I have not yet seen "42" but I'm giving it an enthusiastic thumbs-up. If I had ten thumbs I would give it ten thumbs-up, because I want everyone to see the movie -- especially young people, a shocking number of whom don't know who Jackie Robinson was.

Last week, in Los Angeles, I attended a two-evening event called "NonViolence: No Higher Calling." Part of a national initiative started by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, its brochure read: "Ten million acts of violence are perpetrated in the...

The charming seaside town of Encinitas, just north of San Diego, might have more yoga classes and practitioners per capita (population 60,000) than anywhere else in the country. Which makes it an unlikely place - or perhaps the inevitable place - for a lawsuit over the teaching of yoga in...

Forty five years ago, the Beatles were settling into the ashram of their new guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in Rishikesh, India. The news coverage was nonstop and global, as it had been six months earlier when the lads first met Maharishi and became public advocates for...

A great deal has been written about that ever-expanding group of Americans who check "none" when asked about their religious affiliations. The segment of nones who call themselves "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR) now constitute at least 20 percent of the population, and 30 percent of those under...

Visitors exiting the Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue are often perplexed by the street sign that reads Swami Vivekananda Way. What is it doing there? Who is this swami, and why does he deserve an honorary street name like...

In the winter of 1967-68, I went to a Ravi Shankar concert in Boston. The auditorium was packed with aficionados of Indian classical music, curiosity seekers, trend followers, and a boatload of hippies and rock fans. Nine of ten, I would estimate, were under 30, and most of...

HuffPost has a slide show up showing the percentage of Hindus in various American cities. It is based on a survey by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies (ASARB), which finds, predictably, that most American Hindus are in metropolitan areas with populations greater than a...

Whenever I'm asked if I believe in God, I say, "It depends on how you define 'God.'" Use one definition and my "no" is unequivocal; use another and I'm on the side of believers. I know scientists who say they believe in God, but they define the term rather differently...

An acquaintance of mine told me he's voting for Mitt Romney. His motivation, he happily and proudly admits, is selfish: "Obama will raise taxes on people who earn more than two hundred and fifty grand."

My friend does not earn that much now, but he is getting close. Edging...

When I saw the title of the new book by linguist Geoffrey Nunberg, Ascent of the A-Word, I assumed the word in question was "amazing." It's not. It's a two-syllable pejorative that ends in "hole." But the rise of "amazing" also deserves a book. That A-word has become...

From Sept. 6 through 9, about 3,000 people will descend on the high desert above Palm Springs for the fourth annual Bhakti Fest. Billed as "The Festival of Yoga, Kirtan and Wisdom From the Heart," the event has been compared...

On July 15, 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson addressed the graduating class at Harvard Divinity School, his alma mater. His audience that day was small -- the school's only six graduates, their families and the faculty -- but the reverberations were so great that the poet Oliver...

In India, the full moon day in the lunar calendar's month of Ashadh (typically July here) is celebrated as Guru Purnima. The word guru has been loosely applied to all kinds of experts, but traditionally, and in this context, it refers to master spiritual teachers. On Guru Purnima...

I recently came across an essay by journalist Eric Weiner, the author of "Man Seeks God: My Flirtations with the Divine," in which he says, "We need a Steve Jobs of religion." In the piece, published last December in the /americans-and-god.html" target="_hplink">New York Times, Weiner says we...

June 1st marks the 45th anniversary of a decisive Baby Boomer moment: the release of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Sgt. Pepper was a musical landmark: the first big concept album, the first rock album to win the Album of the Year Grammy, the first liner notes...

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat's new book, Bad Religion, has been getting a lot of attention lately. It would not be fair to comment on a book I haven't read, but I can say this: I love the subtitle: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.

In a recent PBS interview with Bill Moyers, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explained what his research reveals about the differences between liberals and conservatives. Haidt's work on positive psychology and what he calls Moral Foundations Theory has received well-deserved acclaim, and much of what...

This week marks the 60th anniversary of the death of one of the 20th century's most important spiritual figures. On March 7, 1952, Paramahansa Yogananda passed away in Los Angeles from an acute coronary occlusion, just after speaking at a...

The bustling world of American yoga is abuzz with the inevitable sex scandal. John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga, has admitted to numerous affairs with female students, some of whom were married. Because Friend is probably the best-known yoga teacher in America and the most successful...