So much of human nature and condition is derived from our nature to advance. We observe what has been done, and strive for more. In fact, our ability to be retrospective is critical to our ability to do more. I like to use the four-minute mile as an example. It used to be considered impossible that anyone could run a mile in less than four minutes. Then in 1954, Roger Bannister made history by running a mile in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds. Just six weeks later, his record was broken by a full second. Now breaking four minutes is considered the standard for professional runners and the world record stands somewhere around 3:43.
And that pattern is not unique; it is evidenced in so many areas of human endeavor.. Our human awareness allows us to reflect on what we have accomplished and our human spirit allows us to dream of the impossible that we may achieve. It was probably that first spark of awareness that brought us down from the trees in the first place. Since then we've been looking always forward to what we can accomplish next. It's staggering, really, to look at what we've done in the 2,500 or so years of recorded history, even of you're not so comfortable with the idea of having a distant Aunt Coco or Uncle Bonzo.
This self reflective capacity has also given rise to the leaps of spiritual evolution that have been recorded. Siddhartha Gautama aka the Buddha attained enlightenment through contemplation of his nature and existence, seeing past the misinterpretations created by his mind. Jesus of Nazareth went into the desert for forty days before beginning his own work as a spiritual teacher, and he did it to come to terms with the duality he saw in his nature -- the corruptibility of the flesh versus the perfection of spirit.
What is unique about this time in history is that we've reached a point where we're capable of being self-reflective across historical and cultural contexts, and of being self-reflective of our self-reflection within those settings. This is most often pointed out by those who see successful aspects of past cultures in areas where we have not been so successful. However, I disagree with the proposition that our deficiencies negate the progress we have made. Rather, I it seems like we are unique in having the ability to compare cultures and events across cultures and history and use that knowledge to make better decisions for our future. It is clear that we are still failing to take seriously some of the lessons history shows us about protection of natural resources, political balance and economic equity.
But there are voices and public dialog about many of these issues, and there is reason to be optimistic that more and more people will come to agreement on the need to establish sustainable and compassionate institutions and structures for the continuation of human existence and progress. What worries me more is our failure to take a retrospective and progressive perspective to spirituality. To some degree our material success in Western society (and every society to which that culture spreads) has left a vacuum of spiritual development in its wake.
Spiritual Progress
True, there is a wider menu of religious choices from which one can choose without fear of stoning or burning at the stake -- at least in many places. But we're picking from a list of thousands of years-old dishes. That's not to say they cannot be tasty and filling, but they are completely alien to the social and intellectual context of our modern society. Certainly their lack of modernity does not devalue them one whit, but their failure to adapt in step with the development of rational and critical thought mean that we are interpreting ages-old metaphors and memes according to modern assumptions. There is no valid claim to authenticity or authority based on age and tradition when our interpretation and experience are completely removed from the context of origin.
Jesus articulated this exact principle in defiance of contemporary entrenchment in tradition, yet we fall victim to precisely the danger against which he warned:
No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. either do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.
Matthew 9:16-17
Both our souls (ie bottles) and the wine (ie spiritual practice) must be contemporary to eachother; they must be equally progressive or regressive or else one is going to give. We need look no further for evidence than the strife and violence that regressive religious practice gives rise to. Tradition is the primary validity claim to which old spiritual practices turn to establish their authority in ignorance of the teachings their canons hold. We are driven by our nature to progressiveness in material practice, and so our spiritual practice must keep up. It is an interesting paradox that we are driven to material progressiveness, yet we do not apply the same practices to spirituality.
And we cannot dismiss completely the value of tradition. After all, there is something that has allowed them to survive for so long. It is the essence that lies hidden at the heart of tradition. Yet just as with material culture, the weaknesses of spiritual culture must not be ignored. We can look at a culture like Tibet, where they have cultivated deep and sophisticated spiritual practice for hundreds of years at the expense of social stability. Tibet has suffered intensely from poverty and an inability to protect itself from external aggressors, both due to a lack of material and institutional progress. Yet their history and rich spiritual tradition have given the world the Dalai Lama, a surprising voice for the reconciliation of scientific inquiry and spiritual practice. He observes:
It is all too evident that our moral thinking simply has not been able to keep pace with such rapid progress in our acquisition of knowledge and power.
The Measure of Truth
So we find ourselves at a rather interesting juncture: We have the Western tools of formal reasoning, scientific inquiry and sophisticated social structures which we can combine with a wide array of spiritual practices and experiences from across cultures and history. This creates an opportunity that as far as I know is unprecedented in history: the chance to explore spiritual practice in a progressive and self-reflective manner, and to begin to understand the occurrence and nature of spiritual experience across contexts.
In other words, we've cracked codes in science, psychology, medicine, economics, politics, etc, but we are still in the dark ages in terms of spirituality. It is time to desegregate material from spiritual pursuits and stop favoring one at the expense of the other. We have fought tooth and nail for centuries to keep them separate, and that has fostered rapid material progress. But that is not the only thing; we also see inequity and suffering, war and poverty, contention and hatred in the world. These are not the fruits of sound teachings. Jesus saw this in our nature when he taught:
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 7:15-20
Are not those false prophets those who deny spirituality in favor of the physical world as well as those who reject material progress in the name of religion? And what are their fruits? Does our world abide in the peace and love of truth? Do our institutions "love [their] neighbor as [themselves]?"
Spirit and material are equally intrinsic to our nature, and we cannot ignore one part of our nature and hope to exist as complete beings. It is time to reconcile these estranged sides of our being and bring our mind and spirit into harmony . It is time to learn from all of these lessons and remove the conflict that gives rise to personal and collective suffering. Material progress need not take place at the expense of spirit or other people, just as spiritual progress need not negate the advance of civilization or traditional practice and belief. But we do need to be willing to challenge our conventions and notions, starting with the belief that belief is not subject to scrutiny and evidence.
The only measure of truth is the fruit it bears. Does it yield peace? Love? Joy? If not, then it is not truth, regardless of any factual accuracy it may bear. If living it does not create a better world for yourself and your fellow being, then truth is not found in it, no matter how many centuries it has persisted. We need to subject ourselves to the same level of scrutiny of the facts of spiritual experience and not fear the challenge to our faith it might present.
The Spiritual Method
This does not imply that we must use the same means for assessing spiritual experience as physical science. That would be absurd. Spiritual experience is intrinsically an interior experience; laboratory methods would not be useful as they could not establish the credibility of the outcome. Nor would a laboratory provide a conducive environment in which to evoke spiritual experience on demand. So we must address each according to its own methods and principles.
However, at present we have no common principles or reliable methods to apply to spiritual exploration. On the contrary, we seek to protect spiritual experience and practice from any investigation whatsoever. Drawing upon thousands of years of inquiry, Francis Bacon and later René Descartes developed a standardized framework for scientific inquiry that is still in use today. But there is no equivalent in spirituality. With that, the nature of scientific dialog was fundamentally altered. It moved from the domain of baseless debate and "religious" argument into the realm of provable facts.
Again, I am not suggesting that spiritual exploration be conducted according to the same methods as science, but the religious tendency is to be rooted in specific belief and to protect that faith from challenge from the inside or the outside. And as a result, the actions of the religious are also held inscrutable. I consider that intellectually dishonest. We need to hold our religious belief up to the same standard as any other belief. And we need to hold our actions up the standard of our spiritual proclamations. If our actions do not reflect the compassion of our doctrine, and if our institutions do not demand the same -- if they contribute to fear and suffering, to contention and inequity -- then we need to challenge their worthiness of our divine nature as well as our own faith in their infallibility.
If we will open ourselves to the possibility that we may not have it quite right on either side of the fence, we just might start to gain a vision of how an open space for coexistence of these polarities might look. Spirituality with intellectual integrity, science without strict materialism, politics with conscience, and inner peace in a peaceful world.
The opportunity I see before us is to evolve on a conscious level. Biological evolution and human striving have brought us this far: to the point where we can consciously choose whether to evolve towards a more enlightened future where we embrace the dialectic within our spiritual and material nature. Consider the greatest achievements of human progress and the peaks of spiritual expression. Dare to imagine the possibilities that might unfold if we were to bring them together in harmony. Dream of what a world benefiting from the best products of spiritual and material endeavors might be.
It might be impossible. But then, so was a four-minute mile.
