A new hope
I am asking for contributions to get my new book in circulation. it is a game changer because it directly addresses a deep existential angst that so many people are feeling today. Sky-rocketing rates of depression, anxiety, and addiction are symptomatic of this angst, and my book points to a need for new, integrative vision of and for spirituality and religion—or "God" in whatever way we prefer to conceive of this term—in our personal and collective lives. We can't go back to the great traditions to address this need, and so my book explores what we can do to go forward without throwing the proverbial baby—the profound depth of the world's spiritual and religious traditions—out with the bathwater.
My book is thus dedicated to seekers of integration: to those who long for the depth but cannot go back to the great traditions or ‘land’ in one perspective; to those who seek a common ground for an emerging collective spirituality that has depth, but who are unsure about how to achieve this. You might be one of many people today who are sensing a call to integrate complexity. In this book, I offer a radical process that can revolutionize your relationship with religion/spirituality, God (however you understand it), and the evolution of our species.
Help me share a message of hope, collaboration, and inspiration.
My book offers and expansive, inclusive story of the universe we live in. I believe that we owe our children stories and mythologies that can embrace both science and religion, individual and collective journeys, and where all of the critical aspects of human living are addressed and understood to be interdependent. I want to be part of a story where paradoxes are accepted, mystery is celebrated, and soulful living can co-exist with everyday practicalities.
Our lives are the ink through which this story is told.
In this story, we are all the protagonist and the supporting cast, the writers and the ‘fictional’ characters. The story combines chaos with harmony, the rhythms of life with the inherent balance of the universe, systemic thinking with radical acceptance. All in all, it is a meta-cultural attempt to invite more people into what is truly the greatest story ever told—the story of God (whatever your understanding of God may be).
I invite you and anyone who might be interested to re-imagine our potential as human beings, and to re-claim our place in the story of God.
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Why this book?
In two words, "Life: Upgraded".
This book addresses polarizing discourses in our inner lives, as well as in the realms of politics, religion, and culture. What makes this book stand out is that it offers practical structures that people can use in their own life and communities and answer together, the following questions:
- How can we address the conflict many of us feel between a need for the sacred in our lives and the lives of our children and our communities, and yet our aversion to relying on old religious structures to address this need?
- What can you do to feel connected to yourself, others, and God?
- How can you communicate your ideas, worldviews, and needs with others in a genuine, respectful, and compassionate way?
- What does it look like to share a common vision where no one needs to compromise and where everyone can bring their full emerging selves as active participants?
So let’s get to work. :)
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Religion? God? . . . Seriously?
It's definitely not easy to sell a book with the words "God" and "Religion" anywhere in the title these days. Neither are sexy or trendy topics. "Spirituality" might get a bit more traction, but so much of what is out there on the "spiritual" marketplace feels either shallow or excessively commercialized—stripped of the great depth of the traditions. So, today we face a conundrum. Many of us long for depth, but can't justify going 'back' to religious traditions to find it. My book is a meditation on what going forward could look like for individuals and communities.
When people ask me about my spiritual affiliation, I occasionally reply by saying (somewhat seriously and somewhat jokingly) that I am a Jewish - Christian - Buddhist - Atheist. I write ‘jokingly’ because many people find it hard to believe that someone so dedicated to the religious impulse and to the emergence of God would be comfortable identifying as an atheist. However, I don't see a contradiction. Instead, I see a maturing and evolving reality that, by its nature, must include a developmental stage that rejects the split of man and God, ‘heaven’ and ‘earth’. This is so difficult to feel into because ‘God’ (or gods), as an archetype in our collective consciousness, has been mostly perceived as a supernatural, omnipotent deity.
Like so many people before me, I to want to bridge the gap of my experience toward a common ground of understanding and collaboration—not a common belief, nor a mutual respect to agree or disagree. I am seeking a common ground that is new because it is alive.
I am hoping you want that too. Here's the thing: I feel that God (Spirit, life, creation, call it what you wish) needs us; that the journey of God is two-fold: from God to us and from us to God (both being God!) and the longing for connection is mutual. It is as if God says, ‘help me to know myself’. And in the patience of that longing, love teaches me the language of life and the song of the Cosmos to be of service.
I wish to reach those who are currenting seeking to reclaim the story of God and to transform the role of the great spiritual traditions in the 21st century. I am not talking about any specific tradition, but the religious heart that is in pursuit of wholeness, integration, and maturation. It's this heart that I believe is at the essence of all authentic religious endeavours.
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Who am I?
I am a registered Clinical Counsellor and Assistant Professor of Counselling Psychology at Alder University based in Vancouver, Canada. I formerly served as the Program Director of the Orchard Recovery Centre on Bowen Island, with years of experience in treating trauma, addiction, depression, and anxiety. Ten years ago, I co-founded the New Earth Institute, a non profit educational organization that offers programs, workshops, and public talks for people and communities seeking awakened and evolving lives. For my work with disadvantaged soldiers in Israel, I earned a Certificate of Excellence from the President of Israel. I also have experience as a choreographer, philosophy teacher, yoga teacher, meditation instructor, and even a clown.
Academic Background:
- Ph.D.—Explored integrative approaches to addiction recovery and created a new model for recovery titled ‘integrative recovery model’.
- M.A. — Clinical Counselling—Focused on mindfulness based modalities in mental heath.
- M.A. — Education—Dedicated to improving people's sense of coherence.
- B.A. — Philosophy and Education
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From the media
A CTV interview on recovery day
Journey To A Life Of Recovery: Acknowledgment Of Addiction
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Testimonials
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Dr. Avraham Cohen, Ph.D., RCC, CCC, Vancouver, Canada
Shahar Rabi is one of the more brilliant and creative people I have ever met, and I have met some brilliant and creative people. Having had the opportunity to spend significant time with him over several years I have been impressed by his powerful presence that is significantly integrated with an enormous intelligence and ability to sense the other and the world. I recommend him unconditionally as a psychotherapist and an inner guide.
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Dr. Heesoon Bai, PhD., Professor, Faculty of Education.
Shahar's achievements as an intellectual, activist, contemplative, and therapist are immense and extraordinary. He is one of the few people that I have known who can fully encompass such a wide range of human capacities. In particular, I have always been impressed by the quality of presence that he manifests with people. He has a rare level of ability to sense, feel, perceive, attune, and intuit with respect to himself, in relation to others, and to the biosphere.
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Dr. Sean Park
Shahar has an extraordinary way of embodying and teaching how the creative soul and the disciplined mind work together in transformation. He brings together old school spirituality with succinct and practical insights into how to work with human heart, mind, and body in these challenging times. This is a rare gift. If you're looking to work with someone with deep skill and compassion for the dark spaces, Shahar unreservedly has the sincerity, courage, and humour for pointing to how you can shine a light in the world.
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Dr. Anne Bérubé, Ph.D., Author of Be Feel Think Do, spiritual coach, and speaker.
Dr. Rabi is offering a great gift to the world with his work as a psychotherapist and a coach. His approach to supporting others is based on extensive professional and personal training as well as in depth educational, psychological, and shamanic studies. His guidance is open, loving, and clear, and invites deep and enlightening insights. Since I have met Shahar in 2006, I have been continuously inspired by his unwavering commitment to human evolution and individuals ability to live a fulfilled, joyful, and meaningful life, no matter what the circumstances are. His faith in the resilience of the human heart is strong and he transfers that faith simply by being in his presence. I highly recommend Dr. Rabi to my clients who desire to cut through the veil of their anxiety, depression, or simply wish to remember the mystery and the magic of their innate Self.
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Sunyata Calogeros-Smith, Psychotherapist
Insightful, perceptive and compassionate, Dr. Rabi is a harbinger of transformation. I have had the pleasure of working collaboratively leading workshops with Shahar and have witnessed his capacity to hold a sacred space in group process work. He brings creativity, wisdom and warmth to all he works with and I wholeheartedly recommend him as a therapist.
Chela Davison, Former Director og Leadership & Strategic Innovation, Integral Coaching Canada
Shahar brings a depth of wisdom and attuned sensitivity to how he engages and meets others that immediately gets to the heart of the matter. I always feel deeply seen, acknowledged and appreciated in a way that enables me to more deeply see and meet aspects of myself that weren't fully available to me. He's incredibly gifted at deeply listening -- not only to what is being said or not said, but also to what is emerging the space and what is called for. Every time I have the pleasure of connecting with Shahar, I am left with a sense of wider space within myself, greater intimacy with my own needs and practical possibilities for how to carry my new found connection and insight into action. Shahar's style as a therapist and developmental guide is dynamic, curious and so deeply honouring. His care and integrity as a practitioner and human being are inspiring and vast.
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How will the funds from this campaign get used?
Publishing a book is an epic journey! For me, it started with a deep calling to create practical and effective solutions to the polarizing discourses of our times. What I have to offer matters. My book has been written and now I need help to share its important message with the world.
Here is how I will be using the funds:
- Developmental editing
- Content editing
- Copy editing
- Polishing
- Formatting
- Cover design
- Back cover design
- Printing management
- ISBN #
- Production of an audiobook version of the book
- Digital distribution
- Amazon strategy
- Promotions and marketing strategy
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Other Ways You Can Help
Some of you can't contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help!
- Please help me get the word out and make some noise about my campaign.
- Share my Video.
- Use the Indiegogo share tools on the right side of the page.
- Speak with your friends about the ideas of the book.
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A short overview of the main ideas in the book
1. In search of a sustainable future (providing practical solutions):
- Five principles to end polarizing discord.
- Making sense of our current cultural warfare.
- A comprehensive reorientation for our times.
- Identifying and expelling the four major social 'symptoms': (1) extremism and polarizing discord; (2) dislocation and social isolation; (3) ethnocentricity (‘us' vs. 'them’); and (4) narcissism (the cult of personality). All four are adaptive reactions to a culture that is unable to adjust to the growing complexities of our times.
2. The religious impulse as a bridge and the future of religion:
- Reclaiming the importance of religion as a bridge to a more collaborative future
- Understanding our emerging role in what I term the “learning and growing God”
- Showing how the ‘religious impulse’ manifests through time and in different cultures
3. Collaborative spirituality:
- How collaborative spirituality, when done well, can meet not only our personal needs but also our collective needs.
- What is post-individual spirituality?
- How to notice red flags and common traps in spiritual work.
- How to move from a traditional leadership model in religious and spiritual organizations into a collaborative model of leadership.
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A passage from the book
Reclaiming God
There is a code. Nature abides by it. Life flows because of it. Poets write to describe it and scientists have observed it—each from their distinct perspectives defined by time, history and culture. This code is alive and thus can never be captured nor can it be defined. And yet, we can embody its essence. The code is a call of love to all that is sacred in the Cosmos. It is the future in the now—always evolving, self-organizing, unifying.
You are part of that code, a miracle 14.7 billion years in the making. You are a child of of the Cosmos, the one and only you, and never will there be another just like you. You are a part and a whole, a whole-part, a “holon”. You are an evolving self-organizing structure composed of cells, tissues, and organs. You are also a part of an evolving self-organizing structure, composed of other people, things, and places, both endlessly small and endlessly big. Every perception, insight, or truth you have ever experienced is nested in an unfolding grid that is timeless and boundless. You exist at a balance point between chaos and order. And between being and becoming.
Equilibrium is your goal. Evolution is your quest.
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