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Eastern influences on contemporary Western culture and spirituality
From the book: Chum for Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters by David Satterlee
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| Chum For Thought: Throwing Ideas into Dangerous Waters |
Eastern influences on contemporary Western culture and spirituality
Many people in Western cultures have become aware of, and
adopted elements of, traditional Eastern religions to a variety of degrees.
Although usually ignorant of, or rejecting the full scope of the associated
original foundational historical practice and philosophy, they are creating a
new flavor of Western spirituality and a related social consciousness.
Both Eastern practitioners and Western philosophers have
helped raise our general consciousness of Eastern spiritual traditions over the
last century. Some of the more prominent are briefly described in the
following:
William James, a leading psychologist and philosopher
published The Varieties of Religious Experience in 1902. This helped
introduce Eastern religious thought to the West.
Aldous Huxley’s 1945 The
Perennial Philosophy identifies a recurring insight of divine reality that
is common to most primitive peoples and all
