Spiritual Experience

A spiritual experience can be generated in a number of ways. For instance, meditating, reading an uplifting book, watching a mystical movie, taking a spiritual retreat, helping a friend, practicing a spiritual art, like Qigong, etc. Running, because of the runner's high, can also be a spiritual experience. Playing or listening to music, especially classical or spiritual music can have an uplifting effect.

Whatever the action one takes to create this spiritual experience, the action needs to be sustained in order to be effective on a continual basis.

Therefore, one of the keys to sustaining these spiritual experiences is to develop the habit of consistently carrying out the action that leads to the experience in the first place. You'll want to pick a time and carry out the action regularly.

In addition to consistency, finding spiritual resources or tools that can kickstart your journey to enlightenment is another smart way to generate experiences of a spiritual nature. Within this Spiritual Experience website you'll find spiritual articles and links on an ever-growing number of topics. Please feel free to take a spiritual journey through this spiritual site and hopefully it may give you some ideas to generate your next great spiritual experience.

I've also put together some spiritual articles and resources and combined them into a Spiritual Tools ebook that you can download for free. The links lead to a variety of spiritual resources, some free others that require a small investment.

Free Spiritual Tools Ebook

Now you can quickly download this free spiritual tools ebook. It is filled with links and resources to a variety of the newest tools you can use to grow spiritually. Enliven your spiritual journey with some powerful resources that will keep you positive and motivated and accomplishing what you want in life.

Within this free spiritual ebook you'll also find links to free downloads of software and ebooks. If you have a website feel free to give this ebook away to your visitors.

Download your free copy of the Spiritual Tools Ebook by right clicking here. The ebook is in PDF format so can be enjoyed by both PC and Mac users.

For more spiritual tools you can use for spiritual growth click here. Be sure to bookmark that page as I'll be updating it often with the best spiritual tools you can benefit with.

Free Brandable Motivational E Book 50 Spiritual Movies - How Many Have You Seen?

50 Spiritual Movies is a free spiritual e book freely brandable with your money-making affiliate links. The spiritual book is in PDF format so can be enjoyed by both PC and Mac users.

This ebook reviews spiritual movies, motivational movies and inspirational movies. You may also find reviews on metaphysical movies and even a reincarnation movie review. The ebook also reviews the Spiritual Cinema Circle a unique spiritual movies club that finds the best in spiritual cinema to share with its members.

Started by Stephen Simon, the Spiritual Cinema Circle, is a dvd movie club that is unique in the respect that it highlights films of a spiritual nature. If you've ever seen a Stephen Simon movie (like Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve or What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams) then you know what to expect. Although the films aren't primarily G-rated fare like you'd get with the very popular Disney Movie Club, they will often tug at your heart like the Disney movies.

There are no movie downloads with this spiritual cinema club. It is better than an ordinary online movie rental club in the respect that you never have to return the movies - they're yours to keep. Each month you'll receive a steady supply of spiritual cinema in the form of foreign films, short films or shorts, independent films, documentaries and feature length spiritual movies.

After joining the club, many have started a spiritual circle where they gather once a month to share these spiritual dvds.

What the online movie rental clubs have is lots of variety. If you are interested in more than just spiritual films try the industry leader Netflix.

The last time I looked the Spiritual Cinema site even had some inspirational and motivational movie clips. Click below to visit:

Spiritual Cinema Site

Now you can combine a fun-time at the movies with an opportunity for spiritual growth and enlightenment. Take a spiritual journey over to the 50 Spiritual Movies site now to check it out or if you need to contact us:

Click Here to go to the Spiritual Movies site.

While there you may want to read some of the great inspirational articles. Out of the hundreds of spiritual articles you'll find at this spiritual site, below are links to some of my favorites.

• Retreat and Surrender...Your Stress
• What two secrets allow you to turn any movie you watch into a spiritual experience? Click here to have the secrets revealed.
• Creating a Prosperity Mindset by Randy Gage. Randy can be "a bit blunt." However it is that tell it like it is quality that has won him many adherents. And, the veracity of his message doesn't hurt either.
• Evaluating Your Associations - Part 1 by Jim Rohn
• Evaluating Your Associations - Part 2 by Jim Rohn

For more great spiritual articles Click here.

Now You Can Make Money and Help Others with Your Own Branded Copy of 50 Spiritual Movies - and it's Free!

Click here to get it now.

News
Current News On Beliefnet

Lesbian Bishop-Elect Clears Crucial Hurdle

(RNS) A majority of dioceses in the Episcopal Church have confirmed the election of an open lesbian as a bishop in Los Angeles, bringing Bishop-elect Mary Glasspool one step closer to consecration.

The Diocese of Los Angeles, where Glasspool was elected as an assistant bishop last December, announced confirmations from 61 of the denomination's 110 dioceses on Wednesday (March 10).

A majority of diocesan bishops, however, must also consent to Glasspool's election before she can be consecrated a bishop. Episcopal Church headquarters in New York keeps the bishops' tally, but generally does not release it until the outcome is sealed.

"I look forward to the final few consents to come in from the bishops in the next few days, and I give thanks for the fact that we as a church have taken a bold step for just action," said Los Angeles Bishop Jon Bruno.

Glasspool has until May 8 to receive the necessary votes from bishops. If her election is confirmed, she would be only the second openly gay person to be elected a bishop in the U.S. church or the wider Anglican Communion.

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion, said last year that Glasspool's election "raises very serious questions" and urged Episcopal bishops to reject it. A majority of Anglicans in the 77-million-member communion reject homosexuality as unbiblical and the election of an openly gay priest as bishop of New Hampshire in 2003 has caused widespread dissent.

-- Daniel Burke
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Irish Police Arrest Seven in Plot to Kill Swedish Cartoonist

LONDON (RNS) Police in Ireland say they have arrested seven suspects in an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist for depicting Islam's Prophet Muhammad with the body of a dog.

Drawings by Lars Vilks triggered widespread anger by Muslims when they appeared in a regional newspaper three years ago. Three Swedish newspapers reprinted the cartoons Wednesday (March 10) after the new threats became public.

Ireland's RTE news network on Wednesday (March 10) identified the seven -- four men and three women -- as immigrants from Morocco and Yemen who now hold citizenship in Ireland.

Police did not immediately name the seven but told journalists they were arrested and jailed in Ireland after an investigation uncovered a "conspiracy to murder an individual in another jurisdiction."

U.S. officials say a Pennsylvania woman, Colleen R. LaRose, who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane," has been charged with supporting terrorism for allegedly traveling to Sweden to try to kill Vilks.

When the Vilks cartoons appeared in 2007 in the Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda, Muslims were outraged because Islam traditionally prohibits images of Muhammad, and they thought the idea of Muhammad with the body of a dog was blasphemous and derogatory.

At one point, a group linked to the al-Qaida terrorist organization was reported to have posted a $100,000 bounty on Vilks' head -- plus a 50 percent bonus if Vilks was "slaughtered like a lamb" with his throat cut.

The British Broadcasting Corp. quoted the artist, who has been under police protection since the threats were made against him, as saying he was "not shaking with fear, exactly."

Vilks added that "I have prepared in different ways, and I have an axe here in case someone should manage to get through the window."

-- Al Webb
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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German Catholics to Investigate Abuse Charges

BERLIN - Catholic authorities in Germany announced two major abuse investigations Wednesday - one into the renowned choir once led by Pope Benedict XVI's brother and another more general look into what everyone, including the pope, knew about the sexual and physical abuse of students.

The Roman Catholic diocese of Regensburg in southern Germany appointed an independent investigator to examine the allegations of physical and sexual abuse that have engulfed the prestigious Regensburger Domspatzen boys choir, which was led by the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, the pope's older brother, from 1964 until 1994. So far, the sexual abuse allegations predate Ratzinger's term.

Regensburg Diocese spokesman Jacob Schoetz said Nuremberg lawyer Andreas Scheulen would lead the inquiry and all charges will be investigated completely.

"The independent lawyer will thoroughly go through all existing legal papers, all court decisions and any information available," Schoetz said. "We expect to publish first results within the next two weeks."

In addition, the German Bishop's Conference said it would look into wider-ranging allegations across the country after more than 170 students at Catholic schools have said they were sexually abused decades ago. Other students have complained of physical abuse.

The conference said it had not launched a formal investigation but had called on parishes and church institutions in Germany to conduct their own examinations. The conference is also seeking expert advice on the issue, prelate Karl Juesten told The Associated Press.

Those local investigations will also examine allegations of sexual abuse at the choir and look into what, if anything, the pope himself knew in his previous position as the archbishop of Munich.

"We do not know if the pope knew about the abuse cases at the time," Juesten said. "However, we assume that this is not the case."

Munich Archbishop Reinhard Marx will be "certainly investigating these questions," he said.

In reaction to the spiraling child abuse scandal, the German government said it would impose stricter rules on educators. Families Minister Kristina Schroeder told the Wiesbadener Kurier daily Wednesday that local authorities will be allowed to ask for a thorough police check on all applicants who are going to work with kids.

Juesten, the liaison between Roman Catholic bishops and the German government, also praised Ratzinger, the pope's brother, for apologizing to victims on Tuesday because he did nothing decades ago to stop the beating of students.

Ratzinger says students told him of allegations of physical abuse at an elementary school decades ago and apologized for doing nothing about it.

Reached by telephone Wednesday, Ratzinger said he had no further comment on the matter.

Ratzinger had first said he was unaware of any abuse, and Juesten said that others should follow the 86-year-old's lead in coming clean.

"The other perpetrators should follow the example set by Mr. Ratzinger and apologize to the victims for the abuse they have committed," he said.

However, the pope's brother has said he was unaware of allegations of sexual abuse at his own choir - incidents alleged to have occurred before his tenure.

The Roman Catholic Church has been hit by years of abuse claims in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia and other countries. Yet the German abuse allegations are particularly sensitive because Germany is the pope's homeland and because some of the scandals involve the choir his brother led for 30 years.

Juesten said it was not known if Benedict, who served as archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982, was aware of any of the child abuse cases that took place then at Catholic schools and other institutions. Benedict did not oversee the Domspatzen choir, which reported instead to the Regensburg Diocese.

Juesten also called Ratzinger's apology to the victims an act of courage and a "wonderful sign" that all charges would be investigated.

"It is certainly not easy for such a man to publicly apologize," Juesten said.

Schoetz, the spokesman for the Regensburg Diocese, said there were several cases of sexual abuse by two priests at the choir in 1958 and 1959.

"Sentences have been handed down, the accused have been punished and have since died," he said.

However, Scheulen will be asked to collect any other information or allegations on all possible cases of physical or sexual abuse, he added.

Franz Wittenbrink, 61, sang in the Domspatzen choir from 1958 to 1967 and said he was physically abused on a regular basis by the priests at the choir's boarding school.

"Severe beatings were normal, but Ratzinger did not belong to the group of more sadistic abusers," Wittenbrink said in a phone interview with the AP from Hamburg. "But I do accuse him of covering up the abuses."

Wittenbrink said all boys suffered some physical abuse but a "selected group" of students was also abused sexually.

Another former choir boy at Domspatzen told the Bild Zeitung daily that he and other boys were sexually abused by teachers at the choir's boarding school in the 1950s. Manfred von Hove was quoted as saying he "finally wants to have answers and find out who was responsible for the cover-up at the time."

Von Hove also said he planned to sue the Regensburg Diocese for compensation.

Von Hove's telephone number is not listed and he could not be reached for further comment.

Ratzinger has repeatedly said the sexual abuse allegations date from before his tenure as choir director.

"These things were never discussed," Ratzinger told the Passauer Neue Presse daily. "The problem of sexual abuse that has now come to light was never spoken of."

Ratzinger did admit slapping students in the face as punishment for many years, but said he was happy when corporal punishment was made illegal in 1980. Corporal punishment was standard in German schools until the reform movement of the 1960s.

Yet the allegations of beatings from one elementary school at Etterzhausen, however, go far beyond the norm of corporal punishment.

Rudolf Neumaier, a student at Domspatzen Preschool in Pielenhofen in 1981 and 1982, told the AP he was slapped there, witnessed the corporal punishment of other boys, and saw then-director Johann Meier hit an eight-year-old boy with a chair.

Neumaier, who went on to join the Domspatzen choir in Regensburg in 1982, stressed he did not witness or hear about any abuse at the choir boarding school itself. But he said he personally told the pope's brother about the violence at the preschool but Ratzinger did nothing about it.

"I told Ratzinger myself, but he chose not to listen," Neumaier said.

Neumaier said he was shocked to find out that preschool director Meier stayed in his job until 1992.

The schools at Etterzhausen and Pielenhofen, where severe beatings have been reported, were two feeder schools for Ratzinger's choir, and Ratzinger said Tuesday that boys had told him about being mistreated at Etterzhausen but he did not understand how bad it was.

Germany's abuse cases are expected to be brought up Friday at the Vatican when the head of the German bishops conference, Bishop Robert Zollitsch, holds a regular meeting with the pope.

The German government has also announced plans for "round table" meetings involving school, church and other representatives to work on ways of detecting, preventing and dealing with future abuse. The first meeting is set for April 23.

Associated Press writer Juergen Baetz contributed to this report from Regensburg.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Reform Rabbis Shift to Acceptance on Intermarriage

(RNS) In a major shift, Reform rabbis have publicly acknowledged intermarriage as a "given" that calls for increased outreach and understanding, rather than a threat to Jewish identity that must be resisted at all costs.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents nearly 2,000 Reform rabbis from around the world, embraced the change during its annual convention in San Francisco.

Traditionally, the Reform movement -- the largest and most liberal slice of mainstream Judaism -- has wavered on whether to sanction weddings between Jews and non-Jews; Conservative and Orthodox clergy will not officially perform such ceremonies.

Yet 25 years of demographic studies have documented a growing trend toward intermarriage, with as many as half of American Jews now marrying outside their faith. With Jews making up less than 3 percent of the U.S.

population, and less than 1 percent around the world, Jewish leaders have long warned that mixed marriages weaken Jewish identity and threaten long-term survival.

The traditional view of Judaism as an ethnicity, passed down through the mother, also fuels this conflict, including heated debates about whether "half-Jews" meet requirements for enrollment in religious schools, Israeli citizenship, and other faith-based endeavors.

"When a Jew marries a Jew, there is a greater likelihood of Jewish continuity," admitted CCAR President Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, in her group's announcement on Monday (March 8). "But in the case of intermarriage, the opportunity for Jewish continuity is significant, especially if there is effective rabbinic leadership."

The Reform rabbis' last statement on this issue, in 1973, had reiterated its 1909 stance that "mixed marriage is contrary to the Jewish tradition and should be discouraged." Rabbis were encouraged to provide conversion opportunities for non-Jewish spouses and educational opportunities for their children.

After a task force spent three years studying the issue, the CCAR maintained that Reform rabbis may still opt not to officiate at interfaith weddings as "a deeply personal matter of conscience."

But now that the group's attitude about intermarriage has officially changed, Dreyfus expressed hope that clergy will make greater efforts to welcome interfaith families into religious activities and life-cycle events like bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies for their children.

"Ignoring intermarriage won't make it go away," she said. "We want to embrace it as an opportunity."

The new position is not a formal policy or resolution, but rather a semi-official "recognition" of changing times based on the task force's 10-page report.

"In the past, there was a great focus on how to prevent intermarriage," the report said. "Today we are more likely to focus on how to deal with intermarriage as a given in our society with the goal of positive Jewish engagement of the family."

For the Jewish Outreach Institute, an New York-based organization that works to include interfaith families in Jewish life, the official announcement confirms what's been going on for years at the grassroots level.

"We're very excited by it," said Paul Golin, the group's associate executive director. "As an intermarried person myself, I'm now curious to see what kind of programming comes out of it."

He added, "There's lots of details to work out, but the first step is acknowledging that attitudes have changed, and it's great that this is finally happening."

By NICOLE NEROULIAS
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Pope's Brother Admits Striking Students, Denies Knowledge of Abuse

VATICAN CITY (RNS) The elder brother of Pope Benedict XVI admitted striking members of the German boys' choir that he led for three decades, but denied knowing that some of the boys were victims of clerical sex abuse.

"I must admit that I often became depressed, because (the boys) did not achieve the results I wanted, and at the beginning I often handed out slaps, though afterwards my conscience pricked me for doing so," Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, who led the Regensburg cathedral choir from

1964 to 1994, told the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse in an interview published Tuesday (March 9).

Ratzinger denied knowledge of any sexual abuse but admitted knowing that another Catholic priest, the longtime headmaster of the choir boys' boarding school, gave students "very violent slaps ... for very trifling reasons."

Because the school was an independent institution, Ratzinger said, he lacked the standing to report the headmaster to the authorities.

On Monday (March 8), the Web site of the German magazine Der Spiegel reported charges that the headmaster, identified in press reports only by the initial "M," regularly administered naked beatings and forced students to participate in group sexual encounters.

The Regensburg choir is only the latest Catholic institution to be embroiled in a spreading clerical sex abuse scandal in the pope's homeland.

On Friday (March 12), Benedict will meet with Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, president of the German bishops' conference, to discuss at least 170 abuse allegations involving children at Catholic schools. The charges, which surfaced in January, have prompted prosecutors to launch an investigation.

On Monday (March 8), German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger denounced what she called the church's "wall of silence" around sex abuse. She specifically cited a 2001 letter signed by Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, which reserved preliminary investigation of abuse charges to the Vatican itself.

The German revelations come amid growing reports of clerical sex abuse in other European countries, including Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands.

-- Francis X. Rocca
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Supreme Court to Weigh Limits of Kansas Church's Hate Speech

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday (March 8) to decide whether the father of a fallen soldier can sue religious protesters for picketing at his son's funeral with signs that read "Thank God for dead soldiers."

The case will test the boundaries of the Constitution by weighing whether extreme speech that inflicts emotional pain -- especially at sensitive venues such as memorials -- should be protected by the First Amendment.

Members of Westboro Baptist Church, led by pastor and founder Fred Phelps in Topeka, Kansas, have protested at military funerals to express their belief that America is being punished for tolerance of homosexuality.

Westboro protestors traveled to Westminster, Md., to picket at the funeral of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who killed in combat in Iraq on March 3, 2006.

They marched around the outskirts of St. John's Catholic Church and the cemetery with signs that read "God Hates the USA," "Fag troops" and "Pope in hell." After the funeral, Phelps also posted material on his Web site against the fallen Marine, saying his father had "taught Matthew to defy his creator" and "raised him for the devil."

Snyder's father sued Phelps for invasion of privacy and for intentionally inflicting emotional distress. Snyder received $10.9 million in damages but a judge modified the jury's amount to $5 million.

The decision was reversed last September by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court threw out the verdict on the basis of the First Amendment's protection of free speech.

"Whatever that U.S. Supreme Court does is going to be beautiful because now the whole world is looking at this situation," said Phelps' daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, a church spokeswoman. "It's given us a huge megaphone and furthermore, we get to talk to the conscience of this nation that's responsible for this horrible mess that this country is in."

-- Kimberlee Hauss
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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Bishops of Hiroshima, Nagasaki Seek Nuclear Ban

TOKYO (RNS/ENI) The Roman Catholic bishops of Hiroshima and Nagasaki -- the only cities in the world that were leveled by atomic bombs -- are urging world leaders to abolish nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami and Hiroshima Bishop Joseph Atsumi Misue released a joint statement ahead of a nuclear security summit scheduled for April in Washington, and a review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York in May.

"We, as the bishops of the Catholic Church of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which is the only country in the world to have suffered nuclear attacks, demand that the president of the United States, the Japanese government and the leaders of other countries make utmost efforts to abolish nuclear weapons," the bishops said.

Takami was born in March 1946,in Nagasaki, the second city to suffer from an atomic-bomb attack in August 1945 during the World War II. He was in his mother's womb when the Japanese city was bombed days after Hiroshima experienced the first nuclear attack.

The bishops said the sin of the atomic bombings in the two cities "should be borne not only by the United States" but "also the other countries, including Japan, which have kept on waging wars throughout their history".

The bishops asked the United States to "limit the purpose of retaining nuclear weapons to deterring others from using such weapons only" as a first step "toward the elimination of nuclear weapons" around the world.

The bishops urged Japan, which has a bilateral security treaty with the United States, to "demonstrate and implement what Japan itself will do toward the total abolition of nuclear weapons." They accused Japan of "an extremely passive attitude" to U.S. nuclear arms reduction policies, because the country is under the protection of a U.S. nuclear umbrella.

In a related move, nine British churches have joined the World Council of Churches and others in "Now is the Time" campaign, which seeks to put all bomb-grade material under international control. The coalition also seeks to make the use and possession of nuclear weapons illegal through a new Nuclear Weapons Convention.

-- Hisashi Yukimoto
Copyright 2010 Religion News Service. All rights reserved. No part of this transmission may be distributed or reproduced without written permission.

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