Two Kinds of Spirituality

Does one have to believe in spirits in order to have it? What does the word mean? What are the necessary requirements? Can a Bright be spiritual? Is spirituality always, sometimes, or never good?
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wvanfleet
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Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by wvanfleet »

I have come to the tentative conclusion that there are two kinds of spirituality, and I have a preference for one of them. Needless to say, there is probably much diversity of opinion about this topic, and also much variability in word usage. However, hopefully this post may be a contribution.

It seems to me that the ingredients of anything that is considered an example of spirituality are (1) some kind of desired or valued feeling (a joyful one) and (2) some perspective or set of beliefs or attitudes that, when active, tends to promote such feelings. I am going to focus on the second of these ingredients.

We can summarize the second ingredient as the “things are good” attitude. In other words, the individual begins to think something about how some aspect of the world is, and derives a good feeling from that. Generally, also, that good feeling is important to the individual in his or her motivation to live a certain way. But the “things are good” attitude is not just about anything, but instead about the way the world or existence is in general, not about the lottery or the outcome of a contest but about “all creation.”

Now why do I say that there are two different kinds of spirituality? Because there are two different sets of “things about the way the world is” that can be thought about to produce the joyful feeling:

(1) Things that are not obviously so but that one trains oneself to believe are so.
(2) Things that are obviously so.

First, as examples, the belief that a sentient entity is watching oneself, approving of oneself, and making special arrangements for oneself, or the belief that there is a very good plan of which one is a part, or the belief that one will remain consciously aware forever and that it will be an enjoyable experience, or the belief that one is a part of something bigger such that one can never be alone, are all beliefs that may produce joy, but they require belief for which easily obtained evidence is not readily available.

A negative aspect of this kind of spirituality is that because of the lack of readily available evidence in favor of the belief, and because of the awareness that there are those that don’t believe the same, doubt can arise, which becomes a threat to and impediment of the spirituality. Furthermore, that threat of doubt and the wish to avoid it tends to cause people to stay distant from those that do not believe the same, and in some cases seems to increase the tendency to attack and kill. So this kind of spirituality may indeed cause joy, contentment, and appreciation (JCA), but it can also cause pain, suffering, disability, and early death (PSDED). To me this kind of spirituality has a component that is not consistent with the REUEP.

The second kind of spirituality, however, is based upon accurate belief for which evidence is readily available, that is, things that are obviously so. Now I realize that this sounds awful to some people, especially those that are going through hard times, but I believe a little analysis will help make this idea more feasible.

I think that the primary threat to this kind of spirituality is “taking things for granted,” and that the extent to which we do this is enormous. To some extent most of us have experienced a little bit of this, but to a great extent most of us are “spiritually dead.” What do I mean?

First, let us look at good examples of this kind of “deadness” or “taking of things for granted” that are not what we would refer to as absence of spirituality. The child may be quite excited by what he sees on TV, but he probably takes completely for granted the TV itself. It is just a part of the natural environment. Or we are annoyed by how long we have to wait for the elevator, when it is quite amazing that there is such a thing as an elevator. We complain about the traffic, totally unimpressed with how much more we can do than in the days of horses. And even the Internet has become for us a part of our natural environment, a ready source of headache, but not often productive of enormous wonder and appreciation. So along with “been there, done that” is “so what?”

But the above examples are just the tiny tip of the iceberg. What I now want to call attention to is some things that are obviously so, about which, with some training, we could experience enormous, almost overwhelming joy and appreciation, though we hardly notice them at all or barely give lip service to them. I will list a few.

There is something rather than nothing at all. Good God, if there is anything that should evoke joy and appreciation, surely this would be one of them! I find that this fact is so overwhelming that I can’t find much to say about it, other than “Hallelujah” or some other expression of appreciation.

What about the fact that things are the way they are? What I mean is that the parameters of our Universe, such as the speed of light, are such that the Universe has lasted and will last long enough for life to evolve? Change one of those parameters and we are no longer a possibility.

(Incidentally, for some it seems to be of help to postulate a “creator” of the above two items. To me, that seems to detract from the glory of those two items. “Oh, those are nothing to marvel at. You see, they were easily created by God at the snap of his fingers, since he can do anything. It is God that you should marvel about.” And so, indeed, we go back to the first kind of spirituality, marveling about that for which evidence is not readily available, while taking for granted that which cannot be denied.)

Well, we can go on. What about the fact that the Universe has developed ever increasing complexity in certain parts of it (generally probably within galaxies), not the least example of which is “life.”

And then there is what has happened on our planet. Life has become increasingly complex, to the extent that some of it has been able to construct complex structures of activity that have been models of various aspects of the Universe. More specifically, animals have learned how to find food, and even how to play tricks on one another.

And then we finally came along, having enough complexity to our neuronal structures of activity that we have developed the ability to use symbols and rules of syntax, giving us language, and therefore the ability to engage in highly intensive empathy for one another. We can know what it is like to be someone else, because that person can tell us! And my loving you can be more than just loving your body.

And then we developed the rules of logic and the rules of evidence, giving us so very, very much, including the opportunity for you, right now, to be reading this, even though I may be on the other side of the planet. So now you and I can empathize with each other, and even fall in love, never having been closer together than a few thousand miles!

And with any kind of luck, you may even derive your spirituality with the aid of extremely complex technology created by extremely complex life, created by extremely complex evolutionary processes made possible by virtue of things being precisely the way they are, not to speak of them being any way at all.

So, we can take all of those things for granted, or we can marvel over them.

But remember “that good feeling is important to the individual in his or her motivation to live a certain way.” So does this kind of spirituality lead to living life differently?

Well for me it does. But I have to add in some other fundamental facts, that are listed on the home page, having to do with our extreme interdependence, that everything we have, or make, or do is only possible by virtue of enormous numbers of people doing their part. This fact, also, is something that I believe is taken for granted, leaving people to a certain extent “spiritually dead.” There is nothing that we accomplish that is not by virtue of a certain amount of agreement and cooperation. And when we agree and cooperate about the right things (consistently with the REUEP), then we have so very much to be thankful for. And my motivation to be a part of that interdependence, doing my part to make the world a better place for everyone, at least within my sphere of influence and within the limits of my capabilities, is enhanced by that spiritual awareness and joy. My life has “meaning.”

Well yes, you say, but these things you marvel over also include poverty, disease, war, etc. So you are marveling over bad things as well as good, right? Yes and no.

Yes. For instance, we humans are possible only because of evolutionary competition and predation, responsible for much of our complexity. War between species, and even among species, has contributed to our being who we are today. And some of the good that we have today is even the fruit of war that has occurred among ourselves. So war has been “good.” BUT!

We are now able to understand the laws of the universe and what makes ourselves tick to the extent that we are beginning to be able to do better than has ever been possible in the past. We are now able to rise above our basic animal nature and train ourselves to live according to ethical principles and rules of conduct such that we make war no more (between groups or individuals), but instead do that which is most likely to promote the good life for everyone, now and in the future. We can learn to stop doing those things which we now realize lead to avoidable PSDED. And if we are not spiritually dead, and we know what to do, we can make ourselves into a species, psychosocially, the likes of which we have never yet seen, to any great extent. What greater gift could our spirituality bring us?

But along with our spirituality, we must have understanding. And that requires study, accurate learning, practice, and continuous improvement for each of us individually, because our group behavior will not change significantly without our group members changing. It is you and I that must change ourselves, assuming we have the spiritual motivation to do so, and assuming that we come to understand what change we must work at bringing about.

In my mind, most of that change can be understood as arising from areas of study such as anger prevention, child rearing, and belief management. In my opinion, everyone should have a basic understanding of those areas, involving useful terminology, basic principles, and practical applications of those principles such that they increasingly optimize behavior toward that which is consistent with the REUEP.

And best of all, this second kind of spirituality is available to everyone, irrespective of religious or philosophical orientation.

Bill Van Fleet
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Re: Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by REveritt »

And best of all, this second kind of spirituality is available to everyone, irrespective of religious or philosophical orientation.
I agree with this kind of spirituality.  I would add that a more traditional definition for spirituality might include an element of transcendence.  Secular sprituality is not without transcendence.  We often experience it when we contemplate the beauty and complexity of Nature, the vastness of the night sky, or the universality of natural law.  This kind of transcendence can provide comfort as it helps put our little problems in perspective. 

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Re: Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by wvanfleet »

I agree.  I would tend to use "appreciation" and "joy" in the place of "transcendence," but in trying to empathize and understand how you are using the word, I guess it has to do with adopting a perspective that is different from one's usual way of experiencing the world.  In this other way, one is imagining himself or herself to be someone else, that someone else seeing oneself as one part of a larger landscape so to speak.  One can then perhaps feel good about the general landscape, and get distance from one's personal worries.

I think this process of transcendence is what is written about as a possible option for those of us that do not believe in the usual religious explanatory worldviews (that contain elements inconsistent with the findings of science) in Michael Dowd's book, Thank God For Evolution.  (It is a good "religious" book for brights.)

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Re: Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by REveritt »

By "transcendence", I meant the feeling that one is connected with something larger.  This can lead to objectivity that puts one's problems in perspective.  I think we are on the same page here. 

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Re: Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by wvanfleet »

Yes, I think we are.  But note that there is a non-brightian flavor to the word "connected," that could make the thought inaccessible to some.  It might be interesting to explore the meaning of that word as used in this context.  I don't personally use it that way.  At least not yet.

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Re: Two Kinds of Spirituality

Post by REveritt »

But note that there is a non-brightian flavor to the word "connected," that could make the thought inaccessible to some.  It might be interesting to explore the meaning of that word as used in this context.
I guess the nature of the "connection" depends on which "something larger" one is thinking about, as well as one's inclination (if any) toward metaphysics.  For me, being connected to something larger does not imply anything supernatural, but merely such circumstances as the common ancestry of all terrestrial life, and humanity in particular, as well being a part of Nature in the most general sense.  Sometimes, when walking in the woods, or on a beach, I suddenly have a moment of what I can only describe as recognition.  I recognize myself as part of Nature, and realize how small and silly my personal problems are.

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