In an earlier post I wrote about what it means to me to be mindful of spirit. Put briefly it means being aware of spirit and attending to it closely. It means that when we encounter another animated being (and what isn't animated?) we do not just attend to how the other looks, sounds, smells and moves. We also pay attention to the other's spirit, that which makes the other alive.
I do not think I would be writing about being mindful of spirit if I thought most of us already are mindful of spirit. I write about it because I think most of us aren't mindful of spirit. That's right, I believe that for the most part we're mindless of spirit. As such we're missing out on the essence of life itself. We're missing out on what actually makes us alive rather than dead. More than that, we're harming ourselves and others in our mindlessness.
Being mindless of other's bodies can lead to unintentionally harming them physically. Being mindless of other's feelings can lead to unintentionally harming them emotionally. Likewise, being mindless of others' spirits can lead to unintentionally harming that which animates them and makes them alive rather than dead. Such mindlessness can lead to broken spirits. Attending to what makes us alive rather than dead seems like an important thing to me.
There is a good bit of public discussion going on about manners and civility . There is an outcry about a lack of both, especially in on-line communications. The outcry is possible because there is a history of good manners and civility with which to compare current behavior. Manners and civility are generally agreed on practices by which we avoid harming each other's bodies and emotions. For example, we generally agree that it is rude to hit or insult another person without just cause. We generally agree that it is a good thing to avoid physically injuring another person or hurting their feelings.
That being said, what is the etiquette for spirit? Is there such a thing? If there is I don't know what it is. If you know, please tell me.
If there is no etiquette for spirit, why isn't there? I suggest that it's because we are for the most part mindless of spirit. If we were mindful of our own and other's spirit, we would have an etiquette for spirit. We would have generally agreed on practices for how to avoid harming each other's spirit and treat each other's spirit well.
In later posts, I'll write more about an etiquette for spirit. For this post, I simply wanted to raise the awareness of our mindlessness of spirit.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Friday, December 21, 2012
What I believe about spirit
I believe in spirit. Spirit is that which animates, makes alive. I live because of spirit. All that lives lives because of spirit. Spirit is life.
I believe that spirit is of this world rather than an other world. Spirit is as this-worldly as our breath. Spirit is natural rather than supernatural, as natural as the wind.
That I believe in spirit means that I not only believe that spirit exists but I also trust it. I rely on spirit for my life. Spirit is my life.
I believe that everything I encounter is spirited, animated, alive: the sun, moon, planets and stars; the wind, lightning, and clouds; birds and bugs; trees, flowers and shrubs; rivers, streams, and springs; animals on land and in the seas; even Earth herself and her stones. We're all alive.
I value spirit and believe that spirit is worth my close, sustained attention.
I believe that spirits are both alike and different. We are all spirits and yet each one is unique.
I believe that life is richer and healthier for all when we pay close attention to spirit.
I believe that spirit has been and still is neglected and undervalued in Western cultures.
I believe the obstacles to increasing our experience, love, knowledge, wisdom, and mastery of spirit can be overcome.
I believe that overcoming obstacles to spirit and being more mindful of spirit will significantly improve life for everyone.
I believe that spirit is of this world rather than an other world. Spirit is as this-worldly as our breath. Spirit is natural rather than supernatural, as natural as the wind.
That I believe in spirit means that I not only believe that spirit exists but I also trust it. I rely on spirit for my life. Spirit is my life.
I believe that everything I encounter is spirited, animated, alive: the sun, moon, planets and stars; the wind, lightning, and clouds; birds and bugs; trees, flowers and shrubs; rivers, streams, and springs; animals on land and in the seas; even Earth herself and her stones. We're all alive.
I value spirit and believe that spirit is worth my close, sustained attention.
I believe that spirits are both alike and different. We are all spirits and yet each one is unique.
I believe that life is richer and healthier for all when we pay close attention to spirit.
I believe that spirit has been and still is neglected and undervalued in Western cultures.
I believe the obstacles to increasing our experience, love, knowledge, wisdom, and mastery of spirit can be overcome.
I believe that overcoming obstacles to spirit and being more mindful of spirit will significantly improve life for everyone.
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Esprit de corps
A little over a week ago, my wife and I drove to Parris Island, SC for our son's graduation from Marine boot camp. It was a two day event. Thursday was Family Day. Friday was Graduation Day.
During the three months of boot camp we had only traditional hand-written letters from our son once a week at most. Family Day was the first time since before boot camp we saw our son. We were filled with anticipation and excitement.
Family Day started with a ceremony in the All Weather Training Facility which began with a video that gave us an overview of all our son and the other 700+ recruits did in boot camp. At one point in the presentation the narrator said that one purpose of the training was to create "esprit de corps" among the recruits. Because I am mindful of spirit, as soon as I heard the phrase "esprit de corps" I was aroused and began wondering what exactly "esprit de corps" is. I've heard the phrase many times throughout my life but never looked into it to learn more about it. My investigation began with some on-line dictionaries.
According to the The Free Dictionary esprit de corp is "a common spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group." According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is "the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group."
Note that both definitions use the words "common spirit" and "group". The idea is that a group can have a single spirit.
Esprit de corps is a French phrase used first in 1780. Esprit is the French word for spirit or breath. Corps is the French word for body. Related words are corporeal, corporation, corpse, Translated literally it is "spirit of the body." The body in esprit de corps is a corporate body, a unified group that acts as a whole.
After the video the Company First Sargent marched out and addressed the crowd. When he finished, the music started, the large hanger-like door at the far end of the building began to rise, and the new Marines marched into the building. There were over seven hundred young men and women grouped into nine platoons. Each platoon marched as one multi-legged and armed body. Its head was the Drill Instructor shouting the orders. Each platoon marched as a segment of the entire multi-platooned company. I could feel the common spirit shared by the entire multi-platooned company.
Our son's platoon halted directly in front us and the thrill of our hearts came out in the applause of our hands and shouts of our voices. We joined the chorus of thousands of other parents, siblings, girlfriends, boyfriends, and others who were clapping and cheering the new Marines.
The day we spent together touring the Recruit Training Depot, shopping and sharing meals was a day spirited with pride, relief, love and joy. Family Day was topped only by Graduation Day where we again watched the new Marines march as a single-spirited body, cheered, loaded up, and drove home.
Today, a week and a day after graduation, my son and I walked with our dog through the woods behind our house. I asked him about esprit de corps and he talked about how no one except another Marine could really understand the connection Marines have. Boot camp is an initiation. It is an initiation into the entire corporate body of the Marines. Boot camp is the crucible of the esprit de corps. It animates and binds together everyone who gets through it into a single-spirited corporate body, the Marine Corps.
The esprit de corps of the Marine Corps is one example of how a group can be animated by a single spirit. Other examples include flocks, packs, herds, schools, sports teams, business corporations, marching bands, symphony orchestras, riotous mobs, and tribes or clans.
That a group can be animated by a single spirit raises some questions:
What is the origin of an esprit de corps? From where does it come?
Does an esprit de corps vary in strength? Can it be weak, moderately strong, or very strong? If so, what determines how weak or strong it is?
What sustains an esprit de corps? How long does it last?
Does the spirit of a corporate body remain even after the corporate body dissipates? For example, if a business corporation goes out of business or an entire tribe of people dies does its spirit live on in any sense at all? If so, what sustains it? If not, where does it go?
If anyone has investigated esprit de corps in depth I am not yet aware of it and would welcome information from my readers.
During the three months of boot camp we had only traditional hand-written letters from our son once a week at most. Family Day was the first time since before boot camp we saw our son. We were filled with anticipation and excitement.
Family Day started with a ceremony in the All Weather Training Facility which began with a video that gave us an overview of all our son and the other 700+ recruits did in boot camp. At one point in the presentation the narrator said that one purpose of the training was to create "esprit de corps" among the recruits. Because I am mindful of spirit, as soon as I heard the phrase "esprit de corps" I was aroused and began wondering what exactly "esprit de corps" is. I've heard the phrase many times throughout my life but never looked into it to learn more about it. My investigation began with some on-line dictionaries.
According to the The Free Dictionary esprit de corp is "a common spirit of comradeship, enthusiasm, and devotion to a cause among the members of a group." According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary it is "the common spirit existing in the members of a group and inspiring enthusiasm, devotion, and strong regard for the honor of the group."
Note that both definitions use the words "common spirit" and "group". The idea is that a group can have a single spirit.
Esprit de corps is a French phrase used first in 1780. Esprit is the French word for spirit or breath. Corps is the French word for body. Related words are corporeal, corporation, corpse, Translated literally it is "spirit of the body." The body in esprit de corps is a corporate body, a unified group that acts as a whole.
After the video the Company First Sargent marched out and addressed the crowd. When he finished, the music started, the large hanger-like door at the far end of the building began to rise, and the new Marines marched into the building. There were over seven hundred young men and women grouped into nine platoons. Each platoon marched as one multi-legged and armed body. Its head was the Drill Instructor shouting the orders. Each platoon marched as a segment of the entire multi-platooned company. I could feel the common spirit shared by the entire multi-platooned company.
Our son's platoon halted directly in front us and the thrill of our hearts came out in the applause of our hands and shouts of our voices. We joined the chorus of thousands of other parents, siblings, girlfriends, boyfriends, and others who were clapping and cheering the new Marines.
The day we spent together touring the Recruit Training Depot, shopping and sharing meals was a day spirited with pride, relief, love and joy. Family Day was topped only by Graduation Day where we again watched the new Marines march as a single-spirited body, cheered, loaded up, and drove home.
Today, a week and a day after graduation, my son and I walked with our dog through the woods behind our house. I asked him about esprit de corps and he talked about how no one except another Marine could really understand the connection Marines have. Boot camp is an initiation. It is an initiation into the entire corporate body of the Marines. Boot camp is the crucible of the esprit de corps. It animates and binds together everyone who gets through it into a single-spirited corporate body, the Marine Corps.
The esprit de corps of the Marine Corps is one example of how a group can be animated by a single spirit. Other examples include flocks, packs, herds, schools, sports teams, business corporations, marching bands, symphony orchestras, riotous mobs, and tribes or clans.
That a group can be animated by a single spirit raises some questions:
What is the origin of an esprit de corps? From where does it come?
Does an esprit de corps vary in strength? Can it be weak, moderately strong, or very strong? If so, what determines how weak or strong it is?
What sustains an esprit de corps? How long does it last?
Does the spirit of a corporate body remain even after the corporate body dissipates? For example, if a business corporation goes out of business or an entire tribe of people dies does its spirit live on in any sense at all? If so, what sustains it? If not, where does it go?
If anyone has investigated esprit de corps in depth I am not yet aware of it and would welcome information from my readers.
Monday, December 3, 2012
What being mindful means to me
Mindfulness is not for me an above the neck activity. It's not limited to the mind. It includes my spine, skin, stomach, and bones. It's a heart-centered whole-body practice.
When I'm mindful all my physical senses and intuition are open and on high receive. I'm grounded, centered, calm, and relaxed. My focus is open and broad rather than tight and narrow. My own thoughts and emotions are as still as a motionless pond. They do not interfere. I smile and fully attend without judgment to the other. I am the other or rather there is no I, only other.
When I am mindful of spirit, there is only that which animates the other: spirit with all of its individual and unique qualities.
When I'm mindful all my physical senses and intuition are open and on high receive. I'm grounded, centered, calm, and relaxed. My focus is open and broad rather than tight and narrow. My own thoughts and emotions are as still as a motionless pond. They do not interfere. I smile and fully attend without judgment to the other. I am the other or rather there is no I, only other.
When I am mindful of spirit, there is only that which animates the other: spirit with all of its individual and unique qualities.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Spirit as life-giving breath
Our word "spirit" comes from the Latin word "spiritus" which means "breath". Some related words are aspire, inspire, expire, and respiration.
We modern Westerners often associate breath with air. We assume that air is an inanimate thing, oxygen, one of the elements in the periodic table. We assume air is a passive thing and that we are active, living instigators of its movement. We believe we animate the air when we breathe in, draw it into our lungs, breathe out and sigh, speak, or blow out candles. Is this the only way to view our breath? What happens when we examine this assumption?
Breath, spirit, implies a breather. Could it be that our breath is not ours but another's? Could it be that breath lives independently of us, comes from outside of us, flows into our nostrils, mouth and lungs and gives us life? Perhaps breath, spirit, is the instigator of our breathing, and we are its passive recipients. Perhaps we are breathed, spirited, rather than those who breathe. Perhaps this is so for all who breathe: animals, plants, and others.
When I imagine my breathe, my spirit, as belonging to another and only borrowed by me, I see breath differently. I see it as that which animates me. A breath not mine enlivens me. It is my life-giver, my life-sustainer.
When I imagine my breath, my spirit, as belonging to another and only borrowed by me, I see myself differently. Rather than having breath, a spirit, I am breathed, spirited. I am totally dependent on the spirit that breathes in and out of me.
Being totally dependent on the spirit that breathes in and out of me, my appreciation of breath deepens. It inspires me. I value the breath that breathes me. I owe it my life. I give it a worth I did not give it when I viewed it as a an inanimate thing that I breathed. I worship the spirit that breathes in and animates me and all the living.
Given my new view of breath, spirit, how can I continue to conspire with others against the breath on which our life depends? How can I poison it with air-borne pollutants? When I poison the breath we all breathe I poison myself and all who breathe. When I pollute the breath that breathes in me I pollute the spirit that animates all the living.
We modern Westerners often associate breath with air. We assume that air is an inanimate thing, oxygen, one of the elements in the periodic table. We assume air is a passive thing and that we are active, living instigators of its movement. We believe we animate the air when we breathe in, draw it into our lungs, breathe out and sigh, speak, or blow out candles. Is this the only way to view our breath? What happens when we examine this assumption?
Breath, spirit, implies a breather. Could it be that our breath is not ours but another's? Could it be that breath lives independently of us, comes from outside of us, flows into our nostrils, mouth and lungs and gives us life? Perhaps breath, spirit, is the instigator of our breathing, and we are its passive recipients. Perhaps we are breathed, spirited, rather than those who breathe. Perhaps this is so for all who breathe: animals, plants, and others.
When I imagine my breathe, my spirit, as belonging to another and only borrowed by me, I see breath differently. I see it as that which animates me. A breath not mine enlivens me. It is my life-giver, my life-sustainer.
When I imagine my breath, my spirit, as belonging to another and only borrowed by me, I see myself differently. Rather than having breath, a spirit, I am breathed, spirited. I am totally dependent on the spirit that breathes in and out of me.
Being totally dependent on the spirit that breathes in and out of me, my appreciation of breath deepens. It inspires me. I value the breath that breathes me. I owe it my life. I give it a worth I did not give it when I viewed it as a an inanimate thing that I breathed. I worship the spirit that breathes in and animates me and all the living.
Given my new view of breath, spirit, how can I continue to conspire with others against the breath on which our life depends? How can I poison it with air-borne pollutants? When I poison the breath we all breathe I poison myself and all who breathe. When I pollute the breath that breathes in me I pollute the spirit that animates all the living.
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