Discoveries about Spiritual Realities.  Today the Templeton Prize has been awarded each year, and recognizes a living individual who has shown extraordinary originality in advancing humanity’s understanding of spiritual realities, including research in love, creativity, purpose, infinity, intelligence, thanksgiving, and prayer. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Billy Graham, Reverend Dr. Arthur Peacocke, spiritual leader Pandurang Shastri Athavale, and theoretical physicist and author Paul Davis are some of the recipients.

In 1987, John Templeton was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his philanthropic efforts, which included his endowment of Templeton College, Oxford. After selling the Templeton Group of mutual funds in 1992, he focused his talents on pioneering new ways to create value and stimulate progress through philanthropy. Since then, he has authored and edited over a dozen books. One of his most significant, Worldwide Laws of Life, is a collection of 200 eternal spiritual principles drawn from the works of essayists and philosophers, ranging from Socrates to Benjamin Franklin.

Also in 1987, John Templeton created the Laws of life Essay Contest in his hometown of Winchester, Tennessee. His vision was to encourage young people to reflect and write about their own “laws of life.” Since then the contest has spread to communities and schools throughout the United States and around the world. Each contest is locally funded by an individual or organization that cares about the values and spiritual principles of young people.

Sir John Marks Templeton, the pioneer global investor who founded the Templeton Mutual funds and for the past three decades devoted his fortune to his foundation’s work on the “Big Question” of science, religion, and human purpose passed away on July 8, 2008, at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, of pneumonia.