Soul Search

Can sacredness be found in the suburbs? And does it inevitably exist in religious buildings, or not?

Since the 1970s, mindfulness has become a widespread practice, used in business, hospitals, schools and the gym, going well beyond its original Hindu and Buddhist settings. So what’s happened to the spiritual content as mindfulness has gone mainstream?

This week on Soul Search we're thinking about work, burnout and gender - and what religion might have to say about it.

It's notoriously difficult to find words for God, but some musicians and poets come close. This week, the stories of two people who stir the spirit with their gifts - the author behind The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran, and the King of Soul, Sam Cooke.

In the first ever episode of Soul Search, we navigate the tricky terrain between colonialism and Christianity. We hear about Boorong, probably the first Indigenous Australian to encounter Christianity and its bible in the 1780s. And, we meet the women trying to #changetheheart by holding church services to mark Australia Day.

It’s the language of insults, food and humour you didn't even know you speak. This week, Yiddish and its connection to place, culture and religion in Australia. We speak to the authors of A Second Chance: The Making of Yiddish Melbourne. And, we hear Archibald Prize winner, Yvette Coppersmith's connection to the language.

The house of Islam contains nearly 2 billion believers, but keeping it together is a challenge, as Sunnis, Shias, Salafists and Sufis battle for the hearts and minds of Muslims. Author Ed Husain gives us an introduction to this great tradition in his new book 'The House of Islam: A Global History'.

Feeling stressed or being too busy is a state of mind that you can change by connecting to the Divine and radiating peace in your daily life. Sister Shivani of the Brahma Kumari movement is India’s most popular motivational speaker, and she shares her deceptively simple remedy for happiness with Rachael Kohn. And, we headed into the kitchen of an Indian-Australian household to hear about Raksha Bandhan, an annual Indian ritual that celebrates sibling love and protection.

We explore the monastic life across the faith spectrum with Stephen J. Davis, author of ‘Monasticism: A Very Short Introduction’. And producer Mariam Chehab spends a day with Catholic nuns at the Poor Clares of Bethlehem Monastery in Sydney.

In this last ever episode of The Spirit of Things, Rachael Kohn reflects on a career spanning more than two decades at the ABC. And this time she's the guest, as she's interviewed by Barney Zwartz, former religion editor of the Age, about the highs and lows of religion reporting in Australia.