spirituality news stories on Newser

Dalai Lama Donates $1.5M to Charity

Matt Cantor — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:59:05 CDT

It's a big news day for the Dalai Lama, from the dangerous to the charitable. He will today be awarded $1.5 million for his services to human spirituality, and he's giving away all of the winnings. He'll donate some $1.45 million to India's Save the Children and more...

Out-of-Body Experience? Nope, You're Just Confused

Matt Cantor — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 13:47:05 CST

Out-of-body experiences may feel spiritual—but scientists say they can explain them without reference to the supernatural: conflicting senses create the experience by addling the brain, they say. To explore the idea, researchers attached subjects to virtual-reality goggles that showed them a 3D-enhanced avatar of themselves. At one point, they...

Obama, the Christian, Prefers to Pray Privately

Sarah Quinn — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 09:11:00 CDT

Unlike his predecessors, President Obama prefers to keep his expressions of religious faith private, Michael D. Shear writes in the Washington Post , recounting the president's unpublicized decision to have a prayer session with three Christian pastors on his 49th birthday. He often consults spiritual advisers but hasn't joined a church...

That Eat, Pray, Love Spiritual Retreat Will Not Save You

Evann Gastaldo — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:00:00 CDT

Just in case you read Eat, Pray, Love and now believe spending a month (and $19,795) at an ashram will change your life, the New York Post is here to tell you…it probably won’t. Thanks to the book, spiritual retreats are incredibly trendy, but many who take them end...

Ancient Rite Fades in Japan: Communing With the Dead

Jason Farago — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:47:01 CDT

Far from Japan's hypermodern cities, a few old, blind women are among the last of a centuries-old tradition—they are mediums, or the "itako," calling forth the spirits of the dead for paying visitors. In medieval times, Japan was full of women communing with spirits, but now so few remain...

Jittery Investors Seek Direction From Feng Shui Gurus

Ambreen Ali — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:07:49 CST

Hong Kong investors are invoking feng shui—the ancient Chinese art associated in the Western mind with interior decorating—to guide their depleted portfolios, the Wall Street Journal reports. Two inauspicious lunar eclipses have already predicted a grim year, and masters are warning investors to beware of the land of...

Is Recession in the Cards? More Turn to Psychics

Nick McMaster — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:45:01 CST

Canadian Ray Pambrun sold many of his stocks in late October and managed to miss the market’s most recent downswing. His secret? Consulting a psychic, who beat out the financial advisers and economists predicting a bottom. It may not be the soundest investment strategy, but clairvoyants have seen business boom...

Candidates Bound for Spiritual Showdown

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:36:01 CDT

The presidential candidates will put their spiritual views on display tomorrow night, appearing with Rick Warren, the country's most popular pastor, at his megachurch in California. The back-to-back 1-hour interviews are clear signs of both the importance of religion in the campaign and the emergence of a new type of...

Obama's Unique Road to Faith

Caroline Zimmerman — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 15:19:00 CDT

As a young man, Barack Obama experienced a lonely, drawn-out crisis of faith—and now finds himself churchless as the whole world watches, Newsweek reports. His father was an atheist Muslim, his mother a Christian who turned secular, and Obama eventually embraced Chicago's Trinity United after years of church-based activism....