Ask ten different people, “What is Spirituality?” and you will get ten different answers. Monotheists have a different conceptualization of it than polytheists. Sub-sets of Monotheists, such as Christians, Jews, and Muslims, will have different explanations for it. Sub-sets of any of these religions, like Baptists, Episcopalians, and Catholics for Christianity, will also give widely varied responses. The individuals within each of these groups will provide answers as varied as any of their upper-tier sets.
Steven Jay Gould said that the domain of science is the empirical; questions as to ultimate meaning and moral value are spiritual. This draws a very concise distinction between science and spirituality. Anything, no matter how fantastic, that occurs in our world is subject to observation and empirical analysis. Supernatural phenomenon are not beyond the realm of science at all. It is merely the fact that once science explains them, they cease to be supernatural.
Cellular memory in organ transplants. Children who remember details of past lives that are independently verifiable. Extra Sensory Perception. Telekinesis. Telepathy between twins and family members. The innumerable salvation testimonies of various religious followers. These are all within the domain of Science. On some level they are testable phenomenon; although, we may have yet to find the answers to them.
Interpreting the meaning of these phenomena falls within the realm of Spirituality. The meaning of life, why we are here, our purpose in a scheme of things grander than life on our planet, those are the realm of spirituality. It defines our personal morals, inspirations, and relationship with the world. It is appropriate that spirituality is such a highly-personalized concept and also such a subjective one, but that does not exempt it from disputation.
The Children of Abraham
“God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow; but, our understanding of God is not the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” – Winston Smith
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are the three religions of Abraham. Each one accepts what has come before it and reinterprets the implications. Through each of these religions, we find increasing degrees of inclusiveness, from ethnic to ideological.
In Judaism, as described in the Old Testament, the Jews are God’s chosen people. They alone are in God’s good graces, and, if you’ve read this scripture, you know they usually don’t even have that much, but they always have the potential. This is because they are Jews, born Jewish, a direct descendant of Abraham.
The Old Testament and its Ten Commandments only apply to the Jews. “Thou shalt not kill” unless the person is not Jewish, then slaughter away. The sons shall not be punished for the sins of the fathers, unless we are talking about sons outside of Israel, then God condones an act of genocide. Thus, the rules and subsequent grace are applicable according to one’s birthright, or race.
Then Jesus came along, the New Testament following close behind, Monotheism 2.0. The new spin on God’s grace is that the Jews turned it down; therefore, salvation is open to anyone, regardless of their genetic lineage. The New Testament accepted the Old Testament, but acted also as an amendment to it. Salvation was not going to discriminate along racial lines any longer.
It was going to discriminate along ideological ones, however. The new rule of salvation was that you had to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, failure to do so would deny you salvation. Jews may have the blood, but if reasonable people don’t accept the Savior, then damnation awaits.
So Mohammed followed Jesus and Paul, and the Holy Quran recorded more words from God, Monotheism 3.0. The third revision of God’s grace was that it was open to everyone, regardless of their genetic lineage or their ideology, so long as it was of Abrahamic origin. Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike were all guaranteed a place in Heaven. Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed were all great prophets.
Truth was something numerous and open to interpretation, and Allah, in fact, encouraged scriptural debate among the Abrahmites. Yet this was still not quite sufficiently inclusive to encompass a world filled with ideas as diverse as ours. God’s Grace still only covered a small portion of the world, the Middle East and Europe. There was still the far East…
Scripture is a work of Man, and subject to Interpretation. If God had wanted us to follow the Ten Commandments blindly, it would have written them on the moon. The Jews love to debate scripture. “Even the devil quotes scripture for his own purposes.” (Matt 4:6) Avoid a legalistic approach to scripture, or your head will implode trying to rationalize the discrepancies. Scripture reflects the culture of its time and the understanding of the world. Its authors picked up their cultural morass concerning gender relations, sexuality, slavery, etc. Science has shed much light on our world since it was written. We know how to safely eat pork and shellfish now. We know that the Earth is round.
Remember that dedication to a scripture-based religion is a dedication to the scripture. You must read the words, not let someone else read them to you.
Eastern Philosophy
While the religions of Abraham are scripturaly focused, the Eastern religions are inwardly focused. The spiritual journey is a personal one. Life is the teacher, truths are revealed through the natural world and meditation.
Meditation
Many Eastern religions supplement prayer or replace it with the practice of meditation. The purposes of meditation vary from philosophy to philosophy, but they all involve practicing a mental state. Some practice feelings of compassion toward the surrounding world, others practice chanting a single thought, and others practice thinking nothing at all.
Even non-Buddhists practice Meditation as a relaxation technique. Similar to prayer, the act brings great comfort to the practitioner. At the same time, as in the Western religions, the individual may take things to extremes. One of the most famous Buddhist leaders, the Bodhidharma, was rumored to have cut off his eyelids to prevent himself from falling asleep during meditation.
Reincarnation – The Buddhist Wheel
Most Eastern religions see this life as only one out of countless lives we have lived before. Some religions see this as a cycle of pain that will continue until we overcome it and break the cycle. In such religions, Nirvana is a Heaven we attain and the Natural World is Hell bringing us pain. Enlightened souls that have broken the cycle sometimes return to our world to help others find the path, these are bodhisattvas, the Buddha being the most famous. The Dalai Lama, awarded the Nobel peace prize, is considered the 14th incarnation of the Buddha of Compassion by Tibetan Buddhists.
One thing I find appealing about the concept of reincarnation is that, if we can’t take anything with us from life to life, then we have every motivation to leave this world a better place to make our next life better. While material gains are lost between lives, some part of our personal character may survive.
Agnostism and Atheism
There is no need to fixate on any one religion. We can take a pluralist approach to traditional spirituality. I find comfort in Taoism, Discordia, a liberal interpretation of Jesus that excludes Paul (whatta jackass), a little Shinto, a dash of Islam, Solomon was cool, the Bohdidharma’s a fav, etc, etc. There’s a little bit of truth in every religious memeplex, but this is not quite Agnostism.
Agnostism
“Agnosticism is a concept, not a religion,” according to a religious inquiry site. The agnostic admits complete ignorance in all supernatural affairs. Known Unknowns, Unknown Unknowns, agnosticism finds no convincing evidence either for the existence of the supernatural or its lack thereof.
This lack of assumptions is the virtue of agnosticism. The Agnostic admits total ignorance concerning heaven, hell, the Buddhist wheel, karma, afterlife or deities in our reality. Books written by people who thought the earth was flat, personal tales of salvation, or threat of damnation are insufficient to persuade the agnostic into ritualistic behaviors. As Carl Sagan ponders in his book Contact, if God wanted us to keep the Ten Commandments, then why didn’t it write them on the moon?
“Absence of Evidence is not Evidence of Absence.” -Unknown
The Agnostic differentiates themselves from the Atheists in rejecting the assumption that these supernatural phenomena do not exist. While there is no evidence to support the existence of a hereafter, there is also no evidence to disprove its existence. To this reasoning, the atheist might reply that there is no evidence to disprove the existence of invisible monkeys hiding our car keys either.
Atheism
British Prime Minister Tony Blair once gave a public speech, where he referenced “people of all faiths and those of none.” this was the most brilliantly inclusive statement I have ever heard from a politician and it stuck with me because he addressed a segment of our population many dismiss, the Atheists. At the time, America was reaffirming its status as a nation “under God,” and I realized how offensive this slogan was, not just for merely paying lip service to spirituality, but because it excluded a growing segment of the public. I was upset, because this was offensive to a religious minority.
While I am not an Atheist, Atheists are the believers I admire most. Atheism does not constitute a religion, but is the antithesis of the concept. This does not mean the atheist is not spiritual, in fact, I find a much more honest and profound spirituality in atheists than in any of the organized religions.
Atheism is the most noble of all religions from the perspective that the atheist remains virtuous without supernatural threats or promises. The most empirical of all religions, Atheists are virtuous because observations of the natural world reveal the benefits of virtuous behaviors.
Higher purposes for the atheist are much more works oriented than other religions. Personal improvement and bettering society are more important than worship practices, which atheists find superfluous. Instead of praying for change, the Atheist makes change happen. Instead of meditating for enlightenment, the Atheist proactively educates themselves into enlightenment.
Atheism is as plausible as any other religion. The only concern for Atheists is the reasons for their choice. Many Atheists have come to this conclusion because of their faith in Science and the Natural world. They see no evidence of anything beyond, and therefore do not acknowledge the possibility.
This is not to say Agnostics and Atheists are devoid of spirituality. People of both groups are capable of profoundly spiritual experiences. From an empirical standpoint, it makes no difference if we believe or not. All we have is our shared reality, where ethical behaviors are crucial to societal success; there are logical, empirical reasons for living a good life.
Agnostics and Atheists find spiritual sustenance in existence and all its wonders. Their world is all the more fantastic because it comes not as the result of creation, but from a process encompassing billions of years and seemingly endless complexity. These individuals find spirituality in being and purpose in what they see in the world around them. That is why they are the most admirable of religions.
Defining God
Is God All-Powerful?
An All-Powerful God generates a paradox: If God is all-powerful, can it create something more powerful than itself? Either a yes or no answer to this riddle will sufficiently disprove the possibility of an all-powerful being’s existence.
Is God Infinite?
No paradox results from answering this question either way, but implications do arise. An infinite God means that God is everything and everywhere. We are all part of God, the good and the bad. This plane of existence is part of God as well. If death means transference to the afterlife, then we are a part of God moving from one part to another. We and our neighbors and everything surrounding us is all an incarnation of an infinite God.
Followers of monotheistic religions are faced with a dilemma if they believe in an infinite God, for this makes God the origin of Good and Evil. Followers of Hinduism and Shintoism have defined the infinite God as all things, but also believe in lesser Gods and spirits, which are also part of the infinite whole.
Is God Omniscient?
An Omniscient or All-Knowing God presents another dilemma for the monotheistic religions, because such a being negates the possibility of freewill. Judas betrayed Jesus because he was made with that purpose. An all-knowing God cannot create an individual without knowing what that individual will do with its life. Such a being cannot remove its intent from the creation.
There is a resolution to the omniscient creator / creation with freewill paradox, but it requires a God uninvolved with the affairs of its creations, a dispassionate Universe.
The Soul
It feels as though there is something separate and distinct about our consciousness and our physical bodies. We think therefore we are, and we perceive more to ourselves than what our brains can contain. This perception is known as the “Cartesian Dualism.” It is the human perception that we all share, a belief in the soul.
Is there something eternal about us? In one sense, absolutely, we occupy a place in the space-time continuum. We are forever occupying this place, possibly waiting to be discovered by consciousnesses capable of navigating to any point along the architecture of space-time.
So in one sense we are immortal, but few would take comfort in this understanding. So we look for evidence that some conscious part of us will continue to exist in space-time after our death. We look to visions, miracles, children’s memories of past lives, scriptures, and philosophies for guidance, but none of these offer concrete proof. So we are left with uncertainty, hopeful uncertainty, but the unknowable nature of the soul’s existence is a part of the human condition.
So let’s assume, for the sake of speculation–like in our god hypotheses–that a soul does exist. What can we know about the nature of this thing? Only this: Our Soul’s perception of the self is probably vastly different than our present concept of the self.
As evidence, I cite the brain. If our present personality, our concept of the self, is a mirror image of our Soul, then what does the fact that we can undergo extreme changes in personality as a result of changes to the brain? If the person I am at this moment is the person I am eternally, then what happens to that eternal person if I enter a vegetative state as a result of severe head trauma? Does my soul mimic this vegetative state?
How about Phineas Gage, a person who underwent a severe personality shift as a result of loosing the front part of the left side of his brain? What does such a change say about the nature of the soul, if a person can become someone so different as a result of brain damage? Obviously, the Soul cannot have a consciousness similar to that generated by our biological construction if we aspire to beings eternal and unchangeable.
So the conscious afterlife becomes a consciousness completely alien to the one we experience in life. There is nothing disconcerting about this. Altered states of consciousness are something we engage often throughout life through sleeping, dreaming, drugs, meditation, aging and wisdom, on and on. If a soul does exist, it is something we might look forward to.
The important thing is to be spiritually mindful, to get out of your head on a regular basis. Spirituality is something to be applied to the world around us.
Oh, The Possibilities!
Okay, so let me flake-out here for a moment…
Our Universe is an amazing thing. Existence alone is an amazing thing. Sometimes it cracks my noggin trying to figure out how things can exist at all.
We’ve seen the end of our own Universe, and despite being quadrillions of light years in size and expanding billions of lightyears a second, it still seems pretty small to me simply because it’s not infinite.
If it was created, then who created the creator? Maybe we’re all gods in training, like the Mormons believe. Is it “turtles all the way down?” The gods of each universe creating more universes?
Or maybe it’s all an advanced online video game, like “World of Warcraft” or “Ultima Online.” Maybe this is where we escape reality, if our souls are immortal and immortality is a painfully boring prospect, then a life where we have no idea of anything beyond Empirical reality would be the perfect illusion. When we die, we go back to the real world. Wake up and say, “Whoa, what a trip!”
One of my biggest gripes concerning Intelligent Design supporters is their reliance on disproving Evolutionary Explanations to support their hypothesis. Imagine if they were to take the millions of dollars they pour into public relations, advertising, and legal battles and put them to use finding the hand of god?
There’s some awesome phenomena going on around us. Take Dr. Ian Stevenson’s research at the University of Virginia. In addition to his books for public consumption, he has produced two tomes (here and here) documenting 30 years worth of case studies where children’s birth defects correlate to injuries they remember sustaining in previous lives. His work has produced over 3,000 case studies and the University has dedicated additional researchers to carry on his work after he passes away.
Or consider all the fantastic relations surrounding the number Phi, the “divine proportion.” We find it in the Fibbonacci Sequence, the Platonic Solids, population growths, plant and animal life. What’s the secret here? Could there be a message hidden in Phi’s infinite decimal places, just as Carl Sagan speculated might exist in Pi?
Intelligent Design proponents could volunteer to help Dr. Stevenson’s research, or find ever more interconnections between Phi, the Fibbonacci Set, and life. Or maybe they could find some other fascinating, yet unexplained phenomena, document it, formulate hypotheses about it, and design experiments to test them.
When we consider the proactive measures they could be taking, their assault on Evolutionary Theory seems a tragic waste of time doesn’t it?
The fun of existence is looking around us, trying to solve the puzzle, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
Far out.