Being Spiritual: What it Isn't and Is

If being spiritual is about being less here, in and of this world, and more "up there" somewhere, then being spiritual is about being less than human.

In my view, being spiritual is about embracing the fact that I am spirited, alive.  It's about being mindful of and taking good care of my own spirit and that of others.

It's not about trying to escape my life. It's about saying "Yes!" to being alive and living my life in this world. 

It's about rising to meet all that challenges me as I create the adventure that is my life in this world.

Being spiritual is about being nothing less than fully human. 

Contra Teilhard: I'm Not a Spiritual Being Having a Human Experience

Some believe we are spiritual beings having a human experience. They believe we're visitors in this world, in human bodies to learn things for a while, but our true home is somewhere else. It's beyond in some unseen "spiritual" realm. In other words, they believe we're extraterrestrials, aliens from another place. Maybe some of us are.

As for myself, I'm a terrestrial, an earth man: fully human, from the humus - earth, water, wind and fire. I'm spirited, alive, like other living beings, only for awhile.

I'm not just a visitor here. Earth is my home. She is my mother. From her I came. She sustains me. To her I will return.

I'm not a spiritual being. I'm a human being creating my own experience as I go.

Low "Low self" Esteem

Some believe we have a "Higher Self". This implies a "low self" as well. 

They believe that the Higher Self is better than our low self, our ego. Oh, how they exalt the "Higher Self." They can't get away from ego fast enough.

If I am split into a Higher Self and low self, I have high "low self" esteem. 

However, I'm not split into a higher and lower self. I do not have an a ego. I am an ego, one that is multifaceted and constantly developing. 

When asked by High Selfers, "When you observe yourself, who observes you?" I say, "I observe myself. I have the ability to self observe. It's not that big of a deal really."

I sometimes wonder if those who believe they have a "Higher Self" do so because they loathe their self. Well, of course they do. They want to escape their ego; that is, they want to escape themselves and be someone else.

Some want to dissolve completely, like a drop of water in the ocean. Now that's low "low self" esteem.

I Do Not Have a Body

I do not have a body. I am a body. I do not have a mind. I am a mind. 

Likewise, I do not have a spirit; I am a spirit. I am a spirited body-mind. 

As a spirited body-mind I do not have an ego. I am an ego, a unique self. My ego is not a part of me. My ego is me. 

There is only one of me. When I am here, I am here. When I am gone, I am gone.

While I am here, I cannot lose myself. I cannot find myself. I am my self. 

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Conclusion

Conclusion

Just as great women and men in the past dreamed big dreams and led movements to realize them, I believe it is time to dream the big dream of Thumotics: the new science, therapeutic care, and spirituality of spirit in which we understand spirit as that which animates all living beings. 

We already have sciences and therapies for our body and mind. Now is the time to establish and develop sciences and therapies for our spirit. It is also time for a spirituality - a body of knowledge and practice--that is spirit-focused, life-affirming, empirically-based, and rooted in Western traditions. 

Let those who share this dream join the adventure.

September 21, 2013

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 10

I believe in a spirit-focused spirituality that is secular and based on thumology and thumotherapy, the new science and therapeutic care of spirit, rather than on religious and metaphysical beliefs. I believe in what I name thumotic spirituality. It is spirit-focused, life-affirming, empirically based, and rooted in Western traditions while being open to knowledge from other, non-Western sources.

Thumotic spirituality is clearly focused on spirit. In it the findings of both thumology and thumotherapy come together. It is a body of knowledge and practice related to spirit.

Since thumotic spirituality is focused on spirit, unlike some religious and metaphysical traditions, it attends to and puts into practice that which sustains and nurtures life. It values and affirms life in all of its forms, rather than denies and diminishes it. 

Since it is based on both thumology and thumotherapy, thumotic spirituality is empirically-based rather than faith-based.

Since it is based on the Ancient Greek understanding of thumos, thumotic spirituality is rooted in Western traditions. However, it remains open to assessing knowledge and practices related to spirit from all sources.

I call on all who are interested in living lives that are spirit-focused, life-affirming, empirically-based, and rooted in Western traditions to join with me in the practice of thumotic spirituality. Together we will help expand the body of knowledge and practices related to our own and other's spirit.

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 9

I propose the following definition of spirituality: Spirituality is a body of thoughts and practices related to spirit. From the perspective of this definition, there is not one spirituality but rather many spiritualities. For example, there are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Theosophical, Neopagan, and many other spiritualities. Each religion has its own body of thoughts and practices related to spirit.

 

Furthermore, from the perspective of my proposed definition of spirituality, most of what is called spirituality today is not spirituality. It is more accurately called "personal religion." It has little if anything to do with spirit as that which animates, and is usually a personal collection of beliefs and practices culled from different religious and other metaphysical traditions. While some personal religions, like established corporate religions, might have spiritualities, they are not themselves spiritualities.

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 8

I Believe in a Spirit-Focused Spirituality 

We live at a time of great confusion and creativity with regard to both religion and spirituality. Our confusion and creativity are expressed in the increased numbers of people who either change from one established corporate religion to another, or leave them altogether, joining the ranks of those who identify as "none" or "spiritual but not religious."

We see the confusion and creativity in the vast diversity of what is often called "spirituality." Not only is there no general consensus on what the word "spirituality" means, but also much that passes as spirituality has little if anything to do with spirit as “that which makes alive”. Much that passes as spirituality is often an individual's personal collection of various religious and/or metaphysical beliefs and practices culled from different Western and Eastern religions. 

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 7

Just as the therapeutic care of our body and mind is based on science, I believe in basing the therapeutic care of spirit on science rather than religious and metaphysical beliefs. I am not saying that we should completely ignore or reject religious and metaphysical beliefs. I am saying that when we investigate them. we do well to do so from a critical perspective in which we test their validity with established scientific methods.

I call on those with expertise and interest in counseling, therapeutic care, and healing to join with me in establishing and developing the new therapeutic care of spirit, thumotherapy. Join with me in becoming the first thumotherapists, exploring the vast frontier of the spirit and its injuries, illnesses, and therapies.

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 6

I Believe in Caring for Spirit

Since we know and understand so little about spirit, we have yet to develop ways of taking good care of our own and other's spirits. While we do already speak of wounded and broken spirits, we have yet to recognize what could be a broad spectrum of injuries and illnesses of spirit.

We have therapies for physical injuries and illnesses based on experience and scientific research. We also have therapies for mental illnesses based on experience and scientific research. I believe it is time to develop therapies for injuries and illnesses of the spirit. I name the therapeutic care of spirit thumotherapy.

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 5

The opposite of attending to spirit is ignoring it. Attending to spirit leads to knowledge and understanding of spirit. Ignoring spirit leads to ignorance and neglect. Knowing spirit makes many benefits possible. Ignoring makes possible much harm.

Since I believe in knowing spirit, I believe in establishing the science of spirit. Many sciences  attend to aspects of the physical world and the bodies of living beings.  Much of this knowledge informs our practice of medicine. We also have a science of the human mind, psychology.  Much of this knowledge informs our practice of psychotherapy. I believe it is time for the science of not just the human spirit, but the spirit of all living beings. I call this new science thumology.

I call on those with scientific expertise and interest in spirit to join with me in establishing and developing the new science of spirit, thumology. There is much exciting work to do and room for many in this wonderful adventure. 

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 4

I Believe in Knowing Spirit

That we humans and all living beings are spirited moves me to wide-eyed, open-minded wonder. What a profound mystery! Is it not an awe-inspiring mystery that we exist and live here and now, rather than not? 

How can we prevent ourselves from exploring this great mystery of being alive? Our natural sense of wonder compels us to look more closely at this in order to know more about it and understand it better. What is it that makes us alive? What is spirit? What can we know and understand about it?

Some say that space is the final frontier of exploration. Others say it is the oceans. I add to the list of vast frontiers to explore spirit. When we attend to and explore spirit, we attend to and explore the mystery of life itself.

I call out for daring explorers of spirit, and name those who would pioneer the frontier of the spirit thumonauts. We thumonauts lead the way in attending to and exploring spirit.

What I Believe: The Thumotics Manifesto, Part 3

For the Ancient Greeks, thumos was not limited to humans. Thumos animated  goddesses, gods and other spiritual beings. It animated animals and plants, especially trees. It animated mountains, valleys, and caves; rivers and springs; the four winds and every living being 

Thumos was often translated into Latin by the word "spiritus", from which we get the word "spirit." It is the Ancient Greek understanding of thumos that informs what I mean by spirit. Spirit is that which animates and makes alive.

I believe in and deeply value spirit. It animates all living beings. I call on others who believe in and deeply value spirit to join with me in promoting the importance of spirit. It is essential to life. It is life. 

I believe that as we promote the importance of spirit, we will make this world a better place for all living beings.