Tuesday, December 20, 2016
Today is a day of focus on my spiritual journey. (This morning as I type what I hand wrote yesterday I feel JOY.)
My first activity was to read My Spiritual Journey - Part 5 where I wrote about my last day of focus on my spiritual journey, March 31, 2016. I was amazed at how much my thinking has changed in nine months. I am grateful that I had recorded my thoughts as otherwise it would be much more difficult to accurately remember them. I am very interested in monitoring myself as I change.
My next activity was writing about my activities today. The past three years have been a transition for me. For the previous twenty years I had almost
no interest in anything religious or spiritual. That began to change when I read Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris. Although I am not certain, intuitively I think I am now beginning a more settled period in my spiritual journey. Recently I joined an organization, something that I do not do lightly. I have joined the Spiritual Naturalist Society (SNS). I think this could possibly be my spiritual home for years to come. However, I will continue to explore other territory and remain open to new ideas on secular spirituality.
Scientific naturalism is a respectable worldview and I do not see much wrong with it. But, in my view, it is incomplete, very incomplete. Many people with such a worldview seem to deny that spirituality is a meaningful concept and they would probably think my quest is strange.Transcendentalism is a worldview that I find interesting but difficult to grasp. It seems to me that it is not sufficiently grounded in reality. It seems to be too certain that some higher power or force is at work in the universe. However, I think that there is some value in understanding this worldview. I tend to agree with transcendentalists when they criticize scientific naturalism as having little to offer when it comes to the meaning and purpose of human life. Since midlife I seem to to be intuitively drawn to middle positions. Of course, I am aware that there is nothing special about middle positions that make them right. While I find extreme positions more than a little distasteful, I do not believe that it is not possible for them to be correct.
Yet spiritual naturalism, something between scientific naturalism and transcendentalism, immediately resonated with me when I stumbled upon it.
Spirituality is a useful word but it a concept that is not easy to discuss. Spirituality means very different things to different people. What does it mean to me at this point in time? My spirituality is about two things - transformation and transcendence.
The following articles on the SNS website capture my thinking very nicely.
What is Spiritual Naturalism?
What is Spiritual Transformation? (Pt 1 of 2) by DT Strain
What is Spiritual Transformation? (Pt 2 of 2) - Is Extraordinary Transformation Possible? by DT Strain
I aspire to be less like a Default Person and more like a Transformed Person as described in these articles.
At this point in the morning daylight had arrived and Pat and I went for our usual walk.
Transcendence is another problematic word because it means very different things to different people. Again there are articles on the SNS website that resonate with me. The following articles also capture my thinking nicely. There are many ideas in these articles that I would like to learn more about. I am also cognizant that, as emphasized by the SNS, a spiritual journey is more about doing than learning. For me at this time, transcendence begins with moving beyond my ego driven self.
Three Transcendents, part 1: Naturalistic Transcendence by B. T. Newberg
Three Transcendents, part 2: Nature by B. T. Newberg
Three Transcendents, part 3: Community by B. T. Newberg
Three Transcendents, part 4: Mind by B. T. Newberg
During the past few weeks I have often been reading articles on the SNS website. Manyresonate deeply with me and rarely do I read anything I am uncomfortable with. I have stumbledupon a community that I think I want to be part of and this gives me joy.As I reflect on what I wrote on March 31st, there are aspects of my spiritual journey that have evolved.
I began a practice of of meditation about a year ago. My practice has been inconsistent but it is my intention to persist and make this a daily activity without fail. Initially my practice was simplistic. I had concluded that the evidence indicated that meditating was a beneficial thing to do. It was an experiential activity and not an intellectual exercise so I decided to try it. After about a year of meditation I have learned something important. When I meditate I focus on
my breath and on counting my breaths and try to do this with no other thoughts of any kind. I have learned that this is almost impossible. I often lose count, unable to remember what number comes next because I have become lost in thought. I have been lost in my stream of consciousness of which I am not in control. I nonjudgmentally start over and continue for a twenty minute period. Focusing on the breath is significant because we are able to breathe whether we focus on breathing or not. But trying to focus on breathing and not being able to is somewhat startling. How much of the time am I lost in thought over which I do not have control?
I have noticed that when lost in thought my thoughts are usually future oriented. Rarely am I lostin thought about anything past. I am intrigued to know that the reverse is true for some people. Contrary to my expectations nine months ago, Eckhart Tolle has not been a spiritual guide to
me. I have watched only a few of his videos and they do not hold my interest. I do think he has things of value to say but something has begun to concern me.
Buddhism sometimes seems to imply that there are two kinds of people. There are the enlightened ones who are teachers and there are the students who are the seekers. I am not a fan of the elite generally nor the spiritual elite specifically. I am not comfortable with the status of
Eckhart Tolle as a great spiritual leader. From time to time I review who the spiritual elite are, many of whom have valuable ideas worth
considering. As I review the WATKINS MIND BODY SPIRIT list of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People List in 2015 I note that Eckhart Tolle is rated number three, overrated in my opinion. I note that DT Strain and B. T. Newberg are not on the list. In fact, I cannot find anyone on this list specifically focused on spiritual naturalism. This sits well with me. I am interested in a community of ordinary people pursuing secular spirituality.
At this point in my day I stopped writing and decided to meditate. Next I went to my garden, deeply contemplating its beauty and the idea of beauty itself. Beauty is a powerful idea but I think it is a human construct, not a transcendental force.
My next activity was to listen to the following podcast. Naturalism and the Search for Truth, Transcendence, and Meaning, with Tom Clark. SN Today #14 Episode 14: Tom Clark is founder and director of the non-profit Center for Naturalism and creator of Naturalism.org, among the web’s most comprehensive resources on worldview naturalism, its implications and applications. He is author of Encountering Naturalism: A Worldview and Its Uses and lectures on science, naturalism, ethics, free will, consciousness, and related philosophical and social concerns. Today we talk with Tom about what transcendence
means to a naturalist and many other fascinating topics.Tom Clark is someone of interest to me and I like his informative website.
At this point in the day I hve had enough learning and I feel the need for a change of pace. I spent more than an hour listening to songs by Leonard Cohen. He is the great Canadian singer and song writer who died last month. My favorite is Hallelujah sung by the Albertan k. d. lang. It seems fitting to celebrate the life of Leonard Cohen on a day focused on spirituality.
The remainder of this day was unremarkable. It was uncomfortable because I was fasting. Why fast? The evidence indicates that this is a beneficial activity. But it is also an experiential exercise in self control. While I lack the control to focus exclusively on my breath, I have sufficient self control to refrain from eating for one day. There is something mildly reassuring in that.