Showing results by author "Andrea Diem-Lane" in All Categories

This small booklet explores the latest theories of consciousness as developed by Michio Kaku, Christof Koch, and Michael Shermer, with a special focus on a new form of scientific animism, where animals and other life forms are now recognized to have awareness and the capacity to feel pain and suffering. Part of a presentation for the Dayalbagh Studies on Consciousness in Agra, India. 

This is an introductory text to the Sikh religion. It covers the early Sant tradition and the 10 Sikh Gurus starting from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh. Covers the evolution of the Sikhs until the present day, touching upon the evolution of the Sikh community and its emergence as a world religion. Professor Andrea Diem, PhD, has been studying Sikhism for over three decades and is current with the latest scholarship on the religion.

Professor Andrea Diem-Lane, PhD, provides an in-depth analysis and summary of 10 key books on the religion of Jainism, providing the listener with a deeper grasp of this ancient Indian religion and its compassionate practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence. Serves as a general introduction to the Jain religion.

This book is a brief introduction to the Jain religion, including a close look at its inception and how it evolved over time to its present day status. Special attention will be given to how Jain ideals such as ahimsa and anekantavada (the doctrine of non one-sidedness) can serve as a much needed and welcome panacea to the world's strife and misery. Although Jainism is perhaps the smallest of the world's religions, what it has to offer humankind is of inestimable value.

I first encountered the mystical logic of Nicholas of Cusa when I read S.L. Frank's magnificent (and underappreciated) volume, The Unknowable. I was both mesmerized and haunted by Cusa's koan-like summation of his philosophy when he wrote, "The unattainable is attained by its unattainment." As Socrates and other mystic-philosophers before him, Nicholas of Cusa had realized through mathematics and geometry that infinity cannot be comprehended by that which is finite.

Science, by definition, is an open-ended approach to understand how the world works by observation, experimentation, and modeling. But underlining this human process is our ability to be wrong, to be corrected, and to change our views over time. While Francis Bacon (1561-1626) is often regarded as the first Western thinker to properly codify what is commonly known today as the scientific method, it may come as a surprise to learn that Jain philosophy, which dates back to before the 6th century BCE, has three core beliefs that are contributive and elemental for any budding scientist.

Listening to the inner sound to achieve higher states of consciousness has a long history and can be found in different religious traditions around the world (ranging from Gnostic Christianity to Islamic Sufism to Tibetan Buddhism). In this presentation, we will explore the originations of shabd yoga and trace it over time (in its various manifestations) up until the present day. In so doing, we will want to learn how listening to the inner sound is theologically interpreted in varying cultures on distinct continents.  

The great disruptor of the 21st century is our attention span, and the Internet and computational technologies have opened up a Pandora's box of endless distractions. We are not merely entertaining ourselves to death (to echo Neil Postman's prophetic words), we are becoming entertainment ourselves as we moment-to-moment reveal our innermost selves on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and new emerging forms of social media. What all this will eventually portend nobody precisely knows.

This audiobook explores various agnostic ideas and statements from such luminous thinkers are Bertrand Russell, Clarence Darrow, Thomas Henry Huxley, Joseph McCabe, etc. With contributions by professors Andrea Diem-Lane and David Christopher Lane. From the Foreword: "When Spencer Tracy, playing Clarence Darrow in the movie Inherit the Wind, takes the Bible in one hand and On Origin of Species in the other and clasps them together side by side to illustrate how science and religion can work together, one is led to assume that Darrow was indeed a theist evolutionist".

This audiobook contains a series of essays that provide arguments for a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. We have included several chapters from books published in the 19th century which shows that the idea of a non-meat diet is not new in America, even if it has never been widely adopted. Keep in mind that these earlier writings didn’t have the scientific knowledge at their disposal that we have today. 

This is an illustrated version (replete with black and white pictures and graphs) of Dr. Andrea Diem-Lane's book, Darwin's DNA. It explores evolutionary theory and how Darwinian natural selection can help explain why consciousness developed as a virtual simulator over time. Fully illustrated. 

This small audiobook contains the remarkable recollections of Kehr Singh who was the first person from India to bring the teachings of Radhasoami Satsang Beas to America in the early part of the 20th century. Because of his influence, the Great Master, Sawan Singh, became known and hundreds and eventually thousands came to be initiated into surat shabd yoga. Also contained within this audiobook are excerpts from Professor Andrea Diem-Lane's pioneering work on the early history of Radhasoami and Sant Mat in America and how it influenced several new religions.

This is a critical look at the extensive plagiarism of Gary Olsen and his spiritual group, MasterPath. Gary Olsen was a one-time follower of Eckankar but broke off and formed his own teachings, largely based on Eckankar and Radha Soami. This small book provides extensive documentation on why and how Gary Olsen appropriated copyrighted materials for his numerous books and discourses. Also included are original letters by Gary Olsen explaining why he plagiarized and an official apology from him back in 1995.

One of the most significant discoveries of modern science is that the world we perceive around us is not as it appears. Rather, neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and quantum physics have demonstrated that our day-to-day reality is a relative construct, built upon a scaffolding of information bits that betray their real origin and causation.  

This audiobook explores the ancient Indian concept of Maya. Utilizing the latest research in neuroscience and physics, this work explains why Maya (or the notion of illusion) is an important concept and better understood today in light of science, even though ancient rishis had glimpsed its importance thousands of years ago.

This audiobook contains distinct essays on Darwinian epistemology, the future of shabd yoga, Ken Wilber's Atman Project, Clarence Darrow's agnostic philosophy, and the debate between Richard Feynman and John Lilly over the reality/non-reality of out-of-body experiences. Excerpt from one of the chapters: I think it is important to distinguish methodological naturalism from a philosophically absolutist position, since trying to ground all things down to the empirical realm and testable realm is a practical process and doesn't necessarily mean that nothing else exists beyond what we can scientifically discern. 

This is an informative and easy to understand introduction to the academic study of religion. Touches upon such topics as "Where did religion come from?" to "What is the social function of religion?" Covers such notable theorists as Ninian Smart, Peter Berger, and Mark Juergensmeyer. Excellent for the general listener as well as the scholar. Also useful as an introductory text for both high school and college courses.

I give this illustration to my students because a winning lottery number exponentially pales in comparison to the odds against them being alive and breathing (even if they nod off a bit here and there) at this very juncture in history. But in order to appreciate the anomaly of one's existence it is necessary to get a deeper understanding of the theory of large numbers.

The Radhasoami tradition, as founded by Shiv Dayal Singh in Agra in 1861, has been highly influential in the development of several new religions in North America and elsewhere. However, little work has been done in showing how Radhasoami has been transplanted into American soil and the impact it has had on the spiritual marketplace. Utilizing socio- historical/textual analysis, this study begins by exploring the emergence of Radhasoami as a transnational religion, focusing on the development of Radhasoami in America....

This introductory text focuses on how and why new religions and cults arise. Special chapters on meme theory, Nietzsche, and Ken Wilber. The author argues that the human quest for meaning is inexhaustible and therefore new religions emerge to fulfill this need. Dr. Andrea Diem-Lane is a Professor of Philosophy and has taught courses in religion for nearly 25 years.