The Metanexus Network began as a global constellation of interdisciplinary communities exploring foundational questions at the intersection of science and spirituality. Growing out of the Local Societies Initiative and later the Metanexus Global Network Initiative, these groups brought together scientists, philosophers, theologians, and scholars to engage questions of meaning, personhood, consciousness, and human purpose beyond the limits of any single discipline.
The original Network focused on two core commitments: dialogue between scientific and spiritual traditions, and transdisciplinary inquiry into the assumptions shaping human understanding. These communities served as spaces for rigorous conversation, intellectual experimentation, and resistance to fragmentation driven by excessive specialization.
Today, Metanexus carries this legacy forward while expanding its scope. As cultural, technological, and existential pressures reshape what it means to be human, the Network is evolving into a broader ecology of communities exploring new ways of being human. Building on its foundational roots, the renewed Network emphasizes lived inquiry, experimentation, and creative engagement with emerging forms of knowledge, practice, and community.
The Metanexus Network is no longer only a site of dialogue, but a space for shared exploration—where inherited questions meet present realities, and new possibilities are allowed to take shape.
Metanexus Groups
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Workshop of Religion and Science
Faculty of Law and PoliticsShanghai Normal University This society brings together scholars of religion, philosophy, politics, law, and the sciences, in conjunction with the Institute of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy, to collaborate on creating a vibrant and exploratory group. The core planners facilitate the collaboration of scholars and students of Islamic, Buddhist,
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World Religions, Knowledge and Science (WoRKS) Group, Edwardsville
The Religious Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, Illinois The core membership of this society brings together faculty, students, professionals, clergy, and community leaders representing the disciplines of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, religious studies, philosophy, psychology, history, language, technology and ministry. Faith affiliations and scholarly expertise represented include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Muslim, and Bahá’í
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Yoga and Meditation Society for the Scientific Study of Spirituality
State University of New York, Oneonta Oneonta, New York The goal of this Local Society is to promote, on a formal and regular basis, a dynamic dialogue on the interaction of religion and science using yoga and meditation as a model. Studies on contemplative practice are readily available for discussion and debate and are instrumental