Adler University Common Hour Lecture featuring Dr. Shahar Rabi

Join us for the next Adler University, Vancouver Campus Common Hour Lecture featuring Dr. Shahar Rabi, Counselling Psychology faculty and author of Spiritual Misfits: Collaboration and Belonging in a Divisive World. on Tuesday, November 12 from 5 -6 pm in the Community Hall at Adler University.

About the Talk:The breakdown of big truths into fragmented perspectives has allowed for freedom of thought and action. There is greater respect for diversity and identity, and acceptance of the individual journey. However, there is not as much genuine collaboration between worldviews. It is still rare to see ideological, spiritual, intellectual, and psychological gaps being bridged. Fostering mutual respect and valuing diversity might be the building blocks of a tolerant society, but they do not necessarily support increased collaboration and a more broad sense of belonging. In this talk, Shahar will point to some of the core reasons to why this is happening and what communities can do to develop new, local, collaborations in a ever divisive political and social environment.

About Shahar: Shahar Rabi, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Counselling Psychology at Adler University. He formerly served as the Clinical Program Director at the Orchard Recovery Centre. He has years of experience in treating addiction, trauma, depression, and anxiety. He is also the Co-Founder of the New Earth Institute in Vancouver. Shahar has a broad spectrum of work experience as a choreographer, philosopher and yoga teacher, meditation instructor, and even as a clown. As a clinician, he draws on years of formal studies at universities in Israel and Canada, as well as practice with prominent non-dual teachers in India, Nepal, Thailand, and Israel. He lives on the West Coast of Canada with his wife and two children and can frequently be found on the forest and mountain trails of the island he calls home.

Connect with Shahar:

Website: https://www.shaharrabi.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vancouvertherapy

About the book, Spiritual Misfiits: Spiritual Misfits’ addresses the polarizing discourses in our inner lives, as well as in the realms of politics, religion, and culture.

In this book, Dr. Shahar Rabi suggests that planetary destruction, divisiveness, and collective pain can be slowed down by offering a more inclusive story of who are. What is called for is an upgrade to our cultural operating system. 'Spiritual Misfits' is part guide book and part call to action. For those who long to “come home” to traditions that cannot hold the breadth of their experience and values, it provides a map to co-create the future of spirituality. It also serves as a guide for those who long to reconnect with fellow humans found on the other side of ever-deepening political chasms.

The book points to the next stage in spiritual community engagement by offering a fresh take on the future of spiritual and religious collaboration. It does not offer a grand theory, but rather a model for grassroots solutions that can inspire hope and collaboration in your immediate circle of family, friends, and community.

What makes this book stand out is that it offers practical answers to the following three questions: (1) Should you choose to dedicate your life to mastering one tradition or should you retain the freedom to pick and choose from countless perspectives in the spiritual marketplace? (2) Should you pledge your allegiance to one spiritual group and thereby resolve your need to belong, or should you stay on an individual path of spirituality? (3) Is the world a display of countless points of view that are equal in value and importance, or do some spiritual views have more objective validity than others?

The book does not offer one more promotion for pluralism and multiculturalism in spiritual contexts. These are important, but they are limited in their capacity to hold both diversity and depth. At the core of their philosophy lies a problematic assumption that prevents the expansion of our understanding of God and religion. The book offers a guide for spiritual projects that express the unique impulse of our time.

If you sense the tectonic shifts underway in the geopolitical atmosphere around the world, if you discern how social media and the internet at large are contributing to epidemics of loneliness and isolation, and if you do not know what to do, then you are ready to start the difficult work of dialoguing with the unknown.

From the book: "Despite the fact that you may not have a clear vision yet, you know that the solutions on offer today are at best limited and at worst toxic to our inner (and outer) ecologies. This knowing is the impulse. It is the heart of your authentic, timeless, quest to know yourself. It is alive and endlessly creative. It never gets stuck. It is the indestructible quest to make meaning out of your life as a person and as a part of humanity—to provide answers and keep alive the thirst for a living manifestation of reality (or what some call 'God').”

About Common Hour: Common Hour started on the Chicago campus as a way to bring all campus constituents (faculty, staff, and students) together to discuss issues that relate to the university’s mission. Starting this Fall 2019 term, the Vancouver campus will join in this Adler University tradition with two Common Hour lectures each month. These lectures will allow any campus group or community member to present information that is topical or relevant to the university’s mission and values. We hope that these lectures will foster discussion and engagement across the entire Adler community.