6.0.7 Spiritual Practice - Overview

Version 1.2 December 2013                                                        (Previous Version)

Many who don't believe in god(s) or other supernatural beings don't like the word “spiritual� because it has connotations of disembodied minds or souls that exist independently of our brains.  We don’t use the term this way.  In our philosophy there is no reason to believe such things exist (see 1.4 on Minds).

Our spirit is what we imagine to be something like the core of our personality, though it is a completely natural process that ends with brain death.  Spiritual events relate to this spirit.  A spiritual experience is one that touches us deeply but may be hard to express in words. 

Many of us have spiritual experiences: they are normal.  Some of us have them only rarely.  Others have them more often.  For some of us the closest we get to a spiritual experience is being awed while looking at the stars, feeling the power of ocean waves, or being entranced by music or dance.  Many people who have near death experiences, such as a car accident or a potentially fatal disease, feel a strong emotional need to change their lives, particularly to be closer to people they love.

Many spiritual experiences are life changing.  We can't ignore their frequency or their emotional impact.  The critical issue is how we interpret these experiences.  We can accept their reality and emotional import without linking them to Brahma, God or any kind of universal consciousness.

·       Those of us who are only familiar with traditional religious interpretations will naturally view their experience as a link to the supernatural, often accepting that it is incomprehensible. 

·       Those of us with a broader understanding of life know that science has good explanations for many spiritual experiences, including outer body and near death experiences, feeling a comforting “presenceâ€�, and losing our ego to feel at one with life, the universe and everything.

·       Sceptics assert that spiritual experiences (especially if they are given a traditional religious interpretation) aren’t real, but just hallucinations.  The sceptics’ twofold error is to confuse the experience itself with its interpretation, and to deny the emotional impact of the experience.

We are beginning to understand wordless experiences, a core need for a connection to others and the world, communal goals and altruism, which are evident in other mammals, not just humans.  We are still learning how to express the emotional impact of spiritual experiences in non-supernatural terms that address their psychological and emotional impact, rather than just our brain chemistry or neuroanatomy.  Science is learning how to understand this kind of spirituality.

Many of us are comforted by rituals, which provide a sense of connection or engagement – sacred time.  It is reasonable to count our blessings, to be grateful for what we have, and to feel reverence.  We can practice these as individuals, in quiet reflection, meditation and yoga.  Some of us seek communal settings, sharing ceremonies, food and drink, singing, dancing and inspiring speeches.

We work through the next level of detail on each of the above issues (more).  After considering this evidence, we’ve looked for a way to state our conclusions briefly, and we come to the following summary.

Is this the best way to state our conclusions in this area?  Click on feedback, or add a comment below, if you can improve the substance or the phrasing.

   more                                                             Statement 34

Our core values of truth (seeking natural interpretations), life (joining the struggle, connecting with the world), love (compassion) and beauty (majesty, awe. reverence) permeate our spiritual practice.