Then, last summer, while doing research for a PowerPoint presentation on forgiveness, I discovered the Campaign for Forgiveness Research (www.forgiving.org). I briefly covered this site during my July 2001 column on forgiveness. The Campaign's goal is to fund 60 projects on the power of forgiveness and reconciliation. Thirty-eight projects have been funded so far and are listed in detail at the site. Some of the projects include "At-Risk Youth Learn to Forgive," "Corporate Culture, Downsizing, and Forgiveness," and "Forgiveness and Long-Term Marriage." The site is worth a visit or more, not only to read about the research that is going on, but to learn about how you can use forgiveness in your own life. Put your pointer over the "Working to Forgive" heading and you'll see a dropdown menu with the following sections: "Myth," "Truths," "Why Should I?," "Courage to Forgive," "Take Steps to Forgive," "Choose to Forgive," and 'Share Stories." The 'Share Stories" section can be therapeutic, for readers and for contributors. You can read the stories of people who have forgiven or who are struggling for forgiveness. You can also share your own stories of forgiveness.

Within the last month, I discovered the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (IRUL--www.unlimitedloveinstitute.org). IRUL was recently established at the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and is dedicated to supporting and funding scientific research on unlimited love. The Institute defines unlimited love as follows:

The essence of love is to affectively affirm as well as to unselfishly delight in the well-being of others, and to engage in acts of care and service on their behalf; unlimited love extends this love to all others without exception, and in an enduring and constant way. Widely considered the highest form of virtue, unlimited love is often deemed a Creative Presence underlying and integral to all of reality, participation in which constitutes the fullest experience of spirituality. Unlimited love acknowledges for all humanity the absolutely full significance that, because of egoism, hatred, and group conflict we otherwise acknowledge only for ourselves and for those closest to us.

In addition, IRUL believes that other-regarding virtues are a subset and expression of unlimited love. These other-regarding virtues include empathy and understanding, generosity and kindness, compassion and care, altruism and self-sacrifice, celebration and joy, and forgiveness and justice.

With the above definitions in mind, IRUL has issued a Request for Proposals for research projects from universities, colleges, hospitals, laboratories, and research institutions. Funding will be granted for projects that focus on unlimited love and other-regarding virtues in the areas of Human Development; Public Health and Medicine; Approaches to Defining Mechanisms by Which Altruistic Love Affects Health; Other-Regarding Virtues; Evolutionary Perspectives on Other Regard; and The Sociological Study of Faith-Based Communities and Their Activities in Relation to the Spiritual Ideal of Unlimited Love.

If you want to find out more about this research, I urge you to visit the IRUL website. The site isn't as interactive or filled with personal-use information as www.forgiving.org, but there is some great information here including the white papers that go into detail about the various research areas. The white papers can be accessed through the "publications" section and you don't have to be a scientist to understand them. Each paper is loaded with references to book titles, articles, and completed research for those who want to explore more in-depth information.

The "publications" section also has information about ordering two important books in the unlimited love and other-regarding virtue field. The Ways and Power of Love by Pitirim Sorokin was originally published in 1954 when Sorokin was at the Harvard Research Center. Sorokin was a man before his time and is considered an essential 20th Century pioneer in the study of altruistic love at the interface of science and religion. After being out of print for many years, Sorokin's book has been re-published in a new edition by Templeton Press. Another title is Altruism and Altruistic Love—Science, Philosophy, and Religion in Dialogue by Stephen G. Post, Lynn G. Underwood, Jeffrey P. Schloss, and William B. Hurlbut. This book is a collaborative examination of the evolutionary, neurological, developmental, psychological, social, cultural, and religious aspects of altruistic behavior.

When I did an advanced search at Google.com for unlimited love, I found that the IRUL website was right at the top of the list. Another interesting find, though, was another book by Templeton Press (www.templetonpress.org). In Pure Unlimited Love : An Eternal Creative Force and Blessing Taught by All Religions, Sir John Templeton seeks to define pure, unlimited love as the "transcendent power of divine love that expresses itself through our hearts and minds when we are open and receptive to it." He believes that unlimited love's greatest attributes are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. The book is designed to serve as an inspiration as well as a step-by-step guide on how to put the concept of unlimited love into practice.

Next Month: What do the Psychic Children have to do with unlimited love?

Do you have a favorite spiritual or personal growth Web site that you'd like me to review? Please drop me an e-mail at Monty764@aol.com. And remember, I also want to hear your story about how the Internet and the World Wide Web have impacted your journey toward self-realization. A short e-mail questionnaire is available by contacting Monty764@aol.com. Just fill it out and e-mail it back. Your contribution will help me complete my Spirituality & the Internet Research Project and, in turn. Will help others who are undertaking a similar pilgrimage.