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The Documentary Podcast
Heart and Soul: Online spiritual communities
The Documentary Podcast
Aug 4, 2023

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?

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Presented by Faranak Amidi.

Produced by Laura Thomas, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.

(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich)


26min 37sec


Heart and Soul: Online spiritual communities

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