A good book exploring this idea is The Great Search by John Philip Newell. He features nine different spiritual luminaries from various World Religions who all share the sense that we are part of something larger than any one tradition, part of the universe itself. The first chapter is about a broad-minded Catholic priest named Thomas Berry who carries forward the work of scientist-priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Chardin and Berry both explore what it means to have emerged from the universe itself, made of stardust, etc.
Such a beautiful and powerful poem. It came to mind while in a book group that was reading a book by another monkish fellow, Richard Rohr (the book was Falling Upward).
On Jan 14, 2026 Tom Martinez wrote on Is the Universe Friendly?, by Albert Einstein: