“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?
A similar theme has been kicking around in my head for a month or two. It has occurred to me lately that thinking ‘spiritual thoughts’ does not make me spiritual, any more than going to church makes people spiritual, or sleeping in a garage makes you a Chevrolet.
And that reminded me of a thought of Joseph Campbell’s about the ‘supernatural’. In my background they were always talking about the supernatural. What the hell is the supernatural (pun intended)? Is it layered on like a veneer? Does it make the ‘natural’ better? Is it like a nitro afterburner on a race car and make you zoom past mere mortals? Campbell’s point is the supernatural is the flowering of the natural. This implies that it is important to be really ‘natural’ first.
From there, it seemed kind of stupid to be a ‘good Christian’, or good Buddhist, or good anything. But it was more important to be a good nothing-in-particular (‘pagan’/‘naturalist’/’humanist’ or whatever), and see where that led. Get rid of the pre-conceptions, and see what’s left. “Pagan” folks make up an enterprising lot. And who would that be? Well, what comes to mind are the Vedanta/Tantric/Sankhya philosophers. Or Plotinus. Or Marcus Aurelius. Or Plato. Or even Zoroaster. There’s some heady (oops, spiritual) stuff there. I don’t remember the word/concept of ‘supernatural’ coming up at all by any of those folks.
So what is a human experience vs. a spiritual one? If we are, according to quantum physics, a concentration, a lower energy level of various possible vibrations, and being ‘spiritual’ is just a higher vibration, it’s all the same stuff. We’re all just a bunch of dense vibrations, humming (literally) along. So the miracle is that we don’t slip right through the floor and fall to the center of the earth – that we can walk at all, on anything.
“God is in the pots and pans.” “God is in the details.” Maybe it’s a matter of awareness, of feeling (experience). Otherwise, I’m back to sleeping in the garage.
Vroom. Vroom.
Are you really that smart… damn it Michael, well put. That is about the best doggon response to any blog I have ever read.
Vroom. Vroom… back atcha gifted responder to blogs spiritual and material.
You are brilliant.
Love ya
The difference between Sages and everyone else is only that Sages know what the Self really is, and that they are always it. Spiritual and material are just words, useful signs when used appropriately.
Concise, to the point, and I get it… thanks for taking the time to respond and teach. I get tired of rifling through all of the philosophy sometimes. Guess that is why you teach sitting in meditation in order to ‘know’ the Self/Truth, as opposed to write and/or talk about it. Hmm… I am going to go sit.
I read the quote differently about being spiritual beings having a human experience. I do not feel that the author of that quote intended to belittle or cast aside the human experience as being “beneath” spirituality. Rather, since we’re already spiritual beings, we can get to the business of being human. It takes the pressure off. The “searchers” out there can then feel rest assured that they are already where they need or want to be–they just need to recognize that. That’s the way I read it.
I agree Kay Allison. The quote is beautiful. And, I use it frequently.
Just putting a spin on it for bit of a twisted reflection or different perspective. Oftentimes, agreeing with things (though tempting) doesn’t promote growth or an ability to think from another’s point of view… even if we don’t agree with it.
I like to blog about thinking in ways that are contrary or rile folks up a little. It’s the only way I can get much of a response or get some dialogue going and I don’t mind taking the lesser revered view point in order to stir stuff up.
Hope you did not think that I was undermining or belittling the saying. it is quite profound and really… beautiful. If we could all just remember our spiritual natures… ah, that would be grand.
we just need to “be”!
yep…
Pretty excellent posts. I just came across your site and wanted to say that i have really enjoyed reading through your weblog posts. Any way I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you post again shortly.
Thats dope…
Do you mean the pot smoking kind or the you are stupid kind? Either way, isn’t it nice we can all have an opinion and then go out and have dinner together?
I only seem to be able to see half of the article. Is it my browser or the blog?
Well, I am not sure. I am no good at trouble shooting with anything on the computer. No-one else has commented thusly though, so I assume it’s your browser?!?
Just found this post on Yahoo – have you published any other related posts?
Metaphysics
I blog monthly on this site only.
WOW, thank you.I always wanted to write in my site something like that. Can I take part of your post to my blog?
Next time you should condense your post, try to leave out the parts that people skip.
Sent from my iPhone 4G