In The Essential Worldwide Laws of Life, Sir John Templeton noted: “The basic principles for leading ‘a sublime life,’ to paraphrase Longfellow, can be examined and tested just as science examines and tests natural laws of the universe. By learning the laws of life and applying them to everyday situations, more and more people may find themselves leading joyful and useful lives” (Templeton, 2012, pp. xvii-xviii). Sir John’s writings on “spiritual laws” and the “laws of life” could serve as a beneficial reference for those applying to the RFP to inform their perspective about the Foundation’s Donor Intent. The Enhancing Life Project seeks to establish the relation between enhancing life and the spiritual laws known and those yet to be discovered that aid in life’s enhancement.
The goal of The Enhancing Life Project is to seed promising projects that foster the emergent field of Enhancing Life Studies. Successful applicants will further and exemplify the Project’s standards and goals for growth, and fit with the John Templeton Foundation’s Donor Intent. The proposed project must advance Sir John Templeton’s visionary approach to truer and deeper life: “we know that humans flourish best in a system of life that stimulates novelty, innovativeness and individuality, and that rewards new approaches, new concepts, new inventions, and new and better ways of thinking about life and its ultimate ends and concerns.” In bringing together related fields of academic inquiry and public interest, The Enhancing Life Project will discover, advance, and disseminate knowledge about the big questions of what it means to enhance life in accordance with spiritual laws. Applicants should humbly seek also to advance the vision and the intent of Sir John and the Foundation. The Project will not fund proposals that do not have a direct link to the donor intent of the John Templeton Foundation.