“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
Blog #14
The above quote has recently come to my attention… again. I love that quote and use it quite frequently. I think it has streamlined yoga philosophy in one beautifully written sentence. Why read the sutras? This is it folks.
Hmm… I don’t know. For some reason, there is this nagging sensation that has arisen in me recently about this whole spiritual, material dichotomy and I am beginning to wonder if it really matters all that much, and if anyone really cares anyway.
Now, don’t get me wrong. It is a brilliant insight. And, if lived and put into practice, I dare say it could potentially make this world a better place. But, let me be a thorn in the side, a buster-upper of this notion that somehow spirit is superior to body (because that is what is implied in the quote). And, tout, as well, that I feel this ’spirit-trumps-body’ idea is becoming more and more of a precluder of that very thing it is trying to not preclude… that there is a subtle essence that is found in all things, call it spirit, soul, energy that is metamorphosed into matter, but only when a subject brings it’s conscious awareness along. Key here… there must be a subject bringing conscious awareness.
I like to think of it like Thich Nhat Hanh, “walking on water is not the miracle… walking on the earth is.” This seems to validate and lend value to our earthly experience and makes the above quote moot or at least invalidates spirit as superior to body or at the very least gently urges one to find awe and wonder in the act of embodiment and the fact that there is an earth to walk on. It requests that we re-think our desire to look elsewhere for miracles. It asks us to for God’s sake to take leave of God (or, do I have it all wrong… if so, sorry Guru Hanh.
What difference does it make if we are spiritual beings having a human experience, or human beings having a spiritual experience (especially when it comes to day to day living, like doing dishes, having conversation, buying groceries, etc.)? The Taoist’s say to just peel the potatoes as opposed to those who say think of God while peeling the potatoes. Why? Because knowing God requires no thinking. It requires experiencing. When we are thinking about God, we have lost our experience of God. And, we can experience God only when we are experiencing… like when we are peeling potatoes with a total awareness of the act of peeling potatoes for instance.
Perhaps we should spend more of our time just being present in our day to day moments so that each moment is sacred and valuable, and stop worrying so much about chasing after some sort of enlightenment whereby we miss the trees for the forest.
The Buddhists also have a quote, that if you see someone climbing toward heaven, grab her foot. I believe this is meant to warn us that seeking, chasing, climbing after some ideal that isn’t already present is, well… a waste of one’s time. It takes us out of the present moment and invites us to mistakenly rush toward the future as if it were somehow better. This just seem so wrong… so like we are missing the point.
When will we stop denigrating relative reality? This is where we reside, and to me the trick is just to go ahead and reside here with mindfulness, love, tolerance, compassion, and fully.
This is the joy. This is where the spirit is. Why else manifest? The spirit seems to be in just as much need of a body as the body is in need of a spirit. If we have such high regard for spirit, then why not trust it’s need, desire, intelligence in placing itself in a body.
What if instead of seeing the spirit in everyone, we just saw the whole person body, mind and spirit? What if instead of trying to get out of the world, we tried to get more fully into it? What if this body represents the true miracle and is in fact so precious that even spirit feels compelled to cloak itself in it’s myriad form?
What if spirit was bored to tears and just wanted to literally get all dressed up? Well, I don’t know about you, but I am not gonna be the one to tell spirit that it made a mistake.
Perhaps, being human beings having a spiritual experience is a really nice perspective… a better perspective.
Think about it. Then, try not to think about it and just experience what you are experiencing. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Peace you wonderful spiritual human or human spiritual beings or, ah shoot… who cares anyway?