The Ten Most Read Articles of 2022: Interspirituality for the Modern Day Seeker
JANUARY 6, 2023
BY GUDJON BERGMANN
Humanity, interfaith ministry, beliefs, integral theory, moments of peace, Christianity and Buddhism, faith definitions, trans-rational spirituality, and thoughts about God. Those were some of the topics broached in my ten most-read articles of 2022. Below you will find a quick summary of each and links to the original articles.
10. A Trans-Rational Approach to Spirituality
In this article from 2018, I explain the pre/trans fallacy and how people can transcend and include rationality when they approach the topic of spirituality. Instead of abandoning reason altogether—as some have suggested—it is possible to push to the limits of the intellect and transcend it. In that way, spirituality meets rational criteria before we enter into the unknown or unknowable.
Read the full article
9. Interfaith Explainer: The Difference Between Intrafaith, Interfaith, Multifaith and Interspirituality
When people are unfamiliar with terms, they often use them interchangeably. I offered simple definitions of each term in this article and gave examples. In short, intrafaith means within a faith, interfaith means among or between faiths, multifaith means many faiths, and interspirituality means exploring the connection.
Read the full article
8. Interfaith Quotes About God
Published just before Christmas 2022, this article made it into the top ten. Extracted from The Little Book of Oneness and Goodness, the quotes come from various sources, including Swami Prabhavananda, Martin Luther, Ibn-al-Arabi, Alcoholics Anonymous, Meister Eckhart, Guru Nanak, Kabir and more. The goal was to offer a variety of perspectives. Based on the response, it seems to have worked.
Read all the quotes
7. What If We Viewed Christianity Like Buddhism?
The idea for this article started with a simple observation. In the West, many people view Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion and use it to become more peaceful and compassionate.
Humanity, interfaith ministry, beliefs, integral theory, moments of peace, Christianity and Buddhism, faith definitions, trans-rational spirituality, and thoughts about God. Those were some of the topics broached in my ten most-read articles of 2022. Below you will find a quick summary of each and links to the original articles.
10. A Trans-Rational Approach to Spirituality
In this article from 2018, I explain the pre/trans fallacy and how people can transcend and include rationality when they approach the topic of spirituality. Instead of abandoning reason altogether—as some have suggested—it is possible to push to the limits of the intellect and transcend it. In that way, spirituality meets rational criteria before we enter into the unknown or unknowable.
Read the full article
9. Interfaith Explainer: The Difference Between Intrafaith, Interfaith, Multifaith and Interspirituality
When people are unfamiliar with terms, they often use them interchangeably. I offered simple definitions of each term in this article and gave examples. In short, intrafaith means within a faith, interfaith means among or between faiths, multifaith means many faiths, and interspirituality means exploring the connection.
Read the full article
8. Interfaith Quotes About God
Published just before Christmas 2022, this article made it into the top ten. Extracted from The Little Book of Oneness and Goodness, the quotes come from various sources, including Swami Prabhavananda, Martin Luther, Ibn-al-Arabi, Alcoholics Anonymous, Meister Eckhart, Guru Nanak, Kabir and more. The goal was to offer a variety of perspectives. Based on the response, it seems to have worked.
Read all the quotes
7. What If We Viewed Christianity Like Buddhism?
The idea for this article started with a simple observation. In the West, many people view Buddhism as a philosophy rather than a religion and use it to become more peaceful and compassionate.
My question was: What if we viewed Christianity in the same way? Many readers seem to resonate with this idea since the article was the 7th most read of 2022.
Read the full article
6. Personal Image of God
Written in 2018, this article seems to have become another perennial favorite. In it, I write about the difference between the personal and trans-personal concepts of God and use Huston Smith’s concept about idolatry—reducing God to something less than God—to explain the limitations of simple definitions while also underlining the importance of creating a personal relationship to that which we perceive as God.
Read the full article
5. Seven Metaphors to Help You Create Moments of Peace
I was delighted to see this article climb so high on the top ten list. At the beginning of 2022, I planned to write a short book, Creating Moments of Peace, but I decided to share the central ideas for free on my publication instead. The seven metaphors—anchor, bandwidth, steering wheel, instinct, weather, current and tower—offer readers several ways to view moments of peace in their lives, encouraging both additions and ownership.
Read the full article
4. Integral Changed Everything: How Studying Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory Changed My Life
This is the longest essay I have posted on my publication. Extracted from my 2019 memoir, Spiritual in My Own Way, the article details my seven-year obsession with integral theory and how it changed my life. As I warned at the beginning of the article, a stretched mind will return to its original form, so don’t go down this rabbit hole unless you are ready to have your mind expanded.
Read the full article
3. Let’s Face It, Beliefs and Values are More Important to People Than Facts and Information
Studying the world’s religions prepared me well for the times we are living in. It helped me understand the uniquely human desire to hold beliefs and values close to the heart. Understanding why people would do that becomes doubly important in a post-truth world. Since this article was the third most read in 2022, it looks like many readers were looking for similar answers and used my piece to explore one aspect of a larger puzzle.
Read the full article
2. What is an Interfaith Minister?
This article must appear in search results when people look for the definition because it has remained one of the most read articles in this publication since it was published in 2018. In the article, I offer a definition and three examples of how interfaith ministers serve their communities.
Read the full article
1. Be Informed by Your Faith or Spiritual Tradition, Lead with Your Humanity
I used the Dalai Lama and Mr. Rogers as examples of people who are deeply informed by their faith yet lead with their humanity. It makes me tremendously happy to see that this article was catapulted to the top of the list. Despite all the talk of division and hate, there are a lot of people in the world who are working to make it better. Seeing that readers are interested in that work warms my heart.
Read the full article
Thanks for reading in 2022. I look forward to providing you with interesting content in 2023.
Happy New Year!
Gudjon Bergmann
Author, Coach, and Mindfulness Teacher
Read the full article
6. Personal Image of God
Written in 2018, this article seems to have become another perennial favorite. In it, I write about the difference between the personal and trans-personal concepts of God and use Huston Smith’s concept about idolatry—reducing God to something less than God—to explain the limitations of simple definitions while also underlining the importance of creating a personal relationship to that which we perceive as God.
Read the full article
5. Seven Metaphors to Help You Create Moments of Peace
I was delighted to see this article climb so high on the top ten list. At the beginning of 2022, I planned to write a short book, Creating Moments of Peace, but I decided to share the central ideas for free on my publication instead. The seven metaphors—anchor, bandwidth, steering wheel, instinct, weather, current and tower—offer readers several ways to view moments of peace in their lives, encouraging both additions and ownership.
Read the full article
4. Integral Changed Everything: How Studying Ken Wilber’s Integral Theory Changed My Life
This is the longest essay I have posted on my publication. Extracted from my 2019 memoir, Spiritual in My Own Way, the article details my seven-year obsession with integral theory and how it changed my life. As I warned at the beginning of the article, a stretched mind will return to its original form, so don’t go down this rabbit hole unless you are ready to have your mind expanded.
Read the full article
3. Let’s Face It, Beliefs and Values are More Important to People Than Facts and Information
Studying the world’s religions prepared me well for the times we are living in. It helped me understand the uniquely human desire to hold beliefs and values close to the heart. Understanding why people would do that becomes doubly important in a post-truth world. Since this article was the third most read in 2022, it looks like many readers were looking for similar answers and used my piece to explore one aspect of a larger puzzle.
Read the full article
2. What is an Interfaith Minister?
This article must appear in search results when people look for the definition because it has remained one of the most read articles in this publication since it was published in 2018. In the article, I offer a definition and three examples of how interfaith ministers serve their communities.
Read the full article
1. Be Informed by Your Faith or Spiritual Tradition, Lead with Your Humanity
I used the Dalai Lama and Mr. Rogers as examples of people who are deeply informed by their faith yet lead with their humanity. It makes me tremendously happy to see that this article was catapulted to the top of the list. Despite all the talk of division and hate, there are a lot of people in the world who are working to make it better. Seeing that readers are interested in that work warms my heart.
Read the full article
Thanks for reading in 2022. I look forward to providing you with interesting content in 2023.
Happy New Year!
Gudjon Bergmann
Author, Coach, and Mindfulness Teacher
