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Existentialism and spirituality

“I asked if one could be both existential and spiritual. He responded that it was essential to be both.”

Bob Edelstein having a conversation with Rollo May

INTRO

The question explored by this paper is how similar is existentialism with “my way of understanding spirituality”. In order to proceed, “my way of understanding spirituality” will be defined. Next, during the course of the essay, existentialism will be unfolded taking in consideration, mainly, the text “Existentialism and Humanism” by Sartre while being compared with diverse spiritual streams of thought, from different periods of time, which are in accordance with “my way of understanding spirituality”.

“MY WAY OF UNDERSTANDING SPIRITUALITY”

To begin with, and to put it easily and straight in only one sentence, what I understand as spirituality is the individual path to freedom. Which is also, as I will unfold later, a collective path to freedom. Spirituality, for me, is to understand that all the answers needed in order to evolve as a human being are inside oneself. And that, these answers can be found when one is silent enough, or connects, even momentarily, with their inner self. The inner self could be quickly and roughly defined by exclusion as: the part of oneself which is not one’s ego. And the ego could also be briefly and plainly defined as: the part of a human being that plays a role in the external world. Spirituality, thought, is also to trust the answers found in oneself, and act according to them, being loyal to one’s nature. Another important part of spirituality, from my point of view, is to believe in perfection. But bare with me. To believe in perfection means to believe that everything is alright as it is right now. It is, to trust the universe. And by trusting the universe I mean to trust in a greater order behind what we perceive as life. To trust that at any given moment and circumstance, the situations found are the ones needed in order for each person to overcome and evolve. Most of the times, what one wants does not match with what one needs. However, spirituality, from my point of view, is to believe that at any given moment life provides you with what you need in order to be fulfilled and to evolve. So, going back to the, on-purpose-provocative sentence with which I started, to believe in perfection means to believe that at any given moment and situation, with its innumerable imperfections found from our egoistic self, is perfect from a greater order standing behind, that is ever-seeking for evolution.

EXISTENTIALISM AND SPIRITUALITY

Subjectivity

“There is no meaning in the world beyond what meaning we give it. “ Albert Camus

When I was a kid I always use to think deeply about the following sentence: “There are as many realities as people in the world”. It really made me think. I found it amazing how everyone was living in a different kind of bubble, although still sharing the same scenario. The main basis of Existentialism is that “existence precedes essence” (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948). It means that first exist a subject, someone who perceives, and then perception itself, which is the essence, the world. Therefore, it all starts by a subject that can perceive the world. Without subject there is not world, and because the subject is the one who creates the world, the world is subjective. Nowadays, many spiritual gurus and teachers, for instance Eckhart Tolle (1997) and Timothy Freke (2012), talk about how each individual creates it’s own reality and about how the external factors are just a mirror of one’s innerself. To clarify, external factors are individually deciphered by means of our perception. Therefore, reality is subjective and the external world becomes a customised reflection of one’s inner condition. (Gonzalo Rodriguez Fraile, 2015) The concept of reality being subjective, in a spiritual context, is not a contemporary idea. Lao Tsé, born in 604 BC, already declares it as one of the main principles of Taoism. It explains that TAO, which is the order that rules the universe, is indefinable by nature, and that each person has to discover on their own terms what it is for them, by exploring inwards (Laozi, 2016). Putting emphasis on the subjectivity of reality, and on the power of the self in order to discover and create the world.

Authenticity and connectedness

Another principle of existentialism is authenticity. The individual creates a customised version of reality that only depends on oneself, and the individual also forms part of this reality, consequently, this subject also creates their own self. And they do it by their own acts. This principle makes the individual responsible of it’s own creation, hence, of being the person who one has become. Sartre illustrate it very well with the following sentence, also insinuating that sometimes it is easier to believe that one is not responsible of being who one has become: “the coward is defined on the basis of the acts he performs (...) what people would like is that a coward or a hero be born that way”. Existentialism says that one might be determined by external physical factors, for instance not having legs. However, according existentialists, psychological determinism does not exist, being only an excuse for not embracing one’s own affairs. For them, authenticity is to embrace one’s own nature being loyal to oneself and dealing with what life brings from a position that is supported by one’s own basis and essence. Moreover, according Sastre, “When man chooses his own self, we mean that every one of us does likewise; but we also mean by that that in making this choice he also chooses all men. (...) We always choose the good and nothing can be good for us without being good for all” (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948), and according to him, this is one of the reasons why humankind has to act from their inner true, or authenticity, “choosing the good”, because in each of their acts there is the enclosed responsibility of the whole humankind. (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948) Confucius, who born in 551 BC, was already talking about authenticity. The main confucianist aim is to become a good person, and he claimed that authenticity is essential for it to happen. Saying that “Righteousness is the substance of an authentic person” (David S Nivison and Bryan William Van Norden, 1996), for him to be authentic means to go along with one’s own values, to be loyal to one’s own convictions. According to him, this is one of the main pillars of happiness, and also something that gives conviction to one own’s decisions (Xunwu Chen, 2013). He also says that the fate of humankind is to become “an authentic embodiment of humanity” (David S Nivison and Bryan William Van Norden, 1996), meaning by humanity, to embrace one’s inner truth and acting on its behalf, becoming, as Ghandi said once, “the change one wishes to see in the world”. Also Taoism defines the spiritual individual as this one who follows its own nature, and who creates oneself by means of their actions. (Laozi, 2016)

Forlornness, acceptance, detachment and freedom

Another point of existentialism is anguish in humanity. It happens when individuals realise that God does not exist, and that each individual has full responsibility on its own fate. Most existentialists use the term forlornness. Borja Vilaseca (2016), a Catalan journalist and spiritual teacher, talks about it with the name of “the void”. The void is the emptiness of human existence that, often, individuals try to numb by filling their schedule excessively, taking medicines, drugs or following other practices in order not to feel or not allowing time for being on one’s own. Vilaseca says that this sense of emptiness can be found when one reminds still and listen to oneself, and that it is the beginning of spiritual growing and learning. According to him, the cure is in the void, and not in the avoidance of it. When one contacts with this sense of emptiness, and let it be, is when the healing begins. The acceptance of the void is what cures it. (Borja Vilaseca, 2015) Albert Camus (1938), also approach forlornness in a similar way, saying that “The realisation that life is absurd cannot be an end, but only a beginning”. Acceptance has been a recurrent principle in diverse spiritual lines since the first prophets, when Jesus from Nazareth, for instance, says the famous sentence of “turning the other cheek”, he is talking about acceptance. Also one of the main principles of Taoism. It says: “Don’t try to resolve the various contradictions in life, instead learn acceptance of your nature.” (Laozi, 2016) And the acceptance of the void and of all that escapes from our hands implies detachment. When Sastre says “The moment the possibilities I am considering are not rigorously involved by my action, I ought to disengage myself from them, because no God, no scheme, can adapt the world and its possibilities to my will” (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948). He is talking, or so I interpret, about detachment, disengagement. There are numerous spiritual streams that treat detachment as a main topic. For example Buddhism. It situates detachment in the kernel, saying that disengagement of our emotions is the path to freedom. By detachment it means to accept what it is, with the idea that everything comes and goes, and that by means of this deep understanding, one can practice non-attachment and eventually set onself free. (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1997) Freedom is another concept very present in existentialism. Sastre says: “We want freedom for freedom’s sake and in every particular circumstance (...) we discover that it depends entirely on the freedom of others, and that the freedom of others depends on ours” (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948). Anthony de Mello (1990), indian jesuit priest and psychotherapist from the end of the XX century, also talks about freedom and detachment in a similar way as Sastre does, setting a correlation between one’s freedom and the freedom of others and vice versa. He says: "I have no fear of losing u, for you aren't an object of my property, or anyone else's. I love you as you are, without attachment, without fears, without conditions, without egoism, trying not to absorb you. I love you freely because I love your freedom, as well as mine”.

Conclusion

To conclude, spirituality (as the way I understand it) and existentialism tackle the same topics of existence, nature of human, and way of approaching life, giving parallel answers, although with, probably, a different tone. Both of them put the center of reality in a subject, in a individual and interior perspective on the world, being this the one who creates it’s own reality and external findings. Also, put emphasis on following one’s own nature being authentic and loyal to each individual inner self, and creating the reality by action, and not by thought. Whereas Taoism says “The truth taught is to embrace life in actions that support you as a person” (Laozi, 2016), existentialism says “There is no reality except in action. Man is nothing else than his plan; he exists only to the extent that he fulfills himself; he is therefore nothing else than the ensemble of his acts, nothing else than his life”. (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948) Both of them also talk about a connectedness between the individual alone and all humanity, saying that the actions of one own, reflect at a collective level, and also placing emphasis on the responsibility of each individual respect to a collective external arena. Another tackled point is forlornness. Wheres in existentialism it is the feeling of being dropped to the world without any other support that one’s own, from the most spiritual sources cited on this paper, one can find the support needed inside oneself. However, starting from forlornness, or feeling of void, that once integrated and processed, transforms to detachment, and leads to freedom. Both, existentialism and some streams of spirituality, are often misunderstood as ways of thought that invite to quietism. However, as Sartre puts it, it is the opposite, since the individual generates reality by action (Jean Paul Sartre, 1948), at the same time, Buddhism invites to an always conscious state of mind, as opposed to a sleeping mode of consciousness (Thich Nhat Hanh, 1997). As stated by Sartre (1948), another reason why existentialism is not welcome from some people, is because “often the only way they can bear their wretchedness is to think, ‘’Circumstances have been against me’”, as opposed to take responsibility for one’s own situation. He also describes existentialism as optimistic toughness, toughness because it is hard to recognise that one’s life is not satisfactory because of one self has made it this way, and optimistic because humans destiny relies on themselves. On the other hand, Borja Vilaseca (2015), says that sometimes people is resilient to spirituality because the beginning point is to recognise that one is lost, and many people wouldn’t recognise it. However, the one who recognises his lostness, is the one who starts finding the way.

Bibliography

Camus, A., 1938. Newspaper Alger Républicain , p. 5. France.

Chen, X., 2013. Happiness and authenticity: Confucianism and Heidegger. Journal of Philosophical Research 38(2):261-274. University of Texas, San Antonio.

Freke, T., 2012. The Mystery Experience: A revolutionary approach to spiritual awakening. Duncan Baird Publishers.

Laozi., 2016. Tao Te Ching. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Mello, A., 1990. Awareness. Zondervan.

Nhat, T, H., 2008. The Heart Of Buddha's Teaching. Random House.

Nivison, D, S., William, B, V, N., 1996. The ways of confucianism : investigations in Chinese philosophy. Chicago: Open Court.

Rodriguez, G, F., 2015. A new paradigm of reality?. Foundation for Consciousness Development. Madrid.

Sartre, J, P.,1948. Existentialism and humanism. London, Methuen.

Tolle, E., 1997. The power of now. New World Library.

Vilaseca, B., 2015. The little prince puts on his tie: A tale of personal growth for getting back in touch with what really matters. Barcelona: Editorial Borja Vilaseca.