Thursday, November 8, 2007 at 12:12am
Is it time to discard the term 'spiritual'?
Column: Spiritual Psychology
The last few columns addressed "the spiritual emergency of aging." When I first presented that phrase to a friend when I was working on my book ("Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free"), she fired back, 'Birth is spiritual emergency." A few respondents to my recent articles expressed a similar view: "Why wait until the later years to seek ego transcendence?" True enough. In fact, it's a point that I make and develop in the book for people of all ages: "If it can be shown that you truly are living in a self-imposed prison, that you are being lived by irrational forces, that you cannot make real progress toward freedom within your unexamined psychological system, that freedom does exist and is within your grasp, will you spring for it? How much is it worth to you? Can you accept imprisonment once the truth is revealed?"
The problem, though, is getting those points across, particularly to people who are not spiritually oriented. One stumbling block for many is the very term "spiritual." It warms some people and makes others cringe. "Spiritual" means different things to different people, begging the question: Does the term 'spiritual' have any stable or universal meaning? If not, perhaps it should be discarded in favor of something else. And if so, what would fill the bill? As I comment in my book: "Spirituality has so many varied usages that it is more likely to confuse than clarify. It also frequently suggests something otherworldly, perhaps magic, spirits, or vague indefinable and unknowable forces. Some people use spirituality to mean related to God or devotional religion. It is also often used in opposition to scientific understanding or knowledge. On a more popular level, spirituality can mean eating vegetarian food, practicing yoga postures, not wearing animal furs, believing in the power of crystals, or recycling wastes and being mindful of the environment."
The term "spiritual" carries so much baggage that it may be best to avoid it in favor of a locus of consciousness, which may be more to the point: Transcendent consciousness (or the more neutral term that I favor, omni consciousness.
Speaking to levels of consciousness (ego consciousness vs. omni consciousness) rather than spirituality vs. religion, materialism, egoism, and so forth, can bring clarity and focus to discussions about spirituality — and can bypass the stereotypes, particularly the one that pits spirituality against science. Levels of consciousness are open to investigation — they can be studied as well as experienced. And in fact, isn't it a particular level of consciousness that defines spirituality, no matter what name or religious connection or denomination you assign to it? Also, isn't it a particular realm of consciousness where the spiritual principles of religions and spiritual paths come to life and are deeply grasped? Addressing spirituality as a level of consciousness also provides a bridge to unity among diversity — it's where oneness truly resides.
Another advantage of looking at spirituality as a level of consciousness is that it exposes those religious and spiritual practices that are actually expressions of ego consciousness masquerading as the genuine spirituality of omni consciousness.
More on that intriguing subject in a future column.
— — —
In case you missed the last few related columns:
"Ego death vs. ego transcendence - your choice"
"The spiritual crisis of aging"
"Spirituality + psychology = a powerful duo"
"Ego: An object that cannot change"
"To ego or not to ego, that's a question?"
"If you saw the truth, would you go for it?"
And, "Escaping the prison of the self"
— — —
(My book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other major book outlets.)
— — —
Bernard Starr, Ph.D., formerly professor of developmental and educational psychology at the City University of New York, now teaches "Spirituality in Film" and leads "The Spiritual Forum" at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to his work in radio, he is a longtime contributor of commentary and opinion articles to numerous major publications. He is also the main United Nations representative for the Institute of Global Education that founded the Mucherla Global School in Mucherla, India. His book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" has been published by Rowman & Littlefield. He can be reached at {email OmniCns@aol.com}OmniCns@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Bernard Starr.
The problem, though, is getting those points across, particularly to people who are not spiritually oriented. One stumbling block for many is the very term "spiritual." It warms some people and makes others cringe. "Spiritual" means different things to different people, begging the question: Does the term 'spiritual' have any stable or universal meaning? If not, perhaps it should be discarded in favor of something else. And if so, what would fill the bill? As I comment in my book: "Spirituality has so many varied usages that it is more likely to confuse than clarify. It also frequently suggests something otherworldly, perhaps magic, spirits, or vague indefinable and unknowable forces. Some people use spirituality to mean related to God or devotional religion. It is also often used in opposition to scientific understanding or knowledge. On a more popular level, spirituality can mean eating vegetarian food, practicing yoga postures, not wearing animal furs, believing in the power of crystals, or recycling wastes and being mindful of the environment."
The term "spiritual" carries so much baggage that it may be best to avoid it in favor of a locus of consciousness, which may be more to the point: Transcendent consciousness (or the more neutral term that I favor, omni consciousness.
Speaking to levels of consciousness (ego consciousness vs. omni consciousness) rather than spirituality vs. religion, materialism, egoism, and so forth, can bring clarity and focus to discussions about spirituality — and can bypass the stereotypes, particularly the one that pits spirituality against science. Levels of consciousness are open to investigation — they can be studied as well as experienced. And in fact, isn't it a particular level of consciousness that defines spirituality, no matter what name or religious connection or denomination you assign to it? Also, isn't it a particular realm of consciousness where the spiritual principles of religions and spiritual paths come to life and are deeply grasped? Addressing spirituality as a level of consciousness also provides a bridge to unity among diversity — it's where oneness truly resides.
Another advantage of looking at spirituality as a level of consciousness is that it exposes those religious and spiritual practices that are actually expressions of ego consciousness masquerading as the genuine spirituality of omni consciousness.
More on that intriguing subject in a future column.
— — —
In case you missed the last few related columns:
"Ego death vs. ego transcendence - your choice"
"The spiritual crisis of aging"
"Spirituality + psychology = a powerful duo"
"Ego: An object that cannot change"
"To ego or not to ego, that's a question?"
"If you saw the truth, would you go for it?"
And, "Escaping the prison of the self"
— — —
(My book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" is now available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com and other major book outlets.)
— — —
Bernard Starr, Ph.D., formerly professor of developmental and educational psychology at the City University of New York, now teaches "Spirituality in Film" and leads "The Spiritual Forum" at Marymount Manhattan College. In addition to his work in radio, he is a longtime contributor of commentary and opinion articles to numerous major publications. He is also the main United Nations representative for the Institute of Global Education that founded the Mucherla Global School in Mucherla, India. His book "Escape Your Own Prison: Why We Need Spirituality and Psychology to be Truly Free" has been published by Rowman & Littlefield. He can be reached at {email OmniCns@aol.com}OmniCns@aol.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Bernard Starr.