stage of civilization such as expressed by the following three
statistics:
The first statistic concerns prosperity. The Global Burden of
Disease Study of 2010 reported that the number of people
who died as a consequence of excessive caloric intake, due to
diseases related to obesity, was three times higher than the
number of people who died from diseases related to hunger.1
Thus, for the first time in human history, the number of people
who die from overeating is triple the number of those who
perish from lack of food.
Since the emergence of Homo sapiens two hundred thousand
years ago, history has been marked by the struggle for food
resources. Now, however, most societies have excess stores of
food. Ironically, people are now much more likely to die from
over-consumption of food rather than from famine, hunger,
and malnutrition.
We have entered the age that Ronald Inglehart calls post-
materialism. This is an age that is no longer preoccupied with
basic needs. We have transcended that traditional concern.
More recently, our main needs often entail self-actualization
and the pursuit of a higher quality of life.2

3
It is true, of course, that many people in this world still struggle
to satisfy their basic needs, such as food, shelter, and security.
In general, however, civilization has advanced to produce more
human cultures whose needs already transcend the material
world.
The second batch of statistics that I studied involves the
pervasive issue of loneliness. This information comes from
the World Health Organization (WHO). The number of people
who have died due to suicide now outnumbers the combined
number of people who have died due to conflict, war, and
natural disasters.3
Every year, 800 thousand to 1 million people worldwide die
by committing suicide. That means that every four seconds
someone takes his or her own life somewhere in our world.
This is the irony of post-materialist civilization. At a time of
widespread material prosperity, more people are committing
suicide. Whatever the cause, those who kill themselves
apparently feel that their life is no longer worth living. It is
likely that these people spent a prolonged period of their lives
immersed in despair and depression.
This data solidifies a new perception of human beings. The
sheer abundance of material wealth does not necessarily
make civilization more comfortable for many people in modern
societies.

-000-

The third set of statistics I read was published by the Pew

Research Center and Adherent.com. The civilizations of our

4
world do not lack religion. Research has found that the total
number of religions currently stands at 4,300. Each religion has
its own concept of God and its own moral precepts.4
It is self-evident that each religious fanatic zealously avers that
only his religion is true and conversely that thousands of other
religions are wrong. This perspective of overzealous adherents
applies universally to each religion. The perception of exclusive
truth in one’s own religion has grown not only in Christianity,
Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism but also among adherents of much
smaller faiths.
The four largest religions, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and
Buddhism, are embraced by 75 percent of the world’s population.
The total number of Christians and Muslims exceeds 50 percent
of the global population.
The third largest “religious” group, in fact, based on research by
the Pew Research Center, does not entail followers of Hinduism
or Buddhism; instead, the third largest group is “Unaffiliated”.
This is a huge group of people who no longer feel the need to
identify themselves with a particular religion.
In this day and age, when everything can be tracked on Google,
the public can also examine the veracity of stories located in the
holy scriptures. Archaeologists have discovered, for example,
that some prophets were not historical figures; they may never
have existed in history. Archaeologists also found that some
documented biblical stories were exaggerated compared to
what may have happened in the true account of the story.5
This knowledge can make some people lose their faith in the
authenticity of their parents’ religion. Many unaffiliated people

5
still believe in God but no longer through religion. Some only
believe in humanism and similar ideologies.
Civilization also continues to produce new religions. The Baha’i
religion, for example, which was born in 1850, has now spread
to twenty countries, with a total following of about 6 million.
The largest number of adherents live in India and the United
States.6
The most recent religion is Kopimism. The Swedish government
recognized it as a religion in 2012. This is a unique religion
that was born in the information age. Its followers believe that
information is sacred and that the act of copying information
(from the name Kopimism) is also sacred.7
This new civilization has too many religions. Creating even more
new religions is not a solution.
What’s truly needed is a new spirituality. This is not a religion but
a lifestyle that can be followed by all adherents of religion, even
by those who no longer believe in religion. The new spirituality
neither intends nor needs to replace any existing religions.
On the other hand, the new spirituality can encourage religious
people to become more deeply devoted to observing their
traditional religion.

-000-

Until 40 thousand years ago, our Homo sapiens ancestors were

not the only kind of human species that lived. Homo Erectus
and Homo neanderthalensis also existed. In modern times,
however, humans exclusive of Homo Sapiens are extinct.

6
Theologians of Abrahamic religions should reexamine the
creation story. When Adam and Eve were perceived as the first
humans, were they specifically the first human types of Homo
sapiens? Or were they the first human examples of Homo
neanderthalensis, Homo erectus, and so on?
Before the advent of the agricultural revolution ten thousand
years ago, the imagination of Homo sapiens was still very
limited. Written language had not yet been developed, and
technology was still limited to stone tools.
But the desire to control one’s environment and the desire to
find meaning in life is as old as Homo sapiens.
The first known cemetery in human history dates back one
hundred thousand years ago. Archaeologists claim that humans
in that era had already developed narratives to give meaning to
life. That burial site suggests the possibility that early humans
had developed the concept of life beyond the grave.8
Animism became the first narrative known to civilization.
Humans in that era were struck by fear and worry by natural
phenomena that they could not comprehend.
A natural disaster would suddenly confront them. Tremendous
floods and volcanic eruptions took a terrible toll on human life.
A vicious invisible plague caused random illness and death.
People they cared about perished abruptly in large numbers.
How could primitive people explain suffering and disaster?
How could they make peace with these random catastrophic
phenomena?
A spiritual narrative was developed that nature had a soul. Large
rocks, coursing rivers, the trees in the forest, the sun, the moon,

7
and the stars all had a soul. Humans wanted to make peace with
all the elements in their environment. Offerings were made to
these natural deities; these offerings became the first rituals
known to man. Since those early times, beliefs have gradually
evolved. During the two hundred thousand years of Homo
sapiens, we have come to know four great narratives that have
tried to explain reality. The most primitive of these narratives
was Animism, which eventually branched and evolved into
polytheism and monotheism. However, since the Middle Ages,
the narrative of Science has become increasingly dominant as a
rational explanation of our daily reality.
Thus, the new universal spirituality must also rely on this most
recent narrative: Science. The new spirituality is no longer
contingent on a divine decree from heaven, nor does it depend
on philosophical speculation from behind a lectern.
The new spirituality must be the result of protracted, purposeful,
and practical empirical research. We call this new spirituality
by various names: the Science of Wellbeing, or the Happiness
Guide. *
May, 2020

8
Footnotes:
1. Those who have died from overconsumption of food
outnumber those who die from hunger by three times:
https://www.thelancet.com/gbd/2010
2. Life in the Age of Post-Materialism: Ronald Inglehart (1977).
The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles
Among Western Publics. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton
University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-10038-8.
3. The number of people who die by committing suicide now
outnumbers the combined number of those who die as a
result of war and natural disasters: https://www.voanews.
com/science-health/more-peo-ple-die-suicide-wars-
natural-disasters-combined?
4. The total number of religious faiths is 4.300: https://www.
theregister.co.uk/2006/10/06/the_odd_body_religion/
5. Some archaeologists who have tried to authenticate the
existence of the Prophet Moses have concluded that no
evidence remains of the biblical stories of Prophet Moses in
recorded history: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/
world/africa/03exodus.html
6. The Baha’i faith is an example of a new religion, which was
born circa 1850, and already has many followers who are
distributed in 20 countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bahai_Faith
7. Kopimism, the world’s newest religion, was recognized as
a real religion by the Swedish government in 2012: https://
www.newscientist.com/article/dn21334-kopimism-the-
worlds-newest-religion-explained/

9
8. The first primitive grave site, which dates back to one-
hundred thousand years ago, suggests the possibility
that early humans had already developed the concept of
life beyond the grave: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Paleolithic_religion

10
 One Planet Earth, One Human Species,
One Spirituality

Isn’t it time for the world to develop a new narrative: One

Planet Earth, One Human Species, One Spirituality? A new
narrative has become the highest and most urgent ethical and
universal principle to unite all of mankind who now live within
borders that encompass 195 countries, 4,300 religions, and
6,500 language groups.
The emergent era of the Coronavirus pandemic is increasingly
eye-opening. The swift spread of the disease demonstrates
the relative superficiality of national boundaries, religious
differences, and cultural diversity.
In late 2019, a new bat-derived virus emerged in Wuhan, China,
allegedly from a seafood market where bats were never sold. A
few months later, it had already spread to Europe and the United
States. The unchecked proliferation of the Novel Coronavirus
from China has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands
of people, not only in the United States, Italy, Spain, Brazil, and
India but in 180 other countries throughout the world.
For months, the whole world has been gripped by this modern
plague. Even in remote islands in the South Pacific, shops and
schools in New Zealand were forced to close for months; the
end of these lockdowns in South Korea and Italy gave temporary
hope to people in New Delhi and Jakarta as this signaled the
possible resumption of normal times. There was transient new
joy in many countries in the mistaken belief that the pandemic
had already peaked and could be easily managed and overcome.

11
Destructive social phenomena also occurred. Pandemic era riots
caused havoc in many American cities. Shops were looted, and
cars were burned. Concern spread to various cities in Europe
and Asia that the pandemic could be exploited by political
forces to incite social disorder. European and Asian countries
tried to prevent riots in their own cities that sought to exploit
the sudden and severe economic difficulties.
Suppose a vaccine against the virus is developed in a certain
country. Euphoria will soon sweep across the world far beyond
the borders of that country. People throughout the world will be
cheerful and optimistic since everyone will expect the vaccine
to be quickly distributed and become widely available even in
remote parts of the world.
Hence, the world is becoming more interconnected. The Internet
of Everything (IOE) brings people, data, and communication
together in real time. Of course, it had never happened before
in the two hundred thousand year course of human existence
that information would circulate from one corner of the earth
to another in just seconds.
War breaks out in Syria. Look at the consequences. Refugees
flock to many European countries.2 Facebook is established in
the United States and then proceeds to proliferate worldwide.
Look at the global effects. Communities from Africa to Asia
are becoming increasingly accustomed and dedicated to
communicating virtually through digital networks.
Rainforests in Kalimantan are denuded. The rainforest
ecosystems in the Amazon are devastated. Look at the
consequences. As a result, climate change and global warming
may confront Europe and the United States.

12
This global impact would be especially pronounced if a nuclear
bomb exploded anywhere. Nuclear weapons controlled by
several countries have sufficient destructive power to kill most
of humanity throughout our planet. It doesn’t matter which
country presses the button, the impact will cause the whole
earth to quake.3
Regardless of our religion and whatever country we live in.
Irrespective of our culture and language, ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, and the color of our skin. Everyone is affected
by a world that is becoming more integrated.
-000-
On the other hand, social identity has never been as diverse as
it is today. The diversity that exists today is more incisive and
divisive.
Only 50 countries were members of the United Nations in 1945
when it was first established. In 2020, however, the number of
member states has nearly trebled and reached 195 countries.
In medieval times, few religions existed in the world. Now the
number of faiths has grown to as many as 4,300 religions.4
Dialects have also been counted in 6,500 distinct speech
communities.
We have seen throughout history that differences in social
identity not only give birth to the wealth of civilization. However,
these differences have too often triggered bloody conflicts and
wars.
The two World Wars involved many countries. World War II,
which occurred during the years 1939-1945, encompassed as

13
many as 30 countries. More than 100 million young men were
drafted into military service to kill each other. As a result of the
wars between the Axis and Allied countries, it is estimated that
as many as 60 million combatants and civilians lost their lives in
only 6 years.5
Religious wars have been no less brutal. Agitation on behalf of
pursuing religious faith, in the name of holiness, in the name of
revelation, also incited the Crusades. These involved some of
the longest wars, much longer than the two World Wars of the
twentieth century.
The Crusades lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1096-1271.
They involved battles between armies that held beliefs that are
now represented by the two largest religions: Christianity and
Islam. The estimated number of casualties of the Crusade Wars,
at a time when the world population was still small, was one
million, seven hundred thousand people.6 Even worse was the
wanton slaughter of tens of millions of Hindus by Tamerlane’s
Moghul army in the late 14th century.
Beside fierce wars between armies espousing different faiths,
other bloody conflicts, which were no less fierce, erupted
between different sects of the same religion. In the name of
Jesus and the same Christian Gospel, Catholics and Protestants
fought prolonged wars in many European countries to defend
their respective brand of Christianity.
The war lasted for 30 years, waged from 1618 until 1648.
Together in the name of the purity of the holy book, 8 million
people were killed.
This has also happened in the Muslim world in the name of the

14
same Allah and the same Prophet Muhammad. In the name
of the same holy Quran, conflicts and wars raged between
Muslims holding divergent Sunni and Shia beliefs.
The civil war in Lebanon in the years 1975-1990 was also imbued
by Sunni and Shia conflict, although for different reasons. As
many as 120 thousand people died, and a million people were
displaced from their homes.
Differences in skin color, a characteristic that is normal for
our species, have been the basis for terrible persecution and
exploitation which are no less vicious. The era of enslavement
and colonial domination of dark-skinned people became one of
the darkest periods in the annals of human civilization.

-000-

Civilization has matured in the early years of this new millennium.

Technology has permitted 7.5 billion people from 195 societies,
who embrace 4,300 faiths and 6,500 dialects, to communicate
and interact with each other more intensely and peacefully.
The principles of universal human rights affords all members
of the human species a large measure of equality and the
opportunity to practice their religion without persecution.
One’s perspectives and beliefs cannot be coerced; they can be
readily expressed and thus continue to evolve.
Isn’t diversity inevitable? Isn’t it more pleasant to lead a peaceful
life together in a diverse society? Don’t we all live on the same
planet? Aren’t our similarities more extensive and natural than
the differences that have always set us apart?
Isn’t this the appropriate time for us to collectively develop a

15
new all-inclusive narrative: One Earth. One species of Homo
sapiens. One Spirituality?
June, 2020

16
Footnotes:
1. The coronavirus has spread to more than 180 countries,
or 215 territories: https://www.worldometers.info/
coronavirus/
2. Refugees escaping from the Syrian Civil War have inundated
many European countries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Refugees_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War
3. Nuclear weapons are the weaponry with the greatest
potential to destroy human life that have ever been created:
https://www.icanw.org/catastrophic_harm
4. The number of religious faiths embraced by mankind
has currently reached 4.300 religions: https://www.
thetravelalmanac.com/religions/
5. The combined number of military and civilian deaths in the
Second World War exceeds 56 million https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties
6. The total number of deaths which resulted from the
Crusades is approximately 1.7 million: https://www.
washingtonpost.com/national/religion/was-obama-
right-about-the-crusades-and-islamic-extremism-
analysis/2015/02/06/3670628a-ae46-11e4-8876-
460b1144cbc1_story.html

17
Jalaluddin Rumi at the Helm of Neuroscience: The
New Spirituality

Nearly 800 years ago, Jalaluddin Rumi stated that the depth of
human spirituality transcends the formal robes of religion. The
unity of human spirituality is more endemic than differences in
social identity.
Rumi proclaimed: “My religion is Love. Every heart is my house
of worship.” Rumi continued: “I searched for God in mosques,
in churches, and in temples. Yet I found God within my own
heart.”
For Rumi, the most important thing is the teaching of love.
More important than a house of worship is the sensation
of compassion that grows in the heart. Not in a mosque,
nor in a church, nor in a temple, not in organizations, nor
in institutions. But God, the source of genuine spirituality,
resounds and resides within the human heart, regardless of
one’s religion.
Eight hundred years later, science has confirmed Jalaluddin
Rumi’s observation. Whatever religion one professes, whatever
one’s concept of God, even if he or she doesn’t even believe
in religion, just the act of developing compassion toward other
people, fostering a sense of Oneness with All, and feeling
connected and united with the universe may bestow supreme
happiness.
Whatever one’s religion, even if one lacks religious faith, just
the act of continuously imagining a higher omnipotent being,

18
something full of love and compassion, something protective,
will make one’s life more secure and peaceful.
-000-

That is the conclusion of many research studies that have

been conducted about happiness. First, take a look at research
about the feeling of being at one with another (experiencing
ONENESS). In 2019, the University of Mannheim, Germany
conducted research on 67 thousand people. They came from
various religious backgrounds. In fact, many no longer believed
in a formal religion.1
This research was carried out in two stages. Initially, a numerical
scale measured the extent of feeling connected with other people
and the universe. Or, conversely, it measured how separated,
detached, and isolated a subject felt. In the second stage,
subjects were asked to evaluate to what extent their life was
happy, meaningful, and satisfying.
The results indicated that the more an individual felt connected
with other humans and united with the universe, the more likely
he or she felt content and happy. On the other hand, the more
an individual felt separated and isolated from other people and
the universe, the more likely that the person felt unhappy and
dissatisfied with his or her life.
Differences in religious background and disparate perceptions
of God did not demonstrate any significance in determining
one’s level of happiness. All that mattered was a sense of
feeling either connected (experiencing ONENESS) or isolated
(experiencing alienation).
Another research study, conducted by Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard

19
University professor, investigated compassion. The study
examined compassion and attitudes related to rendering help to
others,2 specifically among subjects who had experienced good
or bad fortune. Subjects who had won a lottery, a substantial
amount of money, initially experienced a heightened sense of
exhilaration; however, the study found that this pleasure was
often ephemeral; it didn’t last very long. Over time, levels of
excitement receded back to the baseline, back to square one.
The study found a diametrically opposed situation among
subjects who had been affected by misfortune, e.g. a stroke
that left a person suddenly paralyzed. These unfortunate people
suffered bouts of depression; however, their gloom eventually
subsided, and they too returned to their affective baseline.
Thus, it is evident that what causes deep and durable happiness
isn’t acquisition of material wealth, nor is it necessarily the
state of one’s physical health. The most crucial factor that
determined enduring happiness was an abiding feeling of
compassion toward others. This mediates the growth of love
and a flourishing desire to help others. This sensation can be
experienced by anyone, regardless of one’s formal religious
background.
The absence of love is more significant than its absence
in determining the extent of happiness one feels, and this
transcends differences in social identity, as well as religion.
The third study involves research designed by experts in
Neuroscience, Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waltman.3
They initially examined the findings of a research study from
Baylor University, which had concluded that regardless of the
religion one professed, each individual could develop a different

20
concept of God. This held true whether one was Christian,
Catholic, Buddhist, or Muslim; individuals developed their own
personalized image and concept of God.
Newberg and Waltman found that some subjects conceptualized
the image of God as an authoritarian ruler. This is the image of
God that was fully engaged in one’s life, but it also involved an
image of a very demanding God, who expected one to obey many
commandments and sacraments. And this conceptualization
also included a hell for punishing noncompliance. The
researchers called this an Authoritarian God type.
The study also encountered many subjects who imagined God
as being full of love and mercy. This concept of God entailed a
supreme being who was actively involved in life but was also
full of sympathy and generosity, a view of God that is loving and
forgiving. This is a Benevolent God type.
Newbergh and Waltman used neuroscientific methods in
pursuing their research. Irrespective of a subject’s adherence
to a certain religion, or even if a subject was not religious, if
he or she conceived of a supreme being as a Benevolent God,
a God full of love and grace, these subjects’ brain waves were
normally in a state of relaxation.
Once again this research confirms that differences in adhering
to a certain religion are not critical in fostering a sense of peace.
What is more important is the image of God that we nurture in
our conscious mind. If we imagine God as being compassionate
and loving, a sense of serenity will be created in the mind,
regardless of the religion we follow.

-000-

21
The three studies above are important for several reasons.
Research is affirming the notion that humans are one, just one
species of Homo sapiens, despite our penchant for believing in
diverse religions and beliefs.
Although we may follow different religions, people generally
retain a deeper similarity: the same heart. We are all the same
in the sense that each person yearns to love and be loved. All
people want to be considered members of the larger human
family (and experience ONENESS). One Homo sapiens, one
inclusive spirituality.
What is most important is that the previous
conclusions were derived from empirical research.
They are the result of applying scientific methods. These
findings constitute an expression of the great narrative of the
third wave.
The major narrative of the first wave provided guidance based
on mythology. The leading narrative of the second wave
engendered guidance through the authority of revelation.
Meanwhile, the most essential narrative of the third wave
bestows empirical research-based guidance.
A new spirituality was born from the findings of scientific
research. Of course, the new spirituality never discusses the
metaphysical world, as to whether heaven and hell exist or
not; such questions are largely the domain of the narratives of
waves one and two.
The new spirituality limits itself to providing guidance that
specifically addresses living meaningfully, being happy, and
performing good deeds, and these can all be concluded from

22
the findings of empirical research. The new spirituality is
substantiated, mediated, and guided, specifically on the basis
of related academic research.
At the end of the book, there will be a more detailed, coherent,
and multidimensional guide to living one’s life in a happy,
meaningful, and beneficial manner.
Will the new spirituality dry up due to a desire to avoid touching
the world of metaphysics? The answer is: No! The world of
metaphysics is the domain of religion, so the new spirituality
will not displace religion.
With the support of academic research, neuroscience, and the
narrative of the great third wave, Jalaluddin Rumi’s meditations
resonate even more powerfully today: “My religion is love.
Every heart is my house of worship.”
June 2020

23
Footnotes:
1. Research concerning Oneness purposely uses respondents
from diverse religious and theistic background.
2. Research that considers the impact of compassion
on personal happiness has been conducted by many
institutions; this is just one of them.
3. Neuroscience has begun investigating the connection
between religiosity and the human nervous system.

24
 The God Particle, Philosophers,
Business Calculations, and Public Policy

The greatest invention of the decade! Among the 10 greatest

scientific discoveries of all time, it occupies a prominent rank.
This was the response of the scientific community, especially
those involved in physics, when it welcomed the discovery that
finally proved the existence of the “God Particle” or the Higgs
Boson in 2012.1
In 2013, a year following the confirmation of the existence of
this elusive subatomic particle, the British physicist Peter Higgs,
won the Nobel prize in science for work in the field of physics.
However, perhaps more important than the discovery itself is
the process of discovery since it describes the special reality of
science in the 21st century.
For a large-scale science experiment in the current era, merely
employing a group of geniuses is insufficient. Indeed, Higgs
and five other theoretical physicists originally speculated
about the mass of subatomic particles, which implied the
existence of the Higgs Boson, in 1964. However, none of these
scientists could have proven its existence just by musing within
a small laboratory. It took 48 more years before a concerted
international effort confirmed the existence of this particle.
Discovery and substantiation of new ideas in the natural sciences
require more than a great team. Moreover, enormous funds are
required. Public policy is also needed, as well as support from
several countries at once.

-000-

25
In the early 1960’s, Peter Higgs developed a model called the
Higgs Mechanism, which proposed a means for measuring the
mass of subatomic particles. The mechanism implied that the
origin of the universe, its expansion and dynamics, could only
have occurred if a tiny yet undiscovered particle was present.
The concept of the“carrier particle” that Higgs theorized was
very persuasive among his scientific peers. Thus, the theoretical
basis for this particle became part of a more advanced and
comprehensive model: the Standard Model of Particle Physics
(SMPP).
Through the adoption of the SMPP model, various findings and
explanations about the universe, the existence of stars and
planets, like the earth, even the evolution of man, began to make
sense. However, for 40 years, theoretical physicists wondered if
it were possible to confirm that this elusive subatomic particle,
the Higgs Boson, or God Particle, truly existed.
So an experiment was designed to hunt down the Higgs Boson.
This required the harnessing of enormous amounts of electrical
energy necessary to accelerate protons closer to the speed of
light. The presence or absence of the Higgs Boson would either
corroborate or negate the existing SMPP model, which had
been hypothesized but never proven.
A large special tunnel was built, called the Large
Hadron Collider. Its length is about 27 kilometers;
that is nearly half the distance from Jakarta to Bogor. This huge
toroid had to be planted in the ground at a depth of 100 meters.
Only with this length and depth would it be possible to perform
experiments that required the acceleration of protons to

26
velocities approaching the speed of light. But where would this
enormous project be built and operated? Several countries
began to cooperate, and it was agreed that this huge hadron
collider would be constructed in a border region of France and
Switzerland.
This toroidal tunnel requires extremely cold temperatures,
minus 235 Celsius. Just imagine that zero Celsius is the freezing
point for water, yet this tunnel must be cooled another 235
degrees below zero.
Now let’s calculate how much it would cost to make this science
experiment come to fruition. How much would it cost to build
the tunnel? How much electricity would be needed just to
maintain the temperature below 200 degrees Celsius. And what
would the expense be for funding the large professional team
required for running this experiment?
The total cost turned out to be USD $13.25 billion.2 At the
current USD/IDR (rupiah) exchange rate, this would entail
spending 180 trillion rupiah. If that much money had not been
made available, this large-scale experiment would never have
been realized.
But who would be willing to defray the huge costs for this huge
scientific endeavor? It was obvious that the scientific geniuses in
the world pf theoretical physics lacked the funds to finance it. It
was also impossible to raise money from traditional investment
funding in the business world because businessmen could not
see any profit potential. However, this experiment was very
important for making progress in the field of science.
So it was agreed that eight countries would become involved in

27
financing and participating in the Large Hadron Collider project:
Germany, UK, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland, United States,
Russia, and India.
How times have changed. The origin of the universe as it was
explained two millennia ago through the musing of philosophers
satisfied Homo sapiens. Or through the revelations received by
religious prophets.
But the views of religious philosophers have become diverse.
Humanity subscribes to as many as 4,300 different religions.
Science has narrowed its focus when explaining the origin and
dynamics of the universe. And this explanation depended on
the presence or absence of the Higgs Boson.
It turns out that the science experiment took 50 years, more
than $13 billion in funds, and a cooperative venture involving
eight countries.

-000-

It is no wonder then that Stephen Hawking made a famous

statement: “Philosophy is dead.3 The creation of the
universe and the origins of man do not need a philosophical
explanation anymore. Philosophers do not need to be
updated on the latest developments in science. Hawking said
what is now needed is the continuous work of scientists, but
scientists cannot operate alone; they require substantial
financial support from the private sector and governments.
It is in the hands of scientists and their benefactors that the
explanation of the universe, as well as the origin of life, will be
further developed and refined: Scientists need investors!

28
Is it true, as Stephen Hawking affirmed, that philosophy is dead?
And that philosophers are becoming increasingly irrelevant?
Is it also true that religion and clergy are becoming feeble in
advancing an alternative narrative of the origin of the universe
and life?
Hawking was both right and wrong. He was right because
the growth of science is increasingly autonomous; each field
of science has its own procedures, which no longer require
philosophy or religion.
Explanations of any phenomenon, which could hitherto be
falsified, can now be verified or refuted through empirical
research, experimentation, and observation, to the extent that
there is little need or space left in the world of science for input
from philosophy and religion.
But Hawking was also wrong because science doesn’t operate
in a vacuum; science is present in the public sphere. And state
authority plays a role there. The liberal or conservative public
policy of any society may determine which type of science will
thrive. And in what direction scientific inquiry and knowledge
will be directed.
Scientific research in this modern age also requires large funds.
Without sufficient funding, no matter how important scientific
inquiry is, progress in that field will be limited. Investors need to
determine which fields of scientific inquiry they are interested
in financing.
On the other hand, governments, public policymakers, and
investors are not value free, and this is especially true in the
public sphere, which is highly influenced by public opinion. The

29
sentiments of philosophy, ideology, and religion reside within
the public sphere.
In its working methodology, science is indeed autonomous.
Anything that lies outside its purview is extraneous. However,
in the public sphere, science, philosophy, religion, public policy,
public opinion, politics, economics, and business intersect and
intermingle; they may cooperate and attain common goals,
or they may become incongruous and exercise their influence
against each together.
In the public sphere, various factions of knowledge and
philosophy intermingle and dance together in the realm of the
collective consciousness of Homo sapiens.

-000-

The case for developing a Coronavirus vaccine can serve as an

example. What has happened to our civilization during the era
of the current pandemic? By July 2020, many people throughout
the world have been cooped up at home for nearly 6 months.
By early July 2020, ten million people had been exposed to the
Coronavirus in more than 170 countries, and more than 500
thousand people had died from associated respiratory and
cardiovascular complications. National economies are suffering
the most severe recession since The Great Depression of 1930.
Why was previous investment for a CoVid-19 vaccine neglected
in advance? Wouldn’t the cost of developing this vaccine pale in
comparison to the outlay of $13 billion which was spent in the
quest for the Higgs Boson?

30
Moreover, wouldn’t the laboratory research for developing a
cure for the disease actually be less daunting than the previous
challenge of finding the Higgs Boson if sufficient virologists
and other scientists were mobilized for this important task?
Couldn’t the difficulty of discovering an effective Coronavirus
treatment have been overcome early on? What impediments
curbed a serious international effort from starting to develop a
vaccine in early 2020?
The answer is Public Policy! And the cause is business
calculations!
Listen to Dr. Peter Hotez. Earlier this year, he sent a message to
the United States Congress, stating how precious momentum
had been squandered in 2016. At that time, he and his team had
made progress in developing a vaccine for another coronavirus.4
However, his team was underfunded; neither the government
nor the investment community were willing to supply adequate
funding.
Hotez had studied the Coronavirus family since the outbreak of
SARS in Guangzhou and Hong Kong, and the outbreak of MERS
in Africa and the Middle East. Thus, the diseases Hotez was
studying included SARS (2003) and MERS (2012), which were
caused by Coronaviruses with clinical features that do not differ
much from the virus associated with the current pandemic,
SARS2-CoVid-19.
Of course, at that time, when Hotez applied for funds, nobody
imagined there would be a Coronavirus pandemic as pervasive
as it is now. The number of victims of SARS and MERS was also
subdued due to an early concerted international effort to limit
their spread; in addition, these earlier viruses did not endanger

31
the western world.
In business at that time, it was considered unprofitable to invest
in the vaccine business. Who would buy a Coronavirus vaccine?
It turns out that the 2020 pandemic is global, and now
everyone is anticipating the arrival of a life-saving vaccine or
neutralizing treatment that can possibly eradicate this rampant
disease. However, since research was delayed, the vaccine
that will inoculate people and protect them from the Chinese
Coronavirus may only become available in early 2021.
Hotez said, the current Covid-19 situation should open the
eyes of many governments regarding the need to appropriate
funds for scientific research in anticipation of similar future
contingencies. Of course, it would be especially ironic if it is
determined that the current Coronavirus escaped from a lab
that was conducting this type of research.
The contention by Hotez cited above is an example of how
public policy and business calculations determine which type
of valuable scientific research will either receive funding or be
neglected.
The same is true with cloning technology. Biotech is capable
of cloning dozens of animals, ranging from sheep, cats, mice,
camels to pigs. Cloning is the process of breeding living creatures
by copying identical DNA, without requiring sexual intercourse.
Advances in science and technology now make it possible to
apply cloning to people. Current biotechnology already offers
the potential to clone human beings.
However, public policy in many countries, including the United

32
States and 70 other countries, prohibit it. The United Nations
has also opposed the possible practice of cloning humans.
Why is cloning prohibited? A philosophical debate has
determined this position, especially in the area of ethics,
regarding what is valuable or inappropriate in relation to human
cloning.
This is yet another example of public policy, business
calculations,and ethical philosophy that determine which types
of science should be sanctioned or supported and which should
be abandoned or prohibited.

-000-

Philosophy may be dying in one area, but philosophy still

remains fruitful in other areas. Stephen Hawking was
incorrect when he claimed that philosophy was dead.
Even in Silicon Valley, in the world of computers, artificial
intelligence, and robotics, philosophers have been employed.5
Robots, which are equipped with artificial intelligence, still
need to be programmed in their initial stages with some ethical
considerations when it comes to dealing with value options.
One of the most recent applied technologies to have been
developed for the consumer market is the autonomous driverless
car. The car is supposed to be operated by a supercomputer
with artificial intelligence (AI) in it. Humans just need to sit in
the car. Even without a human driver, the passengers should be
able to arrive safely at their destination.
However, a car without a driver still has to be directed when

33
facing a choice. Let’s say that around the bend in a road,
unexpected events involving other vehicles are about to happen
that will make an accident nearly inevitable.
So there is an ethical choice that the driverless AI needs to
calculate and select: If the car turns sharply to the left, it will cause
accidents that may include the death of passengers in that car.
On the other hand, if the car goes straight or turns right, this
maneuver may cause the death of other motorists but not
endanger the lives of the passengers in the car.
Which of these two ethical choices should be programmed
within the AI (artificial intelligence) in that car?
What if a calculated decision needs to be made that involves
the certainty of killing either four passengers in another car
or three pedestrians crossing the road. Should the quantity of
people that may die be programmed into the car’s AI? Should
the option that favors fewer casualties necessarily be chosen
for inclusion in the AI programming?
Should the AI be programmed to give preferential treatment to
safeguarding the lives of important people (e.g. VIPs) in the car
or in the vicinity? In other words, should the AI be concerned in
calculating the risk to people on the basis of their social value
or financial status? Perhaps the more important a person is,
the more he or she should be protected, even at the expense
of other people in the vicinity. AI could be programmed to
measure quality, but what criteria would be used to calculate
the differential importance of people within and outside a
driverless vehicle?
These considerations involve calculating the value of human

34
lives from a human perspective. Thus, the driverless vehicle AI
must transcend normal logical programming; this is the area of
philosophy.
Those are just examples. It is interesting that at the highest
echelons of computer technology in Silicon Valley, philosophers
are making a comeback; despite Hawking’s ominous statement,
they remain relevant and valuable in modern human societies.

-000-

A rather new phenomenon has accompanied the current era

of scientific advances. The World Health Organization (WHO)
reported in 2014 that the global number of people who commit
suicide now exceeds the number of victims of war and natural
disasters.
Every year about 800 thousand to one million people kill
themselves. On average, one person commits suicide every 40
seconds.6
Why has this happened? In this era, which is blessed with
scientific progress and has made available so many lifestyles to
choose from, as well as hundreds of religions and schools of
philosophy, many people in advanced societies are depressed.
About 200 thousand years after first appearing as a species,
Homo sapiens is confronted by this existential issue: How can
we as individuals and societies pursue a happy, meaningful
existence?
At this point, we should return to our previous focus on a synergy
of philosophy, religion, and science. In cosmology, science

35
occupies a leading role. However, specifically in the field of the
meaning of life, the role of science has become more dominant
as both jury and judge.
Both religion and philosophy offer guidance on pursuing a
happy existence, and this entails applying science appropriately
through selective research. Which particular forms of guidance
have been proven empirically, through repeated research, to
bestow meaning and happiness in people’s lives?
The new spirituality of the 21st century has arrived. It conveys
guidance for living a happy and meaningful life; this guidance
has been repeatedly channeled by publicizing and applying
research findings.
Philosophers, clergymen, scientists, ideologists, investors,
government officials, artists-- anyone can participate in
expressing their point of view. But the final word is with the
jury: research findings.
We have become aware that behind the sophistication of
the laboratory, behind the greatness of artificial intelligence,
behind the sophistication of our philosophy, passages from holy
scriptures still beckon to us.
Behind all that, since long ago, there is the same abode where
our heart resides, a heart that seeks meaning, a heart that
wants to be happy, a heart that doesn’t want to be lonely, left
alone by itself.
All of us, as members of Homo sapiens, whatever our
background might be-- philosophers, clergy, investors,
scientists, government officials-- each of us wants to feel
what Jalaluddin Rumi was contemplating when he wrote:

36
“Let the river flow into your soul. The river of happiness. The
river of meaning.”
July, 2020

37
Footnotes:
1. The top 10 discoveries of this decade: https://www.
newscientist.com/article/mg24432613-200-new-scientist-
ranks-the-top-10-discoveries-of-the-decade/
2. The full cost of the research which was carried out to find
and prove the existence of the Higgs Boson stands at USD
$13.8 billion or 180 trillion rupiah: www.forbes.com/sites/
alexknapp/2012/07/05/how-much-does-it-cost-to-find-a-
higgs-boson/
3. Stephen Hawking: “Philosophy has already died!”
4. h t t p s : / / w w w . t e l e g r a p h . c o . u k / t e c h n o l o g y /
go o g l e / 8 5 2 0 0 3 3 / S te p h e n - H aw k i n g - te l l s - G o o g l e -
philosophy-is-dead.html
5. Peter Hotez failed to receive funding for coronavirus
research 3 years prior to the global pandemic: www.nbc-
news.com/news/amp/ncna1150091
6. Silicon Valley has employed philosophers: www.
qz.com/1734381/why-tech-companies-need-to-hire-
philosophers/
7. The number of people who commit suicide now exceeds the
combined number of victims of war and natural disasters:
https://www.voanews.com/science-health/more-people-
die-suicide-wars-natural-disasters-combined/

38
 Chapter 2
Chapter 2: From Philosophy to 4,300 Religions

From Philosophy to 4,300 Religions

39
 4,300 Religions and the Three Waves of the Great
Narrative

Hormuzd Rassam (1826-1910) might not have expected it,

but his discoveries helped change the world’s perception of
civilization and the historical background of religions.
He was an Iraqi expert on ancient civilizations. In 1852, he
visited and excavated Nineveh. This is one of the most ancient
towns mentioned in recorded history. It is located on the banks
of the Tigris river in Iraq.
There he found clusters and clay tablets with ancient writing;
however, he couldn’t understand what was written on these
scattered shards of clay, so they were collected and stored in
the British Museum in London.
Twenty years later in 1872, George Smith, a British archaeologist
who had expertise in ancient Assyrian languages, succeeded
in merging the clay shards together and assembling them in a
logical sequence. In fact, he was able to translate the contents
into English.
Thus began the story of what has been called one of the
greatest archaeological discoveries in history. What Smith
managed to construct is now called the Epic of Gilgamesh.1
This involves some of the oldest documents associated with
religion. The document contains a poetic narrative from the
Mesopotamian era, around 1800-2500 BC. Thus, the Sumerian
Epic of Gilgamesh appears to predate any other religious
document known to exist in history.

40
Interestingly, the Epic records the story of the Great Flood. This
story is believed to have inspired the famous parallel story that
chronicles the events of Noah and the Ark in the biblical Book
of Genesis.

-000-

It is quite possible that a catastrophic flood did hit Mesopotamia,

which lies between the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
However, the flood narrative is told in a framework that is now
known as mythology.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh, five great gods, named Anu, Enlil,
Ninurta, Ennugi, and Ea, made a secret pact. They decided to
create a great flood to teach people a bitter lesson.2
However, this secret of the gods was leaked to a pious human
named Utnapishtim. The gods then commanded Utnapishtim
to build a huge boat by all means he could muster in order to
save lives.
Uthnapisthim promised the gods that he would soon build the
boat.
Before the monsoon rains came, he took his family and livestock
on board with him. When the flood arrived, Utnapishtim, other
people, and various animals he was carrying were able to
survive. Everyone and everything outside the boat was swept
away by the torrential floods.
Terrible storms accompanied the flood; but on the seventh day,
the waters began to subside, and the boat landed on Mount
Nimush.

41
Utnapishtim was grateful that his family and entourage were
safe. He celebrated by sacrificing a lamb that had survived the
flood. Due to his success in saving life, the human Utnapishtim
was granted the power of a god.
The world was astonished to read this flood story since the
story was so similar to the Noah story recorded in the Old
Testament, as well as in the Koran where Noah appears as a
prophet, although the Sumerian deluge myth predated the
biblical version in Genesis by more than a thousand years.
Only the narrative differs. The story of the five gods was replaced
by a more monotheistic concept of God. Utnapishtim was
replaced by Noah. Flash floods were substituted by a massive
40-day deluge that drowned the whole world.
Is it possible that the story of Noah was written by a Jewish
scribe, who had been inspired by the story of the Epic of
Gilgamesh?

-000-

The experts researched further. The stories of prophets like

Moses, Noah, Adam, are in the holy books of three religions.
It is in the Quran. However, it originated in holy scriptures that
predate Islam: the Book of Genesis in the Jewish Torah. And the
inclusion of the story of Noah within the Old Testament (the
Pentateuch) of the Christian Holy Bible.
The Book of Genesis, which contains the stories of Creation and
the Flood, was originally thought to have been written by the
Prophet Moses, based on the revelation he received from God.
In other words, the stories of the Prophets were told by God

42
Himself through revelation.
But historical stories that happened on earth can also be
traced by scientific methods. The scholars studied in more
detail about the Old Testament scriptures and the Torah, based
on documents and fossils found outside the scriptures in the
Middle East.
Now it is now commonly agreed that it is likely that the Prophet
Moses did not actually write the Torah (the Five Books of
Moses). Three reasons have been given to support this claim.3
First, these scriptures include the story of the death and burial
of Moses, as well as accounts of other biblical stories that
happened after the death of Moses. It is impossible for the
Prophet Moses to have recorded his own death and other
events after that.
Second, the Old Testament contains five books that are very
different in literary style and focus. These books weren’t just
written by different authors, but it appears that the Five Books
of Moses were written, redacted, and compiled in different
eras.
Finally, some of the scriptures in the Old Testament still mention
God by the name Elohim. The word Elohim is plural. He is not
God, but Gods; it is thus suspected that Judaism originally
evolved in a polytheistic environment.
In other books, God began to be called Yahweh. Unlike the
plural Elohim, Yahweh is a singular word. Thus, the use of the
name Yahweh (God of Eternity) signifies that Judaism evolved
into a monotheistic religion.

43
From the grammatical structures and literary writing styles,
scholars argue that the Torah and other holy scriptures in the
Old Testament were written by at least five different writers.
The stories of the prophets were compiled and redacted by
some of these five authors.
Third, Moses himself has been the focus of archaeological
research. The biblical Exodus, which likely occurred circa 1330
BCE and the authenticity of the Prophet Moses, have yet to be
corroborated either in documents that predate the Hellenistic
Period (300 BCE) or in archaeological excavations in Egypt.4
Some archaeologists have claimed that like the stories of Adam
and Noah, the story of the Prophet Moses lacks a verifiable
historical basis. Ahmed Osman speculates that Moses was the
heretic Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt for 17 years in
the mid-14th century BCE, but other historians claim that the
Moses story was created within the pedagogical framework of
teaching moral values.

-000-

Exposure to these concepts opens our eyes to the idea that

the story of Noah and the Ark can be explained by three major
narratives. These three narratives culminate 200 thousand
years of the evolution of the collective consciousness of Homo
sapiens.
The first involves the great narrative of mythology. The flood
was sent by five Gods. Then the gods made a pact with
Utnapishtim. This mythological narrative dominates the history
of Homo sapiens in explaining reality until the sixth century AD.
All things concerning personal and social life are guided and

44
given meaning by mythological narratives.
The second involves the great narrative of revelation. The story
of the flood came from revelation; it was conveyed by God
Himself and is recorded in holy books. It was not the gods who
sent him, but God Almighty. It was not Utnapisthim who was
delegated to save mankind but Noah.
The dominant narrative of revelation colors the history of
Homo sapiens. Its influence gradually rose with the advent of
Christianity and Islam and continued until the age of scientific
discovery.
In the era of the great narrative of revelation, all economic,
political and social affairs were geared to the guidance of
revelation. Some believe that God even regulated the way
women should dress.
The third involves the great narrative of science. Many experts
believe that there has never been a flash flood that submerged
the whole earth. After all, there are more than a hundred
mountains that are over 7,000 meters high.
To submerge the earth and its mountains to a height of 7,000
meters, there is not enough water in the universe. There are
21 scientific reasons why the story of the prophet Noah as it is
written in holy scriptures could not have happened.5
Thus, the story of Noah is not considered a historical story;
instead, it’s a story built around moral teaching and theology.
The great scientific narrative is now dominant in the history
of Homo sapiens, especially in the 21st century. Public policy
in the developed world, be it economics, politics, science is

45
decided based on research. Public policy is no longer dictated
by the grand narrative of revelation or the great narrative of
mythology.

-000-

In the current era of Google, the three narratives are free to

preach and be believed in. The principles of human rights
allow anyone to believe in anything wherever human rights are
respected. Although science has shown that the earth is round,
any individual can still believe that the earth is flat.
Although binary logic states that only one fact in a diametrically
opposed pair may be true, and it is impossible for both of them
to be true, individuals are still allowed to believe whichever
assertion they please. Christians believe Jesus died on the
cross, yet Muslims believe that the one who died on the cross
was not Jesus (Prophet Isa); either version can be believed and
propagated.
Jews and Christians believe that the son whom Abraham was
commanded to sacrifice was Isaac, based on explicit references
in the Book of Genesis. On the other hand, Muslims believe that
the intended son for the sacrifice was Ishmael. Again, people
can believe and preach as they please.
Beliefs may continue to endure, even though one of the great
narratives of the revelation may contradict the facts. If “Jesus
died on the cross” is historically true, then the belief “Jesus did
not die on the cross” is wrong. Conversely, if “Jesus did not die
on the cross” is true, then “Jesus died on the cross” is wrong. It
is impossible for both of them to be factually correct, although
adopting the second position negates a central tenet of one of

46
these major religions.
Thus, we see two religions, which believe in different, even
contradictory narratives, which have grown and become two
of the most prominent religions in the history of Homo sapiens.
No wonder there are now as many as 4,300 religions around
the world; they may all coexist. There are 4,300 different
concepts of God and belief systems. This has happened because
Homo sapiens is able to firmly believe in anything, even when
these belief systems may involve disputable and mutually
contradictory contentions.6 Each religion indulges in its own
confirmation biases.
Despite this, compared to the earlier narratives of mythology
and the major narratives of revelation, the large narratives of
science have assumed a dominant position in modern societies.
Now the great narrative of science is starting to enter a new
chapter. This narrative continues to promote a new spirituality
by focusing on what makes our life happy, meaningful, and
benevolent.
This new spirituality is neither a religion, nor does it necessarily
replace religion. It is advanced by the notion that guidance for
leading a meaningful and happy life can be mediated by modern
empirical research.
June, 2020

47
Footnotes
1. The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the oldest religious documents
known to exist. It records the beliefs and stories from the
early Mesopotamian civilization that thrived in 2000-
1800 BCE : https://www.na-tionalgeographic.com/history/
magazine/2018/01-02/history-gilgamesh-epic-discovery/
2. The Gilgamesh Flood Epic, which includes details of the Gods’
intention to drown humanity, is believed to have inspired the
redactors of the Old Testament to include the story of Noah
and the Ark and the resulting Noahide Covenant, which is
symbolized by the rainbow: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Gilgamesh_flood_myth
3. Who actually wrote the account of Noah and the Ark and the
details of the Noahide Covenant? Research implies that the
Book of Genesis was written and redacted by several authors
whose literary styles and thematic focus differed from each
other: https://allthatsinteresting.com/who-wrote-the-bible
4. Some archaeologists have concluded that the biblical
chronicles of the Exodus and the prophet Moses lack historic
authenticity : https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/
world/africa/03exodus.html
5. Geologists and other scientists have cited 21 reasons to
prove that the biblical flood that drowned the world at the
time of Noah could not have happened: http://www.csun.
edu/~vcgeo005/Nr38Reasons.pdf
6. 4.300 religions have currently developed: https://www.
indianfolk.com/which-religion-do-you-follow/

48
 The New Animism and the Growth of 4,300 Religions:
What is Its Cause?

Who could have guessed? A cave which was excavated in

the hills of Neander, Germany in 1856, changed our view of
civilization, human history, religion, and the great narrative of
the meaning of life.1
In that year, at that location, various fossils were found. Experts
later named the fossil remains Homo neanderthalensis.
Like us, this creature was also a primate. It was discovered
later that this species was already wearing clothes. They were
apparently able to manipulate fire, reviving it from other
materials. However, what was more special was evidence that
they had also started to develop religious rites.
Homo neanderthalensis no longer exists today. They became
extinct about 40 thousand years ago. Only Homo sapiens
remains today within the genus Homo.
There are many physical differences between Homo
neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. The most important
difference between the Neanderthals and our own genus lies is
in their respective evolutionary stages. Homo neanderthalensis
quickly became extinct when they were just in the hunting
stage.
Meanwhile, Homo sapiens endured and surpassed the hunting
stage, entering the agricultural era, and learning to settle for a
long time in one area, and abracadabra: civilization was born.

49
It is clear that Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis lived
at the same time; they coexisted, and their paths intersected
for 160 thousand years (200 thousand years ago to 40 thousand
years ago). These two kinds of human beings shared the most
primitive form of religious ritual: Animism.
This is the most primitive religion, the earliest experienced
by the human species. The first rite of religion known to man,
either Homo sapiens or Homo neanderthalensis, involved
rituals associated with death and burial.
The beginning of the evolution of religion occurred one
hundred thousand years ago. Ancient burial sites with fossils of
Neanderthal man were excavated. Fossil remains of flowers and
other valuable objects were found at these grave sites.2
This implies that 100 thousand years ago, Homo neanderthalensis
and Homo sapiens were already looking for meaning: Is there
only life on this earth? Is there any other life after death? What
happens to our parents whom we love and who have protected
us after they die?
Thus, the first, most primitive, great narrative evolved, the idea
that this realm has a living soul. The sea, the mountains, the
rivers, the boulders, the sun, the moon, and the trees are all
soulful.
Beyond possessing a soul, this realm is guarded by a holy soul.
And this means that offerings must be made. These offerings
would assure that all aspects of the holy soul would be more
protective, thus reducing suffering and calamities among
mortal people. Furthermore, regular offerings would encourage
the holy soul to take care of family members who had already

50
passed away.
This belief predominated among many primitive tribes. The
holy soul behind the physical mountains, sea, sun, big rocks,
and tall trees was idolized. Some tribes even sacrificed other
humans to please the Sacred Soul.

-000-

That is a portrait of Old Animism. Who would have thought that

the ancient philosophy of Animism would be living again now in
the 21st century? Its basic tenets have been reinterpreted and
fashioned to become the New Animism.
This New Animism has developed into a very modern
perspective. This ideology views our environment, mountains,
trees, rivers, and thus nature itself as possessing a soul; they
are all members of our family.3
Of course, unlike the Old Animism, this new environment lacks
basic elements of idolatry. The natural environment can not be
allowed to be damaged as much by modern civilization as it
was in the previous century. The New Animism dictates that the
natural environment needs to be cared for and loved, perhaps
even more than we care for members of our own family.
If our family members are sad, sick, persecuted, we will be sad
too. A similar ideology has developed in the New Animism that
applies to nature. If we destroy trees and forests, if we pollute
rivers and ponds, if we contaminate the air, even though they
are not family members, we should be equally concerned and
mournful.
Animism is alive again in modern times, but it has been

51
reinterpreted. If it is widespread, this understanding will actually
make us love the environment more and care for it. As a result,
the ecosystems that support life on earth will be healthier and
more beautiful.

-000-

The previous introduction is only an illustration of how belief

systems, religions, and great narratives have a thousand
lives. Even the most primitive beliefs, such as Animism, can
be reincarnated if reinterpreted to accommodate the latest
developments in human consciousness.
It is not surprising that to this day, we have 4,300 religions.4
Apart from their similarities, each religion also has differences
in rituals, philosophy, and the details of their teachings.
Each fanatical adherent must feel that only his religion is right,
and thus 4,299 other religions are wrong. Each fanatic must
also feel that his religion has the final say and that it cannot
be revised or superseded by a newer religion. Each fanatical
adherent must also believe that the founder of his religion is
more credible than the founder of any other religion.
We have reached the point that advanced societies can accept
and permit many of these 4,300 religions to make any claim. In
many Western societies, they can preach whatever they please.
What is prohibited is only religious coercion and violence.
Why have as many as 4,300 different religions developed?
Religions can generally last a long time. Very long.
Zoroastrianism, for example, is believed to be the oldest

52
monotheistic religion, perhaps older in this regard than Judaism;
it was also the first religion to introduce the concept of angels,
and the first to introduce rituals five times a day. Zoroastrianism,
which developed at least 3,500 years ago, is still practiced today,
mainly in India and Iran.5
There are five reasons for the growth and survival of so many
religions.
First, every belief has the potential to be reinterpreted. If at one
time, religious practices were no longer in accordance with the
times, then religious teachings could be reinterpreted to reflect
new conditions.
The story of Animism discussed previously is an example. The
original concepts, which were very primitive, and involved
idolatry of inanimate objects, are now being reinterpreted
in a very modern way, now grounded in a political and social
philosophy of environmentalism.
Surviving religions have also gone through the eras of slavery
and the subordination of women. In each era, the dominant
religious interpretation rationalized social and ethical positions
in accordance with the prevailing awareness of the times.
When slavery was abolished, religious teachings were
reinterpreted. When the era of women’s emancipation arrived,
religious interpretation was also revised. Religion provides a
wide space for interpretation.
It is not surprising that in many religions, there is a wide range of
interpretations, from the most conservative to the most liberal.
Not surprisingly, religions do not die even when they appear to

53
be controverted by scientific fact.

-000-

Second, beliefs may not depend on actual facts. Whatever the

facts are, they can be ignored because belief is considered
sufficient by adherents to provide a satisfactory explanation.
Here is a simple example which relates to discrepancies in belief
regarding the factual basis of the same event. Christians believe
that Jesus was crucified, that he died and was resurrected; this
belief is fundamental to Christian teaching.6
Although Muslims, like Christians, believe that Jesus actually
ascended to heaven, Muslims do not believe in the divinity of
Christ; he remains a mortal prophet. Thus, Muslims actually
believe that it was not Jesus who was crucified (Prophet Isa);
instead, another person, disguised as Prophet Isa (Jesus), was
crucified.7
It is impossible for both versions to be true; only one (or neither)
is true. Was Jesus really crucified or not? Did Jesus really die on
the cross, or did he not die on the cross? One of these assertions
must be factually inaccurate.
But look what happened. Both Christian and Muslim beliefs
coexist, although they still subscribe to conflicting assertions.
To this day, Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross as
a central tenet of their religion. And conversely to this day,
Muslims believe that it was not Jesus (Prophet Isa) who died on
the cross. Thus, for at least one of these two religions, religious
belief does not need to depend on what actually happened two
millennia ago.

54
The same is true of the scriptural stories and facts regarding
Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham). Both Christians and Muslims
believe that Abraham had children named Ishmael and
Isaac, born from different mothers. Which son was Abraham
commanded to bind and sacrifice as a test of faith?
Christians, as well as some early Muslim scholars (notably Ibn-
Qutaybah and Al-Tabari), believe that the son who was intended
to be sacrificed was Isaac.8 On the other hand, modern Muslims
believe that the son who was to be sacrificed was Ishmael.9 It is
impossible for both to be true.
Both Christians and Muslims can hold on to their belief in
different versions, but one of them must be wrong. To this day,
every Eid al-Adha, modern Muslims actually believe that the
one who was intended for sacrifice was Ishmael. Meanwhile, on
the basis of the Old Testament, all Jews and Christians believe
that the one who was meant to be sacrificed was Isaac.
These two examples open our eyes to the reality of the world
of faith. Belief in a false narrative (from who knows where) can
endure more than a thousand years. An incorrect assertion
(from who knows where) can be propagated and believed to
this day by more than one billion people.
Third, belief colors people’s lives with meaning. For most
humans, a meaningful life is the culmination of all their life
experiences. Whenever disaster and suffering strike, whenever
people need hope and relief, religion bestows meaning.
Throughout thousands of years of civilization, religion has
been proven most capable of providing meaning and strength
to overcome the worst calamities and the suffering that

55
accompany them.
Neuroscientists have begun investigating the origins of the
feelings of meaning, compassion, and holiness that people
often experience.
A devout Muslim can cry out to Allah in front of the Kaaba. The
same emotion can be experienced by Christians in Bethlehem,
contemplating Jesus. Similar holiness can be experienced by
Jews while praying at the Western Wall.
Followers of 4,300 religions encounter similar meaning,
compassion, and depth, even though their rites are different,
their concept of God is different, and their religious doctrines
differ. The propensity of religions to bestow meaning, rather
than factual truth, is what keeps the majority of religions
relevant and afloat.

-000-

Fourth, this belief is inherited with a narrative of rewards and

punishments (a blessing for those who obey and misfortune for
those who deviate). No acculturation from parents is given to
their sons and daughters earlier than religion.
Not long after a baby cries for the first time, not long after
leaving the womb, an infant generally receives two things
simultaneously from its parents. The child gets a name and also
inherits the parents’ religion.
A child born to Muslim parents in a predominantly Muslim
area, is almost 100 percent likely to inherit the Muslim religion.
Likewise, nearly 100 percent of children born to Christian

56
parents in a predominantly Christian country will be brought up
as Christians.
The same holds true for many other religions.
Beside inheriting a certain religion, children are generally
educated to obey the religion they inherit from their parents.
There are rewards for obedience to the given religion, such as
earthly rewards and a happy afterlife in heaven. There is also
punishment for violators, such as suffering the wages of sin and
and later being inflicted with torture in hell.
This tradition of inheriting religions and beliefs occurs
throughout the history of Homo sapiens. In some interpretations,
abandoning ones faith is even threatened with extreme
punishment, such as execution.10
Only a small percentage of children grow up and abandon the
legacy of their parents’ religion; this is especially unlikely when
a child grows up in an area where the vast majority share the
same religion and observe its traditions.
By passing down religion from one generation to the next, many
faiths have survived through the ages. But why did their number
grow to as many as 4,300 religions? This is only partly explained
by the realization that major religions are often divided into
many isms and streams.
Fifth, the search for meaning is never ending. The need for a
narrative to make sense of existential phenomena is inherent in
the human psyche. At the same time, experience and knowledge
continue to grow, specialize, and diversify.
The root of everything is the uniqueness of each individual. No

57
two fingerprints are the same. No DNA sequence is duplicated
exactly the same among individuals. Coupled with different
experiences, knowledge, tendencies, characters, and talents,
various perceptions can be born.
A narrative that satisfies one individual does not necessarily
apply to other individuals. Even the narrative that satisfies a
certain individual at one particular time may no longer remain
satisfying when that individual has new experiences and
knowledge.
The diversity of human perceptions, experiences, and knowledge
is the mother of the birth of 4,300 religions.

-000-

Is it possible to find a common denominator of the 4300

religions? Is it possible to formulate a perennial philosophy that
unites basic human needs?
Civilization is on the move. Homo sapiens has succeeded in
becoming the only human species to inhabit the earth. Every
other genus of our species, including Neanderthals, have been
eliminated.
Homo sapiens has also passed through various civilizations, from
the hunting era, to the settlement era marked by agricultural
cultivation, to the industrial era, to the post-industrial digital
age.
Isn’t it time to formulate a new narrative: One Earth, One Homo
Sapiens, One Spirituality?
The New Spirituality is not a religion. It was not born to replace

58
religion. It is just a common denominator formulated through
empirical research that elucidates how Homo sapiens can lead
happy, goodhearted, and meaningful lives.
June 2020

59
Footnotes
1. The Darwinian narrative that man evolved from earlier
primate species has been proven by science. However, it
wasn’t until 1876 that the first fossil specimen (of a partial
skull and pelvic bones) was found and recognized as early
human remains; these Neanderthal men were from a
different human subspecies who became extinct 40,000
years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthal_
extinction
2. Evidence of religious rituals were found at one of the most
ancient grave sites ever excavated by archaologists. The
graves and associated rituals appear to date back to 100,000
years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion
3. See John Reid’s TED Talk video: The Power of Animism:
https://youtu.be/lmhFRarkw8E
4. There are approximately 4.300 religions or creeds that are
currently practiced and preached: https://www.indianfolk.
com/which-religion-do-you-follow
5. One of the earliest monotheistic religions, which appears
to predate Judaism, is Zoroastrianism: https://www.history.
com/topics/religion/zoroastrianism
6. Christians believe that Jesus was crucified and that he died on
a wooden cross: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crucifixion_
of_Jesus
7. Since Muslims consider Jesus to have been a mortal prophet
rather than a divine being, Muslims do not believe in the
Christian contention that Jesus died by crucifixion on a

60
 wooden cross: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_
on_Jesus%27_death
8. Based on the King James Bible (Genesis, Chapter 22), Jews
and Christians believe that Isaac was the son who was
intended as a sacrifice and test of faith: https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac
9. Muslims believe that the son who was intended as a sacrifice
was Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar (Sarah’s Egyptian
handmaiden): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_in_
Islam
10.Many Muslims believe that apostates who convert away from
Islam should be executed since the Sharia punishment for
apostasy is death: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_
in_Islam

61
 Einstein’s God and the Religious Landscape

In 1936, a teenager named Phyllis Wright, wrote a letter to

Albert Einstein, the scientific genius whose fame was on the
rise.
Phyllis said that she was in 6th grade. She and her friends
had discussed whether they could believe both in God and in
scientific principles at the same time. “Dear Dr. Einstein,”wrote
Phyllis. “Do scientists pray too? And if they pray, how do they
pray?”1
Much to her surprise, Einstein answered her letter. Einstein
said that scientists are always thinking, contemplating natural
phenomena and human actions, how laws of cause and effect
operate. Science provides an explanation of these cause and
effect relationships.
However, Einstein warned, science is not perfect. Not all things
can be answered by science. Therefore, there is room for belief,
for faith, for religion. Even as science advances, there is always
room for belief.
Einstein discussed his ideas further: Scientists are also religious,
but the religiosity of scientists is different from the religiosity of
ordinary people.
After replying to the letter, Einstein continued discussing his
beliefs about God at greater length. It was evident that Einstein
was not an atheist. However, Einstein also did not believe in a
Personal God, a God who takes an interest in people as individuals
or other matters that govern people’s lives, extending to the

62
way women dress. Einstein also did not believe in the concept
of God meting out rewards in heaven and punishment in hell as
a means of controlling human behavior.
Einstein said that the God he believed in was the same God
that Spinoza believed in. This Dutch philosopher named Baruch
Spinoza lived in the years 1632-1677.
Spinoza truly believed in God. For him, God’s presence pervaded
everything. There was no existence outside of God. On the
other hand, this was an impersonal God. This was a concept of
God who is manifest in the laws of nature and the laws of the
universe.
Knowing God, according to Spinoza, is not done specifically
by seeking him and studying the scriptures. God is identified
precisely by studying the laws that govern nature. God can be
approached specifically by analyzing the laws that govern the
human heart.2
Thus, both Spinoza and Einstein believed that we can become
better acquainted with God through science.
Spinoza, as well as Einstein, chose to believe in a divine
presence that is not a Personal God, one who does not
intervene in human affairs. They were also not atheists, either
in the old or new sense. They were also not Agnostics, who do
not know whether God exists or not. Instead, their beliefs were
Pantheistic: God exists and pervades the natural universe but
remains impersonal.
They believed that contemplating the beauty and mystery of
the universe also raises one’s own religiosity. That is no less
true, even without having to speculate about the occult that

63
science cannot explain.
Of course, Einstein did not speak for the panoply of scientists
and the whole array of their religious attitudes. Perceptions of
God and religion, even among fellow Nobel laureates, certainly
vary.

-000-

What Einstein, Spinoza, and many others like them believed

was investigated by the Pew Research Center. In 2010, this
institution examined the religious landscape in 230 countries.3
Interestingly, the third largest category pertaining to religious
belief after Christianity and Islam is “Non-Affiliated.” This third
largest community entails those who do not identify with any
religion. Their number exceeds the population of followers of
Hinduism, Buddhism, as well as followers of other religions.
The total number of non-affilated people, i.e. those who do not
identify with religion, is 1.1 billion people or about 15 percent
of the world’s population (7.5 billion people).
They represent a collection of many kinds of beliefs. They
have only one thing in common: They do not identify with any
existing religion.
Some of them, like Einstein and Spinoza, believe in God but
don’t believe in religion. Most are atheists; some are agnostic.
Where do they live? As many as 700 million people who do not
identify with religion are in China. No fewer than 72 million
non-affiliated people live in Japan. 52 million live in the United
States. The remainder are mostly distributed throughout

64
European countries.
That said, 52 percent of China’s population do not identify
with a formal religion. About 57 percent of Japan’s population
also does not profess an affiliation with a specific religion.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the number who do not
identify with a formal religion constitutes 16.4 percent of the
American population.
The world’s largest religion remains Christianity, whose
adherents account for 31.5 percent of the world’s population.
Christianity represents the predominant religion in 157
countries. As many as 50 percent of these Christians are Roman
Catholic. The remainder are subdivided among many Protestant
sects.
The second largest religion is Islam, at 23 percent. A majority of
the population is Muslim in 49 countries. Islam is also subdivided
among Sunnis (87 percent) and Shia (13 percent).
The combination of Muslims and Christians represents 54
percent of the world’s population. If you add Hindus and
Buddhists, they make up about 75 percent of the world’s
population.
Besides these four dominant religions, there are thousands
of beliefs called Folk Religions: native religions and ancestral
beliefs. The age of these ancient beliefs is often even older than
established religions. As many as 405 million people, or about
6 percent of the global population, believe in Folk Religions,
whose followers are mainly distributed in Asian, African, and
Latin American countries.
As many as 58 million (or nearly 1 percent) of the world’s

65
population believe in other religions; these include some of
the oldest religions, such as Zoroastrianism, which predates
Judaism, as well as young religions, such as Baha’ism (which
was born in the 19th century).
The total number of religions, which are currently followed by
7.5 billion people, is 4,300.3 Thus, a plethora of concepts of
God, including their respective concepts of good and evil, are
still relevant and valuable in the 21st century.

-000-

What is the difference between spirituality and religion? That

is a question worth asking after looking at the many religions
currently available.
Spirituality reflects on human existential issues: Who am I?
Why was I born? How did life originate? Where is the end of the
universe? Is there life after death? What is good and bad? Who
should I obey? Is there a supreme or divine entity that takes an
interest in human and world affairs?
Fossil evidence has traced and demonstrated that humans
(Homo sapiens as well as Homo neanderthalensis) developed
an imaginative search for the meaning of life during the past
100 thousand years. This was supported by excavations in 1908,
when fossils were found near La Chapelle-Aux Saints, France.4
Besides bones, other objects, such as necklaces, were also
buried alongside human bodies at this ancient French burial
site. It is believed that this represented a form of ritual which
demonstrates that early humans had developed a concept of
life after death. The necklace was surmised to be a provision

66
that would accompany the dead person in the next world.
From carbon dating, the age of these fossils was calculated to be
100 thousand years old. These remains were not derived from
Homo Sapiens, our own species, which is still alive. These fossils
were from Neanderthals, who became extinct 60 thousand
years ago.
Spirituality, which is defined as an existential reflection, is
inherent in the human brain. Religion is the response to that
spiritual reflection. The spiritual quest satisfied by religion has
evolved along with the development of human consciousness.
Even though we believe that the SUPREME has remained
unchanged throughout history, Homo sapiens defines the
evolution of the concept of the Divine.
Regardless of place and throughout time, people have asked
the same existential questions: “Who am I?” “Why am I here?”
“Who is the supreme ruler of the universe?” This spiritual
contemplation has basically remained the same. However,
the answers that Homo sapiens has established throughout
civilization have gradually evolved based on the philosophies of
Animism, Pantheism, and Monotheism.
Even now in the 21st century, the concept of God has become
differentiated into a Personal God, Impersonal God, Agnosticism,
Deism, Pantheism, and so on.
Spirituality is the reflection. The existence of 4,300 religions5 is
the answer.

-000-

67
Homo Sapiens is now divided among 4,300 religions, 195 countries
and 6,500 language groups, and interactions are getting more
intense due to the technological revolution of the 21st century.
It is time for our generation to revive the unity of Homo Sapiens:
One Earth, One Species, One Spirituality.
Behind the differences that divide Homo sapiens, all people seek
the same meaning in life: They want both to love and be loved.
Everyone experiences and endures loneliness and suffering.
In many countries, human rights guarantee that people can
believe in any of the 4,300 religions. It is even possible not
to believe in anything based on the evolution of one’s own
consciousness. Religious belief cannot be coerced.
But now a new spirituality has arrived, the spirituality of the
21st century. It answers the same ultimate question: “Who am
I?” “How is life meaningful?” “What is the purpose of life?”
The difference is that 21st century spirituality restricts itself
to providing guidance on pursuing a happy, meaningful life
specifically on the basis of methods that have been proven by
science.
We can call it 21st Century New Spirituality with a scientific
narrative. It does not aim to displace religion. Instead, it
purports to bring Homo sapiens back together.
Human unity. Human unity with the environment. The unity
of man with the universe and God is often an afterthought in
Jalaluddin Rumi’s poems.
Rumi said: “We are one. Everything in the universe is in your
soul” and“Various lamps appear different, but the light that
shines from each is the same.”

68
Another of Rumi’s reflections: “My location can not be located.
My tracks cannot be traced. As one, we derive from the same
source. As one, we are headed along the same path.”
Yes, we are one. One Earth. One Homo sapiens. One Spirituality.
June 2020

69
Footnotes
1. A letter to Albert Einstein from a 6th grade student regarding
Einstein’s belief in God in view of his scientific thinking and
his response to the letter are often quoted as an example
of belief by scientists in an Impersonal God: https://www.
bigthink.com/did-einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-
thought-about-god.html
2. A short video about the view of God espoused by and
believed in by both Spinoza and Einstein: https://youtu.be/
pVEeXjPiw54
3. A research study was conducted by the Pew Research Center
regarding the Global Landscape of Religion in the year 2010:
https://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-
landscape-exec/
4. This source states that the oldest grave site exhibiting
evidence of human burial rituals to be excavated by
archaeologists dates back to 100,000 years ago: https://
www.sapiens.org/culture/hominin-burial/
5. This source claims that there are 4,300 religions practiced
throughout the world, based on a count by Adherents, an
autonomous, non-religiously associated association that
monitors the number and size of the world’s religions :
https://www.indianfolk.com/which-religion-do-you-follow/

70
 A Prayerful Heart and Neuroscience

“When the world forces you to your knees, that is the best
position for prayer.”
“If you are praying and can only exclaim one word, say the word:
Thanks!”
Prayer dispels the fog. It invites serenity to return home to
one’s heart. Every morning, every evening, let your heart sing:
“Oh God.. Yes my beloved. There is no reality except Thy divine
countenance.”
In words that are compact, concise, and beautiful, Jalaluddin
Rumi, the great mystic and poet, was able to express so much
concerning prayer.
When sorrow and suffering inevitably appear in their life, people
will fall to their knees and pray. They expect to receive the grace
of God and thus, they beg for divine intercession. They dream
of positive change; they aspire that God’s divine grace will bring
about miracles and supernatural events.
When the full moon comes, when happiness and blessed
events occur, humans also pray. They are grateful. They bestow
gratitude to God.
Human psychology remains generally inseparable from this
cycle: misery and happiness. Being threatened by sudden
unfortunate circumstances to experiencing happiness. Prayer
occupies a central place in human consciousness. It could thus
be said that Homo sapiens is a creature that prays.

-000-

71
Archaeologists have found evidence that supports this idea.
Homo sapiens were already able to use their imagination when
the frontal lobe in their brain became much larger than that
of other related primates, such as chimps; this facilitated the
ability of primitive people to begin praying.
The history of Homo sapiens, as far back as it can be traced
by science, is the history of intelligent beings who pray. These
prayer activities are generally the same. However, the form
of the corresponding rituals became differentiated as they
developed. The sort of deity that is worshiped has also evolved
in tandem with the evolution of Homo sapien consciousness.
In 1990, archaeologists discovered fossil remains in a hidden
cave within a mountainous area of Botswana1. There they
uncovered about 1,300 spearheads made of stone. Using
radioactive carbon dating techniques, it was determined that
the spearheads were 70 thousand years old.
A large rock was found, which was engraved with the scales
of a python, a large snake. The archaeologists surmised that
this represented the oldest evidence of ancient man in the
prehistoric stone age praying to a deity.
The archaeologists think that these ancient people danced
and sang while holding spears made of stone. They apparently
worshiped pythons and may have believed that pythons were
their own ancestors.
Thus far, this site in Botswana appears to be the most ancient
site where archaeologists have found evidence of primitive
people worshiping a deity.
The Stone Age elapsed, and Homo sapiens settled down,

72
building civilizations. One of the most ancient of these was the
Sumerian civilization located in Mesopotamia. This civilization
dates back to 5,000 years ago.
Archaeologists discovered a unique site in an Assyrian
town called Girus, one of the oldest settled towns in human
civilization.2 Fossils of many animal skeletons in one place
suggest that they had been sacrificed.
Artwork and sculptures of the Assyrian god of war dating back
more than 4,000 years ago were found at the same site in what
is now Iraq.
The archaeologists developed a narrative, claiming that this was
the first settled civilization that worshiped a deity. The ancient
Assyrians entreated the god of war to grant them strength and
victory in battle against other tribes. In their worship, they
made offerings and animal sacrifices.
In 2020, during the current digital age, the world has been
ravaged by a pandemic due to the global spread of the Chinese
coronavirus . Through social media and the internet, universal
calls for prayer have been offered. “Regardless of our religion
and belief, let’s pray together, so that God will be together
with us and help us defeat and drive away the unconventional
biological enemy that mankind is facing, an enemy that does
not appear in human form but in the form of a virus.”
So the Catholic Pope, Christians, Muslims, Jews, and followers
of other religions prayed together in unison. They assembled
together for one moment from every corner of the world,
adherents of diverse religions whose beliefs were at odds
with each other, yet they were still able to assemble together
in a joint endeavor. They were able to attend a prayer service

73
that subdued, disregarded, and transcended their theological
differences.3
At that moment, they knelt together in prayer. As Rumi
intimated many centuries ago, the shared burden of the world
resulting from the relentless spread of the Coronavirus has
forced mankind to kneel and pray, regardless of one’s formal
religion.
Throughout the history of Homo sapiens during the past 70
thousand years, prayer activities have always been present.
The deities that were worshiped were diverse and mutable. In
the past, pythons and other aspects of the natural world were
worshiped. These eventually changed, and gods and goddesses
of war became the reigning deities. In modern times, most
people subscribe to a monotheistic faith that worships an
unseen, omnipotent God.
In the past, the way to worship a divine deity with the purpose
of summoning God to intercede on one’s behalf was facilitated
by dancing and brandishing spears. Later on, rituals invoking
divine intervention involved animal sacrifices. Now prayers can
even be sent online through the internet.
The most essential changes entail the infrastructure, rituals,
and concepts. One immutable aspect of prayer is that it’s still
the same Homo sapiens heart. Throughout history, people have
always felt threatened. They have always believed in a greater
power that transcends human authority and capabilities.
Throughout history, people have always beseeched God to
intercede on their behalf.

-000-

74
Scientists have made so much progress. However, science has
not subdued an ancient spirit: the human will to pray.
Those who pray are not just ordinary people. Even recently, top
scientists, including those who have won a Nobel prize for their
scientific achievements, also pray. We can name a few from
the twentieth century: Werner Arber, Nobel Prize in Medicine/
Physiology, Derek Barton, Nobel Prize for Chemistry. John
Eccles, Nobel Prize for Medicine/Physiology, Manfred Eigen,
Nobel Prize for Chemistry; each professed his belief in God and
the importance of prayer in his life.4
William D. Phillips, 1997 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, is also a
church activist. He delights as much in attending prayer services
in church each Sunday as he enjoys spending time conducting
research in his laboratory.5
How can we comprehend this praying heart throughout the
long history of Homo sapiens? Why do people pray? What is
obtained from prayer?
By now, 4,300 religions have been counted; that implies that
there could be 4,300 different ways to pray. Although there
may be 4300 belief systems, their respective concepts of God
certainly differ from each other. Each has different rules that
govern when and how to pray, and each possesses different
liturgy, rituals, and taboos. Yet they share a common spirit. In
prayer, man submits his heart to The Higher Self, to God, Allah,
Yahweh, Jesus, Buddha, and other names that describe the
Almighty.

-000-

75
Along came Neuroscience, the new science of the nervous
system, which elucidated our understanding of behavioral
phenomena, beliefs, human tendencies, in relation to brain
activity. Neuroscience found that social reality, including
religion and prayer, is connected to the intricacies of the human
nervous system.
Knowledge and inquiry into the human brain have of course
been speculated about for thousands of years. However, real
scientific investigation of the human neural mechanism for
explaining social reality is altogether a new phenomenon.
In the 1950s, Francis O. Smith created the first neuroscience
program in the Department of Biology at MIT (Massachusetts
Institute of Technology). In the 1960s, James L. McGaugh
conducted more advanced research at the University of
California (Irvine), where he founded the Department of
Psychobiology, now the Department of Neurology and Behavior.
Thus, neuroscience became a scientific discipline on its own.
For instance, the Harvard Medical School established a distinct
Department of Neurobiology.6
Neuroscience as a science is also developing very rapidly. It
brings together and unites the disciplines of biology, medicine,
physiology, psychology, and mathematical modeling.
Neurotheology represents a relatively new branch of
Neuroscience. It applies neuroscientific methods to specifically
observe and explain various phenomena of religious experience.
These include a person’s inner mood, a sense of oneness with
the universe, as well as trances, ecstasy, near-death experiences,
and peak feelings when one is overwhelmed by immense joy or
tragedy.

76
Why do these unusual emotional experiences happen? Where
in the brain do these activities take place? Are certain hormones
in the brain mediated or affected by prayer? Are these hormones
related to vision, relaxation and even human behavioral traits?
These scientists conducted empirical studies, which entailed
repeated experiments and trials, and then drew conclusions
from their findings.
Andrew Newbergh7, for example, assembled data on religious
people who had been praying for at least fifteen years. They
prayed on average 2 hours a day. The subjects in his study came
from a variety of religious backgrounds and traditions.
There were pastors who prayed with movement and voice, as
well as monks who prayed by meditating in still silence.
Research has assessed the neurological basis of prayer
with studies that involve subjects from different religious
backgrounds whose concepts of God are diverse; even those
who do not believe in God have been surveyed many times.
These studies have been conducted many times with different
samples.
This is what one of these neuroscientific studies concluded.
Of course, neuroscience cannot prove which concepts of God
are correct. Does God exist or not? Neuroscience cannot tell us
whether Atheism, concepts of a Personal or Impersonal God,
Deism, or Pantheism is correct.
And of course, neuroscience cannot state which of these 4,300
religions is correct. Which version of God’s revelation is true?
That’s not the area of neuroscience. Nor does neuroscience

77
want to be a judge who decides which beliefs are truthful and
which are illusory within these religions.
The findings of this neurotheological research concluded that
daily repeated prayer changes the human brain. Thus, the
nervous system can be shaped by beliefs that are instilled daily
and repeatedly within one’s consciousness.
Those who pray daily for many hours exhibit differences in parts
of the brain compared to those who do not customarily pray.
Regardless of one’s religious traditions, Christianity, Islam,
Judaism, Buddhism, and even agnosticism and atheism, a
person can develop a different image of God or a Higher Self.
And these can be differentiated as representing concepts of an
Authoritarian God or a Benevolent God.
When we pray, it is not only our specific formal religion that
is activated but also our life history, character, and personal
experience participate in forming our particular image of God
or a Higher Self.
Everyone has the potential to imagine an Authoritarian God: a
divine presence who punishes, who demands obedience, who
determines the rules and threatens those who violate them
with an eternity in hell.
We also have the potential to imagine a Benevolent God:
a compassionate God who spreads love, who forgives,
understands, cherishes, and protects.
Why do some people develop or choose the concept of an
Authoritative God, while others select a compassionate God
who loves and protects? This needs to be explained on a case

78
by case basis.
This is an important conclusion from neuroscience: Whatever
your religion may be, or even if you are unaffiliated, regardless
of your concept of God, whatever your activity of prayer or
contemplation, just imagining a merciful Benevolent God will
produce hormones in the brain that bestow peace, serenity,
and comfort.
Those who frequently meditate, contemplate, or pray by
imagining God, Allah, Yahweh, Jesus, a Higher Self, or whatever
we wish to call a benevolent divine entity, to the extent that this
constitutes the ultimate mental image of love, this will shape
their personality to be more compassionate and caring. These
people tend to be more loving, helpful, and generous.

-000-

Neuroscience cannot prove that God does or does not exist;

despite this, neuroscience confirms that contemplation,
meditation, recitation, and prayer, to the extent that these
activities imagine the divine presence as a Benevolent God or
a compassionate Higher Self, perform a fundamental effect in
forming a more relaxed personality.
Neuroscience also explains: Whoever that person may be,
whatever religion he or she embraces, regardless of their
conceptualization of God. Whatever color, gender, economic
status, education, or country of origin. All homo sapiens can
reconcile their heart through prayer, thereby making themselves
more loving and compassionate.
The most important aspect in this regard is continuous

79
contemplation, meditation, or prayer, or repetitive devotional
recitation but with one additional requirement: The focus of
prayer must be a Benevolent God, not an Authoritarian God.
The merciful Higher Self. Not a divine entity that is wrathful and
vindictive.
In this regard, we are reminded of the poems of Jalaluddin
Rumi: “I am a house of love. And my heart is a place of prayer.”
And:“Put your soul in love of God. Nothing is more beautiful
than that.”
How long the journey of Homo sapiens has been. Throughout
70 thousand years of prayer. Even though the belief of people in
a supernatural power is now distributed among 4,300 religions,
occupying 195 countries, and speaking 6,500 dialects, Homo
sapiens is still one.
Yes, One Earth. One Homo sapiens. One Spirituality.
July 2020

80
Footnotes
1. Fossil evidence was found in a hidden hilltop in northwestern
Botswana. At this site, it is clear that 70,000 years ago,
prehistoric Stone Age man conducted religious rituals that
worshiped pythons: https://www.apollon.uio.no/english/
articles/2006/python-english.html
2. Five thousand years ago in what is now Iraq, one of the
first great human civilizations thrived. Archaeologists have
discovered a site where animal sacrifice was frequently
performed in rituals that worshiped gods of war: https://
www.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/
history/2020/01/rare-assyrian-carvings-discovered-iraq
3. During the current era of the Coronavirus, interfaith
solidarity has been fostered throughout the world as an
opportunity to pray together and implore God to exercise
divine intervention on behalf of mankind: https://www.
ucanews.com/news/pope-joins-interfaith-prayer-over-
covid-19/88033
4. This source provides a list of scientists, including Nobel Prize
winners, from a variety of scientific disciplines, who believe
in God and attend prayer services: https://magiscenter.
com/23-famous-scientists-who-are-not-atheists/
5. William D. Phillips, Nobel Prize winner in Physics 1997,
has spoken openly about his faith and why he continues
to attend church services each Sunday and pray with the
congregation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_
Daniel_Phillips
6. Modern Neuroscience studies were inaugurated during the
decade of the 1950’s at MIT and Harvard University. Shulman,

81
 Robert G. (2013). “Neuroscience: A Multidisciplinary, Multi-
level Field”. Brain Imaging: What it Can (and Cannot) Tell Us
About Consciousness. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN
9780199838721.
7. Andrew Newberg has authored research studies in the
new field of Neuroscience with regard to the effect of
frequent praying on neural activity in the brain. See: How
God Changes Your Brain https://www.researchgate.net/
publication/248941968_How_God_Changes_Your_Brain_
Breakthrough_Findings_From_a_Leading_Neuroscientist_
By_Andrew_Newberg_and_Mark_Robert_Waldman

82
 Chapter 3
CHAPTER2:3From
Chapter Five New
Philosophy
Spiritual
toPrinciples:
4,300 Religions
3P + 2S

Five New Spiritual Principles: 3P + 2S

83
 A Soulmate for the Soul:
The Spiritual Side of Personal Relationships

An old Greek folktale tells a lot about the significance and

satisfaction we obtain from having a soul mate. It’s an intimate
relationship involving close friends who love each other, care
for each other, help each other, and pay attention to each other.

According to the tale, in the beginning people had two faces,

four hands and four legs. They lived very happily. Eventually,
however, they became too self-obsessed because they were
having so much fun spending time by themselves. People even
forgot to pray and thus neglected the gods.1
The gods became jealous. Finally, humans were split in half. As a
result, people now had only one head, two hands, and two legs.
Since then, man has lost half of himself. And he is also missing
half of his soul.
So from birth to death, people constantly move about looking
for their missing half in other people. By himself, man feels
incomplete. He languishes in solitude, and this makes him feel
miserable.
Humans need a soulmate to complement themselves. It can
a lover, husband, or wife. It can be a close friend. It can be a
father, mother, child, or grandchild. It can be a brother, sister,
teacher, or student.
This Greek folktale certainly demonstrates deep reflection
regarding the need of the human soul to seek intimacy with

84
others in order to feel happy and secure.

-000-

The story of Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) and Shams Tabrizi

(1185- 1248) serves as a prime example of finding one’s
soulmate in the real world. Although their close friendship only
lasted several years, the fortuitous discovery of their soulmate
in each other yielded a book of poetry and deep meditation
that stands out in mystical and literary history.
Rumi was born and raised in Persia within a prominent family.
His mother was a close relative of the nobility of that time. His
father was a lawyer, theologian, and mystic. Rumi attended
school in his youth.
On the other hand, Shams Tabrizi was an itinerant mystic who
frequently moved around. He came from a lower-class family
and lifestyle. In various stories, Shams has an obsession to seek
out someone who will become a grand master of the mystics.
When they met, Rumi was in his late thirties, and Shams was
already 60 years old. The difference in age was nearly 23 years
apart. Thus, the encounters of these two mystics is often
seasoned with idiosyncratic peculiarities.2
In one story, Rumi was stunned when Shams threw Rumi’s book
into the river. It was exceedingly difficult for Rumi to fish his
precious book from the water, but when he retrieved it from
the river, he was especially surprised to find that the book was
not even wet.
I personally believe that this story was re-interpreted and

85
subsequently fictionalized. When Rumi became a renown
giant among poets and mystics, the journeys of his life became
embellished with mystical and unusual incidents.
So deep was the relationship between these two mystics. Many
have declared Shams to be Rumi’s spiritual teacher. At some
point, Shams disappeared without a trace. There are many
versions of the story of the sudden disappearance of Shams and
the disturbing effect this had on Rumi.
This sudden departure made Rumi feel as though he had lost
half of his soul. Rumi expressed his inner mood. He composed
many poems dedicated to Shams after his disappearance.
The arrival of Shams Tabrizi, their mystical encounters, and
finally his disappearance without a trace became a furnace in
which Jalaluddin Rumi’s spiritual journey ripened and matured.

-000-

Discovering a soulmate is the pinnacle of intimacy between two

individuals. That relationship provides depth of meaning and
genuine happiness.
But this does not pertain exclusively to soulmates. Less intimate
personal relationships , just close ties of friendship and kinship
that are full of love and caring for each other, in which people
help each other and listen to each other, constitute the first
precept of a new spirituality. That is the foundation of happiness.
Up until this essay was written, the following describes the
longest diachronic research ever conducted. In fact, the study
was carried out for eight decades from 1938 through 2018.

86
When the research study began in 1938, a total of 268 Harvard
University students volunteered as respondents.3
The students at that time were in their teens. Among these
early respondents were John F. Kennedy, who later became
President of the United States, and Ben Bradlee, who became
the editor of the Washington Post. (Ben Bradlee oversaw the
major reports of the Watergate scandal that befell President
Nixon, eventually forcing him to resign.)
When the research was completed in 2018, only 19 of the initial
group of 268 male respondents (from 1938) were still alive and
participating. By 2018, they were generally in their late nineties.
These initial respondents were all men since no female students
(i.e. from Radcliffe College) were able to attend Harvard classes
until 1943.
Beginning in the 1950s, the research recruited a larger number
of respondents. These included not only female students but
also respondents from the lower middle class. Respondents’
wives and children were also asked to participate in the study.
Thus, the total number of respondents eventually grew to
1,300. Many of these young people became successful; others,
however, were beset by alcoholism, severe stress, and failure
during the course of their lives.
The title of this long-running research is “The Harvard Study of
Adult Life.” However, the findings of this research reached some
cogent conclusions. These findings have been tested many
times in other research studies. Regardless of place and time,
the results and implications of these studies have remained
more or less the same.

87
What makes someone’s life happy and meaningful is neither
wealth nor one’s position. Nor is it one’s level of education. Nor
is it one’s gender, skin color, or the religion that one embraces.
What makes a person’s life happy is the presence of close social
ties. Happiness derives from the satisfying warmth of personal
relationships, the presence of affection, love, and caring in
social relationships.
Even wealthy people who hold important positions and are
highly educated, regardless of a person’s gender, skin color,
or the religion one embraces are prone to depression; if an
outwardly successful person lacks personal relationships and
mutual kinship ties, as well as the warm feeling of loving others
and being loved in return, that person will likely languish in
lonely solitude.
On the other hand, someone who is not advanced in terms of
wealth, occupation, influence, education, regardless of gender,
skin color, and religion but has warm personal relationships,
and who both loves and feels loved is more likely to live a happy
existence.
Other studies explored how many personal relationships we
need. This research indicated that what matters most is not
the number of personal relationships but rather the quality and
depth of one’s most essential social relationships and family
ties with other people.
If an individual has warm, close ties with three to five people,
whether they are family, lovers, friends, or colleagues, that’s
already sufficient to sustain happiness.

-000-

88
This is one of the six principles of the New Spirituality: the
Importance of Personal Relationships. This principle derives
from and is summed up through the Great Narrative of the
Third Wave: Research methods of scientific inquiry employed in
the service of gaining knowledge.
Like that Greek folktale instructs us, seek out your other half;
your soul mate is waiting somewhere for you.
June 2020

89
Footnotes
1. The story of the basic need of people to find their better half
or soulmate is expressed through a popular Greek folktale,
as well as a film that documents this story, called The Half
of It.
2. Accounts of the deep relationship between Jalaluddin Rumi
and Shams Tabrizi have been recorded in many sources.
3. One of the longest longitudinal studies (The Harvard Study
of Adult Development), which considered Adult Life and
Happiness, was conducted by Harvard University over an
eighty-year period from 1938-2018.

90
 Observing through a Different Set of Eyes:
Positivity
Look at that stereogram. Within the same canvas, for the same
painting, there are different pictures. It just depends on how
our eyes see patterns by visually combining various points,
lines, and colors. It also depends on the viewing angle away
from the usual perpendicular view. Such paintings are rendered
by employing optical illusion techniques, called perceptual
illusion.1
I enjoyed looking at a certain stereogram, entitled“One Image,
Four Seasons.” It is clearly an image of a tree. If I stood and
viewed the picture from the far left, I saw a verdant tree in the
springtime. Lush. Covered in leaves. Fresh and colorful.
But when I shifted my stance slightly to the right to look back
at the surface, the picture looked like a tree in late summer. Its
leaves have begun to dry out. The leaves have turned brown.
They no longer look fresh anymore. They are no longer as
colorful.
I stood further to the right again. The picture now resembled
a tree in the fall. The autumn leaves have begun to fall. Only
some sparse leaves remain on the branches. Most of the leaves
have fallen to the ground. The leaves have abandoned the tree.
The atmosphere is quiet.
Once more, I pivoted my stance and viewed the same stereogram
from the far right. Now the tree looked like a deciduous tree in
winter. The branches were bare, totally leafless, and covered
with snow. White. Cold. Frozen.

91
How could this be? One canvas is able to reveal the same tree in
four different seasons? Which represents the authentic reality
of the artwork on the canvas? Is it an autumn tree? Is it a winter
tree? Spring? Summer? All of these images are true, but in
each case, our perspective depends on our viewing angle, the
position from which we view the image of the tree.

-000-

The stereogram image is a miniature version of a much larger

and more complex reality on a grand scale. The same event. The
same grief. The same sorrow. But all these can be experienced
in different ways when viewed from different perspectives.
Furthermore, different interpretations and meanings can be
attached to the same event when seen from different eyes. The
same phenomena can be assessed and experienced in different
ways if we contemplate them from a different perspective and
awareness.
The complexities of life are like a stereogram. They can
be experienced in many forms. Many colors. And multiple
meanings, too.
We are thus reminded of Jalaluddin Rumi’s reflection. He said,
“Close your two eyes. Look at the world with another eye.”
There is a different way of seeing through the other eye. With
that other eye, a veritable disaster, for example, which one eye
perceives as indisputable suffering, can be construed by the
other eye as an undeniable blessing in disguise.
Said Rumi, “For those who reach the top of conscience, what is
considered injurious may turn out to be a blessing. That which
is dark may be proven to be luminous.”

92
Those who have wandered like nomads, who have immersed
themselves in deep contemplation, are able to perceive events
differently than most people do. Even pain and suffering, when
viewed through different eyes, can be meaningful. Suffering can
actually be a blessing.
Rumi continued, “If disaster comes to you, welcome it as you
would a guest of honor. The disaster has arrived in order to
convey God’s message for your personal growth.”
Seeing the world through a different lens and giving meaning
to anguish are among the highest abilities of our species. This is
a talent that can be learned and trained. This skill constitutes a
crucial aspect of spiritual and emotional intelligence.

-000-

The life story of Victor Frankl (1905-1997) is an impressive

example of achieving genuine growth in the potential to view
the world through a different set of eyes.
Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist, who was born in Vienna,
Austria. In 1942-1945, he was incarcerated in four different
concentration camps by the antisemitic Nazi regime.2 For three
years he was tortured and terrorized. He witnessed his father
die in Theresienstadt and later saw his mother and older brother
die in the infamous Auschwitz death camp. He was separated
from his wife, who later died in the Bergen-Belsen camp. He
experienced and witnessed how his friends could not withstand
the endless months of torment. Some lost the will to live and
chose to die by committing suicide.
“I have to live,” Victor Frankl told himself. “I have to survive and
leave this camp with a healthy mind and body. I must tell the

93
world what I experienced here. I will prove that humans have
the unique ability to shape their own attitudes and experiences
rather than letting a horrendous environment exert full control
in shaping these.”
Frankl recalled many stories of terror he experienced in the
camp. The Nazi regime obviously wanted to break the spirit of
the Jewish prisoners. They were once served some fish. Worms
were crawling from the fish’s head.
Some of Frankl’s friends refused to eat, but Victor Frankl looked
at the fish with a different set of eyes. He conjured up the idea
and convinced himself how delicious this rotting fish was. If he
ate it, this fish would not only fill his stomach but it might keep
him alive a bit longer.
In April, 1945, when Auschwitz concentration camp was
liberated, Victor Frankl had not just survived his three-year
ordeal. He was able to utilize his own experiences in the
Holocaust to create a new school of psychotherapy. Building on
the foundations of psychotherapy pioneered by Sigmund Freud
and Alfred Adler, Frankl developed the Third Viennese School
of Psychotherapy as the father of humanistic psychology. He
called this meaning-centered approach Logotherapy.
Previous behaviorist concepts of psychology held the view that
people are shaped by their social environment. Humans are like
a blank sheet of white paper; if the environment is red, their
brain will also be red.
The psychoanalytical beliefs of Sigmund Freud was largely based
on the assumption that one’s personality is formed primarily by
one’s childhood history. A person’s experience of trauma and
suffering during childhood, especially experiences dealing with

94
sexuality, were said to imprint and determine that individual’s
behavior during adulthood.
Victor Frankl developed a different understanding of psychology.
Based on his own harsh experiences in the Holocaust, he stated
that human beings are distinguished by not being mere products
of passive interactions with their environment; moreover, their
behavior is not specifically the result of trauma and sexual issues
that arise in childhood. Instead, people are exceptional in their
special potential to extrapolate and shape their own meaning,
experiences, and attitudes from their external environment.
According to Frankl, a chief strength of people is their ability
to give meaning even to suffering. If the individual succeeds in
attaching meaning to his life, he will feel a sense of purpose;
the ability to hold on to one’s purpose in life allows one to
overcome the severity of traumatic circumstances that are
normally fraught with pain and suffering.
Victor Frankl developed logotherapy in order to guide people
to heal themselves by seeking meaning and purpose in life. It’s
an attitude to life which develops the other eye. It fosters new
positive ways to view and befriend the challenges and pain that
people normally experience in their lives.
When pain and disaster inevitably arise, the anguish will be more
tolerable if one has attached meaning to these external stimuli.
For example, a person will be better equipped to withstand pain
that he perceives in a neutral or positive light. When suffering
arrives, he will consider it an opportunity to make himself even
stronger. As Nietzsche said, “That which doesn’t kill you will
make you stronger.”
Why does one need to be stronger? Because one invariably

95
believes that more blessings will accrue if each source of woe
only increases one’s endurance. The value of this positive
attitude to life has been proven by various studies.

-000-

We can call the perspective from that other eye, which is used
to make life happy and meaningful, positivity. This term is a
mindset, a habit of always looking at the positive side of any
event.
Like the stereogram painting, reality can be seen in sharply
different ways when viewed from different angles. Positivity is
a mindset of deliberately seeing the world, including suffering,
from a positive, optimistic, and accommodating perspective.
Below are three studies that demonstrate the effects of fostering
a positive attitude to health, achievement and happiness.
Those who tend to nurture a positive attitude are more likely to
experience a superior quality of life than those who suffer from
passive, pessimistic attitudes to life.
The first research study was carried out by Dr. Seligman and
Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan, from
1946 until 1987. The respondents were 99 Harvard University
students, who had graduated in the classes of 1939-1944.3
Many of these students had fought in the Second World War.
After returning home from the war, they participated in the
study and continued to do so at five-year intervals. When the
initial research results were analyzed, these 99 Harvard alumni
were classified based on their responses as belonging to a
group with an optimistic attitude towards life versus a group
that exhibited a rather pessimistic attitude to life.

96
The difficulty of living, especially in the aftermath of the Second
World War, was real. Optimists tended to see the brighter side of
life: the potential to move forward and perceive opportunities
that were available in the midst of adversity. On the other hand,
the pessimists in the study, who were confronted by similar
hardships, tended to see the darker side of these circumstances:
they felt enervated by a burdensome existence that would
inevitably befall them.
These were the central findings of this research: Those who
were optimistic tended to live a healthier lifestyle. These
optimistic adults tended to live longer. Their immune system
was much stronger. These optimistic people also had a more
robust lifestyle.
The second relevant study was carried out by Dr. Martin
Seligman and Leslie Kamen from the University of Pennsylvania,
in 1984. They decided to conduct research on 500 students who
had just graduated from high school.4
They were also sorted into two categories, a group whose
attitudes to life were positive and optimistic, and a second
group who demonstrated negative and pessimistic attitudes
toward life. The subjects in these two groups were observed
over a long period of time.
The results were predictable. Those who were assessed as being
positive and optimistic were more likely to achieve a higher
social reputation and class status. They were more diligent in
pursuing college studies. They were more focused. They tended
to exhibit a greater need for achievement.
The third study was conducted by the California State University
in 2009. This research employed data from the National

97
Longitudinal Survey of Youth (1979). One aspect that was
measured involved the effects of a constructive and optimistic
attitude towards life in contrast to negative and pessimistic
attitudes regarding happiness.5
The respondents in this research study were workers. The results
of the study were also clear: Employees whose perceptions of
life were more positive were more likely to receive both higher
pay and accelerated promotions in their career.
They tended to be happier, and these higher levels of happiness
and job satisfaction translated into better job performance and
better reputations at work.
The benefits of activating a different eye to view one’s life from
a more positive perspective has been proven by research many
times. This positivity makes one’s life not only more meaningful
and happier but also more fulfilling, successful, and healthier.

-000-

This is the second foundation of the new spirituality. The first,

which was discussed in the previous essay, concerns having
close personal relationships with other people. The second
constitutes a positive attitude to life that bestows meaning
even in the midst of tragedy. One is more likely to thrive and
succeed when one has a positive and optimistic attitude to life.
This principle of life derives from the third wave: the great
narrative of scientific knowledge. The new spirituality no longer
bases its legitimacy on mythology (the Great Narrative of the
First Wave) nor on revelation and its various interpretations
(the Great Narrative of the Second Wave).

98
Regardless of gender, national origin, wealth, and one’s level
of education. Whatever one’s skin color may be, regardless of
gender, and whatever religion one embraces. If an individual
develops a positive and optimistic attitude to life (positivity),
he or she will tend to lead a healthier, happier, and more
accomplished life.
Research has demonstrated the value of positivity, the
importance of developing another set of eyes, which has the
potential to impart meaning even in the midst of large-scale
disasters.
Again we are reminded of Jalaluddin Rumi’s wise words:
“Welcome suffering as a guest of honor. Welcome calamities
because they carry a divine message that can facilitate one’s
personal growth. “
June 2020

99
Footnotes
1. Stereogram artwork certainly applies illusions of perception.
What looks apparent as a certain picture changes its
appearance as we shift the angle from which we view the
stereogram: https://www.artsheaven.com/deceiving-art-a-
guide-to-stereograms/
2. The origin of logotherapy in the philosophy that Victor Frankl
fostered during his ordeal of managing to survive inhumane
conditions in Nazi concentration camps is discussed in this
and other sources: https://medium.com/the-art-of-work/
celebrating-viktor-frankl-how-a-holocaust-survivor-s-
philosophy-on-happiness-remains-relevant-1cda8f5343e4
3. Research demonstrates the connection between a positive
life outlook and better physical health: https://www.
nytimes.com/1987/02/03/science/research-affirms-power-
of-positive-thinking.html
4. The same source discusses the correlation between a
positive outlook and higher social standing: https://www.
nytimes.com/1987/02/03/science/research-affirms-power-
of-positive-thinking.html
5. This source documents the relationship between
positivity and experiencing more happiness in life:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/
S016748700900097X

100
 Sense the World with a Loving Attitude, with Passion

Where does such ecstasy come from? One totality, one

consciousness that reaches its peak. It doesn’t merely bestow
depth but also incalculable happiness. It also represents the
essential source of extra creativity, which gives birth to great
works, to a masterpiece.
It was this matter that I was pondering when I journeyed along
the historic trail of Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) in Turkey. In
2009, one of these journeys brought me to Hodjapasha Theater
in Istanbul. There, I watched a Sufi dance performance,called
Whirling Dervish Dancing, which was originally inspired many
centuries ago by Jalaluddin Rumi.
Although Rumi lived 800 years ago, BBC Culture noted that now,
in the early 21st century, Rumi’s books of poetry are bestsellers
in the United States and other western societies.1 The extent
to which Rumi’s poetry is requested, purchased, and read
surpasses that of popular western poets like Walt Whitman,
Edgar Allan Poe, and even William Shakespeare.
In the United States, Rumi’s poetry is heard not only in mosques
but also in churches, synagogues, and colleges. Rumi’s poetry
has also been recited by celebrities like Madonna, Demi Moore,
and Depak Chopra.
I came to experience Rumi’s inner vibrations firsthand from
their closest traces in Turkey.
The Turkish tour guide explained that the paintings we were
viewing about Rumi were among the oldest that were created
more than 600 years ago. The painting style feels ancient. It

101
depicts the story of Rumi when he was on a pilgrimage to his
father’s grave. Eventually, Sultan Sejuk saw the painting and
was impressed by it; thus, even a sultan paid respect to mystics,
Sufis, and the poet Rumi.
While I was visiting Turkey, I also had the opportunity to see the
Divan-I-Kebir book, a masterpiece of Rumi’s poetry, which was
printed in 1366. Poetry from this book, as well as from Rumi’s
most famous poetic work, Masnavi, inspired Andrew Harvey, a
scholar of religions, to write that Rumi demonstrates a unique
awareness of the depth of Buddhist contemplation, the breadth
of Plato’s philosophy, and the beauty of William Shakespeare’s
literary expression. It’s like encountering three world-class
teachers embodied in one person.
Whence came the spirit and creativity, which accompanied
Rumi in a state of ecstasy, and gave birth to a masterpiece of
poetry?

-000-

As I sat in the room, I enjoyed the music and the Dervish

dancing. Five dancers whirled on three stages during a show
that lasted an hour.
The dancers twirled around and around with increasing speed.
And as they gathered speed, the dancers’ awareness became
more intense.
In this dance, the dancer’s inner mood is very important. The
dancers start with a stage of awareness called knowledge of
God. Then the dancer focuses intensely on the inner visions of
God’s presence. At the climax of this spiritual experience, the
dancers feel united with God.

102
The utmost silence reigns during this peak stage of union with
God. The visiting audience also develop an acute level of inner
awareness as they watch the Dervish whirling dancers and
sense the aura of each dancer.
In many cases, Rumi created poetry while experiencing similar
conditions of ecstasy. He also danced, and he occasionally spun
and whirled around. Rumi’s whole body and soul became united
within one moment of acute awareness. It was as though time
had stopped. No one else existed. Only he and God.
Rumi’s eyes would often shed tears as he experienced this
state of joy. His voice trembled with emotion. Beautiful poetic
expressions erupted spontaneously from his mouth. There
were often one or two disciples who were present in the room.
They recorded the poetry which was inspired and created by
this ecstatic state of consciousness.
Thus, much of Rumi’s poetry was born in an extraordinary
process. These poems resulted from an unusually deep level
of sustained meditation. It is not surprising that Rumi’s verses,
which were created through an ecstatic process, have been
able to transcend space and time and thus remain relevant to
modern people eight centuries later.
The poetry that Rumi gleaned from the peak of meditative
consciousness in the 13th century still thrills people living 800
years later even though the times and lifestyles are exceedingly
different.
Modern experts refer to the state of Rumi’s consciousness
when creating poetry as flow. The nature of this flow condition
has been studied extensively by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.2 He is
considered one of the key figures of positive psychology.

103
This flow is characterized by a very intense, total awareness.
Flow is normally experienced specifically people are engrossed
in activities that they love to do. Like Mozart playing the piano.
Michelangelo sculpting a statue. Pele playing football. And
Einstein engaged in deep thought when formulating laws of
physics.
We have learned from Csikszentmihalyi that the happiest
moments in our lives do not result from extrinsic stimulation,
such as accumulating financial assets, being promoted to a
higher office, or receiving an award for achievement. The peak
moments in our lives occur when there is a flow in the quality
of consciousness, when the heart is full of love and passion, I.e
when we experience total engagement.
The environment that facilitates this flow does not only confer
the ultimate happiness but also enables peak creativity to burst
forth.

-000-

Ecstasy and flow are not only experienced by maestros. The

wider public can also experience these sensations in a variety
of forms and levels of intensity. The quality of consciousness of
these levels of ecstasy and flow are not merely derived from
religious rituals or literary reflections. Various daily activities
can also produce these peak experiences.
These can result from leisure activities, sports or art, and
even when spending time just unwinding from one’s daily
routine. Furthermore, daily office activities, such as regular
work, completing paperwork, and coordinating the agenda of
office-related programs. This extends to social relationships

104
and activities, such as hanging out and engaging in friendly
conversation. All of these activities have the potential to
generate ecstasy or flow along a spectrum of different intensities
and depths.
Such were the findings of research conducted by Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi at the University of Chicago in the 1970s.3
This research involved 2,300 respondents who participated
by completing long-term surveys. The method used is called
Experience Sample Methods (ESM).
Each respondent was asked to keep a diary. They recorded their
activities each hour; they were also asked to assign a qualitative
score that expressed and measured to what extent they felt a
sense of ecstasy and flow during that activity.
The complete research report was 70 thousand pages long.
On the basis of the report, Csikszentmihalyi concluded that 23
percent of respondents often felt a meaningful flow. As many
as 12 percent of the respondents stated that they had either
never felt or remained unaware of flow in their daily lives. The
remaining 65 percent of respondents reported that they only
felt a sense of flow on rare occasions.
Some felt the flow when enjoying leisure activities, such as
physical workouts or artistic expression. Some experienced
the flow when intensely involved in planning and carrying out
complex activities at their office. Many also felt the flow when
praying, hanging out, and walking with loved ones.
One thing appeared certain. The activities that instilled an
ecstatic atmosphere were specifically the activities which
were cherished by that particular individual. The experience of
flow, regardless of the social context, was activated only if that

105
activity induced a sense of passion or a feeling of love. Engaging
wholeheartedly in something one enjoys doing, whatever that
activity may be, has the potential to trigger flow and ecstasy.

-000-

This is the third principle of new spirituality: Passion. Carry out

your life activities with wholehearted dedication. Whatever is
important to do should be touched and felt with love.
The new spirituality representing the Great Narrative of the
Third Wave follows the First Wave (mythology), and the Second
Wave (revelation, religion). The guiding principles of this new
third wave involve living a happy, meaningful life based on
scientific research and knowledge.
The new spirituality does not replace religion but is becoming
the common denominator of Homo sapiens, which is now
distributed among 195 countries, 4,300 religions and 6,500
language groups.
This is in accordance with the universal spirit of mankind: One
Earth, One Homo Sapiens, One Spirituality.
The first principle of the new spirituality is Personal
Relationships. namely having a close personal relationship with
other people, cherishing each other, and nurturing each other’s
growth. These personal relationships may involve a lover, close
family members, and friends in one’s community. The quantity
of relationships doesn’t matter; what is most essential is the
loving quality of these relationships.
The second principle is Positivity. Open another set of eyes.
Look on the positive side of events. Suffering and tragedy can

106
be seen with wisdom. That suffering conveys God’s message for
growth for those who experience misfortune.
The third principle, Passion, can also be explicated on the basis
of scientific research. Regardless of one’s gender, age, skin
color, and economic status. Whatever religion one embraces,
no matter what one’s national origin is or how high or low one’s
socioeconomic position in society may be. People are generally
able to experience a sense of ecstasy and flow.
Rumi stated it poetically. “Immerse yourself with devotion in
whatever you truly love. “ Or: “Wherever, whenever, whatever
you do, nurture it with the warmth of love. “
In another quote, Rumi exclaims: “If you walk the paths of life
by dedicating your soul completely, the currents of the river of
meaning will rush through you. “ Also think about this: “Open
your heart to every calling that makes your mind cheerful. “
And “The seeker who is filled with love never strays.”
Throughout our lives. However, whenever, wherever you live,
live your life full of love.
June 2020

107
Footnotes
1. Even 800 years after Rumi’s death, his books of pithy poetic
aphorisms are widely bought and read in the United States,
surpassing the popularity of many modern Western poets:
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20140414-americas-
best-selling-poet
2. Flow constitutes a key principle that allows us to feel
purpose, passion, and an ecstatic atmosphere in special
moments, even and perhaps especially in our dedication
to our work: https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/key-
happiness-lies-finding-your-flow
3. The research on flow involved longitudinal surveys
completed by 2.300 respondents: www.psychology-today.
com/us/articles/199707/finding-flow%3f

108
 One’s Life Calling and Small Victories

Not only big ideas change civilization, and not only are historical
events driven by high-caliber figures. A series of small victories,
experienced by ordinary individuals, can also generate
exhilaration and foster meaning in life.
That reflection revisited me again while I was watching
a video of a historical event. A massive audience of 250
thousand spectators had thronged the Lincoln Memorial Mall
in Washington DC, United States. This occurred on August 28,
1963.
The crowds haled from various regions. Like today, the United
States was experiencing political and social turbulence. Then
the assembled crowd heard what is now considered to be one
of the most expressive and influential speeches in modern
history.
“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons
of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be
able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. ”1
“Yes, I have a dream that my four little children will one day live
in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character. “
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out
the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-
evident that all men are created equal.”
The speech was imbued by the cry to ring the bell for freedom,
the bell of justice, and the bell of struggle throughout every

109
corner of the country.
A magical atmosphere permeated the huge crowd. Martin
Luther King was still standing on the podium. The masses cried
out hysterically. The clamor of voices in a crowd of 250 thousand
men and women cried out in reply.
That moment was magnificent, not only due to the beauty and
might of King’s oration. It was not merely due to the strength
of the element of justice in the ideas he was championing. But
the event was also the culmination of a long history of struggle
in which our species has finally abolished slavery and outlawed
racial discrimination.
Martin Luther King’s spellbinding speech not only made him
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year, 1963. It was the primary
driving force in awarding him a Nobel Peace Prize a year later
in 1964.
That speech set in motion crucial changes both in eradicating
the country’s discriminatory policies and promoting greater
acceptance of black people in American society. This was
abundantly evident when less than 50 years later, in 2009,
Barack Obama, a black man, was elected president of the
United States.
The percentage of blacks in the US is approximately 13 percent.
Thus, the white majority in 2008, some who must have been
descendants of Southern slaveholders, consciously decided to
support a relatively unknown presidential candidate specifically
because he was black. This was a far cry from the early 1960’s
when most White Americans in Southern states questioned
the wisdom of electing a White Catholic man (Kennedy) to the
nation’s highest political office.

110
In 1963, Joan Baez, a singer and activist, was still 22 years
old. She often accompanied Martin Luther King as he led
non-violent protest demonstration. Joan Baez enlivened and
raised the spirit of the demonstrators with the song: We Shall
Overcome:“We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Someday.
Deep in my heart. I do believe. We shall overcome, someday. “
Forty-seven years later in 2010, Obama invited Joan Baez to sing
at the White House. This was tacit recognition that a black man
could never have become the president in a white-majority
country if there had not been a civil rights movement in the
1960’s.
Joan Baez was already quite old. Her hair was gray, and she
was nearly 70 years old. However, her aura as an activist and
singer was still apparent. Once again, Joan Baez sang We Shall
Overcome. The audience joined in the soul singing. Many were
deeply touched, including President Obama himself.2
Joan Baez shared her experience. It turned out that her spirited
participation in the anti-discrimination struggle and the success
she witnessed in winning this struggle made her experience of
life immensely meaningful.
However, jubilant and triumphant feelings, such as winning
a struggle for social justice, are not something that were
exclusively felt by Joan Baez.
Millions of people around the world have been engaged in
struggles to eliminate discrimination. Victories in this struggle
and the triumph of a significant historical idea have been
pursued for many generations. The episodes in this long story
have been passed down from one generation to the next with a
purposeful, meaningful spirit.

111
How happy and satisfying this long-sought victory has been.
How meaningful it has been to have participated in this
successful struggle of ideas and justice, which was finally won
in our own times.

-000-

Scholars subsequently investigated: What is the relationship

between pursuing and achieving a sense of purpose, through
one’s struggles in life, with the meaning of life, and with leading
a meaningful life? What is the correlation between realizing
victory in one’s efforts and struggles and feeling a sense of joy
and happiness?
Martin Luther King’s model for struggling to achieve a
nonviolent victory for the foremost ideals of anti-discrimination
was indeed a giant platform that imparted significant meaning
for thousands of people who joined his cause. However, the
struggle for big ideas is not a common occurrence that happens
in every generation.
Research shows that it’s not just big ideas, and not only historical
events, but rather the fulfillment of small and mundane tasks
and challenges that can also bestow meaning in people’s lives.
It appears that not only substantial gains and major victories
imbue people’s lives with meaning. A series of small wins in one’s
daily life can also impart happiness. In 2011, Teresa Amabile
and Steven Kramer published research on the relationship
between Inner Work Life and Performance. They researched
seven sectors in the business world and their corresponding
types of work activities. The total number of respondents was
238 individuals.3

112
The study was carried out many times over 15 years, and the
total entries collected amounted to as many as 12,000 reports.
The study explored many of the affective sentiments that arose
in the course of engaging in work. These included positive
emotions, described as uplifting, happy, pleasing, meaningful,
and effecting a good mood, as well as negative emotions, such
as discouragement, depression, lack of motivation, and a bad
mood.
The affective outcomes of work activities were also recorded,
namely the extent to which the study subjects felt a sense of
progress in attaining minor and incremental achievements. On
the other hand, work activities that proved unsuccessful or
involved setbacks were also recorded.
The research findings are important because they imply that
regardless of the type of employment one engages in, if one’s
work entails a sense of accomplishment, even the smallest
sense of incremental progress, these small achievements will
foster a good mood, a sense of pleasure, and a feeling that one’s
efforts and accomplishments are worthwhile and meaningful.
The research recommendations are even more compelling. In
life, we should seek to engage in activities we enjoy doing. Then
after achieving a series of small victories and milestones, we
should celebrate these accomplishments. Just doing so fosters
happiness since they enable us to relish the value and meaning
of our lives.

-000-

Each person can create excitement and meaning in their lives on

their own scale. Of course, trying to attain a level of achievement

113
that approaches Martin Luther King’s would likewise require
fulfilling a mission on a national scale.
But for the average individual, it’s sufficient to achieve limited
virtue on a local household scale. This would entail assisting
disabled neighbors. Or giving donations to a foundation that
supports orphans.
For Joan Baez’s level of achievement, this might entail
accomplishment on a larger scale, like singing protest songs
at a political demonstration at Lincoln Center. But for the
average person, the scale of influence would be limited to one’s
neighborhood and household, like singing to or comforting
elderly people at a senior center.
The most crucial aspect is to experience a sense of progress and
achievement in each of these situations. There must be a real
sense of accomplishment that involves completion of at least
one stage of work.
For Martin Luther King and Joan Baez, a sense of progress
required setting and reaching goals on a national scale. For
example, this may have involved promulgating new laws and
policies that eliminated discrimination against black people,
such as eradicating Southern “Jim Crow” laws that segregated
and treated people differently on city buses, in restaurants and
schools on the basis of their skin color.
But for individuals in general, this sense of progress may
be achieved on a small scale by helping people in one’s own
community: by singing and entertaining old people in nursing
homes or by assisting disabled neighbors to get back and forth
to the hospital.
It is not so much the scale of the activity that matters but the

114
sense of progress one experiences in carrying it out. It’s not the
magnitude of the activity’s influence that matters but rather
the completion of work and the presence of a series of small
victories.
Expressed in simpler terms: Find a way to move forward by
achieving some steady progress in one’s work and local sphere
of influence. The scale of these activities can extend from
pursuing ordinary hobbies all the way to pursuing a struggle for
justice on an international scale.
The most essential thing is that we enjoy engaging in these
activities. It is equally important that there is a sense of steady
progress, accompanied by a series of victories that attest to this
progress.

-000-

This is a new principle of spirituality for living a meaningful and

happy life. In the previous essay, we described three principles
in 3Ps: Personal Relationships, Positivity, and Passion.
In this essay, we describe the fourth principle which is S for a
Sense of Progress and Small Victories.
The first wave of spirituality was based on mythology. The
second wave of spirituality was based on revelation (religion).
The new spirituality, the third wave, has been chosen on the
basis of scientific narratives; it is the fruit of empirical research.
There is no guide to leading a happy life in the context of the
new spirituality that is not filtered through academic research.
If formulated in simple, concise language, the formula is like
this: You live only once. Make it meaningful. “If your life has

115
been meaningful, you may only then be ready to die. ”4
Create and select a type of struggle that will make society
a better place. The scale is not important. The sphere of
influence can range from affecting your household to having
an international impact. The scope of influence of efforts and
activities on a small scale should be adjusted to the resources
and power available to each individual.
Make a plan. Create a sense of progress. Maintain a consistent
series of achievements. Achieve a series of small victories.
Ponder. Proceed deeper. Determine your calling in life. As
Jalaluddin Rumi said: “Your heart was created to be as broad
as the ocean. Find your calling in life hidden within its depths. “
June, 2020

116
Footnotes
1. This source provides the historical background as well as the
full text of Martin Luther King’s famous speech (which he
delivered on August 28, 1963): I Have a Dream.
https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/i-
have-a-dream-speech
2. Joan Baez, a singer associated with the 1960s civil rights
movement, was invited by Barack Obama to sing the most
essential song from this struggle: We Shall Overcome.
3. Research regarding The Power of Small Victories
4. An excerpt from a poem by the Indonesian poet, Chairil
Anwar

117
 The Tale of the Sunken Treasure of the San Jose and
the Three Blue Diamonds in the Sea of Spirituality

If the Caribbean Sea held such a vast treasure, what could we

find in the Sea of Spirituality?
In December 2015, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos
announced that a team had located the wreckage of a Spanish
galleon lying on the floor of the Caribbean Sea.
The 1,066 ton ship, the San Jose, had sunk more than 300 years
earlier in 1708. The ship had been carrying a treasure trove of
gold, silver, and precious gems off the coast of Cartagena when
it was attacked by the British Navy. 1
The total treasure has been estimated to be worth USD $17
billion. At the current exchange rate of 1 dollar to 14 thousand
rupiah, the treasure may be worth 240 trillion rupiah.
The world was astonished! This was the most valuable sunken
treasure ever found in history. How could a ship carrying so
much treasure sink and sit for three centuries at the bottom of
the sea? It is no wonder that many countries have special units
that focus on hunting treasure from sunken ships.

-000-

In 1981, a U. S. based company called Sea Search Armada

located the sunken wreck of the San Jose and promptly reported
this discovery to the Colombian government. At that time, the
Colombian government agreed to pay 35% of the value of any
recoverable treasure to SSA but later reneged on the agreement

118
since the ship sank in a location that is now legally within the
territorial waters of Colombia. Of course, Spain has also made
a claim since the San Jose was a Spanish ship. In the meantime,
the government of Columbia has only been willing to grant SSA
permission to conduct salvage operations at the shipwreck site
in exchange for a much smaller 5 percent commission.
The San Jose was no ordinary ship. It carried an immense
treasure. These assets were not only for trading. The treasure
had been intended to arrive in Spain and serve the financial and
political interests of the Spanish kingdom.
At that time, in 1708, chaos reigned in the royal succession after
the Spanish king died without an heir to the throne. Thus, the
grandson of King Louis XIV of France occupied the throne of the
Spanish empire.
The dominant seafaring Protestant countries, England and the
Netherlands, had been at war for many years with Catholic
countries, especially Spain, Portugal, and France. The British
and Dutch had an interest in who ruled Spain since this greatly
influenced European geopolitics.
The British were informed that a Spanish warship, the San Jose,
was carrying a vast treasure. These funds were intended as an
economic injection for Spain; this treasure could change the
balance of power in Western Europe.
Britain and its Protestant allies agreed. For the sake of maintaining
their domination of political, economic, and military power in
Europe, the ship was to be seized and plundered or sunk.
There was an epic battle at sea. Although the San Jose was
carrying 600 sailors, the resistance of the San Jose was broken.

119
After repeated volleys of cannon blasts from both sides, the San
Jose suddenly exploded in flames and quickly sank along with
the vast amounts of gold and silver the ship was carrying.
The area off the coast of Cartagena where the ship sank
became a hunting ground for treasure seekers during the past
three centuries. However, the technology required to both find
the sunken vessel and dive to the bottom of the sea remained
unavailable until recently.
In 2015, the wreckage of the San Jose was found, mainly by
American scientists working for the Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution. Although the research vessels were not Colombian,
the president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, laid claim to the
treasure because the ship had clearly sunk within Colombian
territorial waters.
What an amazing windfall this would be for the Colombian
state in the modern era! What an incredible treasure trove the
Caribbean Sea had been holding 600 meters below its surface
during the previous 300 years!

-000-

If the Caribbean Sea could hold such an immense treasure,

what sort of treasure would be stored within the Sea of
Spirituality? The treasure in the Caribbean Sea involves gold,
silver, and emeralds. On the other hand, the treasure in the
Sea of Spirituality is in the form of the principles of human
consciousness, habit and mindset, which bestow meaning and
authentic happiness to mankind.
There are always treasure hunters who drown in the Caribbean

120
Sea, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Likewise, there
have always been hunters who search for treasure in the Sea
of Spirituality during the 200 thousand year existence of Homo
sapiens.
The long history of Homo sapiens also includes the history of
the search for the meaning of life. So many religions and beliefs
were born. Some of these faiths were eventually abandoned
since they were no longer attuned to the zeitgeist of subsequent
eras.
Now there are as many as 4,300 religions. Does common
ground exist among those many religions and sects? What a
treasure it would be if all religions could find intersecting points
of agreement.
Spirituality treasure hunters apply various terminology: the
transcendental unity of all religions. Or the perennial philosophy
of all spirituality. Or the idea of compassion in all religions.
I chose three treasures, specifically three blue diamonds, which
are both central and common to many religions and beliefs. I
have deliberately named them blue diamonds because they are
the most expensive gems on earth.
The first Blue Diamond concerns the principles of The Golden
Rule, the principle of virtue and the main principle of morality.
Do unto other people in the same manner as you would wish
others to behave toward you. Or, conversely, don’t behave
toward other people in ways that you wouldn’t want them to
act toward you.
This principle is inscribed within all major religious scriptures.2
In fact, the principle of morality is also the central teaching of
the Stoic Philosophy, which existed three centuries before the

121
advent of Christianity and nine centuries before the birth of
Islam.
Moral behavior is the preeminent ethical value. Others have
meaning only in terms of their effect on this virtue. All assets,
property, power, knowledge, and behavior become meaningful
when they bestow virtue. If they create iniquity and evil, then
wealth, power, and knowledge can be deleterious to society.
The second Blue Diamond of Spirituality involves the principle of
the Power of Giving. Give what you can to assist others, to help
other people to grow, and to make other people happy. Apply
this principle especially toward those who are less fortunate.
This is another hidden treasure that exists in all major religions.
You may live by what you are able to obtain in this world. But
your happiness depends on what you are able to do to help
others. Charity and giving does not always mean donating
material wealth. The main thing, however, is to dedicate your
life to assisting other people to thrive and succeed.
This principle also exists in many religions and spiritual
movements.
The third Blue Diamond is the principle of Oneness. The
principle of all things is one. The principle of interrelation with
one another.
Our fellow humans are one species. Behind the multiple
differences in outward appearance and social identity, the
similarities among us and our common identity as Homo
sapiens are substantially more fundamental and essential.
Thus, wounding another person is the same as injuring a part
of our own body.

122
People also have a close connection with nature; human beings
and the environment are one. Rivers, trees, and the air are
an extension of the human family. We must take care of the
environment to the same extent that we care for our own family.
People and the universe are also one unit. Earth is merely a
speck of dust in our solar system, yet the earth and its creatures
are inseparable from the vastness of the universe.
We may believe in God in the form of a Personal God, an
Impersonal God, a pantheon of gods, or we may comprehend
the divine from the perspective of Deism, Pantheism, or
Agnosticism. All who adhere to these beliefs (and even atheists)
wouldn’t argue with the notion that there is something beyond
us in the universe that is vast, beautiful, and mysterious.
For thousands of years, people have been amazed by the
natural world we inhabit and the constellations in the night
sky. To deal with and explain the immense mysteries of our
existence, a sense of religiosity was born. This sensibility can be
expressed among the diverse rituals that people perform within
4,300 religions. And the desire to connect with the divine and
comprehend our special place in the universe can also be felt
individually through silent contemplation.

-000-

The age of scientific discovery has arrived. Aided by sophisticated

tools and rigorous procedures, science has explored many
things, and these concepts have also explored the relationship
of the three spiritual principles described above with the desire
to lead a happy, meaningful life.
Substantial research has been done. These studies have

123
repeatedly confirmed and even legally proven that the principles
of ethical benevolence enable individuals and societies to lead
happy, productive, and meaningful lives.3
Research has also substantiated the significance of the power of
giving, I.e. that a life of charitable donations and philanthropic
activities is likely to be a happier and more meaningful life.4
Research has also demonstrated that a greater sense of unity
(oneness) with the environment is positively correlated with
living a happier, more productive and meaningful existence.
Religious rituals, such as attending prayer services in church,
at a mosque, or at a temple, as well as meditation and
contemplation, to the extent that these spiritual activities
enable us to conceive and imagine The All-Compassionate, The
All-Merciful, also make life happier and more meaningful.5
These are the three Blue Diamonds lurking in the Sea of
Spirituality. Hundreds of religions and philosophical movements,
whose merits have been researched by science, meet and
coincide within these three blue diamonds.
I call these three hidden treasures in the Spiritual Sea: Spiritual
Blue Diamonds.

-000-

In an earlier essay, I described four principles of mindset and

habit, based on scientific narratives, which form the foundation
of the New Spirituality of the 21st century. These four principles
are strictly based on applying the lessons of scientific studies
in formulating the art of making people’s lives happy and
meaningful.

124
The Earth is one. Homo sapiens is one. Spirituality is also one.
One Earth. One Homo Sapiens. One Spirituality.
Regardless of skin color, educational background, socioeconomic
level, national origin, and religion embraced by our species,
people can live happily if they apply the life principles of 3P +
2S.6
The first P stands for Personal Relationships. The second P
represents Positivity. And the third P involves Passion. The first
S refers to Small Victories; this fourth principle was explained in
the previous essay.
And in the current essay, the second S, Spiritual Blue Diamonds,
has been described.
Nurture their growth. Own them. Express and inculcate the three
Blue Diamonds found in the Sea of Spirituality: the principle of
Benevolence, the Power of Giving, and The Oneness that binds
us: that we as fellow humans are one, our shared environment
is one, and the infinite expanse of the universe is also one.
Two hundred thousand years have passed since the emergence
of Homo sapiens consciousness. Various reflections during the
past 200 years can be represented as a metaphor by an ocean.
Of course, not all reflections are valuable. Some illusions,
mythologies, and hallucinations are nothing less and nothing
more.
Just as a treasure trove could be found in the Caribbean Sea,
one could also find treasure in the Sea of Spirituality. The three
Blue Diamonds in my subjective opinion are the most valuable
treasures that mankind could seek and obtain.
That Sea of Spirituality does not exist in the physical world. It

125
lies deep within ourselves.
As Jalaluddin Rumi mused: “The entire universe lurks deep
within you. “ He also stated that: You are not a drop of water
in the ocean, but the whole ocean is distilled in a drop of water
within you.” Finally, Rumi also exhorted people to “explore the
treasure that lies deep within you.”
July 2020

126
Footnotes
1. More information about the San Jose, the sunken Spanish
galleon, can be accessed here: http://www.history.com/
news/legendary-billion-dollar-shipwreck-found-off-
colombian-coast
2. The search for common principles that underlie and unify
world religions is the subject of research: www.lifehacker.
com/seven-important-lessons-from-world-religions-
everyone-s-1613615832
3. Research study findings indicate a correlation between
virtuous behavior and the pursuit of happiness. This is
one of many articles on this topic: https://www.academia.
edu/4230387/A_Virtuous_Cycle_The_Relationship_
Between_Happiness_and_Virtue
4. Research studies found that the Power of Giving is
correlated to leading a happy meaningful life: https://www.
researchgate.net/publication/23547473_The_Happiness_
of_Giving_The_Time-Ask_Effect
5. Research studies found that achieving a sense of Oneness in
life contributes to a happier meaningful existence: https://
www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwal-ton/2019/04/18/a-sense-
of-oneness-may-be-a-key-to-happiness/
6. I have previously explored the Formula 3P+2S from a different
perspective in an earlier book: Denny JA: “Happiness is Easy
and Scientific.”

127
 Epilogue: That Which Remains Fixed & That Which
Changes: The Spiritual Abode of the Human Mind

There is some kind of spiritual place in the human brain!

That’s the conclusion of researchers from Columbia and Yale
Universities. They published their findings in the Journal of
NeuroScience: Cerebral Cortex, June 2019.1
A certain location in the human brain, called the parietal cortex,
becomes active when a person imagines himself communicating
intensely with something immense and powerful. It can be God,
the universe, high mountains, or a vast ocean.
The research was conducted with respondents from various
social backgrounds and religious beliefs, and these included
people who no longer believed in religion. In general, when
the respondents imagined themselves communicating with
the Almighty, or with a holy, powerful natural or supernatural
presence, whatever it was, at that moment the parietal cortex
was active.
This is the home of spirituality that resides in the human brain.
From these findings it can be concluded that the religious space
or spiritual abode in one’s mind is not a product of culture.
Instead, it is a person’s spirituality that creates culture.
That spiritual abode is situated in the mind of Homo sapiens.
The expression and sophistication of this explanation has been
influenced by the level of human collective consciousness in
this era.

-000-

128
If we could go back in time and experience the history of the
evolution of human consciousness during the past 200 thousand
years, what would remain fixed and what has changed in the
expression of spirituality?
Imagine we are being hurled backward in time to an era tens of
thousands of years ago.
About 70 thousand years ago, it was the prehistoric Stone Age.
As I have written in a previous essay, on a hill in Northwestern
Botswana, Africa, archaeologists found a large rock with 350
artistic indentations that create the appearance of a giant
python. This place is thought to be the site of mankind’s most
ancient spiritual ritual .2
Archaeologists explain that the ancestral tribes worshiped
pythons 70 thousand years ago. There is good reason to believe
that these ancient people believed that humans originated from
pythons because the local San people still recite a creation myth
that man descended from a great python in the sky. Ancient
people also made offerings, imploring the mighty pythons to
protect them from various diseases and natural disasters, which
would occur suddenly for reasons they could not comprehend.
The worship of large animals did not only occur in Africa. In
the prehistoric era, many Northern Eurasian people worshiped
bears and even took part in bear dance festivals. At the same
time, residents in Japan worshiped whales.
That was the beginning of human consciousness. The position
of animals was very central to performing animistic rituals. On
one hand, people spent much of their life hunting animals.
Obtaining meat and fur from animals allowed prehistoric people

129
to eat and survive harsh winters.
On the other hand, people were amazed and frightened of wild
animals. They imagined that supernatural spirits dwelt within
these fierce wild creatures, the most powerful things in nature
that they had encountered. These were the most ferocious
animals that man had ever seen.
They believed that the strongest animals held spiritual power
which had to be respected and worshiped.

-000-
Homo sapiens consciousness continues to evolve. The tradition
of hunting animals was replaced by agriculture and husbandry.
People lived in settlements and no longer lived a nomadic
existence. New technologies, including writing, were developed.
Ten thousand years ago, the awareness of spirituality was very
different. Worship of large animals was generally abandoned,
and a new spiritual consciousness developed that reflected the
new age of agriculture.
Zoroaster, also called Zarathustra, is said to have lived a 77 year
lifespan sometime between the 15th and 6th centuries BCE; he
lived before the great Greek philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle. The Dictionary of Philosophy credits Zoroaster as the
first known philosopher in history.3
But Zoroaster did not merely give birth to philosophy. He
also gave birth to monotheistic religion. The concept of a
monotheistic God was first introduced by Zoroastrians, as well
as the concept of the end of days: heaven and hell. Also the
concept of angels.

130
The religions that thrived during the early era of civilization were
more abstract. The gods that were worshiped involved supreme
supernatural deities that were unseen, instead of the visible
deities, such as the animals that were previously worshiped.
The new trend no longer conferred an omnipotent status
upon creatures, such as pythons, bears, and whales. Instead,
an all-powerful spirit, named Ahura Mazda, which could not
be seen, was recognized as God. Ahura Mazda, which means
Lord of Wisdom, was an almighty, all-knowing God, who meted
out equal justice to all people. This god’s position was very
central both in wielding power as a force of righteousness over
terrestrial life and throughout the universe.
Since the traditions of the Indo-Persian Zoroastrians actually
predated Zoroaster himself, it is believed that the Zoroastrian
concept of monotheism predated and probably influenced
Judaism, as well as Christianity and Islam, which appeared during
the first millennium of the Common Era. Thus, Zoroastrianism is
considered to have exerted considerable influence on Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam.
Although they adhere to similar aspects of monotheism, these
religions certainly differ in the name given to describe the all-
powerful God.
Judaism does not worship Ahura Mazda but calls God by the
name Elohim, and later Yahweh (the Eternal). In Christianity,
the New Testament uses Greek epithets: sometimes Theos,
sometimes Kyrios, sometimes Pater (Greek for Father) and, of
course, God. Islam calls God by the name Allah.
Experts interpret the understanding of God that developed in

131
this era as a Supreme Being that intervenes in human affairs.
He is a deity who defends certain people against others, who
exhibits wrath toward people who disobey His statutes, who
rules as a Judge applying Divine Law and Justice, and even
governs how women should dress. They call this deity the
Personal God.4
The level of abstraction that Homo sapiens applied to
comprehending a supreme monotheistic God in the era of
the agricultural revolution developed far beyond the animistic
worship of animals that prevailed in the Stone Age.

-000-

More recently, the agricultural revolution was replaced by the

Industrial Age. And Homo sapiens consciousness continued to
evolve.
The most important thing in this era is the birth of knowledge
and universal human rights. Religions grew to 4,300. Human
rights protected the civil rights of individuals to vote freely
regardless of religion, creed, and interpretation.
Cosmology has also come a long way. We now realize that the
earth is only a speck of dust in the middle of the universe.
Perhaps as a consequence of this new awareness, many people
consider their parents’ concept of a Personal God, a God who
defends one beleaguered people against others, and a God
who intervenes in people’s individual lives to be no longer
convincing.
Some choose to believe in an impersonal God, a theological

132
concept that is embodied in the laws of nature. Albert Einstein
often stated in public: “I believe in the same concept of God
which was espoused by Spinoza. It is not a Personal God, but an
Impersonal God, embodied in the laws of the universe.”5
Archeology and historical sciences have also moved in a similar
secular direction. Based on fossil remains and documents
outside the holy scriptures, the historicity of biblical figures,
such as Moses, Noah, and Adam as well as central figures from
many leading religions may lack a firm historical basis. It is
difficult to distinguish between true historical and embellished
ahistorical elements, and in many cases, religious stories may
have been written within the framework of moral teaching.6
Starting in the current decade, Homo sapiens will evolve in
new ways. Unlike the previous evolution, Homo sapiens now
possesses the ability to determine the direction of mankind’s
evolution.
It may soon be possible for people to insert silicone-based
computer chips into the nervous system to augment imagination
and power of reasoning.7
Applying artificial intelligence injection, as well as DNA editing
capabilities may allow us to modify the parietal cortex. For the
first time ever, the spiritual home in the human brain may be
changed.

-000-

Diving into and exploring the 200 thousand years of Homo

sapiens, you can feel that change. Religion grew from worshiping
python deities to worshiping a Personal God, an Impersonal

133
God, and so on.
However, in the 200 thousand years of Homo sapiens, there are
also elements that are fixed, which have not changed, which are
always present. One of these immutable attributes of mankind
is the need to search for meaning in life. It’s an urge to live an
authentic, happy existence.
From the development of neuroscience, we know the need
to find meaning in life, the existential question “Who Am I?”,
that was born in the spiritual home in the human brain. As long
as there is that spiritual home in the brain of Homo sapiens,
spiritual needs will always arise.
A new spirituality has developed in the current 21st century,
a spirituality which seeks confirmation in a scientific narrative.
This new spirituality is not a substitute religion. However, it
limits itself to explaining our existence and spirituality on the
basis of what can be proven by science alone.
This new spirituality does not enter into the debate concerning
the nature of God’s existence. If anything, the new spirituality
appears unconcerned with the divine presence being a
Personal God, Impersonal God, Deism, and so on. Those
aspects of theology and philosophy are not broached by the
New Spirituality.
Homo sapiens is now distributed among 195 countries, 4,300
religions, and 6,500 language groups. Beyond these aspects
of social identity that divide us, the New Spirituality seeks to
affirm the common elements that unite and bind us: One Earth,
One Homo Sapiens, One Spirituality.
Regardless of which country one lives in, one’s economic status,

134
gender, sexual orientation, skin color, and level of education.
Whatever religion one embraces, whatever concept of God one
believes in, all Homo sapiens can live a happy and meaningful
life, provided one applies the proper mindset and habits,
whose benefits have been repeatedly and empirically tested by
research.
I have arranged and abbreviated these elements in the formula:
3P + 2S, which refers to Personal Relationships, Positivity,
Passion, Small Victories, and Spiritual Blue Diamonds. Each
principle bears the fruit of academic research findings, which
were explicated in previous essays in this book.

-000-

Get started. Spread your wings. Fly away! Every long journey
begins by taking the first step. Each of us deserves a happy and
meaningful life, regardless of religion, national origin, and social
identity.
Our life can be happy or not. It can be meaningful or not. It
is just the fruit of a certain mindset and habit. Just to make it
concise and easy to remember, I have created the mnemonic
3P + 2S.
According to one’s situation, it is possible start with any mindset
and habit. I myself prefer to start with the last S: Spiritual Blue
Diamonds. These are the three blue diamonds taught by all
major religions and philosophies. Behave virtuously. Activate
the Power of Giving. Cultivate the Oneness: Savor the unified
spirit that binds all people, the environment, and the mysteries
of the universe.

135
Let’s dive in and enjoy the depth, beauty, and mystery of life. As
Jalaluddin Rumi wrote: “Practice love in all your actions. Let the
invincible ocean flow into your soul: the ocean of happiness,
the ocean of ecstasy. “
July 2020

136
Footnotes
1. Neuroscientific research has located a part of the human
brain, the parietal cortex, which appears to be the “spiritual
abode” of our species: https://academic.oup.com/cercor/
article/29/6/2331/5017785
2. The oldest archaeological record of animist rituals (involving
python worship) dates back to 70,000 years ago: https://
www.apollon.uio.no/english/articles/2006/python-english.
html
3. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Zoroaster
was the first philosopher; Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest
monotheistic faiths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster
4. Abraham believed in a Personal God; this means that God
appears angry and vengeful if man disobeys His laws and
violates established covenants: https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Personal_god
5. Spinoza, as well as Einstein who quoted him, popularized the
theological concept of an Impersonal God: https://youtu.be/
pVEeXjPiw54
6. Biblical anthropologists working in Egypt have yet to find
fossil evidence and ancient documents that would attest to
the historicity of certain biblical events, such as the Exodus
from Egypt, and associated biblical figures, such as the
Prophet Moses:
h t t p s : / / w w w. n y t i m e s . c o m / 2 0 0 7 / 0 4 / 0 3 / w o r l d /
africa/03exodus.html
7. Homo Deus, future human beings possessing superhuman

137
strength and impressive intelligence will eventually outpace
the abilities of our current species, Homo Sapiens: https://
www.ynharari.com/book/homo-deus/

138
 Related Reading Material

Regarding happy hormones in the human brain: https://www.

healthline.com/health/happy-hormone
Regarding the identification of a spiritual part of the human
brain: https://qz.com/1292368/columbia-and-yale-scientist
s-just-found-the-spiritual-part-of-our-brains/
Why is the Higgs Boson, also known as the God Particle,
so crucial to understanding the universe? https://www.
livescience.com/47737-stephen-hawking-higgs-boson-
universe-doomsday.html
Scientists now have the tools to perform gene editing: www.
labiotech.eu/crispr/crispr-applications-gene-editing
Regarding Face Transplant, an operation in which the face of
a dead person was successfully transferred to replace the
damaged face of a living person: https://www.newscientist.
com/article/dn18816-briefing-the-man-whos-got-a-whole-
new-face
Regarding the Internet of Everything: https://internetofthingsa
genda.techtarget.com/definition/Internet-of-Things-IoT
Regarding Artificial Intelligence, which will take over the job
functions of many human professions because AI is faster,
more accurate, and smarter: https://www.netapp.com/us/
info/what-is-artificial-intel-ligence-ai.aspx
Regarding the imminent transformation of Homo Sapiens to
Homo Deus: https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-37171171/

139
 yuval-noah-ha-rari-we-are-probably-one-of-the-last-
generations-of-homo-sapiens
Regarding the current state of global health in which the
number of annual global deaths attributed to overeating is
three times greater than the number of people who die from
malnutrition and starvation: https://www.thelancet.com/
gbd/2010
Ronald Inglehart. The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and
Political Styles Among Western Publics. Princeton, New
Jersey: Princeton University Press (1977). ISBN 978-0-691-
10038-8.
Regarding the finding that the number of global suicides now
exceeds the combined number of fatal casualties from war
and natural disasters: https://www.voanews.com/science-
health/more-people-die-suicide-wars-natural-disasters-
combined
Regarding 4.300 religions: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2006
/10/06/the_odd_body_religion/
Regarding 4.300 religions: https://www.thetravelalmanac.com/
religions/
Regarding 4.300 religions: https://www.indianfolk.com/which-
religion-do-you-follow
Regarding a lack of evidence of the prophet Moses in
Egyptian archaeological excavations: https://www.nytimes.
com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.html
Regarding the Baha’i Faith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Bahai_Faith

140
Regarding Kopimism: https://www.newscientist.com/article/
dn21334-kopimism-the-worlds-newest-religion-explained/
Regarding the earliest archaeological evidence of human burial
sites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion
Regarding the global spread of the Coronavirus: https://www.
worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Regarding refugees from the recent Syrian Civil War: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refugees_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War
Regarding nuclear weapons: https://www.icanw.org/catastro
phic_harm
Regarding the number of military and civilian deaths in World
War II: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_
casualties
Regarding the total number of casualties during the Crusader
Wars: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion
/was-obama-right-about-the-crusades-and-islamic-extremi
sm-analysis/2015/02/06/3670628a-ae46-11e4-8876-60b11
44cbc1_story.html
Regarding the 10 most significant scientific discoveries of
the most recent decade: https://www.newscientist.com/
article/mg24432613-200-new-scientist-ranks-the-top-10-
discoveries-of-the-decade/
Regarding the exorbitant cost of finding the elusive Higgs Boson:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alex-knapp/2012/07/05/
how-much-does-it-cost-to-find-a-higgs-boson/
Stephen Hawking: “Philosophy is dead!” https://www.telegraph.

141
 co.uk/technology/google/8520033/Stephen-Hawk-ing-tells-
Google-philosophy-is-dead.html
Regarding the assertions of Dr. Peter Hotez: www.nbcnews.
com/news/amp/ncna1150091
Regarding the need to hire philosophers to work in Silicon Valley:
https://www.qz.com/1734381/why-tech-companies-need-
to-hire-philosophers/
Regarding the Epic of Gilgamesh: https://www.nationalgeographic.
com/history/magazine/2018/01-02/history-gilgamesh-epic-
discovery/
Regarding the Epic of Gilgamesh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Gilgamesh_flood_myth
Regarding the authorship of the Old Testament: https://
allthatsinteresting.com/who-wrote-the-bible
Regarding Egyptian archaeological efforts to find evidence of
the Exodus and the prophet Moses: https://www.nytimes.
com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.html
Regarding attempts to verify the historical authenticity of the biblical
flood story of Noah and the Ark: http://www.csun.edu/~vc-
geo005/Nr38Reasons.pdf
Regarding the first fossil discoveries that confirmed the existence of
another human subspecies, Neanderthals: https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Neanderthal_extinction
Regarding the earliest archaeological evidence of human burial
rites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_religion
Regarding the most ancient evidence of hominid burial rites: https://

142
 www.sapiens.org/culture/hominin-burial/
Regarding Zoroastrianism, one of the first monotheistic religions:
https://www.history.com/topics/religion/zoroastrianism
Regarding the crucifixion of Jesus: https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Crucifixion_of_Jesus
Regarding Islamic views on the death of Jesus:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamic_views_on_Jesus%27_
death
Regarding the role of Isaac in the biblical Aqedah story: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac
Regarding the role of Ishmael in an Islamic context: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_in_Islam
Regarding execution as a penalty for apostates who convert
away from Islam: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_
in_Islam
Regarding a letter from a 6th grade student to Albert Einstein
about his views on God and Science: www.bigthink.com/did-
einstein-pray-what-the-great-genius-thought-about-god.
html
TED Talk: The Power of Animism, John Reid: https://youtu.be/
lmhFRarkw8E
Regarding the Impersonal God that Spinoza and Einstein
believed in: https://youtu.be/pVEeXjPiw54
Research findings from the Pew Research Center regarding the
Global Religious Landscape in 2010: https://www.pewforum.

143
 org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-exec/
Regarding the discovery of fossil evidence of python worship
70,000 years ago in NW Botswana: https://www.apollon.uio.
no/english/articles/2006/python-english.html
Regarding the discovery of an Assyrian religious site
which was regularly used to worship gods of war:
www.nationalgeographic.com/distribution/public/
history/2020/01/rare-assyrian-carvings-discovered-iraq
Regarding a mass interfaith prayer service dedicated to
vanquishing the suffering from the Coronavirus: https://
www.ucanews.com/news/pope-joins-interfaith-prayer-
over-covid-19/88033
This is a list of 23 famous scientists, including Nobel Prize
winners from a variety of scientific disciplines, who believe
in God and attend prayer services: https://magiscenter.
com/23-famous-scientists-who-are-not-atheists/
Regarding William D. Phillips, Nobel Prize Laureate in Physics,
who prays and is active in church services: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Daniel_Phillips
Shulman, Robert G. (2013). “Neuroscience: A Multidisciplinary,
Multilevel Field”. Brain Imaging: What it Can (and Cannot)
Tell Us About Consciousness. Oxford University Press. p. 59.
ISBN 9780199838721.
Andrew Newberg, How God Changes Your Brain: https://
www.researchgate.net/publication/248941968_How_God_
Changes_Your_Brain_Breakthrough_Findings_From_a_
Leading_Neuroscientist_By_Andrew_Newberg_and_Mark_

144
 Robert_Waldman
Regarding Stereogram art: https://www.artsheaven.com/decei
ving-art-a-guide-to-stereograms/
Regarding the inspirational story of Dr. Viktor Frankl: https://
medium.com/the-art-of-work/celebrating-viktor-frankl-
how-a-holocaust-survivor-s-philosophy-on-happiness-
remains-relevant-1cda8f5343e4
Research about the correlation between maintaining positive
life attitudes and good physical health: https://www.
nytimes.com/1987/02/03/science/re-search-affirms-power-
of-positive-thinking.html
Research about the correlation between maintaining a positive
outlook in life and happiness: https://www.sciencedirect.
com/science/article/abs/pii/S016748700900097X
Regarding the popularity of Rumi’s poetry books, which are
best-sellers in American bookstores: https://www.bbc.com/
culture/article/20140414-americas-best-selling-poet
Research regarding flow: www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/key-
happiness-lies-finding-your-flow
Research regarding flow: www.psychologytoday.com/us/
articles/199707/finding-flow
Regarding the sunken Spanish galleon, the San Jose: www.
history.com/news/legendary-billion-dollar-shipwreck-
found-off-colombian-coast
Regarding the search for common principles that are espoused
by many religions: www.life-hacker.com/seven-important-

145
 lessons-from-world-religions-everyone-s-1613615832
Research regarding the positive effect of benevolent behavior on
living a happy, meaningful existence: https://www.academia.
edu/4230387/A_Virtuous_Cycle_The_Relationship_
Between_Happiness_and_Virtue
Research regarding the positive effect that the Power of
Giving has on living a happy, meaningful life: https://www.
researchgate.net/publication/23547473_The_Happiness_
of_Giving_The_Time-Ask_Effect
Research claims that a Sense of Oneness has a beneficial effect
on leading a happy, meaningful life: https://www.forbes.
com/sites/alicegwalton/2019/04/18/a-sense-of-oneness-
may-be-a-key-to-happi-ness
Denny JA, Bahagia Itu Mudah dan Ilmiah [Happiness is Easy and
Scientific], Jakarta, Inspirasi.co, 2017
Neuroscientific findings on the spiritual functions of the parietal
cortex in the human brain: https://academic.oup.com/
cercor/article/29/6/2331/5017785
Regarding the discovery in NW Botswana of the oldest site
where ancient man engaged in rituals (python worship)
70,000 years ago: https://www.apollon.uio.no/english/
articles/2006/python-english.html
Regarding Zoroaster as the first philosopher in history: https://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster
Regarding the concept of a Personal God: https://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Personal_god

146
Regarding the concept of an Impersonal God: https://youtu.be/
pVEeXjPiw54
Regarding biblical anthropological research into the historicity of
Prophet Moses and the Exodus story: https://www.nytimes.
com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.html
Regarding Homo Deus: https://www.ynharari.com/book/homo-
deus/

147
CLEANSE THE FLAG
17th August 2020
by Denny JA
 
“What’s happened to that flag?”
A young boy asked his mother
Mother looked carefully at the flag
The red color was not as bold as before
Its white area was not as pure as it used to be
The flag was fluttering in the wind,
Rolling and waving gallantly near City Hall
But she saw
Dozens of leeches clustered
in the red area of the flag.
They vied with each other in a struggle to suck its blood
Until the red color became pale...
Then she noticed a cluster of toadstools
Dozens of them were festering
in the white section of the flag
They vied to contaminate it
Until it appeared sullied and soiled...
Mother informed her neighbors
They noticed the same thing
The red color no longer looked as robust as before
The white area no longer appeared as chaste as before

148
The people hustled and bustled
The crowd became frantic and agitated
“Lower the flag!” they exclaimed
The experts shouted:
“Bring the flag to the research lab
Let’s examine it! “
The local residents waited outside
They peered through the windows
As the experts toiled in the research lab
One leech
that had been sucking the red color of the flag
Was placed under a microscope.
OMG! Take a look…
The experts nearly fell from their seats
Within the eyes of the leech
Scores of regional heads
Governors and mayors,
Regents and ministers
Were laughing raucously
They were sitting in prison,
each had been convicted of corruption1
One toxic toadstool
That had tarnished the white field of the flag
Was examined with a magnifying glass
Wow!
Dear Allah…
The experts kneaded their chest in distress

149
Within the roots of each poison mushroom
Many belligerent groups could be seen,
Swearing at each other,
Shouting here and there,
Chanting the name of God,
While fanning the flames of hatred
Hatred due to differences in religious belief
Hatred due to different interpretations of religious dogma2
The local people stared at each other
The experts nodded at each other
“Oh, so this is the reason…
So this is the original source…”

-000-

That very day

On the 17th of AugustAn agreement was reached
The people became buoyant and cheerful
Their leaders became confident and passionate
Together,
They carefully cleansed the flag...
Throughout the ceremony,
Throughout their speeches,
The elder leaders exclaimed:
“We expurgate these parasitic leeches
We expunge these toxic toadstools
The red color of our flag must be bold
The white tone of our flag must be righteous”

150
The residents clapped their hands
They chanted together:
“We’ll excise all the leeches
“We’ll eradicate all the mold”
The 17th of August passed by
A day later,
One week later,
A month later…
The red and white flag still waved in the wind,
But…
The leeches had reassembled and reasserted themselves
in the red area of the flag...
Mildew and mold had begun festering again
within the white section of the flag...

17th August 2020
(This poem is a revision of an earlier poem, written three years
ago on 17th August 2017.)

151
Footnotes:
1. As many as 19 governors, 300 mayors/regents, and  9
ministers have recently been convicted and incarcerated due
to graft and embezzlement.
https://m.detik.com/news/berita/d-3052911/jokowi-9-
menteri-19-gubernur-300-bupatiwalikota-dipenjara
2. Indonesia was among the 10 least tolerant nations in terms
of religious tolerance, according to a study by the Pew
Research Center in 2010.
https://www.google.co.id/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/
world/2012/sep/20/religious-intolerance-on-rise-worldwide

Source: Denny J.A’s World

152
 Denny JA
Denny Januar Ali, known as Denny
JA (born in Palembang, South
Sumatra on 4 January 1963) is an
intellectual entrepreneur. He made
breakthroughs in the academic,
political, social media, literature
and cultural words in Indonesia.
Denny wa awarded by TIME magazine in 2015 as one of
30 most influential people in the internet. Included in the
list are US President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, and some world celebrities such as Shakira,
Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian. The voting conducted by
TIME magazine showed Denny JA holds the first position.
In 2014, he was chosen as one of 33 the most influential
literature figures in Indonesian history by a team of eight
(a team of prominent poets, critics and academicians). He
was chosen along with Chairil Anwar, Pramudya Ananta
Toer, Takdir Alisjahbana and Rendra.