tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8855278678333112242024-03-05T04:00:18.942-06:00The Humanist Contemplative BlogEssays in Spiritual Naturalism, Stoicism, Buddhism, Humanism, Complex Systems theory, science, religion, and philosophy.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger430125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-6679818655385177202014-08-22T09:34:00.002-05:002014-08-22T09:34:39.104-05:00SNS Year 1 Anthology Book Now Available<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAV89wCiQp756oP-_uKyVufFCDn78io20lUpfOwr8Gr098p8UoaTVAXM74mII8QKu-_l4uvysB74A1oVkKNlxIWagfZBLQZPXUbrHtkoDcIuLue4xIBdeJMs79ulam1PF9PUq7b2K_pVf7/s1600/exploring-spiritual-naturalism-year1-a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAV89wCiQp756oP-_uKyVufFCDn78io20lUpfOwr8Gr098p8UoaTVAXM74mII8QKu-_l4uvysB74A1oVkKNlxIWagfZBLQZPXUbrHtkoDcIuLue4xIBdeJMs79ulam1PF9PUq7b2K_pVf7/s1600/exploring-spiritual-naturalism-year1-a.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
We have great news for our members, subscribers, and all enthusiasts
of naturalistic spirituality! Articles from the first year of the
Spiritual Naturalist Society have been brought together and organized by
theme in this new anthology. Now the work of ten authors is available
to the public, to Regular Members, and to Supporting Members, with a
foreword by meme and consciousness researcher Susan Blackmore.
Currently, the book can be purchased in print form or e-book now at
Lulu.com (purchase links: <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/dt-strain/exploring-spiritual-naturalism-year-1-an-anthology-of-articles-from-the-spiritual-naturalist-society/paperback/product-21692277.html" target="_blank">paperback</a> | <a href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/dt-strain/exploring-spiritual-naturalism-year-1-an-anthology-of-articles-from-the-spiritual-naturalist-society/ebook/product-21704217.html" target="_blank">E-book</a>).
In a few weeks processing will be complete and we expect the book to
become available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles website as well.
Your purchase of the anthology goes to help support the mission and
operations of the Spiritual Naturalist Society.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: red;">Note to Supporting Members:</span> You
can get the print version of the book at cost (lower than normal sale
price), and the e-book for free, as a part of your member benefits in
the Society. Simply <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/contact/">contact us</a> to request which version/s you’d like and we will get them to you directly.<br />
<br />
<strong>HOW TO GET THE BOOK CURRENTLY</strong><br />
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<li><strong>SNS Supporting Members:</strong> <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/contact/">Contact us</a>
and let us know the form you’d like it (paperback or which e-book
version). E-book formats are emailed free for Supporting Members and
paperback is at cost, paid through PayPal, credit card, or check.</li>
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ISBN: 9781304435163<br />
Publisher: Spiritual Naturalist Society<br />
(c) Spiritual Naturalist Society, Inc.<br />
First Edition, 2014 Pages: 320<br />
Dimensions: 6″ x 9″<br />
Weight: 1.19 lbs.<br />
Binding: perfect bound Interior ink: black & white<br />
<br />
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<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-1640555359809624882014-08-22T09:31:00.002-05:002014-08-22T09:31:31.446-05:00Letting go of the side of the pool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwjQD81OIftPaSJ4vBZf8N6U8KgwURMcwx1wOdR9qcyujDYbIQrGzqog2dMIqMCYnXQX86eZtBZdwFcNJEqahk6W1cbRWWUnI14uqgIJhek_45AIqkKofUR9ZNItA-sGt4A_Dj_RlhGHN/s1600/6215151327_4d9e38e468_z_f_improf_410x273.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKwjQD81OIftPaSJ4vBZf8N6U8KgwURMcwx1wOdR9qcyujDYbIQrGzqog2dMIqMCYnXQX86eZtBZdwFcNJEqahk6W1cbRWWUnI14uqgIJhek_45AIqkKofUR9ZNItA-sGt4A_Dj_RlhGHN/s1600/6215151327_4d9e38e468_z_f_improf_410x273.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/-mrgt-/6215151327">Margot Gabel</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
In earlier articles I’ve discussed what <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/what-is-spiritual-transformation-pt-1-of-2/">spiritual transformation</a>
could mean in a naturalistic context. Many times the real essence of
these profound experiences can be difficult to communicate. They involve
glimpses of such things as: unconditional compassion, greater humility,
extreme empathy, profound experience, a sense of the sacred, revelatory
perspectives, and so on. Experiences with several ancient philosophical
sources of wisdom and their sincerely-applied practice can help to make
us something closer to a “different kind of person” altogether. But I
was asked recently to write about what roadblocks might exist for some
of us who come from secular humanist, skeptic, atheist, freethought, and
similar backgrounds face. Sometimes our own tendencies can create a
serious impediment to really exploring these practices properly. Here
are some I can think of…<br />
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
1) Always looking at things from the
third-person; seeking ‘objective’ descriptions of everything, as though
writing an anthropological research paper on it. This, as opposed to
greater appreciation and immersion in first-person subjective
experience. We cannot achieve greater subjective intuitive experience
through greater objective intellectual knowledge alone. We are still
holding on to the edge of the pool, scared to float.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
2) An outward social/political focused
agenda and perspective, as opposed to an inward-looking focus on
personal growth and development (which, incidentally, helps give a
firmer foundation to social efforts).</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
3) Talking/writing <i>about</i> the thing rather than putting it into practice (be it meditation or any other practice).</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
4) Appreciating the role of metaphor
merely in an intellectual sense, without ever really moving one’s
perspectives, responses, and feelings into that place.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
5) Trying to approach the matter in a
step by step process, whereby we: (a) note the claims, (b) assess them
empirically, (c) decide if they have merit, (d) engage in them, and (e)
reap the benefits. Where experiential cultivation practices are
concerns, this algorithm will <i>never</i> get us there. We will
eternally be stuck on stage (b) as many of us indeed are. In Buddhist
practices, for example, we could be an expert in every character of the
Pali Canon and more written over the centuries and this would not even
constitute the first step. We will never reach a point where we have
assessed the practices and decided they are worthy to be engaged in –
not fully and not to the extent that matters. This is because they are
inherently subjective experiences. The way you investigate them is by
engaging in them without reservation.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
6) The impulse to reject anything with
the ‘taint’ of religion upon it, either because of ourselves or because
of our fear others might think we are religious.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
7) The effort to build something
“alongside” or “other” than religion – instead of working to help the
continued transformation of religion into a naturalistically compatible
genuine path. This involves a completely bold and shameless use of their
terms, imagery, practices, and manners of speech, whenever they are
applicable – without apology. Not because of some effort to steal them –
but because these terms convey honest feelings we have a right to and
which illustrate the feelings we have about the awesomeness of reality.
“a-” words and “non-” words and alternate clinical descriptions (alone)
are – when it comes to the realm of spirituality – the *ghetto* of the
English language, and we must aspire to better.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
8) A continuous drive to debunk,
critique, or complain about others’ beliefs – focusing on telling others
what they ought to believe and do, rather than leading by living
example.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
9) A failure to appreciate or trust the
full power of universal and unconditional love, forgiveness, and
compassion; a generally harsh demeanor instead of loving-kindness, and
an underestimating of the importance of such a demeanor to one’s
well-being.</div>
Many of us rationalists, Humanists, etc. who aim to approach
naturalistic spirituality sit against the wall at the dance, talking
with one another about the dancers out on the floor. We analyze their
movements and critique their techniques. Then we speculate about the
biological underpinnings of their enjoyment of the dance. We might even
present studies on the neural correlates of dancing. We imagine that
this discussion and knowledge somehow gets us closer to being good
dancers or to sharing in that enjoyment. Then the lights come on, the
party is over, and we go home completely failing to have ever danced or
even understood what the experience of dance is like or how it really
feels. In the Houston chapter of the Spiritual Naturalist Society, we
have covered topics like meditation, compassion, spiritual progress,
awe/wonder, Taoism, Paganism, Buddhism, etc. I have found that many
attendees love talking about “how it is” as if we are a bunch of aliens
floating over planet earth, assessing the humans. But when I ask them to
share their experiences, feelings, and how these practices affect their
lives, I sense a resistance to ‘getting personal.’ The former kind of
intellectualizing and rhetoric is not even a ‘lower level’ of spiritual
practice – it is another kind of thing altogether, and will not be
sufficient to the practitioner. There are other doors yet to be entered
for many naturalists. And they must be if we are to truly heal the
schism and reunite the natural and the sacred.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em><br />
__________<br />
<em>This article is a paraphrase of comments originally left by the author at <a href="http://www.humanisticpaganism.com/" target="_blank">www.HumanisticPaganism.com</a>.</em><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-687997517440269892014-08-22T09:27:00.004-05:002014-08-22T09:27:36.887-05:00Understanding Evidence & Reason in Spiritual Naturalism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhHrtHFCjgcr8hn6A1yXTzpS7TFcpKwXBClGQd3DOtOhyi9sCojnRuFli0RCJ5yF5LEI9cVGyY4RMfRnfQYN0ZpUXNlCLe6z1O5Z65RVHqNssQscf0VPjNaaaodeHY7Ba7DDXWv11OBNS/s1600/8384963863_29a45f00f8_z_f_improf_217x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhHrtHFCjgcr8hn6A1yXTzpS7TFcpKwXBClGQd3DOtOhyi9sCojnRuFli0RCJ5yF5LEI9cVGyY4RMfRnfQYN0ZpUXNlCLe6z1O5Z65RVHqNssQscf0VPjNaaaodeHY7Ba7DDXWv11OBNS/s1600/8384963863_29a45f00f8_z_f_improf_217x300.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“This universe… has not been made<br /> by any god or man… but is an<br />
ever-living fire, kindling itself by<br /> regular measures…” –Heraclitus,
Fr.20.<br /> Photo (cc) Andy Morris.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Naturalists can be found in many places extolling the value of reason
and evidence so this will not be a redundant preaching to the choir.
What I hope to do differently here includes two things: (1) to highlight
how our naturalist understanding of the world leads to, or relates to,
the importance of reason and evidence; and (2) to explain why reason and
evidence is not the ‘end-all, be-all’ of <i>Spiritual</i> Naturalism or our spiritual practice.<br />
<br />
Evidence and Reason are two things we use to determine what is real
or true. Basic physical evidence is simply raw fact and doesn’t quite
get us to broad applicable conclusions of the world by itself. It must
be gathered in a reliable way, assessed rationally, and then processed
with reason in order to provide a picture of the world.<br />
<br />
Our evidence is rarely complete, and we are imperfect at gathering it
accurately. And, when it comes to processing it with our reason, we can
make many mistakes and fail to comprehend. So, using reason and
evidence to glimpse reality is an imperfect process with a lot of
pitfalls. But it is the best process we have found so far for coming to
reliable, repeatable, conclusions about the objective world –
conclusions that display their veracity by the fact we can take actions
and craft things in accord with them which are effective. But because
this approach is imperfect and limited, we have to proceed with humility
and take careful precautions to help ensure we are not overstating or
missing things. Most importantly, all conclusions must be provisional
and open to revision based on continual looking and learning. There are
many such humble yet rational people in the world. But what even they
miss will be addressed later.<br />
<br />
For now, I would like to explore why naturalists use evidence and
reason as a means to gain knowledge about the world. We could go into
the history of these ideas with respect to Western civilization and the
Enlightenment, or the history of ideas in the East. But here I will keep
things general and conceptual.<br />
Many people don’t realize that these two pillars of knowledge are
derived directly from our view of what the universe, or reality, is. The
two traits that define reality as naturalists see it are: (1) It is
monistic, and (2) it operates according to natural law. <i>Our use of <b>evidence</b> derives directly from the implications of <b>monism</b>, and our use of <b>reason</b> derives from the implications of <b>natural laws</b></i>.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Monism</h2>
Without getting too technical, there are varieties of ‘monism’. But
simply put, like many ancient Greek philosophers, we view the universe
as One. That is, it is one integrated whole. All of its parts are
interconnected and interdependent, with nothing ‘transcending’ or
‘super’ to nature. At least, not the parts we can observe and
cross-verify with one another. So, it’s not that things outside Nature
aren’t <i>possible</i> – it’s just that we simply don’t base our
perspectives, principles, or practices off of them or found our
spirituality upon things we can’t claim to know*. This holistic view of
reality is also generally consistent with the Vedic metaphor of <i>Indra’s Net</i> in ancient India and the Buddhist concept of interconnectedness.<br />
<br />
The reason why our use of evidence is derived from interdependence is
because this creates a chain of consequences for every state of being
or event in a system. In other words, if something is true, or an event
happens, it should leave behind results of that happening or states
which can be observed and traced back to its cause. Anything outside
this interconnected web in which we find ourselves would not leave
evidence that we could reliably use to make statements about it. So, the
reason we do not include these things in our spiritual practices is not
necessarily because reality is limited, but because – in either case – <i>we</i> are limited.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Natural Law</h2>
Natural Law, or the laws of physics, are really quite an astounding thing to consider. Heraclitus spoke of the <i>Logos</i>
– that is, the underlying rational order by which the universe
operates, and he said Nature’s complex transformations were like a
kindling in an ever-living divine fire. Some later thinkers would
associate the rational operation of the universe with a reasoning mind
like ours, which played into concepts of personified deities (eventually
the Christians used ‘Logos’ to mean ‘the word of God’). But it is clear
to us today that the universe does operate rationally, in that its
motions can be examined, understood, and described.<br />
<br />
Buddhist causality (see <i>pratītyasamutpāda</i>), or dependent
origination, also describes how events take place in the world because
of prior causes. This may seem a rudimentary statement to us today, but
in ancient times when so much was not understood about nature, this was
an impressive and crucial achievement. People didn’t need to fear that a
storm or illness was because they were displeasing the gods or spirits.
Neither did people need to think that their lot was entirely up to
chance.<br />
<br />
The fact that things happen for a reason and because of causes means
that we can work to understand those causes and take action to change
them. Centuries before the beginning of the Enlightenment, these
concepts would open the door to the use of reason to solve problems.
This is why our use of reason derives from the fact that the universe
operates in predictable, understandable ways. Given that our brains
evolved in such a system, for dealing with our environment, the notion
that our own rational capacity is a ‘spark’ of that divine fire
operating throughout the cosmos is not wholly off base.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Discerning what ‘reason says’ from what ‘we say’</h2>
The problem that arises when many naturalists discuss evidence is
that they tend to focus on what everyone else is doing wrong. We too
often use it as a tool to criticize others, or to dismiss them or their
beliefs. To so many, the paramount issue is ‘being right’.<br />
<blockquote>
Walter: “Am I wrong!?”<br />
The Dude: “You’re not wrong, Walter. You’re just an asshole!”<br />
– <i>The Big Lebowski</i></blockquote>
<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist approach, however, is to take to heart what
Gandhi said about being the change you wish to see in the world, and
what the Stoics recognized – that the only thing we truly control is our
own values, character, and choices. Our spiritual practice thus reminds
us to turn toward ourselves and trust that humility and our living
example will be a better testament and inspiration than offense and
debate. But, importantly, understanding this is about more than merely
‘public relations’. We sincerely need to reassess the role, emphasis,
and place of reason in our hearts and minds as naturalists.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Limitations of the rational faculties</h2>
<blockquote>
“Logic is the beginning of wisdom… not the end.”<br />
– Mr. Spock, <i>Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country</i></blockquote>
<br />
All good scientists and rational people understand the limitations of
reason and evidence. As naturalists we cannot use those limitations as
an excuse to make unjustified claims. But what we can recognize is that
the human mind is vastly more complex, diverse, and subtle than merely a
tool for conducting formal logical operations. Active conscious reason
is an important tool we possess, but there are many things far too
subtle, vast, or complex for our conscious rational processes to handle.<br />
<br />
For example, ask any athlete what they are thinking about during
their most complicated or vigorous actions and they will report a kind
of thoughtless flow. Undoubtedly, the brain is making many incredibly
complex real-time ‘calculations’ for lack of a better word. But these
operations lie beyond that subset we refer to as the rational tools we
use to assess arguments, plan, or build things.<br />
<br />
But it goes even further than merely doing things. It also extends to <i>understanding</i>
things – really perceiving them directly, or what might traditionally
be called ‘gnosis’. This is a kind of intuitive grasping that goes
deeper than mere intellectual knowledge. If I tell you about a fist than
came within one inch of my face, you grasp “inch”. But when I tell you
about a galaxy 3 million parsecs from earth, you only intellectually
know what a “parsec” is. An inch is on the scale of your experience,
whereas a parsec is an abstract concept of distance.<br />
<br />
The difference between inches and parsecs is the most rudimentary
example and doesn’t even begin to cover some of the vast subtleties of
reality that only experience can really lead us to grasping intuitively.
Yet these kinds of intuitive understandings is of what wisdom largely
consists; and this is why a wise or experienced person cannot simply
explain a list of facts to an unwise or inexperienced person to improve
their condition.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Perception and understanding as broader concepts</h2>
We do not currently know of any verified means by which knowledge
enters the mind other than the physical senses. But what we need to
understand is that our normal perception of the world is being seen
through a filter. Our brains evolved to block out a lot of information,
or to prioritize it and emphasize it to us in a certain order. This is
why we aren’t constantly distracted by the bits of dust floating in the
air as we engage in a business meeting. Yet, the ‘goals’ of our
instinctive brain, including the intermediary goals of our rational
brain, are arbitrary and unrelated to the true reality of the larger
world in which we exist. That goal-set, and the filtering and
prioritizing of our incoming impressions, is a bias on reality. But even
more, once we get that customized set of inputs, we further limit them
by applying labels and categorizations to them based on our limited
experience, deluding ourselves into believing that the abstract symbols
of language have enhanced our understanding rather than constrained it.
True reality has no such filtering and cannot be so easily described by
our simple vocalizations.<br />
<br />
Why is this important? The world, as it truly exists, is an
extraordinary dance of overwhelming interactions. It is boundless and
luminous in all of its dimensions and ever-changing forms – time itself
laid out like an eternal tapestry. To say it is beautiful or interesting
is a comical understatement. There are states of mind in which the veil
of that filter is lifted and we can catch glimpses of the world. One
must necessarily step up to more advanced ways of conversing than
technical language, such as poetry, to describe it if only partially.
People interpret those experiences as best they can, and in different
ways but language fails to convey them to others (a problem I face in
even writing this article). But even these paltry glimpses, if a person
is ready for them, can change a life forever.<br />
<br />
This is relevant to naturalistic spirituality (or more specifically,
to its purpose – human happiness) because such grasping is instrumental
in handling the events in life as an athlete handles the
moment-to-moment flow of their sport. Taoists describe this effortless
action, and to increase our ability to handle life in the same manner
greatly improves our experience.<br />
<br />
Importantly, this is not merely an emotional placebo that makes us
feel better about our lot. It is deeper perception of an objective truth
about reality, which yields real fruits that allow for more skillful
action in our lives than was possible before. This is much like they way
rationality allows us intellectual knowledge which yields the ability
to achieve simpler goals, yet at a level that makes it understandable
why so many in history have confused it with magic (or, perhaps current
understandings may lead to a refined understanding of a more relevant
use for that word).<br />
<br />
<h2>
A space for the a-rational</h2>
These things are not opposed to, or contrary to, reason or logic or
evidence-based approaches. They are not irrational. But they are <em>a-rational</em>
– other ways of grasping our conditions and responding to them than
strictly using our conscious logical faculties. While logic and reason
can do things we will always need, they are essentially one tool in our
toolbox. The problem arises when we think this is our only tool, or when
we think the things it does are the only things that need doing.
Another problem is when people try to use this kind of intuitive
grasping in places where reason is needed or to make unsubstantiated
claims about individual matters of fact. Intuition of this kind is best
used to grasp the subtle flow of complex systems in a real-time or
interactive manner when simple reason is not sufficient or possible.
From that grasping comes a balanced view and value judgments, which help
guide our actions (or refrain from action) in highly complex
situations.<br />
<br />
It is also this kind of view which informs us, in a profound way, of
that value which is even more primary than even reason: compassion.
Perceptions of interconnectedness will inevitably lead us away from the
isolated goal-set of our lone egos. As we take on that larger view in an
intuitive and deep way, compassion becomes more than either a mere
concept or an empathic impulse. It becomes an obvious natural response
to reality; its contrary being madness. This too increases life skills.
How can strictly reason-based ethical models serve us in a vast, complex
world where all the variables, options, and consequences are rarely
known to us? We must rely on our virtues and these are cultivated from
wide holistic grasping of the subtleties of things – <em>the flow of Nature</em>.<br />
<br />
These perspectives can be cultivated through many different means.
Altered states have been reached in near-death experiences or with
chemical assistance and most commonly in dreams and appreciation of
beauty, but there are many other ways of glimpsing these big-picture aha
moments. This is one role for ritual, music, art, myth, community, and
many other practices like various kinds of meditation and more. When the
right realizations come together, we can even have unintentional and
unexpected epiphanies which lead to grasping while in a rational mode
(such as reading philosophy). You’ll know it when you feel your heart
beating from the rush.<br />
<br />
It is a large and robust space for these kinds of activities,
processes, and explorations that naturalists need. We need to understand
these are not mere entertainments or spice. They are integral to
greater wisdom and happiness in our lives and in the world. Therefore,
we cannot be content to explore rituals, myth, and practices as
scientists studying other humans in a lab. We must engage in them openly
ourselves to fully understand. All of this forms one part of a complete
practice that embraces naturalism and its methods alongside everything
else it means to be human – reason <em>and</em> compassion. This is what the Spiritual Naturalist Society and its members are interested in.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em><br />
__________<br />
* Withholding assent to that which we do not know or cannot know is an
act of cultivating humility and a spiritual practice I like to refer to
by the ancient Pyrrhonian term, <i>Epoché</i>.<br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-70458145742872448182013-12-16T11:21:00.000-06:002014-01-15T11:21:58.898-06:00Harvesting Happiness<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/85095446@N00/3216297429/in/photolist-5UdnaX-e1cjZw-Wjj6p-52hr3Z-8Pyv4N-4h472E-4h47PG-83i9j8-d154nA-7fsD9U-aukfcu-m6gS7-4ko8ot-2rck92-5FBai8-apNufh-buYr3u-cxeD1d-7fqEMX-71sKBJ-5Tdav9-9uperi-9upeGV-b446m-3K9ZBX-BGwWE-bLZDRB-ikpbZo-imcehi-4hCdW7-4hy7fD-Jrowv-9upeQR-9usg1j-9usgUY-9usfPU-9usg61-9usgLG-9upf9V-6S86AP-ctBSiu-a8scVH-a8v4Bq-a8v4zd-a8v4ys-8d41Wm-7KBQvW-aTxpuB-4pspAy-6QzTB8-eGmaS" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="crowds" class="size-medium wp-image-3687" height="201" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/crowds-300x201.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) Brett Davis.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We’ve all been in frustrating situations such as standing in a long
line in a crowded store, caught in highway traffic, and so on. I was in a
crowded coffee shop recently. The teller at the register was stressed.
The woman making the coffee was clearly upset that she was having to be
so busy for so long, perhaps because they were overstaffed. When she
called out the drinks that were ready, you could hear the annoyance in
her voice. Many of the customers in line were pretty grim too.<br />
<br />
When I first entered the store and found my way into line, my initial
reaction was to instinctively fall into a similar mode. However, I had
fortunately been thinking recently about mindfulness and keeping
perspective, so these thoughts were at the ready. I thought about the
overall situation I was seeing, and the truth of it was easier by
looking at the customers who had already picked up their coffees and
were taking their first taste. The overall fact was this: I was in a
place where all the people were there getting something they wanted or
needed. The customers were all getting nice coffees of their own
choosing to enjoy. And even the workers were working in a job that would
give them pay they could use when they were off.<br />
<br />
Comparing this to the many places where people are starving, sick,
dying, suffering from war and violence, and so on – it was clear that
many places people would be overjoyed to have a job or have enough
sustenance, let alone luxuries like flavored coffees. In actuality, by
any objective measure, <em>this was a place of pleasure and good fortune</em>.
We were all simply blind to the reality. Even if not everyone there
fully appreciated how fortunate they were to be there, it didn’t change
the fact that we were all very fortunate. We were people living in a
society that allowed us to enjoy this simple pleasure, and everyone was
walking out of there with the same benefit.<br />
<br />
With that in mind, I began to think about the exchange of pleasures
and what a nice thing it was that all of these people were getting their
little wishes fulfilled and needs met. But the tricky part is that that
you have to feel <em>for</em> the other person picking up their coffee
while you are still waiting in line. If you can associate yourself with
them, you can feel happy for them – even if they themselves aren’t
appreciating their situation. In a way, the fact that we often come to
take these things for granted is a testament to our fortunate state.<br />
<br />
Think of them the way their mother might have thought of them while
witnessing their child receiving a gift. We are all still those same
children we were inside, even if the years may have added weight to our
bodies and a lot of trivia and cynicism to our minds.<br />
<br />
If we can do this, then we may find a wonderful gift of our own in store.<br />
<br />
As it turns out, there are little pleasures all around us everyday. You might call this <em>ambient pleasure</em>.
But you can harvest this pleasure by placing your sense of self within
others. Now I no longer have to wait until I pick up my coffee. I can be
pleasured the whole time I am in that environment, feeling happy for
each person who gets their own as I see them blowing it with
anticipation on their way out. And when I do get up to the register, the
better I make the teller’s day, the more pleasure I can reap witnessing
that too.<br />
<br />
Now, it would be a mistake to confuse mere pleasure for True
Happiness, in the deepest sense of the word. But something wonderful
happens in this kind of transfer. If I were to simply enjoy a transient
pleasure of my own, that would be fine. But that kind of pleasure would
be a fleeting thing, and a foolish foundation on which to base my
contentment and flourishing in life. But when I feel happy for <em>someone else</em> enjoying a pleasure, this raw ore is smelted and refined into something more profound. Now it has been wrapped in <em>empathy</em>.
As such, it has a character-molding effect on my psyche and mental
habits. What was a simply mere pleasure for another has become an
ego-liberating practice for me – and in that can be a part of the puzzle
that is True Happiness.<br />
<br />
This is how we can harvest happiness from our surroundings everyday.
Now, when we stand in lines our difficulties seem less so as we focus
outward and see through scores of other eyes. As we wait for our turn, a
smile creeps upon our face as we see others reach the end of their
wait. <em>This is one example of the bountiful crop that is simply not available to the selfish</em>.<br />
<br />
Imagining experience from others’ point of view takes some
mindfulness, careful observation, an active imagination, and
contemplation. It also takes persistence and practice to internalize and
cultivate this as a habit. But as we come to associate our lot with
others’ evermore deeply, we begin to feel directly benefited and harmed
when they are. And the motivation to be kind, compassionate, forgiving,
and helpful is simply a natural and inevitable side effect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-64141201763701193692013-11-25T11:19:00.000-06:002014-01-15T11:19:36.756-06:00Meditation Framing & Procession: A Spiritual Naturalist Ritual<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The following is a description of a ritual I have designed to precede and
follow a meditation session, which I plan to use in my practice and
would like to share. It can be conducted alone or in a group. Given it
contains more elaborate steps than simple meditation, it may be suitable
to perform once per week rather than with each meditation. Or, if a
less frequent practice is preferred, it can be helpful to tie a ritual
to a natural phenomena, such as the full and new moon, for example. This
is a good way to symbolize our connection with the natural universe.
<br />
<br />
The ritual itself is designed to help us keep in mind the role and
function of meditation as a part of our larger practice. It’s themes
illustrate how meditation ‘fits in’ to that practice. In so doing, the
ritual ‘frames’ the meditation, both sequentially and conceptually.<br />
<br />
Like all ritual for Spiritual Naturalists, the outward procession of
actions exists to help direct our inward attention and mental habits and
perspectives. This is based on the confirmed knowledge that mental
activity (memory, thought, emotion) and physical activity are intimately
linked. On what you direct your inward mental attention during the
various portions of this ritual is paramount. By themselves, the outward
actions are meaningless. For this reason, keeping a highly directed
focus during the ritual, and conducting the ritual habitually, will
yield the best results (internalizing the concepts addressed in it).<br />
<br />
The symbolism, iconography, and metaphor used in this ritual
appropriately come from the traditions and sources which inspire
Spiritual Naturalist practice. In this case, they come from those
cultural sources which inspire my particular blend of philosophies. This
may be useful for others as is, but individual practitioners can also
modify or design rituals to be more specific to the traditions that
inform their practice.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Altar</h2>
Before this ritual can be conducted, the practitioner will need
either an altar, or something that fulfills a similar role. That is, a
specific location and place-setting for working the ritual. At a
minimum, this will be a place that can house the various artifacts
needed in the ritual. They can be set up ahead of time, but it may be
more convenient to have them set up in this place as an ongoing norm.
Always having the altar present in the home may serve an additional
reminder, not only to conduct the ritual, but a reminder of the concepts
in the ritual. It is best to have it always arranged so that it is
ready to conduct the ritual. For the altar itself, you can use a piece
of furniture specifically built to be an altar, a makeshift altar, a
shelf, or some other kind of focal point which can contain or hold the
artifacts.<br />
<br />
The required artifacts, for this ritual, will be:<br />
<ul>
<li>A small cauldron or other bowl or stable container which can safely contain a fire (high temperatures).</li>
<li>Salt</li>
<li>Lighter Fluid</li>
<li>Incense stick (a scent that most elicits in you a sense of the
sacred or reverence, be it because of association with a religious
service or with nature, or simply a calming scent, etc)</li>
<li>Some kind of holder for the incense (I prefer to use a container with sand, in which I place the incense stick)</li>
<li>A singing bowl or bell</li>
<li>A candle</li>
</ul>
<br />
All of these items should be neatly arranged so they are easily
accessible and do not require a lot of fidgeting to handle each of them.
The cauldron should be kept with a small pile of salt inside (perhaps ¼
of the height), dry, and with its lid covering it.<br />
<br />
In addition to these minimal artifacts, it is helpful to have
additional pieces on the altar which have the psychological effect of
reminding or calling attention to various ideas or teachings – or simply
help provide an atmosphere of peace and quiet. These can include such
things as:<br />
<ul>
<li>Statuettes of teachers or figures that represent various teachings (a Buddha, for example)</li>
<li>Pictures of people who are helpful in our practice, or of objects
that remind us of concepts (a loved one from who we have learned or with
whom we practice, etc.)</li>
<li>A flower can symbolize nature and/or impermanence.</li>
<li>Fabrics or coverings which convey either simplicity, help define the
space, or contain patterns which remind us of relevant concepts.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Almost any other kinds of artifacts can be helpful. But the key is that they should mean something <i>to you</i>.
Their ‘official’ connotation to some culture or in history is not
important if the objects do not touch you in some manner. Sometimes, our
knowledge of a cultural symbolism can be the thing that makes that
object carry that meaning for us. Other times, there may be our own
private symbols and metaphors which derive from our personal experience
in life. If the objects help to keep your thoughts on the themes of the
ritual and our practice, then they are helpful. If they don’t then they
are extraneous and it is better to have simplicity.<br />
The pleasantness or unpleasantness of the artifacts is also
irrelevant. The goal isn’t necessarily to decorate your altar in such a
way to make you ‘feel nice’. Sometimes, a very pleasant object can be a
distraction or encourage attachments. Meanwhile, an unpleasant object
might remind us of impermanence, for example, and therefore be helpful.
This can go either way. It is possible for artifacts to conjure up
distracting ideas and thoughts contrary to the purposes of our ritual or
practice, so putting thought into one’s altar is important.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Preparation</h2>
Before you begin the ritual, make sure that you are clean and
‘presentable’. A tuxedo or formal dress is not necessary. In fact, your
clothes should be comfortable and non-distracting. But they should also
not be dirty or ragged. Being clean and presentable underscores a level
of respect for the process in which you are about to engage, and
therefore for your practice. Again, inward disposition is paramount and
it is how our disposition is affected by the act of cleaning ourselves
up and putting on appropriate clothing that is of importance. Having
little rules like, “I never conduct my ritual without having bathed in
the morning” may seem arbitrary or baseless at first glance, but these
are the kinds of things that help to cultivate mental attitudes that
have profound effects on our life experience. Understanding these kinds
of phenomena are key to understanding what Spiritual Naturalist practice
is all about.<br />
<br />
Another part of preparation is making sure you have set aside the
time for the ritual, in which you will not be distracted by
interruptions. Make sure your phone is turned off or silent and no one
will likely be entering the space who is not a participant in the
ritual.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Procession</h2>
Even before you are at your altar – perhaps even in another room or
building. Consider your walk to where the ritual will be performed. If
you are familiar with walking meditation, this is what you should engage
in when proceeding to the location of the ritual. Basically, take each
step mindfully and begin to turn your attention solely to that. Pay
close attention to the touching of your foot to the ground, the feel as
you shift your weight, and the lifting of the other foot. Try to put
away all other distracting thoughts. As you make your way toward the
altar in this fashion, this will be the first steps in moving your
attention toward the ritual to follow.<br />
<br />
<h2>
At the Altar</h2>
Once you reach the Altar, stop and bow deeply and slowly to it. At
this time you will be bowing to whatever you have placed on your altar.
In general, bowing to the altar is a time to turn your attention
exclusively and wholly toward it and the purposes of the ritual. When it
comes to the specific artifacts, you can choose to turn your attention
toward one of them as you bow. For example, if you are a follower of
Stoicism, and have a picture or statuette of its founder, Zeno, on your
altar, you can focus on the statue as you bow. Meanwhile, your mental
focus is on his teachings. At the time of the bow, you are saying to
yourself (though not necessarily in mental words), “I am putting away
all other thoughts and distractions and turning my attention to the
teachings of my practice”. The outward act of bowing is an act of
submission to the teachings, helping to set aside the ego and all other
competition to our attention in this time.<br />
<br />
After you bow, sit carefully and deliberately at the altar, staying
mindful of all your movements. This can be in cross-legged form or in a
chair – however you plan to meditate.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Purification</h2>
Purification is a common element of many traditional rituals. In
Spiritual Naturalist practice, we attempt to purify the mind of
distracting thoughts, and purify the heart of negative feelings that
infringe upon our empathy. This can include feelings of guilt, fears and
worries about things going on in our lives, anger or hostility toward
others, impatience, anxiousness, and so on. The ritual cannot proceed
successfully unless we first put away these distractions.<br />
<br />
This mental effort is accompanied by an outward activity that has
traditionally been associated with purification in ancient Greek
ceremony, and carried forward into the Christian tradition – and that
involves water. Even in our minds today, water has the connotation of
washing and makes a good parallel to the concept of purity in general.<br />
<br />
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<i>Side note: Although we are simply
using any clean water source easiest for you to use, some may choose to
prepare the water in an even more traditional sense. Ancient Greeks
called water used in rituals khernips. This lustral water (holy water)
was made by putting a flame out in it, and/or by placing dry verbena
leaves into the water. In this case, you would also want to use either
purified water, or sea water. Barley and Salt were also used in
reference to purification. These details are not as important to me as
what is done with the water in the ritual, but if holding to any of them
help to give you a more sacred feeling as you perform the ritual, then
feel free to follow this, or other traditional preparations.</i></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
At this point in the ritual, dip your finger tips into the water, and
sprinkle it on your forehead by flicking your fingers. What you do
mentally as you carry this out is the most important part of the action:
think and say,<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>“The Way gathers in emptiness alone. Emptiness is the fasting of the mind.”</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
These are the words of Confucius as written by the Taoist
philosopher, Chuang-Tzu (“In the World of Men”). The words refer to
unifying your attention by purifying the mind of the distractions
mentioned above – concerns of the ego. As you say these words and feel
the water on your forehead, imagine all of these distractions
dissipating from your mind and do not return to them for the remainder
of the ritual and your meditation.<br />
<br />
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<i>Side note: There are many other kinds
of purification rituals, such as burning sage for example. Because I am
using fire for another purpose to follow, and because ancient Greeks
used lustral water in their process (ancient Greek thought being a major
part of my path), I have chosen to use water for purification.</i></div>
<br />
<h2>
Lighting the Way</h2>
The first step in a journey is to light your path. Begin by removing
the lid of the cauldron and carefully pouring the lighter fluid into the
salt inside. It should be just deep enough that a small amount of the
salt remains above the surface. Next, light a match and drop it into the
cauldron. At this point the fire should ignite. The flame can be
somewhat high so move your hand away immediately after dropping the
match. Then take the incense stick, light it by holding it over the
cauldron, blow the incense stick out, and place it in its holder as it
continues to smoke.<br />
<br />
Smell is the sense most connected to our memory centers. For many
people, incense is culturally associated with a sense of the sacred,
which is what we are trying to elicit in ourselves. But beyond this,
incense gives us the opportunity to create a distinct odor, which we can
repeat each time we do the ritual. When we do this, it will trigger our
memory and help us to return to the state of mind we were in when we
last did the ritual (if you normally light incense outside the ritual,
you may wish to select a special scent used only in this case). This is a
response we can build over time that will help us become highly focused
on the ritual’s concepts. You now have a smell-based trigger to help
elicit a sense of the sacred and guide your focus more solidly to the
ritual, as well as a flame upon which to focus.<br />
<br />
My practice is informed in part by ancient Stoicism. The Stoics viewed the activity of Nature as a <i>Divine Fire</i>,
inspired by the concept by Heraclitus who preceded them. Therefore, as
you perform these actions with the cauldron and the incense, it is
important to remember the actions are symbolic of this concept. As you
perform the lighting of the cauldron and incense, say aloud the
following (which you should try to memorize):<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>“This world, no one of gods or men has made, is an ever-living Fire. Its kindling exchanges, judging and convicting all things.”</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
This is a paraphrase of the words of Heraclitus, taken from fragments
DK B30, DK B90, and DK B66. It helps us to remember what the flame
symbolizes – the impermanence and ever-changing and transforming nature
of the universe. By internalizing this perspective over time, unhealthy
attachment and short-sightedness are diminished. This diminishment will
be touched upon in another phrase from Heraclitus to come later.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Meditation</h2>
To begin your meditation, ring the singing bowl three times. Be
careful and deliberate in ringing the bowl, and wait with each ring
until its sound has nearly diminished before the following ring. The
bowl is rung three times to symbolize the three aspects of practice:
motivation, wisdom, and practice – or, if you prefer: the heart, the
head, and the hand. Other ways to phrase it are: perspectives,
principles, and practices; or what I call the Primary Virtues:
Compassion, Reason, and Discipline. These refer to pure motivation,
wisdom and teachings, and putting them into practice.<br />
<br />
As the bowl chimes, focus all of your attention on the vibration of
the sound. You have now put away language and labels. Try not to have
any words or linguistic thoughts in your mind. Simply ‘be’ and
experience.<br />
<br />
With the third chime, put down the ringer and go into your meditation
posture, close your eyes, and begin meditation. For details on
mindfulness meditation, see <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/meditation-101/">Meditation 101</a>. You can also include <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/love-naturally/">loving-kindness meditation</a>.<br />
<br />
If you are not being guided by another, you can use a phone or other
timer to let you know when it is time to come out of meditation. This
can be a chime similar to the bowl sound used in ritual. Or, you could
set it on vibration under your hand. If you use this method, you should
ring the bowl three times again to close out your meditation. <br />
<br />
<h2>
Closing the Ritual</h2>
At this point, you can put out the fire by covering the cauldron with
its lid. This should deprive the flame of oxygen and put it out. As you
do this, say the following aloud:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><i>“As the death of Fire is the birth of air, so too is wantonness extinguished.”</i></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
This is the remainder of Heraclitus’ statement on the Divine Fire,
taken from fragments DK B76 and DK B43. It refers to how everything in
the universe is forever transforming, which the Buddhists call
impermanence. And, with deep understanding of this, unhealthy attachment
(wantonness) is extinguished. As you extinguish the fire, imagine
letting go of clinging, graving, greed, and egotistical resistance to
change.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div align="center">
* * *</div>
You have now completed the Meditation Framing & Procession
Ritual. In addition to your meditation to increase mindfulness, you have
dwelt upon those things of which we are to <i>be</i> mindful – those things which, if deeply grasped <i>through</i>
mindfulness, have the potential to liberate us from anguish and bring
flourishing. This includes appreciation of the cosmos as an
ever-changing flux that makes all things of great importance to us (the
sacred things) possible. With the frustrations of the ego set aside,
room is made for compassion, which is simply the natural result of
intimately knowing the interdependence of all things. If you are also
practicing <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/journaling">Journaling</a>, then conducting this ritual in the morning, and reading last night’s journal entry at this time would be ideal.<br />
<br />
I would be interested to know what you think of this design, if you
employ similar ritual in your practice, and any other comments or ideas
you have along these lines!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-52576153437354352512013-11-18T11:11:00.000-06:002014-01-15T11:11:20.180-06:00The Role of Philosophy in Spirituality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sophia, goddess of wisdom.<br /> (cc) Chris Beckett.</td></tr>
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Our Education Director, B.T. Newberg, has published <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/ancient-philosophy-meets-darwin-can-science-offer-a-way-of-life/">an article</a>
for us discussing the role of science in helping us find a Way of Life.
So, I thought it would be fitting to cover the role of philosophy in
our practice, as philosophy is something we discuss and write on a lot
at the Society.<br />
<br />
Just the other day, I overheard a philosophy student at a local
coffee shop conveying doubts to a friend about continuing to get a
doctorate in philosophy. He said that many of the people in the
philosophy department are simply not the kind of people he enjoys being
around. He described them as pretentious, snobby, and so on. Now, of
course, we cannot say all philosophy students, professors, or
enthusiasts are like this, but this person’s perception was also not
unheard of.<br />
<br />
This is because academic philosophy has, to a large extent, become an
overly intellectualized, abstract, and often egotistical perversion of
what philosophy was originally supposed to be about; at least if we go
by what came out of Ancient Greece’s golden age of philosophy. I would
venture to say that many writers and professors of philosophy, who are
often called ‘philosophers’ do not actually fit the definition. In
Socrates’ times, people who performed these services for money were
called ‘sophists’ and received condemnation from the philosophers.
However, it would not be practical or reasonable for us to condemn
strictly academic philosophers of today in the same manner given the
realities of our world. They, in fact, are doing noble work in
education. But it is crucial to understand the important differences
between the philosophy we often see expressed as an academic subject in
our schools, and the applied <i>living</i> philosophy of the ancient philosophers.<br />
<br />
In <a href="http://astore.amazon.com/spirinatursoc-20/detail/0060955104" target="_blank"><em>The Spiritual Teachings of Marcus Aurelius</em></a>, Mark Forstater describes what Pierre Hadot says about ancient philosophy:<br />
<blockquote>
“To the ancient Greeks, philosophy (the striving after
wisdom) was not a dry, analytical discourse but a means to living life
correctly. Philosophy was a tool: a method you could use to maintain
harmony in your life, to control negative passions such as anger and
hatred, to reason out the best action to take, to understand how the
universe worked, and to find your place in it.”</blockquote>
Most people know the word <i>philosophy</i> means “love of wisdom”.
If we remember that wisdom is not the same as knowledge, then a
philosopher is not someone who simply spouts off technical jargon and
name-drops thinkers of the past. Rather, in essence, a philosopher is a
person who asks, “what does it mean to be wise, and how can I be wiser?”
More specifically, any time you are asking “what is?”, “what ought to
be?” or “how do I know either?” you are doing philosophy, or some subset
of it.<br />
<br />
More importantly, <em>a philosopher is someone who does more than think and talk</em> – opinions are a dime a dozen and matter little. But philosophers also <i>act</i>
according to that wisdom and seek to make their lives a living example
of it. Having a degree in philosophy from a university doesn’t make you a
philosopher; nor does writing books, having a high IQ, or knowing a lot
of trivia about philosophical <i>history</i>. Increased knowledge is
bound to happen as we pursue wisdom and degrees can be one way to help
with that. But it is the pursuing of wisdom and living a thoughtful,
principled, consistent, and examined life that makes you a philosopher.<br />
<br />
In this sense, when philosophy is practiced as a lifestyle, it will
intimately connect with our spirituality. If Spirituality is about
focusing on the essential things in life in order to cultivate ourselves
for greater flourishing, then this cannot be done without sound and
consistent philosophy. This is why traditions such as Stoicism and
Buddhism are both philosophies, as well as religious and spiritual
paths. With a sound philosophical underpinning, our practices make sense
– connecting our understanding of the world with how we live in it, and
providing the rationale behind that system of practice and the goal it
is designed to achieve. One might say philosophy is the blueprint,
spiritual practice is the construction, a life well lived is the
building, and flourishing is the home – and all of this is of what our
spirituality consists.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-61097767519761061392013-11-11T11:08:00.000-06:002014-01-15T11:11:46.133-06:00An Atheist Plea for Preserving Thanksgiving<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) Chriss Knisley (cknisley44), Flickr.com.</td></tr>
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I don’t often use the term ‘atheist’ to describe myself, because my
lack of someone else’s belief is not something I see as important, and
because those who choose that term as their primary moniker are often
focused on making a statement about being without a belief in a God. I
prefer the term <i>Spiritual Naturalist</i> because this is a term that talks about the most significant aspects of my belief and practice in a positive sense. I am a <i>naturalist</i>,
meaning I don’t hold any supernatural faith-based beliefs. But I am
also spiritual, in the broadest original sense of the word, as referring
to the <i>essential</i> things of life – which for me is a practice of mindfulness, virtue, and compassion for all beings. (as best I can anyway!)<br />
But I’m going against my usual aversion to negative terms in the
title of this article because, in this case, lack of theism is of
relevance. I intend to make a case for Thanksgiving, not only as a
personal practice, but as a social institution – something that may be
surprising to hear coming from an atheist.<br />
<br />
<h2>
What is “Thanksgiving”?</h2>
By “Thanksgiving” I do not refer merely to that custom of coming
together to feast on Turkey with friends and family, or to that
particular history regarding pilgrims in the ‘new world’. What I’m
really talking about is a special time of year to remind ourselves to be
<i>thankful</i> – an internal disposition. At the Spiritual
Naturalist Society, we often talk about the meaning and value of ritual
for naturalists and it comes down to the importance of what’s going on
mentally as you perform those outward actions. Although thankfulness is
an internal disposition, that disposition can be encouraged and
cultivated by our outward actions, traditionalized and shared in
community.<br />
<br />
But why be thankful, and to whom? It’s true that for naturalists like
myself, we don’t believe there is an all-powerful entity somewhere who
took conscious action on our behalf, and to be thankful toward. But
certainly being thankful to other people for what they have done for us
and what they mean to our lives has obvious benefits and ethical value
in itself. We can be thankful to our family, to our friends, our
teachers and mentors, and to people we don’t even know who have lent to
the benefits we enjoy. This includes the workers who grew and delivered
our food, the scientists who furthered our knowledge, the artists who
inspired us, the visionaries who showed our society new paths, the
entrepreneurs who keep our economy diverse, the people who risk their
lives to keep us safe, the leaders who provide excellent management, the
ethical teachers (activists, philosophers, religious) who help our
society improve, the good parents who raise all of these kinds of
people, and the most unfortunate who give us the privilege of helping.<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Benefits of Gratitude</h2>
Beyond that, however, there are the benefits of a general <i>attitude of gratefulness</i>
– a general appreciation for the good experiences in our lives, whether
the result of agency or not. In 2002 McCullough and Tsang at Southern
Methodist University and Emmons at University of California showed that
attitudes of higher gratitude improved well-being and prosocial
behaviors while reducing envy and economic materialism (<a href="http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/pdfs/GratitudePDFs/7McCullough-GratefulDisposition.pdf" target="_blank">study link</a>).
In 2006 Kashdan, Uswatte, and Julian of George Mason University showed
that gratitude helped veterans with PTSD and lent to a flourishing
(eudaimonic) life (<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16389060" target="_blank">study link</a>)
– one of the very things the Spiritual Naturalist Society works to
promote for its subscribers and members. In 2008 Wood, Joseph, Maltby
of the Universities of Warwick, Nottingham, and Leicester respectively,
showed that higher gratitude improves satisfaction in life and that such
people were “more open… conscientious, and less neurotic” (<a href="http://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/alex.wood/gratitude%20and%20life%20satisfaction.pdf" target="_blank">study link</a>). Many more studies of this nature have taken place over the years and continue today.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Preserving Thanksgiving</h2>
There has been a growing controversy over businesses being open on
Thanksgiving, and black Friday being extended into the time of the
holiday. This makes it more difficult for workers to practice
Thanksgiving and so on. While Thanksgiving also has religious meaning to
many, I think I have made the case for the benefits of Thanksgiving in
helping to cultivate a quality that has secular benefit, and is
therefore a benefit to society. We generally do not write on social or
political issues at the Spiritual Naturalist Society, but I would
suggest that we ought to try to preserve Thanksgiving as a special day
and help others do the same. What we <i>do</i> focus on in our group
is promoting practices that provide personal cultivation of qualities
that make for a flourishing life. And, as it happens, those practices
include rituals that are often most effective when communal. While
private businesses should be free to make their own choices, we can help
preserve Thanksgiving by refusing to do that black Friday shopping on
Thanksgiving. And, for the sake of others if not ourselves, we can ask
our businesses not to be open on that day. Not all atheists will agree
with this, of course, but many who are also Spiritual Naturalists might,
like myself, see that there is a benefit to having certain sacred times
we recognize as a society. But, aside from that social issue, what is
most important is cultivating that internal disposition of gratitude
through appreciation of the ‘big picture’. In this way, Thanksgiving
will always be preserved.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
__________<br />
<i>Thanks to Wikipedia for help in finding references given in this article.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-90865596931071447962013-09-18T14:05:00.003-05:002013-09-18T14:05:36.036-05:00Celebrating our first anniversary!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23334460@N00/3274337256/in/photolist-5ZkQoC-3KsQoA-zHb79-7Ls1tH-7i6kFz-aLcuHF-bjZ5y-gqk57-d5j5s5-AxhEh-95nFdL-4GPuFL-7EdzaQ-6hH2Kt-cDxg9s-8kr9w5-7cqgJB-52cCXH-aosh8q-hHemD-c5vfWm-6ZgExV-2NNrbF-8iVx9S-7iace5-8kokbV-7DTeTi-9fYLuR-bD6NNp-72Hq28-7ik9wE-5q4q4u-7E9JhM-dzezQa-8knXY2-6adq1G-4gNVsQ-9f99Mr-agNFey-bG3nLF-buYjt-Q1iLZ-6c6qVq-bv15yD-5crqb2-73tnJH-7BF7Fi-6HHrCF-e8AnZX-7Yirkn-5Qgk6H" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="(cc) Debbie R, Flickr.com." class="size-medium wp-image-3345" height="200" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/3274337256_684277f75b_b-300x200.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) Debbie R, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
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<br />
Hello friends! Today (September 18, 2013) marks one year since the <i>Spiritual Naturalist Society</i>
officially launched. We have come a long way in a short time and I am
so thankful for the many people who have given their enthusiastic
support to the Society; either with their involvement on the Advisory
Board, their presence on the staff, their work as local organizers,
their writing, their contributions to the Society archives, or of
course, with their supporting membership.<br />
<br />
It was about a year before our launch, in 2011, that preparations
began on forming the Society. The growing number of people looking for a
spiritual practice that was consistent with a rational naturalistic
view of the world was undeniable. There seemed to be no other
organization and community that focused on compassion, practice, ritual,
and inner development while at the same time maintaining a clear
standard of humility in our approach to knowledge and claims. Some
existing groups were either so open that supernaturalism, the
paranormal, pseudoscience, and faith-based approaches were also
included. Other groups held to rational, empirical, and naturalistic
standards, but were focused more on academic or technical materials, or
they were focused on the culture wars and politics. What was needed was a
community support and resource organization that was specifically for
naturalists and specifically aimed at positive, compassionate,
uplifting, and informative content for daily living and personal
practice <i>as</i> a naturalist.<br />
<br />
Over that year of preparation, the general mission and structure of
the Society was designed, along with the extensive work needed to
establish the website and its functions. We reached out to just about
every prominent name in Spiritual Naturalism and Religious Naturalism –
getting moral support and participation. By September we were ready to
launch with a good enthusiastic response from many people. Our
connections on social networks grew and I met so many wonderful people
with talents and ideas and a willingness to lend a hand.<br />
<br />
Just one month after launch and we already had a second local chapter
getting started. Our member archives already consisted of more than
100,000 words (about the equivalent of a 400 page book), and we were
adding more material to them each month. We also started syndicating our
articles on Patheos.com and had a member text chat up and running. Two
more local chapters formed the following month. In January we got a new
tool – our own internal private social network for members. We founded
yet another local chapter and we established our <i>Compassion Fund</i>, which is still helping those in need today.<br />
<br />
February marked the first month the Society was able to pay all of
its own bills. We added another local chapter and a new multimedia page.
In March we got our first ad in the Shambhala Sun, and in April we
partnered with the <i>Charter for Compassion</i> and offered our first
discount to members for a Humanist course by Jennifer Hancock. In May
we gained our first local chapter outside the United States, and in June
our 501(c)3 status was finally approved and back-dated to March of
2012. In July we published our <i>Statement on Principles</i>,
outlining the principles by which we operate as an organization, and for
which we stand. While many volunteers had been contributing in various
spontaneous ways, in August we established a full regular volunteer
staff with several key positions filled. This will allow the Society to
do even more simultaneously going forward.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>Over
this first year, we have also added over 50 additional articles,
videos, podcasts, poems, and artworks to our educational and
inspirational archives for members. Over 65,500 people have come to our
website, with 3,000 more visiting us each month. We have over 3,700
Facebook fans which allow our articles and posts to often reach as many
as 50,000 more people. We also have over 460 people signed up to our 7
local chapters and all of these figures continue to grow. And soon we
will be expanding our membership concept to include a free membership
option, which will invite even more people to become a part of our
community.<br />
<br />
But what is more important than the numbers is how this has helped us
to fulfill our mission of making more people aware of a viable path
toward greater happiness in a naturalistic spirituality – and, how many
people I have heard from who have been helped or inspired by our
messages. We are also starting to see new friendships form as our member
community grows! That is why I’m also happy to announce that we will
soon be getting a new video chat tool that will allow for greater
interaction among members, better staff coordination, and be a better
tool for a Spiritual Naturalism course we are currently designing.<br />
And this month, in celebration of our anniversary, we will be
publishing an anthology of our articles over the past year. It will be
available in paperback or e-book format through amazon.com and our own
website, so keep an eye out for that!<br />
<br />
If you are not yet a member of the Society, I ask you to consider
membership. You can learn more at this link. You can also subscribe to
our articles and let others know about us. Thanks for your kind support
of the Society over this year. With your help it will be exciting to see
what the next year in Spiritual Naturalism brings!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-3219240048687950062013-08-19T14:04:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:04:52.622-05:00Naturalist Practice: The Big Picture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) Angela Marie Henriette, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
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<br />
We are at the beginning of an important movement to gather again, a
spirituality that is fully natural and rational, yet not shallow or
merely technical and descriptive – one that engages all of what it means
to be a full and complete human being; not merely an intellectual
exercise. Within Spiritual Naturalism, or Religious Naturalism, there
are numerous emerging books and articles from a variety of backgrounds.<br />
In these, we often speak of things like: ritual, meditation, awe and
wonder, ethics, philosophy, practice, ego, non-attachment, science,
virtue, religious experience, compassion, and more. While many of these
may seem beneficial or important, it may be difficult to know how they
all relate to one another. How do these pieces fit together into a whole
system or practice? This big picture is what I’d like to outline, very
briefly, in this article. Of course, each part of this can (and should)
be expended upon greatly. In fact, we are developing a course in
Spiritual Naturalism that will go into this detail, but for now, let me
try to give an outline of a possible system of practice for the
naturalist…<br />
<br />
We begin, first, with the entire goal of our effort: happiness. Or,
the answer to the question as the ancient Greeks put it, “What is the
best way to live?” The human being is a natural entity – a part of
Nature and with its own objective nature, living in an objective
environment. This is a world of consequences. Therefore, <i>how best to live</i> is a matter of <i>engineering</i>. That is, the engineering of our subjective experience, our habits, our character, and our life so as to yield happiness.<br />
<br />
By <i>happiness</i> we mean, not mere pleasure or circumstantial
delight. This has proven to be a poor predictor of well being or
happiness. Rather, we mean a deep sense of inner peace and joy – a
happiness that is not contingent upon the vicissitudes of external
conditions but also inspires an engaged good life, in both senses of the
word. We might call this <i>True Happiness</i> to delineate between it and the shallow forms of fleeting happiness with which many confuse it.<br />
<br />
This kind of happiness is difficult if not impossible with the
‘default character’ that tends to emerge without a focused spiritual
practice, or some de facto approximation of one. Normally, we are
plagued with fear, greed, regret, anger, jealousy, concerns about what
others think of us, and so on. These not only infringe on our happiness
directly, but they encourage further behaviors and habits that are
contrary to it. Such beings, unable to approach True Happiness, cling to
the closest thing they can approach – pleasure derived from
possessions, relationships, status, reputation, money, and so on. Yet,
these are impermanent and shaky things on which to base one’s happiness.
Disappointment and suffering are inevitable.<br />
<br />
So, for a naturalist, a sensible spiritual practice will be a system
by which we achieve character transformation. Perfection in this is
unlikely, but the degree to which we can transform ourselves will yield a
similar degree of freedom from that egotistical outlook and
corresponding levels of True Happiness in life. Further, the
practitioner may find that the degree of transformation possible in the
human character can be astonishing.<br />
<br />
How is such character transformation achieved? Experience will tell us that a few things are certain: <i>reading</i> is not enough, <i>knowledge</i> is not enough, <i>intellectual assent (agreement) </i>to
even the best wisdom is not enough. You have read many wise things, and
dutifully shared them (along with pretty pictures of sunsets) on social
media, email, or in conversations with your friends. Yet you have found
yourself acting in discord with them time and again when the rubber
meets the road. You “know better” but knowing better is not enough. If
you were truly enlightened, your character would be such that it would <i>automatically</i> and <i>naturally </i>react
to real life situations in accord with the best wisdom you have read.
There is no number of internet posts you can share or ‘like’ that will
get you to this place. But <i>this </i>is what our spiritual practice should be designed to achieve.<br />
<br />
The bottom line is that spirituality must include <i>practice</i>. By <i>practice</i>
we mean your daily activities and your ways of thinking will need to
change. And these activities cannot be merely the end products of ‘how a
wise person behaves’. In other words, you can’t become more
compassionate by beating yourself over the head yelling to yourself “be
more compassionate!”<br />
<br />
Rather, <i>practice</i> means engaging in practices and rituals designed to reformat your thought and judgment process, altering your <i>inner value system</i>.
The key to understanding how and why these practices and rituals work,
is getting over your dismissal of the subjective. Society has told you
the subjective is ‘less real’ or ‘matters less’ than the objective. Yet,
our very goal – happiness – is a subjective state. Therefore <i>subjective things matter</i>;
things like: the language we use to describe and frame things, the
categories we use, our perspectives on Nature and our place in it,
simple outward movements and poses of reverence, how we feel about
things, our speech and mannerism. For many, this may seem obvious, but
for many naturalists, we are used to looking at the world scientifically
and therefore tend to find comfort and refuge in highly technical and
impersonal descriptions. Yet, one of the core aspects of Spiritual
Naturalism is that we can have a role for good, solid, science – and –
inner beauty with a sense of the sacred. One need not contradict or
betray the other.<br />
<br />
In these practices and rituals, we open both our thoughts and our
feelings. We use metaphor, poetry, art, iconography, music, dance and
other movement, and more. We use these because our minds have multiple
ways of approaching the world. It is by a distributed connection to the
deeper truths of wise teachings that all of these aspects of our natural
soul are touched. And, in that multi-sensory and emotional/intellectual
mixture, they become an increasingly deeper part of our way of looking
at the world. Here, intellectual knowledge becomes <i>intuitive</i>. Character is transformed such that ‘ways of living’ becomes ‘ways of being’.<br />
<br />
This is a path of continuous epiphany, profound experience, and
deeper understanding. But to engage in such a practice requires a few
things. For one, it requires the naturalist to give up any deep seated
animosity and resistance to anything with the tinge of sounding too
religious. This means not caring if others might misunderstand and think
we have given up reason. It also means having the confidence that it is
possible to set aside the ‘culture war’ against religion in our hearts
but still be able to act in the world against ignorance, intolerance,
and improper religious political actions.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>Another
thing this path requires is the willingness to change our life – you
know, that thing that goes on when you finish reading this article and
get up from the computer. It means doing something different when you
wake up in the morning than you did before; and sticking with it. It
means actually driving to new places, possibly bowing, ringing bells,
lighting candles, vocalizing ritually, and so on. Many will read this
and agree with it, but then their minds will resist change and quickly
convince them that the answer is to click onward to read more things –
as if that’s the next step. But <i>you will never reach a point where you have read enough</i>, fully understand, and then are ready to engage in practice. If that is your process, you will die having only read.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Practice as a System</h2>
So, as a system, this begins with the basic facts provided to us by
reason. And, by reason, I mean that we believe knowledge comes to us
through observation and what we can infer rationally from those
observations. We are limited in our ability to know all things. This
process includes science, but also the use of reason in our own lives,
and most importantly – <i>humility</i>. That is, a humble approach to knowledge and the claims we make. In addition, humility in the sense that I focus on what <i>I </i> believe rather than worrying so much about telling others what they ought to believe.<br />
<br />
But these facts about the world and ourselves are just the beginning
of wisdom, not the end. From here, what is important is our <i>perspective</i>
on those facts. Often, people point out that something is a ‘value
judgment’ as a way of dismissing it. But value judgments are what we
must make. They are critical. And, getting them <i>right</i> is critical to our happiness.<br />
<br />
Yes, there are <i>correct</i> and <i>incorrect</i> value judgments;
at least within such a system. We can say they are correct if they
fulfill the purpose of humans making value judgments. In other words, if
these judgments guide us toward positive thoughts and actions which are
really conducive to a good life, then they are correct because they are
consistent with their purpose.<br />
<br />
For example, science will tell us there is a glass, and half of its
inner volume is occupied by dihydrogen monoxide. We can look at that
glass of water and we can judge that it is <i>half empty</i> or <i>half full</i>. This is the difference between a <i>claim</i> and a <i>perspective</i>.<br />
<br />
One of the ‘advances’ of naturalistic spirituality is that we do not
use our spirituality to make claims or rest parts of our spirituality
upon those claims. Unlike some belief systems which get their facts from
faith or revelation or scripture, we leave fact finding to those who
are putting in the hard work of observing and recording them. But
perspectives on those facts is where philosophy and our spirituality
pick up. In this way, our spirituality is not opposed to science. Nor
are the two “non-overlapping magisteria”. Instead, science has become a
respected and functional department within our spirituality, with no
need to put words in its mouth or corrupt the purity of its method.<br />
<br />
Now, to the strict intellectual/skeptical naturalist, the question of
whether the glass is half full or half empty is just a silly little
word game and the terms are interchangeable and of little consequence.
But another of the crucial realizations of Spiritual Naturalism is this:
the difference is <i>monumental</i>. This principle, extrapolated to
the rest of our life, can be the distinction between two people in the
same external circumstances – one with a full and happy life, and the
other ending it in suicide. When we come to terms with the significance
of our conceptualizations and judgments, the rest of spiritual practice
begins to make functional sense – from meditation, to ritual, to all of
the other many practices, sacred language, and more.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As we build habits of value judgment through various practices, and
find new perceptions of wise teachings through rituals designed to
elicit epiphany and peak experience, our baseline responses will begin
to shift. That deep perspective shift includes the little often
subconscious judgments we make and the emotional responses that kick in
following those judgments. There has been a wealth of wisdom developed
along these lines, going back to Taoism and Buddhism in the East, and
Stoicism and Epicureanism in the West, and many others. But, again,
putting that wisdom into <i>practice</i> is when the process begins. Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, what you <i>do</i> in your life is what will make the difference.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/needed-community-development-benefactor/"><br /></a>
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-92181372929582825082013-08-05T14:03:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:04:03.232-05:00What you think and how you feel: it matters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/47183913@N00/6979076136/in/photolist-bCHAbU-crTXbm-5smmH5-5Zrzgx-7b9qoX-7bdduA-7b9qiF-2ArxmD-bi5bG-HTh5W-tTxQx-9cFXQ-9cG1j-aBdkj9-8aPxRC-5kNUag-aL6MmH-aL6MYv-aL6M4B-aCXXRz-qmf48-aBdki3-9Uyh39-7YePLo-9m4HWv-t2zZ4-dZNPGv-9ZiQg-9AKgC-a1bGeq-eKENt-5smiC5-9ZQykq-by3HgM-5Di4fZ-9rymFa-dwSzLS-rjKoD-4n6mU5-5vEpmA-5vA7ic-hWbb7-dwM8fT-9ayFYK-bm6Q4x-bXovn-dMrYGP-9ZMGdg-dmCR7-5smm6U-byiBLN" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="The best mask in the world will not bring true happiness. (cc) Ann (Mrs Magic), Flickr.com." class="size-medium wp-image-3175" height="200" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/6979076136_062309417d_c-300x200.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The best mask in the world will not bring true happiness. (cc) Ann (Mrs Magic), Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The more I’ve learned about naturalistic spirituality and spiritual
practice, the more I’ve come to regard ethics as irrelevant – <i>and the more ethical I’ve become</i>.<br />
<br />
It has been common to look at ethics as a set of rules. More
importantly, a set of rules regarding your behavior; what you say, what
you do, how you treat others, and so on. More elaborate moral theories
have described the basis on which evaluations are made – how you can
‘compute’ what is ethical and what isn’t. If this rule-based system of
external behaviors is what is meant by ethics, then the spiritual
practitioner has no use for them. They are not merely irrelevant, but
actually harmful and misguided.<br />
<br />
If, on the other hand, our idea of ethics has to do with wise
practices for living well, then it becomes clear that not only are these
crucial, but they are ubiquitous. By this sense of the word, there is <i>nothing</i>
that is not an ethical matter. But in order for this path to be clear,
one must understand first that the wise and the virtuous are synonymous,
and secondly, that external actions and behaviors are the end – not the
beginning.<br />
<br />
The focus of naturalistic spiritual practice is inner transformation.
With the recognition that all things are ever-changing comes the
understanding that ‘who you are can be’ as a person is <i>boundless</i>.
I suspect that if we understood the lengths to which a human psyche can
be conditioned, we would be shocked. We get glimpses of this shock when
we witness occasional human extremes, in cases of both the physical and
the mental. For example, when we witness an athlete perform some
amazing feat that pushes the envelope of what we thought possible – or,
when we see a display of remarkable mercy and forgiveness toward a
person who had done something so horrible we can hardly grasp the inner
workings of the forgiver. But we need not be transformed to the absolute
edge of human potential in order to see our lives markedly improved.
Incremental growth through continued practice can cultivate the
qualities necessary to be happier in life.<br />
A true, deep, happiness is our aim. But happiness is a <i>subjective</i>
internal state. As such, when we take the latter understanding of
ethics described above, we must understand that our practice begins <i>within</i>. It begins with our deepest perception of ourselves and our world. We first act to condition our <i>perspectives</i>, our <i>judgments</i>, our <i>value system</i>, and our <i>motivation</i>.<br />
<br />
Of course, we have all heard and know well things like, “I should be
more forgiving”, “I should be patient”, “I should be loving”, and so on.
But many of us don’t know what to do to make it so. We simply repeat it
like a mantra while hitting ourselves over the head – as though we
could bash these qualities into our brains! But this does not work; and
worse, alongside follows feelings of guilt or shame – also unnecessary
and harmful to our progress. This common frustration flows from two
problems: (1) a failure to completely discard forever old notions of
ethics as external, authoritarian reward/punishment rule systems, and
(2) a lack of understanding of the purpose and function of spiritual
practice.<br />
<br />
That second one is endemic to Western cultures in particular. While there certainly are traditions of <i>practice</i>
in Western philosophies and religions, many of our modern expressions
of Christianity (the dominant religion) focus highly on what
dogmas/beliefs/worldviews the adherent has accepted, believed, and
proclaimed. This is seen as the most important thing which makes one a
Christian.<br />
<br />
This concept exists in other traditions as well. Even in Humanism –
for which I left Christianity and which I still consider myself – we all
too often look at “what makes you a Humanist” to be assent to a list of
principles as outlined in the latest Humanist Manifesto. We too are
still affected by that old belief-based approach.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, what gets lost in this view is the idea of a <i>life practice</i>.
Without a robust practice, we cannot make progress in our self
development, and all of these principles and dogmas merely become
‘teams’ of people waving their own flags in loyalty to one side or
another. Participation in this kind of environment cannot produce
compassion, love, understanding, wisdom, or happiness.<br />
<br />
So, if we cannot transform ourselves by bashing ourselves over the
head repeatedly, then how can we become the kind of person we want to
become – the kind of person who can enjoy a truer, deeper, contentment
and happiness in life?<br />
<br />
We must recognize that it is not about forcing ourselves into certain
external behaviors, talk, or actions. Most people recognize that if you
were to strap a person into a mechanical frame and force their body
into doing things – whether horrible things or wonderful things – that
it would be silly to praise or blame that person. Likewise, the outward
actions we perform while puppeted, even by ourselves, is similarly of
little value.<br />
If I am angry with someone for what they have done but, because I’ve
been told that I should be forgiving, force myself to smile and tell
them I forgive them while biting my tongue, then I have done nothing
noble. I may have done something clever and political, in that people
may think I am forgiving, but this is no more enlightened that a cat
burglar covering his tracks. And yet, my message still isn’t that “you
have been bad”! That would be that old authoritarian view that must be
unlearned. Rather, the reason you don’t want to be this way is because <i>you are harming yourself</i>.<br />
<br />
I have a business with some partners and just yesterday we were
talking about how we wanted to treat our clients and customers like
family – to really think on their behalf and work for them as we would
do the job if a family member had come in. I pointed out that in a
previous job I had worked at, it was very common for the workers to hate
the customers and bash them in private, and then smile and behave
nicely to their face. We have all come to expect that, when we are told
“have a nice day” in most stores, the person saying it probably could
care less and are simply doing what their boss wants them to do.<br />
<br />
But the real tragedy in this is not for the customer who is hardly
affected, but for the worker. With a different outlook, and some genuine
feelings of caring for others, they would have a much brighter
experience in their job. Their heart would be lifted of the extra stress
and bitterness bottled up inside. The little things that the customer
did that were annoying wouldn’t be as big of a deal if we had affection
for them. So, my partners and I agreed, our aim is to do more than treat
our customers like family – but to really try to cultivate <i>deep within ourselves</i> real feelings of familial love and concern for them.<br />
<br />
Because happiness is a subjective state, we cannot achieve it with an
attitude that the ‘objective is real’ and the ‘subjective doesn’t
matter’. To achieve real happiness requires that we pay attention to the
subjective because it matters. Given the same exact objective
conditions, the subjective can make the difference between a long happy
life, and suicide – literally life and death. That’s how much the
subjective matters. Even in less extreme examples, a low level of
dissatisfaction can hamper life quality severely.<br />
<br />
Focusing on the subjective, in this case, means taking a look at how
we frame things. What labels to we use, how do we categorize things,
what kinds of judgments do we make about things – what is our value
system? Don’t try to control, ignore, or bottle up your emotions (that
can be harmful and feeling guilty about your feelings is just that old
useless authoritarianism popping up again). Instead, <i>rethink the way you look at the world</i>.
This is where the wisdom teachings of many traditions come in.
Philosophies like Taoism, Buddhism, and Stoicism (my favorites) have
very specific ways of describing perspectives on life, the universe, and
our values. Once you have learned and assented to these ways of framing
the world, you have taken the first step.<br />
<br />
Over time, as you act in accord with these ways of thinking and run
through what you think about things as real life situations arise, your
thinking habits will build and your perspectives will begin to shift –
with them, your value systems, and with those, your emotions will flow
naturally and healthily in a way that is more in line with your reality
and conducive to your happiness. It is this slow cultivation of thinking
habits and perspective over time that makes the difference – not merely
reading some philosophy and agreeing with it.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>But
to stay in this frame of mind as the days events transpire, takes
greater powers of focus and attention than a person typically has
without training. You need this to stay aware of what you have learned,
to apply its wisdom to your current situation in the heat of the moment,
and to watch your own subtle reactions before and during their arising.
Otherwise, you will get swept up in the moment and your old deeply
engrained value system will take over. This underscores the central
importance of mindfulness meditation and hopefully makes clear one of
its more basic functions in one’s overall practice.<br />
<br />
So, whenever you think about how you’d like to have acted or what kind of person you want to be, don’t remind yourself to <i>behave</i>
a certain way. Instead, remind yourself of your new perspectives and
values, and your heart will follow. With pure motivation, outward
behavior will flow naturally.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-3470765121369131102013-07-30T14:03:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:03:19.334-05:00Are you really meditating?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60171335@N06/8701734998/in/photolist-efWEDL-69amUp-5WkY6j-a987sg-bDt9Ff-LBjVj-4eCfzf-bqzSt4-4xHq34-5mfs5S-mTbPM-3dXQqm-mTbPP-mTbPQ-8rrNtd-bEoXXP-dLAaox-jpw5C-cUPef3-cUPdJo-E4PyJ-E4NJV-E4Yyo-5XVxDi-E4Pji-2Gp7Z-dLhn5H-3dXQB9-dLo8ZJ-6kq3u2-coQn9A-5ET75Z-dL7cBs-baSFpM-2Gqz4-511121-4ZVMpZ-4ZZZYm-51114m-bnmHdx-bhVhCg-9jGM5S-bs6HKJ-d8CBM3-6nhZ72-4K9VRd-3cEyYo-8qj2XH-91S7Vw-bnCThM-n76wd" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="(cc) IchZeit, Flickr.com." class="size-medium wp-image-3080" height="223" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/meditation-300x223.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) IchZeit, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the many discourses I host or participate in, both online with our
members, and in my local chapter of the Society, it is a common thing
to hear a visitor talk about a certain kind of problem they are facing.
This is the problem of mental stress which, they are often aware, is
caused by ruminations and preoccupations. Sometimes the complaint is a
lack of focus or attention. Other times it is forgetfulness. It could be
an inability to get to sleep at night, or continuous worrying, or just
general stress. A fewer number of times, the complaint comes from a
person engaged in spiritual practice, who is having trouble staying
mindful of various truths which are a part of that path’s teachings.<br />
<br />
All of these are rooted in the same thing: an inability to
sovereignly decide what their minds will think about, and when –
including an inability to <i>still the mind</i> at will. When I
recognize this common ailment, I usually ask, “Do you meditate?” I have
recently realized that I need to be far more specific because there are
many things that people call ‘meditation’. Even more challenging, some
of these are activities which have the exact <i>opposite</i> purposes
and effects than what I mean by the word. Therefore, the practitioner
may not realize this is why “meditation” doesn’t seem to be working for
them. What they are doing may, in fact, be exacerbating their issues.<br />
<br />
One of the most common things I hear from people who are either
thinking about meditating, or who have tried meditating, but have not
received very knowledgeable instruction or explanation of it, is the
following: When I ask them to describe what they are doing, they will
often tell me they close their eyes, relax, and let their mind float
freely, drifting on to whatever thoughts they may have, and then
examining those; allowing them to inform them about themselves and
what’s on their mind. This is not what I meant when I asked them about
meditation.<br />
<br />
Now, let us pause to be sure the reader doesn’t get distracted by a
semantic debate (semantics being generally less interesting and less
important than discussions about the concepts behind the semantics).
Certainly, there are traditions that refer to practices like the above
with the word “meditation”, and there is nothing <i>wrong</i> with
using whatever words we like for various things. It may be enough to say
that there are different kinds of mediation, and it is important to
know what kind we are talking about. To be clear, I will use the word “<i>introspection</i>”
to describe the above. It is not important that your use of terms match
mine, however; only that you know what I’m talking about when I use
them.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Introspection</h2>
Among those who have read or been taught very little of Buddhist
philosophy (or even Eastern philosophy), it is very common to think
introspection is what these meditators are doing (it looks the same from
the outside). This is because, in the Western world, far more people
are familiar with the popular psychology techniques, at least as they
are often caricatured in the media. This ‘letting your mind drift’ may
be helpful for an external observer to gain understanding of what is on
your mind, but it is the exact opposite of mindfulness meditation. And,
likewise, their effects are radically different from one another.<br />
<br />
If rumination-caused stress is your issue, then this form of
introspection may deceptively feel, in the time you are doing it, like
an answer. It is definitely relaxing to let go and let your mind wander –
and relaxing is the opposite of stress. But when you are finished, you
will be right back where you started. In fact, you might even be worse
off because ‘wandering thoughts’ are precisely what ruminations are. If
you are plagued with worry or aggravation over some issue, then letting
your mind wander might simply drum up more and more circular ‘wheels
turning’.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Mindfulness Meditation</h2>
Mindfulness meditation works differently. You might think of
introspection like laying in a hot tub – very relaxing. But what people
under these particular conditions need is to develop a capacity which
they are lacking. They need to develop the ability to <i>focus their attention</i>, and in so doing, allow all the other distracting mental activity to quiet down. <i>Meditation is not relaxation – it is hard work</i>. If introspection is lying in a hot tub, then meditation is working out in the weight room.<br />
<br />
In this kind of meditation, you do the opposite of letting your mind
wander. You stay focused on one sensation – one very boring and
difficult sensation to stay focused on. Some people use repetitive
drumming or chants, etc. But the most common thing to focus on is the
breath. To be sure, your mind will fight you. It will try to wander. And
when it does, you will set those thoughts aside and return to the
breath. You will do this hundreds of times (an understatement). And,
eventually, you will notice that you are able to stay focused on the
breath, and only the breath, for longer and longer periods before the
mind wanders. You will eventually get to the point where you can
maintain a meditative state in your normal activities, or return to a
still mind at will. This is the capacity that must be rigorously
developed to resolve the kinds of issues I’ve described.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/meditation-101/" target="_blank">Learn more details about this kind of meditation: Meditation 101</a><br />
<br />
It makes perfect sense that ‘free roaming mind’ techniques are
favored so much in our culture. They are all about ‘me’. They are about
my thoughts, my opinions, my feelings. Introspection, improperly
applied, can feed an attachment to these thoughts, beliefs, and
judgments and reinforce an over-identification of them with ‘you’. This
is not the path to escape from the ego – part of the problem underlying
the symptoms described.<br />
<br />
Having said that, it’s not that there isn’t a place for
introspection. Certainly, it is important to have times where you let
the mind wander. This can help us learn about our own subconscious, and
it can be a wonderful tool for stoking creativity. This kind of state is
greatly exaggerated in certain rituals such as vision quests, the
ceremonial use of ritual substances, and other exploration-based
practices. Free-roaming introspection can be an invaluable source of
epiphany and a part of peak experience, which is helpful in cultivating a
deep, intuitive grasp on certain profound perspectives. But, as with
all spiritual practices: the right medicine for the right ailment.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Exercise as Meditation</h2>
Exercise is another thing which is commonly claimed to fill the role
of meditation. Many people have reported a meditative-like experience
when engaged in athletic activity. They say this helps them to ‘clear
their mind’ and ‘work off stress’. Surely, it does do this. There are
some ways in which athletic activity is like mindfulness meditation, and
other ways it is not.<br />
<br />
The most recognizable sensation exercise shares with meditation is
the absence of ruminations (distracting thoughts and concerns) when in
flow. Yet, it seems to me that this is achieved in a different way. In
the case of meditation, the ruminations subside after an increase in the
skill of sharply focusing all attention such that the mental activity
doesn’t spread onto other things. In physical exercise, this diminishing
of ruminations seems (from my experience) to take place because the
brain is forced to shift activity and blood flow to more motor-based
functions, and away from the conscious part of the brain.<br />
<br />
In other words, you can’t help but stop ruminating because your
frontal lobes aren’t being given priority by the rest of your body*.
While it is true that you <i>choose</i> to stay focused, the physical
activity is itself a distraction. I have, at times, tried to read while
on a treadmill or similarly engage in intellectual activity while under
physical exertion, and it is difficult. This difficulty was not due to
my discipline of keeping my attention focused or my mind still. It was,
rather, due to my inability to think about things even when trying. The
blood and energy were simply in another place.<br />
<br />
Of course, the very fact that you got a break from ruminations that
may be plaguing you is something attractive. And, add to that, physical
exertion alone is a form of stress relief. Therefore, exercise has many
good mental benefits, only adding to the body health benefits. Exercise
too, has an important and valuable place. But it would be a mistake to
think it is doing everything that meditation is doing.<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>Although
your ruminations subsided during exercise, your ‘attention faculty’ did
not have to discipline itself in order to make it happen. Because of
this, exercise (seems to me) to be less capable of developing in us the
ability to utilize that increased focus in our <i>daily activities</i>,
as well as the ability to still the mind (closely related to focus).
None of this is sharply and absolutely the case between exercise and
meditation. But, in general, the skilled meditator will have an
increased equanimity and ability to stay mindful and clear headed when
encountering difficult circumstances in life. Consider, for a moment,
top athletes who nevertheless do not seem very mindful outside of the
sports arena, and may experience many forms of emotional disruption,
anger, or stress.<br />
<br />
The difference becomes even more pronounced when you are engaged in a
philosophic and spiritual practice that includes far more than just
meditation. It is here where the benefits and necessity of meditation
begin to be more obvious. This focus, mastery of attention, enhanced
mindfulness, and stillness of mind is absolutely essential to taking
some of the more profound philosophic value systems in, for example,
Stoicism or Buddhism, and integrating them into your daily walk. And,
only through that integration can habits form and real character
transformation begin to take place. This is the continual transformation
to an evermore enlightened state in which a True Happiness can be
experienced.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Contemplation</h2>
As a footnote, there is another classification of attention
practices, alongside introspection and meditation, which should be
mentioned. What I am calling ‘<i>contemplation</i>‘ is something
different from either. Like meditation, contemplation is focusing and,
unlike introspection, not letting that focus deviate. However, the
object upon which you are focusing is not persistent or cyclical, such
as with the breath, a mantra, and so on. In contemplation, you actually
do work with language-based and logic-based data. You are handling
thoughts, addressing what-if’s, considering scenarios, weighing options,
and so on. But unlike introspection, you are doing so in a very orderly
and deliberative way, on a particular topic or issue. You are not
letting whatever subjects pop into your mind as they will. As you might
imagine, skill at mindfulness meditation would be a good prerequisite to
contemplation, in order to maintain a disciplined focus. Contemplation
would likely be a harmful prescription for those plagued by ruminations,
as much of the wheel-turning going on in their heads is a kind of
non-productive dwelling on particular issues. Again, the right medicine
for the right ailment.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
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<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
<br />
__________<br />
*<i>This description is merely my first-hand sense of what these
experiences are like subjectively, compared to one another. They should
not be taken as literal explanations of objective brain functions, for
which rigorous scientific studies are a better source. These kinds of
studies are still new, and interpretation of their data is still often
debated.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-56061768439783909082013-06-17T14:02:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:02:34.342-05:00The integrated practice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/create_joy/4291306755/sizes/z/in/photolist-7xd4Zv-86z9Fh-3eb54-8Tpda1-rQZnu-ytmn-6eJTHe-4yAM97-JSVeX-7DzC2S-7vMp9N-72ut4t-aqkmr4-7thMHo-3pyEgH-aULnG-8bpN7-wJU69-5NEuer-8dJRB-9d7dh-7zj8q-9boLH5-5MRTWN-F9PSo-2MTaho-4hHWmd-5EJLh-3dunm-7EoR9b-by8HSB-7fioH-3KHFeN-weB1a-2auo-949HmR-88jeD-6ZezYn-3KDNbn-sxGRn-4btoCr-aawFyi-5sr428-twfGg-yMkw9-7drnv-8zfhEi-7MYx2d-5g6Qed-5g6PTY-5g2tSn/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="A puzzle can't be assembled without knowing the full picture. (cc) Ella Phillips." class="size-medium wp-image-3012 " height="214" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/4291306755_dd271b1021_z-300x214.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A puzzle can’t be assembled without knowing the full picture. (cc) Ella Phillips.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I’ve been an artist as long as I can remember. My father is a
traditional oil painter whose work usually involves realistic
landscapes. Being works of realism, his paintings have always been very
detailed (one can literally count the leaves on some of his trees). This
influenced me toward realism and hyper-detail in my own drawings
growing up. I would often begin a drawing by working on one little spot
at full detail, moving around the page, until the whole thing was
complete.<br />
<br />
It was not until I went to college, majoring in fine arts, that I
learned to loosen up and approach a drawing as one large composition. I
was frustrated and surprised when, in my first life drawing classes,
we’d be given just minutes or even seconds to draw a figure before the
pose would change. We were told that we should be able to stop at any
point, and the drawing should be complete in its form – but simply at
varying levels of detail. This forced me to look at an entire
composition as a snapshot. At that point, I could develop shade, form,
and detail to whatever level desired. This had several effects on my
work: I was able to achieve greater accuracy in proportion, better
composition, and it added a great deal more expression and movement to
my work.<br />
<br />
In recent years I’ve noticed a similar principle can apply to our
spiritual practice. And, by this, I mean all of our life practices – not
just the ones we typically think of as the official “spiritual
practices”. Many ancient philosophers recognized that our aim is to
‘live well’ and, by this reckoning, there is no real distinction between
matters of ethics, health, spirituality, or wisdom. They are all habits
we try to build in living well.<br />
In the past, I had always thought it would be too much to try and do
everything at once. For example, if I decided I’d like to build a habit
of journaling, or eating right, or meditating, etc – I would take on
that one project, and imagine that I would build the habit until I was
perfect in it. Then, after that point, I could look at building another
habit, and so on.<br />
<br />
Inevitably, I would not be perfect at it. I would continue to falter.
Frustratingly, sometimes I would build a decent habit and then flub up.
At that point I would feel defeated and then cease my efforts. This
process of repeated failure to build the one habit meant I’d never get
to the others. Or, if I did, it would be absent the first habit I had
tried to establish earlier.<br />
<br />
But lately I’ve found – for me at least – that I am typically more
successful when I don’t try to divide and conquer. Instead, I think
about everything I want to do better, and then try to do it all at once –
diving into my new life.<br />
<br />
This seems counter-intuitive. If I couldn’t handle one habit, how
could I possible take on all these ideal goals at once? In my personal
practice, some of the major elements I try to build are: regular
exercise, good diet, daily meditation, daily journaling on my progress,
continuous mindfulness, compassion, kind demeanor, and better attention
to duties. There are some other occasional things, such as educational
reading and so on, as well. But, without ‘right effort’ as the
Buddhists put it, the default state would include a lot of laziness,
snacking, couch-potatoing on the computer or TV, and so on. Only through
an examined life and continuous effort can progress be made along such a
path.<br />
<br />
What I have found, is that by taking it all on at once, you build a
network between your practices that somehow seem to support one another.
But here’s the catch: this kind of approach forces you into a
situation where you will not help but fail. And fail you will, again and
again. But in a ‘fail-inevitable’ environment, you are forced to come
to terms with imperfection, and in so doing, build a strategy that
includes a tolerance for failure. It also forces you to give up things
that aren’t as important.<br />
<br />
Here, instead of giving up when you falter, you press on. The next
day you pick it back up. You don’t wait for the next week or for some
period after some time has passed, where you weren’t trying, to try
again. You just continue on – like stumbling and then making the next
step in your stride better. Because your practice is not one habit, but a
network of habits, you haven’t really failed on the larger scale. You
just have a gradation of imperfection that improves over time.<br />
<br />
And, as you press on, it’s important not to punish yourself or try to
‘make up’ for missing different things. If you don’t work out one day,
you don’t exercise doubly the next. You just continue your practice
normally and, like a stone smoothing under running water, improvement
will happen in time. Stay focused on the present.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>It
is just like drawing a picture by quickly sketching out the entire
composition and then making it more perfect over time. You’ll have a
‘bigger picture’ view of things and won’t mind those little pencil
strokes that go this way or that – that will simply add to the ‘energy’
of the whole endeavor. It is also much like meditation. As you try to
focus on the breath, stray thoughts and distractions will arise. Simply
put them aside and stay focused on the present effort – without
frustration about the past or trepidation about the future.<br />
<br />
Although I still fall short of my mark many times, I’ve found this
integrated and holistic approach has been working for me fairly well. If
you are having trouble building the habits you’d like in your life, you
might consider ‘jumping in’ and taking it all on at once, rather than
focusing on building one at a time to perfection. You’ll be messy; you
will stumble; but it will paint a new picture of your life that you can
continue to shape.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-49945168279896266742013-06-10T14:01:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:01:42.007-05:00What "death is a part of life" means<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Created at weavesilk.com." class="size-medium wp-image-3004" height="214" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/fractal1-300x214.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Created at weavesilk.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Often in reading philosophy and wisdom teachings, one has a kind of
repeating experience. We see many common phrases or statements by wise
teachers. Perhaps we see the same or similar notions from a variety of
traditions. And, the first time we see them, we may think we understand
them; agreeing or disagreeing. Then we go off, read and learn more,
experience life a little more, and before long we come upon the
statement again. Only then do we realize that some of the words in it
didn’t mean what we thought they did, and that the teaching was more
profound than we thought. A little more life experience happens and we
may have the experience yet again with that teaching, and this may go on
an unknown number of times. Here we see a world of complexity,
subtlety, and nuance behind the teaching, and we are never really sure
if we’ve fully understood it. As our confidence in our understanding
diminishes, our wisdom yet improves and our appreciation for the
teaching grows.<br />
<br />
One thing we often hear is that “death is a part of life”. On the
surface, this seems to be a rather obvious statement. When we look at
life as a series of events, it quite plainly includes being born, a
bunch of stuff happening, and then – inevitably – our death. So, death
is a part of life, learning to walk is a part of life, getting a job is a
part of life, and so on. As a comfort for the grieving, this seems
about as effective as telling someone to “get over it” or “walk it off”.
We might look at this a little more deeply, and see that learning to
accept death is a part of a happier life. But even this does not fully
unpack the meaning of this teaching.<br />
Most people look at life and death as opposites. But it seems this isn’t exactly right. Rather, the opposite of life is <i>lifelessness</i>.
Both of these are conditions or states. But death is an event. It is
one half of a cyclical process – the other being birth. And, it is this
cyclical process of birth and death that we call <i>life</i>. So, quite
literally, death is a part of the process we call life, just as is
birth. To imagine death the opposite of life would be as nonsensical as
to imagine birth the opposite of life.<br />
<br />
This works not just in terms of human or animal life, but life
everywhere, in all systems, and on all scales. Even as I sit here,
writing this, I cannot do so without death. My typing hands are living
tissue made up of cells that are continually dying and being replaced by
the birth of new cells. This is only possible because of the sustenance
I consumed. Even vegetarians require the death of the organic materials
they ingest in order to live. The similarity of these things to the
death of our loved ones and ourselves is not merely analogy. They happen
for the same reasons and because of the same universal process of all
life.<br />
<br />
But now consider what we really mean by ‘birth’ and what we really
mean by ‘death’? What is really happening? Let us begin by considering
the <i>Sloan Great Wall</i>…<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sloangreatwall.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Where are the edges of this thing?" class="size-medium wp-image-3005" height="190" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/sloangreatwall-300x190.gif" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where are the edges of this thing?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
At the time I first learned of it, the Sloan Great Wall was
considered to be the “largest object in the universe”*. It is a giant
wall of galaxies 1.38 billion light-years in length. My first thought on
reading this was that the statement was a cheat! This “wall” wasn’t an
object at all – it was simply a bunch of galaxies that happened to line
up into something we can draw an imaginary line around and give a name
to. Sure, they influence one another gravitationally, but to consider
them an object? And, what of the surrounding galaxies? They must surely
influence the galaxies of the SGW gravitationally, but they arbitrarily
don’t get to be a part of this ‘object’? Earth and Mars influence one
another. Can I just draw an imaginary line around the two and give the
group a name and now it’s an object? It all seemed very fishy to me. It
seemed that this name said more about the brains of those who imagined
it than about some objective reality in the universe – about as ‘real’
as the constellations we draw heroic figures over in our night sky.<br />
<br />
But if the Sloan Great Wall wasn’t the largest object, then what was?
Isn’t a galaxy just a collection of star systems? And, a star system
seems pretty close to my example of drawing a line around Earth and
Mars. The recent hubbub about whether Pluto was a planet was more of a
philosophical debate than about any of the objective data.<br />
<br />
And so it is with all of existence. Our tiny size compared to the
Sloan Great Wall might make its true nature more obvious, but in truth <i>all objects in our world are of this same nature</i>.
Everything you’ve ever anticipated getting your hands on, every food
you’ve ever desired, every person you’ve ever loved, and you yourself
are different conglomerations of particles. And these globs of particles
are surrounded by the same kinds of particles, which move into and out
of the named glob. That glob further reaches out and manipulates other
globs in a manner not unlike it manipulates its own parts. The more we
think about this, the more arbitrary that borderline at the edge of each
of these forms we’ve given a label to seem – just like drawing a large
crab or a hunter around a group of stars in the night sky.<br />
<br />
And now consider that none of these structures are permanent. They
have all come into their current form for a short time, and as their
parts continue moving by natural law, will eventually lose their form,
much like seeing Mickey Mouse in the shape of a cloud. You could almost
say these forms are somewhat illusory – a helpful habit our brains
evolved.<br />
<br />
<i>And this is the nature of birth and death.</i><br />
<br />
As we can see, ‘birth’ is a much broader concept of the ‘coming into
being’ of various forms, and ‘death’ is the movement of aggregates to
the point where we no longer recognize or label a form (or perhaps now
label other forms).<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>Thus,
‘death’ includes the dissolution of, not only things we call life
forms, but storms, jobs, relationships, planets, nations, and so on.
‘Birth’ is the coming into being of all of these forms and more,
including baby humans. So, in a sense, if these forms are illusory then
it begins to look like death (and birth) are illusory. They say more
about when our brains identify something than they say about the
objective nature of it.<br />
<br />
The Buddhists call this realization ‘emptiness’. Understanding death
in it’s broadest sense makes us realize how integral all kinds of loss
really are to the entire magnificent processes in the universe that make
<i>everything</i> possible.<br />
<br />
Understanding that our ego, our very self, is also illusory – and the implications of that – is a whole other matter!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
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<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
<br />
__________<br />
*<i>In January of this year, the Huge Large Quasar Group broke this record; a chain of 73 quasars 4 billion light-years across.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-44175480700068972112013-06-03T14:00:00.000-05:002013-09-18T14:00:56.433-05:00When love seems absent<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwarby/4915169499/sizes/z/in/photolist-8ukwDH-4A9ZW-cuEziu-4TkbJL-HT8LP-cffPZ1-cffPG3-cffQam-eaK2Rb-7truGM-dm2tRj-4Nbmuo-bVVHbE-dBKW3a-bADXuT-2jkqWA-dGA1Jz-jQqna-7tvu53-zYpF7-bEsAs-8c22dA-8c21Y7-8c22m3-8bXHag-2xduWK-ddX28j-9EFWbh-cMayC-8uW4Ee-9tofsL-5HNMDw-6VXjP-7tMrs9-apKYMA-c9zMZ9-7ZuG5W-aqRZiT-eyC68p-cLmxHy-4jTGCr-4pfzih-4pbvNT-qqsfT-2UJM6k-qFDCa-7fx8Zj-764Ef3-bjAG3W-6oMxUP-7AnKkA/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" target="_blank"><img alt="(cc) William Warby." class="size-medium wp-image-2992" height="225" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/4915169499_a0f1f80198_z-300x225.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) William Warby.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We all face times when it seems there is little genuine love in the
world. Perhaps we’ve been seeing a lot of depressing things in the news,
or perhaps it’s more personal. Maybe it’s been a long time since people
close to us have shown any love to us. Maybe it’s a general feeling
regarding people we don’t even know, but interact with day to day –
people in stores, employees at businesses we patron, neighbors, fellow
drivers, etc. Whatever the source or the cause, it can be discouraging
when we think of how the world could be – when we think about how we
know human beings <i>could</i> be toward one another – and then face striking contrasts to that over time or in a single significant incident.<br />
<br />
Responses to this can range from anger to melancholy. We might
‘toughen up’ our outer shell in response; becoming more like the worst
we’ve been noticing. Or, we might simply resign ourselves into a quiet
depression and withdraw from interactions; looking down as we pass
others, being abrupt, and so on.<br />
Here, we’ve found ourselves in a dark corner of the world. There
seems to be no love present here. But there is another way to handle
times like these.<br />
<br />
We might feel we are like batteries, charged by love, and who need to
exchange that supply with others. So, in times like these, we feel
drained of our charge. We look for, and yearn for, others to come along
an recharge us. We wonder how much longer we can hold out.<br />
<br />
But this view of human beings and love is a little off base. We are
not so much like batteries, which store a charge, than we are like power
<i>sources</i>. All goodness and love enters the world through beings
that love. If we feel drained and in need of a charge, it may be that we
have forgotten a power that we possess. Or, maybe we knew we had this
power, but we are thinking that our ability to love isn’t the issue
because that would be an outgoing commodity instead of an incoming one.
But this too is forgetting the nature of love and of loving.<br />
<br />
I would recommend that, whenever we feel we are in a dark place, that
we consider this a sign that we’ve been tagged by the cosmos – we’re
“it”. Or, if you prefer, we are up to bat. When it seems we have entered
a time or place without love or compassion, this means it is our turn
to be the source of love for that time and place. I think we would find
the results well worth it.<br />
<br />
The trick is to make sure that it’s real love. Real love is selfless
and not based on reciprocity. If we take on only the first part of this,
and go out doing a bunch of nice things for people, we might end up
worse than we were after seeing them fail to appreciate our actions or
return the love. Some people get the idea that the reason we love when
we need love is because others will return it (or be more likely to) and
we will therefore benefit. When this doesn’t happen, they imagine their
efforts to get a ‘love exchange’ going have failed, and more sadness
and feelings of futility ensue. Even in cases where love is returned,
this is only an exchange of diminishing returns, and inherently unstable
as a source of happiness in the long-term.<br />
<br />
The truth is that love and compassion doesn’t work that way. Rather, it is the <i>giving</i> of compassion <i>itself</i>
which can be the source of our happiness, if we can recognize it and
appreciate it as such. As an example, consider making a small animal in a
cage happy with food, who may not realize you as its source. Or,
consider an ideal mother who is made happier by caring for an infant
who, by nature, cannot yet fully appreciate her actions. She doesn’t
have to wait several years to get a return on her investment. She is
happier because she truly loves the infant. Likewise, we can cultivate a
true, selfless love for others, and not see them as a resource – a
place from which to get love – but an opportunity to practice a love of
our own. When we are able to cultivate that kind of empathy and
compassion, then in our efforts to gain happiness from giving love we
cannot fail. We have been made happier through our acts alone – they are
not dependent upon the responses of the object of our love.<br />
<br />
As just one example, Dr. Emma Seppala has written an article in <i>Psychology Today</i>: “<a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/feeling-it/201211/the-best-kept-secret-happiness-compassion" target="_blank">The Best Kept Secret to Happiness: Compassion</a>”.
There she provides several research projects which have shown how acts
of compassion stimulate the same pleasure centers as when we are the
recipients, and the happiness can even be greater. She also describes a
host of other benefits beyond mere happiness.<br />
<br />
So, when things seem darkest, remember that <i>you</i> can be a
source of love. This, in fact, is how humanity can illuminate all the
dark corners – by each of us acting as the light when no others are.
Every day is another opportunity to be compassionate when least
expected!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-6578758968493962392013-05-13T13:59:00.000-05:002013-09-18T13:59:51.594-05:00Life challenges as mirror<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMAG0675.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2929" height="168" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMAG0675-300x168.jpg" title="IMAG0675" width="300" /></a>This
morning my wife discovered that the left side mirror on her car had
been smashed by vandals sometime during the night. The same thing
happened to our neighbor’s car, both parked on the street.<br />
<br />
As I later reflected on my initial response to this, I found it
interesting. Sometimes, as we are making progress in our practice,
change is not noticeable until an event takes place that tests us. When
this happens, it can remind us of the last time a similar event happened
and invite comparisons.<br />
<br />
The most notable aspect of my internal response was a complete lack
of any kind of any kind of negative feelings about the perpetrator/s. It
was almost as if my wife had told me that a branch on our tree had
snapped and broken the mirror. I did tell her we needed to notify the
police, in case this was part of a pattern of activity, but my main
thoughts in this were about other potential victims on our street.<br />
<br />
Only when I noticed the absence of that thought later, did it begin
to make me think about the perpetrator. And, when I ran the image in my
mind of some imagined person (perhaps a youth) doing this, the only
feeling that emerged was a sense of concern for this person. If it was a
youth, I wondered what might be going on in their life.<br />
<br />
Of course, it’s possible that a kid can otherwise have a fairly
normal life and end up happy and well adjusted, even if they engaged in a
number of ill-conceived misadventures in their youth. But this kind of
behavior can also be an indication of deeper things gone wrong. That
same lack of empathy for others can potentially manifest itself in more
serious acts. Or, if the key attribute was a recklessness and disregard
for how their actions might affect their own life, this might be an
indication of a self destructive attitude. Of course, I cannot know the
details of this person’s life, but if either of these possibilities is
on base, it could mean this person is in for a life with some rough
patches and the inevitable suffering that comes with such lack of wisdom
– a suffering they may not even understand the source of.<br />
<br />
My feeling in these thoughts was similar to the concern a parent
might have for their child if they learned he or she were leading a self
destructive life. We can get a replacement mirror, but this person has
much more difficult problems.<br />
<br />
As mentioned, this doesn’t mean we don’t alert authorities and that
we don’t take whatever actions are appropriate. It is only right to
support actions that would protect other victims, and to stop the
perpetrator. But this can be done without damaging ourselves with
unhelpful impulses and reactions. In fact, we can hope that the
consequences for a perpetrator help inspire them to improve, and someday
be able to enjoy the peace and contentment that comes from being a
better person.<br />
<br />
It was fortunate that I didn’t need to be reminded of these
perspectives – that they seemed to have become my natural responses.
There was a time when my responses would have been different, and that
indicates there has been some progress in my spiritual practice. I
wanted to take the opportunity to talk about this, because it seemed a
good way to illustrate the kind of transformation which our spirituality
is about. Have you seen signs of progress is your own natural responses
as a result of applied practices over time? If so, please feel free to
share them!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-7418948636132554732013-04-16T13:58:00.000-05:002013-09-18T13:59:10.746-05:00Mindful Discourse<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/quackquack.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-2865" height="203" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/quackquack-300x203.jpg" title="quackquack" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“Quack Quack!” (cc) Creep Streeps (Art Freak), Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the Spiritual Naturalist Society – in all of our articles,
correspondence, in-person conversations, online conversations, and local
events – we always try to encourage mindful discourse. Therefore, it is
worth looking at what we mean by mindful discourse in more detail.<br />
<br />
The distinguishing characteristic of mindful discourse, is that we
want the values and practices of our spiritual path to manifest
themselves in our behavior, including in our interaction with others. It
is one thing to talk about compassion, for example, but cultivating it
ourselves is our aim. And, importantly, outward larger actions alone
don’t do the job. We might contribute a sizable amount to important
causes, and may even volunteer our time toward them. This may help
others, but ultimately the world is most helped when we <i>transform ourselves</i>.
This way, we become the kind of beings that are more likely to continue
those outward actions into the future, to be more likely to deeply
influence and inspire others, and be the kind of beings that will be
more capable of enjoying the flourishing life.<br />
<br />
Part of the process of achieving that transformation, affecting our
inner motivations, is being mindful of the little moment-to-moment
things. This touches intimately on what I have described in our
Resources section as <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/demeanor-practice">Demeanor Practice</a>.
Often the discussions in our organization involve topics dear to us.
This has the potential to throw us into reactionary states of lower
mindfulness at times. Recently I had a wonderful discussion with a
friend on a very interesting topic. But I noticed afterward there were
some times I was not as mindful as I could have been. So, let’s look at
some specific characteristics of unmindful discourse, which may be red
flags for us to watch…<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Data Dump</b><br />
One of our tendencies when in less mindful discourse, is to be so
anxious to get all of our views out that we go on and on without stop.
This gives little time for listeners to ask for clarifications or, more
importantly, to even follow and consider what we are saying properly.
This happens because we imagine that making the others know our point,
or see our full position ‘right now’ is more important than it is.
Buddhism is one philosophy that helps us with such ego-driven behaviors.
In any case, this impatience and/or urge to dominate is a sign we are
not being mindful in our conversation.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Revving on the Start Line</b><br />
This is when another person is speaking and we are simply waiting for
our next opportunity to speak, as though we were a runner on the
starting line of a race, waiting for the gun shot. During this time, we
are not living in the present because we are not appreciating the value
of what the other person is saying. We are also not being very
considerate. Both of these facts will hamper our ability to connect with
the conversant.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>One-Way Traffic</b><br />
Have you ever had a discussion with someone, and noticed that they never
seem to ask what you think or elicit your thoughts? We have all
probably done this before. It is often assumed that both sides will
throw their lot into the mix, but this isn’t always the case –
especially if they don’t feel welcome. We can always learn from others,
so it is helpful to ask them what they think. And then, most
importantly, really stop and consider it deeply.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Jumping the Gun</b><br />
This act of impatience and assumption is when we hear the first few bits
of what a person is saying, and then assume we know what the rest of
their sentence or point will be. Often we may interrupt them, which
ramps up the volley of exchanges and lowers mindfulness. But even when
we bit our tongue, the internal assumption often turns off our true
listening, and puts us into ‘Revving on the Start Line’ mode (see
above).</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Pigeonholing</b><br />
This is similar to ‘Jumping the Gun’ but here, we imagine we know the
other person’s entire viewpoint, in addition to many other views
unconnected to their statements. We do this because we imagine whole
packages of positions to be a part of larger general ‘types’ of people.
But all too often, people aren’t like the stereotypes we imagine. And,
just because they have a view on one position, doesn’t mean we can
assume we know their other positions. Stoicism teaches us that judgments
we make connect to values and labels and these can often blind us to
the realities before us.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Planting Seeds in Infertile Soil</b><br />
Sometimes our enthusiasm or desires may encourage us to force our views
down others’ throats. We end up banging our heads against a wall because
the other person is simply not ready or willing to be open to the views
we are sharing. It is in this time that teachings such as the Taoist Wu
Wei (effortlessness) can be helpful. Here, we move with the flow of
things – in this case, we act in conjunction with the current
disposition and nature of the conversant. If they aren’t ready or
willing to give some things a fair hearing, we are patient and accept
that it is not the right place or time, or that more productive
approaches may be possible.</div>
<br />
As we read the above, let us not consider this list in the light of
“all the things other conversants have done to us”. While those times
may elicit emotions which cause them to stand out in our memories, we
cannot control what others do, and certainly cannot control the past.
Instead, let us consider the above in terms of our thoughts and actions.
That is what we control, and where our concern should lie if we are to
make progress on our path.<br />
<br />
These instances may be good reminders for us to check our <i>motivations</i>.
Often, when we are not mindful, we end up having discussions for all
the wrong reasons. Perhaps our real intention is to show off, or to ‘be
right’. Perhaps we are trying to belittle the other person. Perhaps we
have an inner need to assert our ego. Instead of ‘winning’ as a debate
might encourage, mindful discourse happens for completely different
reasons. Instead, the goal is to share ideas and learn from one another.
By suspending harsh judgments or assumption or interjecting or
comparative-contrasting language for a time, we are more able to listen
deeply and consider that which we may have not considered before. We are
more able to see through the other person’s eyes and broaden our
understanding. In mindful discourse, the ‘winners’ are those who come
away with greater understanding than before – not those who have merely
convinced others of their previous understanding.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>Most of all, if we are wise we will remember that mindful discourse is <i>compassionate</i>
discourse. It is important that we try to keep loving-kindness for all
beings at the forefront of our consciousness as we discourse. Love for
everyone involved in a conversation will keep our attitudes charitable,
our tones inviting, and everything conducive to greater understanding
and communication. Along the way, we may discover the extra dividend
that our own faculties of empathy, patience, tolerance, and love are
improved.<br />
<br />
If you’d like to experiment with this practice, strangers could be
considered the ‘easy level’ because there is a kind of ‘polite shell’ we
are typically trained by our culture to have. For more advanced
challenges, try this practice with close friends and family – the more
emotionally invested you are in the topic, the more challenging this
practice will be. If you’re not where you’d like to be with it, don’t be
frustrated – compassion, patience, and forgiveness is something to show
ourselves too. Just keep trying and focus on the present. In time
you’ll get better at it!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-19788290951657133302013-02-26T13:57:00.000-06:002013-02-26T13:59:09.745-06:00Spiritual Naturalist Drumming<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwFev-gt9rg5AdyY8qXlzktHrVxYOTyoShugl6nHU_LDBtILgJj_6fWmTyqSyJ0vMaVFGvQsS7GA0EQiG2kSChPKVJQduiQGzRFfjTLYw0TzE30Su5hPzv8uYXRpIGRJdXBfIPGDPUv9K/s1600/drumming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhwFev-gt9rg5AdyY8qXlzktHrVxYOTyoShugl6nHU_LDBtILgJj_6fWmTyqSyJ0vMaVFGvQsS7GA0EQiG2kSChPKVJQduiQGzRFfjTLYw0TzE30Su5hPzv8uYXRpIGRJdXBfIPGDPUv9K/s200/drumming.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy, Lisa Marie Bytheway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Drumming is an ancient art that has played a ritualistic and spiritual role in different cultures all over the world. Drumming practitioners today may be most familiar with West African and Native American traditions, but there are many others – for example, Taiko drumming techniques from Japan. Why does drumming have a spiritual role in the lives of so many diverse cultures, and what role might it have for naturalists?<br />
<br />
In the West at least, new spiritual movements have come to incorporate drumming methods and understandings from a variety of ‘mix-and-match’ influences. These customized ritual cocktails may vary in their accuracy and allegiance to historically accurate understandings; sometimes intentionally so. In many of these cases, members of the original cultures from which these practices sprang may find offense. So, as we proceed, we should do so with respect for original cultures and be careful that we don’t misrepresent them. Even with this approach, however, it should be noted that no amount of respect will prevent offense to some cultures that resent any appropriation of their customs. This is a more general concern with any perennial path such as ours, but we proceed as respectfully as possible while learning from others what we can. The format of drumming rituals varies, but we will primarily look at drumming circles, which have been popularly forming at events and in groups for many years.<br />
<br />
Another concern for we, as naturalists, is that one will find a variety of interpretations as to the nature of spiritual drumming in literal terms. That is, there are many beliefs about what is happening with ‘energy’, healing, bodily centers, and so on. We should not get too hung up on these particulars, as there will always be those with a variety of beliefs. Agreement on these matters is not essential and we should approach them with tolerance while staying true to <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/a-new-old-skepticism/" target="_blank">our own path</a>, which includes a humble approach to knowledge and claims; without the need to force that discipline on others. Mainly, just as we do when reading ancient philosophy, we must be capable of seeing past differences to connect with underlying themes and wisdom, rather than being reactionary to anything we may not agree with and miss an entire area of human activity and its potential benefits. So, some charity is advisable. This would be true even for non-naturalists, each of whom will have their own differences of belief. The famous physicist Richard Feynman is one example of a naturalist who saw great benefits in drumming. So, let us consider these benefits.
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Individual</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/native-american-drumming.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2615" height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/native-american-drumming-150x150.jpg" title="native-american-drumming" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Native American drumming.<br />
(cc) terren in Virginia, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At the simplest level, drumming is fun. This alone can justify it for anyone, naturalist or not. And, there is additionally an argument to be made for simple fun activity as a healthy part of a spiritual life. But considering some further aspects of drumming beyond simple fun can be intriguing and helpful.<br />
<br />
The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) conducted a series of interviews and collected practitioner journal reports to get a sense of what Aboriginal women practitioners experienced in hand drumming rituals. The general consensus was positive, as one might expect. Some reported their heart rates affected by the rhythm, helping them deal with stress, relaxing and releasing tension. Some even reported finding the activity helpful in dealing with addictions. They generally reported that it helped them maintain a positive outlook on life.<br />
<br />
Of course, more research can only help illuminate these effects, but Spiritual Naturalists are encouraged to do their own first-person research, seeing for themselves the effects of participation. Practice, as we have stated, is about more than academic third-person study.
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Community</h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/african-drumming.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2616" height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/african-drumming-150x150.jpg" title="african-drumming" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">African drumming.<br />
(cc) ehpien, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Obviously, the communal nature of drum circles tends to help participants learn to be in synch with one another in their drumming. This synchronicity can lead to a greater sense of cooperation. Indeed, many armies from all over the world have, prior to modern communications, used drumming to coordinate soldiers on the battlefield and in training. Not only does the rhythm indicate a pace and type of action, but the emotional nature of hearing the drums helped to coordinate their emotions, adrenalin, and attitudes.<br />
<br />
Obviously, this kind of alignment of neural activity can benefit more than a group of soldiers for purposes of war. It can also be used positively to engender a sense of close community for other constructive purposes. In a drum circle, all players are considered equal, regardless of ability and this too has a psychological effect on our relationship with the whole.
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Deeper</h2>
All of the preceding has been rather utilitarian or even dry so far; speaking of entertainment, physical effects, and community building. These are worthy things in their own right, but for many, drumming is much deeper and more profound than these dry descriptions can do justice. As even a basic practitioner, I can attest to this, as well as the fact that such is the case even within a purely naturalistic path.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/taiko-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2617 " height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/taiko-150x150.jpg" title="taiko" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Japanese Taiko drumming.<br />
(cc) Indaia Cultural, Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Watching a self-conscious drummer attempt the art is telling. Here, we see that successful drumming requires a kind of ‘handing over’ of some control and self-consciousness. The analytical side of us, when attempting to helm the ship in drumming, can’t pull it off. This is because drumming requires a real-time response. The analytical mind is thinking to itself, “ok, is it time for the next beat now? Now? Now? –ok Now!” and by the time the hand moves to hit the drum, it is already too late. The conscious judgmental mind is getting in the way. It’s too busy thinking about the beat. This is not unlike the folk tale about the centipede, when asked how it manages to coordinate all those legs to walk, suddenly loses the ability when it stops to think about it.<br />
<br />
This is significant because the ‘uptight person’ must go through a kind of learning process to ‘let go’ in order to really enjoy the spiritual benefits of drumming. Here, the hand must already be moving to the drum and must strike it confidently at the right moment, <i>without </i>the conscious pre-confirmed knowledge that everyone else will, in fact, follow through with a strike. The dilemma might remind us of the funny example of the person who yells something embarrassing to a friend in the middle of a loud party, just as everyone happens to go silent, making their statement far more noticeable than intended. For all we know, everyone might place the beat in some other place or stop drumming, leaving the self-conscious person whacking a loud drum all by themselves – the horror!<br />
<br />
This is somewhat like those exercises in trust, where someone falls backward letting another catch them. We must have a kind of faith that others (or the music) will go along with us in this beat we feel – <i>we can’t wait for confirmation before proceeding or we will fail</i>. It is not difficult to imagine what this might have to teach naturalists who are used to relying on their intellects and on evidence. It says something about the nature of dealing with reality as it is; often messy, incomplete, and often requiring action without all the answers.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/46345_1536149999744_794212_n1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2619" height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/46345_1536149999744_794212_n1-150x150.jpg" title="46345_1536149999744_794212_n" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy, Lisa Marie Bytheway.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It forces us to get to know ourselves – to learn to trust our instincts, our ways of sensing and acting in a complex environment intuitively and skillfully. This, in fact, could be considered an apt metaphor for what Taoists refer to as ‘skillful means’ in life. It is this kind of internalization and alteration of our direct responses that we seek in living more consistently with nature and our nature as rational/moral beings. This can potentially shift our attitude in ways that enable us to apply this perspective in other places in our life.<br />
<br />
And as we become more accustomed to entering this state of mind, we learn to free ourselves from self consciousness, which could be an aspect of being constrained by the delusions of the ego. We enter that trancelike state of pure experience; without labels; without judgments, and the fictions they often impose upon us. This is, of course, a meditative state, with similar (though not identical) benefits and uses in our spiritual practice. It is also an example of <i>flow</i> which is being more appreciated lately as a source of contentment and happiness in life.<br />
<br />
And, it is in this altered state of consciousness, that we can become perceptive to things we often overlook. As we give up part of that control, and we trust others to fill in the beats alongside us simultaneously, a network activity builds between these coordinated nervous systems. We begin to operate as a single neurological system, in every way that matters from an information-processing standpoint. This creates a profound sense of shared interconnectedness with others in the group. Importantly, this is not just a ‘feeling’, but it is a deep <i>perception</i> of an external truth: that we <i>are</i>, in fact, interconnected with one another in deeper ways than we are typically conditioned to appreciate or capable of directly perceiving.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/donate/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="If you enjoyed this article, please consider a donation." class="alignright size-full wp-image-2489" height="164" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/collection-plate.jpg" title="collection-plate" width="177" /></a>As the famous jazz musician John Coltrane said, “All a musician can do is get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws”. Drumming, like any practice, may not be for everyone, but it is this very real and very natural <i>enhanced perception</i> that makes drumming a potential source of spiritual transformation.<br />
<br />
It is not, then, too far a stretch for our minds to begin extending this perception of interconnectedness toward other people beyond the drum circle, toward all beings, and toward the universe as a whole. This has implications for cultivation of empathy and compassion and for our value systems, and for the actions that result from them.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b>
<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>__________</i><br />
<i>The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
<br />
__________<br />
<i>Special thanks to Donna Alldredge, Lisa Fischer, Tom Brucia, and Ellis Arseneau for directing me toward resources and for their input, to Lisa Marie Bytheway for the photos, and to NAHO for their paper on hand drumming, and to the Drumming in the Spirit of Harmony Facebook group for their support.</i>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-10937329654700789602013-02-04T20:55:00.003-06:002013-02-04T20:55:44.946-06:00A New (old) Skepticism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTm4YCMKJW2Vx-etQ3G93YMUUVyBPiXnXbJsp7o7td62IrCXEILoDqw4QdQIEf_NXCL6evM6A85qU_HzzU0QyCVEdg0p1Gg2DZU1ohPSuQ6UOWv89wGE1PgbdDMH1FHxsRLU4MN1HS0s_I/s1600/pyrrho-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTm4YCMKJW2Vx-etQ3G93YMUUVyBPiXnXbJsp7o7td62IrCXEILoDqw4QdQIEf_NXCL6evM6A85qU_HzzU0QyCVEdg0p1Gg2DZU1ohPSuQ6UOWv89wGE1PgbdDMH1FHxsRLU4MN1HS0s_I/s1600/pyrrho-150x150.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pyrrho, often referred to as<br /> the first Skeptic philosopher.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Skeptics have often been accused of being cynical, negative, etc.
They will (quite appropriately) correct us that skepticism is not the
same as <em>cynicism</em> – always about denying or a denial that we can
reasonably know anything. While skeptics might reject certain claims on
the basis of lacking or contradictory evidence, skepticism also
includes the <em>acceptance</em> of claims on that same basis. Skepticism can be a good thing because it is the opposite of gullibility and fuzzy thinking.<br />
<br />
<strong>So, that’s skepticism as the skeptics know it. But this
article is titled ‘A New Skepticism’ because I’m about to discuss how
Spiritual Naturalists do skepticism…</strong><br />
<br />
In the above there is some overlap with many of the ancient
philosophies that might inspire various forms of spiritual naturalism.
The Buddhist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama_Sutra" target="_blank"><em>Kalama Sutra</em></a>
instructs us not to accept claims merely on the basis of authority,
faith, tradition, or even our own musings – but rather because we have
experimented and observed from that experience that it is true. In the
West, the ancient Greek philosophers were creatures of reason. Although
the modern scientific method would not be forged for several centuries
to come, the elements of it comprised the way these thinkers approached
knowledge. Through observation and reason they made their way – not by
faith. Therefore, we spiritual naturalists have good cause to embrace a
healthy skepticism.<br />
<br />
But, unfortunately, some criticism of those who call themselves
skeptics, and of skeptic communities, may be more difficult to shake.
For those who are <em>merely</em> skeptics, or those who appear so due
to their focus on this one value, an impression of being negative,
inconsiderate, disrespectful, snobbish, or even brutish may arise. While
the skeptic may be a perfectly fine person, this impression arises in
the same way it might arise if we were to take any one value and
emphasize it at the expense of other values which are meant to exist in
balance. Further, much of this depends on the <em>style</em> in which skepticism is often promoted, and the motivation for doing so.<br />
<br />
So, what is the spiritual naturalist approach to skepticism, and how does it differ from <em>mere</em> skepticism?<br />
<br />
Naturalism is about more than just love of nature. It includes a
reverent recognition of all things as a part of nature. And, it includes
<em>an approach to knowledge</em> that cultivates the naturalist view.
But, rather than talking about empiricism as some kind of key to perfect
knowledge or as a superior possession to that of anyone else, the
Spiritual Naturalist approach is different. Our aim is to envision and
discuss this approach in terms of one of the many virtuous character
traits we aim to cultivate in ourselves – namely, to see it through the
lens of <em>humility.</em><br />
<br />
This is why I prefer to speak of “a humble approach to knowledge and
claims”. I don’t talk about your beliefs – I don’t know your experience.
Rather, what I can say is that when <em>I</em> make a claim <em>my</em>
personal practice is to limit what I take to be true to that for which I
can provide or reference some kind of external evidence. Importantly,
this also includes refraining from claiming the opposite – that x is
false – without sufficient evidence. This path is one of recognizing and
emphasizing <em>my own limitations</em> of experience and my own limitations in ability to know all things (certainly including the greater secrets of existence).<br />
<br />
Thus, rather than using this approach as a weapon to scrutinize or
dissect the beliefs of others, I say to myself that this is a practice <em>I have chosen</em>
to undertake and look more often to the mirror, asking myself if I am
living it well. Often, I have found it helpful to refer to this
discipline by an ancient term, Epoché (eh-POK-ay), to help maintain an
attitude about it as being a sacred practice. In our <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/epoche" target="_blank">member’s section</a>, we have an article that discusses Epoché in more detail.<br />
<br />
More generally, another big difference is that Spiritual Naturalists
are concerned about many values beyond just epistemology. Here we try to
show, by living example, that practice. Let us live in ways more
centered on increasing compassion, mindfulness, kindness, helping
others, forgiveness, mercy, self-discipline, and encouraging it more in
the world. Let us proceed with a confidence that, when not being
insulted or threatened, free human minds will tend toward reason in
their own time and way.<br />
<br />
When the impulse arises to criticize others’ beliefs, let us turn
that energy toward projecting love and understanding – and that includes
refraining even from the passive aggressive kind of comparative
phrasing. When a person leaves an encounter with a Spiritual Naturalist,
the difference should be obvious and perhaps even striking. This is the
noblest goal of a rational being that recognizes that the value of even
reason itself rests on the primacy of compassion. And, it is this – not
tedious argumentation – that will peak the interest of others to want
to know what this rational spirituality is all about.<br />
<br />
But this cannot merely be some PR (public relations) tactic. Remember
that the focus of Spiritual Naturalist practice is greater happiness
and flourishing, and only <em>personal transformation</em> can
accomplish this. This is why our true inner motivation and mindset
should be one of concern for others. That this approach also spreads
both compassion <em>and reason</em> in the world (often more effectively) is a wonderful bonus.<br />
<br />
Sometimes, of course, sharing information may be integral to
compassion, especially if we think it can help others. But here we must
check that this is the true motivation, and not egotism. When it comes
to sharing beliefs with others, we remind ourselves that <em>Truth</em> is sacred to the rational being and a powerful thing (that is, importantly, <em>assuming</em>
that what we possess is Truth). If so, then we also recognize: that
which is sacred and powerful should not be thrown about carelessly or
dispensed without consideration. Truth best flows where the landscape
naturally cradles its rivers. One does not take the waters of truth and
flood crops and villages, so to speak. Here, we combine rationality with
the wise practice the Taoists refer to as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei" target="_blank">Wu Wei</a>.<br />
<br />
We also realize that Truth, devoid of compassion, can be <em>abusive and vicious</em>.
This is why we don’t try to plant seeds in infertile soil. Instead,
patience, reservation, love for those with whom we converse, and
humility in our assumptions about our own knowledge are the hallmarks of
a practicing Spiritual Naturalist.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<strong><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></strong><br />
<em>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</em><br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-64030719523434283342013-01-18T12:49:00.003-06:002013-01-18T12:50:40.211-06:00What is Spiritual Transformation? (Pt 2 of 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>This is the second of a 2-part series on spiritual transformation (<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/what-is-spiritual-transformation-pt-1-of-2/">link to part 1</a>).
After the article (below) we continue with an audio conversation
between DT Strain and B.T. Newberg of HumanisticPaganism.com…</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nph_photography/3892402413/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class=" wp-image-2424 " height="265" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/snake.jpg" title="snake" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A snake or serpent, which can shed it’s old skin, often represents<br /> transformation. (cc) Neil Henderson.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_2424" style="width: 510px;">
</div>
<br />
<h2>
Is Extraordinary Transformation Possible?<b></b></h2>
<b></b>Granted, a more modest model of progress is
essential, and perfection is most likely impossible. However, my
experience in practice leads me to believe that, once one achieves a
state similar to even an ambitious realistic model, once will tend to
find that further improvement remains possible. This results in the
limits of human transformative potential being surprisingly further than
we may be willing to believe at the start of our practice, if we are
disciplined and patient. We might call this extraordinary
transformation; a kind that truly shifts our ‘root operating impulses’.<br />
<br />
It is reasonable to ask whether this kind of transformation is
possible. We may notice that spiritual leaders, who are supposed to be
the exemplars of a practice, may often seem to have many of the same
faults as anyone else. But I think it is a mistake to look toward
leaders in evaluating the transformative potential of spiritual
practice. The chief reason for this is that there is a distinction
between the <i>organizations</i> of spirituality and spiritual
practice. Spiritual practice is a deeply person thing which is about
working on the person in the mirror. Only you have the ability to know
if this is your true intent, and more importantly, only you have the
ability to measure its results and progress. By contrast an
organization, even the best of them, is a project of human
inter-activity that focuses on external conditions by its nature. It is
about actions in the world and seeking certain results (even if those
desired results are more people engaged in personal practice). As
someone who works in the Spiritual Naturalist Society for example, I
must always be aware that my activity for the Society is not the same as
my personal practice, or a substitute for it.<br />
<br />
This distinction has real consequences when it comes to the
distinction between people who become leaders in an organization and
those who employ the practices for which those organizations stand. Very
often, we will find that leaders of an organization do not practice its
tradition as well as some. In fact, they can often be extremely poor
examples; especially if they confuse their success as an organizational
leader with success in their own walk. At the same time, many of the
most successful and advanced practitioners may be on the outside of
organized activity, as they may have chosen to focus their time and
attention on their practice rather than on publications, promotions,
events, giving talks, etc. So, this lack of correlation between leaders
in organized traditions and differences in character should not be
surprising and is not an indication that transformation is not real or
possible.<br />
<br />
Lastly, judging a practice by its practitioners also suffers because
it is inherently impossible to measure a practitioners’ inner
experience. Two people may come to work every day, smile, treat others
in similar ways, and so on. Yet, one of them is deeply happy in life and
the other one faces internal struggles. The extreme example of suicides
that come as a complete surprise to friends and family illustrate this
harshly, but more subtle and common examples abound. This is why the
first-person experience is crucial: each of us must experiment for
ourselves the effects of these practices on our deeper happiness and
well-being.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Experience</h2>
While the scientific approach deals with objective reality from a
third-person perspective, and spiritual practice is about cultivating
first-person subjective states, the two are neither inherently at odds
nor lacking in overlap. The kind of spiritual practice I’ve been
describing is not one of faith-based belief. Rather, it is one whereby
the practitioner is placed in the role of experimenter.<br />
<br />
The Buddhist Kalama Sutra instructs the practitioner not to believe
or accept something because of tradition, authority, scripture,
superstition, etc. but because they have experienced for themselves
whether it is true and effective. Both the scientific method and this
kind of instruction overlap in placing experience and experiment at the
center of acceptance of claims. Note that the latter case is different
from an <i>external</i> experiment on the brain activity of meditators
or the like. Because we are talking about cultivating individual
subjective experience, each practitioner must conduct experimentation
from inside their own private mental laboratory to confirm efficacy.
Because all persons and brains vary, we should expect to see some
variability in which kinds of practices have superior results – and
because we share many traits we should expect to see many commonalities
as well. This kind of procedure is not altogether foreign to science.
For example, research on pain medication must include the subjective
reports of subjects because pain, though it has physical correlates, is
also a subjective experience.<br />
<br />
<b>And so it is from experience that I, and many others, can
report that spiritual transformation of the kind described above is not
only possible, but profoundly life altering.</b> Before I describe
this in detail, let me first address the inevitable and valid skeptical
question of (a) how this differs from the <i>ad populum</i> of
testimony from many people about bigfoot, angels, or aliens, and (b) how
this differs from the testimony of people who claim their subjective
experience of God or Jesus is evidence of the objective existence of
these beings.<br />
<br />
Whether or not certain realms or entities exist is a claim about
objective facts. But no matter how ‘convinced’ I am by a subjective
experience, that alone can never be sufficient to prove and objective
fact. For this, corroborating objective evidence must be demonstrable
and sharable between others. This attempts to use a subjective
experience to attempt to prove an objective fact.<br />
<br />
In the case for spiritual transformation, however, the intended
results are inherently subjective. Therefore subjective experience of
them is sufficient to constitute knowledge of the result. If a practice
makes me happier, more at peace, or more content, then the claim that
the practice results in happiness is – for me – self evidently true. If
the claim were, “Jesus makes me happy” this requires an intermediary
external fact to be true (there is a living entity that exists who makes
people happy). If, however, the claim is “belief in Jesus makes people
happy” this can be supported or undermined by studies of reports of
happiness compared to the corresponding belief. Likewise, the claim
“meditation makes people more at peace” does not depend on an
intermediary fact. That would be more akin to something like,
“meditation pleases Buddha who lives on an immaterial plane, and blesses
those who meditate with peace of mind” – which is certainly not the
naturalist approach. The mention of the number of people reporting the
same experience with spiritual practice is meant, not to lend weight to
an objective claim, but to show a high consistency of subjective
reports, suggesting the reader has a reasonable likelihood of similar
experience with practices.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
My (Continuing) Transformation</h2>
As with most of us, my transformation began with learning. My days of
looking at philosophy as merely some intriguing academic mental
exercise are long behind me, but this is how many of us innocently slip
into discovering what lies deeper. Socrates always fascinated me, so it
may have been inevitable that I would find my way to the later Socratic
schools. The Epicureans are a favorite of Humanists, but it was Stoicism
where I began to notice really amazing effects on my life. Even in some
of my earliest stages of learning about Stoicism, I found that just a
few ‘drops’ of it went a long way.<br />
<br />
It wasn’t long before things I was reading about Taoism and Buddhism
would begin to show fascinating overlaps and similarities. That began a
multi-year process of comparative study whereby I would analyze their
commonalities and their respective strengths. These were not mere
collections of claims about the world or its creation, or proclamations
of ethical edicts. They consisted of real insights into our minds and
our lives. These insights made me reassess many things in my life and
began to affect how I responded to them. Yet, all of this was mere
intellectual learning, helpful though it had already proven.<br />
<br />
Many of us have had what I call <i>profound experiences</i> (also known as ‘religious experience’ or ‘peak experience’). In <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/adieu-to-immortality/"><i>Embracing A Natural Life</i></a>
I explained some things about profound experience (as far as I could
with words), and in our member educational archives the Society has an
essay specifically about the nature and function of profound experience.<br />
<br />
These come in many forms and have many different effects for us. But
without connection to some philosophic perspective, they can often mean
little more than an awe-inspiring event – simple entertainment. Perhaps
they are moving to us for mysterious reasons and before long we are back
to our ordinary lives.<br />
<br />
For me, as I continued to read, discuss, and learn, the occasional
profound experience served as epiphanies that helped me on my way. They
were direct perceptions of amazing truths about the nature of our world,
the nature of my own mind, and the nature of life – things which I had
already agreed to intellectually, and thought I’d understood. But until I
had these experiences it didn’t really ‘sink in’. These kinds of
experiences helped me to internalize certain bits of wisdom on a more
intuitive level. The experiences and the learning fed off of one
another. The learning helped spark the experiences; sometimes at
unexpected moments. And, the experiences inspired me to investigate and
learn more.<br />
<br />
One of these profound experiences happened while reading about
complex systems theory; another happened while listening to the birds
awaking in the trees in the morning. More profound experiences happened
on a plain, petting my cat, listening to music, sharing experiences with
friends, seeing films, in solitude, at temple, and so on – each of them
different, yet each helping to ‘grok’ that for which language is so
often a poor vehicle.<br />
<br />
Simple assent to intellectual concepts is not spiritual
transformation. That happens only when the wisdom becomes a deep part of
how we intuitively see the world and react to it (and the content of
that wisdom is too much for the scope of this essay to seriously
address). Profound experience is not the only way the intellectual
becomes the intuitive, but it often can provide abrupt plateaus along
the gradual transformative climb of transformation.<br />
<br />
More common are the everyday practices that help to condition our
perspectives and ways of being. Meditation is one of the more common and
foundational of spiritual practices. Although I am by no means a master
and still have much to learn, my experience with meditation has been
remarkable. It has increased my focus, my mindfulness (of both my
surroundings and internal states), and my peace of mind. These skills
are essential to further spiritual practices. The effects I have
experienced from meditation have led me to want to explore it further,
but it takes time practicing regularly.<br />
<br />
Many other practices and rituals have been very helpful and
transformative for me. These include journaling, negative visualization,
vision quests, drumming, mindful walking, and what I like to call <i>demeanor practice</i>. Each of these have specific purposes and, in the proper philosophic context, can affect deep change over time.<br />
<br />
This change has been pronounced, and has had effects in my life. One
odd consequence that has come to my attention recently is that I <i>seem</i>
to no longer be capable of embarrassment or any other form of social
anxiety. This may be a subset of a near absence of certain kinds of deep
fears, in general. While I admit this is an extraordinary claim, and
that I may be experiencing them at undetectable levels, that perception
in itself is significant. There have also been some personality changes
over time, which seem correlated to my intentions to shift in that
direction.<br />
<br />
During one period I had been specifically practicing in a manner
designed to increase my empathy and compassion. After a time, I noticed I
was having problems. It seems I had so changed my responses that I was
experiencing disturbing levels of distress whenever I became aware of
the suffering of others (including media reports, etc). I went to see a
monk about this (since the practices I were employing had been Buddhist)
and he informed me that there were other aspects to Buddhist thought I
had been missing; namely <i>wisdom</i>, which is meant to balance
compassion. Specifically, he meant the wisdom of non-attachment and the
acceptance of impermanence. Thus began my process of moving toward
greater balance. During these periods, it was not only my practices that
changed in their general direction, but <i>who I was</i> had actually shifted over time, and in direct relation to a designed program.<br />
<br />
The most notable example of transformation has been how much I was
helped during the time my mother passed away. I explained this in more
detail in the <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/adieu-to-immortality/">Embracing</a>
article, but in short I was fortified and sustained in ways that would
not have been possible before. It was clear that I was not merely
someone who had learned a few nifty ideas or techniques, but that I had
become a <i>different kind of being</i> than the person I had been
before – in my value systems, my responses, my reactions, etc. And, more
importantly, the philosophic reading and learning would not have been
enough to have affected me or my experience during that time. It was the
<i>practice</i> that made the difference. The first of these surprising effects happened relatively early in my practice.<br />
<br />
Today, I am coming into new challenges, such as concerns over
becoming so different in character that I may seem too alien to relate
well to others – an important thing for being supportive and doing good
in the world. Even making public this concern may have the negative
effect of sounding conceited, and surely I must caution myself against
that. I am still very much a learner and still have my fair share of
challenges and difficulties. Yet, I can’t deny that my practice has had
an effect on how I see the world and how I relate to others who may not
be on the same path (or, in some cases, <i>any</i> path). I mention this only to demonstrate how undeniable the reality of transformation is for me.<br />
<br />
In fact, if <i>profound</i> spiritual transformation is not
possible via naturalistic practice, then it is unclear why one would
even engage in any spiritual tradition, other than seeking a community
in the manner one might join a social club. Yet, my experience of this
kind of transformation and the knowledge of what it can do for others is
why the mission of the Spiritual Naturalist Society is so important.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Wisdom and the Role of Science</h2>
If we accept that self-directed transformation over time is possible,
and that such transformation can result in deeper happiness,
equanimity, inner fortitude, and so on; we may look to the next
question. We might then ask, what exactly is the content of this wisdom
we are supposed to internalize, and how do we know it is advice that
results in the kind of change that will be most helpful?<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, the past few centuries have set up a strange
opposition between science and religion that does us a disservice –
especially we naturalists who are looking for a meaningful spiritual
practice. Even among Spiritual Naturalists, the culture has lead us to
view science and religion or spirituality – <i>even philosophy</i> –
as ‘non-overlapping magisteria’ at best, competitors at worst. But if we
look to how all of this started out, we get a clearer picture of what’s
going on.<br />
<br />
Although the modern formalized scientific method did not emerge until
the Enlightenment, there were certainly rational approaches to
understanding our world many centuries before this. These rational
approaches, though imperfect at times, often contained many elements of
the scientific method. More importantly, these were approaches that
valued experience, observation, logic, reason, and peer review (in the
form of discourse). When Heraclitus spoke of the transformation of
materials to and from one another, it is impossible not to think of him
sitting alongside a river, carefully observing his environment. When
Socrates debated the nature of the soul (mind) with Simmias, it is
obvious from their arguments that these were men who were carefully
considering observations they had made and the implications of those
observations. One would not have gotten far with Socrates by proposing
any knowledge on the basis of ‘faith’. The same can be said of the
Buddha who, as I’ve mentioned, specifically rejected faith as a source
of knowledge.<br />
<br />
These thinkers approached the same universal struggles and torments
we all face in life even today, and in their wisdom, arrived at many
profound realizations. And, while they may have lacked much of the
technical details, or even had many of them wrong, a surprising number
of those realizations still hold remarkably true. This is why, for
example, Stoicism was such an inspiration to modern cognitive
therapeutic techniques.<br />
<br />
Prior to the extreme specializations of today, philosophers were not
only moral guides and logicians, they were scientists. In fact, no good
philosopher would not be scientist and vice versa. It was not too long
ago that science was referred to as ‘natural philosophy’. This makes
sense when we consider that philosophy is the love of wisdom and wisdom
must include the accurate collection of facts (though goes far beyond).
Thus, any time we are asking: (1) what <i>is, </i>(2) what <i>ought to be, </i>or (3) how do we <i>know</i>
those two things – we are doing philosophy. Religion is philosophy,
science is philosophy, ethics is philosophy, logic is philosophy. It is
all a part of ‘wisdom’ and its pursuit.<br />
<br />
Later, some philosophers decided to focus on the ‘what is’ portion,
and they became what we call scientists. Other philosophers decided to
focus on ‘what ought to be’ and they became our ethicists and moral
leaders. Still other philosophers focused on ‘how do we know’ and they
became our mathematicians, logical analysts, linguists, and so on.
Although each of these professionals needs to conduct themselves in
their jobs such that the integrity of their respective methodologies are
maintained, we as individuals have broader needs and concerns. The
problem is that we’ve forgotten all of these folks are doing philosophy
and all of this philosophy needs to play a role in our wisdom and our
spiritual path if we are to be affective at achieving happiness.<br />
<br />
When we realize the original role of philosophy, it should be clear
that sciences such as social and cognitive psychology, for example, are
not some new alternative to these traditions – they are the modern <i>refinement and continuation </i>of
a centuries-long investigation. For instance, in Buddhism we are
invited to learn more about how our minds work, and experience that
through introspective observation in meditation and mindfulness. For the
modern naturalistic Buddhist, the latest cognitive theories should
inform our practice. As for methods of self-transformation, we are
invited to experiment with these and studies on these methods are merely
a continuation of the studies that have been conducted on practices by
practitioners themselves since before we had a rigorous scientific
method. A foundational integration of scientific knowledge and spiritual
practice must be a distinctive characteristic of naturalistic
spirituality if it is to be relevant and effective.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Importance of a Sacred Approach</h2>
Yet, I should add a caution here regarding the role of science in our
spiritual walk. While the technical terminologies and methodologies of
science are critical for the integrity of its process and purposes (the
‘what is’ part of philosophy), there are two things of which we should
be aware: (1) spiritual wisdom requires more than a collection of raw
facts and theories, important though they are, and (2) the technical
framing of these phenomena is not fully effective for cultivation of
inner transformation.<br />
<br />
By this, I mean that reading all the articles in all the scientific journals about practices, psychology, and happiness will <i>never, </i>on
its own, result in spiritual transformation. Further, this is not due
to a lack of scientific knowledge yet to be gained. If you had access to
God’s library on Truth, you could come to memorize it all and this too
would not result in spiritual transformation. At the same time, complete
knowledge is not required for spiritual transformation, and is not a
prerequisite to enlightenment.<br />
<br />
As described, transformation of our character, disposition,
perspectives, and responses comes not from intellectual knowledge, but
from a series of rich experiences that penetrate many different aspects
of our minds, emotions, memories, feelings, and so on. This is how the
non-intuitive becomes the intuitive. These kinds of experiences happen
naturally in life from time to time, and we can harness them if we have
the proper wisdom on hand. But as I’ve mentioned, these are only
signposts. The longer more enduring process of transformation comes from
intentional participation in practices and rituals that facilitate deep
experience of this nature. This means they need to have a moving
aspect, and inspirational aspect, and so on. Technical language and mere
knowledge are insufficient to generate such experience.<br />
<br />
Further, the ‘third-person’ nature of scientific description is
limited for these purposes, even if the data gained is illuminating and
useful in its own way. Learning about the effects of meditation on a
brain and why it has those effects will never be a substitute for
meditating, and so it is with all other practices and rituals.<br />
<br />
In our member archives, I have written an essay on what I call <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/sacred-tongue"><i>Sacred Tongue</i></a>.
There I make the case for the legitimacy of sacred and spiritual ways
of framing the same facts – not merely as something to make us feel
good. Rather, I argue for the legitimacy of this lexicon as a vehicle
for truth, and communication of real aspects to phenomena that are not
conveyed via technical lexicon. This is just one example of why a
sacred/spiritual approach, as opposed to merely a technical
psychological one, is important. Other important elements include music,
physical procession, focal objects, human interaction, narratives,
myth, iconography, and so on. This is what I mean when I speak of
spiritual transformation and why it is relevant and central to a
Spiritual Naturalist practice.<br />
<br />
Thanks for reading. Below you can listen to a conversation between
B.T. Newberg and myself that proceeds further into this topic…<br />
<br />
__________<b><br />
BONUS FEATURE:<br />
A Conversation on Spiritual Transformation, with B.T. Newberg & DT Strain</b> [1 hr 40 min].<br />
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/what-is-spiritual-transformation-pt-2-of-2/">To hear this audio discussion, please see the bottom of this article’s native page HERE.</a><br />
__________<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
__________<br />
<i>Written by DT Strain. Many thanks to B.T. Newberg for his role in
improving this content through lengthy discourse over email and voice.
Thanks too, to the attendees of our local chapter in Houston for their
valuable thoughts and input on this subject, and thanks to Patti for
mentioning snakes as representing transformation.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-35841796595406273562013-01-18T12:40:00.003-06:002013-01-18T12:41:35.362-06:00What is Spiritual Transformation? (Pt 1 of 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<br />
<i>In this 2-part series, we will not only look at spiritual
transformation in detail, but at the end of part 2 we will feature an
audio discussion of the article between its author, DT Strain, and B.T.
Newberg of HumanisticPaganism.com.</i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Transformation. (cc)Hartwig HKD (h.koppdelaney).</td></tr>
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<br />
Coming from a middle-American Christian background, one of the things
that struck me as I learned more about ancient philosophy and Eastern
schools of thought was the notion of one’s religion or philosophy being
about a <i>practice</i> rather than merely a <i>set of beliefs</i>. In Christianity, as it is more commonly promoted, the emphasis is on what you <i>believe</i>.
This, not ‘works’ is what will determine your damnation or salvation.
Even my later conversion to secular humanism would not get me out of
this belief-based mentality. The Humanist Manifesto describes humanism
as a worldview and a “lifestance” while listing a group of (excellent)
principles, the assent to which is sufficient to count one’s self as a
Humanist; absent any glaring obvious misbehaviors. Today it seems almost
the entirety of humanity assumes that being a member of any particular
religious or similar group is merely a matter of opening one’s trap at a
cocktail party and proclaiming the right combination of talking points.<br />
<br />
Yet philosophy, as practiced in ancient Greece for example, was more
than a mere academic pursuit. It was more than a set of positions on
various issues or a set of beliefs. The philosopher of ancient Greece
and Rome engaged in a set of practices designed to cultivate the
flourishing life – and that was almost entirely centered on the
development of <i>inner character</i> in specific, guided ways. Thus,
they tended to live and fulfill a role more akin to a Buddhist monk than
the professorial types called philosopher today.<br />
<br />
This is the avenue (via the ancient Western philosophers) by which I
came to begin investigating Buddhism and was similarly struck by its
nature. Buddhism is not so much about what you <i>believe</i> as it is about what you <i>do</i>.
It too is a practice by which we cultivate ourselves and in so doing,
achieve enlightenment and release from suffering. Having come to
Buddhism through the practice-oriented Greek philosophers, I had
fortunately been prepared to receive this approach without prematurely
dismissing it simplistically as some Eastern parallel to Christian
supernatural salvation. There are many other examples of
practice-centered traditions beyond Buddhism.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Enlightenment is a Process</h2>
The original title for this article was going to be “What is
Enlightenment?” But for the naturalist, enlightenment is not a single
moment of omniscience. Rather, it is a spectrum on which we all move in a
continual process of development and transformation. So, the more
appropriate question is to ask, “What is spiritual transformation?”<br />
<br />
Simply put, spiritual transformation is the result of a successful <i>spiritual practice</i>. Remember, here we use the term ‘spiritual’ in the sense that is applicable to a naturalist – as that which is <i>essential</i>
(ala “spirit of the law”); that which relates to the deeper,
foundational principles pertinent to the good life. A ‘practice’, as
opposed to a ‘faith’, ‘belief’, or a ‘lifestance’ – is a <i>way of living</i>
whereby we engage in various regular activities and thinking habits
designed to change ourselves in specific helpful directions. That is, to
be more capable of experiencing True Happiness (a deeper happiness and
contentment not dependent upon mere external circumstance). This is a
long-term <i>project</i> in which we expect to see progress over time. For this reason, it is referred to as a ‘path’ or a ‘walk’.<br />
<br />
Many naturalists and secular people have come back from events where
ritual or other practices took place, and reported the experience as
empty, or as merely <i>going through the motions</i>. This may happen
when an atheist attends a Unitarian Universalist service, or when a
Humanist tries out meditation, or when a group of Freethinkers feel
uncomfortable singing odes to reason at a group celebration – even if
they agree with the lyrics and were just jumping up and down at a rock
concert a few nights prior.<br />
<br />
This disconnect happens when we lack awareness of the philosophical
foundations of practice. We don’t fully understand what we are doing,
and why we are doing it. In fact, even many people who enthusiastically
embrace various practices do not have a full grasp on how all of these
‘spiritual things’ fit together in a whole system. How does meditation
relate to our value system? What role does <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/religious-experience" target="_blank"><i>religious/peak/profound experience</i></a>
play in a spiritual practice and why? How does awe/wonder fit in to our
knowledge of nature? And how does all of that relate to ritual? Without
some kind of general picture of one’s practice as a complete system of
self-development, all rituals and practices may continue to feel like
empty theater.<br />
<br />
This difficulty is not the fault of these folks, because our culture
has yet to fully realize well-established naturalistic spiritual
practices. Therefore those of us (who even see the value in such a
journey to begin with) end up fending for ourselves and grabbing things
ala carte from various traditions in the hope it all works together.
Indeed, addressing this issue and building informed spiritual
foundations to naturalist practice is what the Spiritual Naturalist
Society is all about. With that in mind, I’d like to share some of what
I’ve come to after about eight years of carefully studying Eastern and
Western comparative philosophy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Engineering the Subjective</h2>
The endeavor of spiritual practice is predicated on the observation
that different people in the same material circumstances can have vastly
different <i>subjective experiences</i>. These affect their
happiness, contentment, equanimity, fortitude, and overall quality of
life. The rational/empirically minded among us have the habit of looking
at things scientifically, which means <i>from a third-person external perspective</i>.
This can encourage many of us to dismiss the subjective as ‘not real’
or even ‘not important’. Yet, if happiness is our aim, and we know that
both happiness and suffering exist in all external circumstances, then
we must begin by acknowledging that our aim is a subjective one. Of
course, for ourselves and others, we will continue to harness our
energies toward less poverty, war, and illness; greater works; better
technologies; and so on. But when even the wealthiest among us can be
found committing suicide or lingering in bitterness or despair, then
something more <i>essential </i>must be addressed. The endeavor of crafting a spiritual practice, therefore, is a matter of <i>engineering the subjective</i>. In other words, <i>the subjective matters</i>. Admitting that will have profound implications as we proceed to understand naturalistic spirituality.<br />
<br />
The next obvious question is, what is the difference between someone
who can retain equanimity under harsh conditions and one who becomes
crushed? What is the difference between one who remains balanced amidst
plenty and one who yet continues to suffer, perhaps more? What is the
difference between a happy and an unhappy person, both in moderately
reasonable conditions? Philosophers have pondered these questions and it
turns out that we’ve had some pretty good thoughts on all of this well
before the Common Era. I’m going to jump ahead a bit and simply list
some character traits that many traditions have seemed to zero in on.
Since none of us are perfectly enlightened, it is always easier to
recognize the absence of enlightenment. So, I will begin with a list of
what I call “the default person”. That is, the person as typically
develops in the absence of any notable degree of wisdom…<br />
<br />
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2404" height="640" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/default-person.jpg" title="default-person" width="401" /></div>
<br />
Of course, we could go into detail about each of these areas, from
what truths they arise, and how they pertain to happiness. But this
brief listing should give a sufficient indication of the relevant
qualities for purposes of this article.<br />
<br />
Nearly all practice-based traditions have some kind of representation
of the ‘perfect practitioner’. For some of them it is a specific
character or person, for others it is more of a title, and still others
it is a general type of being. This entity or entities may be thought to
be literal or hypothetical. The Buddhists have the concept of
‘buddhahood’ and the Stoics had the ‘sage’. But in all of these cases,
the enlightened being served as an ideal example or a model to help
guide practice and establish goals. In our case, we can inverse the
above qualities to get a picture of what we are aiming for in our
practice. I call this, the “transformed person”…<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/transformed-person.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-2405" height="640" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/transformed-person.jpg" title="transformed-person" width="402" /></a></div>
<br />
Most naturalists would likely agree that perfection is not possible
or reasonably expected. And while these two lists paint a picture of a
person as either ‘default’ or ‘transformed’ what this more aptly
suggests is a scale between two extremes. As we engage in our practice,
the purpose is to continually shift our character such that we become
less like the former and more like the latter. And, more importantly, we
will experience greater happiness and less suffering to the degree to
which we achieve this.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Reasonable Goals vs The Ideal Model</h2>
Since the Transformed Person described above is taken to be a perfect
ideal, there are some cautions we should heed. First is the reminder
that the ideal is an abstraction and not expected to be achieved, as no
human being is perfect. Anyone claiming to have achieved this state
should expect a high degree of skepticism from others and should be
skeptical of themselves. Further, we should also not blame ourselves if
we fall short of the ideal, as this is inevitable. Should an ideal model
become a source of self-blame, that would be contrary to the
flourishing life that is our aim, and not a rational or accurate
perspective. Yet ideal models, if used properly, are important because
they point to the horizon and give us a pure way of discussing basic
principles without particulars and the pragmatic realities getting in
the way of understanding.<br />
<br />
But then, of course, we must deal with pragmatic realities in a
realistic practice. For this reason, it may also be important to have
other models to guide us. These models may not represent the perfect or
ideal practitioner, but may outline achievable mile markers along the
path. They would represent a practitioner that is <i>making progress</i>. In conversations on this topic with B.T. Newberg, he has written an excellent description of such a person as follows:<br />
<blockquote>
“Thus, the [practitioner making progress] should
cultivate humility, defined as an awareness of personal bias leading to
an eagerness to overcome it through the process of peer critique (this
necessitates community). Rather than seeking to be unmoved by praise or
blame, the practitioner should seek to receive both praise and blame
with grace and gratitude, while filtering it through critical analysis
and peer advice. The ideal practitioner should also cultivate right
relationship with external conditions, striving to receive circumstances
with the same grace and gratitude as praise or blame, while fully
accepting his or her power to change those circumstances that can be
changed and accept/integrate those that can’t. The ideal practitioner
should also cultivate courage, defined as right action in spite of fear,
as well as a kind of virtuous desire, defined as eagerness for that
which is most likely to yield long-term flourishing. To these ends, the
practitioner will have to achieve an awareness of and facility with the
many intuitive impulses that lead in other directions, and integrate
them in right relationship with the reasoning process as well as social
propriety. Mastery of attention, big mind, and most of the other bullet
points of the transformed person may be invaluable tools in this
endeavor. In the end, the practitioner should focus on becoming not a
sage but a better member of a community of sagehood.” –B.T. Newberg</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
So this addresses practical transformation, but in Part 2 I continue with the question: <b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/what-is-spiritual-transformation-pt-2-of-2/">Is Extraordinary Transformation Possible?</a></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
__________<br />
<i>Many thanks to B.T. Newberg for his role in improving this content
through lengthy discourse over email and voice. Thanks too, to the
attendees of our local chapter in Houston for their valuable thoughts
and input on this subject.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-62906782111729126072013-01-18T12:35:00.000-06:002013-01-18T12:35:03.026-06:00Do you believe in Love?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/fire-mandala.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2368" height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/fire-mandala-150x150.jpg" title="fire-mandala" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(c) Eirik van Hoegee.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In studying ancient philosophy (the very thoughts that shaped the course of later ideas, culture, and history to come) it is impossible to really understand what you read without setting aside the modern day connotations of the words used. Many of the words like 'spirit', 'gods', 'soul', have been Christianized and taken on meanings that are subtly but significantly different. Instead, to get inside the minds and perspectives of early thinkers you must do as one little green Jedi master suggested, "<i>unlearn</i> what you have learned". When we do this, a fascinating picture of how some ancient people conceived the universe begins to emerge - one that is perhaps far more compatible with our modern scientific and naturalistic understanding than is often appreciated.<br />
<br />
I find John 4:8 highly interesting, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." I've looked at 18 different translations of this verse, and though the first portion is translated slightly different in all of them, they <i>all</i> phrase it exactly as "God <b>IS</b> love" - not "God is lov<i>ing</i>", "God is <i>the source of</i> love", "God love<i>s</i>", and so on.<br />
<br />
The 18th Century cleric and theologian John Wesley noted that God is often called holy, righteous, and wise in the Bible, but he isn't called "holiness", "righteousness", or "wisdom" in the abstract, as he is here with Love. The Jamiseson-Fausset-Brown biblical commentary says of this verse, "God is love - There is no Greek article to love, but to God; therefore we cannot translate, Love is God. God is fundamentally and essentially LOVE; not merely is loving..."<br />
<br />
So then, looking at the original Greek, the word used was ἀγάπη or "agapē". This sets it apart from Philia (brotherly friendship love) and Eros (romantic love). Agapē referred to a response to promote well being even when the other has done ill. Thus, it is sometimes translated as "charity". This indicates an intention to refer to a kind of 'motherly' love that is unconditional; that is not dependent upon circumstances or the actions of the recipient ('charity' being the broader concept of giving something you don't 'owe' to the person due to surrounding events or conditions). Agapē is the kind of selfless universal loving-kindness ("Metta") Buddhists, for example, also seek to cultivate.
<b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>This is what the book of John says God IS - not what God does, or a separate quality that God possesses. A=B and B=A, the two are synonymous according to John.</b><br />
<br />
This makes more sense when you consider some of the ancient Greek philosophy that greatly influenced Christianity from its earliest incarnations. The Stoics' concept of Zeus was somewhat illusive as far as his/its personal vs impersonal nature. The Stoics also used the concept of the <i>Logos</i>, which originated as a philosophic concept in Heraclitus around the 5th Century BCE.<br />
<br />
By Heraclitus' use, the Logos was the underlying rational principle or order by which the universe operated. It also meant "word", as in 'description' or perhaps 'logic'. Later Stoics would consider the Logos to be the divine animating principle pervading the universe; some prominent Stoics' having more of a personal interpretation than others. Today we might consider Logos in these senses as something like 'the laws of physics' or the logic of how nature functions - though with a much more sacred tone. In my own spirituality, I often refer to the Logos, which I find a more effective phrase than speaking of the laws of physics (Society members can read more about the use of <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/index.php/sacred-tongue" target="_blank">Sacred Tongue</a> in our member archives). The self-described atheist Albert Einstein comes close to this approach by referring to the subject of his work as <i>seeking to know the mind of God</i>. Nevertheless, in both Einstein's case and Heraclitus' the terms seem quite impersonal.<br />
<br />
The philosopher Philo would adopt the <i>Logos</i> term into Jewish philosophy*. By the time of the Gospel of John (late 1st Century CE), <i>Logos</i> is defined as divine and: <i>that through which all things are made</i> (the Word of God). John 1:1 doesn't merely refer to God speaking words, but says "...and the Word (Logos) <i><b>was</b></i> God". This would seem to indicate an impersonal description of God as the laws of nature. However personal or impersonal Logos has become by this time, it becomes fully personal when Jesus is described in the book of John as the Logos incarnate (the Word made Flesh).<br />
<br />
This is not the only example of something that would seem personal, but which the Greeks would use in a broader impersonal sense. "Eros" is commonly described as romantic or sexual love. But philosophically the term was used as a universal law of attraction. That is, <i><b>all</b></i> attraction that occurred in nature, be it between atoms or between lovers, were manifestations of the general principle of attraction (Eros). This illuminates just how <i>naturalistic</i> the ancient Greeks were in conception, even if the details of their exact theories have been refined or replaced since. As modern day naturalists, when we really conceive of all of Nature as One interconnected whole, operating by the same laws - including the workings of our minds - then the logic of referring to general concepts which cross the boundary between that with and without human agency begins to make more sense. In integrating the implications of complex systems theory into my own spirituality, I have found such generalized concepts a helpful tool.<br />
<br />
It would be no wonder, then, if Agape - like Eros - was also a kind of general natural force. If God <b><i>is</i></b> the Logos (natural law), and God <i><b>is</b></i> Agape (universal love), then both of these kinds of statements could be seen as descriptions of the kinds of natural forces or principles which the writers of the bible may have been associating with the term "God". The more one looks into the lineage of these terms from ancient Greek to early Christianity, the more unoriginal 17th Century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinoza" target="_blank">Baruch Spinoza's</a> impersonal natural God sounds**.<br />
<br />
Early thinkers thought of God as 'the underlying rational order' - the laws of Nature. If love was also described as the principle of the binding of things to one another, this indicates interconnectedness and interdependence. In the 20th Century, Christian philosopher and monk Thomas Merton described Compassion as the "keen awareness of the interdependence of all things". Thus is the bridge between how God can be both physics and love. Spiritual Naturalists will vary on whether they find use of the G-word helpful; some of our members use it and others do not. But this more naturalistic and impersonal interpretation of God is not a new convention. We have good reason to think, in many cases, this may have been the original or earliest philosophic thought of what was meant when the word 'God' was used - and that should be interesting to anyone practicing a naturalistic spirituality.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b>
<i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>__________
<br />The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
<br />
__________
<br /><i>Many thanks to Dr. Marian Hillar, Religious History professor at Texas Southern University, for reviewing a draft of this article for historic and academic accuracy.</i><br />
<br />
__________
<br /><i>* Dr. Marian Hillar has contributed papers on Philo's use of 'Logos', available in our <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/members-area/philosophy-wisdom/">member archives</a>.
<br />**In fairness to Spinoza, his own take was more appropriately claimed to be a proper interpretation of original concepts, rather than intended to be 'original'.</i>
<br />
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-42327160279686966132013-01-18T12:19:00.001-06:002013-01-18T12:19:54.185-06:00Distractions to Spiritual Practice, Pt 4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
There are many important and noble endeavors which are, quite simply, <i>not spiritual practice</i>.
Many of these activities may be very important and even help in our
spiritual walk, cultivating various faculties. Yet, they can also become
a distraction to our spiritual practice if we confuse them with it.</div>
<br />
This is the final part of a 4-part series which explains, in each
part, one of four deceptive distractions to a core purpose of spiritual
practice: cultivating, with applied practices, wisdom and a character
that is more capable of <i>flourishing</i>. That is, addressing fear,
anger, and greed; compassion for all beings and an inner happiness not
dependent on external circumstance. Last time we covered the distraction
of academics (<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/distractions-to-spiritual-practice-pt-3/">link to part 3 here</a>). This time we cover the fourth distraction: Fixing the world.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Fixing the World</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrG7Zabh_BwF2H8MrOCQdmJykTl-oKcZNn-RnJEga2HA2hrklQSV39ZQ8ypWVH0ZczmyAQtQCcVfkMF1r9pcdm9gO0TlvnfQLyn4jQdW0mWhyHBdkdScQtUJP7R9bPT7-FwpTkoAziP9V/s1600/earth-150x150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrG7Zabh_BwF2H8MrOCQdmJykTl-oKcZNn-RnJEga2HA2hrklQSV39ZQ8ypWVH0ZczmyAQtQCcVfkMF1r9pcdm9gO0TlvnfQLyn4jQdW0mWhyHBdkdScQtUJP7R9bPT7-FwpTkoAziP9V/s1600/earth-150x150.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
People who consciously pursue spirituality tend to be caring, loving
people and this means there is a high correlation with those who are
concerned with the ills of the world and the suffering and plights of
others (a wonderful thing!). Yet, this can result in a myopic or
obsessive focus on large-scale social issues.<br />
<br />
With social ills, we often tend to consider the entire matter from a
third-person sociological perspective, as though we were aliens floating
above the planet, looking down on humanity. Then we imagine that we can
come up with ‘solutions’ which we can – through writing, debating,
protesting, or conflicting – convince our fellow human beings to employ
(who will certainly follow our undeniable fact-based conclusions), thus
correcting the current state of affairs.<br />
<br />
While progress is definitely possible, this approach can be a bit
naïve even if admirably optimistic. Spirituality is not sociology. This
common approach tends to assume we have more ability to assess the
current situation, more ability to foresee the best course of action for
everyone, and more ability to control the actions of others than we
really do. In actuality, it is more likely that the course of human
civilization on the scale of society is a huge cultural tide against
which even the most ‘powerful’ of us have little ability to direct
within a predictable margin.<br />
<br />
Even if we imagine we could know everything that needs to be done,
how then would we make everyone do it? Where spirituality is concerned,
this question is misplaced because <i>molding the world to our liking (for good or ill) is not the aim of spiritual practice</i>. Rather than fixing the world, spiritual practice calls on us to fix <i>ourselves</i>. Let me put that more precisely: spiritual practice calls on <i>me</i> to fix <i>myself</i>.<br />
<br />
As such, it recognizes that the only thing I <i>really</i> control is <i>my</i> choice, <i>my</i> actions, and <i>my</i>
character. It also recognizes that, even the most noble of causes –
feeding starving children, helping the sick, securing justice and human
rights – are but <i>externals</i>. They are things not ultimately in
our control, and therefore circumstance cannot be a prerequisite for
spiritual progress, True Happiness, or flourishing. Attachment to ‘good
causes’ is still attachment and will, just as assuredly, be a road block
to spiritual progress.<br />
<br />
Now to address the predictable and eternal response to this point:
please know that this is not a call for indifference or to do less good
work in the world. We, in fact, need more of it. This is about our <i>internal disposition</i> as we do that work. Doing good is an essential part of the spiritual life, but it is not about the <i>outcome</i>
of that work. Rather, it is about our motivation within. If we do good
because we want to be the kind of person who does good, because we want
to have a compassionate character, then we are, as the Taoists put it, <i>impervious</i>.
We are not attached to outcomes, which are ultimately arbitrated by the
universe. It is this cultivation of virtuous character (that
necessitates positive action) which is the spiritual endeavor – not
achieving certain conditions in the world. When we forget that, we are
distracted from spiritual progress and, ironically, end up harming even
those external causes because we can become burnt out, demoralized, or
hateful whenever our machinations prove for naught and external
conditions do not match our aims.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
What is <i>Not</i> a Distraction to Spiritual Practice?</h2>
In this series, I have listed <i>cosmological speculation</i>, the <i>ego</i>, <i>academics</i>, and <i>fixing the world</i>
as distractions to spiritual practice. One of the things that is not a
distraction to spiritual practice is the one thing most often given as
an excuse for not pursuing a spiritual practice; that is, the demands of
our schedules and everyday life!<br />
<br />
Gandhi suggested that we meditate one hour every day, unless we are busy, in which case <i>two</i>.
While the length of meditation is open to many views, the implication
is that the busier we are, the more centered and spiritually balanced we
need to be. But an important thing to understand is that spiritual
practice isn’t <i>just</i> about those official techniques we give names to and set aside time to do those activities. There is absolutely no benefit, <i>in itself</i>,
of sitting cross-legged silently with eyes closed for any period of
time. The real purpose of a spiritual practice, be it meditation or any
other, is that we become more capable of <i>applying</i> and using what these practices do to us and for us in everyday life; confronting the challenges of the day, each day.<br />
<br />
Everything we do, from caring for children, to running errands, to
cleaning, to interacting with one another, is an opportunity to put
spiritual wisdom into practice and further hone our habits, character,
and state of being. If spiritual teachings are not applicable to the
real life of ordinary human beings, then they are useless. This should
help illustrate how off-base are thoughts of real life being an
obstruction to spiritual practice. Real life is what spiritual practice
is all about.<br />
<br />
<i>(Those who choose to <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/" target="_blank">become members</a> of the Society have access to our member archives, which includes a more in-depth version of this complete series.)</i><br />
<br />
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<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
__________<br />
<i>Thanks to B.T. Newberg and Rick Heller for their thoughts and input
on both this article and the more in-depth piece in our member archives.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-5720022734233878282013-01-18T12:12:00.004-06:002013-01-18T12:15:42.424-06:00Distractions to Spiritual Practice, Pt 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This is the third of a 4-part series which explains, in each part,
one of four deceptive distractions to a core purpose of spiritual
practice: cultivating, with applied practices, wisdom and a character
that is more capable of <i>flourishing</i>. That is, addressing fear,
anger, and greed; compassion for all beings and an inner happiness not
dependent on external circumstance. Last time we covered the distraction
of the ego (<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/distractions-to-spiritual-practice-pt-2/">link to part 2 here</a>). This time we cover the third distraction: Academics.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Academics</h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/books.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-2251" height="150" src="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/books-150x150.jpg" title="books" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(cc) Wyoming_Jackrabbit,<br />
Flickr.com.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="wp-caption alignleft" id="attachment_2251" style="width: 160px;">
<div class="wp-caption-text">
</div>
</div>
Humanity has been seeking wisdom, in all of its cultures over the
entire globe, for thousands of years. The wealth of wisdom and teachings
available today is truly vast. There will always be more to learn, and
even if it were possible to read it all, we would find that the entirety
of human thought and wisdom is but a tiny island in a vast ocean of
what is yet to be understood.<br />
<br />
Again, learning more is an important component of a good life and a
spiritual practice. But there is something very important to understand:
even if we were to read every text of, for example, Buddhism, we would
still not really understand Buddhism. Spirituality is about human
happiness and well-being, and this is inherently a <i>subjective experience</i>. It’s practices are designed to affect that subjective experience. Therefore, only through first-person <i>applied practice</i> of the teachings over time, can we ever really investigate and understand that to which shallow human language is referring.<br />
<br />
The Western approach of accumulating data and analyzing it
intellectually from the third-person perspective before giving assent is
completely inadequate to making progress along these spiritual paths.
Just as our spirituality must refrain from making claims about reality,
leaving that space to objective investigation – we must also acknowledge
the space for subjective investigation and where it’s proper realm
exists.<br />
When we get into bantering about academic philosophic principles and
works, name-dropping various thinkers and writers and so on, we can
trick ourselves into thinking that we are engaged in spiritual practice.
Yet, <i>without practice, all of this academic knowledge, writing, and discussion is mere vanity</i>.<br />
You can <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">subscribe</a> to get notice future articles in this series, where we will cover further examples of distractions to spiritual practice.<br />
<br />
<i>(Those who choose to <a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/" target="_blank">become members</a> of the Society have access to our member archives, which includes a more in-depth version of this complete series.)</i><br />
<br />
<h2>
<a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/distractions-to-spiritual-practice-pt-4/">Continue to Part 4</a></h2>
<br />
<b><a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheSpiritualNaturalistSociety&loc=en_US" target="_blank">Subscribe to The Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<b><a href="http://spiritualnaturalistsociety.org/membership/">Learn about Membership in the Spiritual Naturalist Society</a></b><br />
<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i><br />
__________<br />
<i>Thanks to B.T. Newberg and Rick Heller for their thoughts and input
on both this article and the more in-depth piece in our member archives.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-77390479215210235562012-12-10T15:39:00.000-06:002012-12-10T16:30:23.128-06:00Giving and the holidays: making a change<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI_88Dk-Q1dH1wWfXwCT6lyYri2oIQSxb1IgHa7OTsyNZRJTZAeExxCP-nsmFfdJgCurPaoVUeRs5H3XsZP9gC_7Gx1sVTYL_MLgy9H-A14RVaA87fkiX2-TZLHrFKJrBYzbO0Uwv6RPi/s1600/piety-and-generosity-of-roman-women.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI_88Dk-Q1dH1wWfXwCT6lyYri2oIQSxb1IgHa7OTsyNZRJTZAeExxCP-nsmFfdJgCurPaoVUeRs5H3XsZP9gC_7Gx1sVTYL_MLgy9H-A14RVaA87fkiX2-TZLHrFKJrBYzbO0Uwv6RPi/s200/piety-and-generosity-of-roman-women.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">“The Piety and Generosity of the<br />
Roman Women” by<br />
NicolasGuy Brenet (1785).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Last year I wrote a letter to friends and family, and shared it on my
blog, about concerns I was having about consumerism and the holidays
(<a href="http://humanistcontemplativeblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/changing-course-on-consumerism.html" target="_blank">letter here</a>). I told them that we’d prefer gifts be restricted either
to things they make themselves or to charitable donations on our behalf.
At the time I still felt my thoughts about this were evolving, and not
sure where I’d end up. After a year of this approach, here is what I’ve
noticed…<br />
<br />
The approach of trying to give only created instead of purchased
gifts still created stress during the approach to the holidays. It was
very difficult to make the time needed to make custom gifts for friends
and family. Accompanying the stress were feelings of guilt that not
enough was done. Given what the holidays could and should be – something
was still wrong with this picture.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
The Problem</h2>
Gifts should be things given from the heart, as the occasions arise naturally. <b>Perhaps the problem is in having a pre-designated hyper-gift-giving bonanza, all to taking place simultaneously?</b>
Such a thing seems like the perfect way to create a maximum of
emotional stress, financial difficulty, and unfortunate
gift-comparison-thinking. If we were to do this with other acts of
kindness, friendship, or intimacy the craziness of it would be more
apparent. Imagine if people in a romantic relationship decided to make
love at a pre-designated regular day and time, ready or not (some do
I’ve heard). Or, what if we decided we would go over to our sibling’s
house on the 11th of June each year to be listening and supportive?<br />
<br />
Still, it seems reasonable and good to have special times of the
year. And it also seems appropriate to have times of the year where we
celebrate generosity, sharing, and giving. But now I’m thinking that I
may have been missing the point in focusing too much on whether a gift
was purchased or made by hand. That focus <i>does</i> help to address the rampant consumerism facing our society. But when it comes to creating joyful and meaningful holidays, <i>I
see now that the real issue is forced reciprocal gift-giving at
artificially pre-designated times. I’ve come to think this is a bad
habit for our society, and one that would be healthy to break.</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
Reason for the Season: Really Meaning It</h2>
Should a person be generous? Yes, this is a character trait we should
all try to cultivate, and giving habits are a part of that. But when we
ritualize the purchase and exchange of goods at particular times, the
ritual can easily become empty and hurried. Even if we spend a lot of
money and make sure everyone on our list has received items of some
designated appropriate value, does that annual activity really have the
effect of cultivating a charitable character? It seems more like
cramming for a test only to forget the material after, rather than a
semester of stimulated learning. Does it really create a more giving
society? Or, does it instead have more tendency to promote materialism?
If we were to instead try to be more mindful to do things for others and
give of our time and efforts to others throughout the year, this would
go much further to promote generosity.<br />
<br />
As for holidays, we always say that their true meaning is in the time
we spend with family and friends, but we never really put our money
where our mouth is. Even in our popular stories, such as “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060345/" target="_blank">The Grinch Who Stole Christmas</a>”
(one of my favorites – spoilers ahead!), the Grinch is surprised to see
the Whos singing even after he’s stolen their presents. Yet, the Grinch
returns the presents at the end because he’s come to understand the
meaning behind the giving. But, suppose he’d destroyed them before his
conversion? Could we have really considered the story to have a happy
ending if the presents were never received? The fact that the singing
alone would be insufficient for the writer or the audience to consider
it a happy ending suggests that we still haven’t learned the lesson the
story has to teach.<br />
<br />
A similar thing could be said of “<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/" target="_blank">It’s A Wonderful Life</a>”
(another favorite – and more spoilers ahead). George Bailey is in
trouble after losing a great deal of money from his savings and loans
business and in danger of going to prison. Distraught, he’s about to
commit suicide before an angel teaches him how much he has to be
thankful for and how important he is to others, despite the troubles.
But as enlightened as the films message, it is still forced to undercut
that message by giving its unenlightened audience (all of us) what we
need to have a happy ending… Just after George learns the lesson that
money isn’t important, the town shows up to donate to help him out and
the film ends victoriously with a giant pile of money on his table.<br />
<br />
Was the message supposed to be that money isn’t important? Or, was
the message that if we don’t care about money that we will get it anyway
(kind of a Chinese finger trap approach to greed)? If the message in
these stories is really true (and I believe it is), and if we had truly
internalized that truth, then an imprisoned George Bailey with a family
that loves him and empty-handed Whos joined in song should still be able
to constitute a “happy ending” for us without the Hollywood twist.
Sometimes the princess would be able to learn that love is what matters,
choose the peasant boy, and then <i>not</i> have to discover that he
was a prince in disguise in order to live happily ever after. In other
words – if our stories are going to teach a lesson, they should mean it –
and if we are going to practice a holiday, we should mean it.<br />
<br />
<b><i>What I would recommend is that we celebrate our holidays
for their true purposes, and enjoy the company of one another, doing
things together during this time. As for giving, let us decide against
reciprocal mass-giving at pre-designated times.</i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
What of Generosity, Giving, and Charity?</h2>
I would make one exception to this, which would be giving to
charitable causes (including friends and family if they are in true
need) – simply because that should never be discouraged. When it comes
to holidays that are meant to celebrate and support generosity, I
propose another way to do that. Instead, let us use the day to give
proclamations, testaments, and invocations about the importance of
giving and having a charity of spirit. Let us hold up noble examples of
charity in our myths, in our fictional stories, and in current day
examples. We can also personally reflect on how generous and ungenerous
we’ve been over the past year, think about how we might be more giving
in the future, and make resolutions to build those habits in the coming
year. And then, of course, follow through when all the lights and
decorations are gone.<br />
<br />
This would be a far more effective way to promote and encourage real
improvements in generosity. Meanwhile, it would have the secondary
effect of removing the stresses and frustrations of massive shopping and
purchasing that has come to accompany these times of the year, and pull
the reigns in a little on materialism and consumerism.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<i>__________<br />
The Spiritual Naturalist Society works to spread awareness of spiritual
naturalism as a way of life, develop its thought and practice, and help
bring together like-minded practitioners in fellowship.</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-885527867833311224.post-27578272843196053172012-11-05T13:28:00.000-06:002012-11-05T13:28:05.808-06:00Hurricane Sandy: A Spiritual Naturalist approach to tragedy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtvcqYMliwrRDo14D8Nt9enmmIbp5PKbwB16FrDT1GkdTaSPTMv0gcRdQBETIXwhAHYrW3uRaM9zL0TBv9DTCc5KlfuoMMR79TuvEEY1H6nNrfHFK3O4tEkvanllMpLrRpl0uLrV0o3Lx/s1600/hurricane-sandy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihtvcqYMliwrRDo14D8Nt9enmmIbp5PKbwB16FrDT1GkdTaSPTMv0gcRdQBETIXwhAHYrW3uRaM9zL0TBv9DTCc5KlfuoMMR79TuvEEY1H6nNrfHFK3O4tEkvanllMpLrRpl0uLrV0o3Lx/s200/hurricane-sandy.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
A commonly heard response of many religious and spiritual people
during times of disaster is, “I’ll pray for you”. Spiritual Naturalists
are a varied bunch and some may engage in some kinds of contemplative
prayer. But in our case, we view ritual as a means to help focus our own
thoughts and cultivate inner qualities. This means, absent of any
confirmed evidence, we don’t hold a belief that our prayers will affect
the circumstances of others in a supernatural sense, either directly or
through the favor of any other entities that listen to and answer
prayer.
<br />
This begs the question, then, of what Spiritual Naturalists can and
should do in response to the suffering of others, particularly in
disasters and other tragedies such as the recent Hurricane Sandy which
recently struck the Eastern portion of the U.S.<br />
<br />
The most significant thing we can do, of course, is to <em>act</em>.
This can include anything from traveling to the area to volunteer, to
giving financially, to helping to spread the word, to simple words of
support and encouragement to victims. All of these things really do
affect the external circumstances for the better.<br />
<br />
<strong><a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/10/31/how-help-survivors-hurricane-sandy" target="_blank">Here is the White House’s page, with further links, on How to Help the victims of Hurricane Sandy</a></strong><br />
<br />
However, important though these actions are, action is the <em>symptom</em>
of spiritual development. Our focus at the Society has been on
spiritual practice, and that means ways of developing ourselves to be
better people enjoying happier lives, <em>regardless of external circumstance</em>.<br />
Fortunately, we do not have to be fully enlightened beings before we
can act to help others! In fact, by jumping ahead and performing acts of
compassion, this can have an inverse affect to help develop those inner
qualities – which makes perfect sense in a universe where mind and body
are all part of one, interconnected natural and causally-linked whole.<br />
<br />
But, realistically, we also know that there are many cases tragedy
strikes others and our ability to do much to help them is severely
limited. There is far too much suffering in a world of billions of
people to keep up with it all. For those who are on a spiritual path of
practice, how then can we respond inwardly – in our practice – in the
face of these realities? Certainly ignoring suffering cannot be a path
to enlightenment, even when we cannot stop it externally.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Acceptance</h2>
The first step is not to let the great suffering in the world defeat
our spirit. If we are in the process of cultivating our compassion and
extending our concern for all beings, this will result in great
suffering unless we also balance that development with the cultivation
of <em>wisdom</em>. By ‘wisdom’ I mean, in this case, the deep awareness
and acceptance of the nature of impermanence. In this, we not only
recognize the impermanent nature of the universe, but we actually come
to see beauty in that whole tapestry of complex activity. Even if we
don’t like some instances of it which result in suffering and loss, we
realize that none of the beautiful things we love would be possible
without that ever-changing flow. Here, what is needed is the cultivation
of a very subtle and challenging kind of <em>love without attachment</em>
– a kind of love for others that is like enjoying the soothing waters
flowing around us in a running river, but which does not try to stop the
flow or desperately grab up all of the water.<br />
<br />
All of us are unique and beautiful as we are. We all have our own
height, our own looks, our own hair color, and yes, our own lifespan. We
live in a certain place, and in a certain time. The time we exist in
this pattern is our ‘home’ on the great timeline of the universe.
Everything that happens, happens according to the <em>Logos</em> – that is, the same underlying rational order that brings about all things, and in which both death and birth are essential.<br />
<br />
These are not the kind of thoughts that will relieve suffering for
those undergoing it, who at that time simply need our love and support
rather than our philosophy. But it is the kind of wisdom of living in
accord with Nature, which we can cultivate in ourselves and – when
tragedy strikes us or those with whom we empathize – will greatly
fortify us.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Cultivating Inner Motivation</h2>
A friend of my wife is a Catholic, and every time an ambulance
passes, he makes the sign of the cross. My wife, also a naturalist, was
telling me how there was something about this she found appealing.
Especially since coming to an understanding of the practical inner
effects of ritual, I too have come to admire this <em>kind</em> of
practice. I am not sure what supernatural beliefs our friend may have
about this activity, but I do believe that the practice of stopping for a
moment and performing some kind of physical action when passing a car
accident or some other kind of suffering, is a healthy activity.<br />
<br />
Outward physical actions connect to our minds. They call upon us to
momentarily direct our attention, and this builds mental habits – habits
of concern and empathy. For this reason I often try to stop what I’m
doing and take a few meditative breaths whenever an ambulance passes or I
drive past an accident or learn of some other misfortune. I have even
found a more immediate effect: whenever a traffic jam happens, I
immediately try to be cognizant that a wreck may have occurred in which
people may have been harmed. I try to think about the possible victims
as their family might. This concern not only helps to cultivate empathy
in the long term, but it also removes any kind of anger or frustration
coming from my selfish ego about the inconvenience!<br />
<br />
Of course, neither meditative breathing nor familial concern for victims affects them directly. But what it does do is affect <em>me.</em> It is a practice whereby, if more people were to engage, would create a more compassionate people and society, and that <em>will</em>
affect others tremendously. This is the kind of root activity that is,
perhaps, the most important kind of endeavor – even more than donating
time of funds to any one tragedy – because it affects our world at the
deepest level. Human minds are the gateways through which all good and
evil enter the world. And, since we can only control our own choices, it
is up to each person to engage in their own practice. As Gandhi said,
“be the change you wish to see in the world”.<br />
<br />
When it comes to the victims of Hurricane Sandy, we naturalists,
focused on the practical though we are, should not dismiss the
importance of taking moments to reflect, focus, and use our imaginations
to put ourselves in their place and the place of their families. Let
yourself experience on their behalf, if only for a moment and if only to
the degree we can. Use the moment to exercise your empathic muscles.
This is how the ‘duty’ of helping others outwardly, becomes a deep <em>impulse</em> to do so over time.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Share Your Empathy</h2>
Again, not to dismiss the importance of action, but with the
importance of inner motivation also established, it becomes more obvious
why we might consider sharing those sentiments with others. Not only
can this encourage them to undertake their own practice of cultivating
empathy, but it can be encouraging to victims.<br />
<br />
Often I will tell people, “best wishes” when prayers and thoughts are
sought or seem helpful. This doesn’t mean I believe my ‘wishes’ affect
their outcomes. But it is a way of letting them know that I am thinking
about them and care what happens. This shouldn’t take the place of
action to help, but it <em>can</em> provide emotional support; much
needed since positive attitude can greatly affect our behaviors, our
determination, and our recovery. And, if you are the person in need,
don’t be so offended if someone tells you they are praying for you –
whether you believe in prayer or not, the point is that someone cares
about you, and that is a beautiful thing!<br />
<br />
<br />
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