What is the Church of the Great Mystery?
It is a "church" for those who suspect that humanity may have thrown out the baby with the bathwater by discarding religion wholesale, and that we need a new spirituality that doesn't contradict rationality.
It is a gathering place for those who wish to practice principles like reverence, awe, humility, gratitude, and compassion from outside of traditional religion.
What are its principles?
The central principle is radical agnosticism.
We may think we know what reality is, but we don't. Is it a dream? A simulation? Something else? It is provably impossible to reason out the answer with literally any degree of certainty whatsoever. The most honest position is therefore radical agnosticism—that is, agnosticism not just about God, but about the very nature of reality itself.
Yet there is one thing that you can be certain of: namely, that something seems to be happening. This fact seems so utterly unremarkable that we generally overlook it, instead getting lost in our unjustified beliefs about it (and completely forgetting that they are indeed unjustified).
This process can be reversed: we can learn to fully immerse our attention in that-which-seems-to-be-happening, while deeply releasing the pretense of having any idea what it is or what's causing it. We believe this to be the most radically honest thing a human can do—and when people do so completely, something astonishing happens: they rediscover the authentic source of all religion, sans "religion" itself.
Does the world really need another church?
Many people feel no attraction to traditional religion, yet sense that our modern secular worldview is profoundly overconfident in its assessment of a fundamentally inert and meaningless reality. We believe this erroneous view is the root cause of the ennui and despair that are driving the planetary crises.
People want to believe in "something more," but are (rightly) cautious about falling prey to superstition. Therefore, paths are needed that put intellectual honesty first and foremost, while still delivering "the goods." This is a very fine line to walk, and we are simply offering one more way to walk it for those who feel left out.
Where do you meet?
Our first chapter will be in Austin, TX. Perhaps with time there can be more!