About Us
HolisticMap is a project of the Foundation for Holistic Spirituality (F4HS), a non-profit community interest company (cic) founded by William Bloom and Nigel Anthony in 2007.
In its Articles and Memorandum of Agreement the purpose of the Foundation is stated to be
"education in the field of spirituality, religious studies, healthcare and citizenship."
Background
What follows is the text from one of our information leaflets. It describes the general background to the whole project.
Contemporary Spirituality and the Global Village
Two hundred years ago the world’s spiritual traditions existed in isolation from each other. Today their teachings and practices are available to everyone. A good example of this is school children learning about many different beliefs and faiths.
Many people today have moved away from belonging to a single faith community and have adopted a more general and inclusive approach. One of the earliest examples of this was the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. There is now a World Parliament every five years. 
One of the significant moments of that first gathering was when the Hindu teacher, Swami Vivekananda, told the story about a frog who lived in a well. This frog met another frog who lived in the ocean. Vivekananda suggested that traditional religions were sometimes like that frog in the well. They needed to appreciate the greater ocean.
The Difference Between Religion and Spirituality
Contemporary spirituality suggests that there is a difference between religion and spirituality. Religion can be described as an organised set of beliefs and customs. Spirituality on the other hand is an individual and personal experience.
Ofsted, the major government body concerned with children’s education in England, describes spirituality:
“It is characterised by reflection, the attribution of meaning to experience, valuing a non-material dimension to life and intimations of an enduring reality. ‘Spiritual’ is not synonymous with ‘religious’; all areas of the curriculum may contribute to pupils’ spiritual development.”
Spiritual Supermarket and Individual Choice
All the world’s sacred texts are now available, as well as their practices and strategies. Yoga, prayer, song, meditation and being in nature are just a few examples. They come from all over the world, from every continent and culture.
At the same time, there is a growing understanding of the spiritual dimensions of ecology, psychology, feminism, science, medicine and so on. All these are often put under the umbrella term of Mind-Body-Spirit or a ‘holistic’ approach.
It may appear that there are too many choices, but contemporary spirituality is also imbued with the ideas of self-empowerment and self-management. So people can explore the different resources available and make their own decisions about how to conduct their development.
Values and Ethics
Our contemporary situation makes it possible to take a holistic and inclusive approach to ethics. In this way, the core values of the major religions and philosophies can be entwined together to make an even stronger ethical statement; the golden rule of which is to care for others as we would have them care for us.
Today these classical core values also include the clear insights of green sustainability and developmental psychology. We need to live in harmony with nature. We also need to care for and support all people. (See our Holistic Values Statement)
Individuality and Community
A central idea of contemporary spiritual culture is the empowerment of individuals and that it is important for people to maintain their independence and freedom. It does not have a centralised organisation. It does, however, have many small groups and centres, and there is a general sense of a community or network of like-minded people.
“Ongoing connection with the wonder and energy of nature and life is good for personal and community wellbeing.
Our lives are not about material and social success.
We are all on a path of life-long personal development moving towards greater compassion and wisdom.”
Foundation for Holistic Spirituality
Two people are currently working full time on this project, Nigel Anthony (left) and William Bloom.