In a comment made in response to my previous post, Ben asked, “…how will we feel when the spirit is finally revealed to us?” This is an excellent question. So, before doing my promised post on the subject of why so many people commit themselves to spiritual practice only to abandon it in short order, I first want to address Ben’s question.
The answer to Ben’s question has the potential to be very long. So, what I will do here is briefly touch upon what the experience of spirit is not, then point to some references where one can discover what it actually is. In other words, a complete answer will require a little additional research on your part :-)
What Spirit Is Not…
In a previous post I suggested that there is a tendency in the modern world to conflate mental, emotional, and physical experiences into an understanding of spirituality. I then went on to explain that these categories comprise what in psychological terms is referred to as the "egoic" construct. As such, they do not comprise what traditional religious systems mean by "spirit." Thus, we can say that a spiritual experience is not something that is mental, emotional, or physical.
Yet time and again as I listen to people describe their spiritual experiences I am most often presented with fantastic accounts of mental, emotional, and/or physical experiences. This is not to say that such experiences are without value. But it is to say that no matter how satisfying mental, emotional, or physical experiences might be, they should not be mistaken for “spirit.” In other words, Do not confuse egoic satisfaction with spiritual experience. It is this very tendency that is the “fool’s gold” of the modern spiritual landscape.
What Spirit Is…
If you are like most people you may be feeling a bit defensive right now. “This guy thinks he can tell everyone else what a truly spiritual experience is and what it is not!” Here is where I invoke tradition, that spiritual baby we threw out with the religious bathwater many moons ago. If we read the accounts of the mystics across the world’s great religious traditions, particularly what they said about spiritual experience, we will notice that their accounts of spiritual experience are not accounts of mental, emotional, and/or physical experience. Rather, the mystics struggle to put into words experiences that happen at an altogether different level of consciousness - a level of consciousness that does not involve the egoic.
To know when spirit is finally revealed to us, then, we need to return to the accounts of the mystics. We need to begin to read again the likes of the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Dhammapada, the Tao te Ching, the Desert Fathers, Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila. In other words, we need to redevelop a reference point that helps us to discern what is a genuine spiritual experience and what is not.
Though a bit redundant, I leave you again with this simply imagery from the Upanishads, which points in the direction to which I am speaking:
Two birds of beautiful plumage, comrades inseparable, live on the selfsame tree. One bird eats the fruit of pleasure and pain. The other looks on without eating. - Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Namaste,
Alex
The answer to Ben’s question has the potential to be very long. So, what I will do here is briefly touch upon what the experience of spirit is not, then point to some references where one can discover what it actually is. In other words, a complete answer will require a little additional research on your part :-)
What Spirit Is Not…
In a previous post I suggested that there is a tendency in the modern world to conflate mental, emotional, and physical experiences into an understanding of spirituality. I then went on to explain that these categories comprise what in psychological terms is referred to as the "egoic" construct. As such, they do not comprise what traditional religious systems mean by "spirit." Thus, we can say that a spiritual experience is not something that is mental, emotional, or physical.
Yet time and again as I listen to people describe their spiritual experiences I am most often presented with fantastic accounts of mental, emotional, and/or physical experiences. This is not to say that such experiences are without value. But it is to say that no matter how satisfying mental, emotional, or physical experiences might be, they should not be mistaken for “spirit.” In other words, Do not confuse egoic satisfaction with spiritual experience. It is this very tendency that is the “fool’s gold” of the modern spiritual landscape.
What Spirit Is…
If you are like most people you may be feeling a bit defensive right now. “This guy thinks he can tell everyone else what a truly spiritual experience is and what it is not!” Here is where I invoke tradition, that spiritual baby we threw out with the religious bathwater many moons ago. If we read the accounts of the mystics across the world’s great religious traditions, particularly what they said about spiritual experience, we will notice that their accounts of spiritual experience are not accounts of mental, emotional, and/or physical experience. Rather, the mystics struggle to put into words experiences that happen at an altogether different level of consciousness - a level of consciousness that does not involve the egoic.
To know when spirit is finally revealed to us, then, we need to return to the accounts of the mystics. We need to begin to read again the likes of the Upanishads, the Yoga Sutras, the Dhammapada, the Tao te Ching, the Desert Fathers, Hildegard of Bingen, John of the Cross, and Teresa of Avila. In other words, we need to redevelop a reference point that helps us to discern what is a genuine spiritual experience and what is not.
Though a bit redundant, I leave you again with this simply imagery from the Upanishads, which points in the direction to which I am speaking:
Two birds of beautiful plumage, comrades inseparable, live on the selfsame tree. One bird eats the fruit of pleasure and pain. The other looks on without eating. - Shvetashvatara Upanishad
Namaste,
Alex
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