Experiential Spirituality

Experiential Spirituality

In one way or another we all try to understand our divinity or connection with Godliness and Nature and the Universe. We often do this through trying to connect with our underlying spirit or soul, usually with a touch of divinity wrapped up in our quest. We toss the word ‘Spirituality’ over the entire effort just to have shorthand jargon: ‘We’re on a spiritual quest.’

There appear to be three stages we go through in religious or spiritual quest. In Stage 1, it’s all about proper conduct. We seek to understand the rules and obey them. We learn the rituals and try to do them perfectly. Of course, there’s no shortage of people around to tell us what the rules and rituals are. Just ask any zealot. The only sure way to ‘heaven’ is by strict adherence; everyone else is doomed.

In Stage 2 we try to understand the beliefs and facts of the matter. We read a huge pile of books, take classes, attend seminars, and talk to experts. Some of the questions we ask might include: ‘Just what is God? What are the limits of power? How do things work? Why are we here? How’d we get here?’ We amass a pile of material on the subject and develop erudite views on the various aspects of spirituality and religion. Our understanding is theoretical and academic, yet we are a wonder on the topics at a cocktail party. For many, what gets learned on the weekend is forgotten during the week; or, to put it another way, we don’t walk the talk.

Things get interesting in Stage 3, for this is where we experience our own spirituality. We move from understanding to practice, from academic to relevant, and from flat and inert to multi-dimensional and actionable. We put this kind of spirituality into daily practice – minute-by-minute practice – in our lives. If we start to forget, something will happen to remind us. It pervades our thinking; we find it inescapable. We can’t interact with someone without being conscious of the best within each of us.

To me an important hallmark of Stage 3 is sharing experiences with others in the same level. This evidences the ‘connectedness’ to which so many people at this stage often refer. Doing this shares the experience and widens the experiential circle, plus we learn what to look or listen for in terms of being open to the spiritual voice or our spiritual center.

Problems arise when you are at one stage trying to converse with someone at a different stage. Someone into ‘experiencing’ will have trouble communicating with a ‘rule maker’ or an academic. The experiential person will see someone too engrossed in rules and rituals, or endowed with too theoretical an approach to life.. The rule and ritualistic person will worry about your salvation because you don’t appreciate or abide by the rules and rituals of their sect. The academic will see someone ‘going with the flow’ on one side of them, or someone ritual bound with spiritual rigidity on the other.

So in my life, after returning to a religious ground zero in my thirties, I re-started at Stage 1 – a stage in which I became particularly aware of the rites and rituals of Christianity. I looked forward to the sacraments and even went so far as to get myself baptized, just to be sure I went to heaven. I even studied the Bible. I was covering my bets.

But that was not enough. I became discouraged at how the religious most often failed to walk their talk. I gave up the Bible (too archaic) and sought a wider range of readings from poets and scholars. I became a marginalized Christian, and then a drop out when I learned more ‘facts’ about the artificial construct of Jesus (e.g., the Jesus Myth). The messages attributed to the character are good, but, for me, he was most likely a fictionalized creation of fourth century politicians, and I felt cheated by the Holy Roman Church and all that followed for about two thousand years. The messages in the Christian name are superb, after all so much is about love; yet when I learned that 800 million people have died unnaturally in the name of Christ over the past two millennia, I feel a few may not be 'walking the talk.'

I wallowed in Stage 2 for a while, and then circled back to some of the things I’d learned as a youth from my Christian Science parents. I found variations on that theme in New Thought, and then even broader spiritual readings from the Toltecs, psychics, and channelers. The media was questionable, however, the messages were superb and the people that believed in them seemed to talk their talk.
I’m working on being in Stage 3 now, although I still find elements of my Stage 1 and 2 thinking influencing where I am. Is my mediation a ritualistic holdover from Stage 1? Do the spiritual books I’m collecting and my book group evidence Stage 2? What am I trying to do?
So where am I in Stage 3 – the more actionable place to be? I’ve grappled with many of my fears, especially the fear of death. Perhaps this is due to (mostly) having lived a rich and full life. I feel multi-dimensional love for a much wider circle, and I’m working on expressing the intimacy I feel and want more. I have a circle of friends that share their spiritual experiences and adventures. I’ve learned how to deal with my depressions and anxieties. I’m more aware of the paradigms and memes that society leaves us with, and I pick my actions and decisions more carefully – more consciously.

I feel more compassionate and sensitive to the plight of others than ever before in my life. I am more often humbled by what goes on around me. I find more wonderful and awesome things around me, especially the people in my life. I’m more optimistic, willing to take mental risks, and have a greater sense of service to mankind. I’m learning to find and hear the still small voice more often. It’s been there all along.

I’m experiencing spirituality. When I arise in the a.m. I usually take some time for a ‘gratitude check.’ When I go out, I go with a sense of love, wonder, and expectancy. I see other people as an expression of the divine that they are. I make life nicer by avoiding the ‘potholes’ – things like news full of conflict and anger. I make quiet times for my meditations – and my daydreams. I’ve learned to court the ‘inner me.’ Amongst my many personalities, I have to admit, I have a loving and nice person inside me. I need to work at allowing that person freer reign.

Finding what experiential spirituality means personally can put you on a more interesting path than simply setting out to study and meditate. How do we make spirituality real – and practical – and visible – and action oriented in our lives? Now there’s a question worth pondering.

Go in peace. Go in kindness. Go in love.

This website is to stimulate your spiritual thinking in the hope that it will contribute to your spiritual growth. The author invites your comments and critiques by reply e-mail to bob@futuremoons.com.