If we pay attention to our life, as Maude suggests, we perceive an answer coming back to us. Then, natural spirituality allows us our own interpretation.

I spent six years as a researcher at the University of Connecticut Medical School studying the after effects of near-death experiences, including my own that included a profound life review. And now after writing 5 books on the after effects of near-death experiences and natural spirituality in general, I would like to propose a new genre of expanding spirituality because of the new research that is proving that we, as a species are evolving beyond where we were before and because I witness this expansion in myself, my colleagues, my friends and in my counseling practice. Here is some background information to address what is happening within the genre of spirituality, including its current findings, scientific research and publication.

At the University, my colleagues and I interviewed hundreds of people who had near-death experiences and we witnessed living proof that religion and spirituality can harmoniously enhance each other - or this new expanding spirituality can stand alone in a well balance peaceful life. It's our choice.

We demonstrated that the positive emotions and sense of connection experienced in a near-death state create changes in the person' life that are long lasting. After a near-death experience there is an earthy realness to how these NDErs relate to their life. Their needs for materialism and prestige diminish and they turn to altruistic goals. They change jobs because they are looking for meaning in their lives and they are driven to share unconditional love. Many grieve if that is impossible with their existing relationships and have to move on.

Many of us wrote books about our near-death experiences and our changes afterwards. Some of the researchers who wrote books admitted how they were changed by their research and their contact with NDErs.

What we have observed and documented over time in our writings can be overviewed as a new genre where we described all the positive emotions of our NDEs and a direct connection to our selves and the God of our Understanding or a Higher Power. Most of the publishers categorized our books as and were then labeled "New Age."

Spirituality and the "New Age" long were lumped together. I propose a separation between the two. The New Age is really old spiritual philosophy reframed so that some of us can understand it better. However, over time charlatans have moved in (as they have in other movements). They capture their audiences with charismatic personalities and aren't evolved enough to balance their ego with their new found or invented wisdom. They can sound narcissistic to many who criticize and are turned off by what they mistakenly see as "New Age." Some even teach and preach psychic abilities as the end all when that is just a development that may happen along the way. Somewhere in this confusion, people become psychic magnets for others painful emotions because no one is talking or writing about healthy boundaries. (See section on Spiritual Bypass in Whitfield 1995, 2006). Lately, a few of these authors and self-made gurus have turned to materialism as their agenda: how to get more, more stuff, more money, and the like.

New Discoveries in Neuroscience
Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant continues this theme by defining spirituality first as not about ideas, sacred texts and theology. He proposed that eight positive emotions: awe, love, trust/faith, compassion, gratitude,

forgiveness, joy and hope constitute what we mean by spirituality. He writes in his new book Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense of Faith, "Spirituality is about emotion and social connection." Much of his data comes from a Harvard study that prospectively charted the lives of 824 men and women for over 60 years. Dr. Vaillant concludes: "Spirituality is virtually indistinguishable from these positive emotions and is, thus, rooted in our evolutionary biology. Because these emotions are also the same ones for which most religions strive, spirituality is a common denominator for all faiths." (Vaillant 2008)

Neuroscientist Andrew Newberg from the University of PA Medical School used functional imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET scans) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPEC7) to demonstrate that spirituality lies in the limbic system of the brain. Both religion and "New Age" writing usually activate the neocortex where we think in words. The limbic system is where we feel the positive emotions and our positive relationships with others. This area activated by these positive feelings increase our parasympathetic activity producing relaxation, followed by a profound sense of serenity. So writing about theology is located in our neocortex where we are once removed from the experience and the feeling. This new genre of spirituality goes to the limbic system where we feel first hand what the writer is conveying.

Newberg studied Tibetan Buddhists who practiced Kundalini Yoga meditation and had been meditating for many years. They were advanced in their own practice. He showed that when these meditators achieve a state of mystical union, followed by a profound sense of calm, that the activities of those parts of the neocortical brain were functionally cut off from the rest of the brain. At the same time, both the limbic hippocampus and amygdala were more active. Newberg's subjects meditated on a spiritual symbol or a positive emotion. Some focused on the feeling of forgiveness. He found that the area activated by these positive feelings increases their parasympathetic activity, producing relaxation, followed by a profound sense of serenity. There are no words used in this experience, only a sense of positive or joyful feelings.

Newberg suggests that experiential spirituality reflects "limbic questions" about love, community, positive emotions, and the feeling of "being one with the universe." He has also reported that for meditating nuns, "while in prayer, their sense of God becomes physiologically real," and the meditating Buddhists caught a glimpse of what for them was "an absolute reality."

A New Genre of Expanding Spirituality
Both Dr. Vaillant and Dr. Newberg's work supports this new genre that takes the reader into a feeling state that is experiential in the respect that the brain is picturing or feeling it.

What we are describing in the above scientific research validates this new definition of expanding spirituality and it's increasing understanding within our evolving biology. There is a powerful link between stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system of the limbic area of the brain and our immune system. Positive emotions and a loving connection to our self, others - including our community - and God can boost our immunity so that we become physically healthier. What this all means is that there is a new spirituality emerging that is actually part of our biology. We are evolving toward a more naturally spiritual human race and medical research is helping us realize that. We could even hypothesize that becoming physically healthier because of a chain reaction that strengthens our immune system means that this will enhance the spiritual nature of humans by natural selection.

In Heading Toward Omega: In search of the meaning of the near-death experience Social Psychologist Kenneth Ring hypothesized a new evolutionary step for humans. He called this new evolutionary development The Omega Prototype. That book came out in 1984. 25 years later, this science could be validating his theory.

Thus, the new genre of expanding spirituality is the generic umbrella term for our own intimate personal relationship with our self, others and our Higher Power. (Whitfield 2006, 2009). This gives the writer a new opening into a richer, deeper and more evolved way to express the Mystery of our existence.

The positive feelings, emotions and attitudes of true spirituality bring us into and beyond focusing on ourselves and into compassion for all of life. Our writing can even reflect our deepest experiences by describing emotionally our spirituality through our inner life.

Below is a poem I wrote to help explain the earthy realness of this new genre of natural spirituality:

Grandmother Writer Therapist Senior Wise woman - melt into "nobody special."

© 2009, Barbara Harris Whitfield

References

Ring K (1984), Heading Toward Omega. William Morrow, New York, NY.
Vaillant GE (2002), Aging Well. Little, Brown.
Vaillant GE (2008), Positive Emotions, Spirituality and the Practice of Psychiatry. In: Medicine, Mental Health, Science, Religion, and Well-being (AR Singh and SA Singh eds.) MSM, 6 Jan-Dec. 2008, p48-62.
Vaillant, GE (2008) Spiritual Evolution: A Scientific Defense for Faith. Broadway Books, New York, N.Y.
Whitfield B (1995), Spiritual Awakenings: Insights of the Near-Death Experience and Other Doorways to Our Soul. HCI, Deerfield Beach, FL.
Whitfield C (1985), Alcoholism and Spirituality. (unpublished classic, now available from www.cbwhit.com.
Whitfield C (1993), Boundaries and Relationships. HCI, Deerfield Bch, FL.
Whitfield C, Whitfield B, et al (2006), The Power of Humility: Choosing Peace over Conflict in Relationships. HCI, Deerfield Bch, FL.
Whitfield B (Coming soon), The Natural Soul.