Heart and Soul: Online spiritual communities
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 4 August 2023
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A doctor in New York, Anjoli has been longing for a space to practise spirituality within a like-minded community, but she does not want to go to her parents’ Hindu temple. Whilst she likes the rituals and the sense of community, she feels torn over the teachings about race and caste. She's one of a flock of people signing up to an online community called The Nearness - a group brought together by people with Divinity School backgrounds who yearn for a community where they can explore big spiritual questions, but outside the confines of tradition religion. Research suggests that many millennials are hungry for spiritual communities but wary of mainstream religious ones, so they are trying to create their own. But is it possible to do this in a lasting way, without the history, traditions and rituals of an established faith?
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Excitement here in New Zealand has been ignited for this tournament. |
| 0:04.3 | Hearing our fans being behind us is just unforgettable. |
| 0:08.2 | World football at the Women's World Cup from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:12.8 | We're going all the way, baby. |
| 0:14.1 | Find it wherever you get your BBC podcasts. |
| 0:24.0 | These are all the wild raspberry cans that are starting to come up. |
| 0:29.6 | And they should be ready about July or so. |
| 0:32.9 | I'm in a large park on the outskirts of Queens in New York City, |
| 0:36.8 | with a former emergency doctor on a warm summer's day. |
| 0:40.8 | I'm Underley. I'm 38 years old. |
| 0:42.8 | I work in Medical Humanitarian Aid, |
| 0:45.9 | and we are coming to Northeast Queens to Alipan Park to do some foraging. |
| 0:52.2 | But, Underley isn't just searching for various forms of plants. |
| 0:56.0 | She's one of an increasing number of people aged roughly 20 to 40, |
| 1:00.4 | the millennial generation, who do not identify with a particular religion, |
| 1:05.5 | but who do describe themselves as spiritual. |
| 1:08.9 | This group is often called the spiritual but not religious, |
| 1:13.0 | and there's a real thirst in this generation for exploring fundamental life questions |
| 1:17.6 | outside the confines of organised religion. |
| 1:20.8 | And there have been groups who have tried to help with this search. |
| 1:24.4 | From BBC World Service, this is The Documentary. |
| 1:28.1 | I'm Nastran Tavikoli-Far, and I'm in New York for Heart and Soul, |
... |
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