What is "Spirituality?"
Hint: Religions are *attempts* at it
I'm looking for me
You're looking for you
We're looking at each other
And we don't know what to do-The Seeker, The Who
Of course people are free to define spirituality however they want. Since the term shows up in these Open Source Awakening essays a fair bit, it’s worthwhile to clarify how I define and use the term.
At it’s most basic level spirituality is trying to understand the nature of reality. Or trying to understand the nature of yourself. These are two different ways of saying the same thing.1 Once “the threshold is crossed,” the unity of your true nature and the nature of the reality becomes unavoidably obvious. Or, more specifically, the crossing of the threshold consists in realizing the obviousness of this unity. Ironic that babies and very young children don’t know anything other than this nature of reality — until they are trained into the delusion of “being a self.”
This is why Jesus said “Truly I say to you, unless you change and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” [Matt 18:3 NASB]. That word “change” is not a good translation; it literally means “turn,” which is a better word, as in “return.” It could be said that the culmination of the spiritual seeking journey is to “recover” what was “lost” when leaving the age of childhood innocence, but that is not quite accurate. In the culmination of the seeking journey it is realized this fundamental nature was never lost. It was simply overlooked for most of a lifetime.
So we do again “become like children,” but now with the experience and maturity of adulthood “under our belts.” I view spiritual awakening as a natural phase of our cognitive development. Children are taught to “be people.” Adolescence develops the theme further into “being adults.” But there are falsehoods ingrained into us in that initial process. Most potently the erroneous belief that we are isolated agents; “alien” to the world in which we find ourselves. Awakening is the correction of those erroneous assumptions. It is (among other things) he realization that “the person” is a natural expression of “the world;” and that the two are not separate. A pointer I like to offer along these lines:
“The Mind is a World-maker; The World is a Mind-maker.”
Realization can go even deeper; but let’s not get ahead pf ourselves. Because we are raised to believe the falsehoods that we are a separate person, and that that’s all we merely are, we are burdened. The burdening manifests itself in different ways, but without fail something is going to seem amiss in life to everyone. Can you articulate the most fundamental problem in your life? That is the first step on the spiritual journey.
Introducing “The Problem.”
Perhaps there seems to be something deeply wrong with the world? Or perhaps something seems deeply wrong with you? Or perhaps you are lacking something; does chronic dissatisfaction characterize your life? Perhaps you feel there’s something odd about how we navigate the world; that there’s more to reality than meets the eye of our consensus worldview? That is to say, perhaps it seems that something’s “off” in our so-called “understanding” of everything? This can become a burning itch in the mind. Or perhaps you can’t ever seem to find a peace of mind that others do seem to be able to find?
In summary, there comes to be “The Problem.” Everyone who bothers with introspection will eventually come to understand the nature of their “The Problem.” And it is different for everyone, although the preceding paragraph should reveal there are only so many basic themes to it.
Most people never look that closely - and just have a hazy, general feeling of unease. Often they will try to ameliorate it haphazardly. Perhaps they try a new religion “just to see,” then get some good feels, and then just start down that road because there isn’t an obvious, better alternative. Others try to fill their sense of lack with worldly pleasures: food, sex, drugs, money, power, possessions, etc. This is simply the path of hedonism which will never lead to a satisfying conclusion. It is an alluring trap and usually takes people a very long time to emerge from, if they do at all. If they don’t, on their deathbeds they will know they wasted their life in such pursuits.
But some people do look closely at The Problem. Carefully investigating, they can come to understand it. And it will always boil down to one or two simple things similar to what was listed above. Once a person has a clear view of “The Problem,” very often this clarity itself sets them off on the intentional, motivated seeking journey. Clearly something is wrong, and therefore they need to seek The Answer to The Problem.
The Problem will state that something is wrong with reality. Or you. So true spirituality is trying to “get to the bottom” of reality — or you. To find out what’s really going on in order to hopefully suss out a solution to your “The Problem.”
Religions’ Approach to “The Problem”
All the religions of the world have four themes in common. 1.) They “know” what the nature of reality is 2.) They “know “what you are” — that is they know your “fundamental nature” 3.) They “know” how the two natures stand in relation to each other 4.) They “know” the “correct” way for you to stand in relation to reality.
It’s a comprehensive approach, so you can see why I said in the subtitle above that religions are attempts at spirituality. If approached correctly, those four themes would certainly highlight your Answer to your Problem. The problems with religions in their mainstream forms are the instances of “know,” in quotation marks above — they are “knowing” but erroneous presumptions. No religion “knows” any of those things, as stated in their formal doctrines or dogmas. Those principles of doctrine or dogma are purely conceptual, issued by fiat, and presented as something to be believed in.
Antithetically, true spirituality (as I define it) begins with skepticism of belief; the earnest (and wise) spiritual seeker doesn’t presume to know anything. Instead, the seeker takes up empirical inquiry into themselves and the nature of reality. This is the path of the mystic. Neither the seeker, nor reality, are conceptual, therefore they cannot be constrained, defined, nor contained in conceptual thinking. All doctrine, dogma, and philosophy are purely conceptual. Because of this they are all ultimately false when compared to the nonconceptual, fundamental nature of reality and the seeker. Therefore, the path of true spirituality, when taken to its ultimate conclusion, results in the end of all belief — for it is discovered that all belief is build upon conceptual cores. A seeker/mystic fully immersed in the nonconceptual Fundamental Nature of reality-and-self sees the inescapable inadequacy of concepts; The are artificial tools of approximation, division, and exclusion. The Fundamental Nature of reality-and-self is exact, integrated, and unified. Therefore, this culmination of true spirituality is the end of belief in all concepts.2 Consequently this culmination is the end of all religion as well, for the core of all religions are purely conceptual.3
Again, all religions employ conceptual doctrine, dogma, and philosophy to address all four points above. When the full realization of true spirituality sinks in, it is seen that all religions wrong on those four points. Granted Buddhism and Hinduism get much closer to the heart of the matter than the other major world religions. But they still falls far short of the goal inasmuch as they remains focused on concepts, dogmas, doctrines, and philosophies. The conceptual thinking mind is the source of all our suffering (as I define the term). So holding on to the conceptual trappings of traditional religions creates more of what Blake4 called “mind-forg’d manacles.” The Answer to The Problem is found when one throws off those manacles. Hence, why you often hear:
“The Answer cannot be found in the mind.”
The Answer?
The truth that can be found in any religion is simply the truth of what you already are. Since you already are what you are, you don’t “need” any tradition at all. Traditions can serve as a source of helpful hints. But more often than not they impose conceptual burdens and stumbling blocks along the path. Anyone who experiences full realization/awakening within a tradition, culminated that in spite of the tradition. This characterizes all mystical sects within religions; it’s only the mystics that succeed in transcending the conceptual, dogmatic limitations of those traditions.
You already are what you are. That is where you must investigate if you want The Answer. Borrow hints and clues from traditions, sure. But don’t let them ensnare you. It’s even said in Buddhism that once you reach the other shore, you don’t pick up the raft and carry it with you. They only realized being that “should” stay with the raft is the ferryman. For the rest of us: disembark and get on with life!
Anyone who looks directly into their own experience and investigates what they find there is a yogi. Anyone who gains any insight into their Fundamental Nature by doing this investigation is a mystic. But there’s a reason there are terms like “full realization” or “final awakening.” Revelation is a ongoing process as investigation continues. It’s quite possible to realize the nondual nature of reality/self without penetrating to the full depths of the Fundamental Nature. Only when the “full depths” are plumbed will the limits of the conceptual thinking mind be irrevocably revealed. When this becomes clear, then all beliefs become impossible to hold any longer. As John Daido Loori-roshi said:
The empty sky vanishes. Mountains are level with the plains.
Above, not a tile to cover the head. Below, not an inch of ground upon which to stand.
So if we don’t let ourselves become ensnared by concepts, making progress on The Answer is much simpler. No matter the actual formulation of The Problem for you, all formulations will boil down to the same issue (whether the seeker is aware of it or not): you’ve forgotten who/what you are.
Ramana Maharshi consistently encouraged people to meditate on the question “Who are you?” I don’t prefer that wording in English because it seems to imply the answer is you are some kind of person (which isn’t true, although to say that you are “a person” is an accurate-enough description for most intents and purposes). I propose the wording for the initial inquiry question: “What are you?”
This deep self-inquiry is required for anyone to get to the bottom of things; to find The Answer to The Problem. This inquiry is exceedingly difficult for most people because virtually everyone presumes they already know what they are and what they world is. But if you think you know what they are, they you actually don’t know what they are. The fact that we erroneously presume we know is the source of our problems and suffering in the first place.
Therefore, to find The Answer you must become clear on who/what you are. This is the path of mysticism, the path of “true religion,” or better yet: true yoga/spirituality. When you do find the answer of what you are, the nature of reality will become clear as well because they are exactly the same thing. Although it’s not a “thing” at all. It’s activity, process, pattern that is self-luminous, unspeakably intelligent, and very, very curious.
When the process culminates, you will find the Answer doesn’t actually resolve “The Problem” that plagued you. Instead you will realize The Problem was based on erroneous assumptions — mistaken notions about what you are/what reality is. When you realize the assumptions are actually erroneous, The Problem just ceases to be a problem. This is moksha, Nirvana, Liberation, Release, Freedom, Perfect Peace.
To any that say the spiritual seeking journey never ends: they simply have not “arrived home” yet. Be assured: There is The Answer, and the seeking journey most assuredly can resolve. You simply have to find what you’re looking for. And whether you know it or not, what you are looking for is yourself.
The journey of life never resolves; it continues the same as it always has until the body dies. But the seeking journey can resolve definitively. It can do so right now. Just look within — what are you?
The unity of reality and what you are is a basic principle of “nonduality,” as well as something that can be verified in direct experience.
When this is realized, in no way does it negate the usefulness of concepts. The realized seeker is perfectly capable of thinking and employing concepts the same way they always have. But never again will the realized one be fooled into thinking any concepts are true. Usefulness does not require things to be “true” in any way.
It is very much possible to recognize the unity of reality-and-self without full recognition of the very limited nature of concepts and conceptual thinking. Therefore, many mystics in all the religious traditions come to realize the nondual unity, but, failing to understand the falsity of concepts, do not renouce their faith. When I use the term “fully realized/awakened” I’m refering to someone that recognizes both the nonduality of reality-and-self and the inherent falsity of concepts and conceptual thinking.
Random aside, but I’ve never heard anyone speak to this… Of course I can’t ever prove it, but both William Blake and William Shakespeare strike me as almost certainly having been fully enlightened beings. Their insights are beyond-uncanny. And their anachronistic lack of the religiosity of their contemporaries is highly conspicuous. Fun to think about!