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Huffington Post: A few years back I discovered that meditation or contemplative practices done in a group setting are quite different than practices done alone. At the time, I was reading Steven Strogatz book ‘Sync’ about the science of synchronicity (the phenomenon of naturally arising sync in nature) and saw that the group experience was a syncing of individual transformative experiences. Read more here.

Vancouver Sun: Renowned University of B.C. social psychologist Ara Norenzayan, 37, spent his teenage years in bomb-ravaged Lebanon thinking he could die at any moment in a civil war largely fuelled by religion. Recently, Norenzayen has earned an international reputation for his ground-breaking research into trying to answer the question: How does religion affect the way people behave, pro and con? Or, as Norenzayan succinctly puts it: “What is it about religion that can turn nice people into murderers?” … Click to read more »

Courier Press: Meditation — that’s something that involves Eastern religion, cross-legged sitting and mantra chanting, right? Well, sometimes. Some forms of meditation are associated with Eastern religions, but other forms are rooted in Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Other forms are secular. Read more here.

ScienceDaily: Those who worship a higher power often do so in different ways. Whether they are active in their religious community, or prefer to simply pray or meditate, new research out of Temple University suggests that a person’s religiousness – also called religiosity – can offer insight into their risk for depression. Read more here.

Psychology Today: Psychologist Nick Epley explores how we attribute beliefs and attitudes to other minds, including those of deities. In ongoing research at the University of Chicago, he and his collaborators are finding that people’s own beliefs line up much more closely with the beliefs they attribute to their gods than to those they peg on other people. If you manipulate people’s views, their gods’ assigned views change, too. Read more here.

The Huffington Post: Many of us feel a need to believe in something larger than ourselves. And now researchers are beginning to uncover the biology behind this urge. Scientists say that some people may have a gene that makes them more spiritual, and they are discovering that religious feelings may come from specific areas of the brain. Read more here.