My failed mission to find God -- and what I found instead

This is the book that I wrote to document the spiritual pilgrimage I embarked on when I found myself to be highly spiritual but religiously uncommitted — what Pew Research calls a "None." A skeptic with an open mind, and looking for a spiritual home, I set out to find answers to the big questions ... Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? What happens when we die? Is there a God? I traveled not only to visit John of God at his casa in Brazil but also to Machu Picchu and the mountains of Peru, a Mexican sweat lodge, Burning Man, and for a session with a Reibashi in Kyoto, Japan. I worked with a medium to convene with the dead, practiced transcendental and Vipassana meditation, witnessed a woman have a 45-minute orgasm during a sound healing session, tried laughing yoga and visited saints, goddesses, witches and faith healers. It was a journey that challenged my thinking about science, religion and spirituality, gave me life-altering, wonder-infused insights — and became the basis for this TED Talk.

An Apollo 14 astronaut, Edgar Mitchell, while traveling in space and gazing back at the Earth, experienced what Frank White came to call "The Overview Effect" — a profound, life-altering, spiritual awakening underpinned by a transcendent sense of awe and connectedness. Mitchell's experience provides an interesting look at the relationship between science and spirituality and our place in the larger cosmos.

Vikram Gandhi, an American-born filmmaker who found himself disturbed by the self-help/ self-improvement yogi/guru craze in America (and India) decided to expose what he perceived to be a fraud. So he created a fictional persona he called “Sri Kumaré,” went to Arizona, presented himself as a famed guru from India and quickly attracted a core group of dedicated followers – to interesting results. For all of us looking for “more” and hoping to find a spiritual guide, Gandhi points out the complicated psychological factors that often (mis)direct us.

This parable is the foundation of a core principle in Jainism — something called anekāntavāda (non-absolutism). Followers of anekāntavāda respect the beliefs of others, in part because they have learned from this parable that their own perspectives — even about religious truths — are inherently limited and therefore inherently flawed. Non-absolutism teaches that no single person can have ownership or knowledge of absolute truth. If you believe and practice anekāntavāda, you have no choice but to respect differences — which leads to greater harmony. If you need convincing of the value of this practice, consider that Mohandas Gandhi relied on non-absolutism to guide his views on religious tolerance.

For the spiritually uninclined, this is some compelling data. Speculating why this might be, one of the researchers suggests that, "... attending religious services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful outlook on life." The stunning fact is that community-based spirituality leads to significantly decreased mortality across the board — even from cancer and heart disease.