Why Define Spirit?

OK, so a question asked by a reader prompted me to write a bit about why I think it is important to spend time defining spirit.

I'll begin by sharing reasons not important to me.

It's not important to me to restrict the definition of spirit to my definition alone. However, I do think it would be helpful to have a general consensus of the definition of spirit. Let the public discussion of spirit begin. I'm in favor of the best agreed on definition.

It's not important to me to standardize my definition of spirit. My definition might not be the best. However, just as it is helpful for the purposes of communication to have standardized definitions for "car", "motorcycle", "horse", "house", "emotion", "ego"and countless other words, I do believe it would be helpful to have a standardized definition of spirit for the purposes of being mindful of and investigating spirit. That being said, I do not see standardization happening anytime soon.

It's certainly not important to me to consider my definition of spirit right and all other definitions wrong. I am just not interested in playing the "I'm right, you're wrong" game.

Neither is it important to me to persuade you to adopt my definition and understanding of spirit. If you find my perspective meaningful and helpful and adopt it in whole or in part, wonderful! If you find it meaningless, useless, or plain wrong, wonderful! Either way is fine with me. I am not writing to persuade anyone to adopt my perspective. I'm writing to draw attention to spirit, to be mindful of it, and to promote both discussion about and investigation of it.

So why is it important to spend time defining spirit?

First, as I mentioned in an earlier post in this blog, there is no broad, general consensus on the meaning of the words spirit, spiritual, or spirituality. Whenever I ask individuals what they mean by the words I learn that they mean a lot of different things or nothing at all. It is difficult to know what different individuals mean when they use the words. Given this lack consensus, in the interest of clear communication, it is important for me to say what I mean when I use the words. It is important to me that you, my reader, understand what I mean when I use the words spirit, spiritual, and spirituality. It makes communication clearer even when our understandings differ.

Secondly, I draw attention to being mindful of spirit. I find value in it. I'm confident others do too. The process of defining spirt is one way of being mindful of spirit. When we ask, "What does 'spirit' mean?" "To what is she referring when she says "spirit?" What does he mean when he writes the word "spirit?" we're being mindful of spirit.

Thirdly, and most important to me, I aspire to promote mindfulness of spirit in everyday life. I also aspire to promote scientific investigation into spirit. Given my aspirations, it is important to define the object of mindfulness and investigation. What is the spirit of which we do well to be mindful? What exactly is the spirit that we do well to investigate?

In my own experiences of spirit it has been natural for me to ask, "What is that?" What am I experiencing here with this woman, man, dog, cat, water fall, oak tree, crow, hawk, dandelion? It's not just their personality. It's not just my own emotions. What is it? It's their spirit, that which animates them. That's the definition I'm working with right now. As are answers to many important questions, it's tentative and open to revision as I learn more.

What do spirit, spiritual, and spirituality mean to you? Take some time to decide and feel free to post your view.

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.

A working definition of spirit

For this blog my working definition of spirit is "that which animates".

It's the difference between a green leaf on an oak tree in the summer and the same leaf, brown, on the ground in winter. It's the difference between an animal, human or otherwise, breathing or breathless. Spirit is life. Life is spirit. Life without spirit is no life at all.

To say spirit is that which animates, the difference between being alive or dead does not tell us much about what spirit itself actually is. What is it about spirit that animates? Spirit is irreducible. Spirit is spirit. Spirit is that which animates and makes alive.

So if spirit is that which animates are some void of spirit? Are some inanimate, lifeless, dead? Yes and no.

When I a little boy, probably around ten years old. I caught a tadpole in my grandfather's trout pond and took it home in a Mason jar. I named him Teddy and took care of him. I loved him. As Teddy's legs grew and tail shrank I changed his name from Teddy the Tadpole to Freddy the Frog.

One day when my mom vacuumed my room she put Freddy's jar in my bedroom window. She thought nothing of it and meant no harm. The sun shone directly in that window, warmed the water beyond Freddy's ability to survive. He died and I cried. Freddy's spirit no longer animated him. He was inanimate, lifeless, dead...or was he?

Did he stop changing? No, even after he "died", Freddy continued to change. He decomposed. After I buried him in the backyard, he continued to change and decomposed into the earth. He didn't stop changing. He remained animated after he "died". He was still spirited, alive. What animated him? Spirit, that which animates, which makes alive.

What was the difference between Freddy "alive" and Freddy "dead" if he was animated, spirited, in both conditions? How did Freddy's spirit change?

Did Freddy stop being Freddy? I think so. At what moment was Freddy no longer Freddy? What happened to Freddy's spirit? Where did it go? Did it leave Freddy? Did it go out like a turned-off light? Did it dissipate?

I have many more questions than answers about spirit.